Your Host: Jill Whalen [jill@highrankings.com]
________________________________________________________
~~~IN TODAY'S ADVISOR~~~
*Introductory Comments:
----> Registration Open for 2009 SEO Training Classes
*Search Engine Marketing:
----> Organic SEO or PPC?
----> Which Is More Likely to Be Clicked?
----> Penalized for Buying Links?
----> Shutting Down a Site
*This Week's Sponsors:
----> ProfitChoice Ghost Blogging Services
----> New 1-day SEO Classes Available for 2009!
----> Search Marketing Training Videos
*Stuff You Might Like:
----> Search Marketing Benchmark Webinar Recording
*Advanced SEO Forum Thread of the Week:
----> How to Prevent Affiliates from Driving up PPC Costs
*Advisor Wrap-up:
----> Great PubCon!
________________________________________________________
~~~Introductory Comments~~~
Hey everyone!
We received some questions at the end of the webinar last week, so I decided to answer a few here, along with answers to other questions I received during the past few weeks. Don't forget that you can also get your SEO questions answered by using our newsletter question form:
http://m1e.net/c?86763832-/wj76CyXiMaY.%403773145-51XjMvfNfw/r2
I also wanted to let you know that we've opened registration for our March and May 2009 SEO training classes. You can learn more here:
http://m1e.net/c?86763832-sitlFmN0Mu/6E%403773146-Ze.B1UFcareCM
In addition, by the end of the week we should be announcing even more advanced, topic-specific SEO half-day workshops. Check the website in a few days, or there will be more info in the next newsletter.
Okay, let's get straight to the good stuff! – Jill
~~~Search Engine Marketing Issues~~~
++Organic SEO or PPC?++
Jill,
If organic SEO is so important, why are we being sold on PPC as most important by PPC trainers? Why is there less about organic SEO?
S. Glen
++Jill's Response++
I think the obvious answer is that they are PPC trainers, so they're going to push and teach what they know. High Rankings provides organic SEO consulting services, so that's what we teach and sell to our clients.
The fact is that both organic SEO and paid search marketing can be important to your bottom line, but you never know until you try them. Both should be tested to see if they work for your business model and type of website. The caveat to this is that you must ensure that your tests are set up by someone who knows the intricacies of search marketing. Otherwise, you may come to the conclusion that it doesn't work for you, when it just may have not been done correctly.
Jill
Share your comments and thoughts here:
http://m1e.net/c?86763832-vFBCQSxYqlNUM%403773147-qhJpFMCxFgQHA
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++Which Is More Likely to Be Clicked?++
Hi Jill,
Is someone more likely to click on my organic or paid search result if they appear side by side?
D. Greene
++Jill's Response++
The MarketingSherpa Search Marketing Benchmark Guide
http://m1e.net/c?86763832-xbZfBAfh9mvdg%403773149-9uS5lNZk9cz.Q
shows that people are more likely to click on the organic search results than the paid. However, they also show that having your brand appear in both sets of results reinforces your brand in the eyes of the searcher. So that's a good reason for having your website appear in both.
In addition, if you look at the eye-tracking studies of the search results from the SEM Benchmark Guide, you'll see that people do scan the very top paid results. It wouldn't surprise me if the average web searcher doesn't even know that those top ones are paid for, and thus click on them more often than they might if they knew they were ads.
Jill
Share your comments and thoughts here:
http://m1e.net/c?86763832-bJGWth2jRpjQc%403773150-h.WQNdS3/SBbw
++Penalized for Buying Links?++
Dear Jill,
In Google's Webmaster Tools there is a section where you can submit someone you think is buying links. Here is what I don't understand – can Google really penalize you for purchasing links? The reason I ask is because if that were the case, couldn't we all just purchase a ton of crappy links to our competitors to knock them out of the search engine results?
What are your thoughts? Can Google penalize for purchasing links, or would they just discount them?
Thanks!
J. Knox
++Jill's Response++
Google can do whatever they want, it's their search engine! So yes, they most certainly could penalize those links if they felt like it. But you are correct that if they started penalizing for things that were out of the site owner's control, it could cause big problems – both for websites and for Google's search results. I think they typically try to avoid this scenario.
What I believe happens in cases like this is that Google probably reviews the site's overall linking profile as well as what they're doing on their actual pages. If they find a decent amount of high-quality links from relevant, reputable websites and nothing spammy on the pages, then they probably just discount any links that they can confirm are paid ones.
By the same token, I imagine if they review a website and see that it is doing lots of spammy things hoping to get a leg up in the search results, perhaps the purchasing of links could be the last straw for that website. I'm just speculating, however, as I don't work for Google and don't have access to their inner circle or their algorithm!
You may want to read my previous thoughts on buying links:
Buying Text Links:
http://m1e.net/c?86763832-JW73RDF6.G7o2%403773151-YFV7iDaxfNH8U
Google's Paid-link Smack in the Face:
http://m1e.net/c?86763832-RC.o0HxBEd2eg%403773152-Y9b8d.9iIGMf%2e
Also, this week Rand Fishkin wrote an interesting article providing some tips on buying links without "buying links" – it's worth a read:
http://m1e.net/c?86763832-R9AM1EvI./05w%403773153-evTBsr1gR667E
Share your comments and thoughts here:
http://m1e.net/c?86763832-7oGGkCSMwTZ4g%403773154-uVh7IzTimh8w%2e
______________High Rankings SEO Training___________________
New 1-day SEO Classes Available for 2009!
_______________________________________________________
Looking for an SEO strategy to optimize your website for more
targeted Google traffic?
See the new class schedule for 2009 – Class is limited to 6 students.
You will learn what SEO is and isn't, as well as what you need to do
to bring in more search engine visitors who are seeking out exactly
what you offer.
All our past classes have sold out, so sign up early to reserve a spot:
http://m1e.net/c?86763832-U6H78wm4IcUHc%403773155-LYgvnCLHoqdWI
Coming Soon – Advanced half-day SEO topic-specific workshops!
_______________________________________________________
+++Shutting Down a Site+++
Hi Jill,
I work for a nonprofit that since 2000 has been operating an e-commerce website to provide emerging artists with a web presence. It has earned a toolbar PageRank of 5, thanks to some decent inbound links. Due to a variety of things, the parent company of the website has decided it's time to shut the site down.
Is there a certain protocol for doing this?
We are keeping the domain name registered and may someday decide to relaunch the site. I know that if we create a custom 404 page announcing the site's closure, we will lose all link popularity and rankings and have to start over again from scratch. I'm wondering if it would be better to keep the site hosted for informational purposes by having just a one-page site that directs new visitors and old customers to links to some of the artists' individual websites rather than redirecting to a 404 page? I suspect you will answer that it doesn't make much difference since a one-page website will lose its Page Rank and search engine rankings anyway, but I just wanted you to confirm.
Thanks in advance for your advice!
N. Anthony
++Jill's Response++
It's difficult to say for sure without knowing all the details. However, my first choice would be to simply keep the site exactly as is, at least in terms of the content. While you may no longer want to offer the e-commerce functions, perhaps you could allow the artists to simply add a link to their own websites (if they have one). In other words, when people get to the artists' page on your site, you could continue to provide the info you're providing, but add something that says, "To view more or purchase this artist's work, please visit their website here."
If for some reason that's not an option, then I would suggest setting up permanent 301 redirects from the artists' pages to their own websites. This will at least transfer some of your link popularity over to the artists' sites.
The worst thing you can do is put up 404 not-found pages. Those will remove the website completely from the search engines and if you do decide to relaunch it, you may very well be starting from scratch. Leaving just one page up for informational purposes is completely different from 404'ing it. (Technically, they provide different http header responses to browsers and spiders.) You won't lose PageRank, at least not from external links, if you keep an informational page up as the main home page; at least not until or unless the other websites that are linking to yours remove their links. Remember, PageRank is completely and totally about links and nothing else, as opposed to where your "page is ranking" in the search results, which is affected by the combination of hundreds of factors.
Another option is to redirect the entire site (via a 301) to another website that the company owns, which might be on a similar topic. That will enable the link popularity from the shut-down site to transfer to their other site. I do that all the time with my sites if I decide to close them down for some reason.
Hope this helps!
Jill
Share your comments and thoughts here:
http://m1e.net/c?86763832-.939SLHwzrc/.%403773156-a161vtww0dwyE
(P.S. If anyone would like to republish the above Q&A articles, please email me your request and where it will reside, and I'll send you a short bio you can use with it for your site.)
_______________SEO / SEM DVDs_______________________
Search Marketing Training Videos on DVD
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~~~Stuff You Might Like~~~
++Search Marketing Benchmark Webinar Recording++
The High Rankings / MarketingSherpa free webinar that was held last week was a huge success!
If you missed it, don't fret. We've made the recording and slides available via download for anyone who would like them!
You can learn more and download them here:
http://m1e.net/c?86763832-DCvuY5uIf6MEI%403773158-o3SbFVa93MNOE
~~~Advanced SEO Forum Thread of the Week~~~
++How to Prevent Affiliates from Driving Up PPC Costs++
Forum member "ttw" asks:
"Our client has affiliates that want to bid on many of the same keywords that we are bidding on. How can we manage this so that the affiliates don't drive up our cost on PPC?"
The resulting conversation helps answer this question, but also provides a ton of additional info on the pros and cons of having affiliates.
It's definitely worth a read:
http://m1e.net/c?86763832-pzbzOZ6C/Na8c%403773159-WxCf3.abJef/c
~~~Advisor Wrap-up~~~
That's all for today!
Had an awesome time at PubCon last week catching up with many old friends. I found it pretty cool to hang out with some of the same folks I hung out with at my very first conference back in 2000! Unfortunately, I also managed to somehow not meet many of the newer friends I've met online over the past year (Yes, this means you, Mr. Streko!). It's funny how you can just keep missing each other, despite best efforts. I did enjoy my sessions, and found the attendees to be extremely interested in what they were learning. It appears that there are lots of new web marketers coming on the scene.
Oh yeah, and our Lunch & Learn the week before also turned out great. Didn't think we could fit so many people in our office. I must have answered at least 20 SEO questions during lunch, which was fun! It was great to meet so many of our local High Rankings Advisor subscribers in person.
Catch you in 2 weeks! – Jill
Looking for SEO Services, Consulting or Training?
See what High Rankings has to offer:
http://m1e.net/c?86763832-qtHlU9YnpUjTg%403773160-CjhyL59PsQuOY
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