Archive for August, 2007
Google is fighting back against directories
Ok, I did a little search today for one of the most well-promoted and developed directories that is not Dmoz, Alive Directory. Here are the results that I found. This is not good for directories, especially when they are devaluing all the top quality directories out there. Google came out not too long ago talking about how paid links are not good and they will start to penalize anyone that partakes in what most people call advertising, but what google calls as manipulation of their system. All the webmasters started to think that they were not going to do anything and that it was just all talk. Well, it looks like they have started to fight back against directories paying for advertising on other directories and similar websites.
The proper use of a 301 redirect
There may come a time in your webmaster life when you have to implement a redirect to push visitors from one site to another. There are a few types of redirects that can help you out in this venture, but you need to make sure you use the right one. I am going to tell you about the classic 301 redirect and when it is good to use. I have come across many people that start a website, then realize that they need to switch servers to encompass better technology and they would like to know the best way to do that. Not only are they moving to another server, but they are making a once subdomain, a real domain.
The Frustrations of DMOZ
I am sure that we have all been there……trying to get your website listed in DMOZ. This seems to be the topic of conversation on many of the top webmaster forums. A lot of new comers are trying to get their site listed on DMOZ because they think that it will be a huge traffic boost and their troubles will be over. Well, if you haven’t already noticed, getting your site listed in DMOZ is no easy task! I submitted a site about a year and a half ago, and it has finally been accepted into DMOZ. It was a good feeling that I finally got accepted into the infamous directory, but then I realized that it is really not what it used to be anymore. DMOZ lost its luster when it started banning editors and taking massive bribes for site inclusion (if you are a new webmaster, I bet you didn’t know that you can pay off editors to get included faster)! There are some nice editors, but most are very rude and will not respond to any form of contact.
Who requires Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?
Research reveals that majority of the Internet users, while searching for any sort of information on any search engine, they generally click first few (probably 2-3) pages and are least bother about what other search engine results pages (SERPS) contain. Some of the visitors may not even go beyond first page itself. Meaning to say, your website remains of no use or invisible to the people who are on the Internet.
The best way to get a site indexed!
The best way for a new website to start on its way to success is for it to get indexed by the major search engines, mostly Google. There are many services out there that will “submit” your website to many search engines, and some say that they will submit your site to thousands. Oh yeah, thousands!! Well, I just want you to know that you need to stay away from any service that says they will submit your site to thousands of search engines because you do not need that and no one even knows about those sites. You really only need to get your site to be indexed by Google, Yahoo, and MSN because they are the ones that power the other engines for the most part! I am going to tell you the best way to get your site indexed and faster than submitting to them….
Picking the right SEO consultant
It has become a very common deal to just outsource your SEO to a consultant because of the sheer amount of work involved. There are many website owners that do not know how to do their own SEO either and it can be very overwhelming to try and learn. The biggest thing that people need to be very careful is that no respectable SEO consultant will guarantee top ranking on any engine. This is literally impossible to do because they are not working for the search engines and do not know fully what they rank the highest. Most have a little knowledge and are able to get some rankings, but cannot guarantee the rankings for you. Here is what really happens when you are looking for SEO people. Most that guarantee their work, they do not actually know what they are doing and usually just take your money and leave you hanging with no results. Most of these individuals or companies will use black hat techniques to gain results for your website, but eventually that will catch up to you and probably get your site banned.
YPN’s targeting issues
If you haven’t heard of Yahoo’s alternative to Adsense, then you need to check out Yahoo’s publisher network. It has the same principle as Adsense in how it allows a webmaster to monetize a site with ads. It can be hard to get into the YPN network because they have strict rules and want to make sure that everyone follows them, kind of like Google’s program. I believe that YPN is also still in beta, so it will pick and choose who can be included. Here comes the downfall of YPN!
Is MSN search Useful anymore?
This is an extremely good question. Most people out there do not even realize that MSN is a search engine anymore. They automatically think Google or Yahoo, but mostly Google. It is hard to say if and when MSN is useful because it really depends on what you search for on a regular basis. Each search engines excels in a few things and lacks in others. Yes, most of you are probably like “Google is Perfect!”. But you know what, MSN provides a lot better results when it comes to product searches than Google and Yahoo.
Is Google Making webmasters face-off against each other?
This year has been a little crazy for the webmaster community with out of order PR updates and also the new feature that Google rolled out that will allow people to identify who sells links on their site to Google……yeah, I said it, you can now pretty much destroy your competition! This new feature that Google pulled has had the webmaster community up in a roar because why does Google get to say how we make our money, right? If we have created a great site and would like to monetize it with some paid links, then why does google have to say that it is not ok. They have just given the power into the hands of people that can systematically destroy each other until the other wins!
The top webmaster forum
There are quite a few webmaster forums out there that give the webmasters a chance to speak with each other and find out what is going on in regards to the internet. What forum is the top webmaster forum do you think? If we go with just sheer numbers, then right now Digitalpoint is the top webmaster forum. Just check out their impressive alexa stats!
