Independent Digital

Google XML sitemaps

A sitemap is a file containing information about a web page. When a search engine crawls the website, it looks for a sitemap and if there is one, it reads it. The information in this sitemap makes it easier for the crawler and also lets it gather more accurate information about the website. Sitemaps supplement information that the crawler will get from the website but does not guarantee that web pages will be included in search engines.

The Google XML Sitemap plugin generates a XML-sitemap compliant sitemap of your wordPress blog in a format supported by Ask.com, Google, YAHOO and MSN Search.

Plugin features:

• Available for all WordPress versions since 1.5
• No PHP skills or file changes needed
• User interface to customize all parameters like priorities etc.
• Available in many languages
• Generates a sitemap automatically for all types of WordPress pages
• Calculates a priority for each post, based on the number of comments
• Notifies Ask.com, Google, MSN Live Search and YAHOO about changes via ping
• Includes a WordPress filter for other plugins which can add their pages to the sitemap
• Generates a static XML file as well as a zipped version
• ?and many more!

Plugin homepage http://www.arnebrachhold.de/redir/sitemap-home/

All in One SEO Pack

The All in One SEO Pack optimises you WordPress blog for search engines.

Some of its features:

• Automatically optimizes your titles for search engines
• Automatically generates META tags
• Avoids the typical duplicate content found on WordPress blogs
• For WordPress 2.3 and higher – just install, it works out-of-the-box.
• You can override any title and set any META description and any META keywords you want.
• You can fine-tune everything
• Backward-Compatibility with many other plugins, like Auto Meta, Ultimate Tag Warrior and others.
• Available in many languages

Plugin homepage http://wp.uberdose.com/2007/03/24/all-in-one-seo-pack/

Akismet anti-spam plugin

Approximately 91% of all comments are spam. Akismet strives to remove the hassle of comment and trackback spam and is free for personal use.

Plugin homepage http://akismet.com/

WordPress.com Stats

WordPress.com stats gives you just the stats you need as a blogger, clearly and concisely. It collects information about your pageviews, which posts and pages are the most popular, where your traffic is coming from, and what people click on when they leave. It’ll also add a link to your dashboard, which allows you to see all your stats on a single page. All the processing is done at WordPress.com so your host will love you for that. It?s also the fastest stats system around.

Plugin homepage http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/stats/

Check out these useful posts on WordPress plugins you will find useful.

• WordPress Codex and Forum searcher plugin
• WordPress plugins you have to have

Need help with WordPress?

OTHER TYPES OF SPAMDEXING

Mirror websites

Mirror websites are websites with similar content but using different URL’s. Some search engines give a higher rank to results where the keyword searched for appears in the URL. So the more URL?s containing the keyword, the greater the chances of getting ?hits?.

URL redirection

Taking the user to another page without his or her intervention, e.g. Using META refresh tags, Java, Javascript or server side redirects.

Cloaking

Cloaking refers to any means used to serve up a different page to the search-engine spider than will be seen by human users. When a user is identified as a search engine spider, a server-side script delivers a different version of the web page, one that contains content not present on the visible page. Cloaking is an attempt to mislead search engines regarding the content on a particular web site. It can also be used to trick search engine users into visiting a site based on the search engine description which turns out to have substantially different, or even pornographic content. However, cloaking can also be used to ethically increase accessibility of a site to users with disabilities, or to provide human users with content that search engines aren’t able to process or parse. It is also used to deliver content based on a user’s location; Google itself uses IP delivery, a form of cloaking, to deliver results.
gs and guest books where automatic programs can add spamming links to user edited pages.

• see part 1 for general SEO terminolgy
• see part 2 for Spamdexing: Content Spam
• see part 3 for Spamdexing: Link Spam
• see Part 4 for Spamdexing: World-Writable Pages
• see part 5 for Spamdexing: other types

LINK SPAM

Link spamming is having links purely to boost the websites page ranking. This is because of the search engines link based ranking algorithms such as Google’s PageRank algorithm which gives a higher ranking to a website with more other highly ranked websites linking to it.

Link spamming includes:

• Link farms

Involves creating tightly-knit communities of pages referencing each other, also known humorously as mutual admiration societies

• Hidden links

Putting links where visitors will not see them in order to increase link popularity. Highlighted link text can help rank a webpage higher for matching that phrase.

• Sybil attack

A spammer may create multiple web sites at different domain names that all link to each other, such as fake blogs known as spam blogs.

• Spam blogs

Also known as splogs, a spam blog, is complete fake blog created exclusively with the intent of spamming. They are similar in nature to link farms.

• Page hijacking

This is achieved by creating a rogue copy of a popular website which shows contents similar to the original to a web crawler, but redirects web surfers to unrelated or malicious websites.

• Buying expired domains

Some link spammers monitor DNS records for domains that will expire soon, then buy them when they expire and replace the pages with links to their pages.

• see part 1 for general SEO terminolgy
• see part 2 for Spamdexing: Content Spam
• see part 3 for Spamdexing: Link Spam
• see Part 4 for Spamdexing: World-Writable Pages
• see part 5 for Spamdexing: other types

SPAMDEXING

There are 3 forms of spamdexing.

In this article, I will cover CONTENT SPAM

Content spam includes the following:

Keyword stuffing

Keywords are repeated within the page so as to raise the keyword count, variety and density of the page. It increases the likelihood of the page being found by a web crawler. However, most modern search engines are able to recognise stuffing. Also, large webpages are truncated, so that massive dictionary lists cannot be indexed on a single webpage.

Hidden or invisible unrelated text

Keywords and phrases not related to the page are disguised by making them the same colour as the background, using a tiny font, or hiding them within the HTML code. However, hidden text is not necessary spamdexing as it is also used to enhance accessibility. Search engines can ban website for having hidden text on some webpages.

Meta tag stuffing

This practice involves repeating keywords in the META tags and using meta keywords that are unrelated to the site’s content.

Gateway or doorway pages

These pages are stuffed with keywords and phrases and contain very little real content. These pages serve no purpose other than to rank highly in the search engine results. A doorway page will generally have “click here to enter” on the page.

Scraper sites

These sites are also known as Made for AdSense sites and are created by ?scraping? search-engine results pages to create ‘content’ for a website. The content on these sites is unique and is merely an amalgamation of content taken from other sources, often without permission. These websites are generally full of advertising or redirect the user to other sites.

• see part 1 for general SEO terminolgy
• see part 2 for Spamdexing: Content Spam
• see part 3 for Spamdexing: Link Spam
• see Part 4 for Spamdexing: World-Writable Pages
• see part 5 for Spamdexing: other types

SEO

Search Engine Optimization are the steps taken to improve the volume and quality of traffic to a website from search engines via the search results for targeted keywords. The higher the site appears on the results page, the more traffic that site is likely to get. Those trying to optimize a website need to consider how the search algorithms work as well as which keywords people use to do a search. Once this is known, they then need to design the site in such a way that the coding, presentation and structure all work towards optimizing the site for search engines. They will also make sure that the site contains unique content, that this content is easily indexed by the search engine robots and that the site is user friendly.

Other, less acceptable methods include Black hat optimization or spamdexing. These use techniques such as keyword stuffing and link farming. Black hat optimization may cause that the website is excluded from the search engines index. So beware.

Search Engine Optimizers are the people that do the optimization.

SEARCH ENGINES

Search engines are an information retrieval system which help find information stored on computers. Google is a well known search engine which searches for information on the World Wide Web. There are many more.

ALGORITHMS

Algorithms are a list of instructions for completing a task from its initial state to its end state. In terms of search engine algorithms, they process the search according to a definite set of instructions which make up the algorithm and terminate with the search result.

SPIDERING

A web crawler, also known as a web spider or web robot is a program which browses the World Wide Web. This process is called web crawling or spidering. During this process, a copy of all the visited pages is created and later indexed. It is the index that search engines consult when doing a search. Crawlers can also be used for automating maintenance tasks on a website, such as checking links or validating HTML code. They can also harvest email addresses which are then used for spam. So don’t have your email address anywhere on your website pages where the crawler can read it.

CONTENT

Web content includes the graphics, photos, video, animation, text and sound content that makes up the users experience when they visit a website.

BLACK HAT

A black hat is a person who compromises the security of a computer system without permission, typically with malicious intent. A black hat is also known as a cracker and generally tries to break into information systems.

WHITE HAT

A white hat is a person who is ethically opposed to the abuse of computer systems and is as skilled as a black hat. A white hat is also known as an ethical hacker. A white hat generally focuses on securing information systems.

NOFOLLOW

Nofollow is a non-standard HTML attribute value which instructs search engines that a hyperlink should not influence the link target’s ranking in the search engine’s index. Its aim is to reduce the effectiveness of search engine spam, thereby improving the quality of search engine results and preventing spamdexing.

SPAMDEXING

Spamdexing uses a number of methods to manipulate the likelihood of website content being indexed by search engines. Usually this takes the form of cramming keywords into the META keywords tag, or repeating keywords in the body of the page or even within the URL. Many search engines check for spamdexing and will remove transgressing pages from the index.

• see part 1 for general SEO terminolgy
• see part 2 for Spamdexing: Content Spam
• see part 3 for Spamdexing: Link Spam
• see Part 4 for Spamdexing: World-Writable Pages
• see part 5 for Spamdexing: other types

By Simplifying The WEB

Source: www.isnare.com

Permanent Link: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=153276&ca=Internet

By David Bain

Source: www.isnare.com

Permanent Link: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=146001&ca=Internet

By Titus Hoskins

Copyright (c) 2007 Titus Hoskins

The Google PageRank Toolbar in SEO circles is a hotly debated item, as are most issues dealing with Google. Some say it?s useless, others say it gives you a general overview of your site?s standing in Google. Regardless of who is right, this Toolbar shouldn?t be ignored nor worshipped, just closely watched.

The Google PR Toolbar is a simple tool you can download and place on your browser. When you surf the web, this toolbar will give you Google?s PR or Page Rank for that particular site or page. Google ranks all web pages from a scale of 0 to 10. This Toolbar is more like the Richter scale than an ordinary scale, there?s a big difference in the rankings as you go up and they are not proportional.

You must also realize each of these ranking points are further divided and only Google knows the exact placement of your site or page within your shown PR number. For example, if you have a PR6 site your site could be at low end of the PR6 scale (closer to PR5) or at the top end which would make it more of a PR7 site. Big difference.

* PageRank Confusion

Many suggest Google is not giving us the real value of the page in the first place and this toolbar is often out of date and more of a smokescreen than real information about a site. There could be some truth in this as Google never gives up all its secrets. Does any company? Certainly not the company that holds the keys to the most powerful economic force on the planet: the Internet.

Complicating matters even further are webmasters and marketers who try to manipulate their own PageRank by buying or exchanging links with other high PR sites. Many are now doing Three-Way linking to try to influence their site?s rankings in Google.

A whole SEO industry has been built up around PageRank for the simple reason the stakes are extremely high. If you can deliver first place rankings for your client?s targeted keywords in Google it means free organic traffic or visitors delivered directly to your site.

Many SEO experts believe Google has a whole list of ranking factors which determine how well your page is ranked. Among others, these ranking factors include Google?s PageRank algorithm (voting system) and Hypertext-Matching Analysis (analyzing page content).

* Google?s Position

If you check out Google?s own corporate site for an explanation you will find that Google clearly states its patented PageRank? algorithm is the heart of their web ranking system which was founded by Larry Page & Sergey Brin in 1998. You will also find that Google says it uses numerous factors including PageRank to examine the whole web and find the most relevant and important pages to match a specific search.

PageRank takes into consideration over ?500 million variables and 2 billion terms? when finding the most important pages. Google makes it clear that each page casts a vote for another page and this is reflected in the PageRank. Votes from particular sites or pages might have greater value than others. ?Important pages receive a higher PageRank and appear at the top of the search results.?

* The question still remains, is the Google PR Toolbar a valid marketing tool? Should you use it?

One can only speak from experience, I have always used the Google PR Toolbar and find it helpful in assessing what Google thinks of a site or page. I rarely link out to sites anymore but if I do I always check any potential linking partners to see their PR. Any site with PR5 or over I will link to it if that site is related and has high rankings for my site?s own targeted keyword phrases. I also check out the number of outbound links on that page, lower is better because the amount of PR passed along is divided equally with the other links.

Sometimes I will link to a lower PR3 or PR4 site if I find the content on that site is extremely good and I know it is only a matter of time before Google upgrades that site to a PR5 or higher. You must be very careful not to link out to any type of ?link-farms? as Google will penalize you for it.

In my opinion, many SEO experts worry too much over the exact PageRank or Value Google is giving to a page. Whether or not we can really know the true value of any page? Well, the true value of any web page is staring you in the face in Google?s SERPs for if over time a page consistently holds the #1 spot then that is Google?s true PageRank and Value for that page for a particular keyword or keyword phrase. If your page is consistently in the 1000th spot, then Google doesn?t think your page has much value for that keyword.

Your site?s overall value or PageRank within the Google ranking system may be a little harder to figure out if you dismiss the PR Toolbar as a good indicator of your site?s overall worth within Google. Maybe Google has put into place filters and blinders to discourage the online marketers and SEOs who try to abuse and manipulate PageRank.

* Let Your Own Experiences Rule Your Judgement

Again, one can only speak from experience, I believe the Toolbar is very helpful in showing what Google thinks of your pages. Over the years, I have experienced my main website at a PR1 level and I have experienced it at a PR6 level. Believe me, the PR6 is much better. Can?t imagine what a PR8 site would be like to run or the kind of lifestyle it would provide.

For higher PR means better rankings for your site and your keyword phrases. It simply means more traffic and more sales. If you?re optimizing for Google, you should do everything you can to get the highest PR you can possibly get. More importantly, you should be doing everything you can to increase the PR of the pages where you have your long-tail keyword phrases as organic traffic from these pages will usually turn out to be your site?s main revenue source.

I have found one of the quickest ways to raise your Google PR is to get one-way links from high PR6, PR7 and PR8 sites (Think Article Marketing). Google considers these links as votes for your site and ranks your site or page accordingly. Consistently get enough of these incoming one-way links over the long haul and your PR will go up if you have high quality unique content pages that are well optimized with good navigation and formatting.

* Where To Get The PR Toolbar

If you?re not using the Google Toolbar – use it! You can download it here:

http://toolbar.google.com

Another great way to see PR in action is to use the Visual PageRank tool here:

http://www.iwebtool.com/visual_pagerank

It will show you the PageRank of all internal and external links on a webpage at once. Extremely helpful when you?re checking out any site or page for at a glance you can see the current Google PageRank of all these links.

Google?s PageRank system, including the PR Toolbar, is something every webmaster and online marketer should be aware of in their struggle for higher rankings. Don?t become obsessed with it, instead use this system to your advantage to build better pages and sites. For despite all the misconceptions and intricacies of such a complex system, no webmaster can deny if you conquer the Google PagePank system, it will deliver the goods.

The author is a full-time online marketer who has numerous websites, including two sites on Internet marketing. For the most effective web marketing tools try: www.marketingtoolguide.com For the latest Google Marketing Strategies go here: www.bizwaremagic.com/Google_Cash_File.htm 2007 Titus Hoskins. This article may be freely distributed if this resource box stays attached.

Article from Copy & Paste Articles ? find quality content for your blog or website

By Gillian Meier

Don?t be fooled into thinking that the new consumer has no relevance to your business? reputation. Today?s Internet user is an experienced on. Your reputation on the Internet should be one that users want to blog about. It?s no longer just up to Search Engines to get you those top rankings? if you want to succeed on the Internet, you need to consider the importance of both Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) as well as Social Media Optimisation (SMO).

We have barely digested the term SEO and already we?re hearing new jargon such as SMO (Social Media Optimisation) creeping in. Don?t be fooled into thinking that this is simply a preview of things to come on the web. It?s already here and pioneering companies have already grasped the concept and are ensuring that their internet marketing strategy extends beyond traditional e-Marketing and into the area of Search Engine Optimisation, Search Engine Advertising and Social Media Optimisation.

Pioneering companies will win: Sadly, few South African companies realise the significance of optimising their websites for top search engine rankings and social popularity. There are many extraordinary looking websites being launched onto the Internet daily, yet their splashy entry pages and dazzling creative?s seldom does the company any good. These websites occupy space on the web; however they are by no means optimised to attract the correct target audiences. Few web designers are taught the skill of optimising the websites that they design for search engine rankings. From the start of the web development project, companies should commission experienced search engine marketers or analysts to be involved in preparing the website brief for the developer by defining the essential elements that should be incorporated, if the website is to be positioned anywhere of significance on search engine results pages.

There are more than a hundred varying criteria that search engines include as part of their ranking algorithm. Website owners, web designers and marketers should take cognisance of the fact that it is simply not good enough to publish a fancy looking website onto the Internet and expect it to start attracting and converting customers in the hope of producing income from its online presence. It takes skill and careful planning to create a website that will be recognised by search engines as relevant enough to rank in the top ten results, and then to take this one step further by ensuring that the user experience is one that will convert a researcher into a customer. And remember the modern customer is one that is in control.

Today?s consumer is in control: The new consumer is actively participating in social networks, they are bookmarking websites on social search engines and they are blogging about you. Ensure that your website is optimised to generate publicity through social media, online communities and social networks. There are websites that consist of user generated ranking systems. Make sure that your website can be bookmarked, linked to and tagged easily enough by the user. Create a company blog or user community within your own website. If you create something that allows your user to engage with you, and it is compelling enough for them to spread the word and to bookmark you then you are half way there.

You can?t fake it until you make it: Getting ranked highly on search engine results is not a quick fix. It is a process that requires a great deal of planning, editing and monitoring in order to first climb into the top ranking positions and then to try to remain there. With the algorithms changing at will, there is no one technique ?cast in stone? that will guarantee top rankings. If you want to reap the rewards, you need to invest time and effort into properly researching your competitor?s position, and then carefully plan a strategy that will hopefully outrank them, while at the same time attracting the long tail. Beware of companies promising to have websites ranked in the top ten results pages within weeks. Although some websites do rank much faster than others, those companies practicing spamming techniques may get websites ranking in a matter of weeks but, in return they can expect to be dropped from the rankings ? or even worse, be blacklisted by the search engines within as little as six weeks.

Companies should be careful to approach search engine optimisation from an ethical ? spam free ? perspective if they want to thrive in this very competitive environment. Until such time that a website ranks highly, there certainly is a place for paid advertising (pay-per-click).

Blue Magnet has launched a one day Search Engine Marketing training course that teaches the skill of SEO and SMO. Blue Magnet Web Intellect is an Internet Marketing Training and Consulting company, specialising in Search Engine Optimisation, Online Copywriting, PPC Campaign management, Web Design and Project management and Internet Marketing Strategies. Visit http://www.bluemagnet.co.za

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