| LED Digest 2474: Search Engines and Sub-directories |
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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 .............................................. August 20, 2007 Issue no. 2474 .............................................. .....IN THIS DIGEST..... ====== NEW ===================== <Moderator Comment> ~ Sponsor News --== Search Engines and Sub-Directories ==-- ~ Brian Butki "Is it true that search engines favor pages in the root directory over subdirectories?" --== Google on Click Fraud ==-- ~ GJ Berg "[Google] has concluded that less than 10 percent of clicks on Google ads are invalid..." ==== CONTINUING ================= --== The Hell of CSS ==-- ~ John Smart "Another awesome book is Professional CSS for web design by Wrox." --== Urgency Marketing ==-- ~ Barry Mills "People who are mulling things over generally WANT to make a decision..." ~ Tom Anson "It's a kind of 'Do unto others...' kind of thing." --== LED Tagline Suggestions ==-- ~ DL Perry "I forget now how I eventually got here..." ~ Ed Clark "Why change something that is not broken?" ~ Gary Knuckles "I too like the suggestion of Learn, Exchange, Discuss" ========== NEW =================================== <Moderator Comment> One site I've become slightly enchanted with is www.Techmeme.com. It's a great way to find out what people are talking about, and while it only touches the tip of the iceberg, topic coverage stays pretty diverse. Basically the founder, Gabe Rivera, has built a database of influential bloggers, journalists, and news sources, and his software uses these as indicators of topic interest. The database is continually being refined. What I also like about Techmeme is the sponsor section. Blogs from sponsors are highlighted along the right column, and once in awhile he features "sponsor news" on the main site. It's not intrusive, and it gives the company's supporting the site great visibility. Something similar could work on the LED, too. Because I'm always looking to offer our sponsors value, in order to encourage their continued loyalty to the list, I'm thinking about adding a "sponsor news" section here a couple times a month. It would appear below the posts, above the footer, so reading them is completely voluntary. And I would work closely with our sponsors to ensure featured news is of value and contributes to the list. I just wanted to explore that topic with you since it's on my mind today. I'm open to all kinds of feedback, as always, so fire away! In other news, I'm not going to Search Engine Strategies in San Jose this week (sadly). I'll be home instead, getting a few projects wrapped up. If you're at SES please give us a recap of some highlights! Have a great week, Adam ---------------------- From: Brian Butki Subject: Root Directory vs SubDirectory Hello Everyone, Is it true that search engines favor WebPages in the root directory over WebPages in subdirectories? The reason I ask is because I am installing new eCommerce software on my server. This software consists of multiple files and in the interest of keeping my hosting account organized, I was considering putting the software in its own subdirectory named something like "store" or "shop." This software also creates its own static html pages that it puts in yet another subdirectory, which I will probably call "products" or "catalog." This means my URLs will look like this: Mydomain.com/store/products/product-page.html As opposed to being in the root directory like this: Mydomain.com/product-page.html Since it will affect all of my URL's, I really want to get it right the first time. And though I prefer to keep my server nice and tidy by putting the shopping cart in its own directory, I don't want to suffer in the search engines. Any feedback would be most welcome! Brian Butki -------- new post - new topic -------- From: GJ Berg Subject: Google Opens Click-fraud Site -------------------- "Google has unveiled a Web site "resource center" focused on the thorny issue of click fraud, which many consider a potential threat to the company's main source of revenue: pay-per-click advertising. "With some organizations estimating click-fraud incidence at over 30 percent in general, Google has gone on the offensive in researching this topic and stating publicly what it is doing and what is the extent of the problem in its own ad network. "[Google] has concluded that less than 10 percent of clicks on Google ads are invalid, and that only 0.02 percent are declared invalid as a result of advertisers' complaints. "Click fraud has led advertisers to sue Google, Yahoo, and other providers of pay per click ads. Google reached a landmark settlement of a click-fraud class action lawsuit last year which many described as a big victory for the company. A loss could have likely cost the company hundreds of millions of dollars, but instead Google managed to settle the case for $90 million." Source: http://www.macworld.com/news/2007/08/17/google/index.php -------------------- GJ Berg ======== CONTINUING =============================== From: John Smart Subject: CSS Hell > [CSS is] the meanest design environment I can remember, > except for designing in postscript, which I dimly remember > and was HELL. - Shaun Johnston, LED Digest 2464 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1875/190/ I have started to use CSS in site layout. Wow - steep learning curve, but well worth it. The control I have over the layout is awesome - ready for Ajax integration, and cool for redesigns. For instance, we have a shopping cart program - as I convert it to CSS it means that if client A wants the view cart button at the top of the page, and client B wants it at the bottom - I adjust one .css file and it is as they want. Rather than messing about with dynamic tables (which always gives me headaches! and never quite works - fixing that missing < /td> is always a nightmare!). Online help is widely available, and I have used too much to list here. However, my lifesaver is CSS pocket reference from O'Reilly. Now, I usually do not like O'Reilly books - I find they are usually aimed at people a lot more intelligent than me. But I now own three pocket references (SQL, PHP and CSS) they are fantastic, and I use them all regularly. At $9.95, why are you reading this, you should be at bandn.com! Another awesome book is Professional CSS for web design by Wrox. I love the Wrox books, find them to be thorough, and easy to work with. CSS Pocket ref is ISBN: 0-59600777-9 Pro CSS is ISBN: 0-7645-8833-8 (US$39.99) Hope that helps, John Smart InternetDesign.com A Human Touch in a Digital world. ============ Sponsor Message =========== Search-engine optimized content is not for everyone. People whose goal is to be a raging web failure don't need it. Everybody else does. To read how and why http://GetWebContent.com/LED does SEO copywriting better than anyone else, click http://GetWebContent.com/why-and-how-we-seo-your-copy.php ============ Sponsor Message =========== -------- new post - new topic -------- From: Barry Mills Subject: Urgency marketing > Does this kind of urgency marketing really work? > I am very much interested in hearing from LEDers > who have tried it. Did it work as well as expected? > Would you do it again? - Will Bontrager, LED Digest 2461 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1870/190/ It worked out OK for Vivian / Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman when she charged for directions!. But I don't think I'd ever go there, not with instant decision deadlines. It's a form of high pressure selling, and I think those kind of tactics will always damage the brand of the seller, so unless maybe you're looking to sell a low value item one time and one time only per customer I think it's a bad idea to really put prospects on the spot. That said, I agree wholeheartedly with the principle of creating a degree of urgency to a customer decision. We've run a number of special offer campaigns for various retailers, and we've found the most successful formula is to run a time-limited offer for around a month, with a reminder email a week or so before expiry. That way, we lead the customer to a decision without putting them under pressure -- they have plenty of time to make the decision, but a finite amount of time which is well communicated to them. People who are mulling things over generally WANT to make a decision, and sometimes need help finding something to hang it on. An impending price rise or loss of discount is as good a hook as any, but we'd rather give them adequate thinking time to reach a decision they are comfortable with. I guess if we were peddling junk they really ought not to buy then we might look at it differently, but, happily, we don't have to do that. Barry S Mills Chairman Netstep Corporate Communications http://www.netstep.co.uk -------- new post - same topic -------- From: Tom Anson Subject: Urgency marketing Hi everyone, With regard to urgency marketing, I've heard the lines about needing to set deadlines to get procrastinators moving, and I imagine it works well enough. However, I tend to agree with Val Waldeck: "I hate being pressurised and this kind of marketing is a turn-off for me." In most cases, unless I'm well motivated to buy anyway, VPM just makes me look somewhere else to buy. As for Will Bontrager's question about marketing free stuff: for me (because I'm especially challenged technologically), I tend not to trust things that are offered for free -- unless I have good reason to trust the entity offering it. If someone wants to mail me a free book or something, I'd accept that rather quickly; but, if the offer is for something I have to download, forget it. My computer's immune system isn't all that reassuring. I guess, to tie this together: If you want me as a customer, place a fair price on your product, assure me that it won't make my computer explode or something, and don't play games with me. I'd like to take an honest look at a product, understand its benefits to me and make my decision. I don't want to be manipulated in the process. It's a kind of "Do unto others... " kind of thing. Tom Anson Anson Aromatic Essentials http://www.therapeutic-grade.com -------- new post - new topic -------- From: DL Perry Subject: LED I too came to 'The LED' without any thought to what the letters stood for or meant, and really have not given it much thought since. I forget now how I eventually got here - but I do remember seeing "The LED" mentioned everywhere I turned. I sort of assumed it was one of those 'insider' lists that the pro's tried to keep to themselves, and I felt privileged to have found it. :) I agree with Will Bontrager - > The "LED" means the LED Digest to many Internet > business people. It's a more or less permanent > association. If the letters LED need to be an acronym > - I like "Learn - Exchange - Discuss" ... but I really like Wills clever idea - The Marketing LED "We shine the light." just my .02 - I wonder if the word 'Marketing' might be a bit confining. Granted - marketing is the popular topic here, but it's not the only topic, is it - or is that the point - to focus on a target 'area'? Maybe something like: The Internet LED "We shine the light" or even just The LED "We shine the light" hmm - I'm sort of ' thinking while I type' now - forgive the loose-ness, but - - if 'targeting' is a goal - perhaps use The LED - "We shine the light" as a 'base' tagline - and use more focused terms as needed depending on how / where the phrase is used. ie: as link text for a Marketing website - use The Marketing LED... as link text on a Programmers website - perhaps use The Programming LED, and as link text on a Webmasters website - The Webmasters LED. Again - my apologies for the rambliness. DL Perry www.DLPerry.com Professional Website Design, Development, Management, SEO, Software -------- new post - same topic -------- From: Ed Clark Subject: LED LED'ers On the subject of a name change: By this time everyone using the LED Digest, is familiar with this name. Why change something that is not broken? If it is to get new blood into the list, then perhaps a new name might make it easier to find... (I even have my doubts about that) Whatever it is called, I will continue to read every issue. And, it is the only one that I read every issue. Thanks Adam for the continuing education I receive from LED Digest and your efforts on behalf of the LIST. Ed Clark -------- new post - same topic -------- From: Gary Knuckles Subject: LED I too like the suggestion of: "Learn, Exchange, Discuss". Great discussions, and I learn a lot though I lurk mostly and read the digest. Gary Knuckles BudgetWare, Inc. http://www.e-Teleconferencing.com "Recording and Conference Services" ------------------------------------------------------- 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------- "Wise sayings often fall on barren ground, but a kind word is never thrown away." - Sir Arthur Helps |
