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Entire web sites and directory were set up for the purpose of collecting and reselling links. For a price, you could make it appear that your web pages were being linked to thousands of others, all of whom recognized you as an authority in your field. Therein lies the problem. From these link farms, you were not receiving quality links, just links. So Google began to process of qualifying the incoming links to your site. Not only the number of back links, but the quality of the back links were rated. If your ratings came from a link farm or from a series of reciprocal links, you were considered to be in violation of the bad neighbor policy and your web site could be penalized by a lower ranking or even by banning.

Google has stated that an occasional bad link is not going to result in penalties; it’s the consistent bad links that create negative results for your web pages. Not only bad links, but also dead links leading to 404 pages can be considered as a bad neighborhood.

Ultimately though, your viewers are not going to care who you are linked with so long as it is associated with the subject which they are researching, so that Google or any other search engine considers a bad neighbor only matters in the ranking which your web page receives from the search engine algorithm. For the benefit of your web page visitors, you should be reviewing links and correcting or removing them on a regular basis. There is some software available to assist in the task of identifying dead or dangling links.

One thing in the course of search engine optimization which seems to have been lost sight of is the fact that you are not fussing with keywords and META tags and ALT attributes and making sure all your neighbors are of the right class; you are optimizing your web pages so that more people will find what they are looking for by visiting your site. Increasing your page rank is just ONE way of accomplishing that goal. You also need to make sure your content works for the human reader. You need to have accurate, well-written pages that draw and hold the interest of the reader. They need to be on subject and informative.

So, do the technical things to make sure that you are perceived by a robotic crawler, but don’t forget that the robots are not the ones buying your product or service, people are.

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GOOGLE

Google started life in 1996 as a doctoral research project by Stanford University students Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Their goal was to create a ranking mechanism for web pages that went beyond simply counting the number of keywords used on the web page and returning search results ranked by how the page content compared that of other web site pages. Originally the search engine that resulted which was nicknamed Backrub, carried the domain name google.stanford.edu. Page and Brin went on to incorporate the company in 1998 with initial capitalization of over $1 million.

The unique concept behind a Google search engine was determining a methodology for measuring the relative importance of a web page based not upon the number of times a particular phrase or word could be used on the page, but on how the web page was perceived by other web pages with like subject matter. Simply stated, it was assumed that that pages with the best network of links to other important pages should be ranked the highest in presenting search engine results.

The basic algorithms behind Google search have evolved over the years, to include many other factors beside the number and quality of links, but PageRank developed by the two co-founders of the company still plays an important role in the development of web page rankings. Other factors which impact the Google search engine algorithms include how well the content of the page matches the keywords used, whether the structure of the website and the navigation to its various pages is easily accomplished by the search engine spider, how well the keywords are placed on a page, and the age of the web page–just to name a few.

There is little doubt that Google holds the premier position amongst the search engines and for good reason. It is estimated that over half of all search queries on the Internet are placed through Google.

MSN / MICROSOFT

Microsoft of course, has been around and has been bringing out new software products for years, which is just exactly why their search engine, developed from the ground up, has taken such a strong position in the same league with Yahoo almost from the beginning of its beta release of MSN Search.

MSN started life with 5 billion indexed pages in its database that gives it a great beginning, but still only half the size of Google. Some nice features structurally with MSN search is that it works flawlessly with the other Windows products. You can use MSN Search in local mode, which is great for finding close sources for products or services. The process is transparent to the user. It’s created by Microsoft’s files on IP addresses. MSN Search also provides simple factual information by accessing such non-web entities as Encarta and MSN Music. These locations are linked on web searches as well for the most comprehensive and up-to-date responses.

To be able to customize queries to exclude or refine search results could turn out to be the most powerful part of Microsoft’s product, although it does seem to be a bit tricky to use. The factors that’s going to be the hardest to overcome for MSN is the huge name recognition factor which Google and Yahoo each have going for them. Both these two unusual names are so much more remarkable than MSN Search. Whether the wide acceptance of MS Windows products will be enough to overcome the lead that Google has in the industry remains to be seen.

YAHOO

Until 2003, Yahoo Search relied on the search engine established by Google to obtain results to present to queries on Yahoo sites. However, during the years between 2002 and 2004, Yahoo systematically acquired companies with their own web crawlers, including Inktomi, Altavista, and AlltheWeb. The search engines from the acquired companies were combined and essentially reinvented to become Yahoo Search, later supplemented by Panama.

Yahoo released Panama in early February 2007. Initial study confirms that Yahoo has moved from its traditional first position goes to the highest bidder model to a system that ranks bidders in much the same way the Google Search Engine operates. Other changes to the way web sites are viewed include a fresh way of looking at Click Through Rates. Yahoo is moving toward using only the newest information for ranking click throughs. Expected click through rates are also calculated based on such features as bids, click-through rates, ad copy, URL’s, landing pages, advertiser information and advertiser industry segment. Some of these factors Yahoo refuses to discuss in any great detail, as is to be expected in order to prevent SEO developers to use the information to skew the rankings.

Early implementation of the Panama Search Engine expects to go lightly on certain aspects of the ranking algorithms. For example the landing page will not be a strongly weighted in the beginning as it will be later on in the process.

Yahoo is provided extensive training and tips to advertisers as they move to the new system, along with tips on how to best utilize the keywords and site structure that may seem overwhelming.

Yahoo has added a feature called the quality index to demonstrate graphically what the value of the overall index. Quality will be calculated on the individual keywords, but will only be presented at the keyword group level.

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However, not all visitors are ready to purchase your product on the first visit. It’s important to keep the visitors coming back to the web site and to eventually purchase your product or service. In order to encourage the visitors to take at least one step toward the eventual purchase of your product, the concept of interim goal pages was introduced. Conversion tracking is a form of web site analysis that defines how well the source is delivering the desired action.

The source is defined as where the visitor arrives. This could be another web page, or a referrer, a directory, a search engine or other means. It can also be a characteristic of the visitor, such as age, nationality, or other defining feature. The goal can be measurable results such as completing an order form or signing up for an email newsletter. It can be important information for more than one of the web pages at a site to have page goals. This well help to determine which pages are most effective in attracting visitors and in getting them to take action.

The conversion tracking methods are determined either by log analysis from the web server for the page being studied or by tracking script included on the web page itself. Authorized personnel can access these reports in order to calculate the page conversion rate.

To determine the rate of conversion for a page, you simply divide the number of requests for the page goal by the number of visitors to the page and multiply by 100 in order to get the conversion rate expressed as a percentage. Obviously the higher the conversion rate, the better it is for your business.

Because of the realization of the importance of conversion tracking both Overture and Google Adwords have added free conversion tracking software that can be added to your web page. The few lines of JavaScript track such things as sales leads or contact information, which pages are visited and sometimes how often, if the viewer signs up to receive your newsletter or your Ezine, and of course, whether the viewer actually buys your product or service.

This tracking tool can help you determine where visitors are landing in your site, which internal links they are using once they arrive, if any, and whether the goals on one page are garnering higher results than on another page within your site. This will allow you to tailor your marketing to use only the most effective means.

It’s important to realize that even the best conversion tracking tools in the world only collect the information. What you do with the information once you’ve received it is what makes your conversion rate improve.

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As Ecommerce advances into the twenty-first century, the need for proper search engine optimization and search engine marketing becomes a critical need of every properly functioning business. To this end, it becomes exceptionally important to fine-tune marketing to website performance. With the advent of Clarity, powerful tracking technology has become streamlined and affordable.

“We decided to name it “Clarity” because that is exactly what it provides. Clarity on all web traffic from all sources on the web,” explains Tammy Camp, President and CEO of ComCorp, Inc., implementer of the new software. “Clarity provides detailed statistics for sales, downloads and signups which is not available on the platforms with current competitors. Clarity is also unique because it detects click fraud.”

Although possessing a sporty, clean, highly usable interface, the real power of Clarity, with its super, powerful tracking engine, lies hidden behind its elegant design. It is literally capable of analyzing and storing hundreds of important megabytes of traffic data. With the best functionality in its price class, Clarity allows for tracking and analysis of all website traffic on multiple sites. With this type of data, clients will have the information they need to maximize the return on their investment and increase conversion rates for their visitors.

Clarity is perfect for companies wishing to reach higher levels in Internet marketing. Clarity provides comprehensive data acquisition and analysis, allowing companies to easily track and optimize their campaigns. It helps locate new advertising sites, creates better key words to enhance traffic and acquire conversion rates. Its functionality encompasses banner advertising, email, pay-per-click and affiliate marketing, allowing the thorough investigation of sales, assignments, downloads, page loading with a great deal of information about the visitors performing these operations.

Clarity allows examination of long-term trends in days or months but, following increased demand for extensive fine-tuning of campaigns, launches and follow-ups, also permits daylong and even hourly data inspection.

Special features include invisible PHP tracking for PHP-built sites, easy built-in functionality for split testing, comprehensive portrait of visitors’ activity, including sales and all other useful-to-know visitor behavior; ability to monitor specific visitors or designated groups; ability to track AdSense clicks, a way to detect click fraud. With Clarity, entrepreneurs can view all their sites’ general statistics, including unique visitors, requested pages, allowing for valuable comparisons between natural and paid traffic.

For more information about Clarity, please contact Tammy Camp, President and CEO of ComCorp at +1 404 496 4885 or email her at info@comcorp.com

About ComCorp:

Founded in 2004, ComCorp, Inc. (www.comcorp.com), a privately held company based in Delray Beach, Florida, is one of the world’s largest and most experienced Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Search Engine Marketing (SEM), Pay-for-performance Marketing and Ecommerce Consulting firms. The company consistently increases qualified website traffic for hundreds of Fortune 1000 companies and small businesses worldwide. As a result, ComCorp sustains exceptionally high client retention rates. The company is led by a team of Google Adwords Qualified Professionals, Yahoo! Search Ambassadors, SEMPO members and other highly experienced Internet Marketing professionals. ComCorp serves clients throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa and the Middle East.

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DEFINITIONS

DMOZ is also known as the Open Directory Project or ODP. The name DMOZ comes from its original domain name directory.mozilla.org due to its loose affiliation with the Mozilla project. The concept behind the organization of the Open Directory Project it’s a human edited open content directory of web sites. ODP is currently owned by Netscape and is multilingual. It’s maintained by a community of volunteer editors who must be approved by existing editors. Web sites are categorized using a hierarchical ontology scheme in which sites are grouped by individuals, classes or sets of objects, attributes, relations or events. Ontology is a representation of how the field of knowledge is categorized. In practice, major categories are broken down into smaller and smaller units, each a part of the one above it.

HISTORY

The Open Directory Project was begun as the Gnuhoo in 1998. The Free Software Project objected to the use of “Gnu” in the name, because FSP believed it to be against the spirit of free software. Gnuhoo became NewHoo, whereupon Yahoo objected. Before the name could be changed to the new choice of ZURL, Netscape acquired the project and it became ODP. Netscape was obtained by AOL that later merged with Time-Warner. The number of indexed URL’s has grown from 100,000 shortly after acquisition by Netscape to over 4 million in December 2003. On line reports have been available and updated monthly since January 2006.

By May of 2005 75 world languages are included with almost 7500 active editors at that time.

CONTENT

Editors specializing in adding new listings, editing existing listing for spelling and grammatical errors, or removing spam and duplicates from submissions, maintain the directory. Content users include Yahoo, Netscape, Google, AOL and Alexa. Over 300 websites are licensed to use ODP data in the English language with an additional 238 in other languages.

Because ODP has maintained its stance of no cost for admissions, there has been a gradual divergence of content of the directory between ODP and other directories which use paid submissions. The free directory tends to attract more informational articles and websites, while the commercial directories are increasingly showing heavier concentration of merchandise and commercial products.

EDITORS

The structure of editors is hierarchical in the same way as the categories. New editors not picked lightly and some sections or categories go for long period with not editing, as a result.

COMPLAINTS

Although there are written procedures in place for dealing with complaints, critics state that there is bias amongst editors for their own web sites. There may be conflict of interest issues at work since statistics about the number of web sites owned by editors show a high percentage of editor websites are approved for admission to the directory.

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The outsourcing SEO companies understandably are not going to promote the use of either other SEO companies or in house staff, because it cuts into their own potential business. Additionally, there is a certain mystique associated with search engine optimization in the minds of uneducated businessmen and women.

On the other side, because skilled and experienced SEO people are still hard to find, the business may be forced to use outsourcing to obtain quality and experience. Businesses in certain areas of the United States find it more difficult to obtain in house SEO staff. Usually the East Coast and West Coast have people who can perform the job satisfactorily while the central part of the country has fewer qualified candidates.

That being said, here are some of the pros and cons for each method of obtaining good search engine optimization for your business web sites.

IN HOUSE ADVANTAGES

In house staff understands the buzzwords of their industry. It will be more likely that appropriate keywords can be chosen, and the local talent will know the infrastructure of their business better than an outsourcing expert, no matter how skilled they are at optimization. Not always, but usually in house staff will be less expensive than outsourcing, even if outsourcing must be contracted to audit the work of the in house folks.

In house folks are more likely to understand the internal politics of the company and how to get the suggested changes completed without being sandbagged by another staff member for reasons that have nothing to do with need or quality of the work.

In house staff can focus on the needs of the business rather than being distracted by the needs of multiple clients that may be experienced by outsourcing companies. An internal team will consist of people who are needed to accomplish the task at hand. The internal team is less likely to implement methods that will not work in the environment of the business.

An in house SEO person or team will help to monitor the implementation of backlinks so that both ends of the link receive benefits.

OUTSOURCING ADVANTAGES

Outsourcing companies typically have wider experience in the field and may understand and use methods, which the in house staff either is unaware of, or is unable to use effectively. For small projects that are limited in scope, outsourcing companies may be able to complete the job more economically.

Outsourcing companies are less likely to be biased for or against a particular department in suggesting needed changes. They may be better able to criticize a proposed change because they can see the larger picture and are able to offer criticize without worrying about internal politics of the business.

Outsourcing teams are usually able to provide links and link building strategies that the internal SEO team would not be able to access. They are more likely to provide tangible results in a shorter amount of time than the in house staff.

Finally, outsourcing means other valuable assistance in addition to the specific task at hand is made available to the business.

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Most search engines, including Google provide a way to view the number of incoming links on most web pages. Backlink data is generally not tracked for password protected pages or for dynamic pages due to the difficulty of implementing programming for such information.

In using backlinks, some study must be given to the concept of link popularity. Some backlinks are better than others. Originally, when Google first stressed the importance of backlinks, many web designers thought to increase page rankings by simply increasing the number of backlinks that appeared on the web pages in question. Then it was realized that so-called link farms were selling their services. These e-businesses sold links as a product.

Thousands of links unrelated to the product on the individual web page was worthless information and the algorithms were adjusted to disregard links to obvious link farms.

So, in adding backlinks to your web pages, you should consider the following points. First, every page should have at least one backlink. An incoming link implies that the page is important enough to create interest by other web sites in the same or similar industries or fields. Many incoming links would seem to indicate that your web page is recognized as an authority on the subject.

Again, not all incoming links are rated the same. An incoming link from a major directory will have a higher rank than will a backlink from an obscure home page.

One-way links, incoming are generally considered to be more important that reciprocal links. Indeed, too many outgoing links can reduce the page rating. By the same reasoning, a backlink with a web page that has few outgoing links is considered to be a better link than a backlink with a web page with many outgoing links. The major concept is to create the impression that other web pages treat your link as important; that it’s not necessary to have many links if they have your page.

Your backlinks should be anchored with relevant text. The search engines need to be able to see that there is a good reason for the backlink; the incoming link came to your web page for specific information found in your keywords, and found the information on the landing page.

Some web masters create multiple domains in order to use multiple backlinks for their clients. Unfortunately, these methods to increase web page ranking can backfire on you and result in a lower web page listing rather than a higher one.

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In the cases where such techniques might mislead the Google searcher, it is usually due as much to accident as to deliberate intent. In other words, the keywords can be misleading, thus causing the search engine to call in pages that should not have been selected because of the content displayed. A deliberate attack would be to deliberately set out to hijack the web address of a profitable competitor just to prove it could be done.

There are several techniques that are commonly considered to be black hat search engine optimization methods. For instance, comments tags allow you to hide keywords within your source code. Generally, since search engines don’t look at the comments anyway, this method of adding keywords is less helpful than some others. Some black hat types use stuffed ALT attributes. ALT attributes are intended to assist those people using accessibility devices such as Braille readers and screen readers. The Alternative text describes the image so that the blind person can understand what the object is that is placed on the screen. A black hat technique will not describe the object, but will instead pad the text with more keywords. They may also describe the image AND pad the text with added keywords. A good rule of thumb is to use ALT attributes that could be understood if read aloud. Extra words that don’t describe the image are counter to the purpose of the ALT attributes. Another caution is to avoid using very small 1 pixel by 1-pixel images just for the purpose of additional ALT attributes.

Because of keyword stuffing, many of the search engines have attached less and less importance to the META description tags. The keyword stuffing is the black hat technique. Instead of using real informative descriptions of the content material for the page, the META description was being used just to randomly insert keyword strings. Because of the use of black hat META description treatment the search engines have reduced the importance of the use of keywords, or have taken steps to relate keywords to the page context. In this instance, search engines have also determined an upper limit of keyword usage. In other words, too many keywords reduce the rank in the same way that too few keywords does. Actually, since it’s assumed to be deliberate black hat techniques, it can result in removing the web page or entire web site from the rankings.

The important points to remember to avoid potential black hat accusations is no keyword stuffing, stay away from bad neighborhoods and build a great resource site.

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