| LED Digest 2202: Anchor Text and Rankings |
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The LED Digest
Moderated Discussion List
"Effective Online Advertising, Since 1997"
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List Moderator: Published by:
Adam Audette LED Digest
adam, led-digest.com http://www.led-digest.com
.............................................
July 13, 2006 Issue no. 2202
.............................................
.....IN THIS DIGEST.....
====== NEW =====================
<Moderator Comment>
~ Remember I-Search?
~ Fixed vs. Fluid Designs: Why Fixed?
~ Survey Services / Software: Ever Surveyed?
--== Anchor Text and Rankings ==--
~ Nathan Holley
"...keywords in link anchors will eventually go
the way of keywords in meta tags."
==== CONTINUING =================
--== SEO Conferences & Public Speaking ==--
~ Mekhong Kurt
"Dirk, may I suggest that perhaps your phrasing
is a bit too broad?"
--== Web Hosting Newbie ==--
~ Bob Cavanagh
"After trying several registrars I finally ended
up with Baremetal..."
~ Noah Masterson
"I recommend Modwest..."
~ Diane Aull
"I recommend [pair Networks] highly."
~ David S. Taylor
"...you might already have most of the resources
you need with your ISP."
~ Carrie Cassidy
"Get your domain name yourself..."
=========== NEW ==================================
<Moderator Comment>
Greetings LEDer,
Remember I-Search? Most of the regulars here will, surely. For those
of you who've never heard of it: I-Search was an excellent
discussion list for topics related to search engine optimization
(SEO) published from '98 until late 2003 / early 2004. It was part
of a suite of professional business lists published by Adventive.
I-Search was a classic list, and heavily relied on by the industry.
Well, good news -- the I-Search model is returning anew. Detlev
Johnson, the well-regarded moderator of the old I-Search list, has
sprung up a new community geared to SEO/M and the technical and
business aspects the industry is involved in. It's called
SearchReturn, and I highly recommend subscribing. Detlev is keeping
the list free of advertising, and is providing a neat "Essential
News" feature that encapsulate the major newsworthy items of the
week. Discussions are spotty right now, but that's to be expected
with a new list, and it will only improve over time.
Check it out and subscribe here:
Let's help support another needed email discussion list and give
Detlev a spike in subscribers!
--------------------
On to a couple new topics...
1) Fixed vs. Fluid Designs: Why Fixed?
I received an email from an LEDer this week wondering about fixed
width websites vs. "fluid" designs. She wasn't posting, just
wondering why anyone would *want* a fixed width site, especially
when CSS and XHMTL allow for such clever fluid designs. Since I'm
not experienced in Web design, and this sort of topic is right up
LED's alley, I'll leave it up to the list to answer her.
2) Survey Services and Software: Ever Surveyed?
This question is my own. I'm wondering what site survey software or
services you've used, your experiences with them, and your
recommendations. I'm also hoping for a broader discussion of how
site or list demographics have helped (or have not helped) your
advertising efforts.
I'm interested in finding out more about the LED list. I don't want
any personal information or anything like that, just basic facts
about gender, occupational field, etc. I've got a pretty good idea
(intuitively) of what our subscriber list consists of, but I've
never actually surveyed the list to find out. I'm hearing from
several advertisers interested in supporting the list that this
information is important to them.
--------------------
Okay, that's all I got. On to the topics at hand. A huge response to
Pepper Kay, by the way!
Best wishes,
adam
----------------------------------
From: Nathan Holley
Subject: Anchor Text and Rankings
Given all the hoopla surrounding Google's "miserable failure" search
(and no, I don't wish to get into a political debate about George W.
Bush), it's becoming apparent to me that the "Big G's" algorithm is
possibly faulty. Then again, it's possibly brilliant. I'm not quite
sure yet.
For one thing, it's possibly faulty because ranking sites based upon
weighted anchor text in incoming links opens an easy gate to abuse.
Link spam is so prevalent now that reciprocal linking, once a
favored technique in the 'Net community and powerful because of it,
has eroded to a game clowns play. Please - there is still legitimate
reciprocal linking happening online - I don't doubt that. Doing it
correctly still works, no doubt will always work, that's not the
point. Point is link spam is ruining Google.
Or is it? Because maybe this is all brilliant. Here's why: Google is
letting the Internet power results. Sure, there's link spam, there's
cheating. For instance, the miserable failure comedy. This reveals
that a lot of work has been done by anti-Bush types, or it reveals
that a lot of people like that anchor text when referencing him.
Either way, is this so bad? Maybe not. Maybe they're letting the
massive behemoth that is the online community change the direction
sites take in their listings.
There's an empowering aspect to this. Yet it has to change. It's too
obvious how one can sabotage a site - throw up massive link spam w/
plenty of significant anchor text. So, Google must change the weight
they assign to anchor text. I feel, personally, that keywords in
link anchors will eventually go the way of keywords in meta tags.
Your LEDer,
Nathan Holley
(with the invisible website)
======== CONTINUING ===============================
From: Mekhong Kurt
Subject: Conferences
> At many large SEO shows, it's a parade of the same
> people, all offering their same old perspective on linking,
> again and again. I would like to think that it is the show
> management's responsibility to seek alternative voices.
- Dirk Johnson, LED 2201
Hello, Dirk --
I'm not able to log into this forum daily due simply to the everyday
weight of numerous responsibilities, but I have just checked into my
very most favorite e-discussion newletter and ready your reply to
Shari Thurow, after which I backed up an issue and read her reply to
your original post, which I also read.
You ask some very legitimate questions and make some significant
points. Given my geographical constrictions -- I live in Thailand
-- I've never had the opportunity to attend any of these various
conferences.
May I make a couple suggestions -- and ask you to stand by while I
make one after to Shari? I don't know Shari, nor have we ever done
business with each other, but I do follow her, and have corresponded
with her a time or two.
I taught English and business communications at the university level
quite a number of years. I often touched on public speaking, some
of which I have done myself, if not recently. Prior to teaching in
university, I worked in law enforcement and security in America, and
at supervisory ranks a huge part of my task was to teach officers
how to communicate with the public (other than those times it was
go-to-lock-and-load-since-nothing-else-is-possible).
Dirk, may I suggest that perhaps your phrasing is a bit too broad?
Sure, there are a lot of SEO scam artists out there; I have a
website, and I'm deluged with their garbage every day. While I
cannot offer hard scientific evidence to support what I feel, I do
feel Shari is indeed in the white-hat group. As far as I've ever
been able to discern, she is one of those rarities in today's
business world: a lady with a conscience, with a committment.
But Dirk, I promised you a comment to Shari, and here it comes.
Shari -- C'mon. You selection of the word "whining" to describe
Dirk's post was at least arguably harsh. In my view, it was not a
choice up to your usual standards -- standards among the best in
public posting I've ever seen in the 20+ years I've been on
bullentin boards, then the Internet.
Let me give an example just yesterday. I get headlines from a local
English-language newspaper. The first breathless headline about
what now -- a full day later -- appears to have been separatist or
terrorist bombings of commuter trains in India. That SMS alert came
out less than an hour after the explosions -- and the local rag ran
something along the lines of "Horrific terrorist bombings in seven
locations in India kill more than a hundred people." I rushed to an
Internet connection and checked all sorts of respected international
news sources -- only to find all of them were far more cautios:
"Reports of numerous explosions on Indian commuter trains" was a
solid example of every other report.
Dirk, chill out. Check Shari out on the Internet. You'll find
almost entirely positive reports, ones justly deserved by here.
Shari -- first time I've seen a hot button in you. Is it worth
thinking about? -- maybe not, I readily admit. And I think I
remember reading, and benefitting, from a number of Dirk's earlier
posts, if I have the right Dirk in mind.
With the warmest regards to both of you,
Mekhong Kurt, Webmaster
Bangkok's Voice On The Web
-------- new post - new topic --------
From: Bob Cavanagh
Subject: Hosting newbie
> Can someone give me some recommendations for
> a service provider who will host a relatively simple
> series of pages... AND will allow me to be the
> administrator and OWNER of everything ??
- Pepper Kay, LED 2201
Pepper,
I believe there are many ethical companies out there who will
provide the services you need in a reliable and repeatable fashion.
But I've had some bad experiences myself and as I have now found one
of the "good guys" I thought I'd pass the reference to you.
I took over a very bad situation here in 2001 with range of
registered domains held both through Network Solutions and an ad
agency that was being fired. Obviously getting our domains out of
the clutches of the ad agency was difficult and expensive. But
NetSol didn't make things any easier. After trying several
registrars I finally ended up with Baremetal (baremetal.com) in
Victoria, Canada. They are not the lowest cost registrar but they
have a reliable on-line service for registration, renewals and DNS
support. I can do everything myself through web interfaces that are
clear and easy to use. They have good technical support but there
is no question about who is in control.
Baremetal also hosts websites but I have no experience with them as
we both run our own servers and use a large ISP in Toronto for our
marketing server.
Bob Cavanagh, Director of Technology
Queen's School of Business
-------- new post - same topic --------
From: Noah Masterson
Subject: Hosting newbie
I recommend Modwest (www.modwest.com/webhosting). Their starter plan
is $8.95/month with $19.95 setup. Their customer service is second
to none (read testimonials at
However, when you say you want to just "press a button and have it
upload and be available," does that mean you don't want to use an
FTP client to upload your content? That may require one of the big,
all-in-one services like Yahoo! Web Hosting, which helps with site
design, too.
Noah Masterson, Publisher
-------- new post - same topic --------
From: Diane Aull
Subject: Hosting newbie
Long time lurker, first time poster.
Pepper,
I notice one of the sponsors of this issue of LED is pair Networks.
I've hosted both my own and client sites with them for many years
and have always been happy with their support and service. They've
got a really good support section on their website and a friendly
and helpful support staff who will help you get going. I recommend
them highly.
Hope this helps!
Diane Aull
Helping Businesses Do Business Online
-------- new post - same topic --------
From: David S. Taylor
Subject: Hosting newbie
Pepper Kay,
Sounds like you just need a simple web page that's easy to manage.
I'm sure there are lots of folks out there that would be happy to
sell you hosting space, myself included. But if your needs are
really simple you might already have most of the resources you need
with your ISP.
For example, my cable modem service is with EarthLink and they
provide something like 6 MB of web space per user, and I think you
get up to six users on an account. They have simple web site
creation software that is pretty much fill in the blanks, drag and
drop. The other large ISPs probably provide something similar.
It's usually for "personal" sites so if you are going to be listing
a lot of condos and it's a business you need to check the terms and
conditions with the provider.
To get around the long URL on the ISP, look at registering a domain
with one of the providers that provides a URL redirection. I've
used MyDomain.com in the past and know that it works, and I believe
others like GoDaddy provide a similar service. You can get a domain
for less than $10 per year and you will control it. Using URL
redirection you can have www.yourdomain.com point to
www.ispname.com/complicated_directory_structure/yourname so folks
can navigate to your site using your domain name. You can also set
up e-mail accounts that point to your existing account.
Is it as professional as a "real" hosting account? No. Does it
provide a good low cost solution for simple web hosting using
resources you might already be paying for? Yes. As I mentioned
earlier, if it's a business you are looking to host check the T&Cs
with the provider to make sure you can put up a business page.
Hope that helps,
David S. Taylor
Web Hosting for Small Businesses and Individuals
-------- new post - same topic --------
From: Carrie Cassidy
Subject: Hosting newbie
Pepper,
Get your domain name yourself... either through your web site host,
(I use Netfirms.com and am quite happy with them, but Pair Networks
would also be top notch, as they support this top notch Digest, and
I've heard good things about them over the years.) Or buy the domain
name yourself through lot's of places... godaddy.com is one (maybe
not the favorite of some), internic.ca, domainpeople.com, etc. (just
google domain name registration).
I know some will object, but Frontpage is the program I use to
maintain my own web pages simply because I can not afford to hire
anyone to work on my pages www.candybarwrapper.ca. It's one button
uploading, and really simple for the novice to use and to update
regularly..
My pages are nothing special and very simple, but from all the help
I"ve received from people on this list over the years, it ranks
pretty well for my main keywords, and almost all my business is from
online contacts and word of mouth. (or "taste" of mouth..<wink>)
My only frustration is not knowing how to make really good Paypal
links that would re-act to input from customers as to location,
number of bars purchased, and size of bars purchased, to give them a
quote up front, and one button ordering, but some day I will likely
outsource that when finances will allow me to.
It's served me well over the years, and as I grew to know about
keywords, and header tags, etc, I could change them on that program
easily, so it's got my recommendation.
Good luck..
Carrie Cassidy
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