| LED Digest 2574: Guaranteed Top 10 Rankings |
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The LED Digest Moderated Discussion List "Effective Online Advertising, Since 1997" Data > Information > Knowledge > Wisdom www.WillMaster.com/Master : the LED's Key Sponsor Master Series Software - Get Connected with Your WebSite 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 .............................................. January 23, 2007 Issue no. 2574 .............................................. .....IN THIS DIGEST..... ====== NEW ====================== <Moderator Comment> --== Coolest Catalog Page Ever ==-- ~ Nancy Cardinali "A department store in the Netherlands with the neatest catalog I've seen." --== NS Offering Guaranteed Top 10 Rankings ==-- ~ Beth Ann Earle "This just seems wrong from so many different angles..." --== How Do You Follow Up? ==-- ~ Adam Boettiger "...the critical art of following up on phone calls, voicemail, emails, etc." ==== CONTINUING ================= --== Social Media Crash Course ==-- ~ Steve Pronger "The best way to approach Web 2.0 marketing is not as an 'SEO' exercise." ~ Lee Odden "Here's a handy video explaining social bookmarking in plain English..." --== Bounce Rates as Ranking Factors ==-- ~ Bill Lund "I'm actually an inventor, not a web developer." ========= NEW ===================================== <Moderator Comment> I didn't mean to publish an issue yesterday, in honor of Martin Luther King. It was supposed to go out Tuesday instead, so I held off to publish this until today. Some useful things for me these last few weeks have been: 1. Remember The Milk (RTM): http://www.rememberthemilk.com This web app absolutely rules for personal productivity. It's also handy for working with teams. Not as rigid as Basecamp, and the code uses Ajax nicely, so updates and edits are instant. At first I was leary of having my task manager online, but it's not a problem: RTM can be used offline with a Google Gears module, and there are multiple cool add-ons for OS X and Windows apps. 2. Twitter: http://twitter.com/audette I mentioned this recently, but Twitter also rules. It's fun, and definitely a waste of time, but it's also a solid business channel - especially for social marketing. There's a lot that goes on via Twitter that you don't see online, even at active social sites, and news tends to break here before anywhere else. It doesn't hurt that some of the top online marketers use it daily, either. 3. Conversation Marketing: http://www.conversationmarketing.com/ I read lots of blogs on internet marketing, and not many of them are as good as Ian Lurie's. Real, practical advice peppered with cynical humor and the experience to back it all up. This is one I usually read first in the morning. How about you? Send in those useful links! -Adam ------------------ From: Nancy Cardinali Subject: Check this out! A department store in the Netherlands with the neatest catalog I've seen. HEMA is a Dutch department store. The first store opened on November 4, 1926, in Amsterdam. Now there are 150 stores all over the Netherlands. HEMA also has stores in Belgium, Luxemburg, and Germany. In June of this year, HEMA was sold to British investment company Lion Capital. Take a look at HEMA's product page http://producten.hema.nl/. You can't order anything and it's in Dutch, but just WAIT a couple of seconds and watch what happens. Nancy Cardinali -------- new post - new topic -------- From: Beth Ann Earle Subject: Network Solutions Offering "Guaranteed" SE Rankings Hi, guys. OK. Nearly everybody seems to hate Network Solutions for some reason, but I just had yet another reason plunk down in my lap: An email that states that "Start 2008 at the top! ... Guaranteed Top 10 Rankings on Major Search Engines" Here's a link to the wording of the guarantee: http://tinyurl.com/yrp8j3 [networksolutions.com] This just seems wrong from so many different angles, worst of all trying to explain to clients and prospects that a guaranteed Top 10 listing on AltaVista or HotBot in the next 10 months is like a guarantee of wispy clouds over Ohio at some point during that same time period: So what? Has anybody run across a client or prospect that's seen this offer? What was their take on it? Has anybody seen a site optimized by Nitwit Solutions? Their guarantee is so broad and vague, I don't know that they'll need to give anybody their money back. But ... this brings up a second question: Is SEO a state or a process? Network Solutions' offer makes it sound like a state, while most LED posters seem to indicate it's a continuous process. My boss just posted an article on this very topic http://tinyurl.com/ysso5t [ezinearticles.com], in case it provides useful tidbits for any future discussions with clients or prospects. Wishing the very best to LED'ers everywhere, Beth Ann Earle www.pilotfishseo.com ========= Begin Sponsor Message ========= Control . Who . Syndicates . Your . Content Your content. Other websites. Some have permission to syndicate your content. Block those who do not. Syndicate with PHP or with JavaScript. Your choice. http://www.willmaster.com/Gateway ========== End Sponsor Message ========== -------- new post - new topic -------- From: Adam Boettiger Subject: How do you follow up? How do you follow up? I'm doing some research for a writing project and am curious to know how LEDers practice the critical art of following up on phone calls, voicemail messages left, things you delegate to others, emails you send etc. For example, you send an email out but many times may not get a response due to the other person being overloaded and cluttered. What methods do you use to ensure that if you've not received a response by X date and time you nudge them again? This is not just for sales and business, but more about persistence and the recognition that everyone is overloaded. Right now I'm looking for techniques - such as "I use Outlook and set a pop-up alarm", apps, sites, resources and your own first-hand experiences of what works best for you to make sure things do not fall through the cracks. Thanks in advance! Off-list to: This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it Everyone who contributes a tip will be sent a copy of the document when done. Adam Boettiger http://www.adamboettiger.com/ ======== CONTINUING =============================== From: Steve Pronger Subject: Social media > Can anyone explain how to SIMPLY bookmark a > website on, say, Delicious? - Nancy Cardinali, LED Digest 2572 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1987/190/ Hi Nancy. You can save a lot of time and simplify the process of bookmarking by installing a button which links to the popular Web 2.0 sites. Here's a couple to choose from: http://www.aboutsocialbookmarks.com/ http://www.addthis.com/ They both work well and cost nothing. You'll need to sign up with the various sites you're submitting to. However, before you start submitting your sites to all the resources these tools link to, a word of warning. Web 2.0 sites come in various flavours. A site like Delicious (http://del.icio.us/) is purely a bookmarking site and generally you won't get into too much trouble bookmarking your own sites, although I do recommend you bookmark other sites as well. Sites like Reddit on the other hand, combine bookmarking with voting, while Propeller and Newsvine focus on "story" submission and social networking. Sites like these are very sensitive to what they perceive as spam. That usually means submitting your own content exclusively, and not participating in the "community". Try submitting your own commercial site to Digg. Trust me, no matter how great you think your site is with all it's wonderful content, you'll be banned in the blink of an eye. Mention ANYTHING to do with SEO and you'll be banned for life. Yep, that was MY mistake. But, there are MANY other Digg-like sites you can become involved with. The best way to approach Web 2.0 marketing is not as an "SEO" exercise. This will put you in the wrong mindset. Yes, you can get high quality links which will do wonders for you in the SERPs (especially if you're blogging with WordPress), but you'll quickly discover a clash of cultures. These sites are "communities", often inhabited by people who do not welcome your commercial intent. That's not to say you can't create tons of quality traffic and links but you MUST become part of the community. That means creating a complete profile page (with your avatar), submitting other people's content (blog posts are what they like most), voting and commenting on submissions, and interacting with the members of that community. I know we've touched on social marketing a couple of times in LED, but I'd really like to see some in-depth discussion. Who's using it? Which Web 2.0 sites are you using and how? I've experimenting over the last few months with a WordPress blog - http://www.affiliate-sales-programs.com. I've found that with social marketing I can get my posts ranking on Google (often page 1) within hours of me posting them. What's more, social marketing is interesting and fun! If you're not using sites like StumbleUpon (http://www.stumbleupon.com/) for example, as part of your marketing activities, then you're missing out on a great way to generate traffic. I've published a few tips on social marketing on a HubPages article at http://hubpages.com/hub/Advanced-Link-Building-Strategy. HubPages is another Web 2.0 site which you can use to create quality links by building "satellite" pages which link bank to your main site. You can piggyback on the authority these sites have with Google and get keywords ranked which you may have found difficult on your own site. Steve Pronger http://www.stevepronger.com/freebook/ -------- new post - same topic -------- From: Lee Odden Subject: Social media Hey Nancy, Here's a handy video explaining social bookmarking in plain English: http://www.commoncraft.com/bookmarking-plain-english Also, here's a PPT Introduction to Social Bookmarking with a Del.icio.us walkthrough (27 slides). http://tinyurl.com/yt3uwk [slideshare.net] And an extended version (47 slides) http://www.slideshare.net/toprank/seo-social-bookmarking Hope that helps! Lee Odden TopRank® Online Marketing http://www.toprankresults.com Online Marketing Blog http://www.toprankblog.com ========= Begin Sponsor Message ========= One Way Links to your Site, by the Hundreds? Yes! Get Traffic and Link Popularity to Your Site from Legitimate, General Interest Web Directories. DomainDrivers Makes It Hassle-Free. Details Here: http://www.domaindrivers.com/directory-submissions.html ========== End Sponsor Message ========== -------- new post - new topic -------- From: Bill Lund Subject: Bounce rates > For anyone asking a question, I have a > request, if the question is about a > particular site... - Michael Linehan, LED 2572 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1987/190/ Michael I didn't really have a particular site in mind, I just wanted to hear some discussion about the subject. I would love any advice on how to reduce the bounce rate on my site at: chilipepperapp.com. I'm actually an inventor, not a web developer. Other than the bounce rate, in your opinion what would the next most important thing be that Google or any search engine would be able to determine from your behavior while using their search engine? Or is there any? Thank you Mr. Holley for the suggested reading...very interesting. After I read it a few more times hopefully it will all sink in. Bill Lund http://www.chilipepperapp.com Faster Hot Water (c) Copyright 1995-2008 Orange Wheel, LLC. All Rights Reserved. ----------------------------------------------------------------- "Patience makes lighter What sorrow may not heal." - Horace |
