| LED Digest 2458: The Hard Sell of Free |
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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. www.SEOToolSet.com/training/ : the LED's Premier Sponsor Bruce Clay's Search Engine Optimization Training & Certification ================================================== List Moderator: Published by: Adam Audette LED Digest adam, led-digest.com http://www.led-digest.com .............................................. July 27, 2007 Issue no. 2458 .............................................. .....IN THIS DIGEST..... ======= NEW ===================== --== The Hard Sell of 'Free' ==-- ~ Will Bontrager "Why would a free thing 'sell' better when I stop selling it?" ==== CONTINUING ================= --== A Single Large Site vs Mini Sites ==-- ~ Ivan Jimenez "...mini-sites take a lot of careful planning and maintenance..." --== Google's Guidelines on Linking ==-- ~ Hein van der Honing "Link for the traffic, not the ranking." ~ Phil Scimone "...the whole idea is about reciprocal linking, not natural linking." ~ Jill Whalen "You've got the right idea, but in my opinion, the wrong reasons." ~ Dirk Johnson "[Google's] algorithm continues to clearly reward *proper* reciprocation." ========== NEW =================================== From: Will Bontrager Subject: The Hard Sell of 'Free' Why is it so hard to convince someone to accept something for free? We have no problem giving away software and services. Hundreds of downloads a month attest to that. It seems people are glad to take advantage of free stuff that they find on their own. But to get someone's attention and convince them they should take advantage of something that's free is tough job for me. For the record, I have no problem selling software for a price. It's the selling of something that's free I specifically find hard to do. It's happened twice, recently. One is a service and the other is software. When the first proved a hard sell, I assumed it was an exception. Maybe the service wasn't really wanted. Then, some months later, when the software was released, I stumbled on the same hard sell. There is no catch to the download. No email address is asked for. No commitment is required or even suggested. Nothing. Just outright free. The free service (harvest-proof email links) is now starting to get lots of signups and used more and more -- after I stopped pushing it! Maybe the same thing will happen with the viral download meter software. My question to the groups is: Why would a free thing "sell" better when I stop selling it? Does selling something for free put people on the defensive or erect barriers of some other kind? Thanks for any insights. The thing has me baffled. Will Bontrager http://willmaster.com/ ======== CONTINUING =============================== From: Ivan Jimenez Subject: Mini-sites > All things being equal (which, of course, they never are) if > two sites are competing for the same phrase but one site > is dedicated to that topic while the other is dedicated to a > more broad topic, which will rank higher the large site or > the mini-site? - Jeremy Weiss, LED Digest 2457 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1865/190/ Jeremy, All things being equal (which you're right, they never are), the sites with greater concentration on the key topic would beat out the broader site... unless of course the broader site is an authoritative site but that wouldn't be the case assuming all things are equal ;) In my (humble) opinion, mini-sites take a lot of careful planning and maintenance that I'd rather dedicate to developing one massive site focused on one key topic. Invest in content development and getting the right partners to find value in your site and create publicity for you (nothing new here). Best, Ivan Jimenez OXSYS Corp. http://www.OXSYS.com ============ Sponsor Message =========== Now you got 'em, what are you gonna do with 'em? Surfers, that is. They're at your site, but is your copy ready? Is it powerful enough to convert casual visitors into free-spending customers? At www.GetWebContent.com/LED we first write "sell" copy that makes you money and your website sticky. Then we SEO it to make sure it gets read. ============ Sponsor Message =========== -------- new post - new topic -------- From: Hein van der Honing Subject: Link exchanges > If I have a site with a camping theme, I only want sites > that have a similar theme linking to me because that > lets search engine indexing be sure that my site is > about camping... - Phil Scimone, LED Digest 2456 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1864/190/ Though you're absolutely right that you would want links from sites with a similar theme to let the search engine know what you're site is about, you don't want to send off valuable visitors to a competitor's site. Therefore, when being asked, you would think twice about linking to similarly themed websites. And from the other side, why would anybody link to your site for nothing in return. A reciprocal link was a sensible idea to have some kind of "payment" for placing a link, but why would people place a link to a website with a similar theme. It's like shooting yourself in the leg! I've never been a fan of reciprocal linking, but at least it was a viable idea. If this is no longer allowed we're just waiting for more "tricks" (the dark ones) to pop into link-strategies. My opinion is that you should link to and from sites that offer value to your visitors. This doesn't have to be similarly-themed websites. Link for the traffic, not the ranking. Therefore ranking should be more reliable of usage (uniques per month) and news-value (PR on good blogs) than on linking. (Yes, I'm being idealistic and naive, but a guy can dream right). Have fun. Hein van der Honing www.zylom.com -------- new post - same topic -------- From: Phil Scimone Subject: Link exchanges > You don't want them to link to your camping site > as part of their "great dating ideas" links because > you're afraid some search engine out there will toss > out all your camping content and conclude your > site is about dating. - Michael Martinez, LED Digest 2457 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1865/190/ Exactly. If they want, they can go link to great-dating-ideas.com. Now, if you go back and read my post you'll see that the conclusion was about how ridiculous the whole idea is about reciprocal linking, not natural linking. Regards, Phil Scimone Orange Tree Internet Service, LLC http://www.orangetreeweb.com -------- new post - same topic -------- From: Jill Whalen Subject: Link exchanges > I don't think the concept of linking to other sites is all > that difficult. If I have a site with a camping theme, I only > want sites that have a similar theme linking to me > because that lets search engine indexing be sure that > my site is about camping, resulting in higher ranking > for the camping concept. - Phil Scimone You've got the right idea, but in my opinion, the wrong reasons. You want sites that have a similar theme linking to you not because of what it tells the search engines. You want them to link to you because that's where your target audience is presumably hanging out! This is turn would be why the search engines would prefer this type of linking. Jill Whalen High Rankings Helping Sites to Be the Best They Can Be! www.highrankings.com -------- new post - same topic -------- From: Dirk Johnson Subject: Link exchanges Phil, I wholly agree with your basic concept that reciprocation has been abused by some people, and that sites should only reciprocate within their realm. I wish the Google guidelines said that specifically. That kind of statement would go a long way toward sorting this out for people. Instead, the guidelines are vague, and they may be intended to scare people away from it entirely. All while their algorithm continues to clearly reward *proper* reciprocation. Examples that support that last statement are everywhere. I need to take exception to your statement that "doing what makes sense seems to be the exception rather than the rule". As someone who has a lot of experience at this, we find that the best and most reliable linking partners are the ones who actually reciprocate properly. By and large, they are small business owners like the rest of us, simply trying to do the right thing. You don't hear about them because they are not the ones out there spamming every site owner they can find. They keep their linking relevant, and they reject link requests from off-topic sites. We can point to thousands and thousands of sites that fit that exact profile. That's who we deal with, daily. To me they represent the majority of sites that reciprocate, and not the spamming minority. For example, within the automotive realm, among the successful sites that rank well, you will not find much of the "link to anything" mentality that you describe. The successful sites link to other automotive sites, and reject the spammers. It would surprise a lot of people to find out how selective many of these good link partners really are. On a more personal level, our own clients would very upset if we tried to take them down the road of "link to anything". They hire us because we don't try to do that. Like I have said previously, when two sites in the same realm of interest and with a common need and reason are afraid to link to each other because of some search engine, then that is a huge problem. Best regards, Dirk Johnson www.linkstrategy.com ------------------------------------------------------- The LED Digest is sponsored by: GetWebContent.com The Web's Most Experienced SEO Content Providers. Free no-obligation proposal: http://GetWebContent.com/LED SEOToolSet.com Bruce Clay's Search Engine Optimization Training & Certification Join the certified SEO directory: www.SEOToolSet.com/training/ The Archives: http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/126/189/ Subscribe: http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/52/187/ Unsubscribe, Change Email, or Hold / Resume Delivery: http://www.led-digest.com/content/category/4/17/201/ (c) Copyright 1995-2007 Orange Wheel, LLC. All Rights Reserved. ----------------------------------------------------------------- "As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." - John Fitzgerald Kennedy |
