Hosting Marketers

Optimizing for the search engines can be a daunting task if you are unfamiliar with how to do it or even what to look for. We have compiled here the most important areas to focus on in your search engine optimization efforts. Pay special attention to these tips:

Google places a very strong emphasis on the quality and relevancy of their search results. As the undisputed leader in the world of search engines, they know that in order to stay on top they must make sure that their users are satisfied with the quality of the search results provided. To that end, they do not take kindly to several techniques used by many webmasters and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) experts. These techniques can and will get a site banned from Google or at the very least result in a Page Rank (PR) penalty. (PR will be discussed in more detail later.) A list of the most common (and dangerous) techniques is below:

Submitting multiple URLs for the same site - An example would be submitting mysite.com and mysite.com/index.html to their database, thereby essentially trying to get two search results for the same page.

Cloaking - Cloaking is having two separate pages, one optimized for the search engines and a different one optimized for the viewer. In other words the search engine sees one page but the user is redirected to a different page when the link is clicked. Cloaking is a big no-no with Google.

Doorway pages - In order to get a good listing in the search engines, some webmasters will load the home page with keywords. But a page filled with keywords comes across as nonsense to a human viewing the page. Therefore the webmaster will do a redirect to another page that is much easier to read (or have the user click a link to get to that page). This is basically cloaking. And as we now know, cloaking is a no-no.

Hidden text - Some webmasters will place hidden keywords on a page and make the font color the same as the background color (for example white text on a white background). This renders the text invisible to the human eye but the search engine spiders can still see it. This results in a higher Page Rank and search engine listing for those keywords. Hidden text is often used on a doorway page. Using hidden text is a sure way to get banned from Google fast!

Hidden links - The number of pages that link to one of your pages has a direct effect on how high your page appears in the search results (and that page’s PR). As with hiding text, hiding links will also result in a ban or PR penalty.

Link farms - A link farm is loosely defined as a page that lists links solely or mainly for the purpose of achieving a high Google PR. Free-For-All links pages are often considered link farms by Google. Be careful who you link to! Realistically, you can’t control who links to you, so incoming links will not hurt your site’s ranking. But you control directly who you link to so Google will ban or penalize your site for linking to a “bad neighborhood”.

Spamming - Don’t send unsolicited commercial emails (SPAM). Enough said.

Selling PR - Blatantly advertising the fact that your high PR site will sell a link to another site in order to boost that site’s PR is another big no-no. Selling advertising in the form of a link on your site is perfectly acceptable. Selling a link for the stated or implied purpose of increasing a site’s PR is not.

Multiple identical sites - In order to increase PR, some webmasters will create and interlink multiple pages all with identical or very similar content. This is not allowed.

Multiple domains - Creating multiple domains that redirect to one page is not allowed. Also, creating multiple domains with the same or nearly the same content and then interlinking them is a no-no. If you have multiple sites place unique content on each site. Doing otherwise will result in a ban or penalty.

Excessive links - Google recommends having no more than 100 links on any given page. Having more than 100 links won’t result in a ban but it can result in a lower PR.

If you refrain from using any of the above techniques you can avoid a Google penalty. The best way to attain a high PR and placement in the Google listings is to stay on Google’s “good side”.

Hosting Marketers

Optimizing for the search engines can be a daunting task if you are unfamiliar with how to do it or even what to look for. We have compiled here the most important areas to focus on in your search engine optimization efforts. Pay special attention to these tips:

What NOT to do!

Google places a very strong emphasis on the quality and relevancy of their search results. As the undisputed leader in the world of search engines, they know that in order to stay on top they must make sure that their users are satisfied with the quality of the search results provided. To that end, they do not take kindly to several techniques used by many webmasters and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) experts. These techniques can and will get a site banned from Google or at the very least result in a Page Rank (PR) penalty. (PR will be discussed in more detail later.) A list of the most common (and dangerous) techniques is below:

Submitting multiple URLs for the same site - An example would be submitting mysite.com and mysite.com/index.html to their database, thereby essentially trying to get two search results for the same page.

Cloaking - Cloaking is having two separate pages, one optimized for the search engines and a different one optimized for the viewer. In other words the search engine sees one page but the user is redirected to a different page when the link is clicked. Cloaking is a big no-no with Google.

Doorway pages - In order to get a good listing in the search engines, some webmasters will load the home page with keywords. But a page filled with keywords comes across as nonsense to a human viewing the page. Therefore the webmaster will do a redirect to another page that is much easier to read (or have the user click a link to get to that page). This is basically cloaking. And as we now know, cloaking is a no-no.

Hidden text - Some webmasters will place hidden keywords on a page and make the font color the same as the background color (for example white text on a white background). This renders the text invisible to the human eye but the search engine spiders can still see it. This results in a higher Page Rank and search engine listing for those keywords. Hidden text is often used on a doorway page. Using hidden text is a sure way to get banned from Google fast!

Hidden links - The number of pages that link to one of your pages has a direct effect on how high your page appears in the search results (and that page’s PR). As with hiding text, hiding links will also result in a ban or PR penalty.

Link farms - A link farm is loosely defined as a page that lists links solely or mainly for the purpose of achieving a high Google PR. Free-For-All links pages are often considered link farms by Google. Be careful who you link to! Realistically, you can’t control who links to you, so incoming links will not hurt your site’s ranking. But you control directly who you link to so Google will ban or penalize your site for linking to a “bad neighborhood”.

Spamming - Don’t send unsolicited commercial emails (SPAM). Enough said.

Selling PR - Blatantly advertising the fact that your high PR site will sell a link to another site in order to boost that site’s PR is another big no-no. Selling advertising in the form of a link on your site is perfectly acceptable. Selling a link for the stated or implied purpose of increasing a site’s PR is not.

Multiple identical sites - In order to increase PR, some webmasters will create and interlink multiple pages all with identical or very similar content. This is not allowed.

Multiple domains - Creating multiple domains that redirect to one page is not allowed. Also, creating multiple domains with the same or nearly the same content and then interlinking them is a no-no. If you have multiple sites place unique content on each site. Doing otherwise will result in a ban or penalty.

Excessive links - Google recommends having no more than 100 links on any given page. Having more than 100 links won’t result in a ban but it can result in a lower PR.

If you refrain from using any of the above techniques you can avoid a Google penalty. The best way to attain a high PR and placement in the Google listings is to stay on Google’s “good side”. Now that we have the “don’ts” out of the way, let’s get started with the “do’s”!

By Chuck McCullough

These are the words that ring in my mind as I’m removing the dead affiliate programs from my directory.

This year has really been a shake out for online businesses.

Many have had to close their doors due to bankruptcy, inability to gain additional funds from the Venture Caps, or both.

The impact that this has had for me is that it now seems that I spend just as much time removing discontinued affiliate programs from my directory as I do adding new ones.

I firmly believe that this underscores the importance of taking the time to do the research and find yourself a few really decent programs and focus on promoting them.

Some of the programs that I have removed have been from big companies that anyone that had done their due diligence on would have felt were solid companies.

This is unexpected and may not be avoidable, but the important thing is to realize that the many ‘fly-by-night’ companies and programs should definitely be avoided.

It also helps me realize just how great the ‘little guys’ have it.

Huh?

That’s right, as one of those ‘little guys’, I know that if one of my websites fail, I can shut it down and start a new one on a different topic.

I don’t have to worry about risking bankruptcy, and since I’ve never gotten a loan so far, I don’t have to worry about them saying “here comes that Chuck-guy wanting to borrow more money that we know he won’t pay back!”

Many companies don’t approach the Internet from this perspective. They figure the more money they throw at it, the better their chances for survival.

The thing to realize is that the Internet is still first and foremost a content and information provider.

It is trying to become a new medium for retailers to push their wares, but its not there yet.

Even though the number of online shoppers is steadily increasing, the reports and statistics seem to show that people are using the Internet to research their larger purchasing decisions, and then buying them at a bricks and mortar store close by.

So, if my theory holds true (yes these are my opinions and may be incorrect) why are the numbers of shoppers increasing?

Personally, I think that more purchases are being made because customers are being introduced to products while they are surfing through their favorite content sites.

The steady increase in the number of affiliate and partner programs allows website owners to offer their visitors products that those visitors may not have gone online looking for, but yet just might purchase because of a strong recommendation.

Here’s an example:

In this issue I mention a book that I recently purchased and read.

I bought that book at Amazon.com. I bought it because my favorite investing tips site that I visit a couple of times a week recommended it.

A few days ago I went back to Amazon.com to see if I could find another book as good as that one had been. After about 30 minutes of reading customer comments and “People that bought this book also bought…”, I gave up.

So I went back to my favorite site that had told me about the first book and clicked his Amazon.com affiliate link for his second “Best pick” selection.

I bought it and am currently enjoying it as well.

The point I’m trying to make with this story is that Amazon.com with all of its millions, or billions of dollars was unable to sell me a single book, yet this guy that is probably spending $50 bucks a month on hosting fees made the sale, not only once but twice!

Granted, Amazon made the money as well but I would just as easily have bought the books from Barnes and Noble had they been an affiliate of them instead of Amazon.

Under this situation the affiliate would have made a commission off of me and Amazon would have gotten nothing.

So don’t think that you have to have millions in the bank or a staff of 50 employees to make it on the Net.

Get started part-time and focus on creating a really great site with tons of useful information and content, and watch your business grow and grow.

And definitely don’t be in such a rush to add your name to the list of: Another one bites the dust!