| LED Digest 2596: Local Search for Small Biz |
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The LED Digest Moderated Discussion List "Effective Online Advertising, Since 1997" Data > Information > Knowledge > Wisdom http://www.WillMaster.com/Master : the LED's Key Sponsor Master Series Software - Get Connected with Your WebSite http://www.SEOToolSet.com/training/ : the LED's Premier Sponsor Bruce Clay's Search Engine Optimization Training & Certification ================================================== Guest Moderator: Published by: Adam Audette LED Digest adam, led-digest.com http://www.led-digest.com .............................................. February 25, 2008 Issue no. 2596 .............................................. .....IN THIS DIGEST..... ====== NEW ====================== <Moderator Comment> ~ Going to SMX --== 50 Questions to Grade Sites ==-- ~ Jeremy Weiss "...it has a great list of things to make you think about your website objectively." --== Asian Company Selling Keywords ==-- ~ Mary Findley "[They're] wanting to sell me not only domain names...but also keywords." --== Local Search for Small Business ==-- ~ Viggie Bala "Would like to hear how these localization helps small business." ==== CONTINUING ================= --== SEO Relevance Factors ==-- ~ Tom Aman "...a lot of the things that are thought necessary for good rankings are actually myths." ~ Leon Simmons "Google absolutely takes note of the description meta tag..." ========= NEW ===================================== <Moderator Comment> Greetings LEDers, Looks like I'm back in the moderator's chair :) I've really enjoyed having some time away - still reading the list of course but it's much different as an observer. I'll be traveling next week down to Santa Clara for the SMX conference, put on by Danny Sullivan and friends ( http://searchmarketingexpo.com ). I'm really looking forward to this conference. There are tons of great people going, many of them friends and many I've yet to meet. The best part of conferences is the networking, but at SMX there are at least half a dozen sessions that look really interesting to me. Of course I've also got a number of client projects to juggle and a few conference calls, in addition to SMX (... not to mention the parties) so I'll have to balance that out. I'd like to cover some of the conference here in the LED, so I'll hold off and only publish issues today (Monday), Wednesday and Friday. We'll be back to the regular program again on Monday, March 3. I think I'd also like to invite Nathan Holley back to moderate again - provided he agrees. I like his style of moderating since it's so different than my own. One last link for you - read this article by Rand Fishkin. In it he responds to a Michael Martinez piece called "The Thoughtful SEO's Manifesto" with his "Brash SEO's Antifesto." The end result is a sort of philosophical interchange between the two on what constitutes the fundamentals of search engine optimization theory. I probably just made it sound boring or confusing - trust me it's not. It's really entertaining: http://www.seomoz.org/blog/the-brash-seos-antifesto Have a productive week! -Adam PS - I'm on the hunt for a project management tool. There's one catch: it can't be Basecamp. I've used Basecamp a lot... too much probably... and would like to try something else. I like the minimal mindset Basecamp uses, but need more functionality. One tool I'm experimenting with is FogBugz.com, which is actually a tool for software teams, but I think it can be creatively adapted for search marketing teams. -------------------- From: Jeremy Weiss Subject: 50 Questions to Evaluate Sites by Came across an article today titled, "50 Questions to Evaluate the Quality of Your Website" and thought I'd share. While I'm sure it's not perfect it has a great list of things to make you think about your website objectively. http://www.searchenginejournal.com/50-questions-to-evaluate... -Jeremy Weiss -------- new post - new topic -------- From: Mary Moppins Subject: Keyword Purchases Hi Ledders, This is a new one for me. There is an Asian company who is wanting to sell me not only domain names such as goclean.asia etc but also the keyword "goclean." They claim to have a holding company (Doxter Holdings Limited) willing to pay $1400 for the keyword "goclean" and over $500 for 5 or 6 "goclean" Asian domain names. Of course I use the keyword "goclean" all the time. Has anyone heard of such a thing as "buying" or owning a keyword? It sounds to me like they are trying to extort money from me. I didn't think you could "own" a keyword. I don't think legally there is anything I can do to stop someone from registering the domain name goclean.asia or goclean.cc or goclean.com.cc. I just do not have the funds to purchase all the possible endings for my domain name. I'm not about to pay them this amount of money as they will only continue to extort money from me but I would greatly appreciate any insight you have. Best, Mary Findley www.goclean.com ========= Begin Sponsor Message ========= Inexpensive Content Rotator Rotate any part of a page. Or even the whole page. ~ Image ~ Headline ~ Leading paragraph ~ Special pricing Content Carousel - http://www.willmaster.com/carousel ========== End Sponsor Message ========== -------- new post - new topic -------- From: Viggie Subject: Google & Yahoo Local Hi all, The Google Local & Yahoo Local services are around for a while. Does anybody tried it? Are they worthwhile on it's own? Also, I came across Google Mobile Maps which lists local search results integrated on local map for directions [www.google.com/gmm/] Would like to hear how these localization helps small business. And also how it will affect the general search results. Eager to know the experiences and opinions from LEDers. Cheers, Viggie Bala Helping websites to work http://www.viggie.com ======== CONTINUING =============================== From: Tom Aman Subject: SEO relevance There has been all kinds of discussion here about many SEO things. For some interesting reading (and some points that are contradictory to some *advice* given in LED), check the article "SEO Basics in 45 Minutes" by Kalena Jordan. The article is a report on a 45 minute presentation by Jill Whalen and can be found at: http://www.sitepronews.com/archives/2008/feb/20.html Basically, it says that a lot of the things that are thought necessary for good rankings are actually myths. Hope it provokes some good discussions here. Tom Aman Aman Software http://www.cyberspyder.com -------- new post - same topic -------- From: Leon Simmons Subject: SEO relevance > The DESCRIPTION meta tag is not used by any > of the search engines for relevance scoring > but it is certainly important for making a > listing in search results more compelling > and informative. - Michael Martinez, LED 2595 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/2010/190/ This is not my experience. Google absolutely takes note of the description meta tag and it most certainly does affect the position of a page in the search results. I have many hundreds of examples on a number of my websites where the description tag has been used to attract the attention of Google -- and not only does Google elevate the page in the search results, it highlights the precise keywords / phrase in the description that has been inputed by the Google user. I would also question the long held theory that search engines ignore keyword meta tags -- I have no doubt that a sophistcated outfit like Google would use all means at their disposal to utilise any info that is presented to their bots. Cheers Leon (c) Copyright 1995-2008 Orange Wheel, LLC. All Rights Reserved. ----------------------------------------------------------------- "I hate television. I hate it as much as peanuts. But I can't stop eating peanuts." - Orson Welles |
