Posted by blog - Friday, January 05, 2007 This week's roundup of blog posts over at Online Marketing Blog starts a whole new year for search marketing.
2007 Happy New Year!
Video Interview on Transparency and Social Media
Favorite SEO Blogs
Will Blogsmith be the next big blogging platform?
Must Read Search Marketing Blogs
Reader Poll: Top Reasons to Let a Client Go
Elements of Successful Client Relationships
Search Marketing Blogs Update 010507
There is No
Tuesday, 24 January 2012
What's the Word on Page Rank?
Posted by blog - Tuesday, January 09, 2007 A public relations associate recently shared the persistent question of a client that I thought I would provide an answer to here.
Q: XYZ person and ABC company keeps talking about Page Rank. I have told him that we do not look at Page Rank in that way. Do you have a good explanation of why Page Rank is not worth obsessing over?
A: The data that supplies Google toolbar PageRank scores (the green bar) is 3-4 months older than the actual PageRank variable used to sort search results when someone queries Google. Also, PageRank is one of 200
Q: XYZ person and ABC company keeps talking about Page Rank. I have told him that we do not look at Page Rank in that way. Do you have a good explanation of why Page Rank is not worth obsessing over?
A: The data that supplies Google toolbar PageRank scores (the green bar) is 3-4 months older than the actual PageRank variable used to sort search results when someone queries Google. Also, PageRank is one of 200
The Cons of Changing URLs
Posted by blog - Monday, January 15, 2007 Here is a question about changing URLs that I recently received that I thought would be of use to others considering a similar situation:
"We are considering changing our policy regarding URLs for sites. Right now each one has its own URL, i.e., domainname.com. We are considering changing them to: www.ourbrandname.com/olddomainname/. There are strong business reasons to do so. Are there any SEO ramifications (good or bad) for our sites if we do this?"My response:
There are numerous issues with changing URLs. Here are a few considerations:
1. The old URLs have been published to the web and are part of the content and link history associated with any site they link to. The change to the new URL will not bring with it, any link equity that has been previously built up.
2. Search engines have indexed the current URLs, some sites have linked to the current URLs and some people have bookmarked the current urls. Changing to the new URL syntax brings with it the issue of redirecting all old URLs to their new counterparts. This is a coding issue that is handled at the server level so both search engines and users are re-directed to the proper content. It also means that the top referrers of traffic will need to be contacted and advised of the new url format. ie, ask them to change the URL they link to.
3. If redirection of old to new URLs is not handled properly a few issues will occur:
a) Users that find the site in search engine results will click on the link and get a "not found error" or possibly a custom not found page that suggests other places on the site to look. Neither of which is the content the user is looking for.
b) If search engines are not provided with permanent redirect instructions (301) then they will continue to maintain the old URLs in their databases, retaining any link popularity and traffic to the old URLs and not passing it on to the new site URL.4. The current URLs are short and user friendly. The new urls are not and contain additional branding elements, therefore diluting the brand.
5. There is an advantage to yourbrandname.com by having multiple, active sites producing content and attracting links under the same domain, but you will be starting from scratch.
6. There are numerous free blog services that offer sub domain URLs (name.wordpress.com, name.blogspot.com, name.vox.com, etc). A subdirectory URL (www.ourbrandname.com/olddomainname/) would be perceived as less credible than a domain name and less than a sub domain.
What other issues (pro/con) can you think of in this situation?
Tags: seo, changing urls, search engin optimization
Listen --
"We are considering changing our policy regarding URLs for sites. Right now each one has its own URL, i.e., domainname.com. We are considering changing them to: www.ourbrandname.com/olddomainname/. There are strong business reasons to do so. Are there any SEO ramifications (good or bad) for our sites if we do this?"My response:
There are numerous issues with changing URLs. Here are a few considerations:
1. The old URLs have been published to the web and are part of the content and link history associated with any site they link to. The change to the new URL will not bring with it, any link equity that has been previously built up.
2. Search engines have indexed the current URLs, some sites have linked to the current URLs and some people have bookmarked the current urls. Changing to the new URL syntax brings with it the issue of redirecting all old URLs to their new counterparts. This is a coding issue that is handled at the server level so both search engines and users are re-directed to the proper content. It also means that the top referrers of traffic will need to be contacted and advised of the new url format. ie, ask them to change the URL they link to.
3. If redirection of old to new URLs is not handled properly a few issues will occur:
a) Users that find the site in search engine results will click on the link and get a "not found error" or possibly a custom not found page that suggests other places on the site to look. Neither of which is the content the user is looking for.
b) If search engines are not provided with permanent redirect instructions (301) then they will continue to maintain the old URLs in their databases, retaining any link popularity and traffic to the old URLs and not passing it on to the new site URL.4. The current URLs are short and user friendly. The new urls are not and contain additional branding elements, therefore diluting the brand.
5. There is an advantage to yourbrandname.com by having multiple, active sites producing content and attracting links under the same domain, but you will be starting from scratch.
6. There are numerous free blog services that offer sub domain URLs (name.wordpress.com, name.blogspot.com, name.vox.com, etc). A subdirectory URL (www.ourbrandname.com/olddomainname/) would be perceived as less credible than a domain name and less than a sub domain.
What other issues (pro/con) can you think of in this situation?
Tags: seo, changing urls, search engin optimization
Listen --
TopRank Weekly Roundup
Posted by blog - Saturday, January 27, 2007 Here is a list of the week's blog posts over at Online Marketing Blog focusing on SEO, blogging and business of search marketing.
SEMPO Board of Directors Nominees - Lee
Search Marketing Blogs Update 012607 -
Friday Search News 012507 -
Content vs Links -
The Lowdown on Web Designers and SEO -
Recommendations for Collaboration Software
Blogging in Different Languages
Yahoo Adds Quality Index to Search Marketing Ads
Gain Client Support for Successful Search Marketing
SEO Secrets for Better Public Relations
Good SEO Humor
Lessons Learned About Blogging
Monday Links 012207
Reader Poll Roundup
Small Business Marketing Book
Subscribe to Online Marketing Blog here.
Listen --
SEMPO Board of Directors Nominees - Lee
Search Marketing Blogs Update 012607 -
Friday Search News 012507 -
Content vs Links -
The Lowdown on Web Designers and SEO -
Recommendations for Collaboration Software
Blogging in Different Languages
Yahoo Adds Quality Index to Search Marketing Ads
Gain Client Support for Successful Search Marketing
SEO Secrets for Better Public Relations
Good SEO Humor
Lessons Learned About Blogging
Monday Links 012207
Reader Poll Roundup
Small Business Marketing Book
Subscribe to Online Marketing Blog here.
Listen --
Dave Pasternack SEO Predictions in 2005
Posted by blog - Monday, January 29, 2007 Singing the "SEO is dead" song is nothing new for Dave Pasternack, despite all the recent rounds of impotent cliches. I came across the article linked above over at SEO Today from Oct 11, 2005 where he talks about Yahoo Search Subscriptions and proclaims the following pearls:
"Yahoo!’s new Search Subscriptions, now in beta, means two things for SEO. The first thing it means is that organic search is dead. Finished. It finally happened. Everyone can go home. The second thing it means is that SEO is more important than ever was before."Right. We all know how that prediction turned out.
In the end he makes the case that your SEO must be stellar otherwise, you'll completely miss out. Was that supposed to be new information? And in true Pasternack form, he closes with the pitch for SEM:
"And, by the way, if your SEO isn’t working the same way it used to be, you’ll want to bolster your chances with that other great search engine weapon - SEM." Atta boy Dave, you didn't let us down in 2005 and you're certainly singing the same tune in 2007.
Except now he's selling T-Shirts, baking cakes (no wait, his partner is asking for help with that - hmmm) and playing the cancer card. Sigh.
There's a Dave Pasternack ranking contest that is sure to fill the search engine results with references that would likely warrant some brand and reputation work for most company founders, but the reality is this is exactly what Dave wants.
Update: Here are the top ranking SEO sites for "Dave Pasternack" as of 02/19/07 that did not rank previous to the above contest:
Oilman Dave Pasternack
Threadwatch Dave Pasternack
Graywolf Dave Pasternack
Web Guerilla Dave Pasternack
I have to admit, it takes guts to make a fool of yourself saying completely inaccurate things and to lob innuendo and insults to an industry and then stick to your guns when people call you on it. If Dave really wants to get attention, why doesn't he get an ad on the Super Bowl like that super proposal guy and pronounce his undying love and commitment to PPC?
Tag: dave pasternackLabels: dave pasternack
Listen --
"Yahoo!’s new Search Subscriptions, now in beta, means two things for SEO. The first thing it means is that organic search is dead. Finished. It finally happened. Everyone can go home. The second thing it means is that SEO is more important than ever was before."Right. We all know how that prediction turned out.
In the end he makes the case that your SEO must be stellar otherwise, you'll completely miss out. Was that supposed to be new information? And in true Pasternack form, he closes with the pitch for SEM:
"And, by the way, if your SEO isn’t working the same way it used to be, you’ll want to bolster your chances with that other great search engine weapon - SEM." Atta boy Dave, you didn't let us down in 2005 and you're certainly singing the same tune in 2007.
Except now he's selling T-Shirts, baking cakes (no wait, his partner is asking for help with that - hmmm) and playing the cancer card. Sigh.
There's a Dave Pasternack ranking contest that is sure to fill the search engine results with references that would likely warrant some brand and reputation work for most company founders, but the reality is this is exactly what Dave wants.
Update: Here are the top ranking SEO sites for "Dave Pasternack" as of 02/19/07 that did not rank previous to the above contest:
Oilman Dave Pasternack
Threadwatch Dave Pasternack
Graywolf Dave Pasternack
Web Guerilla Dave Pasternack
I have to admit, it takes guts to make a fool of yourself saying completely inaccurate things and to lob innuendo and insults to an industry and then stick to your guns when people call you on it. If Dave really wants to get attention, why doesn't he get an ad on the Super Bowl like that super proposal guy and pronounce his undying love and commitment to PPC?
Tag: dave pasternackLabels: dave pasternack
Listen --
Online Marketing Blog Gets Hit with DOS
Posted by blog - Monday, February 05, 2007 It has been an interesting Monday to say the least. Our main company blog, toprankblog.com has been hit with a Denial of Service attack or something similar. I guess we found out how good or not so good the tech support was at our host. I should say our "old" host.
After 5 hours offline and no action (the led to a resolution) I decided to move hosting of toprankblog.com to a new hosting company. This is the same host as several very popular and highly trafficked blogs, so hopefully they will be better prepared for such situations.
I was hoping to wait until this weekend to make the move, but the site has been down since 11am and I cannot wait for more ambiguous answers. Hopefully the DNS propagation will have gone into effect by tomorrow afternoon at the latest.
Listen --
After 5 hours offline and no action (the led to a resolution) I decided to move hosting of toprankblog.com to a new hosting company. This is the same host as several very popular and highly trafficked blogs, so hopefully they will be better prepared for such situations.
I was hoping to wait until this weekend to make the move, but the site has been down since 11am and I cannot wait for more ambiguous answers. Hopefully the DNS propagation will have gone into effect by tomorrow afternoon at the latest.
Listen --
Search Marketing Seminar Minneapolis Minnesota
Posted by blog - Tuesday, February 13, 2007 Extra, Extra, Read All About It!
High Rankings Search Engine Marketing seminar is coming to Minneapolis March 15 & 16. More info here
Jill Whalen is a pioneer in the SEO world and I am very honored that she has asked me to join her and the excellent group of SEO and PPC experts she’s gathered to do this seminar.
My session is called,
High Rankings Search Engine Marketing seminar is coming to Minneapolis March 15 & 16. More info here
Jill Whalen is a pioneer in the SEO world and I am very honored that she has asked me to join her and the excellent group of SEO and PPC experts she’s gathered to do this seminar.
My session is called,
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