 Dear
Readers,
I'm proud to announce that, due to Jeanie's extra work this weekend, PeerReviewPro
is live. Visit and read through the many peer responses to onceatoy.com, and submit
your site for review.
There were so many awesome responses that we went ahead and posted all the
best reviews, which numbered over 40. We're working on a ranking system for reviewers,
as well as a "before and after" section that will show what specific
changes the reviewed sites made, and the statistical results of these changes.
Visit PeerReviewPro
-- it's yours! Let us know what you think, and offer your suggestions for improvement.
If you're looking for a brush-up on your usability skills, check out this recent
edition of WebSiteNotes.
Today's issue features an all-new site for your review, as well as more linking
strategies from Robin Nobles. How can you tell who to link to? How can you tell
who should link to you? Today's article will set you straight.
Enjoy!
Garrett
You may find today's site challenging to review - it's well designed, looks
professional, and seems like it should move product. This site's good, but it
could be SPECTACULAR. What's it going to take? Tell
me.
Here's the email I received:
Hi Garrett,
We use PPC services with Overture, FindWhat, Lycos, etc. and our traffic never
seems to go above 1,300 people a day.
With 1,300 visitors a day we can expect anywhere from 6 - 10 orders a day.
How can we increase usability, traffic and sales?
Help!
-Allison Dailey
RuthiesMusic.com
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Strategies: Who Should You Target?
By Robin Nobles and Crew
Inktomi's link analysis program policy is that sites that link to its relevant
topic category page on Yahoo! receive improved hub factor rankings because of
Yahoo!'s popularity. A reciprocal link with Yahoo! is even more beneficial. Get
your site listed with Yahoo!; it is easier today than before with the Business
Express option. (Detlev Johnson with The
Ascendant Group)
While you're at it, link back to the search engines. Does it help? I don't
know. But what if it does? What if the search engines check if your site leads
back to them? What if they give 1% boost if you do? Would 1% matter if everyone
else had 99% relevancy and you got an extra 1%? Hmmm, something to ponder. I always
link every important site back to the major search engines and directories as
a little thank you gesture. (Michael Campbell with Internet
Marketing Secrets)
Get a link in an appropriate category from an About.com Guidesite. The popularity
of About and the extent of their quality links positions the network as a mandatory
stop in a marketing campaign. Also, make sure to thoroughly annotate links on
your Web site with targeted keyword phrases. This will aid Google and other engines
in their partial indexing. (Marshall Simmonds of About.com)
Your homepage is not the only part of your site that you can get links for.
If you offer an online newsletter, there are directories just for newsletters
you can get links from. If your site has multimedia files, there are multimedia
search engines you can submit to. If you have other files, like .pdf files or
even image files, there are search engines you can get links from. (Eric Ward,
President, NetPOST and URLwire)
Go to Google and search for "submit a link" AND "put your keyword
phrase here." You'll be shown a list of sites that have link pages on them
in your keyword area, and some of them may be worth writing to. "Submit a
URL," "add a URL," etc., will work too. (Elbert Flores of Position
Research)
Think in terms of related fields as opposed to actual competition. Are there
any organizations or associations connected with your industry? What about educational
establishments? Publications? News sites? (Robin Nobles of the Academy
of Web Specialists and Search
Engine Workshops)
How many links do you need pointing to your site? More than your competition.
:) (Stephen Mahaney of Planet Ocean)
Find as many themed directories to submit to as possible. Make sure the directory
is already in Google, has a good PR, and doesn’t use dynamic script in the
address. Think about your theme. If you are a marketing firm, look for marketing
directories/hubs/portals/vortals, do the same for business to business or b2b.
If you are niched or focused on one aspect of marketing, then also look to that
for your directories. You can probably stretch it to advertising directories.
Be creative but stick with your theme. Once you are listed, it’s good to
have a page on your site that you use to feed the spiders: a “Where we can
be found on the Web” page. Link directly to the page you can be found on.
(Debra Paynter with Promotion Strategies)
Ask your upstream or downstream suppliers to link to you and you to them. If
you are a wholesaler, you don't sell to the public, only to retailers. List your
top 10 retailers as a reward to them. Same with retailers, link to your main wholesalers,
unless they have to remain a secret for some reason. Advertising agencies and
printing shops can link to their customers and vice versa. Same deal with your
friends. You could each provide three links and put up a "my friends"
page or "suggested sites" page. A word of advice though, don't everyone
call it the same thing and don't call it a "links" page. Also don't
request links on a public bulletin board. Yes, the search engines have many employees,
and some of them have the job of maintaining the integrity of their search results.
They read the popular search engine boards.... so be very careful about how you
recruit a gang of cross linkers. (Michael Campbell with Internet
Marketing Secrets)
Paying for a link at Overture.com (formerly GoTo.com) that is not in the top
five in the search results is, in most cases, a waste. Results of six and lower
are not made available to the Overture partner sites, which collectively have
millions more users than Overture does alone. Like AOL, for example. If the cost
increase is just a few cents, get in the top five, and your site could be found
across all of Overture's partner sites rather than only at Overture.com. (Eric
Ward, President,NetPOST and URLwire)
Download Google's Toolbar (google.com)
to ensure that inbound links are from decent sites, with a minimum of 3 out of
10 on the toolbar. (Dixon Jones with Receptional)
Link quality simply means how well positioned are the pages that link to you.
There are also boosts and penalties involved. If you are linked to by a spammy
link farm, you get a penalty. If you are linked to by a directory like Yahoo,
LookSmart, or Dmoz you get a boost. What about the hundreds of free directories?
Yes, they all help. In my Vault, I list about 80 search resources. Dozens of them
are directories. Take a few days and MANUALLY submit your site to every directory
that will take it. I was surprised to find several directories for my own city.
Regional directories can often supply plenty of incoming links. Every relevant
link helps. (Michael Campbell with Internet
Marketing Secrets)
Go after authoritative sites. Look for vertical engines and directories in
your topic areas. Look for popular sites. One or two authoritative sites linking
back to you will do you more good than 1,000 irrelevant links. Visit Search
Engine Guide and Beaucoup for a listing
of vertical engines and directories. (Robin Nobles of the Academy
of Web Specialists and Search
Engine Workshops)
Work on building rapport with other Webmasters. By building up a “working
rapport” with other local Webmasters or affiliates, there are lots of ways
that you can mutually benefit by trading links with several similarly themed sites,
which are non-competing. Once you start working with other Webmasters, it's surprising
what synergies may develop. Remember to give your very best to your fellow Webmasters
as these relationships are win/win. (John Alexander with Beyond-SEO
and Search Engine Workshops)
I am not a fan of reciprocal links unless they are complimentary. Portals and
directories will naturally work better. My logic with outbound links is, “You
have already lost the client for today, Dixon, so get a better product tomorrow.”)
(Dixon Jones with Receptional)
About the Author:
Robin Nobles is the Director of Training of the Academy of Web Specialists, where
she has trained several thousand people in her online courses in search engine
marketing strategies academywebs
pecialists.com.
For information about advertising within an iEntry email newsletter
or via a targeted direct emailing contact Susan Coppersmith at susan@ientry.com.
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