| LED Digest 1930: Site Technology Fads |
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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 ............................................... February 8, 2005 Issue #1930 ............................................... .....IN THIS DIGEST..... ==== CONTINUING ================= --== Judging Sites by Technology? ==-- ~ Mary Johnson "From a search engine visibility stand point, there is no difference..." ~ Sheryl Coppenger "On the apache web server...separating different kinds of coding by extension is a choice..." --== RSS Feeds ==-- ~ Dan Thies "...there isn't necessarily much heavy lifting involved in coding this." ~ Steve Pronger "I'd be keen to hear from any other affiliate marketers who are experimenting with RSS." --== Sacking SpamCop ==-- ~ Chris Nielsen "Flawed it may be, but I am only aware of two other things that the average user can do..." ==== BILLBOARD =================== --== PHP Concerns ==-- ~ Michael Martinez ===== CONTINUING ================================= From: Mary Johnson Subject: Judging Sites by Technology? > ... talking to youngsters... I have heard many a report of them > judging sites on technology. So if the pages are .php, or .asp > the site is 'better' than if they were '.html'. Do any of you have > any figures on such information? - John Smart, LED 1929 Regarding whether a ".php" or ".asp" site is better than an ".html" site -- it depends. >From a search engine visibility stand point, there is no difference, because .php / .asp / .cfm web pages are evaluated at the server level and the .php / .asp / .cfm-"specific" code is converted to html by the time it is displayed. In other words, if a database is accessed for name and address info, the resulting values retrieved from the database are "hard coded" into the .html. You and the search engine spiders can't tell the difference. The end result is the same when viewing the source from any browser. FYI, I am not talking about the "?" and "&" that are in web page pathnames to pass parameters to databases. That is a horse of another color. >From a maintainability, usability, cost-effective, sophistication, growth stand point, a .php / .asp / .cfm site costs more to build up front but allows for easy, real-time web page updates just by changing data in the database. Which solution you choose should be a business decision based on your budget, need for frequency of web site updates, amount of data that needs to be maintained, etc. Don't fall into the trap of listening to some that base their advice only on which state-of-the-art technology will advance their careers -- they clearly don't understand business thinking. Mary Johnson Web Site Helper www.websitehelper.com ------- new post - same topic -------- From: Sheryl Coppenger Subject: Judging Sites by Technology? > ... talking to youngsters (people under 25 years of age, > and how old do I feel right now???) I have heard many > a report of them judging sites on technology. - John Smart, LED 1929 If it's even a fad, it's a pretty half-baked one. On the apache web server, which is used by 60-70 per cent of the sites, separating different kinds of coding by extension is a choice -- not a necessity. And there are other kinds of tricks to play. For instance, I could tell my configuration file that my PHP files end in .asp (and actually write it that way) and mess with a few heads. There actually are legitimate reasons for doing that sort of thing. If you obfuscate your OS and programming language, any hackers out there will be trying the wrong tricks to break in. I once attended an admin conference where an admin showed his logs from a not-as- cool-as-he-thought-he-was script kiddie who took out all of the Linux rootkit tricks -- but the operating system was FreeBSD. :-) If I had a single-purpose server with sensitive data on it, SSN or credit info, I'd probably consider doing something like that. Sheryl Coppenger ------- new post - new topic -------- From: Dan Thies Subject: RSS > A merchant can provide its affiliates with RSS feeds, > although inserting the affiliate codes would be tricky, > since the RSS feeds would have to be tailored for each affiliate. - Michael Martinez, LED 1929 For a site that's generating its RSS feeds dynamically, there isn't necessarily much heavy lifting involved in coding this. If you're using a CMS that has its feed at /rss.php, then you could just make a couple small modifications to the rss.php script to write the affiliate ID onto the links. Then have the affiliate request rss.php?id=whatever for their custom version. Dan Thies SEO Research Labs http://www.seoresearchlabs.com ------- new post - same topic -------- From: Steve Pronger Subject: RSS World Wide Brands (publishers of the Drop Ship Source Directory) have provided a very elegant solution for their affiliates. Just paste a few lines of JavaScript, substitute your affiliate code at the appropriate place, and the feed will include your affiliate url in all the links. Cool huh? Here it is in action: http://www.stevepronger.com/entrepreneur_magazine.htm I'm also a SiteSell affiliate and have implemented a couple of SiteSell's RSS feeds as well. But the problem here, from an affiliate's point of view, is to benefit from the referral you must somehow get your visitor to first go to SiteSell's home page to brand them with your cookie. That's really a bit "iffy". The WWB solution is preferable, and has the added bonus of not requiring an RSS reader. How about it Ken? BTW, the SiteSell affiliate program is undoubtedly the best on the Net. I have learnt more about affiliate marketing through this program than any other resource. I'd be keen to hear from any other affiliate marketers who are experimenting with RSS. The jury is still out for me, but it's early days. Ditto for using RSS as an SEO tool. But, if you're a regular newsletter publisher or blogger, then you absolutely must jump on the RSS bandwagon. I predict RSS will continue to grow and will eventually replace email as the preferred method of distributing information across the web. Just think, no more spam! > But please, start out slow for the learning-impaired. Even recommended books on the subject would be welcome. - Tom Anson, LED 1929 Tom, here's an easy way to dip a toe in the RSS pool. I see you publish a newsletter. Let's assume you use a mailing service and they provide an RSS feed of your newsletter archives. I use AWeber and that's exactly what they do, so if yours doesn't, ask them why not! Get your RSS URL from your mail service provider. For AWeber users, you can find this at the bottom of your saved broadcast messages. Then, get the code to add your feed to "My Yahoo" here: http://my.yahoo.com/s/button.html Add the code to your newsletter subscribe box. This produces a neat little button on your site that will allow your visitors to view your newsletter archives, constantly updated, via their My Yahoo page. No software to download. No scary little orange RSS buttons, although I still add them for the RSS savvy. Steve Pronger http://www.stevepronger.com ------- new post - new topic -------- From: Chris Nielsen Subject: SpamCop > Chris Nielsen commented [issue 1928] that the world would > be better if more people used SpamCop and that it really is not > the problem, 'because the admins who use it are the problem' > does not really make sense from a logic standpoint. - Brad Waller, LED 1929 I'm sorry if I was not clear with my statement. What I meant is that if the system is so bad, then the system admins that use it to block sites from sending email do not have to use it. It is a choice on their part, and if the system is flawed, then complaints from those that are wrongly blocked should be directed to them as well, since they are the ones responsible for the service being used to protect their systems. I can't comment on how your system sends mail, but on our classified systems we make it overly clear where the email is coming from and warn users about the many scams that are hitting our classified sites almost daily. We too, may get hit by a user that reports us by mistake, but after almost 2 years in operation is has not yet happened to us. I do admit that our operation is tiny next you yours and it may be just a matter of time until the same thing happens to us. If it does I will be upset, but not at SPAMCOP. Flawed it may be, but I am only aware of two other things that the average user can do to actively fight SPAM, if they choose to not report it. Just blocking it will not help the problem, but there are other things you can do: 1) Never buy anything from someone you think uses spam. They may be a legitimate business, but if you are sent an unsolicited commercial email and don't like this marketing method, then do not do business with them, no matter how attractive or timely the offer. If they seem legit, and you wish you could do business with them, then visit their site, and send an email to every address you see listed explaining why you will not do business with them. Sending to multiple addresses gives your message a better chance to be heard and reaches those in departments who may not be aware of what the company is doing. 2) Never open anything that might be spam. In addition to possibly activating a worm or virus, some emails have links to images or other files that indicates that someone opened the message. Then they know they are reaching you, even if you do not directly respond. I just started using PocketKnife Peek (http://www.xintercept.com/pkpeek.htm) in Outlook, and this free tool makes it very easy to see raw text, HTML source, and headers of the message sent to you, "without opening" the message. 3) Complain to your ISP. Sure it's a problem for them too, but by the time they even notice SPAM, we are all drowning in filth. They are the gatekeepers and in my opinion are a key part of the total spam solution. And if they block email from someone that you do not expect to be blocked, you need to tell them that as well. Thanks, Chris Nielsen, webmaster www.empowering-youth.org ==== BILLBOARD =================================== From: Michael Martinez Subject: PHP SEO > I have been told I can use PHP... to 'hold' things that > go on every page in a web site, such as top & bottom > navigation, logos... whatever, making changes easier. - Nancy Cardinali, LED 1927 What you're describing is usually referred to as database-driven or template-based Web site design. It is very popular and is, in fact, a necessity for merchants with large product categories. Discussion boards, or Web-based forums, have been using PHP designs for years. PHP-based sites provide dynamic content. For years, people have been worried about whether the search engines would crawl these kinds of sites. Back in 1998-2000, the search engines had little success in doing so. Using PHP-based content then was the kiss of death. But in 2001 they began successfully indexing dynamic content. However, many people regarded that content, particularly the forum discussions, as spam or irrelevant (largely because it wasn't THEIR content -- I have often found exactly what I am looking for in such content). So the search engines began filtering out that content, but a couple of years ago Google (and now Yahoo!'s family of services) began allowing it to surface again in searches. They are now regularly crawling and indexing the PHP content on our forums at SF-FANDOM and other sites. And that includes following links on those pages. The reintroduction of PHP content is probably one of the driving factors behind the large search engines' quick agreement to adapt the new tag Google has proposed for HTML coders. This tag, which can be automatically inserted into dynamic URLs such as are posted on forums in signatures, in guest books, and in blog comment sections, tells the crawlers to ignore the links. Don't worry about your PHP content. It will be crawled and indexed. Michael Martinez, Author Understanding Middle-earth, Parma Endorion, and Visualizing Middle-earth http://www.michael-martinez.com/ ------------------------------------------------------- The LED Digest is sponsored by pair Networks: pair.com for Hosting | pairNIC.com for Domains © Copyright 1995-2004 Adam Audette. All Rights Reserved. ----------------------------------------------------------------- "You can kill a man but you can't kill an idea." - Medgar Evers |
