| Blitz
Ezine #275 ~~ October 2nd, 2007
Common SEO mistakes and how to fix them
The Blitz-Promotions News Letter
Issue no. 275,October 2, 2007
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Blitz Comments
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Fall is here even though here in KY the temp is going to be in the high 80's today. It won't be long till you start getting some early bird Christmas shoppers. Do you have a plan to make those new customers into life long customers for your store. If not, now is the time to start making plans to do that.
Every day or two we talk some about promotion (as well as fun things too on our blog)
http://smallbizpromo.blogspot.com/
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In this Issue
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- Sell Yourself First
- Common SEO mistakes
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Food for thought
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"The future is not some place we are going to, but one we are creating. The paths are not to be found, but made, and the activity of making them, changes both the maker and the destination."
- Deborah James, business consultant.
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Sell Yourself First
by Bob Osgoodby
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Every time you turn around it seems you see another affiliate program which promises you vast riches. They give you all the sales material you need and even throw in a free web page. How can you lose, one might think. Everything is all set up for me, and all I need is get a bigger PO Box to handle all the checks that will roll in. Your web site will be carried by the search engines, you have the "pre-written" ads ready to go - how can you loose?
A few ads are placed here and there, and the responses "trickle in" but there are few, if any sales - time for a reality check.
If you have seen one affiliate web site for a particular product, service or opportunity, you have seen them all. There are a number of affiliate programs, which have thousands of people who have bit. Why should a person go to your site when they know from the URL (address of your web page) what it is already? They won't. Am I saying that the affiliate program doesn’t work?
No - I am saying that the tools they provide "don't cut the mustard". It is a proven marketing axiom that it takes 5-7 exposures to your ad before someone might purchase from you. If you have a "canned" web site, what are the odds of them coming back to you to buy? Slim to none.
So how does a person who is serious about marketing an affiliate program get you to buy from them? First, they "deep six" the affiliate web site as their primary web contact, and create their own. On their web site they provide content which is interesting for anyone who stops by. They also change the content on a regular basis to keep them coming back, and let them know when it does change. They also provide a link to their affiliate web site.
The next step is to try to get a listing on the search engines.
Now, think about this. There are most likely several thousand people who have an identical web site to the one you get as an affiliate. What do you think the odds are of someone "stumbling across" your site when surfing the web? Again - slim to none.
But if you have your own site, your chances take a giant leap forward. The link to your affiliate site is a minor part of your web site, even though it is where you want them to eventually wind up.
Now - can you use a site that is not your own domain? While not the preferred route to take, it is "head and shoulders" above the link you get from the affiliate program. Most ISP's give you web space free. Learn a little HTML code and you're in business.
Or, if push comes to shove, hire someone to do it for you. Let's face it, if I see a URL that I recognize as an affiliate program, and I've been there before, I will simply "click away".
The old saying, that if a "salesperson sells them self first, the sale of their product or service follows shortly thereafter"
is certainly true. Establish yourself on the web and in the newsletters/ezines as someone who can be trusted, and is knowledgeable in their field. If people get to know and trust you, your recommendation to join your affiliate program will carry a lot more weight.
Now that you have control over your web page, you should have a guest book that visitors can sign, which gives you their email address. Folks, these are literally worth their weight in gold.
You can now send them email about upcoming events on your web site, and not be accused of spamming.
Run a contest on your web site - the prizes don't have to be off the wall. An ebook (and there a number available free) can be your prize. Write a free newsletter/ezine and publish it on a regular basis. As long as there is content of interest, they won't mind a gentle reminder to visit your web site.
Consider a "non-competing" partner to help you with the site or to write articles for the ezine. It makes no difference to you if there is another link to another affiliate program on your site. If they are willing to share the work in return for the link, it is to your advantage. The key here is "non-competing".
So - are affiliate programs a good opportunity? If you simply join and sit back waiting for the money to flow, no. If you are a "take charge" type of person and are willing to work a little, it can be a great opportunity.
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Did you know that subscribers to Bob Osgoodby's Free Ezine the "Tip of the Day" get a Free Ad for their Business at his Web Site? Great Business and Computer Tips - Monday. Wednesday. And Friday. Instructions on how to place an ad are in the Newsletter.
Subscribe at: http://adv-marketing.com/business/subscribe2.htm
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Common Errors That Kill Search Engine Ranking By Sharon Housley
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Tricking the search engines just does not work. The search engines do not look kindly upon webmasters who attempt to deceive the search engines about the content contained on a webpage.
1. Cloaking
Cloaking a website is a stealth technique used to provide a copy of a web page to search engines while providing an alternate copy to website visitors. The website copy provided to the search engine is optimized and not always reflective of the real content contained on the webpage.
2. Hidden Text
Another deceptive tip that will result in a search engine ban, is done by incorporating text into a website that is not visible to the naked eye, but is visible to search engine spider. There are two ways that underhanded webmasters might attempt this, the first is by changing the font color to match the web page's background color. The second fallacious way of deceiving the search engine using hidden text is by using a single character like a '.' period as a link. Black hat webmasters might attempt this as a way to increase their websites link popularity.
3. Bad Links
While this is not as much a deceptive practice as an indication that the webpage content has been abandoned, links to webpages that no longer exist is an indication to search engines that the content is no longer relevant.
4. Lack of Meta Tags
A website that does not make use of title and description tags, will not result in a ban but could impact the ability for a website to rank well. The title and description of a website should be different on each and every web page.
5. Navigation Mistakes
Navigation should be "spiderable". Do not use javascript or flash navigation, search engines can not spider javascript menus. Adding a site map link is just not good enough, if you do not use conventional navigational techniques, the pages within your website will not always be indexed by the search engines. Navigation should be logically structured, links should not be hidden too deeply within the website or the content contained on the buried pages will not be considered relevant and will not rank well.
6. Valid Code
Observing the conventions of HTML are a necessity, if a webpage's code is invalid, search engines might 'choke' and be unable to follow the links or code. Be sure to properly open and close all HTML code. Valid HTML is critical.
7. Keyword Stuffing
Keyword stuffing is a technique where a long list of repetitive keywords, sometimes related sometimes unrelated to the webpages content is used to trick search engines into thinking the webpage is relevant. Rarely is this effective and it is unlikely that it will artificially inflate a websites ranking for any length of time.
8. Avoid Session IDs
Webpages within a website that uses session IDs or "ID=" in the links will not always be recognized by search engines. It is assumed by many search engines that when ID= appears in the URL, that the webpage does not contain unique content and that the webpage is not in need of indexing. Avoid using ID= on dynamic or static web pages.
9. Nice Neighbors
Avoid listing the website in link farms. Search engines are firm believers that you are like the company that you keep, links should be solicited from reputable sources. Links from spammy websites will not help a website rank well.
Many will say that there are no rules to search engine optimization, they might be right, but the fact remains that webmasters can influence their search engine ranking through the tips above. Attempting to trick or fool the search engines is a sure fire way to become banned. Search engines have the ability to provide a consistent and steady stream of traffic to websites, that stream can become a trickle if you attempt to deceive.
About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for RecordForAll http://www.recordforall.com audio recording and editing software.
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Links you can use -
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Some good info from Larry Chase
I sit at the computer a lot... below are some tips that may come in handy.
Tips for your vision
http://www.office-ergo.com/setting.htm
Flexibility exercises
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Some Fun Links
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I know you've seen those crazy warning labels - like the one on the iron that tells you not to iron the clothes you're wearing. Now you can create your own.
http://www.warninglabelgenerator.com/
Try to think of something obscure - then have this site try to figure it out.
http://www.20q.net/
Kind of weird... but hey it's getting close to halloween... Dying Words.
http://www.corsinet.com/braincandy/dying.html
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Useful links
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Ezine
Archives links to all our past issues (well most
of them) in one place.
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Next Issues
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Our
next issue will be November 6th, 2007
Tim
and Lisa Hamblin
Tisa Enterprises
PO Box 221
Hazard KY 41702
http://www.blitzpromotions.com
http://www.crochetnmore.com
http://www.webpageplanner.com
http://www.ineedlinks.com |
