donloper's Gooruze Blog http://www.gooruze.com/members/donloper/blog/ donloper's Gooruze Blog Copyright 2008 Gooruze en-uk Why Google Shouldn't Discriminate Against Paid Links donloper Because it can't accurately identify them. Frankly, I don't have much against Google having something against paid links. It's their search engine, they can do whatever they want with it. Of course I'd prefer they live and let live when it comes to paid links, for my own self-interest as someone who occasionally uses paid links as a way to ... Because it can't accurately identify them. Frankly, I don't have much against Google having something against paid links. It's their search engine, they can do whatever they want with it. Of course I'd prefer they live and let live when it comes to paid links, for my own self-interest as someone who occasionally uses paid links as a way to build incoming links for my SEO clients.

But the problem is there's no way for Google--I should say "no effective way"--to differentiate between a paid link and one that isn't paid for.

]]> http://www.gooruze.com/members/donloper/blog/119557/ http://www.gooruze.com/members/donloper/blog/119557/ Mon, 21 Apr 2008 14:58:04 -0700 The SEO Con Artists donloper A real description of an SEO firm on an SEO directory: Full service 1-on-1 SEO marketing since 1996. Check out comprised month-to-month packages at SEOgame.com (Eg. $375 package will start out at 2,220 manual directories and 550 manual article directory submissions) Manual submission services will provide permanent 1-way links and include 3 project managers and 17 site submitters to get the ... A real description of an SEO firm on an SEO directory:

Full service 1-on-1 SEO marketing since 1996. Check out comprised month-to-month packages at SEOgame.com (Eg. $375 package will start out at 2,220 manual directories and 550 manual article directory submissions) Manual submission services will provide permanent 1-way links and include 3 project managers and 17 site submitters to get the job done right with lots of worrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrk! Get to the top of the in less than a month for your top keywords today.

If you're shopping for SEO services and you hear this type of pitch, you might figure "Hey, it's only $375 and maybe I'll get something out of it even though it sounds too good to be true." But what you should be thinking is "For $375 I could take my wife out for a really, really nice night on the town, and the ROI would be higher to boot."

]]> http://www.gooruze.com/members/donloper/blog/119558/ http://www.gooruze.com/members/donloper/blog/119558/ Thu, 17 Apr 2008 09:31:59 -0700 Fixing Other SEO Firms' Mistakes Using Dreamweaver Wildcard Search and Replace donloper All too often we take over search engine optimization efforts for a new client, only to find that the last SEO firm or SEO professional they were using did so many things wrong it's going to be a major effort just to clean up their mess, let alone start making progress (although I suppose cleaning up is a form of ... All too often we take over search engine optimization efforts for a new client, only to find that the last SEO firm or SEO professional they were using did so many things wrong it's going to be a major effort just to clean up their mess, let alone start making progress (although I suppose cleaning up is a form of progress, but you know what I mean).

Case in point, we just took over doing SEO for a billion-dollar enterprise with a substantial website, and what do you know, the last SEO people working on it stuffed the site full of stuffed image alt tags, stuffed keyword meta tags, stuffed url title tags, etc. And they were very thorough with their work in that they didn't repeat the content of the various tags, they mixed it up in every case so they aren't the same and therefore you can't do a simple search and replace to find them all. The slow way to get things done would be to edit every page by hand, deleting the offending code, but thankfully Dreamweaver lets you do a wildcard search and replace that is a lifesaver.

]]> http://www.gooruze.com/members/donloper/blog/116262/ http://www.gooruze.com/members/donloper/blog/116262/ Wed, 20 Feb 2008 17:31:55 -0800 Search Engine Optimization and Web Design Directories donloper MWI has a growing number of free directories for web design and search engine optimization firms located in Boston, Utah, and California. Utah Web Development Firms - http://www.webdevelopmentutah.com/ Utah Internet Marketing - http://www.utahinternetmarketing.com/ Utah Web Design Firms - http://www.utahwebdesignfirms.com/ Utah Advertising Agencies - http://www.utahadvertisingagency.com/ California Web Design Firms - http://www.californiawebdesignfirms.com/ Boston SEO Firms - http://www.bostonseofirm.com Boston Web Design Firms - http://www.bostonwebdesignfirms.com Utah SEO Firms - http://www.utahseofirms.com MWI has a growing number of free directories for web design and search engine optimization firms located in Boston, Utah, and California.

Utah Web Development Firms
Utah Internet Marketing
Utah Web Design Firms
Utah Advertising Agencies
California Web Design Firms
Boston SEO Firms
Boston Web Design Firms
Utah SEO Firms

]]> http://www.gooruze.com/members/donloper/blog/113930/ http://www.gooruze.com/members/donloper/blog/113930/ Wed, 16 Jan 2008 22:50:23 -0800 301 Redirect for JSP / Java donloper To do a 301 redirect on JSP pages simple modify this code for your own purposes and place it on the page you want to redirect: <% response.setStatus(301); response.setHeader( "Location", "http://www.new-url.com/" ); response.setHeader( "Connection", "close" ); %> To do a 301 redirect on JSP pages simple modify this code for your own purposes and place it on the page you want to redirect:

<%
response.setStatus(301);
response.setHeader( "Location", "http://www.new-url.com/" );
response.setHeader( "Connection", "close" );
%>

]]> http://www.gooruze.com/members/donloper/blog/113351/ http://www.gooruze.com/members/donloper/blog/113351/ Tue, 08 Jan 2008 07:56:39 -0800 Utah SEO Specialist Salary Survey donloper I would assume that most search engine optimization professionals in Utah are earning somewhere between $60-80K. But that's all it is, an assumption based on limited factual information. So, let's all find out what we make, shall we? That way if you're not making very much relative to other SEO types you can know to ask for a raise, and ... I would assume that most search engine optimization professionals in Utah are earning somewhere between $60-80K. But that's all it is, an assumption based on limited factual information. So, let's all find out what we make, shall we? That way if you're not making very much relative to other SEO types you can know to ask for a raise, and if you are making a lot, you can find comfort in the fact you're making more than most, and hopefully the others will soon get raises which will eventually raise the salary ceiling for everyone.

]]> http://www.gooruze.com/members/donloper/blog/112994/ http://www.gooruze.com/members/donloper/blog/112994/ Thu, 03 Jan 2008 08:15:13 -0800 301 Redirects Using .htaccess File donloper First of all, this only works on web servers running on Linux, like Apache. It's no good on a Windows server, which stinks, because I think this is the best way to do redirects because you can manage all the redirects on your entire site from one file, and you don't actually have to create files and directories or leave ... First of all, this only works on web servers running on Linux, like Apache. It's no good on a Windows server, which stinks, because I think this is the best way to do redirects because you can manage all the redirects on your entire site from one file, and you don't actually have to create files and directories or leave old ones in place in order for those urls to be redirected.

Here's the basic code you'll put in your .htaccess file, which either should already exist in the root directory of your website ("root directory" meaning the home directory of your website, where your homepage file is located) or which you'll need to create:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteRule ^directory/youroldpage.html$ http://www.yoursite.com/directory/yournewpage.html$1 [R=301]

]]> http://www.gooruze.com/members/donloper/blog/112760/ http://www.gooruze.com/members/donloper/blog/112760/ Sat, 29 Dec 2007 21:41:19 -0800 301 Redirects for PHP donloper &lt;? Header( &quot;HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently&quot; ); Header( &quot;Location: http://www.yoursite.com/new-page/&quot; ); ?&gt; Pretty straightforward. I just did it for a bed and breakfast - http://www.johnsonmill.com client of ours. <?
Header( "HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently" );
Header( "Location: http://www.yoursite.com/new-page/" );
?>

Pretty straightforward. I just did it for a bed and breakfast client of ours.

]]> http://www.gooruze.com/members/donloper/blog/111977/ http://www.gooruze.com/members/donloper/blog/111977/ Mon, 17 Dec 2007 11:34:53 -0800 What Should My AdWords Conversion Rate Be? donloper A lot of clients ask me whether I can point them to industry statistics showing what their conversion rate should be when using Google AdWords. Although it's perfectly understandable that a company would want to know how their conversion rate compares to their competitor's, this data is virtually impossible to get, and even if you could, it would be almost ... A lot of clients ask me whether I can point them to industry statistics showing what their conversion rate should be when using Google AdWords. Although it's perfectly understandable that a company would want to know how their conversion rate compares to their competitor's, this data is virtually impossible to get, and even if you could, it would be almost completely meaningless.

Unless...

]]> http://www.gooruze.com/members/donloper/blog/111978/ http://www.gooruze.com/members/donloper/blog/111978/ Fri, 14 Dec 2007 17:03:42 -0800 301 Redirects for ASP.NET donloper I've had a lot of trouble finding code to do a 301 redirect in .NET, but I finally found some that works, courtesy of Keyvan - http://nayyeri.net/blog/SEO-friendly-redirection-in-ASP-NET/. &lt;script runat=&quot;server&quot;&gt; Private Sub Page_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load Response.Status = &quot;301 Moved Permanently&quot; Response.AddHeader(&quot;Location&quot;, &quot;http://www.mwi.com/&quot;) End Sub &lt;/script&gt; I've had a lot of trouble finding code to do a 301 redirect in .NET, but I finally found some that works, courtesy of Keyvan.

<script runat="server">
Private Sub Page_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
Response.Status = "301 Moved Permanently"
Response.AddHeader("Location", "http://www.mwi.com/")
End Sub
</script>

]]> http://www.gooruze.com/members/donloper/blog/111979/ http://www.gooruze.com/members/donloper/blog/111979/ Thu, 13 Dec 2007 23:43:29 -0800 The Value of Top Rankings donloper For those of you who may be new to SEO and don't know if you really believe that search engines can impact your business's bottom line, here's some interesting data from my own SEO company, based in Utah - http://www.mwi.com/search-engine-optimization/. You see, over the past years I've gotten quite a bit of business from search engines, especially when people were ... For those of you who may be new to SEO and don't know if you really believe that search engines can impact your business's bottom line, here's some interesting data from my own SEO company, based in Utah. You see, over the past years I've gotten quite a bit of business from search engines, especially when people were searching for terms like "utah seo," "utah search engine optimization," or "utah web design."

Recently, I reworked the structure of the mwi.com website, and so Google has had to figure out where all the new content is. As a further experiment I did not use 301 redirects, just to see how long it would take Google on its own to figure things out.

]]> http://www.gooruze.com/members/donloper/blog/111980/ http://www.gooruze.com/members/donloper/blog/111980/ Tue, 11 Dec 2007 08:07:50 -0800 Why I'm a Premium Member at SEOmoz donloper While there are many authoritative sources out there for content related to search engine optimization, SEOmoz - http://www.SEOmoz.org is something of an authority of authorities. A few months ago they started offering what they call "Premium Content - http://www.seomoz.org/users/premium" for $50 per month. Even though I had found SEOmoz to be a valuable resource in the past, I resisted signing While there are many authoritative sources out there for content related to search engine optimization, SEOmoz is something of an authority of authorities. A few months ago they started offering what they call "Premium Content" for $50 per month. Even though I had found SEOmoz to be a valuable resource in the past, I resisted signing up.

]]> http://www.gooruze.com/members/donloper/blog/111981/ http://www.gooruze.com/members/donloper/blog/111981/ Mon, 10 Dec 2007 15:55:36 -0800 Windows Live Webmaster Tools Beta donloper Microsoft has a beta version of their Webmaster Tools up at http://webmaster.live.com - http://webmaster.live.com. It gives you various bits of information and tools, the most awaited of which is the ability to upload and manage XML sitemap files as we've already been able to do for some time with Yahoo! Site Explorer - http://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com/ and Google Webmaster Central - http://www.google.com/webmasters/. Microsoft has a beta version of their Webmaster Tools up at http://webmaster.live.com. It gives you various bits of information and tools, the most awaited of which is the ability to upload and manage XML sitemap files as we've already been able to do for some time with Yahoo! Site Explorer and Google Webmaster Central.

]]> http://www.gooruze.com/members/donloper/blog/111982/ http://www.gooruze.com/members/donloper/blog/111982/ Tue, 04 Dec 2007 12:33:04 -0800 Getting Started Building Links for SEO donloper It's one thing to understand why building links is important - http://www.theorganicseo.com/linkbaiting_and_linkbuilding/why_is_building_links_important_for_seo.html, and quite another to figure out how to do it effectively. I've found there are three primary ways to build links: 1. Create your own links 2. Recruit links 3. Buy links It's one thing to understand why building links is important, and quite another to figure out how to do it effectively. I've found there are three primary ways to build links:

1. Create your own links
2. Recruit links
3. Buy links

]]> http://www.gooruze.com/members/donloper/blog/110945/ http://www.gooruze.com/members/donloper/blog/110945/ Fri, 30 Nov 2007 14:29:59 -0800 Why is Building Links Important for SEO? donloper Incoming links, also call backlinks, inbound links, or “links from other sites”, are one of the primary means by which Google (and many other search engines) ranks websites. There are four ways in which incoming links can affect your website. If you're not interested in why linkbuilding is important but rather how to build links then take a gander here ... Incoming links, also call backlinks, inbound links, or “links from other sites”, are one of the primary means by which Google (and many other search engines) ranks websites. There are four ways in which incoming links can affect your website. If you're not interested in why linkbuilding is important but rather how to build links then take a gander here.

1. Link Quantity. First of all, Google assumes the more incoming links a website has, the more important it is and therefore it should get ranked higher.

]]> http://www.gooruze.com/members/donloper/blog/110946/ http://www.gooruze.com/members/donloper/blog/110946/ Fri, 30 Nov 2007 14:03:25 -0800 Is Utah SEO the New Utah Web Design? donloper I started my SEO firm in Utah - http://www.mwi.com/search-engine-optimization/ in 1999. Except back then we weren't an SEO firm, we were a web design firm - http://www.mwi.com/web-design/, and we were at the tail end of the time when it was easy to start a web design firm, as we soon found out after the stock market crashed in March of ... I started my SEO firm in Utah in 1999. Except back then we weren't an SEO firm, we were a web design firm, and we were at the tail end of the time when it was easy to start a web design firm, as we soon found out after the stock market crashed in March of 2000. With SEO we were slightly ahead of the curve in that we got into it several years ago, and only now in 2007 has the market started to become saturated.

]]> http://www.gooruze.com/members/donloper/blog/110947/ http://www.gooruze.com/members/donloper/blog/110947/ Thu, 29 Nov 2007 12:54:21 -0800 Search Engine Friendly Blog Titles donloper Do you blog for business? Heck, that doesn't even matter. Do you want people to visit your blog, whether it's for business or it's personal? Then here's a simple tip that might seem obvious, but which the majority of bloggers ignore. Use keywords to title your blog posts. Here's how... Do you blog for business? Heck, that doesn't even matter. Do you want people to visit your blog, whether it's for business or it's personal? Then here's a simple tip that might seem obvious, but which the majority of bloggers ignore. Use keywords to title your blog posts. Here's how...

]]> http://www.gooruze.com/members/donloper/blog/110688/ http://www.gooruze.com/members/donloper/blog/110688/ Wed, 28 Nov 2007 20:20:14 -0800 Who Are You Marketing to Anyway? donloper It's funny how you can have a thought and then see it enacted in the larger world. The last few months I've been thinking about how the majority of SEO sites seem to market themselves towards other SEO professionals, rather than people buying SEO services, and I don't know about you, but if I have to put my limited time ... It's funny how you can have a thought and then see it enacted in the larger world. The last few months I've been thinking about how the majority of SEO sites seem to market themselves towards other SEO professionals, rather than people buying SEO services, and I don't know about you, but if I have to put my limited time somewhere, I'm going to invest it in picking up new customers rather than new friends, although if I can do both, so much the better.

]]> http://www.gooruze.com/members/donloper/blog/108846/ http://www.gooruze.com/members/donloper/blog/108846/ Mon, 12 Nov 2007 12:48:03 -0800 Creating Content for Search Engine Optimization donloper A lot of what SEO is all about is the content on your website. When I say "content" I mean HTML text that can be selected with the mouse cursor. Graphics and Flash are not content in a strict sense, although that isn't to say you can't do things with either that can help with SEO efforts. But content is ... A lot of what SEO is all about is the content on your website. When I say "content" I mean HTML text that can be selected with the mouse cursor. Graphics and Flash are not content in a strict sense, although that isn't to say you can't do things with either that can help with SEO efforts. But content is what is indexed by search engines, and so creating lots of content, organizing that content, and creating that content in the right way is a large part of SEO.

If you're just starting out, this post will serve as an introduction to the basics of creating content in ways that are SEO friendly. If you want to dig a little deeper into the theories behind content and SEO, read Good, Better, Best--Writing Content for Search Engine Optimization.

]]> http://www.gooruze.com/members/donloper/blog/108074/ http://www.gooruze.com/members/donloper/blog/108074/ Thu, 08 Nov 2007 11:48:29 -0800 Gooruze, a Social Network for Online Marketers donloper If you're in the SEO business you may be interested in checking out Gooruze - http://www.gooruze.com. It's essentially a social networking site for online marketing types, such as myself - http://donloper.gooruze.com. If you're in the SEO business you may be interested in checking out Gooruze. It's essentially a social networking site for online marketing types, such as myself.

]]> http://www.gooruze.com/members/donloper/blog/107428/ http://www.gooruze.com/members/donloper/blog/107428/ Mon, 05 Nov 2007 14:51:32 -0800