June 19, 2007
Is placing all the eggs in one basket, in the form of 1-stop shop website design, maintenance & hosting the best option? In my opinion, it most definitely is not! Keeping all website elements separate is sound business risk management practice!
When you are setting out to establish a new venture on the web, its a daunting task. The terminology is complex and confusing. There are multiple aspects to consider - domain registration, website hosting, web site design, maintenance, search engine optimisation etc. There is a temptation to take the easy option of a one-stop shop, where someone else takes care of all the complicated items that you don’t understand. That way, you get one all-inclusive bill per month. There is an old adage - Jack of all Trades, Master of None! A bigger web design company that does everything rarely does individual things as well as a carefully selected group of specialists in their own fields of expertise.
The relationship between you and your website design company will evolve over time. As you become more knowledgeable (and more demanding) the relationship might even deteriorate! It happens… If you are in a 1-Stop Shop environment, you may be unwittingly placing your web business in potential jeopardy.
Domain Registration
Do it yourself, and you ensure that you actually own the site. If you let your web designer do it for you, and he/she puts his/her name as the registrant, its not your site! Most website designers are aware of this, and take care to protect your interests. Some do not! For a company site, make sure the domain is registered in the company name, not an individuals name. If the office girl registers the site in her name, then leaves without a forwarding address, you’ve got a potential disaster in the making!
Website Hosting
Some web designers offer hosting as part of the package. Its usually a re-seller arrangement, where the designer gets a commission on the monthly hosting fees - as opposed to a server owned and operated by the website designer. Realistically, you are better to shop around and find a hosting package that delivers the functionality you require in terms of site management and software. For example, a classic Apache server with cpanel management, and PHP and MySQL databases will meet most needs. Performance can be an issue - and its not in your best interests to be hosted on a server with 600 other sites.
If you’ve chosen a .com domain, make sure you have hosting in the country that your clients are located in… otherwise, you’ll be excluded from country-specific searches!
Choosing Website Designers
Its best to develop a design brief - specify your goals and objectives, and give some examples of sites that appeal to you. Circulate the brief to a few designers you’ve selected after reviewing multiple web design sites. Build a chart that compares what each designer offers, at what costs. Engage in dialogue with a short list of 2-3 designers and resolve any issues you did not understand in their responses to your brief.
Finally, pick someone who can talk to you on your level without being condescending. Be firm about separating components such as domain registration, hosting, and design. If the designer is insistent on combining all elements, move them to the bottom of the pile. If they have a particular CMS that they want you to use, ask them if its an open-source system. If not, ask them what happens in the future, if you become unsatisfied with them or the product. All promises should be made in writing, and signed by the CEO… in the form of a legal and binding contract.
Make sure your potential designer is listening to you, and is trying to deliver what you require, rather than what is best for them.
Website Architecture
The web site architecture that you choose can make or break you. In terms of good search engine rankings, the simpler you can make the site, the better. HTML-based sites which allow total control over all page elements will always deliver the best results. If your potential designer is insistent on building the site in Frames, JavaScript, or Flash, or combination thereof, remove them from your list immediately. The rule is “form follows function.” It won’t matter a bit how wonderful your site looks, if no one can find it. Modest use of JavaScript or Flash is fine… but the search engines can neither read or index anything in either – so it is best to ensure at the outset that your site is not doomed to obscurity!
Website Management
Free-form editing of individual HTML pages is the best option from a search engine optimisation perspective. Its not much more complicated than using a word processor, and uploading the page amendments to the live site is not particularly difficult. However, if you are going to use a Content Management System for maintenance instead, its in your best interests to opt for an Open-Source CMS! With “open source” the software is free, no license fees apply, and anyone can work on it. You own the site content, and can more readily export it to another CMS platform if you don’t like the current one. With an open -source platform, you are not limited to a single designer or developer. If things don’t go the way you want, changing designers or developers is relatively simple.
Content Management Systems - CMS
Proprietary Content Management Systems (CMS) present a real threat if you become dissatisfied with the developer’s service / performance. “They” own the site, not you, and you are effectively locked in to the package, which usually includes web design, development and hosting. If you want to change suppliers, you may have to abandon your entire development investment and start again from scratch!
Such an environment usually involves shared hosting on the CMS supplier’s server. This places your site in the midst of multiple other sites all running exactly the same software platform, and often all of the same site type - e.g. e-commerce. This is undesirable from a search engine optimisation point of view.
In my opinion, a CMS system is complete overkill for a site of less than 100 pages - which is most small business sites. This comment applies equally to any totally database-driven solution. Overall, content changes very little - for many pages, it might be an annual revision. Using an HTML editor to make minor page changes requires minimal technical ability, and publishing amended pages via FTP is a trivial exercise. Exceptions to this are e-commerce, dating, portal or similar special purpose site, where you require a pre-designed application such as a shopping cart solution. Even then, combining HTML informational pages with the open-source application is still the best option.
Website Backups
This can be a simple as a monthly download to your PC of the site plus databases. Do not totally rely on your hosting company for site backups! Do not totally rely on your website designer for backups! In the event of a total systems failure, or unresolved dispute, you may be left relying on what data you have at your disposal. As a minimum, you want multiple copies of the site, stored at multiple locations. The live site on your hosting companies server, plus a local copy on your PC, plus a backup copy on your external hard drive, plus a monthly copy on CD or DVD and stored at your Mum’s place should do it!
Business Resilience
Rule No.1: Do not put all your eggs in one basket! Basically, you need to ensure that you minimise your dependence on any one service supplier. If your web designer goes belly-up, what becomes of your proprietary CMS system? If the hosting company goes out of business, you need to be able to quickly change hosts and servers.
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use the national domain registrar - more expensive, but they might still be in business next year!
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use open-source software, if you must use a Content Management System!
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use an independent web designer - if your relationship deteriorates, you can easily switch to another!
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use a independent hosting supplier - if it does not work out, you can change hosting companies!
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use an independent SEO supplier - if it does not work out, pick another!
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use a regular site backup regime - multiple copies in multiple locations!
Doing so substantially insulates you from other’s failings, and ensures you can quickly respond to a change of circumstances. Even in cyberspace, an ounce of prevention is still better than a pound of cure!
Articles Content Management CMS Web Design Issues
March 23, 2007
As mentioned in previous posts, using blogs to generate additional traffic for your primary site can pay huge dividends. Just “doing it” can mean significant increases in traffic, but what you really want to do here is - as in your main site - generate qualified traffic.
Content Creation Discipline
By that, I mean you want to draw in people who want exactly what you offer. That requires a disciplined approach to content creation;
- Research and consider carefully what your post is about, and know why you are writing it - the objective!
- Identify the keyword phrase/s that people are using to find information relevant to the topic you will write on
- Ensure you place keywords in the post title, and early in the first paragraph, with some additional emphasis on the words, such as bold / italics
- Include “exact match” keyword phrases throughout the body of the article.
- Add tags/slug i.e. a short list of specific relevant keywords - this may be used in the post page Keyword meta-tag.
- Write a concise Excerpt, loaded with keyword phrases - this may be used in the post page Description meta-tag.
- Use the Spell Checker!!! This article may be the first introduction a potential client has with your business.
Remember that “You NEVER get a second chance to create a first impression!”
Business Blogs Should Inform & Educate
In a business blog, which is there to inform & educate potential clients about aspects of your business, try to provide useful information, without a blatant sales pitch. By all means, encourage readers to “Inquire about Free Personal Advice” or “Contact us for More Information” but don’t overdo the sales pitch. Your goal is to convey your depth of knowledge and experience, and build credibility.
Blog Search Engine Optimisation
To maximise the penetration of your Blog posts, it is not sufficient to just write it and forget it. You need to ensure that your Business Blog is properly “optimised” to produce unique, accurately categorised, and clearly labelled content. This requires a SEO package implementation on your blog to ensure that your Posts, static Pages and Category pages are UNIQUE! We think Wordpress is the fastest and easiest blog platform to customize. It also has a comprehensive array of free SEO options, and following comments are specific to Wordpress.
This is best done dynamically, with installation of plugins that provide automation of;
- HTML Page URLs - using mod_rewrite to generate verbose, keyword-rich page file names.
- Page Title Tags - if you write good post titles, these can be used verbatim in the Title Tag.
- Page Description Meta-Tag - uses the post Excerpt, or the first 20 words of 1st paragraph.
- Page Keyword Meta-Tag - used the post Tag or Slug to generate keywords.
Accurate Content Cataloguing Pays Dividends
The combined impact of attention to detail in posting generation and publishing, plus Search Engine Optimisation finesse on the page production, will deliver dramatic improvements to blog traffic. At the same time, it will ensure that visitors get exactly what they were seeking, due to the resulting accuracy of your blog content cataloguing efforts.
That will encourage them to bookmark the site, or specific page, and to come back looking for additional details.
Yet Another Insightful SEO Article by; 
Ben Kemp, aka The SEO Guy (Co. Ltd)
Web: http://www.comauth.co.nz/ - www.theSeoGuy.co.uk - www.TheSeoGuy.us
Email: SEO@TheSeoGuy.co.nz
Contact us for a Free SEO Site Review….
Articles blog search engine optimisation blog seo Blogging For SEO blogging seo SEO Articles
March 19, 2007
There is a lot of talk about Search Engine Optimisation, or SEO, and its importance in the overall viability - even survival - of a web-based business. In my view it is absolutely crucial to any internet enterprise, because a well-executed SEO campaign addresses numerous potentially fatal issues.
SEO Case Study - BabyStuff
In a SEO recent project, we reviewed a PHP-based E-Commerce store called http://www.babystuff.co.nz/ which, oddly enough, sells a range of baby accessories etc. I say “oddly” because of the bizarre propensity for web site owners to choose Domain Names which offer no clues to the site’s purpose. That could of course be likened to cutting off one leg immediately prior to participating in a butt-kicking competition!
The site has a nice visual appeal, soft colours, good graphics - all in all, it was nicely designed and in keeping with its contents.
However, it does not matter how good it looks - its how it performs that counts! The old adage that “Form Follows Function” is particularly true of web sites. First, construct it to generate traffic! Then, and only then, think about making it pretty!
Site Shortcomings Assessed
However, on the downside, the site had;
- Deeply-nested Product Categories which placed actual product content very deep - 4, 5 or 6 levels down from the Home page!
- The site exhibited a serious lack of text content on all pages - Home, category, subcategory and product pages!
- Worse, it had generic Titles, Description and Keywords meta-tags!
- Worst of all, it had ZERO incoming links!
All of this conspires to render the pages to a level where they appear - at best - as poorly constructed doorway pages, and at worse as duplicated pages. Certainly, going to Google and searching for site:www.BabyStuff.co.nz delivered a string of identical results.
With no “identifiers” in key on-page and off page areas, any page that appeared in the search engine results would offer few clues to its actual content - meaning no “qualified traffic” from people who come to the site because it clearly offers exactly what they wanted.
Links Are Crucial
Lack of quality links is now the major issue in addressing search engine indexing and ranking shortcomings. Basically, if no one links to you, then the search engines - quite rightly - assess your site as not being worthy of inclusion in their index. Each “good” link is like a vote of confidence. In contrast, a “bad” link is virtually worthless.
Worse, the SE’s examine link titles and take note of the keywords - or lack thereof - and the keywords found there are what the search engines will “associate” your site with. In that respect, a title that consists of a business name devoid of specific keywords is of minimal value!
The best links are those from “trusted” sites. A common denominator of a trusted site is that it will be mature, classed as either a hub or an authority within its theme, and will have an above average page rank. Examples include The Open Directory, Yahoo Directory, government and educational sites, regional and local directories, and sites which are related to your theme such as your competitors or suppliers.
BabyStuff Links
To address the shortcomings here;
- We first examined the categories and products, and divided them into 5 main groups.
- This was followed by some keyword research to determine the exact keyword phrases searchers are using to find those products.
- Using that information, we wrote 5 sets of Titles and Descriptions containing a broad spread of high-use search phrases.
- We then selected a group of 500 web directories which had relevant categories, and submitted the site for inclusion in their indexes.
Because these directories are “human edited” they have higher trust value, and the links that are achieved contain specific keyword phrases in the link Titles. By submitting to precisely the right category, we achieve very high acceptance rates, usually above 70%. In the case of BabyStuff, we commenced 500+ submissions approx 10th November 2006, spread over a 4 week period. On Yahoo, the 1-Way Back Links have grown from 0 to 386 over a 4 month period. Google Page Rank has gone from PR0 to PR3. (See further details on Advanced Page Rank / Link Building)
Site Optimisation
As part of the implementation of our Intermediate SEO Package, we wrote up a list of recommended changes for 10 main pages, including Home page and primary categories. This included modifications to both on-page and off-page elements, writing new meta-tags, headings and 1st paragraphs. In addition we provided a range of recommendation for the site owner to continue on with, the goal being a progressive process of content expansion, particularly on pages devoid of relevant body text! (See further details on Intermediate SEO)
Like many small business operations, the site owner does a lot of the maintenance, and product additions etc. Small businesses have modest budgets, and we like to provide the necessary guidance and support to facilitate self-sufficiency where possible.
Search Engine Ranking Results
Google rankings are the key indicator of success! From zero, we’ve grown to 49 Top 30 listings on Google.co.nz! Across all the search engines surveyed, the site now has;
This has been achieved in a 4 month period, and is a strong testimony to the value of investing in Search Engine Optimisation. Those benefits will be sustained over the long term, and will deliver a demonstrable return on investment. Further SEO Case Studies
Yet Another Insightful SEO Article by;
Ben Kemp, aka The SEO Guy (Co. Ltd)
Web: http://www.comauth.co.nz/ - http://www.theseoguy.co.uk/ - http://www.theseoguy.us/
Email: SEO@TheSeoGuy.co.nz
Contact us for a Free SEO Site Review….
Articles page rank building search engine optimisaton SEO Articles SEO Case Studies seo case study
January 28, 2007
One of the fastest way to minimise your chances of web business success is to use a Content Management System (CMS). There are a number of open-source CMS products, such as phpWS, Mambo, Plone, Drupal, Geeklog, Siteframe, and phpNuke etc and a plethora of proprietary CMS products espoused by individual web design companies as the answer everything from lack of HTML knowledge to rapid shopping cart deployment etc.
Expressing this in simple terms, its said that possibly as high as 80% of online purchases are made from leads generated by search engines. CMS systems place a huge handicap on achievable Search Engine rankings. meaning there is a direct, immediate and practically insurmountable conflict with business aspirations. There are multiple reasons for this.
Duplication of Content
Search engines loathe duplicate content. In the average CMS, there are numerous common design elements, images, HTML and/or JavaScript code blocks etc, which are portrayed across ALL sites using the same system, and this is not a good thing.
Many CMS systems make it hard to impossible to generate unique page Title, Description & Keyword meta-tags, meaning all pages can look identical in search engine results. Many CMS systems do not permit you to assign keyword-rich image names, or apply unique and specific image ALT tags, and the page file names are usually not directly controllable. Few CMS systems allow you to easily add anchors on specific pages, and to link to those anchors from other pages. All of this translates into losing you valuable search engine optimisation opportunities.
Shared IP Addresses vs. Unique IP
Proprietary CMS systems usually go hand in hand with a “total package deal” that includes web design, web hosting and CMS. The hosting is invariable on a “shared server” meaning your site has the same IP Address as all other sites on the server.
Should a situation occur Where another site or sites are offering very similar or identical products and services, there is a potentially serious conflict of interest which the web design & hosting company will probably not advise you of! The first site is highly likely to be given priority rankings and treatment by the search engines, and all subsequent sites are highly likely to be consigned to oblivion as Search Engines will probably regard them as “duplicate content!” So two or more “Christmas gift shops” on the same “shared server,” or two or more “human resource consultants” face a problem they will be blissfully unaware of. Having a unique IP address assigned to your site is far more sensible!
Usability
Open-source CMS systems are written by geeks and nerds, for other geeks and nerds. It is painfully obvious that none are written by people with the faintest understanding of search engine optimisation, or an awareness of the old adage “form follows function.” As for “usability testing” there is no demonstrable evidence that any research and science has been applied to either the user or the administration interfaces! Unfortunately, the same criticisms can be levelled at the commercial CMS systems on offer.
CMS and Being Held To Ransom
In terms of the proprietary CMS systems, you are also seriously at risk of being captured and held hostage by your web design company, because they now “own” your site and you cannot easily escape without sacrificing your total investment. In this respect, use of CMS demonstrates a complete lack of business risk analysis. From that point on, you can also be systematically milked like a cash cow for every amendment, change, edit etc that they carry out on your behalf! Believe me, it happens every day… and I’ve seen people charged $90 for a simple edit that took me less than 2 minutes to implement!
CMS Saves You Money?
Yeah, right!!! The overheads of managing a CMS are usually far in excess of managing a conventional site. Content percentage-wise, most sites actually change very little, and the majority of pages are static and do not change at all. CMS is total overkill for the average business site.
Stand Out from the Crowd, Don’t Join It!
To succeed on the web today, you need to be a clearly unique entity, with original content, properly organised, logically described, and all pages must be optimised for a set of specific keyword phrases that accurately describe your products or services. Anything less is a compromise, and is to YOUR business detriment. A CMS system has a direct, negative impact on almost all desired outcomes - from minimising business risks, improving search engine rankings and prompt return on investment.
Another SEO Article by;
Ben Kemp, aka The SEO Guy (nz)
Web: www.comauth.co.nz
Email: SEO@TheSeoGuy.co.nz
Contact us for a Free SEO Site Review….
Articles cms Content Management CMS content management systems SEO SEO Articles WEB 2.0 Web Design Issues
December 20, 2006
Latent semantic indexing (LSI) is a concept whereby your site is also assessed on content other than the keywords that you are obviously targeting in the on-page and off-page elements of the site. Partly, this is to combat using keywords to draw traffic to content unrelated to the keywords - as porn, gambling and pharmacy spam sites are inclined to do.
More importantly, its because there is a very high mathematical probability that a site that is genuinely about a specific topic ALSO includes multiple iterations of related words, phrases and terms e.g.;
Therefore, the major search engine algorithms’ are now applying the concepts of “latent semantic indexing” and taking into account all word relationships within the site. Whilst an algorithm might lack “intelligence,” the mathematical model is quite robust and delivers extremely accurate relevancy assessments. To apply the concept of LSI to your site, its a matter of NOT over-loading your page with primary keywords (spamming) but instead, using variations to more accurately describe your topic or theme; E.g. using the term “SEARCH” the following options appear;
Variations or derived words; searcher, searched, searching,
Synonyms - query, queried, querying, seeking, looking, finding
Hypernym: activity, examination, examine, higher cognitive process, investigate, investigating, investigation, look into, operation, scrutiny, see.
> Synonym: explore, hunt, hunting, look, look for, lookup, research, seek.
> Hyponym: angle, beat about, browse, cast about, cast around, comb, cruise, divine, drag, dredge, exploration, feel, finger, fish, forage, foraging, frisk, frisking, fumble, gather, go, go after, grope, grub, hunt, leave no stone unturned, looking, looking for, manhunt, nose, poke, prospect, pry, pursuance, pursue, pursuit, quest, quest after, quest for, raid, ransack, ransacking, re-explore, rifle, rummage, scan, scour, scouring, seek out, seeking, shakedown, shop, strip-search, surf, want.
> Derived: searcher
Noun
> Hypernym: activity, examination, higher cognitive process, investigating, investigation, operation, scrutiny.
> Synonym: hunt, hunting, lookup.
> Hyponym: exploration, forage, foraging, frisk, frisking, hunt, looking, looking for, manhunt, pursuance, pursuit, quest, ransacking, rummage, scouring, seeking, shakedown.Verb
> Derived: searcher.
> Synonym: explore, look, look for, research, seek.
> Hypernym: examine, investigate, look into, see.
> Hyponym: angle, beat about, browse, cast about, cast around, comb, cruise, divine, drag, dredge, feel, finger, fish, frisk, fumble, gather, go, go after, grope, grub, hunt, leave no stone unturned, nose, poke, prospect, pry, pursue, quest after, quest for, raid, ransack, re-explore, rifle, rummage, scan, scour, seek out, shop, strip-search, surf, want.The purpose of the example is to show that there are many ways to describe the same activity, product or service.
How to Apply Latent Semantic Indexing
Implement LSI on your site by thoughtfully including variations, derivations, synonyms, hyponyms and hypernyms of your primary keywords and phrases. You will more effectively convince the Search Engines of your content theme than you would by stuffing multiple iterations of the same primary keywords into those page/s!
Yet Another SEO Article by;
Ben Kemp, aka The SEO Guy (nz)
Web: www.comauth.co.nz
Email: SEO@TheSeoGuy.co.nz
Contact us for a Free SEO Site Review….
Articles Google latent semantic indexing seo sem SEO SEO Articles Web Design Issues
September 8, 2006
Links Defined
Link - a textual or image link TO another site - usually included for the benefit of your visitors because it contains important information relevant to your product or service. Usually set to open in a new window so visitors don’t “lose” your site when they open the link. Outward links are of minimal value to your search engine rankings - unless you have a lot of them relating to a common “theme” - in which case your site might be perceived as an “Information Hub” for referrals on a specific topic.
For example, it might be appropriate for a medical-related site to provide links to support groups, goverment/health agencies, doctors and pharmacies with whom they work etc.
Affiliate Link
You place a link to a provider in order to make a commission out of selling their product/service to your visitors. There is zero value in terms of search engine rankings. And of course, there is no point linking to them if you are not going to sign up and sell their products! 
BACK LINKS:
Reciprocal Links
Where two sites agree to provide LINKS TO EACH OTHER for mutual exchange of visitors, and to increase the relative importance of both sites by increasing total incoming link count. Reciprocal links have value in terms of improving search engine rankings, although this value has diminished in recent times. It is still a “natural” form of linking and should not be avoided - just apply this test - “Will the link lead to relevant information, of value and interest to my site’s visitors?”
If the answer is yes, then by all means exchange links. Done properly, constrained to sites with a similar theme, this may also lead to your site being perceived as an “Information Hub” for referrals on a specific topic.
1-Way Back Link
A link to your site, not requiring a link in return. These are the most valuable form of linking in terms of search engine rankings. Usually these are from clients - e.g. a manufacturer such as Sony/Toyota/Kodak will have a gazillion 1-way back links from retailers, users etc, as will government agencies, airlines, academic institutions etc. This can lead to your site appearing to be an “Authority” on a specific topic.
In most normal web site situations, your main source of good 1-way back links will be Web Directories. In these, a listing in the most relevant category can provide a very valuable “reference” or “testimonial” for your site. Because most directories are human-edited, the search engines place greater value on such links and the well established ones are often regarded by the search engines as “trusted sites.” The more important the directory, the greater the value. In the case of Google, they place huge importance on a site’s inclusion in The Open Directory, and also in the Yahoo Directory… It is important to select the most relevant category in which to have your site included - the content of the page in which the link is contained may also be assessed.
Changes To The Way SE’s Evaluate Links
Google bases approx 50% of its assessment of your site relevancy to a specific search on the site’s that link to you, and on the words contained in the links pointing to your site.
Yahoo has recently filed for patents for technology similar to Google’s Page Rank assessment mechanism, and is expected to gradually implement a similar emphasis on incoming link quality.
It is important to specify HOW the link to you should be implemented on other sites - and to that end I always add a “Link To Us” page on any site I work on, which specifies the exact wording to be used on links TO you.
Articles link reciprocal backlinks 1 way back links seo Links from Directories Reciprocal Links
September 4, 2006
If you wonder why your site does not appear in a search on Google, you can quickly check if its actually being indexed… try the following search;
“site:www.yoursite.co.nz” and of course, replace “yoursite” with the URL or YOUR site!
This should produce a list of all the pages in your site that Google has found, and decided were worthy of indexing. If no pages were found then you need to call The SEO Guy!
Google offers several similar little tools, and each of these provides useful information about your site, and an insight into the way Google “sees” it. In a Google search box, just type the operator and your domain name (less the http://www/ portion as per the previous example.)
| Operator |
Description |
Search Format |
| site: |
Indexed pages in your site |
site:www.yoursite.com |
| allinurl: |
Pages that refer to your site’s URL |
allinurl:www.yoursite.com |
| link: |
Pages that link to your site |
link:www.yoursite.com |
| cache: |
The current cache of your site |
cache:www.yoursite.com |
| info: |
Information we have about your site |
info:www.yoursite.com |
| related: |
Pages that are similar to your site |
related:www.yoursite.com |
Google Sitemaps
Signing up for a Google SiteMaps account is also a good move as a great deal of extra information about your site - as Googles sees it - is available. This includes Crawl and Index errors, and also a range of Crawl & Index statistics. It is possible to gain an insight into what keywords Google associates with your site - both from the site itself, and from the sites that link to it! The errors (if any) are very important, as they may reveal sound reasons for google not indexing your site fully.
Whilst submitting a sitemap is in itself no guarantee of inclusion, or of rankings, it can help get all pages indexed and at the same time ensure that appropriate emphasis is placed on the most important pages. E.g. that the Product/Services pages are treated as more important than the About Us, Privacy Statement etc pages.
If your site does not show up in the site:yoursite.com search, you certainly have a problem that you need to get to the bottom of! There can be avariety of reasons for exclusion from Search Engine idexes, including;
- Insufficient incoming links - some Search Engines think that if no one links to you, then you are not indexing…
- You have duplicate content - multiple domain names pointing to the same pages
- Other transgressions such as hidden text, excessive use of doorway pages, cloaking etc
If you cannot figure it out, feel free to contact us for assistance because we get to deal with these kinds of issues every day!
September 3, 2006
If you own a web site AND you have multiple domain names registered, you might want to read this with your full attention. There are a great many web sites out there which, by inappropriate use of multiple domain names, effectively cripple their search engine rankings by blatantly breaching search engine guidelines! Site owners often register more than one domain, and there are sound reasons for doing this, including;
- The main URL includes a keyword phrase but is too long to type quickly, so a shorter, cryptic one is utilised and maybe is also used on business cards and letter heads.
- You take various versions of domains to prevent competitors from grabbing them - dot.com, dot.co.nz, dot.biz, dot.info etc, and point them all to the “main” site.
- You take various country versions - dot.co.nz, dot.com.au, dot.co.uk because you are going to expand into those markets - but in the interim you point them all to the “main” site.
There are also misguided reasons for doing this, including;
- Having multiple domains pointing to the same location in the hope that the search engines will be duped into indexing ALL of them as different content, giving you lots of top rankings under different domains.
Search engines hate duplicated content with a passion… but their automated spiders and bots cannot determine which category YOU fall into - uninformed and innocent of intent, or deliberately and knowingly manipulative. So all sites who transgress can expect to be treated equally. And yes, you can be banned from the SE indexes for getting it wrong!
The search engines do not give out many guidelines - in fact they are all very coy about giving too information much away. However, when they do make a statement by way of guidelines, regardless of how politely it is worded, you had best sit up and take notice because they are really, really serious about it!
Google Guidelines on Multiple Domains
In the case of Google, their Webmaster Guidelines are unambiguous! E.g. on this page; http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=35769 Google are quite clear on this;
Quality Guidelines - Specific Guidelines
- Don’t employ cloaking or sneaky redirects.
- Don’t create multiple pages, subdomains, or domains with substantially duplicate content
What This Means to You
There is a clear and present danger in having multiple sites pointing to the same location if they load exactly the SAME content - this is a SERIOUS breach of Google’s Webmaster Guidelines and is expressly FORBIDDEN because the search engines can only interpret this as a blatant attempt to generate duplicate content under different URL’s. Regardless of your actual intentions in this, its likely to result in a BAN from search engine indexes. Not a good start to an online presence, right?
Ignorance of The Law is No Excuse
Ignorance of search engine guidelines is not a valid excuse either! Unfortunately, many web designers and hosting companies are blissfully unaware of the correct way to implement multiple domain names. The result is that many web site owners unknowingly jeopardise their site’s inclusion in the search engine rankings.
My advice is that if you have more than one domain name, you check how its been set up. If your have two domains; http://www.2nddomain.com and http://www.2nddomain.com and BOTH load the same pages but with the different domains showing, then you have a problem. If you can also load the sites as http://www.2nddomain.com and http://www.2nddomain.com then totals 4 different ways of indexing the SAME content!
The Right Way to Do It
That said, it IS permitted to have multiple domains pointing to the same content BUT it may only be done via the use of a Permanent 301 Redirect being applied to the secondary domains, e.g. typing in the URL for any of the secondary domains will redirect you to the main site. This change can easily be implemented, at no cost other than a few of minutes of time.
In this example, http://www.2nddomain.com is redirected to http://www.2nddomain.com and and neither visitors nor SE spiders ever “see” content under the secondary domain name. The same logic should also be applied to the non-www versions of both domain names to complete the process and to prevent potential conflicts with the search engines.
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July 3, 2006
For the past couple of months I’ve been trying to wipe the smug smile off my face - completely without success. It seems to me that I must have had a premonition regarding the impending winter. Right up until my departure from NZ in early May, I felt an odd sense of urgency to abandon ship…
Reports of minus 12C in Hanmer Springs, and torrential rains at home on the West Coast, and a metre of snow here and there have made me feel extremely thankful I’m not participating!
Life in Thailand, by contrast, is rather pleasant! Well, today I did get caught without an umbrella in a monsoon deluge… but it was still at least 28C, and whilst I got damp around the edges, I was able to shelter under a shop verandah and pass the time with an expresso coffee and watch the girls go by! Quite bedraggled, some of them, but bloody gorgeous all the same!
Do you like mango - those unbelievably nice yellow ones, dripping with juice? Or pineapple and watermelons, ditto? For breakfast? Every morning? My god, I love Thailand!
Now I’m a country boy through and through… but Bangkok has to be the one of the most amazing places on the planet to live. The extraordinary contrasts between rich and poor, old and new are just amazing! Standing under a shop verandah, watching old ladies trying to erect tarpaulins over street stalls, street food vendors with wheeled carts trying to prevent their wares from getting drenched, and BMW’s and Benz’s negotiating the sheets of water on the streets… all this to a backdrop of skyscrapers and high-rise construction cranes, lightning flashes mixed with welding flashes, thunder mixed with buses and tuk-tuks…
My girlfriend and I live in an new apartment building in the central city, about 5 minutes walk to the Victory Monument BTS Skytrain station. Most of the city’s major malls are only a few minutes away. The Skytrain, coupled with the underground system, makes navigation around central Bangkok very easy. Hell, we’ve got taxis going past our back door that charge less than $8 for the 30-40 minute trip to the international airport! So, its like $2 to go 10 minutes to the MBK Shopping Mall…. or $1.50 to get to Pantip Plaza computer mall if there is any tech stuff required. Not only that, but at Pantip Plaza they got shit we ain’t even seen in NZ yet!
Broadband - available in most apartment buildings throughout the city… we pay 900 baht a month (NZ$35) for a shared 1mb connection. Through the day its great because everyone else is at work and I’m the only one on-line! Weekends are little more problematic…
I walk out the front door onto the little “soi” or lane - walk 100 metres to either end and there are fruit stalls and street food vendors all over the place - its like living on the edge of the Christchurch Arts Centre!
It is hot as hell though, some days! 35C, and the traffic is a nightmare that you have to participate in to fully comprehend… truly, it makes “Spaghetti Junction” in Auckland look like a quiet country road… The amazing thing is that everyone is so philosophical and laid-back about it.
My second 30 day allocation is about up, and in a few days I am off to do the “Visa Run” thing again with Claudio at www.ThaiVisaService.com - time certainly flies when you are having fun! Well, I’ve finished my bottle of Jack Daniels anyway, so its high time I went back to Cambodia for lunch again…
Me and Claudio are quite good friends now - his web site was bloody dreadful, so last time around I offered to rebuild it for him in return for discounted visa trips! Looks pretty sharp now, and has jumped from zero to rank No.1 on www.google.co.th for “bangkok visa run”
June 25, 2006
There has been a flurry of entrants into the Search Engine Optimisation market in the past year or so. Judging by the horrendous rates some are charging, money rather than service seems to be the main motivation. Judging by the horror stories from clients who have arrived on my doorstep after being ripped off by sharp operators, in some instances there is evidence of a serious deficiency in both ethics and skills in some cases. I have a new client who spent almost $30,000 last year, with no work having been done on the actual site, no evidence of link increases, and according to traffic statistics, site visitors have gone DOWN by 60% - so read the following sections carefully.
So, how do you choose an SEO firm to entrust your business to? I believe that there are some simple checks to put in place before committing yourself to any SEO proposal, no matter how attractive it might seem.
The following sections lists a dozen few ways you can identify some potentially good SEO firms, and how to eliminate the dodgy ones, and thus reduce your chances of being disappointed.
1.) How Well Does Their Own SEO Site Rank?
Do a search for search engine optimisation, seo rates and/or seo firm on the country-specific version of each of the big 3 major search engines - e.g. Google.co.nz, Yahoo.co.nz or XtraMSN.co.nz. Alternatively, go to the main Google.com etc site, and search for nz seo, seo rates, or new zealand search engine optimisation (or your own country-specific version of those). The SEO market has become very competitive out there, but you should expect the SEO business you are contemplating doing business with to be on Page One on each search engine! If not, drop them from the list of possibles, because how much help could they possibly be to you? A list of 5-10 potential firms should quickly emerge from this process.
2.) Request For Proposal
From your initial research, you should have a list of contenders you are considering entrusting your business to. Contact each, and request a site review. This usually a free service, and will invariably result in a detailed analysis of your site, and a proposal which sets out what remedial action is required and should include an indicative costing to achieve this. Having now received a series of these, apply the following criteria against each one.
3.) Guaranteed Inclusion in Google/Yahoo/MSN
If an SEO firm offers a guarantee of inclusion into any major search engine, or assures you that they have a special relationship with a major search engine, immediately drop them from the list of possibles. Frankly, search engines simply do not enter into such relationships. That would be as likely as a close friendship between a poacher and a gamekeeper!
4.) What Are They Proposing?
There are two key ingredients to web site optimisation, and if both are not assessed and addressed, drop the SEO firm’s proposal from the list of possibilities!
- The first element is on-site optimisation of individual pages to improve organic or natural search engine rankings. This involves keyword research with associated analysis of the business products and services. This is the most important aspect because it delivers ongoing traffic which is essentially free after the initial work is carried out.
- The second key element is link analysis and recommended remedial action. Basically, the more links to your site from trusted sites carrying high Page Rank, the better. Insufficient links can mean your site appears not worth indexing. Proposals to increase your 1-way back-links from web directories and other trusted sites are good. Use of blogs, and article marketing is also current best practice. However, should there be any suggestions for participation in link propagation schemes, or placing main emphasis on reciprocal link strategies etc, drop the SEO firm from your list because they are not up to date with current best practice.
5.) Google Adwords & Yahoo Search Marketing
Some SEO firms boast that they are certified Adwords practitioners etc. That’s all well and good, but what they mean is that with YOUR money, they are real confident of getting you top placing in the keyword bidding warfare! There can be some short term benefits in that, but guarantees along those lines are not overly helpful to your business. If a proposal places primary emphasis on Pay-Per-Click, slip it down to the bottom of the pile!
6.) References
Can your SEO firm provide you with some reference sites they’ve worked on successfully, case studies, and/or some clients or web developers you can contact for comment? Bear in mind that there are likely to be some commercial sensitivities that apply constraints.
7.) Is There Value in 1 Year Contracts?
Frankly, not to you! The hallmark of a professional, ethical operator will be a fixed price contract to carry out the initial remedial action on the site. As a reassurance, they will usually let you know that ongoing support is available if required, because the rules of the SEO game do keep changing. The best SEO practitioners do not attempt to lock you into 1 year contract because they know the initial work will often take 8-12 weeks to deliver full benefits, and the project cost will usually include a built-in monitoring component over that initial period. It is, in my view, a little unethical to double-dip on the project costs!
Not only that, but what if you are not happy with the results of the SEO firm or their level of service? A 1 year contract might just guarantee you receive a full 12 months of unsatisfactory services! My advice - do not lock yourself into a long-term contract until you have grown comfortable with the SEO team you are dealing with.
8.) Fixed Price Contracts
Insist on one! A professional SEO firm will set out exactly what is wrong with your site, and explain the precise remedial action in a coherent and logical fashion. The actual work will be specified and a total cost provided. It is customary to require payment in advance. This is usually 100% for smaller jobs, which I would define as less than $1500. For larger projects, expect to pay a 50% deposit with balance on completion and/or when Top 30 rankings on agreed keyword terms show a demonstrable improvement.
9.) How Much Should It Cost?
Well, each proposal should come down to a judgement by each SEO firm on how many hours of work are going to be involved in the project. However, some seem more inclined to make an assessment of your ability to pay in big chunks! There can be obvious, huge discrepancies - its common to see variations of 1000% e.g. you will see that some firms initial cost proposal can be 10 times that of competing SEO firms! From your point of view, you want to know;
- How many pages are going to be amended
- What will be done by way of increasing incoming links
- Are articles being published, and if so, how many?
Reduce it to a known quantity, compare apples with apples! When you are systematic about it, the choices become more obvious, and a decision becomes easier!
10.) You Need to Know What Will Be Done
An SEO professional will involve you at each step of the process, providing you with a preview of all site changes before implementation. You will be able to measure progress of the work on a page by page basis, and see the results in your site traffic statistics as well as SE ranking reports. As in all aspects of life, failing to plan is planning to fail! If there is no plan, no road map, don’t expect a happy ending or any rights of redress.
11.) Black Hat vs. White Hat SEO
There are other danger signs to be aware of. If your SEO proposal suggests cloaking, redirections, doorway pages, hallway pages, invisible text, multiple domain names for duplicated content etc, immediately drop the company from the list of possibles!
There are many Black Hat SEO operators who prefer to attempt to subvert the Search Engine guidelines, essentially looking for rapid, short-term ranking gains by ANY means, instead of taking a responsible, professional approach. If your site is caught up in any scheme like this, banishment from search engine indexes is assured! Essentially, good White Hat SEO involves thoughtful restructuring of site content, within the SE guidelines and parameters, and taking no risks of any kind.
12.) Who Are You Dealing With?
Does their site have some personal profile information? Are you dealing with a seasoned IT industry professional, a kid fresh out of high school, someone moonlighting from their primary job, or maybe somebody who has English as a second (or third) language? SEO is very much about words, semantics, languages skills and this, plus broad SEO project experience over several years, should be a key indicator to consider!
Your web site is an integral part of your business. The people you work with should have an intuitive understanding of your business, products and services, and should by now have demonstrated that they have given your particular circumstances some personal attention. Some, on the other hand, may have merely used automated site assessment tools. From the initial proposal, and exchange of emails with questions and answers to clarify any issues that have arisen, do you feel a sense of rapport with anyone? The best people to work with are those you are comfortable with.
I hope that this has proven a useful and thought-provoking summary of how to weed out the space cadets, cowboys and make-a-quick-buck operators. I really hope you do find yourself a competent, professional SEO practitioner, because they are out there, toiling away. doing a great job for great people like you!
Good luck!
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