<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss version="2.0"
	xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"
	xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/"
	xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
	xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"
	xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/"
	xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/"
	>

<channel>
	<title>Yellow SEO - Search Engine Optimization Blog</title>
	<atom:link href="http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://www.yellowseo.com/blog</link>
	<description>Rank Better.  Drive traffic.  Get Results.</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Fri, 23 Apr 2010 13:49:11 +0000</lastBuildDate>
	<generator>http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4</generator>
	<language>en</language>
	<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
	<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
			<item>
		<title>10 ways to improve your marketing content</title>
		<link>http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/reference/10-ways-to-get-improve-your-marketing-content/</link>
		<comments>http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/reference/10-ways-to-get-improve-your-marketing-content/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 25 Mar 2010 18:00:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Paul</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Reference]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[good copy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[writing]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/?p=315</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
Good copy is an essential part of any effective marketing campaign.  High quality content can increase your sales and generate more customer leads.  But when writing is exceptional, people bookmark your site and generate media buzz over your products and services.  Literally overnight, you can get hundreds or thousands of people to [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/copy.jpg" alt="good copy" width="274" class="attachment wp-att-298 alignleft"/><br />
Good copy is an essential part of any effective marketing campaign.  High quality content can increase your sales and generate more customer leads.  But when writing is exceptional, people bookmark your site and generate media buzz over your products and services.  Literally overnight, you can get hundreds or thousands of people to discover your company and want to learn more about what you do.</p>
<blockquote><p>
* <strong>Write unique differentiated content that no-one else can claim. </strong> It is all too easy for people to copy content online.  Don&#8217;t make it easy by writing generic content.  Examine every word and every sentence and ask yourself, “Is this something someone else can claim?”  Make it easy for customers to see why you are different.</p>
<p>* <strong>Be concise.</strong> If a sentence does not need to be there, take it out.  Every single sentence in your writing should have a purpose.  A sentence can either be a “point”, a supporting sentence for a point, or a chain (something which connects a new thought)<br />
<span id="more-315"></span><br />
* <strong>Clearly communicate how the customer will benefit from your product or services.</strong> Reinforce with strong objective points.  Don&#8217;t talk about how great your company, product or service is.  Talk about what it will do for the customer.  Make sure that you cover the benefits from as many angles and perspectives as possible.</p>
<p>* <strong>Write conclusions near the top and support with additional information below. </strong>This style of writing is called a reverse pyramid.  Most of us are taught to write in a style that is not effective online.  People scan online and your job is deliver your message in as easy to read format as possible.</p>
<p>* <strong>Write in an active voice. </strong>Consider removing phrases such as “We shall” or “Let&#8217;s” or “I believe”.  They are weak in impact and are much stronger when phrased differently with clauses such as, “9 out of 10 dentists … ”, “It is important that&#8230;”</p>
<p>* <strong>Spell check and grammar check your content.</strong> For many people catching a single typo can mean a losing a potential customer, especially if it is a home page.  People associate bad spelling and grammar with unprofessional and lazy habits.</p>
<p>* <strong>Use easy to read language.</strong> Using words like “imperative”, “</p>
<p>* <strong>Don&#8217;t tell the reader what to do. </strong>Nothing is more annoying that reading something which commands you to do something.</p>
<p>* <strong>Bullets are an effective tool in content.</strong> They present content in an easily understood format.</p>
<p>* <strong>Make sure the points have a logical flow.</strong> Don&#8217;t make a reader say, “What is the writers point in what I&#8217;m reading.” or “Why am I reading this?  What does this have to do with me?”  Give the reader context before jumping to a completely new point.
</p></blockquote>
<img src="http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/?ak_action=api_record_view&id=315&type=feed" alt="" />]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/reference/10-ways-to-get-improve-your-marketing-content/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Pagerank explained by Matt Cutts</title>
		<link>http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/seo-news/pagerank-explained-by-matt-cutts/</link>
		<comments>http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/seo-news/pagerank-explained-by-matt-cutts/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 16 Jun 2009 16:20:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Amber</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[SEO News]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/?p=306</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Matt Cutts has recently written an interesting new article on how Pagerank works in Google.  There is no question that link analysis has gone through extensive changes since the original introduction of Pagerank by the Google founders and it&#8217;s refreshing to see the head of the webspam team weigh in on how things work. [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/pagerank.jpg" alt="Pagerank explained" width="274" height="236" class="attachment wp-att-298 alignleft"/>Matt Cutts has recently written an interesting new article on how Pagerank works in Google.  There is no question that link analysis has gone through extensive changes since the original introduction of Pagerank by the Google founders and it&#8217;s refreshing to see the head of the webspam team weigh in on how things work.  I&#8217;ve posted a link to the original article, but I&#8217;ll comment on the most interesting parts.  Basically, Matt explains page rank as a flow of points from one page to the next which are equally divided among outgoing links.  If a page has accumulated 50 points from external sites and there are two outbound links, then those two outbound links will get 25 points.  Then, he continues to explain that nofollow links do not pass pagerank.  This is not new.  What IS new Matt&#8217;s introduction of a &#8220;decay&#8221; concept. <BR/><span id="more-306"></span>This just makes logical sense since otherwise, it is very easy to get into infinite loops.</p>
<p>The question is&#8230; When a series of pages gets into these loops, do they continue to pass on points to the pages until the decay factors it out?  If it is smart, it will remember what pages link to an external page and factor it out, but remember the scale at which google is doing this.  It would take a lot of memory and disk space to keep a continuous log of all the incoming links for every page during indexing.  That means that most likely, it is NOT keeping such a log.</p>
<p>The difficulty with testing this is that Google updates Pageranks VERY infrequently (on the order of 1-2 times a year).  Further testing is warranted, but in the end, the question that comes up is &#8230; does pagerank matter?  The truth is that pagerank does not matter unless you are selling paid links or advertising.  It is the only public indication besides your weblogs of how trustworthy your site is in Google&#8217;s eyes.</p>
<p>The next question is&#8230; does it matter for your SERPS?  In our experience, no.  It is possible to rank well for competitive keywords without high pagerank and there are many examples of it.  A couple of interesting points is that when we tested the nofollow attributes, we did notice that in spite of the fact that Google specifically said that nofollow had no effect on SERPS, that in fact it did.  Matt explains it as bugs in the initial indexing, but as an SEO, with so much misinformation on the internet, we are trained to not believe everything that is said, but to do empirical tests to see if that is actually what is going on.</p>
<p>http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/pagerank-sculpting/</p>
<img src="http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/?ak_action=api_record_view&id=306&type=feed" alt="" />]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/seo-news/pagerank-explained-by-matt-cutts/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Bring more yellow to your life with a FREE YellowSEO Highlighter</title>
		<link>http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/general-musings/free-offer-yellowse/</link>
		<comments>http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/general-musings/free-offer-yellowse/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 20 May 2009 16:34:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Amber</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[General Musings]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[free offer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[YellowSEO highlighter]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/?p=264</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Many people ask us why we chose the color yellow for our website name. The answer is simple. At YellowSEO, our goal is to highlight your site, drive more traffic, and grow your business.  For a limited time, we are happy to offer our visitors FREE Highlighter pens so that you can see the [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/general-musings/free-offer-yellowse/attachment/yellow_highlighter_tm1/" title="yellow_highlighter_tm1"><img src="http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/yellow_highlighter_tm1.jpg" alt="yellow_highlighter_tm1" width="274" height="254" class="attachment wp-att-298 alignleft" /></a>Many people ask us why we chose the color yellow for our website name. The answer is simple. At <a title="YellowSEO" href="http://yellowseo.com" target="_self">YellowSEO</a>, our goal is to highlight your site, drive more traffic, and grow your business.  For a limited time, we are happy to offer our visitors <strong>FREE Highlighter pens</strong> so that you can see the impact of more yellow in each and every day.</p>
<p>Here’s how to get your free highlighter!  All you have to do is send us an e-mail with your name and address to our <a title="seo service" href="http://www.yellowseo.com">SEO service</a> team @ <a href="mailto:freeoffer@yellowseo.com&lt;br &gt;&lt;/a&gt;">freeoffer@yellowseo.com</a>.  You will receive your FREE YellowSEO highlighter in the mail.</p>
<p><strong>Start highlighting!</strong></p>
<p>Regards,<br />
Yellow SEO Team<br />
* Hurry! The offer is valid only while supplies last.  Important: We value your trust.  Your information will be 100% private and will not be given out to anyone for any reason.</p>
<img src="http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/?ak_action=api_record_view&id=264&type=feed" alt="" />]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/general-musings/free-offer-yellowse/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Wolfram Alpha Launch: The Dawn of a New Era for the Web?</title>
		<link>http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/seo-news/wolfram-alpha-launch/</link>
		<comments>http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/seo-news/wolfram-alpha-launch/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 16 May 2009 19:02:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Amber</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[SEO News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Google]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[search engines]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[search results]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wolfram Alpha]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/?p=223</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Wolfram Alpha is an intriguing new search engine which is based on building a large set of facts into a system and making it computable.  On May 15th at 7 pm, WolframAlpha became public.  Initial queries like &#8220;What is the meaning of life?&#8221; Answer: 42 were quite hilarious. (fyi, references the age-old Hitchhikers [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/seo-news/wolfram-alpha-launch/attachment/wolfram2/" title="wolfram2"><img src="http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/wolfram2.jpg" alt="wolfram2" width="276" height="254" class="attachment wp-att-301 alignleft" /></a>Wolfram Alpha is an intriguing new search engine which is based on building a large set of facts into a system and making it computable.  On May 15th at 7 pm, WolframAlpha became public.  Initial queries like &#8220;What is the meaning of life?&#8221; Answer: 42 were quite hilarious. (fyi, references the age-old Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy)</p>
<p>After a few more queries, it became clear that there are a lot of facts which the system does not yet know about.  However, we believe that it will quickly change.</p>
<p><span id="more-223"></span></p>
<p>Stephen Wolfram, the mastermind behind <em>Mathematica</em> and <em>A New Kind of Science</em> which proved to big a huge success and brought world recognition to the author, is now challenging the concept of search engine. Wolfram Alpha is targeted to put the rules of mathematical data and linguistics together to compile the worlds first computational knowledge engine. At the base of this quite ambitious project, is the belief in the power of mathematical knowledge in generating effective solutions to a wide range of problems.</p>
<p>For years search engines have been trying to improve the relevance of the search results. When Google first appeared, it <span> </span>became an online sensation by providing the closest match to all search queries. In relatively short time, Yahoo, MSN and others were left behind as Google established its reputation of the industry leader with the market share close to 70%.</p>
<p>Wolfram Alpha offers a refreshing approach to improving the search results. It eliminates the guesswork and the hassle of going through a variety of webpages to find the best answer to your question. Wolfram Alpha uses a special algorithm to pull the information from different sources and combine them into a complete logical answer.<br />
People tend to be righteously skeptical about the release of new search engines. We have seen the appearance and quick decay of many of them which failed to deliver their far-going promises. Is Wolfram Alpha one of the many destined to be buried under Google dominance or if incredibly successful, is it going to become the next “Googlekiller”?</p>
<p>We lean towards the opinion that Google and Wolfram Alpha are not necessarily fierce rivals since people will go to each of them for different reasons. Google is very effective when you need to find various information sources and go actual webpages, whereas Wolfram Alpha will be most useful when you look for simple factual answers to your questions. The latter can definitely divert some of Google’s traffic yet it won’t be sufficient to change the entire search engine hierarchy.</p>
<p>An interesting note is that fact oriented processing engines like WolframAlpha effectively eliminate the previous <a title="search engine optimization" href="http://www.yellowseo.com/">search engine optimization</a> rules.</p>
<p>Truth to be said, at this early stage we can only make up theories and now that we&#8217;ve had time to play with it, Google has nothing to worry about in the near future. History has proven multiple times that a true success is rarely about having a great idea but more so about its<span> </span>execution.</p>
<p>However, if Wolfram Alpha meets even a portion of its high expectations in the future, it could be a new intriguing web destination.  In any case, building a huge computational cluster, with billions of factoids, and mathematical logic seems like the perfect precursor for the future Skynet.</p>
<img src="http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/?ak_action=api_record_view&id=223&type=feed" alt="" />]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/seo-news/wolfram-alpha-launch/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>5</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Caution:Blog Scrapers</title>
		<link>http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/general-musings/stop-blog-scrapers/</link>
		<comments>http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/general-musings/stop-blog-scrapers/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 08 May 2009 13:14:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Amber</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[General Musings]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SEO Tips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[blog scraping]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[blog scraping prevention]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[blogging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Google]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[RSS feed]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[search engines]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SEO]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/?p=177</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[There has recently been a lot talk about the importance of blogging for SEO purposes. Many experts agree that a blog is a dynamic and interactive tool which allows you to effectively address vital issues and share relevant and useful information with readers both inside and outside the industry. But as blogging increases in popularity, [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a title="paws1" href="http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/general-musings/stop-blog-scrapers/attachment/paws1/"><img class="attachment wp-att-290 alignleft" src="http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/paws1.thumbnail.jpg" alt="paws1" width="276" height="254" /></a>There has recently been a lot talk about the importance of blogging for SEO purposes. Many experts agree that a <a title="blog" href="http://www.yellowseo.com/blog" target="_self">blog</a> is a dynamic and interactive tool which allows you to effectively address vital issues and share relevant and useful information with readers both inside and outside the industry. But as blogging increases in popularity, more websites are facing the alarming problem of content theft.<br />
My first encounter with this issue happened a while ego when I posted my first blog on <a title="Data Feed Optmization" href="http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/seo-tips/data-feed-optimization/" target="_self">Data Feed Optimization</a>. In a matter of a hours the word-by-word copy appeared on multiple sites. A few days later the original blog was completely knocked out of search results. What happened to me is not uncommon. Scrapers also known as content scrapers or feed scrapers are computer programs that go out onto the web and copy the content from other sites with unique content.<br />
<span id="more-177"></span><br />
They usually do it by adding your RSS to their site. Once they get a notification that you published something they automatically scrape the new post. They almost never link back leaving the poor low-ranked blog behind to suffer lower rankings.<br />
Another side of content theft is blunt plagiarism which I personally consider to be even more appalling. I was recently browsing the web looking for good blogs on the latest SEO trends and came across a great article by <a title="Stephan Spencer" href="http://www.marketingprofs.com/8/latest-seo-trends-tactics-spencer.asp" target="_blank">Stephan Spencer</a>. This article was duplicated at least 7 times on the same page for search results. Most bloggers from the first page did refer to the original author except for one. Some guy Chris Wood who claims to be a reputable online marketing consultant copied the entire blog word-after-word, pasted in into his own blog using site-specific design and formatting, and took the credit for it. Such practices occur every single day!<br />
One would think Google and other search engines are smart enough to detect cases of content theft but unfortunately, they are not. If your blog is scraped almost simultaneously without a backlink, is next to impossible for Google to decided who has the original copy and who is a copycat. This is where your page rank may come into play. Sadly, if your blog thief has a much higher page rank you may the one labeled as a copy cat. Thus blog thieves get away with the theft and thrive while the original website maybe penalized. Is that fair? Definitely not.<br />
Here is a few things you can do to detect plagiarism and protect your website from automatic scrapers who make up for the majority of content theft.</p>
<p>1. <strong>Submit your url to <a title="Copyscape" href="http://www.copyscape.com/" target="_blank">Copyscape</a> to see who is stealing your website or blog content.</strong></p>
<p>2. <strong>If content thieves don’t show up immediately in the search results, try to repeat your search a few times with omitted results.</strong></p>
<p>3. <strong>Set up Google  Alerts for key phrases related to your content.</strong></p>
<p>4. <strong>Set the feeds to “summary” which will give the scrapers only an extract from the entire content as opposed to the entire post.</strong></p>
<p>5. <strong>Add legal disclaimer in the header or the footer of the post.</strong></p>
<p>6. <strong>Use tools such as <a title="Numly WordPress Plugin" href="http://www.numly.com/numly/wordpress.asp" target="_blank">Numly WordPress Plugin</a>,  <a title="RSS Footer" href="http://yoast.com/wordpress/rss-footer/ " target="_blank">RSS Footer</a>, and <a title="TagRight" href="http://www.tagright.com/compsys.php?name=Home" target="_blank">TagRight</a> to restrict the access to your content and establish your authorship.</strong></p>
<p>7. <strong>Force blog scrapers to link back to your site by</strong></p>
<p>a) including links which point to specific pages on your website in the blog copy</p>
<p>b) linking to your blog post from within the feed content.Read <a title="Tips" href="http://collinlahay.com/2008/01/11/protect-yourself-from-content-theft/" target="_blank">tips</a> from Matt Cutt on how to do it.</p>
<p>c) using the free tool called <a title="Tynt Tracer" href="http://www.tynt.com/" target="_self">Tynt Tracer</a> (it inserts a short piece of code on your blog to prevent scraping without backlinks)</p>
<p>Now the bad news. There is little protection against the manual scraping. Combating this is a time consuming process which doesn’t always lead to the desirable outcome. If the entire text is copied without referencing to you, it is still legally enforceable under the copyright laws, however, if only parts of the content are stolen, your actions are very limited. The common suggestion is to put your craving for justice aside for a moment and assess the damage as to whether it is worth your time to go after the thieves. If the damage is tangible, you can</p>
<p>• <strong>send them an e-mail and request to take the content down</strong><br />
• <strong>flag them on the website</strong><br />
• <strong>modify RSS feed for the offenders or even block your IP address</strong><br />
• <strong>inform search engines through DCMA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) letters</strong><br />
•<strong> seek legal action ( in extreme cases)</strong></p>
<p>Due to the efforts of our <a title="SEO" href="http://www.yellowseo.com/business_seo_services/" target="_self">SEO</a> team, the blog entry was back into the search results and the copycats were pushed far down. It was a good learning experience but it also made me think that blog scraping is a small drop in the ocean of plagiarism. Let’s face it. Individuals as well as companies bluntly rip off entire websites and business ideas every day. The least Google and other search engines can do is develop better ways of detecting and combating content theft.<br />
P.S. If this blog gets scraped, wouldn’t that be awesomely ironic?</p>
<img src="http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/?ak_action=api_record_view&id=177&type=feed" alt="" />]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/general-musings/stop-blog-scrapers/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Home Page Optimization: How to get a customer in 7 seconds</title>
		<link>http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/seo-tips/home-page-optimization/</link>
		<comments>http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/seo-tips/home-page-optimization/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 18 Apr 2009 16:31:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Amber</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[SEO Tips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Conversion Analysis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Google Analytics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[home page optimization]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Landing Page Optimization]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SEO]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[web page optimization]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/?p=141</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
There&#8217;s only one chance at making a good first impression.  That&#8217;s why your home page is, by far, the most important page on your entire website.  Optimizing your home page is not just about SEO, but it is also about optimizing your most critical landing pages for conversions.
Most people don&#8217;t realize that the ultimate common [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="attachment wp-att-215 alignleft" src="http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/online-customer.jpg" alt="online-customer" width="276" height="254" /></p>
<p>There&#8217;s only one chance at making a good first impression.  That&#8217;s why your home page is, by far, the most important page on your entire website.  Optimizing your home page is not just about <a title="SEO" href="http://www.yellowseo.com/" target="_self">SEO</a>, but it is also about optimizing your most critical landing pages for conversions.</p>
<p>Most people don&#8217;t realize that the ultimate common purpose of a website&#8217;s home page is to gain interest and establish credibility.  It is NOT to try to sell everything under the sun on the first page they get to.  It is NOT to present every single possible important fact across a lengthy home page.</p>
<p>If the first encounter with a website doesn’t have a clear message and create positive feelings of a match to what they are looking for, the visitor will be lost forever.  Producing a favorable impression and evoking strong visitor trust within the first few seconds leads to more clickthroughs, which leads to more sales, which leads to better SEO ranking.<br />
<span id="more-141"></span><br />
How do you measure how successful your home page is?  Look at your conversion rate.  If you are not tracking Goals in Analytics yet, that is the first step.</p>
<p>To determine the effectiveness of your home page take a few minutes and ask yourself the following two questions.</p>
<p>1.	<strong>Is the purpose of your website reflected on the home page?</strong> It is time to step back and look at your website from the perspective of a first time user. Does your landing page clearly communicate what products and services you offer? It is a good idea to conduct a small marketing research and ask non-related people for their opinion on the purpose of the site. If their answers surprise you, it means you are doing something wrong. Start by setting clear goals and objectives and then transform them into an attractive selling message using the language appropriate for your target customer. Use reassurance logos, testimonials and privacy statements to build trust and confidence.</p>
<p>2.	<strong>Is your home page consistent  with  the nature of your business and target customer? </strong>The copy and design of your home page should clearly communicate what your product is, reflect the image of your brand and your target customer. A website selling software to retail stores has to use a different approach from the one selling software to  technical companies. Sounds like a given but you will be surprised how many websites totally ignore this aspect of design. Do competitive research and find out what your target customer is  expecting to see.</p>
<p>3.	<strong>How strong is your call-to-action?</strong> You may have a website far superior than your competitors but if you do not clearly indicate what action you want people to take, you just lost the most important battle. Having a powerful (not overpowering) call-to-action always results in better ranking and higher  conversions. A great call-to-action is:<br />
a.	 placed in the most visible part of the home page.<br />
b.	offers different options from mild to more aggressive(ex.: e-mail us, live chat,  request a call back, call now, get a price quote etc)<br />
c.	tested regularly for maximum conversions</p>
<p>IMPORTANT: Always encourage visitors to leave contact information. Even if it doesn’t immediately result into sales, capturing customer information leaves a room for further interaction.</p>
<p>4.	<strong>Are you tracking your goals and objectives?</strong> Implementing Google Analytics will help you to monitor the effectiveness of your webpage and allows you react promptly. Keep in mind that making drastic and sporadic changes over a short period of time can cause your ranking to bounce back. To achieve optimum results, changes have to be  gradual and well thought out.</p>
<p>5.	<strong>What is your competition doing?</strong> Learn at competitors’ expense! You don&#8217;t need to reinvent the wheel.  See why your competition is successful and learn from it.  It is always a smart move to research your competitors’ websites for ideas of what works and what doesn’t. Keep in mind that blunt plagiarism is  a terrible idea for a lot of reasons.  To outsmart your competition you need to take a creative idea and raise it to a new level by adapting it to the specific needs of your website.</p>
<p>6.<strong> Does your website work properly?</strong> Functionality is the key. There is nothing more repelling and damaging to your site reputation  than  broken pages. The website needs to be tested in different browsers on both big and small resolution screens.</p>
<p>7.	 <strong>How long does it take to load? </strong>There is no widely accepted benchmark for page loading. My rule of thumb is that you have 2 seconds for the page to load and 5 seconds to sell a prospect. Therefore to maximize sales you should give yourself maximum selling time.</p>
<p>8.	<strong>Do you have enough copy on your homepage?</strong> Give search engines something to read. Many website try to hide the scarcity of written text behind the abundance of images and “cool” graphics which obviously doesn’t help the ranking. Search engine heavily rely on copy in determining the popularity and relevance of your site. To learn more about the role of copy for seo purposes, check out my upcoming blog “Content: the Key to Popularity and Relevance”</p>
<p>9.	<strong>Is the use of multimedia components justified? </strong>Remember how you feel when you go to a website searching for a product and as a result are sentenced to watching minute-long intros and animations? Most web design firms try hard to outperform the competition by using elaborate layouts and special effects Here is the thing. Static sites with conventional layouts exist for a reason. Unless done skillfully and in moderation, the use of macromedia flash adds very little to the quality of the webpage and has a zero contribution to SEO. What it does, it significantly increases your initial costs and causes annoyance among visitors. The same rule applies to video and audio components.</p>
<p>These questions cover the basics of home page optimization. If you are not happy with your answers, it means your website needs some work. One of the first steps can be getting a <a title="page analysis" href="http://www.yellowseo.com/request_a_quote/">home page analysis</a> from a <a title="page analysis" href="http://www.yellowseo.com/">professional seo company</a>. Most of the good ones, will offer this analysis as well as an action plan absolutely free.  Shop around because working with knowledgeable people will enable you to find the solution that is right for you.</p>
<p>Remember the websites which look effortless are the ones that had a lot of effort put in.  Good Luck!</p>
<img src="http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/?ak_action=api_record_view&id=141&type=feed" alt="" />]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/seo-tips/home-page-optimization/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>5</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Local Search Optimization, the new SEO for small businesses?</title>
		<link>http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/seo-news/local-search/</link>
		<comments>http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/seo-news/local-search/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 13 Apr 2009 15:54:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Amber</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[SEO News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Google]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[local search results]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SEO]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/?p=146</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
Earlier last week Google released a statement announcing that effective April, 6th local search results will be included by default on all queries. How does this change anything? Here is why we believe it will have a huge impact on the way many SEO companies build their strategies.
Let’s start with the benefits for the immediate consumer. [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="attachment wp-att-214 alignleft" src="http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/google-map.jpg" alt="google-map" width="276" height="254" /></p>
<p>Earlier last week Google released a statement announcing that effective April, 6th <a title="local search results" href="http://www.yellowseo.com/business_seo_services/" target="_self">local search results</a> will be included by default on all queries. How does this change anything? Here is why we believe it will have a huge impact on the way many<a title="seo" href="http://www.yellowseo.com/" target="_self"> SEO</a> companies build their strategies.<br />
Let’s start with the benefits for the immediate consumer. Before this change occurred, users had to request local search results by typing their geographic location in the search box. With the new technology they won’t have to do it any more. Google will identify where users are by using their IP-address thus people can get to the most useful and relevant results a lot faster. This is also great news for mobile phone holders whose devices have a trackable GPS module. No more tedious I-phone typing in the cold! Mobile search is about to get a lot easier.<br />
<span id="more-146"></span><br />
Now, what this means to small and medium local businesses is they will be able to compete more effectively on Google. Local search is growing very fast. Instead of going after a big highly-competitive nation-wide market, it allows to target a more specific audience for a fraction of a cost. Targeting translates into better conversions and increased ROI. Also keep in mind that local search results are ranked more prominently on mobile devices which contributes to the growing importance of mobile marketing.<br />
With local search being mixed with general search results, SEO can get you to the first page in search results faster and cheaper.  With so much valuable traffic coming in from Local search results, things are going to get a lot more competitive.  Now, is the time to establish a strong foothold on your local online search presence.  By being the first to take advantage of this, you&#8217;ll have the opportunity to secure your spot on the first page of Google for highly competitive keywords targeted to your geography.</p>
<img src="http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/?ak_action=api_record_view&id=146&type=feed" alt="" />]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/seo-news/local-search/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>8 Steps To Improve Your Adwords Quality Score</title>
		<link>http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/seo-tips/improve-your-adwordsquality-score/</link>
		<comments>http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/seo-tips/improve-your-adwordsquality-score/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 07 Apr 2009 22:45:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Amber</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[SEO Tips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Technical SEO]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[clickthrough rate]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Google Adwords]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Landing Page Optimization]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[meta tags]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Quality Score]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SEO]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/?p=119</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A high quality score  in Adwords means you will be able to run your pay-per-click campaign cheaper and more effectively than your competitors.
Most people don’t know that Google Adwords will give preference to cheaper ads provided they demonstrate high relevance, excellent clickthrough rate and better overall performance.
8 steps in improving your Adwords Quality Score
1. Use [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="attachment wp-att-212 alignleft" src="http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/adwords-quality.jpg" alt="adwords-quality" width="276" height="254" />A high quality score  in Adwords means you will be able to run your <a title="pay-per-click campaign" href="http://www.yellowseo.com/business_seo_services/" target="_self">pay-per-click campaign</a> cheaper and more effectively than your competitors.<br />
Most people don’t know that <a title="Google Adwords" href="http://www.yellowseo.com/corporate_seo_services/" target="_self">Google Adwords</a> will give preference to cheaper ads provided they demonstrate high relevance, excellent clickthrough rate and better overall performance.</p>
<h3>8 steps in improving your Adwords Quality Score</h3>
<p>1. <strong>Use Traffic Estimator for keyword analysis.</strong>Traffic Estimator is a great tool which helps to predict keyword performance in terms of CPC bid and positioning. It enables you to filter your initial choices and eliminate keywords which are either too expensive or don’t generate enough clicks. Make sure you are not logged into your Google account when using Traffic Estimator because it may skew the results.<br />
2. <strong>Try Opportunities to Improve Option.</strong> Though generally skeptical of computer-generated tools offered by Adwords, I was pleasantly surprised with Opportunities to Improve button.It instantly increased the QS for some of the ads. Similar results are not guaranteed but since this tool is free, you have little to lose.<br />
<span id="more-119"></span><br />
3. <strong>Eliminate generic keywords. </strong>The more targeted your keywords are, the greater your conversion rate is. Using broad categories for keywords may trigger a lot of clicks, but you have to ask yourself whether these are the clicks you need. For example: People, who type in “search engine optimization”, may be looking for definitions and encyclopedic information. Are they interested in using the actual services? Probably not. As a result, you spend more money for irrelevant clicks. With highly targeted keywords you don’t get as many clicks but you do get more value out of them.<br />
4.<strong>Split keywords between ad groups.</strong>A commonly made mistake is to staff all relevant keywords into one ad. Instead, split keywords into smaller more targeted groups while maintaining the relevance of the keywords to the actual ad copy.<br />
5. <strong>Separate “Good” Keywords from “Bad” Keywords.</strong> Keeping the keywords of different value mixed together can negatively impact the QS. After you run your campaign for a while, you will be able to evaluate the performance of each single keyword. Eventually, the keywords which don’t generate enough clicks can be deleted.<br />
6. <strong>Experiment with Matching Options.</strong> If most of your keywords are broad match, try to add exact match and phrase match keywords to each ad group. Run the ad for a few days and then leave the option with better QS and lower minimum CPC. Although broad match is generally considered the most popular of the three, the exact match tends to be much cheaper.<br />
7. <strong>Modify Meta Tags and Meta Descriptions.</strong> Adwords is a great test marketing tool. You can use keyword performance analysis to optimize your website. Ex.: Consider adding your best performing keywords to the meta tags or using the exact text from the best performing ad in the meta description.<br />
8. <strong>Optimize your Landing Page.</strong> Landing Page Optimization is a topic in itself. Google analyzes landing page relevance to determine your site’s ranking in both organic and sponsored search results. In relation to Quality Score, you need to make sure that ads point to a landing page which is relevant to ad copy and the selected keywords. An effective landing page needs to have a compelling copy, good internal navigation and a powerful call to action. If your website doesn’t meet these 3 criteria, you should consider seeking <a title="professional search engine optimization" href="http://www.yellowseo.com/" target="_self">professional search engine optimization</a> help.</p>
<p>Without a creative well-thought out approach, Google Adwords can become a major expense in your advertising budget.  Improving the Quality brings you one step closer to your ultimate goal &#8211; convert more clicks into sales while keeping your expenses low.</p>
<img src="http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/?ak_action=api_record_view&id=119&type=feed" alt="" />]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/seo-tips/improve-your-adwordsquality-score/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>5</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Data Feed Optimization: A Hidden Gem of Online Marketing</title>
		<link>http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/seo-tips/data-feed-optimization/</link>
		<comments>http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/seo-tips/data-feed-optimization/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 04 Apr 2009 18:44:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Amber</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[SEO Tips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Conversion Analysis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Data Feed Optimization]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Google Adwords]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Google Analytics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Online Advertising]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/?p=107</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
As the price of online advertising increases every single day, it is vital to discover more efficient ways to advertise. Comparison shopping engines such as Shopzilla, Froogle and Shopping.com offer the ability to reach untapped markets without high upfront costs associated with other forms of advertising. The payment structure is similar to Google Adwords but [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="attachment wp-att-213 alignleft" src="http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/diamond.jpg" alt="diamond" width="276" height="254" /></p>
<p>As the price of <a title="online advertising" href="http://www.yellowseo.com/seo_services/" target="_self">online advertising</a> increases every single day, it is vital to discover more efficient ways to advertise. Comparison shopping engines such as Shopzilla, Froogle and Shopping.com offer the ability to reach untapped markets without high upfront costs associated with other forms of advertising. The payment structure is similar to Google Adwords but since competition is not as fierce, you will spend significantly less money per click.</p>
<p>Current statistics provide even more arguments in favor of submitting data feeds to comparison shopping engines. One in three Internet users visits a comparison shopping site in a typical month. Comparison shoppers make up for a very distinct customer profile. They are savvier, more product-oriented and spend an average of 24% more than the average shopper. <a href="http://www.forrester.com/ER/Press/Release/0,1769,1081,00.html">Forrester Reference</a>. These numbers are impossible to ignore.<br />
<span id="more-107"></span><br />
In order to achieve the best conversion rates from shopping engines, you need to optimize your data feeds. Time, diligence and a touch of creativity can get you further than you think. Here are a couple of ways to get started.</p>
<p>Step 1. <strong>Maintain data feed “hygiene”.</strong> We recommend randomly choosing a few of your live listings and checking whether product names, descriptions, prices, and shopping costs are correct. Also make sure you remove poor selling and out of stock products on a regular basis. Daily checkups help to detect problems at early stages and ensure a smooth-running campaign.</p>
<p>Step 2. <strong>Know your competition</strong>. It is advisable to compare both titles and prices to other merchants within the shopping engine. Perfect price doesn’t mean the lowest price. If you are bidding too low, there is a chance your listing won’t be found on the engine. Also you need to be aware when your competitors lower prices or run special promotion so that you can promptly respond with a creative solution. The right price in combination with the right promotion will get you good margins and more sales per unit.</p>
<p>Step 3. <strong>Optimize the product descriptions</strong>. Instead of using generic product descriptions provided by the manufacturer, use a creative approach to distinguish your product from its competition. Experiment with changing product titles and descriptions to see if your ranking moves. This will enable you to find the optimum variations for your listings and outsmart your competitors. However, make sure you always include MPN and UPC codes to make the products easily trackable for customers.</p>
<p>Step 4. <strong>Analyze your conversions</strong>. Google Analytics is a free tool which offers the ability to track goal conversions and traffic patterns. Implementing this tool on your website will enable you to track conversions at the product level, allowing you to analyze which data feeds are working best for you.</p>
<p>Creating data feeds needs some initial time commitment to extract the data out of your system in the required format, but once you get started, you can release the full potential of a new, less competitive market.</p>
<p>When optimized, data feeds can significantly increase your online visibility and improve ROI at a cost lower than Adwords. Take advantage of this new opportunity before your competition jumps ahead.</p>
<img src="http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/?ak_action=api_record_view&id=107&type=feed" alt="" />]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/seo-tips/data-feed-optimization/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Bounce rates, impressions, and Click through rates (CTR)</title>
		<link>http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/seo-tips/seobounce/</link>
		<comments>http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/seo-tips/seobounce/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 01 Feb 2009 17:28:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[SEO Tips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bounce Rates]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[CTR]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Google Analytics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Impressions]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/?p=97</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[For a while now, Google has been taking bounce rates into consideration for rankings, but there really hasn&#8217;t been a lot of discussion on what that means to the average site.  Bounces have a large impact on sites which have low traffic, which for many newer sites is all of them.  One of the things [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>For a while now, Google has been taking bounce rates into consideration for rankings, but there really hasn&#8217;t been a lot of discussion on what that means to the average site.  Bounces have a large impact on sites which have low traffic, which for many newer sites is all of them.  One of the things we have noticed is that a site can be a fantastic site, but if it ranks for non-relevant keywords, then those hits will be bouncing at a much higher rate.  So, if you have a low-traffic site, and are ranking for terms which you can see in your Analytics is creating a 100% bounce rate, it&#8217;s probably a good idea to actually remove it from your meta-tags or content so that your overall bounce rate is higher.</p>
<p>Another thing to watch for are IP&#8217;s that are continuously creating bounces.  Very often, the site owner can be the source of many of the bounces simply because they are checking their ranking or are showing a client their home page, or simply because they have it set for their home page.  In order to stop this, you need to go to the <a title="Google Analytics" href="http://www.yellowseo.com/business_seo_services/" target="_self">Google Analytics</a> and add the ip of the office to the filter manager.  This way, your internal traffic won&#8217;t skew the numbers.</p>
<p>This also applies for Google Maps.  If you see your website on a serp, you always want to click on it and go through a few pages if you are on an ip which is not in the filter manager.  Good luck!</p>
<img src="http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/?ak_action=api_record_view&id=97&type=feed" alt="" />]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/seo-tips/seobounce/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>When is a good time to do SEO?</title>
		<link>http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/seo-tips/when-is-a-good-time-to-do-seo/</link>
		<comments>http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/seo-tips/when-is-a-good-time-to-do-seo/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 25 Oct 2008 17:28:14 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[SEO Tips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SEO]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[seo timing]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/?p=87</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[For many website owners, there is a logical process which most companies follow.
1) Build a website
2) Do a pay per click campaign
3) If it goes well pay more into pay per click, experiment with SEO
4) If it doesn&#8217;t go well, stop investing in the website.
However, after a website is built, the FIRST step should be [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>For many website owners, there is a logical process which most companies follow.</p>
<p>1) Build a website<br />
2) Do a pay per click campaign<br />
3) If it goes well pay more into pay per click, experiment with SEO<br />
4) If it doesn&#8217;t go well, stop investing in the website.</p>
<p>However, after a website is built, the FIRST step should be determining what your conversion rate is.  That means setting up a Google analytics account, getting the goal conversions setup, and MEASURING results from traffic generated from a PPC campaign.  What most companies don&#8217;t realize is that the number one factor which determines success in a campaign is whether or not the website has the ability to convert.  Without that, the money spent on generating traffic is very often wasted.  If your site can convert 3-5% of targeted traffic, then there is a good chance you&#8217;ll make money from an <a title="SEO" href="http://www.yellowseo.com">SEO</a> or <a title="Pay Per Click campaign" href="http://www.yellowseo.com/business_seo_services/" target="_self">Pay per click campaign</a>.  If not, then it is wiser to invest the money into improving the fundamentals of the website so that visitors find what they are looking for.</p>
<img src="http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/?ak_action=api_record_view&id=87&type=feed" alt="" />]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/seo-tips/when-is-a-good-time-to-do-seo/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>17</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>SEO-friendly Wordpress Permalinks</title>
		<link>http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/technical-seo/seo-friendly-wordpress-permalinks/</link>
		<comments>http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/technical-seo/seo-friendly-wordpress-permalinks/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 22 Oct 2008 23:03:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Technical SEO]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[permalinks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[seo friendly urls]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wordpress]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/?p=84</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Google has a tendency to give less weight to dynamic urls than static ones.  That means if google sees a .php extension or ?article=123, it will not rank as high as a url which has keywords in it and is a static permanent link.  Wordpress, by default uses dynamic links and therefore is [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Google has a tendency to give less weight to dynamic urls than static ones.  That means if google sees a .php extension or ?article=123, it will not rank as high as a url which has keywords in it and is a static permanent link.  Wordpress, by default uses dynamic links and therefore is not <a title="SEO" href="http://www.yellowseo.com">SEO </a>friendly.  Fortunately, it&#8217;s easy to change the links.  In the newer versions of Wordpress, all you need to do is go to the settings button in the wordpress admin and click on permalinks.</p>
<p>Before doing this, you should think about whether or not you have old links which you want to redirect.  If there are old links cached by Google, you will need to use a redirect plugin in order to prevent duplicate content issues.  Scott Yang has developed a Wordpress plug which is available on his site to do the redirects based on regular expressions.</p>
<p>If you don&#8217;t have these kind of links, then all you need to do is log in to the wordpress admin and click on settings.  Go to &#8220;Custom Structure&#8221; and enter /%category%/%postname%/  and click save.  This will change all of your links to your posts to a seo friendly format.  Make sure that your categories for posts are keyword relevant.</p>
<img src="http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/?ak_action=api_record_view&id=84&type=feed" alt="" />]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/technical-seo/seo-friendly-wordpress-permalinks/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Rank checking tools blocked by Google</title>
		<link>http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/seo-news/rank-checking-tools-blocked-by-google/</link>
		<comments>http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/seo-news/rank-checking-tools-blocked-by-google/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 20 Oct 2008 04:54:43 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[SEO News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Automated Tools]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[check rank]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Google]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[position checker]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[queries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rank checkers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rank checking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ranking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ranking software]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ranking tools]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SEO software]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SEO Tool]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[website positioning]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/?p=26</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Most people don&#8217;t know the sordid history of automated query tools with Google.
WebPosition Gold and Google- The SAGA: 
Penalize you for using web position gold: (April 2003) http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum3/12118.htm
Google and position checking software: (Jan 2003) http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum3/8573.htm 
Whats the status of Google vs WPG Users? (July 2002) http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum5/1231.htm
What exactly gets banned using WebPositionGold; (June 2004) http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum5/4799.htm
Web Position [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="mceTemp"><img class="attachment wp-att-216 alignleft" src="http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/rank-checking-blocked-by-google.jpg" alt="rank-checking-blocked-by-google" width="276" height="254" />Most people don&#8217;t know the sordid history of automated query tools with Google.</div>
<h2><span style="font-size: x-small; font-family: verdana; color: #000000;">WebPosition Gold and Google- The SAGA: </span></h2>
<p><span style="font-size: x-small; font-family: verdana; color: #000000;">Penalize you for using web position gold: (April 2003)</span><span style="font-size: x-small; font-family: verdana; color: #000000;"><a href="http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum3/12118.htm " target="_blank"> http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum3/12118.htm<br />
</a>Google and position checking software: (Jan 2003)<a href="http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum3/8573.htm " target="_blank"> http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum3/8573.htm </a></span><span style="font-size: x-small; font-family: verdana; color: #000000;"><br />
Whats the status of Google vs WPG Users? (July 2002)<a href="http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum5/1231.htm " target="_blank"> http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum5/1231.htm</a></span><span style="font-size: x-small; font-family: verdana; color: #000000;"><br />
What exactly gets banned using WebPositionGold; (June 2004)<a href="http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum5/4799.htm " target="_blank"> http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum5/4799.htm</a><br />
Web Position Gold &amp; Google IP bans (May 2009)<a href="http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum39/3337.htm " target="_blank"> http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum39/3337.htm </a></span></p>
<p>By the way, it isn&#8217;t just web position gold.  It seems that <strong>every rank checking tool</strong> out there has been affected by this.  There&#8217;s a number of people who think it&#8217;s silly for Google to be blocking access to rank checkers.  But I&#8217;m pretty sure I know why they are doing it now.  <a title="Rank Checkers" href="http://www.yellowseo.com/online_tools/" target="_self">Rank Checkers</a> have a huge impact on &#8220;impressions&#8221; and skew the search data significantly.  As Google uses this data more and more, they have a strong motivation to make sure their impression data is more accurate for search results.<br />
<span id="more-26"></span><br />
Now I didn&#8217;t realize the extent to how serious Google was about this until I started coding up a tool to do better rank checking and was very confused because code I wrote a few months ago started to break.  I thought Google changed the web page and they changed the web page.  But it wasn&#8217;t for everyone.  They changed it ONLY for wget.  Specifically, they removed the rank data from the link just for my wget requests.  EVIL.  I mimiced a real request and sure enough, the rank data came back in.  Pretty crazy stuff.<br />
<img src="http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/googleerror.jpg" alt="googleerror" width="500" height="225" /></p>
<img src="http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/?ak_action=api_record_view&id=26&type=feed" alt="" />]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/seo-news/rank-checking-tools-blocked-by-google/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>A reputation management crisis</title>
		<link>http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/seo-news/a-reputation-management-crisis/</link>
		<comments>http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/seo-news/a-reputation-management-crisis/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 20 Oct 2008 03:50:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[SEO News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[branding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[company]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[corporate]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[damage control]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Online Reputation Management]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[PR]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[public relations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ranking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reputation Management]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[search engine Reputation Management]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SEO]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SEO Tips]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://yellowseo.com/blog/?p=16</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Reputation management is not the most well-defined term in the industry.  What exactly does it mean?  How does one do reputation management?  The fact is that a lot of SEO&#8217;s don&#8217;t even know what to do until an incident happens.
It&#8217;s not until you&#8217;re in a situation where someone is attacking your honor where you realize [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a title="Reputation Management" href="http://www.yellowseo.com/reputation_management/" target="_self">Reputation management</a> is not the most well-defined term in the industry.  What exactly does it mean?  How does one do reputation management?  The fact is that a lot of SEO&#8217;s don&#8217;t even know what to do until an incident happens.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s not until you&#8217;re in a situation where someone is attacking your honor where you realize that Google has a lot of power over what others think of you and your company.  Here is an example one company, absolutepoker.com which literally got devastated by other a few people who were very mad at them.  They decided to advertise under their name to get <a title="top placement" href="http://www.yellowseo.com">top placement</a> for their absolutepokercheats.com site and the following is what happened.</p>
<p><img src="http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/absolutepoker.jpg" alt="absolutepoker" width="551" height="420" /></p>
<p><span id="more-16"></span><br />
This was quickly becoming a public relations nightmare.  So what can you do when something like this happens?  Well, in the world of <a title="SEO" href="http://www.yellowseo.com/" target="_self">SEO</a>, there are a few things you can do to mitigate the damage immediately.  It comes down to pulling down the value of the page or bringing up the value of your pages so that the listing gets pushed off of the first page.</p>
<p>But this is only part of the solution.  <strong>In an ideal situation, you will have proactively spent resources in making sure that anything listed under your name or company are high ranking pages that YOU control. </strong>That means that it becomes very difficult for someone to get themselves associated with your company that you don&#8217;t want, but more importantly, you can respond to threats to your reputation because you have a number of strategically placed pages where you can do damage control.  Online reputation management is quickly becoming a new essential tool for public relations and media management.</p>
<img src="http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/?ak_action=api_record_view&id=16&type=feed" alt="" />]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/seo-news/a-reputation-management-crisis/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Google&#8217;s content network</title>
		<link>http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/general-musings/googles-content-network/</link>
		<comments>http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/general-musings/googles-content-network/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 19 Oct 2008 17:42:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[General Musings]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[GCN Google Content Network]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pay per click]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://yellowseo.com/blog/?p=11</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Many people that manage Pay per click campaigns are aware that Google&#8217;s content network has a significantly lower quality of conversions than their ads.  However, most people don&#8217;t know that the reason for it is because that is where the majority of click-fraud occurs.  If you do manage a Pay-per-click campaign, you&#8217;re better off targetting [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Many people that manage Pay per click campaigns are aware that Google&#8217;s content network has a significantly lower quality of conversions than their ads.  However, most people don&#8217;t know that the reason for it is because that is where the majority of click-fraud occurs.  If you do manage a <a title="Pay-per-click campaign" href="http://www.yellowseo.com/business_seo_services/" target="_blank">Pay-per-click campaign</a>, you&#8217;re better off targetting specific sites or avoiding the content network altogether.  You want to have control over which sites your ad displays on because very often the quality of the sites can be quite low.</p>
<img src="http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/?ak_action=api_record_view&id=11&type=feed" alt="" />]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.yellowseo.com/blog/general-musings/googles-content-network/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>11</slash:comments>
		</item>
	</channel>
</rss>
<br />
<b>Warning</b>:  get_browser() [<a href='function.get-browser'>function.get-browser</a>]: HTTP_USER_AGENT variable is not set, cannot determine user agent name in <b>/homepages/16/d115445411/htdocs/yellowseo/blog/wp-content/plugins/wassup/wassup.php</b> on line <b>2996</b><br />

<!-- Dynamic page generated in 0.811 seconds. -->
<!-- Cached page generated by WP-Super-Cache on 2010-09-01 07:52:31 -->
