Search engine optimization

Top Ten Website Hosting companies Best webhosting Unlimited Space, Domain...*

2010-01-05T15:32:00.000-08:00

A list of the very best web hosting companies and hosting plans, recommended for hosting

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A Blog is short for Web Log. An online journal. A diary that you just happen to share with a potential audience of hundreds of millions of other people. Also can get high ranking back link.
Why blogs matter for blogger webmasters— Very Official Blog

Top Advertising Trends for 2010 Nielsen Share by Nielsen

2009-12-21T07:16:00.000-08:00

nielsen-logoNielsen have shared their predictions for the advertising marketing in 2010, with smartphone and social networking advertising set to provide new sales channels.

Here’s a look at their top 5 trends from the Nielsen blog:

1. Optimizing media convergence is a top priority. A better understanding of media convergence will manifest in order to deliver a better return on investment. The ability to accurately measure activity and link online ads to offline purchasing behavior will be critical.
2. New models emerge to take advantage of smartphones. Accurate mobile measurement will be required to stay head of the snowballing growth of that media platform.
3. More cross-media ad campaigns surface. The massive growth of online video games played and shared online leads the way for more successful interactive and cross-media advertising campaigns to appear. Growth in the adoption of this innovative advertising across screens and activities will increase.
4. Commercialization of social networking hubs increase. Social media will provide a new sales channel for establishing product awareness and commercializing brands to better support traditional advertising or text-based ads.
5. More interesting and interactive online ads appear. Increased use of more creative advertising and content models online such as video, attention-seeking page takeover ads and mechanisms for greater interactivity will drive the next era of Web development.

Overall online marketing took a step back in 2009, with years of successive growth coming to a standstill with the global financial crisis. However, it was also a year we saw services like twitter and facebook hit the big time, partly thanks to increasing smartphone usage.

For marketers to be successful in 2010, they will need to develop ways to interact with consumers in these environments. Budgets may be moved away from programs like Google AdWords towards maintaining company social media profiles across twitter and facebook.

A small design firm is suing Microsoft over the name “Bing”

2009-12-21T07:13:00.000-08:00

A small design firm is suing Microsoft over the name “Bing” after claims that the Bing search engine is infringing on their trademark. Bing LLC has been running since 2000 and has a pending trademark application over the Bing name.

According to the lawsuit, Bing LLC claims that Microsoft’s Bing “causes confusion with regard to the relationship between the plaintiff and the defendant, confuses the public with regard to the origin of the plaintiff’s services and dilutes the value of the plaintiff’s trademark.”

With the Bing search engine being launched in 2009, there’s no doubt Microsoft would have done their research before deciding on the name. Trademark law does allow firms in different industries to use the same name, so I am not confident this case will have a huge amount of merit.

Here’s what Microsoft had to say, “We believe this suit to be without merit and we do not believe there is any confusion in the marketplace with regard to the complainant’s offerings and Microsoft’s Bing,”

Even if the suit doesn’t go ahead, it’s been a good link building exercise for the company, with several media sites now linking to their homepage!

SEO TIps: Are You Splitting Your Home Page Link Value?

2009-12-16T08:28:00.000-08:00

Did you know the average website can have 4 different URLs which all link to the home page? In many cases each of the following URLs will all provide the same home page content:

www.example.com
www.example.com/index.html
example.com
example.com/index.html

If you happen to have links going to each variation of this page, you’ll end up with a 4-way split in link value! Obviously, this is going to result in lost rankings and duplicate content issues, so lets look at best way to address this.

The first step is to decide on which URL you would like to use. In the large majority of cases this is going to be www.example.com
Next, make sure all your internal links point to the URL you have decided above. For example, if your logo or “home” link points to “/index.html” change this to www.example.com.
Another good idea is to add a 301 (permanent) redirect that points to the URL you would like to be indexed. Using the example above, we would setup a redirect of example.com pointing to www.example.com
Finally, Google’s webmaster tools allow you to specify which URL you would like them to use in results. This can be found under Site configuration > Settings. A screenshot is below:

One final tip, when building links to your site, make sure to use the main URL format you would like indexed. While the 301 redirect should pass on any link juice from existing links which have been formatted incorrectly, it is best not to rely on this for the future.

SEO article post

SEO tips: 4 Steps to Successful Keyword Research: SES Chicago Video!

2009-12-16T08:26:00.000-08:00

The series of Search Engine Strategies (SES) conferences attract a variety of SEM professionals across the globe.

The Chicago leg of the conference was held just last week and one of the guest speakers was Christine Churchill from KeyRelevance.com who discussed (yep, you guessed it) keyword research for PPC campaigns.

We’ve written a number of articles in the past about keywords. Keyword research is one of the most important aspects of any PPC campaign – its no use bidding on a search term for your PPC ad, if that’s not the keyword your target market is going to use to find you. Here is a quick reference guide to our most popular keyword research article:

DIY SEO: How to Perform Keyword Research Using Google’s Free Tool
Are Keywords in the Domain Name Still Important?
Google’s New Keyword Research Tool Adds More Filtering Options
The Top 10 Small Business SEO Mistakes
Google Advice: Don’t Obsess About Keyword Position in URLs

Back at the SES conference, Christine was kind enough to chat to Byron Gordon from the SES Conference Channel after her presentation to discuss keyword research in more depth. You can check out the video below of their discussion; however I have also outlined the steps Christine uses to conduct keyword research for any company:

Look at the keywords already available within your company. What phrases or words do you use to describe your products or services? Try not to list pet phrases that customers won’t know.
Go to your consumer base to get an understanding of what they call or describe your products or services. It’s highly likely that consumers might call your product a different name.
Search online on how people are describing your product. Journalists or product reviewers are a good source as they relate directly to the consumer.
Use keyword tools such as Google Trends, Google Insights, Keyword Discovery and Hitwise to get a viewpoint on keyword popularity that is beyond what you can get in your analytics. Use a variety of tools, some free and some fee-based to get a better comparison.

SEO tips: Local Search SEO Cheat Sheet: Optimize Your Website for Local Customers

2009-12-16T08:25:00.000-08:00

Local search has been one of the fastest growing areas of search marketing in the last few years. A local search engine listing gives small businesses the chance to “play with the big boys” by having their listing appear towards the top of most search results pages without the need for expensive PPC advertising.

Besides the listing itself, there are additional steps that webmasters can take to ensure that their website is optimized for local search.

The folks over at Search Engine Journal have compiled an easy guide for SEO for local search, so I have outlined some of the main areas below:

Display full business contact details clearly on your site. This includes:
- Title of the page (especially for the contact page)
- Meta description of the contact page and “About Us” page (to be displayed in SERPs)
- Bottom of each page throughout the site (this is the most common place for visitors to look for your contact details)
Contact and About Us pages contain business location and phone number including local area code. (Local area codes are sometimes associated with the local search ranking factors)
Make sure your business domain WHOIS information lists your business mail address and contact information
List your business in the regional sections of popular directories like BOTW and Business.com
Create business profiles on major social networks and include your address

The full guide is available here.

50 Free Article Submission Websites

2009-12-13T08:55:00.000-08:00

Check Avangate's article submission sites list. Promote your site through articles in order to gain more popularity and to obtain a better page rank. These submission sites are ordered according to Google PageRank and are listed with links to "Submit article" or "Register" page.

No.	Directory	PR	Comments	Submission Format
1	www.itmanagersjournal.com	8		HTML
2	www.webpronews.com	7		TEXT
3	www.webknowhow.net	7	* Register	TEXT
4	www.thewhir.com	7		HTML
5	www.marketingsource.com	6		TEXT
6	www.buzzle.com	6	* Register	TEXT
7	www.members.ezinearticles.com	6	* Register	HTML
8	www.isnare.com	6	* Register	TEXT
9	www.goarticles.com	6	* Register	HTML
10	www.articleclick.com	6	* Register	HTML
11	www.threadwatch.org	6	* Register	HTML
12	www.qarchive.org	6		TEXT
13	www.articlecity.com	6		TEXT
14	www.articlebiz.com	6		HTML
15	www.webmasterbrain.com	6		TEXT
16	www.devpointer.net	6	* Register	TEXT
17	www.articledashboard.com	6	* Register	TEXT
18	www.allmerchants.com	5	* Register	HTML
19	www.bharatbhasha.com	5		TEXT
20	www.selfseo.com	5		HTML
21	www.searchwarp.com	5	* Register	HTML
22	www.articlealley.com	5	* Register	TEXT
23	www.marketing-seek.com	5	* Register	HTML
24	www.workoninternet.com	5		HTML
25	www.articleblast.com	5	* Register	HTML
26	www.articledepot.co.uk	5		TEXT
27	www.articlesphere.com	5	* Register	HTML
28	www.articleworld.net	5	* Register	HTML
29	www.free-articles-zone.com	5	* Register	HTML
30	www.expertarticles.com	4	* Register	HTML
31	www.businesshighlight.org	4	* Register	TEXT
32	www.amazines.com	4	* Register	TEXT
33	www.articleson.com	4	* Register	HTML
34	www.members.article99.com	4	* Register	HTML
35	www.articlemarketer.com	4	* Register	TEXT
36	www.seoarticles4u.com	4		.pdf, .doc, .html upload
37	www.workathomearticles.net	4	*Register	TEXT
38	www.morganarticlearchive.com	4		TEXT
39	www.articlebin.com	4	* Register	HTML
40	www.article-content-king.com	4	* Register	HTML
41	www.articlesbeyondbetter.com	4	* Register	HTML
42	www.click-partners.com	4	* Register	TEXT
43	www.contentdesk.com	4	*Register	TEXT
44	www.articlegeek.com	4	*Register	TEXT
45	www.a1articles.com	4	*Register	HTML
46	www.valuablecontent.com	3	*Register	TEXT
47	www.media13.com	3		TEXT
48	www.submityournewarticle.com	3	*Register	TEXT
49	www.reprintedarticles.com	3	*Register	TEXT
50	www.article-spot.com	2	*Register	TEXT

* You need to create an account in order to submit an article.

SEO news: Google’s Real-Time Search is Live - Finally Catches up to Bing & Yahoo!

2009-12-08T08:41:00.002-08:00

It’s taken them over a month to get it live, but Google have now officially launched real-time search.

We first told you about Google’s deal with Twitter to bring up-to-the-minute search results back in October. At the time there was a lot of speculation on how Google would present this data to searchers. Well, here’s how it looks:

When compared to Bing and Yahoo!’s real-time offerings, Google is first class. You have to go to a completely separate page to view Bing’s real-time results, while Yahoo! doesn’t actually show the tweets themselves but the links to Twitter.

On the other hand, Google’s real-time search functionality will appear in main search results pages, just below the News results and above the top ranking natural search results.

In addition to including Facebook in its stream in the future, Google said it will be the first search company to partner with MySpace for real-time search. Here is a list of the data sources that are currently included:

Tweets from Twitter
Content from Google News
Content from Google Blog Search
Newly created web pages
Freshly updated web pages
FriendFeed updates
Jaiku updates
Identi.ca updates
TwitArmy updates

SEO news

2009-12-08T08:41:00.001-08:00

SEO news: Google Gives Holiday Gift to Analytics Users: New Customizable Features

2009-12-08T08:38:00.000-08:00

Although the big news from Google recently is about real-time search, Google Analytics users have not been forgotten about. In fact they get a great holiday season gift – a handful of new customizable features.

Now Google Analytics users can add annotations to dates in order to better document spikes in traffic, use custom variables in advanced segments and view them in custom reports, and even use a super simple analytics tracking code wizard for setting up specialized situations.

Here is an overview of each new feature:

Annotations – Allows you to leave shared or private notes right on the over-time graph. This is useful for company analytics accounts which are being shared among several members of the company. You can learn how to create annotations in the video below.

Custom Variables in Advanced Segments – Allows you to create advanced segmentation based on any key, value or a combination of all custom variables.

Custom Variables in Custom Reports – Allows you to create custom reports with any of the key or value dimensions that are associated with any custom variable.

New Analytics Tracking Code Setup Wizard – automatically generates appropriate tracking code based on the setup options you specify.

New Google Analytics API – Google will announce more about this new feature in the coming days, but it will include support for advanced segmentation.

If you would like to learn more about these new features, then check out Google’s official announcement here.

Link Building Tip: Using Testimonials to Get Free Backlinks

2009-12-07T07:19:00.000-08:00

Testimonials are a very powerful form of advertising, but did you know they could also be used as a link building tactic? Most testimonials include a link back to the author (to show it’s a credible source) and this can be a great way to get some valuable incoming links.

Testimonial link building really is a win-win scenario for both sites and usually has a much higher approval rate than your standard link request emails. The contact gets another testimonial to place on their site, while you get a new incoming link.

Another good feature of testimonial based links is that they can be often found on core product pages or even the homepage. This means they’re going to have a strong positive influence in your overall link popularity.

Getting started is as simple as writing an email to a few of your suppliers. Explain to them how happy you are with the service and offer to write a few lines they can place on their site.

If they accept, write something specific and ask if it would be ok for them to provide a link to your site. You can make it simple for them by showing an example of how you would like the link to be created:

Hi Supplier name,

“This is an example comment praising the suppliers business.”

Your Name, CEO of Company name – a leading provider of example services.

While this can be a great strategy, only offer to write a testimonial if you are genuinely happy with a supplier’s service! Happy link building.

Google Adds Page Speed Report Ahead of New Ranking Factor

2009-12-07T07:16:00.000-08:00

google-clockA few weeks ago we reported that Google may be adding page loading speed as a ranking factor in 2010. They have now taken this a step further by adding a page speed report to their set of free webmaster tools.

To access the data, visit the labs section of your Google webmaster account and click on the site performance tab. You’ll now have a summary on the following:

* How long your webpage takes to load
* A graphical history of your website’s speed over the past few months
* How your load time compares to other sites
* Steps you can take to speed up individual pages

Here’s a screenshot of the tool from Google’s blog post:

site-performance

Google says that the load time data comes from information sent by users of your site who have installed the Google toolbar and opted-in to enhanced features. This means its representative of a global average of real users, which is better than using a spider or robot to gather the data.

How to get a 45% click-through rate for your ad.

2009-12-05T08:07:00.000-08:00

Whether you're monetizing a site with AdSense or with affiliate links, the click-through rate (CTR) is your bread and butter. The higher your CTR, the more money you earn. This is especially true with affiliate programs, since there is no Smart Pricing involved.

Here's a method that I use to great effect when I'm sending traffic through to an affiliate program. The example I'm going to give actually gets a 45% click-through rate. That means that about half of my visitors actually click-through to visit the product page.

1. Put a large, contrasting ad at the top of the page.

The ad colors should be strikingly different than the color of the rest of the site, and it needs to be above the content of the page. This makes it almost impossible for a visitor to miss.

Also, keep the ad copy short, sweet, and in a large font (again, so it doesn't get missed), and put a graphic to the right of the text — the graphic should preferably be a picture of the product you're trying to sell. Here's an example ad that I use on a site whose background color is brown:

Google Shadow

$127,783 With
New Google Software

How One Internet Renegade Pillaged Google for $127,000 in 30 days...
.
No website or techie crap - profit by writing Google ads

Automated - use the Shadow's new "point and click" software tool to make profiting even easier

2. Follow the ad with a very useful (but short) review or informative article.

People don't typically want to take an hour to read your 6,000 word essay on the wonders of green widgets — at least, not on the web they don't. People surfing the web are looking for short, easily digestible (but very useful) information. So keep it short and sweet, and informative.

After giving the visitor who didn't click on your first ad some great information about the product, point them where to go to get a great product that fulfills all of the previously mentioned facts. Here's an example of the last paragraph I use at the bottom of my article on the porch swings site:

"Of course, I have a very strong preference in porch swings. There is one particular artisan who builds beautiful, durable porch swings from Cypress. His name is Ted Leger (pronounced Lay-shay), and he’s based in Louisiana (where a lot of cypress trees grow). All of his swings are hand made, and he can ship anywhere in the USA.

I strongly recommend you
Click here to view the variety of porch swings he has available."

Notice again that it's short, but gives a strong recommendation of where I think the visitor should go to get a good deal. Following a well-written, informative article with a recommendation is a great way to get a high click-through rate to an affiliate product.

In this case, I'm adding an additional 28% CTR (I know because I track both links separately–the one in the ad above the article and the one in the link at the end of the article). It's important to track both separately so you can see how changes in the ad and/or article text affect the CTR of each independent ad.

Again, keep the article short. The article I use on the porch swings site is only 275 words long, including that last paragraph above. A short article encourages reading, since the visitor knows they won't have to invest a lot of time into it, and it also leaves them with time to click-through and see what you're offering right now.

The best of both worlds.

So 17% CTR for the first ad plus an additional 28% CTR for the second ad equals a 45% click-through rate altogether.

It's important to have both kinds of ads on an affiliate page, because it appeals to two separate groups of people: the ad on top appeals to people who are looking for the product right now — it just sends them directly to where they can get it. In the case of the porch swings, that's 17% of the visitors.

The second ad appeals to folks who need to know they can trust you first. A well-written article helps establish that trust and your own expertise in the subject. Once that's established, the strong recommendation gets them to follow the advice and click-through. In the case of the porch swings ad, another 28% end up doing so.

3. Get targeted traffic

It doesn't matter how well your green widgets page is designed to drive traffic to an affiliate program if all of your traffic is expecting a page about blue doodads. While it's unlikely your traffic will be expecting something completely different than your page offers (especially if your traffic is coming from the search engines), it behooves you to research what kind of traffic will convert the best before putting a lot of energy into ranking for those keywords.

So how do you find out what keywords will convert into sales before you're ranking for those keywords in the search engines? There's two ways — one is free, the other presumes you can afford to spend a bit of money ahead of the game (but if you can, it's worth it).

Step 1: Test your keywords' commercial intent.

I hope I don't sound like I'm harping on this, since my last couple of blog posts have made it clear that this is important, but I really think it bears repeating again. Be sure to test the commercial intent of your keywords before you put out all of the time, energy and expense it takes to rank for those keywords. Simply put, the commercial intent of the keywords is how likely the searcher is to be wanting to buy something.

Step 2: Create an AdWords campaign.

You should always do step one, but if you can afford to spend a few dollars in advance, creating an AdWords campaign can actually be an investment that will save you untold amounts of time and money down the road.

You see, before you try to rank for a set of keywords, you can put up an AdWords ad for each of the sets of keywords you've selected that have strong commercial intent. Spend enough to get a few hundred visitors for each keyword, and track your conversion rates for each keyword.

Once you've done that, focus on the three sets of keywords that convert the best and work to rank for those. If your budget for this is small, then set your AdWords bids lower and be patient (because if you bid lower, your ad won't show as prominently and it will take longer for you to get the traffic needed to properly test your conversion rates). But if you're patient, or have the money to spend, you will find out which keywords are razor-targeted for what you're trying to sell, and that means a lot of saved time, effort and money from trying to rank for keywords that don't convert into sales.

Summary

So to sum up all of the above, you can dramatically improve your click-through rates for affiliate pages by:

Putting a large, noticeable ad on the top of your affiliate page.
Having a short (but informative) article that is followed by a strong recommendation.
Getting razor-targeted traffic to your page, testing each keyword's commercial intent and, if you can afford it, testing the conversion rate with an AdWords campaign.

Following these few simple guidelines will make sure that none of your efforts are wasted, and that as many visitors as possible end up going to the product page and purchasing the product that you're working to sell them.

Please post your thoughts and questions in a comment below.

The Top 10 Small Business SEO Mistakes

2009-12-04T10:25:00.000-08:00

Given the unveiling of SEOmoz’s latest Top SEO Ranking Factors survey and some discussions I’ve had recently regarding what not to do in terms of SEO, I thought a top SEO mistakes post was appropriate.

People often get so carried away with the idea starting an SEO program that they fail to do their research properly and succumb to common SEO mistakes which often undermine your efforts.

Here are 10 of the most common SEO mistakes to avoid and why:

* 1. Targeting the Wrong Keywords

At the most fundamental level, SEO is about keywords. Select the wrong keywords and you could waste months optimizing for search terms no body uses. Keyword research is always worth the investment. Read full article

SEO tips: 15 Steps To SEO Success

2009-12-04T10:23:00.000-08:00

The One and Only Rule to Keyword Selection
I will show you how to select keywords that already have a proven track record of performance. To maximize your efficiency and effectiveness, the keywords you select must meet two criteria: 1) the keywords are realistic for you to score well with -- they are not too competitive -- and 2) the keywords have a track record for already being used by searchers. It is not until you find keywords that meet both of these criteria that you will begin investing time toward optimizing your site content. Having a disciplined, focused approach toward keyword selection will generate significant increases in Web site traffic when Google re-indexes your content pages.

There is also one rule I wrote that governs the overall keyword selection process. The One and Only Rule: only select two keywords per content page. I know this is likely contrary to much of what you have studied regarding search engine optimization.

You only need two keywords per page because Google, as well as your Web site's visitors, can only process and truly understand specific content pages. When a page covers too many topics, your visitors and Google will struggle at determining the most important theme on the given page. As a result, you lose the attention of your site's visitors and Google. Both will just move on to the next Web site. Read full article

Strongest Links - Directory list

2009-12-04T10:12:00.000-08:00

Source

Name	PR	Alexa	Saturation	Fee	Free?
Yahoo! Directory	8	2	16,777,215	*$299.00	No	Info
DMOZ	8	739	16,777,215	No	Yes	Info
Business.com	7	1,778	12,300,000	*$199.00	No	Info
Best of the Web	6	5,017	7,260,000	*$79.95	Cond.	Info
HotVsNot	6	28,131	880,000	$42.00	Cond.	Info
WhatUSeek	6	31,711	16	*$49.99	No	Info
GreenStalk	6	45,479	14,200	$19.95	No	Info
InCrawler	6	58,192	666,000	$24.95	No	Info
Family Friendly Sites	6	61,646	3,990	*$9.95	No	Info
MultiMeta	6	366,179	346	*$144.00	No	Info
Joeant	5	10,813	1,840,000	$39.99	Cond.	Info
SearchSight	5	10,959	14,000	No	Yes	Info
InfoListings Directory	5	24,146	2,040	$9.95	Yes	Info
IllumiRate	5	24,208	1,930,000	No	Yes	Info
GoGuides.org	5	29,437	463,000	$69.95	No	Info
Gimpsy	5	34,423	1,130,000	$49.00	Yes	Info
MavicaNet	*5	34,465	16,777,215	No	Yes	Info
Internet-Web	*5	40,660	14,600	*$9.95	Yes	Info
NetInsert	5	45,382	347,000	No	Yes	Info
DirectoryWorld	5	53,819	205,000	$24.95	Cond.	Info
Clickey	5	64,660	85	No	Yes	Info
123world	5	90,044	14,500	$49.00	No	Info
RubberStamped	5	140,956	8,510	$29.95	No	Info
Master Site	5	430,140	324	*$19.95	No	Info
V7N Directory	4	3,999	157,000	$49.95	No	Info
oneMission	4	17,940	225,000	No	Cond.	Info
Arakne Links	4	25,171	3,350	No	Yes	Info
World Site Index	4	32,867	1,120,000	$11.75	Yes	Info
Massivelinks	4	39,684	338,000	$24.99	No	Info
GMDir	4	40,527	21,100	No	Yes	Info
Starting Point	4	42,554	279	*$99.00	No	Info
Skaffe.com	4	43,299	1,190,000	$44.99	Cond.	Info
Galaxy	4	68,147	16,777,215	$9.95	No	Info
Sezza	4	70,438	11,500	$14.95	No	Info
Bhanvad	4	73,671	136,000	$15.00	Yes	Info
Sphericom	4	80,185	4,420	$49.95	No	Info
Itzalist	4	89,074	30,000	No	Yes	Info
Yeandi	4	94,012	3,240	$20.00	Yes	Info
Linksgiving	4	101,854	12,200	*$29.00	Cond.	Info
Global Weblinks	4	102,627	123	$10.00	Cond.	Info
Clear Lead Inc.	*4	108,154	1,930,000	$29.95	No	Info
A1DirectorySearch	4	115,777	228,000	$20.00	Cond.	Info
Web's Best Directory	4	117,784	7,370	$19.99	No	Info
Click4Choice	*4	122,899	283,000	$20.00	Yes	Info
HomepageSeek	*4	130,770	1,240,000	$10.00	Yes	Info
Octopedia	4	138,518	171,000	$25.00	No	Info
Websavvy	4	140,030	33,200	$33.00	No	Info
Tygo	4	143,334	37,100	$39.99	No	Info
SeekZap	4	145,929	1,290,000	$30.00	No	Info
Xtlinks	4	149,562	6,630	No	Cond.	Info
Zerg Directory	4	152,591	11,200	$10.00	No	Info
GoonGee.com	4	153,347	11,500	$19.99	No	Info
SEOMA	4	160,012	170,000	$15.00	No	Info
F3 Free Directory	4	160,435	13,800	$16.00	No	Info
Human Ranked Dir.	4	168,867	32,900	$9.95	Yes	Info
Web Beacon	4	179,906	31,400	$39.99	Cond.	Info
AzListed	4	206,464	54,700	$10.00	Yes	Info
SiteSnoop.com	4	223,647	801	$12.00	No	Info
SightQuest.com	4	236,842	73,600	$24.95	No	Info
Link Now Directory	4	244,918	1,080	*$9.95	Cond.	Info
Blue URL	4	269,166	2,380	$9.95	Cond.	Info
Hoppa	4	303,472	27,700	$12.30	No	Info
Ask Directory	4	309,362	11,000	$47.00	No	Info
Web 10	4	316,002	6,930	$24.95	No	Info
Ajdee Directory	4	316,384	8,370	$25.00	No	Info
Net Zoning	4	540,566	28,900	$40.00	No	Info
Portal Boost	4	570,195	2,510	$15.00	Cond.	Info
SmartLinks.org	4	615,843	0	No	Yes	Info
Smarty Links	4	615,843	157	$15.95	Cond.	Info
Abboo	4	819,968	28,000	$15.00	Cond.	Info
GotThatOnline	*4	1,233,670	92,700	*$39.95	No	Info
DukerSearch	*4	1,616,780	159,000	*$9.99	No	Info
TopSites	*4	1,838,442	32,800	No	Yes	Info
ExactSeek	3	10,703	3,100	*$36.00	Yes	Info
Web World	3	18,340	98,400	$25.00	Yes	Info
Chiff.com	3	21,050	21,600	No	Yes	Info
LdmStudio	3	23,101	18,400	No	Yes	Info
Thales Directory	3	25,275	476,000	$25.00	Yes	Info
SoMuch.com	3	28,031	56,400	No	Yes	Info
Aviva	3	29,805	645,000	*$49.95	No	Info
UU Directory	3	31,606	55,000	$9.00	Yes	Info
Search-O-Rama	3	34,976	0	No	Yes	Info
BusyBits Web Dir.	3	38,518	1,840	No	Yes	Info
WebSitesPromotionDirectory	3	39,350	25,900	No	Yes	Info
Sootle Web Directory	3	40,004	0	$19.99	No	Info
Web Hot Link	3	40,899	5,940	$6.93	Yes	Info
AbiLogic	3	42,561	1,030,000	$14.95	Yes	Info
WoW Directory	3	54,487	16,777,215	$43.00	No	Info
Qango	*3	58,171	396,000	$50.00	Yes	Info
R-TT Directory	3	66,725	52,200	No	Cond.	Info
Add URL-Free	3	80,984	12,000	$40.00	Yes	Info
Site Sift	3	89,279	28,500	*$24.95	No	Info
CannyLink	3	91,005	17,300	$19.95	No	Info
Portal IT	3	125,036	453,000	$19.99	No	Info
ThisIsOurYear	3	128,451	872,000	$24.95	No	Info
LinkoPedia.com	3	131,068	44,900	$10.00	No	Info
SevenSeek Directory	3	133,610	0	$40.00	No	Info
CyborgInfo	3	142,644	40,200	No	Yes	Info
SearchWIZ	3	152,302	28,700	No	Yes	Info
Anthony Parsons	3	187,447	242,000	$10.00	No	Info
SunSteam Search	3	195,210	204,000	*$24.95	No	Info
Azoos	3	198,829	14,700	*$89.95	No	Info
Pharos Search Directory	3	203,067	1,490	$26.95	Cond.	Info
iBrain	3	207,126	817	No	Cond.	Info
Link With Us	3	219,281	93,000	$34.95	No	Info
Webxperience	3	230,701	315,000	$14.99	No	Info
Katakombe	3	257,308	9,290	*$99.00	No	Info
Ozami	3	284,437	19,800	$39.00	Cond.	Info
Link-Pimp	3	290,381	6,260	$19.99	Cond.	Info
1st-Spot.Net	3	323,547	234	$15.00	No	Info
Search Turtle	3	376,258	45,700	$19.95	No	Info
Apahcinc	3	389,618	51,300	*$34.95	No	Info
Speedy Directory	3	396,143	0	$2.99	Cond.	Info
BigAll	3	396,752	11,600	$14.95	No	Info
Seekon Web Directory	3	402,856	31,300	$49.95	No	Info
Umdum	3	403,682	1,260	$40.00	No	Info
One Way Link	3	457,587	688	$10.00	Cond.	Info
Thelanka	3	488,361	6,700	$10.00	Cond.	Info
Biz-King-Directory	*3	499,018	1,520	$29.99	No	Info
Permanent Listings	3	532,758	11,400	$19.95	No	Info
Directory-World	3	554,356	2,610	No	Cond.	Info
eWilla Web Directory	3	581,050	6,900	$24.98	No	Info
AXEQ	3	581,483	22,900	$40.00	Cond.	Info
Primo Directory	3	676,505	1,110	$20.00	Yes	Info
Lookforth	3	701,531	1,750	$24.00	No	Info
Directory Find	3	719,795	18,700	$9.95	Cond.	Info
Indexplex	3	729,676	7,470	*$40.00	No	Info
Directory Top	3	745,717	18,800	$9.99	Cond.	Info
EarthLook	3	805,180	29,600	$15.00	No	Info
Objects Directory	3	820,319	0	$5.00	Yes	Info
Directory Shark	3	1,218,676	48	$29.95	Cond.	Info
Abstract Directory	3	1,230,370	571	$1.00	Cond.	Info
WebSkyGuide	3	1,255,288	507	$24.95	No	Info
SEO Works	3	1,275,615	0	$24.95	No	Info
Kawt	*3	1,289,416	3,910	$20.00	Cond.	Info
RankLand-LinkBid	3	1,420,038	2,160	$1.00	No	Info
One Best Link	2	46,363	3,090	$4.95	Yes	Info
UUIQ	2	54,633	46,000	No	Yes	Info
LinksValley	2	60,889	2,870	No	Cond.	Info
Just Another Link	2	60,970	565,000	*$9.99	Yes	Info
Blue Daffodil	2	65,518	188	No	Yes	Info
Most Popular Sites	2	98,780	1,160,000	No	Cond.	Info
Maki Search	2	131,588	6,800	No	Yes	Info
OneBigIndex	2	147,936	42,000	No	Cond.	Info
Level10s	2	167,093	163,000	$39.00	Cond.	Info
ABizDirectory	2	168,874	85,900	$19.95	Cond.	Info
TM4B Directory	2	183,204	1,850	No	Cond.	Info
Cluboo	2	203,563	44,900	$15.00	Cond.	Info
Kwik Goblin	2	224,147	41,400	$24.95	No	Info
Allestra	2	237,157	90,000	$39.00	No	Info
1 Link Business Directory	2	303,783	64,500	$9.99	No	Info
Web Directory	2	309,338	3,100	*$7.00	No	Info
All The Bizz	2	386,937	1,760,000	$15.00	No	Info
Sporge	2	416,928	0	$14.00	No	Info
All Dot Net	2	427,457	112,000	$9.95	No	Info
Arielis	2	440,407	3,940	$25.00	No	Info
Performance Corporate	2	457,718	2,990	$19.99	Cond.	Info
Really First	2	615,471	1,290,000	$5.00	No	Info
Tom Directory	2	698,990	25,000	$10.00	No	Info
Go Search Business	2	722,322	0	*$14.95	Cond.	Info
Categorized Web	2	864,222	10,100	$24.99	No	Info
DK-Seek	2	1,211,961	384,000	$5.00	No	Info
Access Directory	2	1,279,846	7,840	$35.00	No	Info
Splendes.com	2	1,289,085	1,230	$20.00	No	Info
WebMaster Hole	2	1,352,712	0	$12.95	Cond.	Info
The Hyperlinks	2	1,360,283	36,200	$6.00	No	Info
Webcat Directory	*2	1,537,304	678,000	$5.00	No	Info
Better Business Dir.	2	1,684,363	4,960	*$19.95	No	Info
Epic Directory	2	1,801,218	22,700	$5.00	Cond.	Info
King Directory	2	1,832,928	91,400	$5.00	Cond.	Info
KJ Networks	2	2,006,342	15,600	$2.95	Cond.	Info
Skatoo	2	2,632,095	1,760	$20.00	Cond.	Info
Red Reach	2	3,042,757	678	$10.00	No	Info
Engine Grip	2	3,163,786	402	$34.95	No	Info
Internet Reach	2	3,255,489	75	$10.00	No	Info
Rivco	2	3,468,228	948	$15.00	No	Info
InnerSeek	1	167,040	931	$25.00	Yes	Info
The Internet Directory	*1	173,500	107	No	Yes	Info
KnowBe	*1	205,270	0	$2.99	No	Info
FourFind	*1	254,594	0	No	Yes	Info
GoKoDo	1	835,875	0	$1.95	No	Info
3 Dollar Auto	1	966,932	35,500	$3.00	No	Info
Directory Reviews	1	1,162,290	14,300	$9.95	No	Info
Link Exchanged	1	1,668,339	607	$2.99	Cond.	Info
GoLooking	1	2,009,148	2,440	$9.95	No	Info
Managed Names	1	2,016,129	20,400	$10.00	No	Info
Test the Rest Info	1	2,540,287	0	No	Cond.	Info
Best Web Directory	1	3,305,554	665	$5.99	No	Info
General-Directory	1	4,397,490	532	$5.99	No	Info
Tenth Year	1	4,559,458	0	$17.95	No	Info
ODD - One Dollar Dir	1	5,768,609	760	$9.99	No	Info
Uncover The Net	0	10,790	0	*$59.00	No	Info
King of the Web	0	29,898	372,000	No	Yes	Info
Excellent Guide Dir.	0	38,855	941,000	$24.99	No	Info
The SEO King	0	40,429	223,000	$4.50	Yes	Info
01Web Directory	0	43,116	12,800	$49.00	Yes	Info
Directory Gold	0	67,015	789,000	$5.00	No	Info
Add Your Site Free	0	73,031	169	$39.00	No	Info
Free Website Directory	0	103,209	573	No	Yes	Info
Alive Directory	0	115,059	452	*$49.95	No	Info
Kazan City	*0	124,937	61,800	No	Yes	Info
CasCandra	0	129,297	57,300	$11.95	No	Info
AbiFind	0	133,327	3,750,000	$9.95	Yes	Info
Infowebworld	0	140,375	25,900	No	Yes	Info
Network-Room Links	0	150,826	0	No	Yes	Info
Free Advertising Directory	0	166,248	270,000	$35.00	Yes	Info
Go To Web Guide	*0	166,999	71,900	No	Yes	Info
WebiDirectory	0	168,910	215	$5.00	Yes	Info
WeboDirectory	0	191,840	125,000	$5.00	Yes	Info
Favourite Link	*0	194,830	0	No	Cond.	Info
BDC Concepts	0	266,842	243	$15.00	Yes	Info
KingBloom	0	291,937	566,000	$2.00	No	Info
One Big Directory	*0	323,617	425	*$14.95	No	Info
Frequently Asked	0	359,113	10,300	No	Cond.	Info
Nintra	0	360,983	0	No	Yes	Info
OneDir.Biz	0	378,255	5,710	$4.95	Yes	Info
Big Web Links	0	384,884	400	$49.90	No	Info
Perfext.com	0	392,343	0	$14.98	Yes	Info
All The Webmasters	0	502,382	732	*$9.99	No	Info
Ableseek	0	522,148	791	$40.00	No	Info
Wamchu	0	528,765	207	$10.00	Cond.	Info
A Look Web Directory	0	636,311	103,000	$4.95	Cond.	Info
Dr Mom	0	709,918	410	*$7.95	Yes	Info
A Link Directory	0	727,632	31,000	*$7.00	No	Info
Links Directory	0	730,242	42	No	Cond.	Info
Smittyz	0	771,296	2,640	$29.95	No	Info
AroundTheWeb	0	784,340	24,500	$15.00	No	Info
Dare Directory	0	833,131	652	$5.00	Yes	Info
Fast PC Networks	0	851,738	20,600	$30.00	No	Info
A Great Directory	0	860,414	537	$9.99	No	Info
Directory Station	0	911,897	631	*$9.99	No	Info
Seek-n-Pick Dir.	0	1,047,110	0	No	Yes	Info
Aeoma	0	1,081,854	0	$4.99	No	Info
iPage.info	0	1,149,074	54	$1.95	No	Info
MySiteGuide	0	1,247,581	1,550	$9.95	No	Info
SEO Friendly Directory	0	1,321,328	0	$7.95	No	Info
Bid Links	0	1,482,391	4,480	$6.00	No	Info
Index Unlimited	0	1,653,985	0	$30.00	Cond.	Info
Free Inclusion	0	1,691,740	23,800	$2.50	No	Info
Directory Hound	0	2,521,468	0	$5.00	Yes	Info
Directory Pixels	0	2,561,981	493	*$9.99	Cond.	Info
CoJo	0	2,939,351	4,160	*$4.95	Cond.	Info
TextLinksRus	0	3,585,691	580	$4.95	No	Info

Top ranking Google AdWords secret

2009-12-04T10:09:00.000-08:00

While Google AdWords is a revenue generating machine for the savvy advertiser, 9 out of 10 people often FAIL in their first few attempts to create an effective campaign. That is why I have created this report – to help these new or not-as-experienced advertisers battle through the initial learning curve, and to implement a few very simple but effective strategies that will help you achieve your advertising goals and improve the overall performance of your advertising campaign.
1. Expand Relevant Keyword Terms
Keyword relevancy is the KEY to success with Google AdWords. While it may be tempting to include all sorts of keywords you can get your hands on, be aware that this is often the #1 mistake advertisers make when creating their first campaign.
The keyword term qualifies the user as someone who is interested in the your products/services. For this reason, we need to make them as relevant as possible. Do not go out on a whim and start adding terms that are somewhat related, because, chances are, even if users do find interest in clicking on your ad, they will end up leaving your website without making a purchase because your product/service was not exactly what they were looking for.

2. Be Familiar with the Various Matching Options
While broad match is the default match type and should be used more than 90% of the time, you should also be familiar with the other matching options that are available to you. Selecting the right match type will increase your performance potential and for driving clicks/sales.
If you are unfamiliar with the different matching options, here is an example:
When tennis shoes is broad matched, your ad will show when users search on the keywords tennis and shoes, in any order, and even if the query includes other terms, such as tennis rackets and shoes. With broad matching, the keyword is also automatically enrolled in expanded matching. This means that Google will show the ads for other relevant terms and variations (such as tennis sneakers) even if these terms are not included in the keyword list.
When tennis shoes is phrase matched, your ad will only show when users search on the keywords tennis shoes in that order. For example, queries red tennis shoes and tennis shoes sale will generate your ad, but not shoes for tennis.
When tennis shoes is exact matched, your ad will only show when users search on the keyword tennis shoes. This must be typed in exactly in this format. No other variations of this term will trigger your ad.

3. Use Negative Keywords
Negative keywords are specific terms you can select to prevent your ad from displaying. For example, if -red is entered as a negative keyword, the ad will not show if a user searches for red tennis shoes.
To maximize the relevancy of your keywords, negative keywords should always be used. If you can stop irrelevant results, you should! Always double check your negative keyword list to make sure that you really do not want to run on them.
A few universal negative keywords to use may be –free, if you do not offer a free product, or –uk, -canada and –australia if you are offering a product that only ships within the United States.

4. Create Relevant Ad Text
You can spend hours compiling an amazing list of relevant keywords, but your campaign can only be successful if the terms are used with appropriate ad text. The keyword does its job by triggering your ad, but clicks are generated by the relevancy and quality of the ad text. The ad text is arguably the most important part of your campaign because it is the ONLY aspect of your account that is visible to the user.
If the keywords do not relate to the same products/services, you may want to separate the keywords into different Ad Groups. In different Ad Groups, targeted ad text can be created to specifically relate to the keyword terms and will, as a result, be more relevant and better targeted.

5. Multiple Creatives
When multiple creatives are created within an Ad Group, the ads will rotate evenly when the keywords are searched. Reporting statistics for each creative are listed in the account, so you can test several different creatives for CTR and ROI. Based on these statistics, you can then delete any creatives that are not performing well for you. This feature also allows you to test different landing pages. By using tracking URLs, you can measure conversions, which allows you to optimize the account so that you are using the most effective ad text and landing page combination possible.

6. Unique Special Offers/Promotional Language
Because you would want to distinguish your own product/service from your competition, keep in mind that a generic ad typically does not perform as well as a creative that contains specific information. To make an ad stand out, consider including factors such as special offers, unique qualities and promotions to differentiate this ad from competitors. (Ex. “discounts,” “free shipping,” “low price guarantee,” “price matching,” “award-winning.”)

7. Call-to-Action Phrases
Specific call-to-action phrases that reflect the your goals, such as “sign up for free newsletter,” “try a free sample,” “order make-up online” and “buy CDs at 15% off,” are strongly encouraged because they clearly spell out what the user should do on the website in order to achieve a successful conversion on your end. Such phrases give the user a clear idea of what to expect before visiting the website and can increase your overall CTR and ROI.

8. Destination URLs
The destination URL of the ad should be accurate and working. For best results, make sure that it takes the user directly to the product/service advertised. This will ensure relevancy and increase the chances of a successful conversion.

9. Individual Ad Groups for Each Product Line
Another effective method of using the keywords is by plugging them into the ad text. It is especially effective when inserting the keywords in the ad’s first line (ad title) because it increases the relevancy of the ad. The ad title should be an “eye-catcher.” It should ask a question, make a statement, or sum up the specific product or service being advertised.
When a user searches on a particular term and sees an ad with the same term in the ad title, the relevance is right on the money. In addition, the keywords will appear in bold within the creative. This draws attention to the ad and increases the probability that the user will click on it. If inserting the keyword in the ad title is not possible, at least try to incorporate it into the ad text itself.

10. Use the Available Tools and Features!
That’s what they’re there for! Learn about all the great things you can do with these tools that were specifically designed to help you achieve success with Google AdWords.
When you have a moment, definitely take a closer look at the various features you can add to your campaign, such as the Keyword Suggestion Tool, Budget Optimizer, Conversion Tracking and Reporting Generator. These features can help you discover what is performing well in your campaign and what is not, and you can then make the appropriate changes to ensure that your campaign is performing at its peak.
If you are interested in additional information and insider secrets to making your AdWords campaign explode in profits, be sure to check out the resources at http://www.AdwordsOptimization.com. Source

Yahoo/Bing Deal Approved in Canada and Australia

2009-12-04T10:02:00.000-08:00

microhooAustralian and Canadian authorities have given the all clear to the proposed Microsoft and Yahoo! search deal.

Here’s what the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission had to say about the deal:

“Microsoft and Yahoo!’s share of online paid search advertising queries in Australia was limited, In combining search engine platforms, Microsoft and Yahoo! may have been able to achieve the necessary scale to provide effective and sustainable competition to Google, which had a very large share of online paid search advertising queries.”

Google holds a huge majority in Australia with over 87.79% of Australians using Google.com or Google.com.au. This dominance would have made it easier for Australian regulators to approve the partnership because Bing and Yahoo! hold such a minor market share individually.

While this marks a good milestone in the agreement, the biggest roadblock still lies ahead with European and American regulators. These are considered to be more competitive search markets, with anti-trust bodies likely to give Microsoft and Yahoo! a harder time.

In a joint statement, Yahoo/Microsoft said that they remain hopeful that an agreement will close in early 2010.

The List: Google’s 200 Search Engine Ranking Factors!

2009-12-04T09:45:00.000-08:00

You would think that listing all the factors that Google uses to determine your ranking would be a near impossible task, right? Well, apparently not. Today we have your first sneak peek at the list of the almost 200 search engine ranking factors used by Google.

How did this list get started? Well, apparently Mr Google, Matt Cutts, mentioned at PubCon recently that there are over 200 variables in the Google algorithm. So the folks at the WebmasterWorld set themselves a challenge to list them all.

Here is what has been included so far:

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Search engine optimization

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