The Wet Sponge

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Just a quick warning to you that lately I’ve been “catching” some PPC Phishes. If you are using Google, Yahoo or other Pay-Per-Click advertising, watch out for the difference between legitimate emails and bogus ones trying to trap you in their nets.

The bad ones usually say something like your account has been suspended, needs updated contact info, or your funds are running low. Many of these emails look extremely legitimate, even when you mouse over the linked URLS.

My advice is, even if it’s a legitimate email from Google or Yahoo etc., you can ALWAYS check your campaign and account status by logging in to your account securely via your browser and get legitimate alerts that way.

Play it safe, and know how to properly log in to your advertising campaigns securely.

HERE THEY ARE:

1. Get it right the first time!

2. See #1 !

3. See #2 !

I have not been a big user of podcasts, but today I really wanted to hear one.  A well-known and very savvy person in Internet Marketing was scheduled to do a podcast this afternoon about the Three Most Important Things to Know about Blogging” and I really, really wanted to hear it. It was supposed to start at 3:00 EST.

 I tuned in to the website for the live broadcast at 2:45.

I sat and waited.

3:05.

3:15.

3:30.

Still nothing.

I tried a different bowser, I tried emptying cache and reloading.

Nothing.

I’ve still got the window open “just in case” but I’m not hopeful.

 Now, this rant is not about the person I wanted to hear. Obviously something went wrong, but it had nothing to do with the speaker.

 Rather, it’s about the site where the on demand podcast was supposed to run. And yes, I am going to mention names here! It was supposed to run on “The Street Perspective” hosted at http://www.wern.fm/sp.htm .

 Shame on them! the only podcast running (it’s now 3:40) is one by Sherese Duncan, who just happens to be affiliated with the Efficio, Ic. radio network who set the whole thing up.

Gee…. the only podcast I can listen to is hers?

So let this be a warning to budding podcasters out there. DON’T MESS WITH YOUR AUDIENCE!

By the way, there is a very good tutorial and explanation about how to do your own podcasts at Website magazine at: http://www.websitemagazine.com

I’ve just completed an intensive 2-day class covering PPC (Pay-Per-Click) advertising on Google. Even though I’ve been setting up and managing PPC accounts for quite a while, a refresher is always good. Plus it was a real pleasure to sit in the same room as others with the same situations and questions, and to pick up a few new tips.

The course was presented by HIPPO Internet Marketing Training, located in the metro Charlotte area. Check out all their courses and seminars at www.HippoIMT.com/Courses.html .

I’d recommend this course for any business owner interested in understanding and perhaps managing their own online advertising, as well as web developers, designers, advertising and marketing folks who want to learn more about it.

Overall, the one most important point I learned after two days is that Google Advertising is MUCH more than just PPC. Sure, most folks will want to begin with a straightforward and uncomplicated PPC campaign. But I also learned a great deal about the other ways you can use Google for advertising - such as how their Contextual Advertising (Content Match) works, doing Google video and radio ads, and what may be just around the corner for new and different ways of reaching your audience.

The main focus of the course was Google AdWords, since that is where most people start. A campaign can be simple or complicated. It can use the basic features, or many advanced tuning features such as geo-targeting and “day splitting” - scheduling your ad to run only at certain times.

Some well-spent class time covered the importance of first knowing your audience, then planning out your campaign details in advance before you even set up your Google account.

The class participants varied from business owners just getting their feet wet in internet advertising, to experienced business owners, to other SEO-SEM-PPC professionals. All of us benefited equally and learned something from each other.

Corey Creed, the CEO of HIPPO Internet Marketing, is an experienced, enthusiastic and friendly instructor who will make you feel at ease the minute you sit down - plus he knows his stuff inside and out.

 If you’re a business owner, or a web  or advertising professional in any capacity and want to know more about how to get better rankings, better returns on advertising, and - the ultimate goal - better sales and profit on the web, I highly recommend taking one of HIPPO’s classes.

Dear Readers,

In February, my antivirus software (PC-cillin) suddently started displaying poker multiplayertexas holdem online,giocare texas holdem online,texas holdem online gratisil pokerpoker pc gratisdownload video poker gratistexas holdem flashroulette systemsgiochi casino online gratiskeno onlinewww casino on linegiocare baccaratroulette giocaclub player casinokeno in lineagambling casinocraps in lineagioco roulette,gioco roulette da scaricare gratis,gioco della roulette per pcgiochi blackjackamerican roulettegiochi keno inlineagiochi slotsroulette gamescasino online gratiscasino online itall slotsblog casino onlinevideo poker machinesvideo poker jack or bettercasino on line roulette,gran roulette casino,roulette casinogold casinocasino gaminggiochi baccaratprobabilit? roulettecasino bonus gratisvideo poker pci casino on linequestionario bonus casinocasino on line americantrucchi per video pokercasino sanremo onlineforum casino on linegiochi kenocasino gioca gratisquestionario bonus casino on net,casino on net,bonus casino on netdownload giochi casinoadvanced video pokergiochi di casino gratisbonus casino on netcasino venezia on linegiocare gratis casino virus warnings whenever I visited this blog. I’ve been working on this problem for two solid days. It APPEARS TO BE A FALSE-POSITIVE. But I’m still researching it.

I have completed an upgrade of my blog software, deleted any and all even remotely questionable posts, and researched this at the Wordpress FAQs and forums.

CA-Antivirus also did the same thing to their users, but it appeared to clear up after CA updated their antivirus info.

 PC-Cillin will tell you that the infected file is wp-stats[1].htm - which does not exist either on my supposedly infected pc, nor anywhere in the blog program files. It will tell you that the ‘virus’ is JS_PSYME.XP , which also doesn’t exist anywhere on my pc except in the figment of PC-Cillin’s database.

 I’ll keep working on it folks, but as far as I can tell my blog isn’t actually infecting anything.

Fiona Dudley

Asheville Obstrician? Moi???

I sure hope I don’t get any phone calls from ladies in labor urgently needing my help!

Despite our best professional efforts, sometimes the unexpected happens.

A few days ago I was checking  up on a client I had worked for, an Asheville-area OB/GYN practice (www.biltmoreob-gyn.com) to see how they were doing in the SE results. I keep track of these things so I can update the client results and references on my own website at http://www.weaversites.com/clients.html .

Thank goodness my client shows up in Google #6 for this particular search term, but I was shocked to see my own website in position #1. I had done nothing, absolutely nothing, to intentionally cause this.

The only explanation I can come up with is this: my site has been in existence for donkey’s ages and has some ‘cred’ built up , plus I update it - particularly that client page - fairly often. Combine this with other factors, such as other local medical practices not making much of an effort on their own part to optimize their sites, and lo and behold, there I am at #1 for a term I don’t even want to be found for.

When I worked for Biltmore OB/GYN it was more or less a one-shot optimization of their site about 6 months ago, including metatags and some minor text and HTML changes. After one month, we did not continue. (And they still get really good results!)

The fact that they do not update their site, and I do - and I provide a link directly to their site - my site ranks higher than theirs for a search term that has nothing to do with my own business.

Let this be a lesson.

Why I hate PHP - Sometimes.

I’ve worked on optimizing an awful lot of sites, all built in various different ways.

PHP is a great language for building sites to make the content and pages easy to update - for the site owner or webmaster. But I have learned a few lessons about working on SEO with PHP-built sites that new site owners might want to know.

1. If building with PHP, only use it when you have to for frequently-updated content such as testimonials, newsletters, and database-driven dynamic content. Every site needs some static content to get anywhere in the search engines, unless you happen to have a nationally-known brand name.

2. When building a PHP site, do not set it up so that there is only one available set of metatags that will apply to every page on the site. If you are going to build in PHP, at least include the facility for adding custom metatags for every page on the site. Metatags still matter. There is nothing more frustrating to an organic SEO effort than discovering we can only write one set of metatags. Remember - search engines see pages, not sites.

3. Avoid session IDs if at all possible.

4. Avoid long page URLS with more than say, 1 variable. Yes, the search engines are getting better at getting past URLs that contain question marks. But it is not perfect yet. Google is usually the best at spidering page URLs with variables in them. Yahoo a close second, MSN don’t count on it. But I have encountered sites where the variables have flummoxed even Google - which means none of your site content ends up in their database. And there is no easy fix for this.

5. See point #1 again.

 An SEO-friendly site in PHP will have a mix of static content and other content coming from a database, only where needed and practical.

Just for fun

 

 

I’ve got a couple of SEO articles brewing, but meanwhile, here’s the latest in my personal series of “Cesar Millan Style Pack Managment for Other Animals.”

The Three Rules for Managing Bears:

I took these Black bear pictures about 5 feet away on my deck two nights ago. You might very well be thinking, “not a wise move - dope!” But the bear  truly didn’t care about anything except emptying my bird feeder. I felt perfectly safe snapping away, even with the flash. NOT that I would recommend or suggest this to anybody else. Black bears are common where I live and most of the time all they want is your food, but “incidents do happen.” So take caution and beware in bear country

As readers of my previous post on Cat Packs will know, I’m a big Cesar fan - even though I don’t have a dog. But I’ve bought a few posters (after which my own “parodies” are modeled) as well as a few books and DVD gifts for friends and family members who, shall I say, could use some “gentle suggestions” concerning their darling pups.

Recently I heard an interview with Mr. Millan on National Public Radio. The interviewer asked the ONE burning question in my mind - what can he tell us about cats? His typically humorous and good-natured answer was, to paraphrase, “nothing.”

 Which is why I came up with my own rules for cats.

Now we’ve got bears.

Hmmm, what’s next? Mice? Raccoons? Turkeys? If you’ve got a suggestion, please post!

I sure hope Mr. Millan doesn’t mind the ‘posters’ I’ve done, in fact I sincerely hope he’d get a laugh out of them.  Meanwhile I encourage all dog owners who need some behavioral help to watch his show or buy his advice materials, and pay attention until you “get it.” Visit cesarmillaninc.com for all the info & stuff you need to be not only a dog leader… you just might learn something about yourself in the process. His show airs on National Geographic Channel. I’m posting this info because I truly believe in his expertise and wisdom, and for no other reason whatsoever.

Dog lover, cat lover, bear lover, whatever - we’re all in this together!

When it comes to SEO and online marketing, restaurants have something going for them that many other types of business don’t - specialty directories and online reviews from patrons.

 You can find extensive lists of directories, including specialties, at www.isedb.com - but a list doesn’t necessarily tell you which ones turn out to be the most useful.

 For restaurant sites I recommend starting out by making sure that your restaurant is found in  Google Local (a.k.a. Google Maps), Yahoo Local, and Local.com . If you aren’t listed there, all three make it easy for you to add your business. Also, be sure your street address is in visibile text on at least one page of your site, preferably all of them in the footer. Search engines catering to local search can’t list you if they can’t tell exactly where you’re located. It may seem like an obvious piece of advice, but you’d be surprised how many sites miss this important point.

You can also list your restaurant for free at www.restaurants.com and http://chefmoz.org.

Just getting listed is only the beginning. Many search engines, especially Google, will display review ratings next to their search results. This is only my opinion - I can’t back it up with any proof or statements from Google - but I believe that the more online reviews you get, especially good ones, will have an influence on the positioning of your site when patrons use a local search to find a place to dine.

Google and Yahoo, as well as restaurants.com, allow for adding a review or rating directly from within their local results - but you have to have a user login to do it.

This is for a very good reason - it discourages restaurant owners from writing fake reviews or trying to write multiple reviews. This also makes it difficult to take written comments from patrons and post them yourself (unless you post them on your own website, which is just fine!)

Please note- if you are restaurant owner and you embark on a review campaign, DO NOT, and I really mean it, get tempted to try faking your way through posting reviews. Not only is it against the terms of use for most SE’s and restaurant directory sites, it is actually traceable because of your login and can cause you BIG trouble.

So - if you want your patrons to do fair and honest online reviews for you, how do you encourage them AND make it easy?

Well folks, now we get to the meat of the matter. I have found a wonderful restaurant directory called www.we8there.com. Not only is it the easiest site to navigate if you’re searching for places to eat, it is also the easiest I’ve found for adding a review or rating. It does ask the reviewer to enter an email address in the process - that’s to keep everybody honest - but apart from that, it is easy to use. They do charge for a listing, at three optional levels - I use the enhanced listing at $110 - but this is a bargain in the world of ‘pay-for-review’ directories. This is the online restaurant directory of choice for me!

So what do you do next?

First, promote online reviews on your own website. Just put a little blurb somewhere saying something like “Review us online - it’s fast and easy! Tell everyone in town what you thought of our food and service.” And include a link that will take your site visitors directly to your listing at www.we8there.com. No hoops, no pre-login, no navigating required.

Then, you might consider putting the URL to we8there.com (or the full URL to your own listing page there) on tabletop comment cards or checkout receipts, and ask your patrons to do a review at their convenience. And don’t forget to tell them how much you appreciate their feedback and honest opinions!!

Try it, you’ll like it……

OK Folks,

This post has nothing to do with SEO. But if you are a fan of “The Dog Whisperer” , this post is for you. Especially if you are owned by cats instead of dogs. I hope you’ll get laugh out of this.

Fans of the Dog Whisperer - Cesar Millan - know his three rules of dog pack leadership: exercise, discipline, and affection - in that order.

 Here is my cat owner’s reponse:

 

By the way, if you want the original poster from Cesar Millan that inspired my own, or if you want an even hotter one (apologies Mrs. Millan, but Cesar just has that Charisma, you know?) then please do visit www.cesarmillaninc.com.

I watch Mr. Millan’s TV show with absolute devotion, even though I am not a dog owner. The reason why is that he teaches as much about human psychology as he does about dog psychology. Since cat whisperers seem to be in short supply, I’ve been attempting to use a few of his principles on my cats - who are not without their behavior problems. A few ideas might actually work. Though housecats don’t recognize a pack social organization (they seem to have little of the Lion in them), they DO seem to respond to distraction/correction from me when they’re eyeballing each other and spoiling for a fight.

 I’ve also gleaned that their primary bad behavior - spraying in the house (by spayed females) is definitely, absolutely, connected with their connection to me. Through various experiments I’ve come to realize they are trying to own MY stuff, MY space… in short… ME.

I am not yet sure how you take charge, and become a pack leader of animals that don’t recognize the pack. I do know this is a common problem for cat owners. If I learn anything useful, I’ll be sure to post it.