Ask CWS: Should I buy links to my web site?

I have received a couple of questions about paid links and whether one should consider them. As you may know, inbound links are an important element in search engine optimization. However, the priority should be to have quality links to your web site and not just quantity.

The offers that I have seen claim to be from many web sites and websites that they own. To be honest, links from a lot of web sites can help only if the sites are truly different (content, design, and links) and are on different web servers.

Google even has guidelines about paid links and link schemes. One article states that:

"Examples of Link Schemes can include:

• Links intended to manipulate
  PageRank
• Links to web spammers or bad neighborhoods
  on the web
• Excessive reciprocal links or excessive
  link exchanging ("Link to me and I'll link to you.")
• Buying or selling links that pass
  PageRank"

Google and the other search engines have started to seriously focus on the issue. In cases where they have good reason to suspect links being bought and sold, both the selling and the buying web sites are usually dropped in rankings or have a penalty which downgrades the ranking. This may mean nothing to the big company that has 1000's of web sites, but most small companies have one site. To be dropped in the rankings for a domain means, transferring to a new domain, or reworking your links and that can be a long process.

Google does not forbid paid links. They have this to say about links for advertising:

"Not all paid links violate our guidelines. Buying and selling links is a normal part of the economy of the web when done for advertising purposes, and not for manipulation of search results. Links purchased for advertising should be designated as such. This can be done in several ways, such as:

• Adding a rel="nofollow" attribute to the tag
• Redirecting the links to an intermediate page that is blocked from search engines with a robots.txt file"

I have read posts and emails that say there are ways to hide the paid links, and experts show that the search engines cannot see all of the paid links. Google has made it easy for just about anyone to report paid links. They have an anonymous form to point out a web site that someone suspects of buying or selling links. There are two way to do this:

1. Sign in to Google's webmaster console and use the authenticated spam report form, then include the word "paidlink" (all one word) in the text area of the spam report. If you use the authenticated form, you'll need to sign in with a Google Account, but your report will carry more weight.


2. Use the unauthenticated spam report form and make sure to include the word "paidlink" (all one word) in the text area of the spam report.

Paid links can help a web site move up in search engine rankings. A sudden increase in inbound links can looks suspicious to the search engines and hurt your ranking. In SEO there really are no set rules to abide by right now. The search engines all operate under slightly different guidelines and what they like and don't like can change more than daily. Most SEO experts frown upon doing something that is questionable now and could cause a drop in rankings later.

What does this mean for me and my web site? Well, some paid links can help your rankings, be very wary of getting a lot of paid links. If a company offers to have links on a number of "their" web sites for a fee, remember that a sudden increase of links from a couple of web sites may look suspicious to the search engines. Trading links are not the best way to go, but if you are doing your own SEO, it is the most cost effective and safest way to build links.

No Such Thing as a Free Lunch?

One of the great things about the current generation of Web-based software is that much of it is available for free. Even fee-based services will frequently offer unpaid plans as a way of letting people try the software, and these free offerings can be quite useful on their own.

All of this is great news for nonprofits, who have limited financial resources and often rely on volunteers who don't share a physical office and can't take advantage of traditional business software. These organizations are uniquely suited to Web applications, which can be used from any computer with Internet access.

Google, with its drive for innovation (and deep pockets), is often a leader in providing terrific Web-based software for free. Recently they launched a portal site that specifically highlights resources for nonprofits.

Noteworthy offerings include:

• Google Docs - Create text documents, spreadsheets and presentations in a Web browser, and easily share them with others for collaborative writing. Supports opening and saving Microsoft Office documents.
• Google Calendar - Sophisticated calendar management that integrates well with other software
• Google Checkout - Collect donations via credit/debit card for free. Google offers a special service for nonprofits that waives all processing fees.
• Google Grants - You can apply for free advertising on Google's network

If you work for or with a nonprofit, any or all of these services could be a huge boost to your productivity. It's great to see corporations like Google supporting people's efforts to give back to the community.

CWS Acquired by Google

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Today we're excited to announce that CWS was aquired by Google for $80.5 million. "It's an exciting day for us", said Alan De Keyrel, who was playing Guitar Hero when we called. "We were holding out for $100 million", said De Keyrel, "but then we decided that another 20 million wouldn't affect our ability to play video games all day."

Continuing its trend of gobbling up promising Web 2.0 startups, Google (NSDQ: GOOG) acquired CWS, the developers of GroupLoop.com. GroupLoop allows users to store and work with text documents on the Web and had been hailed a threat to Google Groups. Users can share selected documents, manage a group calendar, and post messages.

Google declined to discuss its plans for GroupLoop. "We acquired GroupLoop for the innovative technology and talented design team", Google spokesman Larry Fudder said in an e-mailed statement.

Google has become an aggressive acquirer of innovative software startups in recent years. Last year, it snapped up Measure Map, a blog traffic tracker. Other recent Google purchases include radio advertising platform dMarc and video sharing social platform YouTube.

"Nothing will change here at CWS", said Lyle Mullican, "except it might take a little longer for us to answer the phone". When questioned as to why this would be, Lyle said, "It takes time to pause the game console".

How to Implement a Site Search

Wouldn't it be nice for people to search your entire site with minimal effort on your end? You might be thinking this would require a substantial amount of time or money, or maybe even both. I assure you this is not the case. Maybe you already have a search feature for your site, but you are unhappy with the results that come up. Whatever the case may be, if you are looking for a reliable search tool I would suggest you check out Google Custom Search.

Google Custom Search is...

1. Easy to add to your site
2. Customizable for advanced users
3. Free

Rather than me boring you by telling you how it works, try it out for yourself by using this blog's custom search feature (in the right column towards top).



You can implement a search tool just like this on your own site without writing a single line of code. Google will generate it all for you, and you can get set up in just a couple of minutes. If you need help adding search or other tools to your site, just drop us a line at support (at) cws (dot) net.

When was the last time Google visited you?

You probably visit Google several times a day, but do you know how often Google visits you? There are ways to find out. Google offers a free tool that will not only tell you when it last "crawled" your website, but what pages it looked at and any errors that were found along the way. Google Webmaster Tools are a great way to find out what your site looks like to a search engine. They can help identify problems, learn what search phrases are being used to find your site and which ones actually result in clicks from the results page.

This valuable information can help you adjust the wording of text on your site and fix errors that could prevent search engines from indexing your content and giving your site a better ranking. Webmaster Tools can also show what sites are linking to and from your own. Google considers the value of a site that links to yours when it's determining the value of your content, so it is important to monitor those and try to collect links from valuable sites. These considerations are some of the basic elements of search engine optimization.

Another great feature of Google Webmaster Tools is Sitemap creation and submission. Not to be confused with the "site maps" you view in a Web browser, Google Sitemaps are special XML files that describe your site to search engines. Essentially, they allow you to give advice to Google about how your content should be treated. You can say how often a particular page changes (daily, weekly, monthly) and describe the relative importance of different pages. For example, you might prefer that someone searching for the name of your CEO should land on his official biography in your "About Us" section rather than a press release from three years ago, even if the press release mentions his name more often. Google Sitemaps allow you to give such instructions. They also allow you to specifically list pages on your site that might be hard for Gooogle to find by looking at links.

Webmaster Tools also allow you to verify the structure of your robots.txt file, which is another specially-formatted file giving instructions to search engines. This file has the opposite purpose of a Sitemap -- it exists to tell the spider what parts of your site should not be indexed. Google Webmaster Tools can make sure your robots.txt file properly follows the Robots Exclusion Protocol.

See the quick start guide that Google provides for more in-depth coverage of the available tools. If you find that your site needs some changes to be more accessible to search engines, drop us a line at support (at) cws (dot) net.

5 New Year's Resolutions (for your website)

It seems like just yesterday that I was working on a Top 10 List of New Year's Resolutions (for 2007). Since another year has come and gone, we now must look to 2008 for the opportunity to complete our aspirations.

"This year," we say, "I'm going to lose 10 pounds" or "I'm going to exercise twice per week." While these goals are fine and dandy, I personally think it's time to set a few resolutions for your website. Yes, it's true, you've been neglecting that website since 2004 and it's time to give it some love in 2008.

Without further ado, here is the list of the Top 5 New Year's Resolutions (for your website):

1. Install Google Analytics


This year, it's time to learn more about who is visting your website and what they are doing when they arrive. The easiest way to do this is to install tracking code from Google Analytics. Don't worry, it's free to use and it will provide you with a wealth of information about your users. Once you sign up for a free account, they will provide you with a few lines of code to place on each page of your website. This will keep track of users as they navigate your website and tell you helpful information such as:

• How many visitors came to your site


• Average time they spent on your site


• % that were new visitors


• # of pages they viewed


• Average # of pages viewed per visitor


• Bounce rate (# who left immediately)

This information is essential to knowing how well your website is performing. For example, if your bounce rate is a whopping 85%, that tells you that the majority of your traffic feels that your website is irrelevant to what they were looking for. They bailed on you before you even had a chance to show them page 2. Maybe it's time to think about modifying that homepage?

2. Track Conversion Rates

Every website has a purpose. You want your customer to pick up the phone and call you, you want them to request a quote, to fill out your contact form, or request a free report.

But do they?

Once you have your tracking code installed, you can set up "goals" to answer this question. If one of the goals for your website is to have users "request a quote", then you can use your Google Analytics account to tell you what percentage of visitors actually do that. If you're like most people, you'll be disappointed with the answer.

However, with this new information at your disposal, you can start to make changes to improve your conversion rates. For example, maybe your "request a quote" page is hard to find. Maybe you should have a big bold graphic on the homepage? Maybe the form is too long and you should try to make it easier and quicker to complete? All of these things are possible to remedy once you know there is a problem.

3. Determine Your Search Phrases

Once you are tracking your visitors and know that your website is converting those visitors into leads, it's time to work on getting more visitors. The first step in this process is to determine which search phrase(s) are relevant for your line of business.

The easiest way to do this is to pretend you are a customer sitting at Google.com. What phrases would you enter to find a company/service like yours? For example, if you are in need of an attorney to represent you for a dog bite, you might search for "dog bite attorney in rochester mn" or "personal injury attorney in rochester mn." What will people enter to search for you?

It's important to think about location when determining your search phrases. Very seldom will someone just search for "attorney" or "personal injury attorney", and if they do, they will usually end up trying again because they won't find someone who is local.

Determining your search phrases is all about knowing who your customers are and how to reach them. When you have highly targeted traffic to your website your bounce rate (see #1 above) will go down and you'll have higher conversion rates (see #2). This leads to more sales which will make your boss want to give you a big promotion in 2008. OK, maybe not.

4. Optimize Your Website

Now that you have determined which search phrases will bring you the most targeted visitors, it's time to optimize your website for them. You do this by putting these search phrases in the page title(s), text, and alt tags of your website. I know, this sounds complex, but stay with me for a moment and I'll show you how.

First, open up your homepage and look at the text in the very upper left of the browser window. For example, on our home page it says "Web Design Web Hosting SEO Video Production Graphic Design - Rochester MN". Wow, that looks an awful lot like the search phrases that someone might use when trying to find the services we provide. Coincidence? I think not.

Next up, you need to add your #1 search phrase to the text of your homepage. In order to tell the world that this is what you do, you want to make it big and bold. For example, at the top of our homepage, we've added all of the main search phrases again, and even added some links and bolding to them. This is something you'll want to do as well. You should also bold, italicize, OR underline maybe 1 or two instances of the keyword. Don't go crazy with this. Just provide natural emphasis to the words that best describe your business.


This is a very basic how-to for optimizing your website. If you'd like more details on how to optimize your website check out Brad Callen's SEO tutorial or drop me a line.

5. Update the Content

I know, you're probably thinking... "Please Stop!... You've already given me enough to do in 2008 and 2009." However, I have one more simple resolution for you to make in 2008.

Keep your website up-to-date.

If you have outdated photos on your website that include employees who left in 1999, it doesn't reflect well on your company image. Resolve right now to make someone in your organization accountable for maintaining your website in 2008 and keeping it up to date. Jon's end of year maintenance post gives you six areas of your website to watch out for when it comes to outdated content. Check these areas of your website once per month and make sure they are up to date.

So, there you have it! 5 resolutions for your website in 2008 that should not only educate you but also turn your website into a profitable marketing machine. You never know, with all this extra knowledge you might get that big promotion after all!

Are You Listed in Google Local?

Have you searched for a local business in Google and discovered a map with the business locations on the page? Is your business on that map? With Google Local Business Center, you can put your business on the map and not pay a dime.

Google Local is a feature to help find local businesses, even when they have a web site. These listings show companies who have entered business information in the Google Local Business Center, advertised with companies like CitySearch, SuperPages, DigitalCity, or other local portals, or simply have a Yellow Pages listing. Even when you have the top search result listing for a specific phrase, the Google local listings may still show up first, so it pays to be included there as well.

Major Factors
What are the major factors for being listed first in the local results? Currently your business location, local internet advertising and a listing in the Yellow Pages are the top three. Having a well-optimized site also helps with these results.

Location
The distance from a business to what the Yellow Pages considers the "center" of your city can play a big part. Try a search for Minneapolis pizza. The majority of local results are located in the Minneapolis city limits. Physical location plays a big part in many different Google Local searches and it makes sense that they will continue to consider this a valuable factor.

Getting Listed
Adding yourself to Google Local can be done for free by signing up at the Google Local Business Center. You can write your own description, list your business hours, the kinds of payments you accept, and you can choose to show contact information including an email and link to your website.

Getting your business into Google Local Business Center can help with your online advertising. It is still most helpful to have a well optimized site for search engines. Updating and maintaining your site so customers continue to use your business is also a big asset. A listing in Google Local is just one more great way to reach out to new customers looking for your business online.

Amazing Pumpkins (pics)

As we near Halloween, it's fun to see the creativity that comes out in people. Often times, you don't notice it until your Uncle wears that hilarious costume to a Halloween Party and you say to yourself, "why didn't I think of that?". Even Google gets a little crazy with their custom halloween logos.

In this case, we have some very creative pumpkin creations. A special thanks to my "not so creative" brother-in-law for sending these to me. :)

From Garage Business to Household Name in 5 Years

You probably use it every day, but did you know Google is now a word in the dictionary? How can a search engine be so popular that it influences how nearly all businesses market themselves on the Internet? Google's secret was the development of a unique algorithm to not just index the contents of a page, but to help ensure that you get the most relevant results for a particular search. From this starting point, Google has evolved to become a household name and sets the standard for all search engines.

Google was started by Larry Sage and Sergey Brin in 1996. Initially named "Back rub," their search engine started to gain popularity on the Stanford University campus. In 1998, the founder of Sun Microsystems gave the two a check for $100,000 after a quick demo. Sage and Brin leased office space in a friend's garage and started Google.com. 1999 brought dramatic change and growth to Google as the company moved twice and got bigger.

By 2000, 18 million user queries every day were being answered by Google. By 2002, Google had expanded to advertising, search appliances, Google News and Froogle. In 2004, Google had indexed 6 billion items (plus 880 million images, 845 million Usenet messages, and a growing collection of book-related information pages). Google has continued to grow and expand its technology, now offering PDFs of public domain books for download, for example.

Google has made vast amounts of data accessible to the public, such as: years of historical film footage, U.S. Patents, Maps (Earth, Moon and Mars), pictures, video, music, and of course their staple: websites. Google ranks in the top 3 sites for internet traffic, so most internet marketers give serious thought to how Google will see their site.

Google is a big part of the Internet. The public uses it to search, and companies use Google to advertise, or to analyse the competition. Optimizing a site for Google to help your company show up higher in search results can have a big impact on your bottom line, and the effect can carry over to other search engines as well. This has become a fact of life in the web development industry and will continue to be so in the future.

LiveLeak vs. YouTube

There's a new kid in town.

It's another video-based website like YouTube.com but it specializes in video that might not be popular with some folks. After a few clicks on some of the "recently made popular" videos I can understand why. Unlike Youtube, which bans violent content, LiveLeak allows controversial clips of war, conflict and death.

This means you can find disturbing videos of Iraqi insurgents throwing grenades at humvees, a baby playing with a cobra snake (below), or even a crazy person who throws herself at a car. In short, LiveLeak is reality TV at its best.


Baby plays with Cobra snake
As a father, I felt a knot in my stomach after watching the video of the King Cobra. However, after reading the comments I realized that the snake was most likely de-fanged, which renders it harmless. In America we let our children play with dogs, in India they play with Cobra snakes. Got it.

It will be intersting to see if this new website will gain momentum in the near future. According to CNN, it is a privately held company with little funding and most of the founders still work elsewhere during the day. Wait, that sounds a lot like YouTube just a couple years before it was purchased by Google for $1.65 billion.

No Google Christmas Logo

In the past, I've commented on the custom logos that Google produces for various holidays like Halloween and Thanksgiving. With the next holiday rapidly approaching, this got me thinking about what they might be up to for Christmas. However, during my research I discovered something interesting.

They don't create a custom logo for "Christmas".

I found this interesting because they have created custom logos for all other "official" U.S. holidays that don't necessarily apply to other countries (like Thanksgiving and Halloween). Instead, Google opts to create something they call "Holiday Doodle". It's a collection of complimenting logos displayed over several weeks.

For example, here are the logos which displayed during the holiday season of 2003. As you can see, the "doodle" tells a story about a snowstorm and the aftermath of "digging out".

1:
2:
3:
4:
5:

Personally, I was a bit disappointed that they did the "politically correct" thing and avoided this national holiday all together. After all, it is a nationally reconized holiday like all of the others. If Google can't stand up for recognizing Christmas for what it is, who can?

Please Note: Google has requested that the above logos are only available for historic purposes and should not be used for daily use. If you are linking to Google you should use an official logo made available for daily use.

[Update]- This story has additional comments at Digg.com. Click the link below to view comments.