Filed under: General, SEM Research, Search Engine Optimization by Stuntdubl SEO at 9:27 am, 9/13/2005
I am constantly amazed at how poorly websites are organized. So many sites could rank better if only they organized their content and internal link structure more effectively. There’s two things every site needs more of: 1. Content and 2. Links. In order to scale and benefit from the growth of content and links, a site needs to have an effective information architecture in place. This is why SEO is really project management. Search marketing boils down to some pretty simple concepts, but keeping your eyes on the prize with every little detail of your website is what seperates the top ranking sites from the nowheresville ones.
Information architecture is essentially the organization of a site. The content must be organized in a way that is easy to learn and understand from a user’s perspective. The organization and layout of the site will determine how users find information on your site, and what they will perceive as most important. IA is important to both usability and SEO. In order to convey the correct message, the information architecture must be planned before a site ever reaches the development phase, or you are building your website house of cards on a foundation of sand.
As simple as the concept of information architecture is, I think the importance is sometimes what falls on deaf ears. I generally try to start with a visual representation of information architecture and how it relates to search engine rankings. “Compartmentalizing” a site is key to establishing what the site is about. It is increasingly important if your site is about a wide variation of topics that are normally not associated with one another.
So how do you approach your IA?
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Filed under: General, Mr. Ploppy, Search Engine Optimization, Tools by Mr. Ploppy at 8:49 am, 9/12/2005
Getting a site indexed correctly is a critical aspect to good search rankings. It never ceases to amaze me how many sites have less than half of their unique content indexed by the engines. I guess it surprises the SE’s as well, because their index seem to be getting much bigger lately, and they are making definite strides to improve on how well dynamic sites are spidered.
Creating a sitemap has always been a valuable technique towards getting a site indexed properly, and with recent developments from Google sitemaps and Yahoo’s site explorer (*coming soon) it is even more important to use the tools at your disposal for getting your site more effectively indexed.
Search Engine Sitemap Tools
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Redirects, Url-rewriting, changing and moving sites, and purchasing new sites are all hot topics in the world of SEO. These are things that you don’t want to make too many mistakes on, so you have better know them well even if you can’t necessarily do them yourself. A mistake in this area can wipe out months or even years of hard work very quickly. They can also make a huge difference if understood and applied correctly. I am constantly asked questions about redirects, and constantly trying to improve my own understanding of the subject. For these reasons I have put together what I found to be the best information for a “Redirect Knowledgebase”.
There’s a lot more out there than this, but I’m sure if you’re lookin’ for redirect info, you can dig the web a bit.
Try out the URL rewriting tools along with all that tasty 301 deliciousness.
Filed under: General, Mr. Ploppy by Stuntdubl SEO at 7:54 am, 9/5/2005
Mr. Ploppy joined the United Search Marketing Tools (USMT) Local 684 Union a few months back, and they will not allow him to post on labor day. My apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused.
Filed under: Business Issues, General, Industry Stuff by Stuntdubl SEO at 9:46 am, 9/2/2005
At the end of this post, you’ll find all relevant links. If you’re a blogger, or from the press, then feel free to copy any of the information within this post.
Trade Secrets - Lots of options available on this one
Define: Trade Secret
Comments are not a crime and should not be a liability!
SEO trade secrets are traded in bars, not on blogs and forums, and if a company is depending on one tricky technique as their trade secrets they are gonna have a tough time competing. SEO and internet marketing is a strategy…not a big secret. *Tips* may be given and posted, and comments are for keeping people honest. Let’s try to keep it that way without folks having to tip toe on politically correct eggshells for one another. The truth has a way of rising to the the top while spin and tripe is generally sensed quickly and outed quickly within blogging circles. The ability to have and voice your opinion is something that makes having a website great. Dissenting opinions and heated discussion help to advance most things that evolved. It’s not always good to agree, and comments let people do that.
Trade Secret
Information is simply not disclosed. Once information comes out, all rights are lost.
- http://www.otc.umd.edu/Inventors/InventorsGlossary.html
The short story is this: Aaron is being sued over comments left on his blog by his readers about a notoriously unsavoury company called Traffic Power, or 1p. Within the Search industry, these people are regarded as the lowest of the low, and if you dig through some of those Search results, or the links at the bottom of this post, you’ll find all the gory details. Suffice to say, they are not regarded very highly by the overwhelming majority of the Search Marketing community.
I don’t think it’s right, do you?
See the graphic at the top right? It links to the donate to Aarons legal costs post. You can start by giving him a few $$$’s to fight these people effectively.
By using one of these banners on your blog, forum or website, you will help spread the word, and raise more cash - enabling better lawyers and legal council. Simply pick one that fits your site, and link it to the donate post.
Simple eh? Don’t you feel GOOD now?
Resources
There is much to the history of TP/1p, and you can find a lot of it in the Google searches linked above, but recently, these are the more notable posts and discussions on the subject if you’d like more in-depth information to quote and link to.
Please redistribute this post if you wish
And please put one of the banners on your blog to help spread the word!
If you have questions or comments, please use the TW thread, or SEW thread. If you need to speak but do not want to post, then you can email Aaron Wall directly at: seobook@gmail.com
Tags: SEOBook, Aaron Wall, Blogging, blog comments, Traffic Power, 1P
