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Mike Valentine - EzineArticles.com Expert Author
Mike Banks Valentine is a Search Engine Optimization Specialist emphasizing
the use of ethical techniques. He has operated a small business ecommerce
tutorial at WebSite101 since 1998, offering tutorials on internet business for
ecommerce entrepreneurs. A news hound and business enthusiast, he blogs
about search engine developments, web content issues, and privacy issues on
three separate blogs.
[View Mike Valentine's Extended Author Bio]
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Mike Valentine Email Alerts
- Article Marketing Keyword Parrots and Linking Fanatics in Web Content
[Writing-and-Speaking:Writing-Articles] Article marketing is being abused by overzealous keyword parrots, linking fanatics and copywriting hired guns. The effective use of instructive and entertaining articles as promotional strategy has been adopted by the seamy side of the web, without quality standards and while ignoring guidelines.
- Google Custom Search Engine (CSE) - New Vertical Search Tools for Publishers
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:SEO] Here is your chance to show the world how you would create the perfect search engine, layered on top of current Google search results. The Google Custom Search Engine tool, announced in late October, allows anyone to created a vertical search
- Facilitating Social Media Optimization (SMO): Single Button Bookmark or Subscribe to Feeds
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:Social-Media] The evolution of the web means that the basic building blocks of SEO are still important, but those methods have grown to include new techniques, including Social Media Optimization. The relatively new term SMO refers to making it easy for your site visitors to use social bookmarking services, RSS feeds and social media sites by providing links to those services from your site or blog.
- SEO Job Interview: Ten Tips For Corporate Search Engine Optimization Jobs Search
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:SEO] SEO job interviews at large companies at which they have chosen to move the SEO position in-house are becoming more common. In interviewing for several of those jobs, I have noticed some things that may help those considering applying for a corporate SEO position.
- Keyword Meta Tags - SEO Bloggers & Search Engines Say ... Ding! Pointless!
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:SEO] Very few SEO's still believe that the keyword meta tag is of any value whatsoever. Some discussion pops up every once in awhile on discussion lists and in forums. But for the most part, professional SEO's have stopped using keyword metatags. Effect on search engine rankings - NIL.
- Don't Risk Losing Your Business Domain Name! Or-WHOIS My Registrar?
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:Domain-Names] Thousands of small business webmasters briefly lose their domain names at expiration, due to a simple lack of understanding about the roles of three key players in the drama: domain name registrars, web hosts and internet service providers. Fortunately for most, they learn quickly how to save their web site from oblivion by using the 30 day redemption period for expired domain names enforced by ICANN. One simple solution is to extend domain registration for the maximum ten years. The other solution is to treat domain registrar data as the critical business element it is.
- Google Sitemaps (AKA Webmaster Tools) Tutorial For the Non-Geek, XML Challenged Site Owner
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:SEO] Before August of 2006, Google Sitemaps required knowledge of Python, XML and server cron jobs - Now it is simply a plain text file of site URL's posted on your server and submitted to Google sitemaps program. Google has also provided a suite of tools showing statistics and crawls, allowing spam complaints and requesting site reinclusion if you've been banned. It's a kinder, gentler Google Sitemaps for non-geek small business webmasters.
- Leveraging Social Media for Search Engine Off-Page Ranking Factors - del.icio.us, Flickr, Squidoo
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:Social-Media] Experts on "social media" discussed the powerful influence of sites such as del.icio.us, Flickr, Squidoo and social tagging in many forms. But little was offered in the way of specific recommendations offered to fulfill the Search Engine Strategies (SES) San Jose 2006 conference session title of "Leveraging Social Media."
- Can you Please Them All? Universal Search Engine Ranking Algorithms
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:SEO] Many webmasters labor to achieve top rankings at one search engine, only to notice that the other top engines rank them differently for their targeted search phrases. Top SEO firm representatives each suggest that using recognized basics universally to achieve positions at Google, then tweaking to see if rankings can be improved at Yahoo and MSN.
- Google, Yahoo & MSN Research Laboratories: What Makes It from Idea to Product?
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:SEO] The three top search engines presented their top research labs managers at the Search Engine Strategies (SES) San Jose 2006 to discuss how search related products move from idea to development and finally to products offered in public beta. No major new products were revealed, as some attendees had hoped, but the session presented an interesting view of the differences between the top three search players and style of their managers.
- Google CEO Eric Schmidt on Privacy, Outhouses & Proprietary Algorithms
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:SEO] Coverage of the Search Engine Strategies keynote with Search Engine Watch Editor Danny Sullivan interviewing Google CEO Eric Schmidt. The company head shared his opinion on internet and search engine query privacy, an interesting revelation of a few of his own queries and revealed that he has chosen NOT to know the proprietary Google ranking algorithm.
- LinkBaiting the Hook: Landing Linking Sharks & Media Whales
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:SEO] Three linking experts share their secrets at a LinkBait session at the search engine strategies (SES) 2006 in San Jose August 7-10, offering solid advice to attendees seeking methods of attracting media attention and large scale linking from bloggers, social tagging sites and their audience of customers.
- Machine Translation SEO For Foreign Language Search Engine Success
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:SEO] US based web sites often ignore the potential of foreign search visitors and turn away potential traffic from millions of European and Asian countries. But a review of site traffic logs will reveal hundreds of queries from Google translation tools. Don't ignore the foreign language search engines. (Google alone is represented by 141 countries and supports over 100 languages.)
- Lose a Laptop or PDA? You Get Your Stuff Back with Property ID Asset Tags
[Computers-and-Technology:Mobile-Computing] Thousands of very expensive digital and electronics items go missing every day as we absent-mindedly leave them behind in public places. The reason that most are not returned is that they are not labeled with owner information. Now several new companies have launched "Lost & Found" services to help get your lost items returned to you. They achieve this by offering "asset tags," unique labels marked with identifying numbers so they can be tracked back to you through web sites and toll-free phone numbers. Many offer rewards for reporting and turning in the items for return to their proper owners.
- Top Ten Silly SEO Mistakes, Stumbles and Blunders of Ecommerce Webmasters
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:SEO] Web site owners can be their own worst enemy when it comes to SEO goofs in site maintenance, additions or redesigns. This article covers the worst of the most common problems of search engine optimization committed by site owners or employees who simply don't care about your search engine rank.
- Advertising Agency SEO Flash! Ad Agencies Battle Search Engine Optimization With Branding Argument
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:SEO] The branding versus search argument pits ad agency apologists against SEO, but in the end comes up only with excuses for not performing on the search engines using traditional methods of advertising.
- Blogging Bliss: Bloggers & News Sites to Marry Web Content
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:Blogging] A new service called BlogBurst allows bloggers to be seen on the web sites of major
metropolitan newspapers nationwide for those accepted into their network.
Accepted blogs can potentially be seen on newspaper web sites from the
WashingtonPost.com to Gannet news sites to the San Francisco Chronicle's
SFGate.com.
- Google SEO Sleeping Pill - Yawning at Dull News Headlines
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:SEO] The Ne York Times has begun writing headlines including factual and descriptive words in the headline to rank better in the search engines and claims that it makes their headlines boring. Don't believe it! Headlines can still be creative while including important keywords within those 7 to 10 words.
- Made for Adsense (MFA) Sites Contribute to Web Content Pollution
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:PPC-Publishing] A new type of pollution has come to the web due to sites created purely for Google Adsense Ads focused around a narrow topic area and using articles generated for no other purpose than to gain links to these sites. Economic incentive to create these made for Adsense sites is higher in economically depressed countries.
- IRS to Allow Tax Preparers to Sell Your Tax Returns & Financial Privacy!
[Finance:Taxes] A propose IRS rule change may allow your accountant to sell your tax returns to marketing firms and data brokers if approved. The Philidelphia Inquirer broke the story of language that would allow "Subsidiary Services" to be sold using taxpayer information from tax returns held by tax professionals.
- Google Sued Over PageRank by Another Search Engine - KinderStart
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:SEO] Google has been sued for "Blocking" visitors from seeing rankings for a search engine specializing in advice on children which claimed 10 million visitors monthly before Google allegedly blocked them from search results. The case has dramatic legal ramifications if it attains class action status as the attorney representing Kinderstart hopes.
- Dot "info" Domains as Search Engine Spammer Honeypots?
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:Domain-Names] Search engine spam has increased dramatically over the past year due to the allure of Google Adsense, and now Yahoo Publisher Network (YPN) sites. Automated tools have been introduced allowing slimy programmers to profit from selling software along with articles to make Adsense Ready article sites to profit from "free-to-use" articles in violation of author terms of use which restrict for-profit uses or paid compilations.
- Article Marketing to be Destroyed by Upcoming Duplicate Content Filters Employed by Search Engines?
[Writing-and-Speaking:Writing-Articles] Discussion of "Duplicate Content Filters" as it affects article marketing has reached a
level of misunderstanding which requires some clarity. Let's look at why it is unlikely
to ever reduce the effectiveness of widely distributed expertise in articles authored
by niche industry writers.
- BMW Automaker Web Site Banned From Google For Sp*mming Search Engines
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:SEO] BMW.de has been publicly banned by Google for using "Doorway Pages" and
javascript redirects to rank for "Used Cars" for its (German language) new car site.
The story hit BBC news two days after Google Software Engineer Matt Cutts blogged
about the site using disapproved techniques.
- Google Big Daddy SearchQuake About to Rock Your Ranking?
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:SEO] Google is about to implement a major search ranking algorithm update in February
or Marchthat could rock your ranking. The results you can expect to see after that
update can be seen from a separate Google datacenter known as BigDaddy by
visiting http://66.249.93.104 right now to see that algorithm in use.
- Working Together: Your Music, Movies, Photos on Your iPod, Cell Phone & PDA
[Computers-and-Technology:Personal-Tech] Movie and television studios and music labels continue to fight for Digital Rights
Management (DRM) as consumers continue to fight against attempts to stifle them
from using purchased music and video content on all of their multiple electronic
devices. Electronics manufacturers continue to give in to the studios by hobbling
music players and DVD recorders so they won't work interchangably with other
devices using proprietary software and a multitude of copy protection schemes.
Consumers will eventually bypass these schemes or stop buying hobbled hardware.
- Larry Page on Google Video, Free Web Content, Standards, & Digital Rights Management
[Writing-and-Speaking:Writing-Articles] Larry Page, cofounder of Google made a plea for web standards, interoperability of
electronic devices and access to freely available content when announcing Google
Video in his Consumer Electronics Show keynote speech. He missed a great
opportunity to promote Creative Commons for video and visual arts, but it was
apparent that he supports it or something similar in decrying the lack of standards
for digital video among device manufacturers. I wholeheartedly agree and believe it
applies to textual content as well.
- Benefit of Reciprocal & Non-Relevant Links Killed by Google Jagger Update!
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:SEO] The latest Google algorithm update, named Jagger, has severely downgraded the value of reciprocal linking schemes and links from non-relevant sites and networks of sites. Purchased links have suffered due to the network and non-relevance issue. Those who concentrate on one-way, relevant, inbound links from articles and press releases are gaining on those who previously got their position through reciprocal linking.
- Blogging Chocolate Purses, Counterfeit Handbags, & Purse Riots For SEO
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:SEO] Coming up with blogging topics to increase the search engine ranking of your
business web site is as simple as signing up for Google News Alerts.
- One Million Pages of WebmasterWorld Dropped by Google as Forum Bans Bots
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:SEO] One of the largest forums on the web has been dropped by search engines after the extreme move by the site owner of banning spiders, crawlers and bots from the site to reduce the load on the server and to stop scraping of content for use in search engine spam sites. No mention can be found in any of the top search engines (as of this writing)) of any of over one million pages from WebmasterWorld discussion forums.
- Avoid Duplicate Content Penalty on PPC Landing Pages!
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:PPC-Advertising] Pay Per Click advertising converts to sales better if you create pages tailored specifically to text used in PPC ads. But if you create dozens of ppc landing pages look out for duplicate content penalties from the search engines. You can avoid being penalized for repetitive content by putting robots.txt instructions on your site to keep that repeated content from being crawled and indexed for organic search.
- Link Panhandlers Begging for Links on Street Corners - Get a Job!
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:SEO] Link requests that pepper my in box are usually routed to my spam file
automatically, but those that make it through and manage to get opened are usually given a standard reply which requires a value exchange. I won't link to you unless you offer something of value to me - an article to add to my site. I'll link from your resource box.
- Torpedo and Sink the Ship SS Search Engine Ranking
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:SEO] Website owners sometimes feel the need to change well ranked pages without
realizing that the consequences of that action could be to sink their search engine ranking to the bottom of the ocean. Site owners should check with their SEO firm to find out how proposed changes will affect their search engine positions.
- Rock Your Rank With a Dynamite Text Link - Yahoo Directory Explodes Rankings
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:SEO] Some webmasters question the value of submission to the Yahoo Directory for
referred traffic, but that should not be the reason to pay $299 a year to Yahoo. The value is in the link, not the traffic they send to your site. Gains in Google PageRank and search term rankings can be seen with that simple text link from Yahoo back to your site. Any referred traffic is simply gravy.
- Search Engine Spiders Lost Without Guidance - Post This Sign!
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:SEO] Robots.txt signpost warns trespassers from private property and keeps private or proprietary information from your website out of the search engine results pages. Be sure to post this file since all search engines look for it upon entering your site for the first time and regularly check to see if it has been changed or updated. Server log files are the source of decisions about crawling speed and bot value to your site. Keep out the "Bad Bots" by warning them off with this "no trespassing sign"...
- Bugaboos of Article Marketing in Web Content Management Systems (CMS)
[Writing-and-Speaking:Writing-Articles] Many authors using article marketing to gain visibility and credibility are getting neither due to mistakes in their distribution and even simple punctuation. Problems sometimes exacerbated by Content Management Systems that break or malform hyperlinks and display odd characters in text.
- Web Content Barn Blasted by Shotgun Software - Article Marketers
[Writing-and-Speaking:Writing-Articles] Hired Guns Blasting away at the web content barn are destroying article marketing by submitting to thousands of ezine editors with software that shoots randomly in shotgun fashion without regard to topic. Reasonable article marketers are the victims of these overzealous, gunslinging SEO writers.
- Article Marketing: Fox in the Competitor Hen House or Chicken Little?
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:SEO] Article marketing can put a link to your business on competitor websites. Don't be foolish and request removal of articles from your competition's website. That link will do you more good than any crowded and off-topic links directory plastered beside thousands of other competitors on a poorly ranked page that nobody ever looks at.
- Car Insurance Monitoring for Discounted Insurance Rates - Privacy Devouring Monster Eating Us One Bi
[Insurance:Car-Auto] Allowing your auto insurance company to monitor your driving habits is the latest
method of privacy invasion. Although many will find this scheme worthwhile, are we
giving up too much information to commercial interests which have no obligation to
protect our private, personal information. Database mergers between companies is
the biggest danger once all the pieces are in place for universal surveillance.
- Release from Google Sandbox Only to Search the Playground
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:SEO] Once a new website is released from the Google Sandbox, gains in page counts and
crawling behavior take on an interesting pattern. Contrasted by MSN and Yahoo
which appear to decline in numbers of pages listed and fluctuate in numbers
presented and made viewable, Google increases on a steady basis with predictable
gains and all pages are available to view from search results pages. Crawling
schedules are compared between engines as well.
- Gourmet Coffee Stops Decrease Gas Mileage;Home Brewed Premium Coffee Reduce Traffic Congestion
[Food-and-Drink:Coffee] A national study demonstrates that morning stops for coffee at gourmet coffee
shops decrease mileage and increase gridlock, adding stress to the daily commute. Brewing premium coffee at home from fresh roasted whole beans reduces cost and stress and increases commuter mileage.
- Yahoo Dopey, MSN Goofy, Google is Mickey Mouse Lost in a Sandbox
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:SEO] Third in a series on Google Sandbox Effect - listing delays for new sites are often
different depending on the targeted market segment. Google has Sandboxed this
new site for 72 days as of this writing, despite links from previous case study
articles reproduced in hundreds of popular webmaster sites online. Yahoo and MSN
have several thousand pages indexed, yet Google and AskJeeves continue listing
delays exceeding ten weeks.
- 60 Day Sandbox for Google & AskJeeves; MSN Indexes Quickest, Yahoo Next
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:SEO] Google sandbox effect case study outlining crawling behavior and indexing delays
at the top four search engines. Second in a series looking at how bots behave
crawling newly posted domain names and delays in indexing imposed by the search
engines. Points out how important the implementation of proper robots.txt files are
for crawling by MSNbot and to keep out bad bots that strain server resources.
- Gourmet Coffee Habit Costing Consumers as Much as $1,500 Yearly
[Food-and-Drink:Coffee] Consumers may be spending large sums on a daily gourmet coffee fix when they
could significantly reduce the cost while enjoying better tasting fresh brewed gourmet coffee made from fresh ground whole bean coffee and taking it with them in a thermos or travel mug. Crowded coffee shops may be a thing of the past once comsumers realize how good home brewed coffee can be.
- Playing in Googlebot's Sandbox with Slurp, Teoma, & MSNbot - Spiders Display Differing Personalities
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:SEO] Much has been made of the "Google Sandbox Effect" referring to the indexing delay by Google, but this case study outlines how this indexing delay is practiced by at least three of the top four search engines on new domain names in the first 60 days following discovery by the SE spiders. Interesting lesson on proper implementation of the robots.txt file for proper crawling and control of spider activity...
- Ranked #1 at Google for "Invisible Entrepreneurs" But No Traffic?
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:SEO] Ranking matters little when it results in no search engine referred traffic. Check
traffic statistics to find out what keyword phrases are actually delivering traffic from
the search engines to your site.
- 40 Million People Hacked - YOU as Identity Theft Victim
[Legal:Identity-Theft] June 19, MasterCard blamed a vendor of ALL credit card
providers called CardSystems Solutions, Inc., a third-party
processor of payment card data, as the source of loss of 40
million consumers credit card information.
- Google Search Algorithm Patent Application Creates Spring Buzz!
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:SEO] Google has filed a patent on their search algorithm with the US Patent & Trademark Office that was posted at the USPTO web site on March 31, 2005, causing extensive discussions across the webmaster forums and blogs. There are multiple innovative and unusual elements to their ranking formula, including the length of the domain registration and historical data, as well as "user supplied" information that implies some privacy issues may be at issue.
- What is Sustainable Coffee and How Does it Affect My Wake Cup?
[Food-and-Drink:Coffee] Confusion over marketing terms in Gourmet Coffee is discussed in this review of sustainable coffee and its variants, including "Fair Trade", "Organic", "Eco-Freindly", "Shade-Grown" and "Certified Sustainable"
- You Cannot Hide From the Public Record Search Engines
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:SEO] Public record search engines are making it increasingly easy for anyone with a computer to pry into your personal and private life with the click of a web link. Here is a frightening look at how easily stalkers and criminals might find out all they need to know about potential victims. Unfortunately, there is no easily known way to stay out of these online databases.
- Your Top Search Rankings at Yahoo & MSN Search are Worthless
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:SEO] Yahoo & MSN Search don't send visitors to web sites no matter how highly ranked those sites are. Somehow Yahoo & MSN have worked out how to keep searchers on their site and don't send searchers to the web sites that are top ranked from their results pages. What's up with that?
- 1-800-Get-Rich Can Toll Free 800 Number Domains Pay Off?
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:Domain-Names] Using 1-800 numbers in domain names is becoming more common becuase they are more easily remembered and allow the use of keyword phrases to be used in the URL. Vanity 800 toll free numbers are sometimes used with a matching domain name, as in the case of 1-800-Flowers.com. It may be worth considering a toll free phone number, but is it worth using as a domain name too?
- Abandoned by Google! Googlebot, Wherefore Art Thou Googlebot?
[Internet-and-Businesses-Online:SEO] Google seems to be ignoring newer sites that haven't been re-indexed for months. Some solutions are more equal than others in getting Google to pay attention.
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