Just a quick follow up on the email I sent out recently about the terrific Link Wheel we had had constructed for a client recently and a few of you had raised a couple of issues that I thought might be of interest to more of you.

First of all let me bring you up to date with the particular clientexercise that brought this about (within reason) the results of an SEO exercise we are carrying out for a client at the moment (without getting into too much detail for reasons of client confidentiality – though will check as I am sure they won’t mind but…).

We started off with 22 terms in the Health and Fitness Niche of which we were on Page 1 or 2 for all 22 so the summary of the position at the outset on May 28th was as follows:

Nos in those positions

Positions May 28th June 4th

Top 20          6             0
Top 10          4             5
Top 5          4             5
Top 3          2             3
Top 2          4             7
No 1          2             2

So the initial story is that the current round of promotion had taken the various key phrases and concentrated them now quite firmly into Page 1 for every keyword / phrase we were targeting and in most cases now quite firmly towards the upper half of Page 1

Now an analysis of the results threw up the following bits of information as well.

1. We had increased our profile of places where we had consecutive places i.e. 2&3 etc by more than double and in fact out of the 22 terms we now had 12 double positions.

2. The rise in SERPS appeared to be across the board with a rise in places for terms that we had scheduled to really get behind book marking wise later this week so the Link Wheels additional effect appears to be increasing the weight behind the entire site and not just specific terms.

All of this before we really could add any additional SEO behind the Link Wheel i.e. it is too early to count in the effects of additional RSS work or increased book marking of the pages, which of course we will do.

Once I get clearance from the client then I will post more details and information about this exercise into the members’ area so you can get a clearer idea of what we are talking about. As I mentioned it’s in the Health and Fitness Equipment Niche and though fairly small there are about 10 to 20 companies “taking chunks out of each other” at the top of this niche and it is fiercely competitive.

Now some of the other issues raised by members were as follows:

1. Is this type of Link Wheel a traditional one or is it random and how much use are they? Well an analysis of the structure makes it look fairly random to us and as to the continued efficiency of these as promotional tools I can only point to the results above achieved so far and they will get better once we swing the full force of the entire SLS Network behind each Link Spoke i.e. each Blog.

2. How effective are they for sites at various stages in their development and what about too many links? My take on this is as follows. As the great economist, John Maynard Keynes said “In the long term we are all dead”. The old concept of too many links is an old wives tail. If it wasn’t then you would crucify your site every time you released a successful Press Release that got picked up all over the place. Life is too short. If folks want to wait for “forever and a day” attracting 2-3 links per day whilst the rest of the world flies by then fine but I think life is about a little more than this. You need results if not now, certainly by the end of the week. It is that important.

3. Is it possible to have more than one Link Wheel active at any one time and how can we maximise the return? Can you have too many links coming from any one URL towards the same URL? Not really it’s called deep linking and anything that helps Googlebot find your internal pages is fine in my book.

The thing is that once you have this set up you have total access via username and password to each site so my advice would be to start adding spun content at random to the various sites and then bookmark these pages as and when you add them so you have a fairly organic growing “Link Mountain”.  Wow, forget about Wheels, Pyramids, Clouds etc we are building a Link Mountain!! These entire buzz phrases get a bit silly after a while, still I’m sure someone will use it one day. The other is that the cost of getting this whole thing up and running quickly (takes 6 days) is so cost effective that the best thing to do is get the basic structure in place and then enhance it gradually.

4. After you receive your report, how many links is ideal behind each spoke? I would hit it with the lot – read point 2…seriously why not? Hit it with your full allocation, your library pass, any pots and pans that come to hand and if necessary the neighbours cat!

5. After the report arrives what RSS promotion should be done and how to develop links further?  I would hit it with all the resources you have at your disposal. The thing about Google is that yes it finally gets round to recognising things with indexing etc but folks get too paranoid about Google. There are millions of web users and site owners out there with new sites coming on stream every day. It would be totally paranoid of me to assume that Google have a department set aside with my picture on the wall and every time I do something a buzzer goes off deep in the heart of the Googleplex with teams of “apparatchiks” all streaming out with “get Steve Morgan” emblazoned on their foreheads!

I hope this goes some way to clarifying any potential queries some of you might have had over this but as usual, any further questions then fire away and keep them coming in.

Lastly, Simple Leveraging has finally succumbed to Twitter. I know, I know, I preach on and on about Best Practice in this and that and here we are, Simple Leveraging has not has a fully developed Twitter Account. Well actually it has, it’s just that with all the other comings and goings and advising people “here and there” we never actually got round to developing it to its full potential.

Now the real reason that we are finally pushing our Twitter account is that it is the ideal platform for advising people quickly and effectively regarding any potential networking issues that might exist at any one time and that might be affecting submissions. So from now on we will be using Twitter to notify folks of any networking issues so if you want to keep “in the loop” then add our account at http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=DXfSd&m=1dpXxD4cF9P1kG&b=3GMYcjF5nAhnghX7XBf9FA  Also any issues that it is quicker to notify folks about via Twitter than conventional media then we’ll use it that way too.

In the meantime, have a colossal weekend, don’t catch too much sun and enjoy…

Cheers

Steve

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Why am I being so flippant today? I’m not too sure; perhaps it has more to with the fact this it is a Friday and that within a few hours I can stop by at my favourite “Watering Hole” on my way home and generally reconnect with the real world i.e. those who don’t make their living from life in this massive “Goldfish Bowl” we call the Internet?

Perhaps it is also due to the fact that I have spent quite a bit of time this week looking at existing link Building Campaigns from folks who should know better and wonder how they have ended up getting their butts kicked by the “Mighty G”.

Some people really should know better and I know those who are reading this will know better but let me reiterate this message for once and for all. There is effectively no such thing as a bad inbound link. There are good links and there are very good links but effectively there is no such thing as a bad inbound link.

The reason for this? Well one of the things that Google likes to see is a nice spread of inbound linking types as well as sources of IP’s. Hence to take full advantage of this Google is expecting to see direct links, indirect links, redirects, dofollows, nofollows, typos you name it. Why? The answer is simple, Google wants to see an inbound Links landscape that very closely resembles what humans would provide and that includes mistakes.

If it doesn’t see that then look out as your entire approach could be seen as too controlled and manipulative?

Have a great weekend and keep those messages and emails coming in.

See ya soon folks!

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Sorry to be the “prophet of doom and gloom” amongst the SEO Community but I have just been checking up on all the information abut the latest Google “goings on” i.e. the so called “Caffeine update” and the word on the streets is that things could get a little bumpy for a while.

Now “Caffeine” is lot more than just your “box standard” Google Update so to refer to it as just another update actually doesn’t do it justice, it is much more than that but that is not what actually worries me.

The guys at Web Pro News who know a few things more than I do actually reckon that the effects of this could be worse than the so called “Big Daddy” and “Florida” updates. Remember them? They were infamously and widely regarded amongst the SEO community as some of the darkest days of the Internet where chaos ruled for a short while until most people (including Google) actually caught on as to what exactly was going on and put matters right.

If the after effects of “Caffeine” are going to have as much lasting effect on us as the other two updates then heaven help us all. We already have spoken to two Companies “wiped out” overnight by the effects of Google’s over enthusiasm and inability to actually make sure that everything goes as it should do.

Now I know the Internet and Cyberspace is a pretty big place (understatement of the year) and (as a colleague of mine used to gleefully say) “you can’t make an omelette without cracking a few eggs” that’s not the point. It doesn’t make it any better to be told cheerfully that most of us will not suffer any after effects when you happen to be the unlucky one that has just got wiped out.

It’s a bit like being in theatre of war and being told, don’t worry your latest gunshot wound was caused by “Friendly fire”, there’s nothing friendly about it at all.

Interesting times ahead.

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Hmnnnn, this one’s actually a biggie and speaking as someone who is the main principal behind a keyword rich site name i.e. Simple Leveraging then technically that should “nail my colours” to the mast.

In the interests of fairness let me highlight two opposing viewpoints on the issue and then give you my take.

First up there is Scott Boyd at Fused Nation ( http://www.fusednation.com/seo/q-are-keywords-in-your-domain-name-an-important-ranking-factor/ ) who is of the opinion that “there was a time when keyword domains were synonymous with spam (because as I said, spammers used to buy up keyword domains and throw up spam sites because they used to rank well because of the keyword in the domain). Personally, I ignore link requests and business requests from keyword domains for that reason – this may be the exception rather than the rule, but I believe there are probably a good percentage of website owners who feel the same.”

Whilst I agree with him on certain points in that it did cause a whole wave of “brain dead SEO” i.e. never mind about anything else just get a domain name linked to your keywords I still think having your keywords in a domain name still does have a certain amount of kudos.

These probably relate more to branding awareness and associate issues more than anything else. For example David Airey in his post about the “Real Value of Keyword Rich Domain Names” (http://www.davidairey.com/domain-name-keyword-importance/ ) uses two of his own sites as examples, logodesignlove.com and davidairey.com. He states that: “logodesignlove.com has significantly gained ground on davidairey.com because people use the text ‘logo design’ within their links, as opposed to ‘David Airey’.

An inbound link (one coming from another website) pointing to davidairey.com is most likely to be typed as David Airey. A similar link to logodesignlove.com is most likely to appear as Logo Design Love.

Considering the importance of anchor text on inbound links, this will have quite a bearing on web searches for ‘logo designer’.

With that in mind, the main point still reverts to your content, because if it’s not good quality, you won’t create any inbound links.”

I can understand and agree in parts with all that the above are talking about but as of the date of this post it has to be said that in empirical tests that if possible give me a keyword rich domain name (if available) any day of the week. I am currently looking at a domain name (a .com) registered as part of a potential joint venture in an ecommerce project over 3 months ago that as I write this piece has only a Title tag, a few lines of text and nothing else but is 100% keyword specific for its market (this is DIY and Home Refurbishment) and the domain name is sitting at No 1 in both Google and Yahoo in categories where there is over 450,000 competitors and a limited amount of traffic.

So to sum, if you can, get a keyword rich domain name but don’t lose any sleep if you can’t as a successful name and profile can just as easily be built up using great content (now that’s another issue) and smart SEO.

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Anyone that deals with marketing and advertising on the Internet knows that link popularity is one of the main causes for high rankings.  And as we all know, high rankings lead to more traffic, which in turn leads to higher sales.  The biggest problem with doing link exchanges and using programs that automate the process is that you run the risk of gaining bad links on your site.  Bad links lead to reduced link popularity and in turn can eventually lead to being banned on search engines.  Everyone can agree that if you are banned from a large search engine like Google or Yahoo, then your website is in trouble.  I have come across a few places that allow you to grad good reciprocal links from ranking sites.   You want to do more reciprocal linking because it provides an incentive for both sites to keep the links up.

If you already have a large link directory on your site, you might want to think about using the program Arelis.  This gives you the power to control all your links and make sure they are still linking back to you.  It also gives you the control to find more targeted links for your website.  If you want to find more links for your website, then you should check out www.Link2me.com.  This site allows you to search for websites and then the company gets in touch with that website asking for a link exchange with you.  It is very easy and hassle free, which I know will help everyone that is spending 60+ hours on Internet marketing.  Any little bit helps.  This link exchange program is growing and with the more websites that sign up, which is free, the more potential links for the members.  Check it out and increase your link popularity the ethical way!

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A Lot of Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine Marketing Professionals are voicing their opinions and saying than directories are dead. But remember, these are the people that also say that Page Rank is dead, SEO is dead, and the latest this is dead theory.  So is directory link building no longer worthy? well only the Search Engines can tell you for sure.

I believe the real issue with directory links is that only some of them are good and worthy, while some others are junk, being able to tell this difference is the key between loosing your time and having a fruitful link building campaign.  How you can tell if a directory is good enough or that you should pass it.  Here are the 3 main criteria of identifying a good directory from a bad one.

1) The director is listed in the Search Engines and most pages are being crawled.

You can find the directory in the most popular search engines, Google, Yahoo, MSN, and Ask. Also the category pages of the directory are cached on the search engines, if the directory offers detail pages, these should be indeed too.

2) The links are plain text, no redirects or javascript.

Check the source code of the pages of the directory. Look to see if the links are plain a href’s, without the rel=”nofollow” attribute, and no sneaky redirects are present. By validating all these you guarantee that these links are seeing and counted by Search Engines.

3) Doesn’t link to bad neighborhoods.

The directory doesn’t link to questionable websites, specially topics like gambling, casino adult, and illegal content websites. Be very wary about directory that offers sitewide likes to these type of sites.

Hopefully these guidelines will help you do more quality link building campaigns getting links from quality web directories.

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Many think that a profitable home-based business requires tons of high-tech supplies, and a never-ending stream of cash. Fortunately, that is not the case. Internet marketing can now be executed easily and successfully on a limited budget. The desire for home business enterprises is at a high point, and affordable marketing options are endless. With a bit of effort andcommitment, your internet marketing campaign can work with practical and useful advertising options.

When working with a limited amount of means, you must first construct a workable internet marketing plan. It must be decided what types of advertising and promotion will be used, and how much money will be allowed for each part of your marketing budget. Always be aware of your financial situation. There are several creative and unique promotional techniques that can be used in your internet marketing plan, which will not break your bank. Ironically, many have discovered that several of the low-cost marketing methods are just as useful as the more expensive ones.

Message boards and forums have taken over cyberspace. Joining these forums and discussion groups is another excellent way to market on a budget. Engage in groups related to your chosen service or program. Frequently posting questions and answers will build your reputation in the business community, while at the same time, advertising your services. This form of internet marketing has grown to be one of the most effective methods.

E-mail marketing has been coined as one of the most cost-efficient internet marketing methods. To utilize this marketing technique to the fullest, you must first establish a broad e-mail or newsletter list. This list will keep your customers up to date with all of your programs and services. The only problem with this form of marketing is the issue of SPAM. Be sure that each person on your list has requested to receive e-mails from you. If too many complaints are received, your web site could be closed down, and your business could be in danger.

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