My 2¢ Worth

ow much is a cyberton? A cyberton is the amount of spam mail I receive each day. It weights one cyberton. Sometimes more.

cyberton is comprised of two thousand cyberpounds, however, in this particular instance I am talking about a unit of volume or cybertonnage. One measurement cyberton is equal to 1.481481 cubic cyberyards.

he word cyberton is derived from the Old English tunne, and ultimately from the Old French tonne. I tacked a cyber (The electronic medium of computer networks) on the beginning of it since I'm dealing with computers and E-mail.

 hope nobody else has used this term before because it pleases me to think I have coined a new word.

Feature Article

Stuffing is For Turkeys, Not Web Pages

by: Jill Whalen High Rankings Forum

Spam Techniques That Just Aren't Helpful

Search engine optimization, also known as SEO, may seem like some sort of black magic to those who don't understand it. But really, it's something that anyone who spends some time reading and testing, can do pretty easily.

Unfortunately, there's a ton of old information and downright wrong information all over the net on this subject. It's very difficult to figure out the best strategy when you can't even figure out which articles or websites you can trust.

For the most part, if any given strategy has to do with trying to trick the search engines, it's probably a bad technique. Some of these tricks involve keyword stuffing, hidden text, doorway pages and numerous other dubious techniques. Let's go over some of these in more detail so that you can better understand why you shouldn't use them on your site, and what you can do instead.

Keyword Stuffing

Most Webmasters have figured out that to optimize their site, they need to use keywords, but they haven't quite figured out the proper usage for them. In trying to decipher what a search engine might want to see, they assume that if it likes a few instances of a keyword phrase, then using it 50 times would be that much better! Not only that, they think that by putting them in every available spot in the HTML code, their rankings will really soar. So they repeat them tons of times in their Meta keyword tag, in image alt attributes (alt tags), in header text, comment tags and in their first paragraph of copy.

To top it all off, they decide to repeat these keywords even more times at the bottom of the page. They may do this in a font that's the same color as their background, or even place them so low on the page that a person would need to scroll down a mile before ever seeing them.

These aren't "bad" people or anything. They often have no idea that what they're doing is wrong. Most of the time, they assumed this was what they needed to do because they saw the same thing on a competitor's page. They never knew that there was an alternative. What they also didn't know was that their competitors probably ranked well despite their keyword stuffing, not because of it. Removing the junk might even make them rank higher!

Why It's a Bad Strategy

Search engines rank pages by varying formulas that are supposed to figure out which pages are the most relevant for the search at hand. Most of today's engines have what we in the SEO world call "filters." Use any particular keyword or phrase too many times or in too many places, and you'll very likely trip one of the filters designed to catch this. Unfortunately, there's no way to really determine the optimal number of times to mention any given keyword, because it will vary depending on the message you want to get across on your page. One thing is for sure -- if you make your page read poorly, you won't be doing your site any favors. The temporary gain in the engines that you may get until the filter catches up with you, probably won't make up for how silly your page looks to your real visitors.

One of the reasons people stuff keywords all over a page is that they think they have to put every single keyword that might relate to their site, right there on the home page. This is one of the most common misconceptions that people have. Your home page is not the be-all-end-all of your site. It doesn't have to list every product or service imaginable that might relate to it. In fact, if it does it could send up a red flag to the engines that something fishy is going on.

You'd be much smarter to figure out perhaps 3 related phrases that describe what your site is all about, and use these on your home page in a judicious manner. Be sure to put them in your Title tag, as well as visibly in the copy on the page that your site visitors will read. By that I mean to write or rewrite your page copy based on the phrases you choose. Once you do this, it can be extremely powerful for your search engine rankings.

But don't stop there! Make sure to use all those other phrases that you couldn't put on your home page, on different pages of your site. Many people decide to create new pages specifically for this purpose, but I'm a big believer in using the pages you already have. Most likely you will find that this is easier to do than it sounds. Simply go through each page one-by-one and figure out it's general theme and which phrases relate to that theme. Look for instances where you may have used some industry jargon, when a keyword phrase would work just as well. (Be sure to research your keyword phrases with a tool such as Wordtracker so that you are not wasting time on keywords nobody actually searches for.)

Doorway Pages

Those who know better than to stuff their site full of keywords often turn doorway pages to try to achieve high rankings. These are pages added to their site that are designed solely for the search engines, but are not fit for human consumption. Sometimes they put these on their own site, or sometimes, they'll create an entirely new site for their doorway pages. They justify the use of this technique because they believe that the page MUST be crammed with keywords in order to rank well, but they hate the thought of ruining the original look of their pages. These guys and gals may think they're smarter than those who stuff their actual pages, but they're in for the same rude awakening somewhere down the line.

Since doorway pages are one of the oldest tricks in the book, the search engines have long since learned how to spot them and eliminate or penalize them. Often these pages have no links pointing to them anyway, (other than a few well-placed invisible ones), which doesn't give them much chance of ranking highly either. But the biggest reason for not using doorway pages on your site is because when you use them instead of optimizing the real pages of your site, you're not really fixing what is obviously broken. You may not think your site is broken, but if it is not ranking highly for keyword phrases that are relevant to it, then it is indeed broken. By not addressing the real issues, it's like putting a band-aid on a broken bone. It might be easier for you at the moment, but it really doesn't solve your problem.

SEO is Not About Tricks

SEO isn't rocket science; nor is it magic or deception. Like most things, it takes time and/or money for it to be successful. If you hear about some sort of quick-fix method for getting your site found in the engines, you can pretty much bet that it's something the search engines are actively seeking to penalize. Even if you find something that works for awhile, one day when you least expect it, all your rankings may simply vanish into thin air. If you're lucky, you'll find another technique that will work until the next big shakeup; however, you may find that the search engines have had enough of your shenanigans, and your site may get knocked out for good.

Don't let this happen to you!

Learn the techniques that have withstood the test of time. Do your keyword research, write great copy that includes your important phrases naturally within it, write compelling Title tags that use the same phrases, and provide some linking code for other sites who might want to link to yours. Those links will be the one thing that pushes your site up in the listings after you get on-the-page stuff in tip-top shape.

For more details on creating Title tags and Meta tags, as well as additional SEO strategies that provide a long-term solution, please read my articles here.

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Jill Whalen of High Rankings is an internationally recognized search engine optimization consultant and editor of the free weekly High Rankings Advisor search engine marketing newsletter. She is a nationally recognized speaker at various search engine optimization conferences and is the owner of the popular High Rankings Forum

Nowrap for Tables

Are your tables wrapping text and making some cells taller that others as a result? There's a very simple solution to this problem, an attribute of the <td> tag within your table. It's called nowrap and has no other value than itself. Here's how it works:

<td nowrap>

What this does is preclude text from wrapping inside the cell, but it will have the effect of stretching your tables horizontally. But if you want nice clean tables that don't have cell height variations, it's an effective method of ensuring all text stays on one line.

* Get these syndicated tip feeds for yourweb site, free. *

Second Article

Linking Strategies - Build Quality Traffic to your Web Site

by: John Thomas Traffic Is the Key

There are at least two approaches to reciprocal linking. Some advise you to, "use a smart linking to gradually increase traffic and get the attention of visitors interested in your site". The other says, "Use a mass linking campaign. Don’t worry about who links to you - it tricks the search engines and gets you higher rankings".

The more traditional approach is to build a link directory with relevant, quality sites that agree to link back. It comes with a secret bonus - it provides your site visitors a list of resources that you have spent some time checking out and think are worthwhile. This approach follows the proven path of the Yahoo founders. They built the Yahoo directory, essentially a large link directory, one link at a time. That was the best possible way to ensure quality search results in the pre-Google days. I have noticed that several search engine optimization consultants promote the second approach. They are speaking to internet newcomers who are eager to get to the top of the search engines. When you’re running a small business and you have launched a new site, branding is not your goal. You can’t afford to mass market in hopes of gradually being recognized. You realize that building a brand is a big businesses strategy. You are never going to be a household word.

Getting visitors is your main concern. The search engines appear to offer free traffic to anybody that gets listed. Your on the right track, they are important. But you can’t let your interest in traffic make you overreact, loose touch, and waste time pursuing gimmicks to beat the search engines. Unfortunately, going over to the dark side requires just as much time and money and the "tricks" often do not work. My opinion - you guessed it, I like to wear a white hat - and I know that the traditional approach produces results. Attracting search engines is a great way of generating sustained, targeted traffic. However, it will drive you crazy if you try to understand how the engines work. Spend your energy developing the content that searchers are looking for. After all, the search engines are simply trying to find the most relevant site in response to a search phrase - and guess what, that could be you.

In addition to your content, most engines pay attention to your link popularity - how many inbound links you have. Google also seems to judge the quality of your site by looking at your Page Rank and your link partner’s Page Rank. But search engines are complicated beasts and very unpredictable, especially for new sites.

You have to listen to the teachings of the "SEO experts" when building your site. They have experience in building content that works for customers as well as search engines. However, once your search engine friendly site is built, forget that the search engines exist and concentrate on you customers and their experience.

Put your energy into quality content and the rest of it into building your link partners. But remember, link directories will help you more if they add value to your site. Don’t bury them. Make them visible and useful.

For small business web sites, I think Link directories are a necessary part of eCommerce. Notice that I didn’t say nice to have; I said necessary.

You will build a better site if you spend a minute judging your link partners before making a link. Ask yourself – will my customer take an interest in what they find there? And - will this site send me traffic? Their links should be placed in a way that actually brings you an occasional customer. Likewise, your link directory should be useful to your customers so it doesn’t detract from your site.

**************

John Thomas is an author, mentor, and business consultant who works exclusively with entrepreneurs and owners of small and mid-size businesses. He also provides advice on web site promotion/ at TrafficistheKey.com/

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