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    Search Marketing Standard: Read it twice

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    I’m still getting two copies of Search Marketing Standard magazine, but I’m not reporting it. First off, it’s so good that I don’t want to possibly miss an issue by having anyone mess with my subscription. With other magazines, I’ve found that fulfillment centers sometimes get confused, and it’s usually months before I realize a certain issue isn’t coming. I just can’t risk it. Every article is good. Secondly, I’ll probably read through it twice. Might as well have a fresh crisp copy the second time. I wonder if I’ll even dog-ear the same pages? Here are four excellent resources for anyone interested in SEO, internet marketing, ecommerce, and the affiliate scene: 1. Search Marketing Standard. If you’ve thought the SEO world moves too fast for print, think again. 2. Practical Ecommerce. Not just for ecommerce store owners. Every web developer creating ecommerce websites should be in tune with the industry. 3. Revenue. Great for affiliate marketers, ecommerce merchants, or any company creating PPC(Pay Per Click) campaigns on Google AdWords or Yahoo Search Marketing. 4. Internet Retailer. Especially important if you are helping larger companies with their SEO, SEM, PPC, and ROI! This publication is best at industry trends influencing larger retailers and online merchants. It is essential that web designers and web site developers start paying attention to the many facets that can make or break an online business. These publications can help get you serve your clients!

    7 Web design techniques that are thankfully being retired

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    1. Frames Frames were rarely done in a search-friendly manner. In the age of cellphone browsers and section 508 compliance, frames must go. 2. IE 5 Mac hacks Internet Explorer was a miserable little browser on every OS it ran on, but was particularly miserable on the Mac. It required CSS hacks that other browsers tripped over. Some standards it – inexplicably – did not support. Even on MacOSX, it sucked. 3. Splash pages These pieces of eyecandy were frequently skipped by visitors, and even more frequently cursed under their breath. Known to be slow-loading and pointless, it is nice to see them used less often. 4. Microsoft Frontpage Extensions These buggy little replacements for scripting would break if you looked at them funny, and gave years of frustration to unix admins. Even Microsoft is turning it’s back on the Frontpage product, and not a day too soon. 5. Popup and Popunder windows There are still sites that tout the effectiveness of popups and popunders, but let’s face it: We all hate them. Every good browser tries to block them, but every once in a while you’ll see one. They are the junkmail of web browsing, and it’s time for them to go far, far away. 6. Animated layers that block content on page load There are few things as annoying as a layer that suddenly slides over to block content you are reading. They usually make users dismiss the ad to read page content. I’ve gotten so that I dismiss anything that slides over, not even taking the time to read the ad. The web will be a better place when these web design techniques are no longer seen. Have others? Add a comment and let us know!

    Web design followup: What to do after the big site launch

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    After the launch of any web development project, stakeholders and web design firms might sit back proudly and call it done. There are, however, a few things that should be cared for after the big launch. 1. Check 404 error logs Be sure to check your logs after you launch that new site. A. Missing pages You wouldn’t move without forwarding your mail, would you? Don’t forget to forward your important (former) page locations, either! Instead of showing the (hopefully customized) 404 error page, make sure you 301 redirect that page to the appropriate new location. You’re not only saving your visitors a click, but you might just preserve the pagerank(and trustrank) Google has given that page. B. Images Were important images being shown on other websites? Perhaps your logo is being shown on a partner’s website. Of course they shouldn’t link directly to images on your site like that. But they did. And if the logo is now missing, it isn’t going to get visitors to click through to your site! You may also have traffic from Google’s image search or other sources. Make sure you know what happens to that traffic when images are suddenly missing. 2. Announce the site launch to vendors and customers A website launch is an excellent reason to get in touch with old and new partners, vendors and customers. Contact them via email, email newsletter, or a direct mail piece. Who knows – you may have a product they didn’t know you offered! 3. Make adjustments Luckily, changes can always be made after a website launch. Is something working? Not working? You can always fix it on the web. Everything web is measurable. Measure and adjust. These steps will help any website design launch go more smoothly. Remember – it isn’t over after the big launch. Sometimes a little more work is needed to put the professional touch on that site. Looking for a more organized approach to your next web design or redesign project? We HIGHLY recommend Web ReDesign 2.0: Workflow that Works.

    Web designers must factor in the growing impatience of web surfers

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    Website visitors have never been more impatient, and I’m the worst. Just today, I was looking up the lyrics to a song. I clicked on the site in #1 position(Like 90% of the rest of the world), but it was too slow. Before I even left the Google SERPS (Search Engine Result Pages), I clicked on the link in position 2. I’m going to bet I’m not the only impatient soul looking for lyrics… or even more important things(as if!). Lucky, mother Google(our gentle overlord) is paying attention. One of the items mentioned in seomoz’s recent survey of perceived ranking factors is the availability of the server hosting a site. In this case lyricbarn, or whatever they were called, lost a visitor and a potential adsense click or two(Ads are fun to click). Web Designers – Yeah, you – Reduce your page load times and keep visitors!

    5 web design & SEO tips from the world of PPC

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    Many view the worlds of Pay Per Click Advertising and Search Engine Optimization as opposites. While they are certainly very different, the goals are similar: bring eyeballs(with wallets) to your site and make it easy for them to buy.  Here are 5 tips to improve your SEO based on lessons from PPC. 1. Converting keywords Some keywords convert into sales better than others. Use your analytics to discover which keywords are bringing you sales, then target them with your SEO campaign. PPC(Pay-Per-Click) ads are a wonderful testbed to discover those converting keywords if you are pressed for time. 2. Your title and metadescription are your ad When composing your titles and metadescriptions, remember they will be shown in the search engine result pages. It’s like having an advertisement to click, but without Google’s AdWords rules. Always remember you are competing against the other pages in the SERPS(Search Engine Result Pages) – who will get the click? 3. Landing pages It’s great to optimize for your homepage, but setup some (even more relevant) landing pages and be sure they get some of the inbound links you are building. 4. Optimize landing pages for different steps in the buying process As visitors reach your site, think about what step they might be at in their buying process? Are they conducting preliminary research?  Give them links to bookmark your content, send it to a friend, or signup for your newsletter.  Is their search so specific that they are probably ready to buy? Now is the time to wave the free shipping! 5. Split Test Internet marketing is measurable. Why not setup split tests when you design your web pages? Create a couple of similar pages(avoid duplicate content) and use your analytics to measure performance. When your sample size tells you which one is better, adjust the worst of the two and measure again. Or create a third page. Hey, why not? HMTL is still free.

    9 Common Web Design Mistakes Prevent Google From Indexing Your Site

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    Web Designers frequently destroy their clients’ chances of ranking well in Google, without even knowing it! Here are three common mistakes that can ruin a client’s chances of ranking well in Google, Yahoo or MSN – simply by preventing the site from being indexed! Search engines follow regular text links, but web designers like to use these unfriendly search engine navigation methods: 1. JavaScript Menus Search Engines do not follow links reliably in JavaScript, if at all. 2. Imagemaps Search Engines cannot see the image, and so cannot classify the relevance or topic of the link. Lesser search engine robots do not even attempt to follow imagemap links. 3. Image Links / Rollover links These links frequently contain JavaScript, but also are difficuly for search engines to classify. 4. JavaScript popups Search Engines do not follow JavaScript reliably, and do not seem to like popups at all! 5. “Jump menus” These pulldown menus are usually submitting a form. If the form target is sent GET requests, there is a chance that the links will be followed in some manner, but again – this isn’t reliable navigation for Search Engines. 6. NOSCRIPT embedded links We were told that content in NOSCRIPT tags is for those visitors that have JavaScript off. But if you were told this means search engines, you were told wrong! This HTML tags has been abused by spammers early on, and search engines do not reliably follow navigation within these tags. 7. Frames – they’re rarely done in a search friendly manner More on the “right way” in a later post. Frames are challenging for search engines, and we have recently seen Google penalizing framee-based sites, perhaps due to the usability challenges they can present. 8. Java Java cannot be executed by search engines. Many early rollover effects relied on Java, but the navigation cannot be read by search engine robots. 9. Flash Flash navigation cannot be followed by search engines. Splash pages can become a deadend for search engines, and alternatives to Flash navigation should always be given. So what can you do to be sure that search engines will crawl your site? We’ll have answers in a future post, but a frequent supplement to websites that use the above techniques – meant almost entirely for search engines – is a set of footer links for seach engines to follow.

    7 untimely ways for a SEO to die

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    In ancient Rome, the ghosts of the ancestors were appeased during Lemuria on May 9. Not many people know that, and even fewer care. But in the spirit of Lemuria, we offer seven untimely ways a SEO can die(It’s a dangerous world out there, and also I’m low on blog posting ideas): – Bitten by search engine crawlers. – Trampled by googlebots(This is actually the best way to go, if you have to). – Trip over a HTML tag someone forgot to close. (This was funnier last night when I thought of it – go figure) – You get (google)whacked while visiting a bad link neighborhood. – You’re doing the googledance, slip on a banana peel and hit your head. Certainly I’m not the only one who knows the googledance? Please submit your videos if you know it: googledance@hyperdogmedia.com. – You receive a suspicious package in the mail, and it turns out to be a googlebomb. – Setting linkbait traps and you get an arm caught. Please submit any other ideas you might have via email: lemuria@hyperdogmedia.com. So strike up that pun machine, it’s Friday! Update: Debra just suggested you could “overdose on link juice” – if only!

    Google Hell: How the supplemental index can kill a company

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    Google Hell is a term being used to describe a sudden, far drop in a website’s ranking on Google. The ranking is usually for an important – or many different important – keyword terms. I’m pleased an article on Google Hell being covered in the mainstream press. It’s a phenomenon known to main online businesses, tied heavily to changes in the Google algorthym. Some of the excellent points in the article: The criteria for Google’s Supplemental Index can be vague. “Grey-area” techniques are sometime necessary to compete on the internet with larger stores. Duplicate content penalties exist! Newly created sites are especially vulnerable to falling into the supplemental index. Buying links may now be a deciding factor in whether your site ends up in the supplemental results. The article quotes Jim Boykin and Micheal Gray. Besides the great sources, it is refreshing that businesses are starting to see the importance of search engine marketing to the bottom line.

    3 things NOT to do: The importance of titles in SEO

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    Sometimes webdesigners get low blood sugar, or suffer minor head injuries. The effect? Bad HTML title tags. Title tags are an important piece of real estate on your page. In properly structured HTML, it’s the first chance for you to tell human prospects and search engine visitors what your page is about. Depending on the search engine, page titles are someytimes shown prominently is results – your page is likely to be passed up if it doesn’t look relevant to the potential visitor’s search. Think about your page title as an advertisement for your website! Since I’m feeling snarky today, here are three things NOT to do when creating your title tags: 1. “Welcome to our website” It sounds like a friendly greeting for your human visitors, but it completely ignores the wonderful gift that a title tag can be. A title tag is a chance to tell both human and search engine visitors just how helpful your content is. Use this chance to target keywords that BRING and CONVERT traffic. 2. “Unititled Page” If your web designer is using Dreamweaver, hope that they are properly caffeinated when they are working on your page. Otherwise, they may forget to change your HTML title tag from the default. Don’t expect quality traffic when you are one of the almost ONE MILLION pages that have “Untitled Page” as their title. 3. “Welcome to Adobe GoLive” You can probably guess where this default page title came from. Check out the ONE MILLION crappy page titles. Oh, that’s neat: version 6 is out. I think we can see what they DIDN’T improve. What SHOULD you do in your title tags? Keywords, focused sets of keywords. More on that in a later – and less snarky – posting.

    MSN adCenter Update: Will it compare to Google AdWords?

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    For those of you not currently signed up with MSN adCenter, you may want to give it a look(starting tomorrow). On April 26, 2007, we’re upgrading Microsoft adCenter with the improved navigation, reporting, and campaign management features from our beta site… While I currently like some of the MSN adCenter demographic targeting and PPC keyword bargains, I think they have room for improvement. Will this be MSN’s “Panama” upgrade that catches it up to Google? We’ll know soon enough! Also from the email: Additional feature upgrades will also occur on April 28, 2007. During this upgrade, adCenter will be unavailable for up to 24 hours starting at 12:00 P.M. Pacific Time. Your ads will continue to run as scheduled during both adCenter upgrades. With these upgrades, you’ll experience new features that will allow you to: Search within your campaigns. Use full text search to easily find ads, keywords, ad groups, campaigns, and accounts. Please note that orders are now called ad groups. Save important items in Favorites. Tag your campaign items for follow-up using Favorites. Quickly navigate your accounts. Use the improved navigation to quickly navigate to any campaign or ad group in your account. Easily access help content. Hover over the green question mark icons for pop-up help tips.1 Manage keywords faster. Bulk edit keyword settings and delete low-performing keywords. Save time importing campaigns. Directly import your campaigns from other search advertising programs. One click downloads. Download your datasets into Excel with one click. And more! View our blog and watch the webinar for tips and training on these new features. If you have any questions, please contact our adCenter support team. Sincerely, The Microsoft adCenter Team Frequently Asked Questions Why are you upgrading Microsoft adCenter? Over the past few months, we’ve been running improvements on the adCenter beta site, which has been available to customers in our U.S. Content Ads pilot. Now, it is time to share these new and improved features with all advertisers. Will my campaigns be affected? Your campaigns will continue to run as scheduled. With this upgrade, using adCenter is now easier and more efficient. The updates provide you with improved campaign management, navigation, and reporting. Where can I learn more about the most recent updates to adCenter? Our webinar, walks you through the features that will be included in this upgrade, and additional information can be found on our adCenter blog. 1 This feature will be available after the April 28, 2007 upgrade.