| LED Digest 2114: Linking for Niche Branding |
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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 10, 2006 Issue #2114 .............................................. .....IN THIS DIGEST..... ==== CONTINUING ================= --== Reputable SEO/M Services? ==-- ~ Dirk Johnson "Reciprocal linking, at it's core, is not about SEO. It is about branding within a realm of interest." --== Cell Phone Visitors ==-- ~ Tom Aman "My cell phone came with Web browsing capability built in." ==== BILLBOARD =================== --== Outsourcing ==-- ~ Rick Gortatowsky ======== CONTINUING =============================== From: Dirk Johnson Subject: SEO services > You should not need an ongoing > link-building campaign. - Michael Martinez, LED 2113 Once again, Michael, you've advised someone to not undertake link building (reciprocation implied, I suspect). This is not the first time you've said similar things here, and likely not the last. It's one of your ongoing tenets, and we've gone 'round 'n 'round about this before. So, here we go again... I am sure that you have your own well-considered reasons for making your statement, and you are entitled to them. You seem to have a very hardened opinion about all of this. But other LED readers should be made aware of what you are overlooking and what Claudia needs to know before she takes your advice to heart. Her sites and their subject matter www.askmothersadvice.com and www.recipesforbaby.com actually do lend themselves to a vigorous and productive link campaign, and one that might reap a number of benefits. In fact, her site is one of the best candidates for reciprocal linking that I have ever seen. Michael, before your run to your keyboard and accuse me of "self-promotion", (which you've done before here in LED Digest, and not just to me...), I would like to point out that Claudia's sites do not really lend themselves to our linking services. We do not have the link prospects in our database that are appropriate for her sites. Her link campaign would be quite specific, and it would be best managed internally, in some way. So, let's get that issue off the table. I am not soliciting her business. Just making observations from having done a lot of this kind of work. That said, there are quite likely dozens and dozens of sites that would readily link with Claudia's sites. Self-help sites, motherhood sites, baby sites and a host of others. Seeking them out and finding the ones that publicly offer to reciprocate, then making the effort to do that, can result in a number of positive benefits. - First, the link itself can generate traffic. Since these are niche sites, some of the link directories will be quite small and very focused. A link placed there can be easily seen and clicked. Site visitors do peruse niche link directories. Some of the sites that link back may have substantial traffic. One never know's what comes, until they try. - Link requests are like press releases. They generate secondary interest with the site owners whom you solicit. Book reviews, mentions, editorial citations, and other secondary results can derive from a link request, especially when the product underlying the request is unique, as in Claudia's case. - When a site really does have genuine "good content" (that great holy grail in the SEO world), then initiating link requests is like pouring fuel on that fire. You need a catalyst so people find it in the first place. - Sometimes, these secondary results from link requests produce third-level responses and interest from other media outlets, distributors, retailers, etc. Links generate other links and other inquiries. This is where forum postings take place, and other third-level consequential links. Awareness spreads. - Direct sales. Since the other site owners are in the same realm of interest, direct clients and customers occasionally do result from link requests. - The links earned are extremely relevant, providing excellent link reputation benefits in the eyes of the engines. - Links generate goodwill and awareness within the niche communities. Sites that cooperate within a niche tend to do well, and are seen as pillars of their community. Again, this generates even more links, many of them one-way. Those are just a few of the benefits of pursuing a reciprocal link program for a niche site. They are the very reasons that successful sites have reciprocated with each other from the very inception of the World Wide Web, and long before search engines even existed. Many of the most established and oldest niche portals used reciprocation in their early years as their primary means of spreading the word about their sites. And doing it is still valid.There are even more reciprocation opportunities today. Reciprocal linking, at it's core, is not about SEO. It is about branding within a realm of interest. Certainly, many sites ignore this phenomenon, and do not reciprocate. Some sites can still do well without it. On the other hand, the cost of branding via reciprocal linking is often marginal when compared with other methods of building awareness and links. For niche sites, reciprocal linking tends to provide a very high return-on-investment, for the reasons outlined above. But it does take work. It's is by no means effortless or "free". Doing it effectively takes good tools and determination. Certainly, differences of opinion make the world go round, but advising someone to not do this is a very curious. Especially in Claudia's case, as her circumstances imply a very successful and productive link building campaign. At least when viewed through my own experience, which includes hundreds of client sites, across a wide variety of circumstances. Best regards, Dirk Johnson, Partner - Operations DomainDrivers LLC www.domaindrivers.com www.linkstrategy.com -------- new post - new topic -------- From: Tom Aman Subject: Cell phones > I checked in my Dreamweaver 8 and found a document type XHTML > Mobile 1.0. Would that be for cell phone-compatible pages? - Tom Anson, LED 2113 The answer is "yes". There is also WML (Wireless Markup Language) that has been around for awhile. But rather than just limiting it to cell phones, the more general term is "hand-held devices". This includes PDAs, Palm Pilots, Windows CE devices, and Internet-ready cell phones and probably others. If you still think of a cell phone screen as a little tiny monochrome screen with space for only three or four short lines of text, take time to check out the latest cell phones. My cell phone, like many (most?) modern phones, came with Web browsing capability built in. While the screen on a cell phone may be relatively tiny, it is still large enough to convey useable information. Whether or not it is worth making pages for hand-held devices, I suspect that depends very much on the purpose of the site. For more info, check out http://webdesign.about.com/od/pdas/. And for an idea of the future possibilities, look at http://www.bitflash.com/ and http://www.qualcomm.com/ Tom Aman Aman Software http://www.cyberspyder.com ==== BILLBOARD =================================== From: Rick Gortatowsky Subject: Outsourcing > I don't think boycotting products made in other countries is the > answer. Instead, I think if we produce products that are of higher > quality, spending more money as a consumer will not be an issue. - Joanne Glasspoole, LED 2107 Boycotting imports is not the answer. I think perhaps you misconstrued my LED 2106 message. I did not mention boycott of goods or services. What I stated was that if Americans took 15% of expendable income and bought US made merchandise with those funds our economy would be booming. That in fact Americans need excercise a certain level of purchasing nationalism. Many other nations do put fairly strict limits on importation so as no singular external entities afford sizeable control over a respective nations economy. With the USA this has slipped. While I have nothing against the firm, Walmart is a remarkable example. Most goods within Walmart are made in China and exported to the USA. This did not used to be the case when Sam Walton was CEO of Walmart. People will buy what is most affordable to buy leaving money to buy more. Thats why the USA is and has been the market to the world in consumption for decades now. Walmart as a case example actually impacts our economies valuation, they are that big. When in our countries history have any of us ever heard that a retailer... note, not manufacturer, not distributor has considerable control and impact on our economy? K/Mart? Sears? Many others have went near belly up, others belly up and never noted as a sizeable economic impactor. If Walmart folded up tomorrow we would all feel economic impact. This is a retailer and that is significant. Said retailer used to buy goods all made in the USA. Now said retailer imports most merchandise and does not buy it but instead consigns. How much control do they afford really. Well, DVD manufacturers, electronics manf.'s and many others live in fear of Walmart. They in fact sell so much that they have control over terms. Again I have nothing against the company itself. I do take issue with the trade imbalance between us and trading partners. Exportation of wealth can only have one end result. This end result is not something the USA has ever witnessed on the scale it is happening at now. This end result the population will not cope with when it strikes home with no paths out. Last election it was stated that small business is thriving in America and this is where our economic strength lay. We were displayed examples such as a tow truck firm in the mid-west. How silly! How stupid... Small and medium sized businesses have and do live in large part off the good graces of large business. Perhaps they then grow large and other businesses are able to rely on future business with them. Small and medium sized businesses did not keep America atop the world economies in history past. Corporations did and do. Small and medium sized businesses then have an opportunity to thrive both in competition with large business and by revenue in an economy generated by said large businesses. This mechanism is broken. Corporations are instead investing in people other than those here as well as businesses overseas. Take this business of port operations all over the news. Is it significant? Perhaps yes, perhaps no. Irregardless of who owns the rights to port operations the fact is 5% of all containers entering this country are inspected. In illegally replicated and imported software alone into US markets with subsequent resale figures are upwards of a billion dollars. Where does it come from? China. Its in fact so lucrative that India is now engaging in same to Europe where India owns most port warehousing. Here in the USA, China owns most port warehousing. 5% of those huge railway containers are ever inspected. We have outsourced port operations to England for years. Where-as this should be something that is strictly US based. For example, people would be flipping out if instead of ports it were, "A company owned by the United Arab Emirates Government has been sold the contract for Airline security". Lets see John Q. Public swallow that one. The $200 Billion dollars spent in making Iraq a democracy is enough money to have actually done considerable true homeland security. The President is right, we are at war. However, we the public are not sure who we are at war with and why. Why? Well, take your pick: 1. Economically we are a dead duck we just do not yet feel it. 2. We are at war for resources in a world where we now need compete with China and India for them. 3. We are at a crusades point. A cultural war where lifestyle, beliefs and religion all are at risk. Or... perhaps all three. Planes did not fly into a football stadium or more densly populated areas. What was struck was a western financial hub. The hoped for impact was severe economic disruption and damage. A few days back a oil field was attempted. Economically we know certain things. The US has severe debt crippling all of us from business to personal life. In our economy prices do not drop when there is less, they go up. If less citizens have health care insurance, health care costs will rise. In any event... I could go on. My guess is its moot. My guess is our economy is so far gone that the "war" we are not yet truly engaged in (but will happen) will be a fight for US survival. Yes, terrorism be it called will hit home again but this will be nothing in comparison to what we "give". Real war will devastate all but the rich economically but future generations may again enjoy wealth. If Americans want a healthy America without having to take by force others wealth then the masses of population need to take steps now. Those steps include becoming activated towards change and when spending money making absolutely certain that at least 15% of that money is spent on US made goods and US owned companies. Buying a Toyota made in Georgia still results in profit going syonara out of the country. As to your dilema of should I or should'nt I use offshore outsourced work for your small business? Well... again, here sits a personal choice. You can keep more in your pocket by not doing so or you can watch less of your money end up leaving America by doing so but giving another nation more ability to compete with us. I am all for competition but it helps if its fair. We live in a nation by which foreign goods copyrighted, patented still are afforded rights. Nations that are effectively gathering our wealth could care less about such things. Benefit and entitlement issues aside in nations... at the VERY least foreign governments need enforce intellectual property rights and that is just not happening. The USA is basically in a lose, lose, lose situation and the people need realize this and get activated on it. Government in many of these aspects is powerless. Many think government is just stupid. Incorrect. China is a fine example. We could tarrif imports, we could put strict trade balance enforcement in place. But... whether the government does or does not our economy is what gets hurt the most. My guess is our economy could not take it. China is the largest holder of US National debt. They hold the economic keys to our porsche. The government cannot come out and say to us all, "Buy USA and not Chinese etc etc"... As again, they dont have the economic keys. China may go, "Oh so thats the way its played aye?". No. The ONLY people who can rescue this economy are the people. The masses. They need to get back to basics and they need realize that they are in fact exporting their own wealth and future. They need make sure that at least 15% of what they have as expendable income is spent on US made goods and said goods owned by US made companies. If they dont it appears what we may see is currency wise in the next 20 years will be, "God Bless America - A wholly owned subsidiary of The Peoples Republic Of China". Rick Gortatowsky ------------------------------------------------------- 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. "We see many who are struggling against adversity who are happy, and more although abounding in wealth, who are wretched." - Tacitus |
