| LED Digest 2392: Search Engines and Whois |
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================================================== The LED Digest Moderated Discussion List "Effective Online Advertising, Since 1997" Data > Information > Knowledge > Wisdom www.GetWebContent.com/LED : the LED's Key Sponsor The Web's Most Experienced SEO Content Providers. ================================================== List Moderator: Published by: Adam Audette LED Digest adam, led-digest.com http://www.led-digest.com .............................................. April 19, 2007 Issue no. 2392 .............................................. .....IN THIS DIGEST..... ====== NEW ===================== --== Do Search Engines Check Whois? ==-- ~ Ben Frank "Do search engines even look at the whois?" --== Redirecting Domains ==-- ~ Tom Anson "I have a website that has had two other domain names pointing to it." ==== CONTINUING ================= --== SEO Standards ==-- ~ Jere Matlock "...sites that I've optimized *including HTML validity as a factor* have done better..." --== New Trends in Checkouts ==-- ~ Charles Oertel "The biggest misconception is the 'risk' of your card details being hacked." ~ Tom Aman "...if you are using a credit card, the least risk is via a secure site on the Internet." --== Designing for a Target Audience ==-- ~ Jeremy Weiss "I would love to see a similar survey on a much larger group..." ~ Alex Hughart "Our business' identity depends more on how we understand and define ourselves first..." =========== NEW ================================== From: Ben Frank Subject: Do search engines check Whois to compare sites? I was wondering the following: Although its not good practice, to start up my site (for about the first 6 months) I would like to use multiple domains I own to link to my main shopping site. The other sites would have an article or two about my products, and would then one way link to my shopping site. The sites would be related, but completely different from one another. The question is, will the value of those links be discounted (or ignored) if the whois information for all the sites is identical? Do search engines even look at the whois? Ben Frank Comment? -------- new post - new topic -------- From: Tom Anson Subject: Redirecting > I've never seen Google be so slow indexing > a site that appears to be properly 301'd. - Nathan Holley, LED Digest 2381 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1784/55/ I really appreciated Nathan Holley's question in LED Digest 2381 (sorry, I'm a little behind in my reading). I have a website (therapeutic-grade.com) that has had two other domain names pointing to it. One is now expired -- ansonaromaticessentials.com (I can't imagine WHY I let THAT one lapse!!!); the other -- ansononline.com -- is still active. I've kept it because I was thinking (some years ago) of starting another line in my business -- reselling EZ-Net Tools. My current site is built exclusively with the therapeutic-grade domain name (except when linking to the EZ-Net Tools pages, which are in another directory on the site). Still, when I do searches on my keywords in Yahoo! or Google, I sometimes (actually, as often as not) get listings for the ansononline domain name. This past year, I've added an .htaccess file to redirect from old, yucky pages to my new ones, but the idea of redirecting from ansononline to therapeutic-grade had not crossed my mind. Does this seem like a good idea? If so, how would I go about it? I have hundreds of static XHTML pages on my site, so the idea of redirecting all of them seems absurd. Is there a simple line I could add to my .htaccess file to redirect everything from ansononline to therapeutic-grade? Given this situation, what is it I need to be thinking about and what should I be doing about it? Thanks for your help. Tom Anson Anson Aromatic Essentials http://www.therapeutic-grade.com Comment? ======== CONTINUING =============================== From: Jere Matlock Subject: SEO standards > I thought we'd pretty much established that using valid > HTML is not primarily about SEO, it's about making your > site work properly under many different conditions. - Veronica Yuill, LED Digest 2391 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1794/55/ I agree that HTML validity is primarily about making the site work properly under many conditions. One of those conditions is being crawled by the search engines. In SEO, absolute proof is hard to come by. With many factors (dozens? hundreds?) going into the algorithms at Google about each web page, it's never been established to my satisfaction that the validity of the HTML code is NOT one of those factors. There are exceptions to every rule. Anyone can find search terms for which the top results do not contain valid HTML code. So from anecdotal evidence it appears that *sometimes* the validity of the HTML code makes no difference at all. Has anyone commented before on this list on how well the Wikipedia is doing for many search terms these days (including the #1 spot for "search engine optimization")? Last time I checked they had 277,000 links from .edu sites alone to the wikipedia, over 7 million pages of the wikipedia indexed by Google, and more than 31 million links to the wikipedia in total. (That info comes from this tool: http://www.webuildpages.com/cool-seo-tool/ ) PageRank from links would appear to be a huge factor in the wikipedia's success in the SERPs. I believe most of us in the SEO field would agree that enough PageRank trumps content of all kinds -- the "miserable failure" example coming to mind. All the wikipedia pages that I've checked are made using valid HTML code. Is that HTML code validity an important factor? How can someone dismiss it as a ranking factor with any kind of certainty? Your anecdotal evidence may have convinced you that HTML validity is not a factor, and you'd be foolish to disbelieve what you have proven to your satisfaction to be true for you. In my experience, with all other factors being mostly equal, the sites that I've optimized *including HTML validity as a factor* have done better in the SERPs over time than sites that weren't optimized including that factor. But I have no objection whatever to you believing that HTML validity is not a factor in SEO. And I'm willing to look at your objective evidence (even if entirely anecdotal) supporting that belief. What I've seen so far on this list and others hasn't caused me to junk HTML validity as a factor. Yet. I have happily junked a lot of other SEO factors over the last ten years. I have a 60-point checklist I go through when analyzing an existing site for what it needs to make it maximally search engine friendly; that checklist has changed considerably over time. Best, Jere Matlock http://www.wordsinarow.com Website Design & Marketing / SEO Comment? ============ Sponsor Message =========== Have you sat down and read your website lately? What your site says is crucial in converting surfers into customers and meeting search engine mandates for fresh, unique copy. Our all-pro writers have Fortune 500 experience. For top-quality, customized, cost-effective copy, visit http://GetWebContent.com/LED today. ============ Sponsor Message =========== -------- new post - new topic -------- From: Charles Oertel Subject: Checkout > I won't deal with any company that gives me the option > to create an account and offers to remember me. Why? > I don't want them to store my credit card information. - John Barendrecht, LED Digest 2391 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1794/55/ Dear John, this response is not directed at you personally - I am merely using your email as an example of how ignorance leads to 'solutions' to a security threat that are not particularly sensible. When a company offers the option of creating an account, it is not necessarily so that it can store your card details. Most often it is so that you have the option of setting your own preferences and managing your relationship with that company. A site that does not have this option, still gets your name, address and card details as part of your order and delivery details, and they could be saving it all and abusing it anyway. So - what have you gained with your stance? Certainly not increased security. There is no need to keep a book with passwords either - any decent site will allow you to click the 'forgot password' option, and email your password or a reset link to your email address. The biggest misconception is the 'risk' of your card details being hacked. As any card merchant knows, a 'card not present' transaction places all the risk on the merchant, and none on the card holder. If a hacker were to use your credit card to place fraudulent transactions, one phonecall to the bank will have it reversed. You are much, much more at risk giving your card to the waitron at a restaurant. With a card-copier and your signed voucher, it is easier for the waitron to commit fraudulent transactions that cannot be repudiated. So, do you follow the waitron to the back and insist that s/he holds your card above their heads so that you can see it at all times? regards Charles Oertel HoneyBadger.net Comment? -------- new post - same topic -------- From: Tom Aman Subject: Checkout > I won't deal with any company that gives me the option > to create an account and offers to remember me. Why? > I don't want them to store my credit card information. - John Barendrecht Yet the biggest credit card hacking news story in recent times involved the database of a huge brick and morter operation involving several store chains so I don't believe the paying via credit card over the Internet is inherently more dangerous than paying by credit card at any brick and mortar establishment. > What if someone found my book with passwords? > They could just log on as me and order whatever > they want. Many reputable Web sites will *only* ship to the billing address for the card so only deal with those sites and there is really not much to worry about. So what is the big worry about ordering online via credit card? Provided you check your charge statements for questionable items, the credit card company will reverse the charge if you question it. > As for PayPal, I'm scared to try that... Paypal > is neither a bank nor a merchant. PayPal? They have procedures in place to deal with questionable items. May I suggest you check out their security and problem resolution in some detail. When a purchase is made via your PayPal account, they send you a confirming email so you would likely know right away about any unauthorized payments. Does Visa send you an email to confirm payment? As PayPal state on their home page: - Send money online from 103 countries and regions. - PayPal is free for buyers. - Shop without sharing financial information. - 100% protection against unauthorized payments sent from your account. I have actually lost a few customers because I am not set up to take PayPal and they didn't want to take a chance on paying any other way. In my own opinion, if you are using a credit card, the least risk is via a secure site on the Internet. While not guaranteed, most such sites try to keep security high enough to keep hackers out. Payment at a store is a bit more risky since many stores record (and sometimes keep) the info in a computer that may or may not be secure. The risk increases at things like eating places where the waiter may take the card out of your site for processing. (I know of one location that brings a wireless device to your table so the card never has to be out of your sight.) Giving credit card info via telephone is even more risky since you have no idea how the recipient may record it (probably typed into a computer that may or may not be secure so how is that safer than using the Internet?). This becomes doubly risky if they phone you for the number instead of you phoning them since, in that case, you can only assume they are who they say they are. I will NEVER give anyone my credit card info via telephone. Then there is fax, probably the most risky of all since you can never be sure that the info went where it was intended, the fax receiving machine probably produces a hardcopy so anyone in that office has access. Over the years, I have received many misdirected faxes - some intended for the local city hall office (all kinds of personal property tax and legal stuff), faxes intended for lawyers (again, often very personal info), faxes intended for a local health care organization (I don't really want info on Mrs. X's vaginal problems that required a specialist). In only one case did the person have the wrong number, all of the others resulted from either an accidental one digit mis-dial or the use of a wrong area code by the sender. If you are really concerned, there are a couple of ways to deal with credit cards that keeps things relatively safe, even over the Internet. The first is easy - just get a card with a really low credit limit - maybe only a hundred or two hundred dollars. Guaranteed that noone can rack up big charges if they happen to get their hands on the number. The other takes a bit more effort - this one walks like a duck and talks like a duck but is not a duck, it is a prepaid credit card. You have to add money to the card before you can *charge* anything and the *credit* limit is the balance on the card. In the US, there are prepaid Visa and Mastercard versions available (only found Mastercard in Canada). First you load money on the card, then you can use it like a normal credit card. This makes it practically impossible for anyone to run up large unauthorized charges. Tom Aman cyberspyder.com Comment? -------- new post - new topic -------- From: Jeremy Weiss Subject: Targeted design > The Color Associations report spans 10 web pages. > The data sets page, containing many of the pie charts, > is at joehallock.com/edu/COM498/datasets.html - Will Bontrager, LED Digest 2391 While this is an extreamly interesting report, given the small sampling size (232 people) I have wonder if it's accurate. I would love to see a similar survey on a much larger group of people (thousands). Anyone know of one? Sincerely, Jeremy Weiss Online Lead Generation & Internet Consulting http://www.bluephoenixconsulting.com Comment? -------- new post - same topic -------- From: Alex Hughart Subject: Targeted design The world of colors is really fascinating as it combines so many different fields: physics, aesthetics, psychology, sociology .... As many fashion designer will attest, the difference between success and failure sometimes lies in the shades. No doubt, targeted design is essential in today's highly segmented market. Knowing your target audience is certainly helpful and there are plenty of general rules and conclusions around how to cater to a specific group. But, your customers can surprise you. Unless you sell something like pregnancy tests, you won't know exactly who they are until you are already in front of them. We at Bon Savon started with the idea that the vast majority of our customers will be women. It turned out, a hefty 40% of them are men of all ages. Now, is this because men are equally interested in fine soaps and they'll shop anyway or because our site's colors are more gender / age neutral so they are not repelled by abundance of girlishness? To stay with gender issues only, what is a proper amount of estrogen or testosterone in a design? If 35% of older women prefer blue, what to do with 23% who prefer purple? I have no idea... I've just finished a site for a client selling cosmetic tweezers aimed at tween girls (not live yet) http://www.sweezers.com/mm5/merchant.mvc . While the girls are our best bet, I'm sure there are many boys in need of tweezers (Sanjaya comes to mind- yes, I watch American Idol...) or some grandma who has difficulties finding tweezers that are usually gray or black. Bottom line, this type of reverse engineering doesn't help much or, at least, not always. There are many unsuccessful sequels to successful movies that had the right ingredients in place but somehow failed to produce the same results. The only thing we can know for sure is who we are and what are we trying to accomplish, right now, right here. Our business' identity depends more on how we understand and define ourselves first, then our customers. Regards, Alex Hughart Comment? ------------------------------------------------------- The LED Digest is sponsored by GetWebContent.com The Web's Most Experienced SEO Content Providers. Free no-obligation proposal: http://GetWebContent.com/LED The Archives: http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/126/120/ Subscribe: http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/52/77/ Unsubscribe, Change Email, or Hold / Resume Delivery: http://www.led-digest.com/content/category/4/17/86/ (c) Copyright 1995-2007 Orange Wheel, LLC. 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