How To Market Your Stuff

RSS Feed Homepage

Articles: 1, 2

Benefit of Podcast Feature PRWeb and Press Releases
2007-05-15 20:46:00
Just a quick note on the benefit of why you may wish to pay the $100 for the podcast feature on PRWeb.com [1] with your press releases. The intangible benefit is that it does create a sense of legitmacy with your site. There are hundreds of millions of sites out there and alot of them just do not have any credibility and without credibility you significantly reduce your chances of selling anything. The tangible benefits are building your brand awareness and, of course, search engine optimization. You say, how can a search engine pick up keywords about your podcast. Well, you can select the tags to associate with your podcast and also the directories it should be categorized in - at least, for iTunes and podcasts.yahoo.com which are the two big kahunas that you should definitely send your podcast to. It should be noted that PRWeb submits your podcast to iTunes and various other main podcast directories but for some reason not to podcasts.yahoo.com. I assume it's a legal issue. Ho...
More About: Press , Press Releases , Podcast , Feature , Bene

MyNextDeal, Case Study on their Blog Linking Strategy
2007-05-14 15:18:00
I read a press release today on a fairly new commercial real estate site whose business competency is displaying commercial real estate listing (over 350,000 to date) which also feature key demographic indicators - namely, median household income and population. I did some research on the site since it contained relevant keyword anchor text and so it seemed like there was some good seo strategy in place. I did notice, however, that the MyNextDeal blog [1] contained alot of links at the bottom which would most likely end up triggering some spam flags from the Google algorithms. Just be careful about how many outgoing links you have instituted and be careful with the anchor text. In general, 50 outgoings links per page is sufficient where Matt Cutt mentions it in his blog posting Google Hell - Matt Cutt's Views on Link Building [2]. It's better to be safe than sorry and if there are drastic changes then make them drastic white hat seo and safe changes rather than grey hat seo chang...
More About: Study , Strategy , Blog , Linking , Case

Redirects url with Tinyurl - Is it good SEO practice? May 14, 2007
2007-05-14 13:46:00
I just read a posting and responded to a google groups question about someone's drop from ranking Can't figure out why my page was dropped [1]. In the posting he had a link using the tinyurl format which I thought was not the best practice. Why wasn't he linking to his landing and sales page directly I thought? He loses the inbound credit (unless it's a 301 redirect which is probably isn't) and he loses branding with this url. Really at the end of the day it's about producing the most relevant search results for Google searchers - this is what Google wants to attain. However, one needs to do everything else correctly. With this in mind there are reports of the Google algorithm changing but it's still about relevant search results. Google will adjust and hopefully the algorithm will do the right thing. Anyway, here is my reply or you can read his posting and other's replies as well: You should be linking to it directly rather than use tinyurl. This doesn't promote branding ...
More About: Practice , Good , Redirect , Dire , Rect

Understanding Google Algorithm, Google SEO Updates - May 13, 2007
2007-05-13 14:42:00
I read and reply to alot of google groups who post questions since it makes me understand and makes me ponder upon the same questions I have. It makes me think from an objective standpoint why I have the same problems as others do. It also allows me to teach others and this in turn teaches me and it's all actually gratifying. The problem this particular person had was that he was receiving a number of searches on his directory site that is regionally specific to the UK and his traffic would jump from 2500 visitors a day (pretty good traffic) down to 250 visitors a day. Google algorithm, I believe, is undergoing some changes and the Google engineers are trying to make it better. Anyway, here is the posting Getting off the Google Swing [1]. I hope my reply will provide some insight to Google's algorithm. I believe it the Google algorithm is undergoing some "tweaking" as I've seen other reports of similar circumstances. However, getting your site XTML Strict validated by W3C shoul...
More About: Updates , Understand , Standing , Under

Westhost Disables htaccess of Website ?accidently?
2007-05-13 12:31:00
More sloppy work by the technicians at Westhost. I know you've heard it too many times from me and you're wondering why I haven't moved hosting companies yet. If you've ever have the "privilege" of moving a site with lots and lots of files and ensure that everything works correctly and the transition is smooth then you'll know the task that lies ahead. On top of all this, and I know this sounds like an excuse, I have alot of other work that is prioritized for my clients. Yes, I care about my client's sites not just because it pays the bills as well but I do care about their welfare as I understand the they have families and themselves to feed. =) Come to think of it I have to still do my taxes. Shhh...just don't tell CRA (that's Canada Revenue Agency) So I noticed just now that some Westhost technician disabled my htaccess files. How inane is that? I suppose when they were doing upgrades or some other technical matter they were attending to. One technician replied and said ...
More About: Website , Cide

Good, Proper Link Directory Building for SEO
2007-05-13 11:51:00
I came across a recent press release on PRWeb about Link Directory Submissions [1] dated May 13, 2007 - actually today as I write this. The press release is about the first link directory that offer bidding on your url submission (sponspot.com). This reminds of me that you should submit your site to the most prominent directories. Here is a quick list and they are all pay-to-submit directories. Joeant [2] - $39.99 for submission and then wait for approval Best of the Web [3] - $39.99 for submission and then wait for approval Yahoo Submissions [4] - click on the Yahoo Directory Submissions link. There are two types: one for commercial which is $299 per year and one that is free but is strictly non-commercial. Don't try and submit your site as a free site when it's actually a commercial site because it is human edited and just won't be accepted. If you are serious about your site then THIS is the one directory you should be submitting your site to. Microsoft Small Business Directo...
More About: Building , Good , Build

Obfuscate Email address with PHP from Spambots
2007-05-12 16:06:00
I was using javascript to obfuscate my email addresses from spambots but it didn't validate as strict XHTML under W3C so I was searching for a PHP solution. Here is a super easy solution which validates as XHTML Strict. I have to give where credit is due so thanks to Aaron Toponce for this Obfuscate email PHP style [1]. Note: I did change the last line since I was receiving an error "reference not terminated by REFC delimiter" even though Aaron original code was validating as Strice XHTML. The code is dated back Nov 2005 but still functions. =) [1] http://www.pthree.org/2005/11/19/email-ob fuscation-php-style/
More About: Email , Bots , Cate , Address

Yahoo Promotes Google Arbitrage
2007-05-12 13:24:00
I think this is an interesting discussion. I just recently (May 9, 2007) an email to Google notifying them of a possible Google arbitrage. For those of you who don't know what Google arbitrage is that it is similar to the stock market arbitrage whereupon you would purchase ads to bring in visitors to your site but you would end up making more money, or hopefully you would, when the visitors would click on your ads in a pay per click scenario. This was possible in the earlier stages of Google's PPC model but they've reduced the incidence of this or possibility of it anyway. Here is my email to Google sent on May 9th, 2007: This site (the offending site).com is obviously involved in some Google arbitrage marketing whereupon he would pay for Google Adwords for keywords like "irrevocable trust" and then have people click on the Overture/Yahoo marketing ads. This provides no value to visitors and it simply a landing page/doorway page for people to click on this ads so he/she can mak...
More About: Internet Marketing , Promo , Arbitrage

Bravisa - Make money with your own online store
2007-05-12 10:44:00
I just read a posting from Problogger [1] and it was a discussion on making money with your own online shop. It doesn't go into detail about Bravisa, a new contender to affiliate shopping programs such as Chitika - Shoplincs [2], Zlio [3], Amazon [4]. Though I haven't tested these shopping programs out myself I will shortly and report on it. Tom Tomacci from Bravisa said this about their service: Some benefits with Bravisa are: 1) Blogger = Retailer as opposed to an Affiliate This means that you make profits similar to companies like Buy.com or Amazon.com (not like their affiliate programs) without the retailer hassles of having to buy, stock, ship, or service the products. Bravisa takes care of these things. 2) Customization/Personalization Like Cafepress or Zazzle, with Bravisa you have the capability to create and sell unique products with your images. 3) Growing List of Products We can add new products that you care about quickly since we have automated the listing of new ma...
More About: Money , Internet Marketing , Make Money , Store , Online

How to nest lists XHTML Strict W3C Compliant - SEO
2007-05-12 07:41:00
Just a quick tutorial on how to nest a list whether it's unordered or ordered that will be XHTML Strict W3C compliant. If you've received these types of errors after trying validate your xhtml code [1] under strict W3C compliant like so: "Error Line 137, column 8: document type does not allow element "ul" here; assuming missing "li" start-tag." "Error Line 155, column 7: document type does not allow element "li" here; missing one of "ul", "ol" start-tag." Foreign Platform(s)1 (please read note - 1) "The mentioned element is not allowed to appear in the context in which you've placed it; the other mentioned elements are the only ones that are both allowed there and can contain the element mentioned. This might mean that you need a containing element, or possibly that you've forgotten to close a previous element." One possible cause for this message is that you have attempted to put a block-level element (such as " or "") inside an inline element (such as "", "", or ""). T...
More About: Lists , Nest , Html

Where to Recycle, Donate Old Computers in Canada
2007-05-11 19:52:00
Just saw a press release on where to recycle or donate old computers or laptops. As a former computer tech I used to be asked this question alot. I'm certain there are other companies out there but I never sought to find out. I just stumbled across this press release. Just visit their site Electronic Recycling Associations [1]. Now where are there other similar companies in the US, UK and other parts of the world? I'll post them as I find out. [1] http://www.era.ca
More About: Computers , Canada , Donate , Recycle , Here

Form tag XHTML Strict W3C Compliant
2007-05-11 17:14:00
Just a quick note on obtaining your forms to be XHTML Strict W3C compliancy. 1) tag shouldn't be within block elements such as 2)Ensure tag is within the 3)Ensure tag is within tag Here is a code sample of a form that is XHTML Strict W3C compliant which is taken from the feedburner site: Enter your email address: Delivered by FeedBurner [1] [1] http://www.feedburner.com/
More About: Form , Html

Google Algorithm Updates - May 11, 2007
2007-05-11 09:48:00
I noticed that my client's site is bouncing with high rankings for keywords/phrases for a few days then the next day maybe 3 visitors a day. I believe the Googl e algorithm has changed but I don't know if it's for the better or not. I know we haven't been involved in any sort of black hat or gray hat seo. I don't even really condone link reciprocity since that's been overrated for quite some time now and over abused in the past. It's a clean site. I'm also converting all the pages to Strict XHTML W3C compliance. In response to Is the Google Algorithm Schizophrenic? [1], I've been having similar experiences. My client's site ultratrust [2] was ranking well for keywords like 'irrevocable trust,' 'asset protection' and just a few days ago I saw the site receive higher rankings for 2 days then no rankings at all. The only attributable actions I took in those 2 days were posting 3 new articles to the article directories and posting an rss feed for one of the older articl...
More About: Updates

Validate RSS Feed - W3C date time error-Internet Marketing
2007-05-11 09:00:00
Validating your rss feed is important for obvious. Otherwise, it just won't be accepted by the feed readers and your content won't be legible or will be malformed and displayed incorrectly. Simply use W3C Feed Validator [1] for this. Fix any errors that appear. In this blog, I just want to mention about validating your date feed since I've been having a few problems with it myself. At some point, you may receive some error as: "Invalid date-time. The value specified must meet the Date and Time specifications as defined by RFC822, with the exception that the year should be expressed as four digits." as a result of validating your feed on the W3C form. The solution they suggest is: Wed, 02 Oct 2002 08:00:00 EST Wed, 02 Oct 2002 13:00:00 GMT Wed, 02 Oct 2002 15:00:00 +0200 The tag is a "sub-tag" of the tag. The format for RFC-822 compliancy is of the form: ddd, dd MMM yyyy HH:mm:ss zone where: ddd equals the day of the week in three-letter format one of the following: S...
More About: Marketing , Internet , Internet Marketing

More Problems with Westhost.com - Web Hosting
2007-05-10 15:00:00
I get to rant on my blog so I will. Site's been going down pretty much every day in the last two weeks. Technicians are blaming DOS attacks and there is nothing they can do and they do state that there the max connections have been reached. The problem is that I receive less than 150 visitors a day to this site. I've reached at other times 400 visitors a day without the site performance being affected or any downtime. The site's downtime is invariably ascribed to a single ip that hits the site and causes the max connections to be reached. So some manager from Westhost.com called and told me the issue was resolved last week. That was nice but EVERY resolution was temporary and only lasts for so long. Here is my reply to them just today: Hello, (manager's name). You called me a few days ago regarding the site personals1001.com and said the technicians have looked into the issue and it's now resolved. Any resolutions and all and every resolution from every westhost technician ha...
More About: Hosting , Web Hosting , Problems , Problem , More

Block Referral Website Using htaccess
2007-05-10 08:43:00
I have a particular problem. My client been receiving visitors from a site which has no outgoing links coming to my client's site. The referring site is to my knowledge engaged in much black hat seo which creates splogs. I told my client to steer clear away from him and to disengage from ANY and ALL such activity. I believe it's foolhardly to take a risk though I do know of Internet marketers to successfully employ black hat seo. In any case, I searched for how to block this culprit and disassociate my client from this site altogether. It was only receiving one or two visitors a day and my thinking is that Google will notice this in their algorithm and find that other site or label that other site as suspicious. I don't know if this will happen or not but that is my wish. =) You'll need apache with mod_rewrite enable. You'll have to ask your host to see if you have it enabled and if you have apache. Most do unless you have it on a windows server in which case these instructio...
More About: Website , Internet Marketing , Referral , Bloc , Sing

Podcast Marketing with PRWeb.com - Press Release, SEO
2007-05-10 03:10:00
I've been recommended by Docarl from the Google groups from my post on Can a Site Lose Ranking with Competitors [1]. He's done a number of press releases as a research scientist. He advises using podcasting in conjunction with the press release so here I am about to test this out. I ordered the podcast feature. It's pretty simple. Once you submit your press release you have the option of selecting the podcast. Here is what I did: Click on the 'Submit Press Release '. I selected 'Social Media Visibility' but Docarl suggested go the cheapest which is the 'Standard Visibility.' I chose the 'Social Media Visibility' since it had tagging features and my current position of where the press release is displayed is higher. It's currently set to go out Tuesday, May 9, 2007 and currently at position 12. Your goal is to be number one. In my control panel it states that I can contribute to a maximum of $360. I've paid so far a total of $220 ($120 for the 'Social Media Visibility...
More About: Marketing , Podcast

CSS Code for SEO Designs
2007-05-08 10:43:00
Placing the main body content above the left and right navigation menus can possibly be indexed by the search engines better. The reasoning stems from the fact that search engine bots will read the top code and then downwards till it reaches to bottom. So with this in mind it will read the top heading first then the left navigation then the body content then, lastly, the footer. The search engines will then logically be placing your left navigation text as possibly more important then the body content which is most likely probably not your objective. You'd most likely wish to place the body content is more important since that is what is you really wish to search engines to index. The navigation on the left is more for the user benefits and user design functionality. Here is some code with my css in how I designed my sites to be more search engine friendly so the bots will read the content immediately after the heading. The heading should come first since this is traditionally whe...
More About: Code , Sign , Designs