Archive for Phrases
My Google Wish List
Posted by: | CommentsThere are a number of “wishes” that I have for Google’s future. While I would like number one ranking for all of my important keywords and phrases, I would be willing to settle for Google acknowledging at least a few of my wishes that will benefit the search community as a whole.
Google started out as the beloved child, a fledgling start up that was all heart, and today they are a “hated” brand. Why the fall from grace? In some ways Google is a victim of the too big, too powerful, and too successful affliction that attacks companies that achieve a level of success that few companies dream of. Now that does not mean that I am giving them a pass, they have room to improve and I really do not hate them. I just think there is a lot of areas they could improve.
I sat down and wrote an open letter to Google about my wishes and dreams for their future:
Dear Google,
Please consider the following for areas of improvement.
1. Usenet and RSS
Please, I’m begging, (groveling if it will help) create RSS feeds for Google Groups keyword searches. Think of the value – you could monitor Usenet for company or product names using RSS feeds. This would be an extremely easy way for businesses (and Google users) to stay in tune with what is being said on Usenet and in forums about specific topics.
2. Privacy Policy
Clarify Google’s privacy policy, and tell me exactly how you are going to use the aggregate data you collect. While most of us realize that the personal information collected is of little value, the aggregate data is extremely valuable. Google is an extremely powerful company, and this collective data gives them a huge advantage in negotiating acquisitions or determining trends. Many of us respect Google, its size and power, but do not necessarily want to contribute to Google’s additional growth. Implement a way for customers wishing to pay a fee, to opt not to have their data aggregated or tracked.
3. Protect Your Customers
For goodness sake, don’t make it so easy for people to rip off software companies. Why do you suggest cracks or serials on the Google Suggest tool? Please help protect the intellectual property of your customers!
4. Stop Tracking Everything I do!
I login in to Writely (now Google Docs) and feel as if I am being stalked. You monitor searches, you monitor tracking through analytics, you monitor advertising through Google Adwords, you monitor monëy earned as a publisher through Google AdSense, and now you have connected many of the accounts together. Please give users a little privacy, or the ability to easily manage multiple logins.
5. Tell Me How Much I Make!
Clearly tell publishers what percentage range they can expect to receive when they serve AdSense on their content websites. Now, I understand that it might vary from publisher to publisher, but disclose a range. Or, at the very least, consider adopting a model similar to Amazon’s where publishers’ percentage of revenue earned is based on their volume.
6. Google Alert via RSS
The current Google alert system is from the 1990′s (figuratively speaking). Please offer an option to receive Google alerts via RSS feeds. I know you can setup a Google News search using RSS. It seems silly that it is not available via Google Alerts.
7. Faster Blog Indexing
Google is all about search, right? Why are you so slow at indexing blogs? In fact the Google blog search performs far worse than many of the blog specific search engines. Search should be Google’s strength instead of a weakness. Even the breadth of blogs searched, and the related blogs listed on Google’s blog search are on the thin side. Definitely room for improvement in this area.
8. Same Rules
I wish that the rules were the same for all AdSense publishers regardless of the revenue that they produced. In talking with publishers, it is clear that there are a different set of standards, based on the revenue produced or traffíc that a website receives. Keep the playing field even. If someone is using a subversive tactic, they should have be penalized regardless of their revenue.
9. Combat 2nd Generation Fraud
What is second generation fraud? Fraudsters bid high for AdWords. What they are paying for keywords or phrasing is irrelevant, because the credít card they are using is fraudulent. They make legitímate affilíate salës through the website and profít from their “free” traffíc. Google should help connect the dots on these sites, and ban the websites from their organic index.
10. Drop DMOZ
Please either drop the Google Dmoz directory listings, or pay to staff DMOZ with reputable editors who can keep up. The DMOZ listings are hopelessly outdated and not reflective of current websites.
11. Protect Copyrights / Trademarks
Google seems to flip-flop on the issue of allowing competitors to bid on branded words in their AdWords accounts. The current policy appears to be that competitors cannot use a trademark in the advertisement, but competitors can still bid on trademarked terms. A company Google’s size should have more respect for trademarks. I really wish Google would stand firm on the issue of trademarks and prevent competitors from bidding on the terms.
12. Bury the Sandbox
Dispose of the sandbox or aging delay, or heck get rid of both. Face it, valuable websites are created every day. The Internet is fluid and valuable websites should not be penalized because of their youth. The sandbox and aging delay, may deter sp@m sites, but there must be a better way.
13. Let Me Be Anonymous!
Why do you need my personal information? Does it really matter in the big scheme of everything that Google does? Why do you require my personal information?
14. Stop Putting US Companies at a Disadvantage
Canadian and non-US companies can setup literally hundreds of AdSense publisher accounts, yet US companies are tracked using tax ID numbers hence they can only have one account.
15. Weigh Wikipedia Less
Lets face it, anyone can edit Wikipedia. The information read in Wikipedia might be accurate one day and incorrect the next. Wikipedia is a nice resource, but is not a reliable indicator of information. Please do not use links from Wikipedia to indicate a site’s worth. Wikipedia uses the same model as DMOZ which has languished. Volunteers can only do so much.
16. Make an RSS Search Engine
Why hasn’t Google done this? I am baffled. The blog search engine is not an RSS search engine. Consider the power of being able to search ALL RSS feeds. There are a number of small RSS search engine portals available, but there is not a clear leader. This is where Google could and should be.
17. Stop Buying Companies
Stop the purchasing. Google is big enough already. Finish all the things that Google has started. Keep in mind that while the archives on the Internet might last forever, it is rare that companies retain power and clout for any length of time. Remember Infoseek, or Altavista? Focus on your strengths.
While my Google wish list might seem trivial, these are all things that Google could do to earn their way back into my good graces.
About The Author
Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for NotePage a wireless text messaging software company.
10 Easier Ways Than SEO To Get Web Site Traffic
Posted by: | CommentsEveryone wants “organic” or “frëe” traffïc, but it’s a full time job to try to keep on top of the search engines changing rules. Instead, if you build a good content-rich site and do the things on this list, you’ll get traffïc and help your ranking at the same time.
1. Use Pay-Per-Click (PPC) – Get traffïc in an hour with PPC. Google and Overture (now Yahoo). Don’t bother with others until you make these two work. The key to this is to know your visitor value, bid on hundreds of key words and phrases and split test your ads and track each keyword, phrase or ad separately.
2. Distribute Your Content – write articles of value to your target market. Distribute that content for other webmasters to use on their sites as long as they keep the link back to you in a “resource box” at the end of each article. Distribute your articles through article directories, ezines, and distribution services. The key to make this work is valuable content.
3. Submit Press Releases – submit electronic press releases frequently with news of interest to the media and your target market. Since press releases are news, if they get picked up, it will be quickly and you may get hundreds of links back to your site this way. Key to make this work: write 300 – 500 word releases, include a link back to you, and have them written and distributed by experts who know how to optimize each release for key words (not typical PR firms).
4. Set Up a Blog with RSS – to be effective, blogs must have frequently updated content. Base yours on information helpful to your customers, not salës pitches. Don’t do it unless you can commit some ongoing time to it. Seth Godin says the keys to a successful blog are: Candor, Urgency, Timeliness, Pithiness (short & to the point), and Controversy. The key to making this work is to make it interesting to your visitors, submit to blog directories, ping the search engines when you post and distribute your content with RSS.
5. Get One-Way Incoming Links – All the previous tips will create incoming, one-way links but you can also buy links from other sites from text link brokers. Don’t do reciprocal linking, it’s dead. Make sure you get links from pages with a Google Page Rank higher than “0″. A site Google rates as “0″ may be because they are penalizing it for some reason. If you link to it, you’ll get penalized too.
The key to making this work: Make sure links have your keywords in the anchor text and make sure they are text, not graphical links. Make sure they are from other relevant sites, not link farms or FFA (Free-for-All) sites. The ideal is links from relevant pages without many other links.
6. Give Other Sites Your Testimonial – let them publish it on their web site as long as they link back to you. This can get you a one-way link from a site that would otherwise not give it to you. The key to make this work: keep it short and to the point.
7. Email Promotions – Advertise in Ezines, place ads in someone else’s email newsletters that reach your target market. The key to make this work: track everything carefully.
8. Joint Ventures – Get promoted to your JV partner’s customer database by your JV partner. John Reese sold over $1 Million of his information product in 24 hours exclusively by using joint venture promotions from his partners sending his offer to their customer lists. He paid his partners commissions on salës. The key to make this work: know your visitor value and have a tested and proven salës page that converts well BEFORE you contact JV prospects.
9. Get Affiliates – If selling a product, offer a commission to affiliates to sell for you. Each affiliate’s link to your salës letter conversion page will bring you traffïc and a better search engine rank too. The key to making this work is to make it financially attractive to your affiliates and give them everything they need to promote your product or service. Make it brain dead easy for them to do.
10. Buy Other Web Sites – Find web sites that already rank high on your keywords and verify their traffc with the site owner and independent tools. Make sure you get ownership of the domain – you can let them still use their content elsewhere. Visit deleteddomains.com to see what domains you can register for a few dollars that their owners have let expire. The key to making this work: Chëck Google page rank, Alexa rank and the number of back links for any site before you buy a web site.
One marketer I know challenged some SEO experts to see who could get ranked highest on a given term in 24 hours. He won, the techies did a lot of slick things, but the marketer just bought the site that was already # 1.
About The Author
Joe McVoy is a marketing consultant who has had experience starting up & growing businesses. He founded 2 companies selling to Wal-Mart, Target and other retailers, a mail order company and an Internet marketing business. He helps clients with traditional marketing, direct marketing, on-line marketing and has a free newsletter & resources at: http://www.profitablemarketingsystems.com
