| LED Digest 2112: The SEO Geek Fest |
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================================================== The LED Digest Moderated Discussion List "Effective Online Advertising, Since 1997" pair Networks: The LED's Web Host Hosting and Domain Reg. from a Trusted Leader pair.com for Hosting | pairNIC.com for Domains ================================================== List Moderator: Published by: Adam Audette LED Digest adam, led-digest.com http://www.led-digest.com .............................................. March 8, 2006 Issue #2112 .............................................. .....IN THIS DIGEST..... ==== CONTINUING ================= --== Reputable SEO/M Services? ==-- ~ Anthony Kirlew "I would start by...learning a bit about how to do your own search engine submissions..." ~ James Miller "I’ve recently signed up to Google Sitemap and I find it very useful..." ~ Dirk Johnson "Those who truly succeed tend to be the ones who [understand] the technology..." --== Link Display Problem ==-- ~ Kerry Branham "My first thought is to reboot the computer." ~ Tom Anson "The issue was visited links." ==== BILLBOARD =================== --== The LED Archives, PageRank & Google ==-- ~ Michael Martinez ======== CONTINUING =============================== From: Anthony Kirlew Subject: SEO services > Are there any reasonably priced [SEO/M] > companies you can suggest? - Claudia Lynn, LED 2111 Claudia, If you don't have a budget, I would start by doing some research and learning a bit about how to do your own search engine submissions at www.searchenginewatch.com. I can't imagine getting any quality service from anyone for the prices you mention ($50-$100 per month), our monthly minimum is $950, but I do realize that it outprices some of the smaller online businesses. Also, you may considering converting your hardcover book to an ebook. This will increase your profits as your production costs will be "zero", and your shipping time will be eliminated. If you do go with the ebook route, I would also strongly consider implementing an affiliate program to have other ebook marketers sell your ebooks. Clickbank.com is a great place to find affiliate marketers for ebooks. I hope that helps. Anthony Kirlew The Web Traffic Team www.webtrafficteam.com -------- new post - same topic -------- From: James Miller Subject: SEO services I typed Ask Mothers Advice into Google and you are number one. So my first question is, is that because you've used a company or because of the content? In most cases, it's usually the latter in my experience. I've done two web sites for authors and both have climbed Google with ease, as there has been quite a bit of publicity about them and their books. So I'd spend the money saved on other small methods of promotions, such as postcards and point-of-sale posters. The latter can easily be made downloadable from your site. One thing I would do with your site is split some of the pages into manageable chunks. At present if someone types a specific text into Google, and what they need is at the bottom of the page, they'll go away. Split and they'll read it. You also get more foot soldiers for your hits. I've recently signed up to Google Site Map and I find it very useful in finding why people turn up at my web sites. In one case, this has suggested that I write a new product. James Miller Daisy Analysis www.daisy.co.uk -------- new post - same topic -------- From: Dirk Johnson Subject: SEO services Claudia, I commend you on your determination. You are taking control, and using the Web to market with your product. But with that comes the challenges of making it a viable business. In nearly 10 years of building and running a wide variety of websites for my own ventures, and working for hundreds of clients, I have come to realize one over-riding factor. It's a geek-fest out here. Those who truly succeed at it tend to be the ones who immerse themselves in understanding the technology and how that relates to their business goals. They use that knowledge to develop creative methods that will establish an advantage. Claudia, this is not directed at you. I am just making these points in order to set up my later advice. Over the years, I have seen many examples of business owners who avoid the World Wide Web, hoping that someone else will come along and solve it all for them. Occasionally, that does happen, in the form of a dedicated service provider or and exceptional employee, but it's rare. A disinterested / distracted owner repeatedly makes the wrong decisions (or fails to address the necessary decisions in the first place) with respect to their websites, especially in a competitive environment. They are always playing catch up. That business owner will argue that there is not the time or money to address their online marketing efforts. Big and small company owners both make this argument. But the online marketplace does not wait, and simply rewards those who do make the right choices, which could be an upstart, or an established player. Size does not matter. It comes down to execution and focus. Successful business on the WWW is stacked in favor of the tech-oriented, number-crunching, analyst-type of business owner who is always looking for an edge. I get to see it first-hand, across a lot of industries. The most successful are also the most engaged. Reluctantly treating a website as a necessary annoyance always means losing ground. Claudia, you and all the rest of us LED Digest readers are trying hard to differentiate ourselves as the former, not the latter, while the bar continues to rise. It's not easy. So, back to your question about finding an SEO outfit that fits your budget. My advice to you is to first self-educate as much as possible. Then you have the right knowledge to hire someone who will then do it for you, or, depending on your time and budget, you may need to do some of it yourself. Either way, you will have a much better understanding of your goals, strategy, tactics, and needs, and the estimated time needed to do it. You could start by putting "SEO basics" into a search engine, or go to http://www.sempo.org/learning_center/, the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization learning center. Do realize that the advice on this subject will vary. Look for some consensus. Claudia, you are not alone in your frustration with having hired an SEO service provider that did not deliver, but they are not all that way. Your primary protection in the future is your own knowledge base, and how you use that going forward. The successful site owner does not need to do everything themselves, but the more they know, the more effective they will be in directing those who do. Best regards, Dirk Johnson, Partner - Operations DomainDrivers LLC www.domaindrivers.com www.linkstrategy.com -------- new post - new topic -------- From: Kerry Branham Subject: Link display > As I was working on a new page of my website, > I noticed almost inadvertently that some of my links > had gone from a readable teal to an almost > invisible white. - Tom Anson, LED 2111 My first thought is to reboot the computer. I have often run into similar problems with coding websites. If you work any way similar to the way I do you have about 8 or 10 windows open at one time - including an image editor. You're jumping around from one to the other. Windows is not the best memory manager in the world, and RAM can, and does, get corrupted. I'm running a machine with 1 Gb RAM and a 128 Mb video card, and memory still gets corrupted. If you always leave your computer on, it's a good idea to reboot it once or twice per week anyway just to reset the memory if nothing else. Good luck, Kerry Branham K-S Marketing kib, ksmnet.com --------- new post - same topic -------- From: Tom Anson Subject: Link display Hi everyone. I'd like to thank all of you LED-ers who took the time to take a look at my website (http://www.essential-vitamins.com) to see what was going on with my links. In the time between sending in the question and its publication, I found a solution. The issue was visited links. Apparently, for some reason, they decided to switch to white. They were not told to do this and had not done it before. All I can figure is that the Amazon link must have changed the dynamic of the page somehow. Anyway, all I had to do was define a color for visited links in my CSS. I have three other sites up, all using basically the same styleSheet; this is the only one where I had to define this -- and I hadn't needed to it here just a few minutes before. I really do tend to believe in gremlins. Thanks again to all of you who took time to help with this. I really appreciate your efforts. Tom Anson Anson Aromatic Essentials http://www.therapeutic-grade.com ==== BILLBOARD =================================== From: Michael Martinez Subject: LED archives > I wasn't making an argument for the value of PageRank in inbound > links. But seeing as you brought it up, Google themselves state... - Steve Pronger, LED 2111 You keep missing the point. > I agree that soliciting links on the basis of PageRank alone is no > longer an effective or wise strategy, but dismissing the PR of a > linking page as inconsequential is folly in my view. Since no one but Google knows which links are conferring PageRank and Reputation, it is now a complete waste of time for people to look at PR when seeking out links. There is no benefit to doing it, no value whatsoever, no reliable information, no effective gauge or measurement. You cannot determine from a page's PR whether the outbound links are useful to anyone. Michael Martinez ------------------------------------------------------- The LED Digest is sponsored by pair Networks: pair.com for Hosting | pairNIC.com for Domains © Copyright 1995-2006 Orange Wheel, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 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