Steve Hudgik's Internet Marketing Blog - Internet Results

Granite Tile Counters - Blogging

2009-05-17T07:18:00.000-07:00

When you have a blog that you are using to help bring traffic to your web site, it is critically important that you make regular posts. A minimum of two posts per week is what I recommend, but that is the minimum. If you want to have people returning to your web site to read your blog, you need to be providing new, informative blog posts. Plus Google loves new, fresh content.

The problem is that writing is hard work. It takes time and a lot of thought to write a good blog post. But if you take the time and put in the effort, it will be worth it.

So what's happening on the granite tile web site?

Orders are coming in and customers are writing back saying how happy they are with their new granite tile counters. The product is outstanding and people really like it. The shipping process is working... which was a big concern because granite tile easily breaks during shipping. Plus the web site has been updated to incorporate various shipping methods in the online granite tile calculator, with the result being that they can charge as little as $49.95 to ship the tile almost anywhere in the U.S. (This may only be good for a limited time, but it makes for incredible savings and a great value for the customer).

So they have everything needed for a great foundation: an outstanding product (with satisfied customers), great delivery, and outstanding value. What else is needed?

For people to know about this. No matter how good your product and the value you offer, if no one hears about it your business will go out of business. That's where regular blogging becomes part of the plan. Provide useful information, about your products or related to your products, making at least two posts per week, will help to bring people back to your web site and build you rankings in Google.

Related Previous Posts
Granite Tile Blog
Granite Tile Web Site
GraniteTile Counters for Kitchens and Bath

Rejecting Blog Comments

2009-03-24T18:15:00.000-07:00

People leave a lot of comments on this blog, and we reject just about all of them. If you have something to say about any of our posts, or even about internet marketing in general. Your comments are welcome and will be posted.

I'd like to give you an example of a comment posted today, that is one to watch out for. Here is what it said:

I recently came accross your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I dont know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.

Alanna

It was followed by a link to a web site. It sounds like a nice comment from a nice person who really liked the blog. But, do a search for a phrase from this comment and Google will show you that the exact same comment is being left on blogs across the internet. It is nothing more than a technique for getting around comment moderation and adding their link to your blog... even though Blogger marks all comment links as no-follow, meaning they have little SEO value.

There are many varieties of this type of comment spam, but they are all similar. Usually a nice but generic comment from a nice sounding person, with a web site link included.

Granite Tile Blog

2009-02-22T08:18:00.000-08:00

It's been a couple of weeks and it is time for the next step. Adding a blog to the web site. In this case we'll be using Blogger because of its simple user interface that makes it easy for a non-technical person to write posts.

Use this link to go to the Granite Tile Blog.

Posts to a blog actually started about two weeks ago. For a blog to be recognized as legitimate, it needs to have a minimum of at least five to eight posts. By getting a head start the blog is ready to go when it is added to the web site.

A custom template is used so that the Granite Tile Blog has the same look and navigation as the rest of the web site.

Content for the blog comes from questions about granite tile that people have already started to ask. An email response is sent to the person asking a question, and that response servers as the basis for a blog post. That saves time and it results in posts that are about granite related topics people want to know about.

Granite Tile Press Release

2009-02-07T20:26:00.000-08:00

I don't know if you've noticed, but the ads at the top of this page are now about granite tile. Google has determined that this blog, although it is about marketing, is more about granite tile.

The next step was completed today. Press releases are powerful tools for building a new business on the internet. Today we came our with the first press release for the Easy Granite Tile web site. It announces that the new web site is now available, and for the first time in history do-it-yourself installation of granite tile counter tops is easy. (This is the link that will bring you to the press release.)

Press releases are also good content for the web site, so I've created a press release section and added the press release. So far there is only one granite tile press release so it is the index page in the press folder. When a second press release is added this page will become an index page to all press releases. I'll tell you more about why I things this way in a future post.

There is another reason why we want to have the Easy Granite Tile press release on the web site. I write several industrial blogs and it is frustrating to find a press release published by a press release service that has it copyrighted. I want to go to the originating web site and get a version of the press release I can copy and paste onto a blog. But they don't have it. Always make it EASY, very easy, for the press (and bloggers) to find versions of your press release they can copy and use. The best place to do that is by putting a copy of your press release on your web site.

That's why Easy Granite Tile has the press release on their web site. Actually there's even more to it than this, but that's for a future blog post. For now let's leave it at using the press release to get more publicity for this new source of granite tile that, for the first time, makes custom edged--with precision machine edging--granite tile available for the home handyman.

Granite Tile Web Site

2009-02-06T20:03:00.000-08:00

The next step was to add a granite tile installation blog to the web site.

Blogs are nice because the provide lot's a fresh, relevant content that Google likes to index. Plus they are easy for experts to use, even though they are not experts in the internet or blogging.

In this case the blog is being written by the Granite Tile Guy and he is loaded with good tips for installing granite tile, as well as anything else related to granite tile. There is only one post as of today, but the goal is to add three granite tile relate posts each week... roughly one post every other day.

Blog posts do not need to be long. I think it is best to have posts that vary in length. I don't know if it makes a difference, but I think Google assumes humans are not consistent and precise. So things with a bit of variability to them look more like they are human created. But I could be way out in left field on this.

By the way, have you noticed what I'm doing in this post? This post is about blogs, but I'm working in the phrases "granite tile" and "granite tile installation." These are the two key phrases that we plan to build traffic going to the Easy Granite Tile web site.

One other thing to notice. I don't use exactly the same tags on all these these granite related posts. For this post I've added a new tag called Granite Installation. Again, variety is important.

Granite Tile Glossary

2009-01-31T21:51:00.000-08:00

We added a couple of new pages to the Easy Granite Tile web site. When you are looking to add keywords, there is nothing better than a glossary. It is almost all keywords! So that was the next step. Here it is:

Granite Tile Glossary

I made the glossary in two pages. Although two pages is slightly inconvenient for the reader, and I generally go for the best experience for the visitor, but this web site has a desperate need for additional pages. The glossary is long enough to realistically divide it into two pages... so we did it. Possibly in the future, when the site is larger, we'll combine the two pages.

If you need to learn about granite tile installation, the first step is to understand the language. The Easy Granite Tile glossary is the place to get started.

Granite Tile Counters For Kitchens And Baths

2009-01-24T08:45:00.000-08:00

Here is a new business that has some very unique to sell. The provide granite tile for do-it-yourself installation. What's so unique about that?

Until now it was not possible for a do-it-yourself installation of granite tile counters. The problem is the edges. Granite tile does not come with finished edges. That's because each installation is custom and that requires custom edging. There have been ways to self-edge granite tile, but getting good quality was difficult... let alone getting the outstanding quality that results in a beautiful, luxurious kitchen.

The new business is called Easy Granite Tile. They have developed a online calculator for ordering custom tile for kitchens and bathrooms. You select your counter layout. Enter the dimensions of your counter, and the online calculator will show you how much tile you'll need, the amount and type of edging, and give you a price. You can then place your order and your granite tile will be delivered by Federal Express Freight.

There is a lot of work to do on this web site so that people will see the value and quality they are getting. But I've seen the product myself, and it is outstanding. Plus what I really like is that the owners of the company have put quality and honesty at the top of their must-do list.

Another thing I like about this new service is that a home handyman can install a granite tile counter and, not only will they enhance the beauty of their home, they'll be able to point to beautiful kitchen counters and say, "I did that."

Search Marking Has Been Good

2009-01-22T04:18:00.000-08:00

It's been nearly a year since my last post. Why? Because business has been good and income has been high. In other words, I've been busy. Even now, while everyone else is slowing down I'm adding more clients and could be working 12-7 (12 hours a day, seven days a week) at $100/hour if I chose to do so. Two things have been happening...

In these slow times people are recognizing the power of the internet to increase sales, and even grow their businesses.

Businesses have been getting web sites online, and upgrading existing web sites--creating some beautiful web sites... that don't perform. There's a lot of web activity, but the results are not so good.

Why?

Because there are a lot of people who know graphics and how to put a web site together, but they don't know marketing. A beautiful web site that no one sees is a waste of money. A web site that tens of thousands see, but which does not convert visitors, is a waste of money.

It's not about having a good looking web site. It's about having a web site that brings in the sales!

So why am I writing a post? I'll be very blunt... because it's an easy way to get a link for my clients. I had forgotten about this blog. But as I was thinking about links last night it occurred to me that I was wasting an easy way to provide a link... my own blog. So, whenever I feel like it I'll make a post about one of my clients. I'll try to post about each web site early in the marketing process. In most cases business come to me with web sites that have been designed by others and they want me to save their web site. So you'll be able see each web site change as I work with it to change it from something that just occupies space on a hosting server, to a web site that builds a business.

7 Customer Service Tips

2008-02-15T08:28:00.000-08:00

Today's edition of the American Chronicle has an article by Robert Moment called "Customer Service Tips to Keep Your Customers Satisfied". The article opens by stating:

"Customers shop in order to satisfy something: a need or a desire. Therefore, it follows that your goal must be to keep your customers satisfied. However, don´t make the common mistake in assuming that it is only the product or service that you are selling that will provide the satisfaction that the customer is seeking."

"In actuality, the need or desire that customers are seeking to fill include much more than the product in itself. It also includes a sensation that they will be treated well, that they will be served professionally by a knowledgeable staff, and that if they should run into a problem, it will be managed quickly and effectively. Just as it seems, there is a lot involved in accomplishing this task. However, when it is done correctly, your business will run like a well oiled machine, and will be well worth the effort in its rewards."

It then lists seven tips for keeping your customers satisfied.

1. Keep your promises
2. Set Good Goals
3. Go Above And Beyond
4. Pay Attention to Customer Needs
5. Nurture Long-Term Employees
6. Make Customers Feel Wanted
7. Nitpick About Customers For Life

Over 1 Million Potential Victims of Botnet Cyber Crime

2007-11-30T06:54:00.001-08:00

The Department of Justice and FBI announced the results of an ongoing cyber crime initiative to disrupt and dismantle “botherders” and elevate the public’s cyber security awareness of botnets. OPERATION BOT ROAST is a national initiative and ongoing investigations have identified over 1 million victim computer IP addresses. The FBI is working with our industry partners, including the CERT Coordination Center at Carnegie Mellon University, to notify the victim owners of the computers. Through this process the FBI may uncover additional incidents in which botnets have been used to facilitate other criminal activity.

A botnet is a collection of compromised computers under the remote command and control of a criminal “botherder.” Most owners of the compromised computers are unknowing and unwitting victims. They have unintentionally allowed unauthorized access and use of their computers as a vehicle to facilitate other crimes, such as identity theft, denial of service attacks, phishing, click fraud, and the mass distribution of spam and spyware. Because of their widely distributed capabilities, botnets are a growing threat to national security, the national information infrastructure, and the economy.

“The majority of victims are not even aware that their computer has been compromised or their personal information exploited,” said FBI Assistant Director for the Cyber Division James Finch. “An attacker gains control by infecting the computer with a virus or other malicious code and the computer continues to operate normally. Citizens can protect themselves from botnets and the associated schemes by practicing strong computer security habits to reduce the risk that your computer will be compromised.”

The FBI also wants to thank our industry partners, such as the Microsoft Corporation and the Botnet Task Force, in referring criminal botnet activity to law enforcement.

Cyber security tips include updating anti‑virus software, installing a firewall, using strong passwords, practicing good email and web security practices. Although this will not necessarily identify or remove a botnet currently on the system, this can help to prevent future botnet attacks. More information on botnets and tips for cyber crime prevention can be found online at www.fbi.gov.

The FBI will not contact you online and request your personal information so be wary of fraud schemes that request this type of information, especially via unsolicited emails. To report fraudulent activity or financial scams, contact the nearest FBI office or police department, and file a complaint online with the Internet Crime Complaint Center, www.ic3.gov.

To date, the following subjects have been charged or arrested in this operation with computer fraud and abuse in violation of Title 18 USC 1030, including:

* James C. Brewer of Arlington, Texas, is alleged to have operated a botnet that infected Chicago area hospitals. This botnet infected tens of thousands of computers worldwide. (FBI Chicago);

* Jason Michael Downey of Covington, Kentucky, is charged with an Information with using botnets to send a high volume of traffic to intended recipients to cause damage by impairing the availability of such systems. (FBI Detroit); and

* Robert Alan Soloway of Seattle, Washington, is alleged to have used a large botnet network and spammed tens of millions of unsolicited email messages to advertise his website from which he offered services and products. (FBI Seattle)

The FBI will continue to aggressively investigate individuals that conduct cyber criminal acts.

How Would You Market MOST The Movie?

2007-11-09T16:51:00.000-08:00

This has been a tough question. Start with an outstanding film no one knows about. Mix in a film producer that knows little about internt marketing. They need to sell copies of the DVD, but...

The film is called "Most the Movie". It is a 33 minute short film that tells about a bridgetender whose son falls into the gears that lower the bridge. The train is coming! What should the bridgetender do? He can only do one thing. Either save his son or save the train.

The site I've linked above is a non-profit that offers the film at a reduced price. They are the ones who would like to make the film more widely known. They even give away copies.

So here are a few suggestions:

Improve your search ranking by making useful comments on blogs that are talking about evangelism. Not all blogs allow links, and services such as Blogger put a "nofollow" on comment links, but this a good way to generate some buzz. Also, some forum posts wouldn't hurt, although links in forums don't provide any search ranking boost.
Increase the content you have about the film on your web site. Surely there is more you can say that will create additional keyword rich spider food.
Look for champions who are willing to use their blog or web site to promote the film. This film is of such high quality, and is so good, it should be possible to find some people who would want to champion it.
How about putting out a press release. In this case I'd guess the press release will rank much higher than the web site. That could pull in additional traffic and generate a few links.
Be creative. MOST the Movie is an outstanding film. Get the publicity going and it may start generating buzz just based on its quality.

Web Site Restored From Google Ban

2007-06-28T18:17:00.001-07:00

In March I wrote about one of my web sites that had been banned from Google (911christ.com) . Last week I noticed that it was showing up at #3 in Google's search results. It had been restored.

I use a service called Google Alerts to monitor important keywords. Last week I received a Google Alert that informed me the banned web site was now showing up in Google's search results.

What did I do to get this site unbanned? Not much. Only what I described in my previous post. Using the information in Google Webmaster Tools I had noticed the site was banned. I was also able to determine the most likely cause. I wrote to Google, using the form provided in Webmaster Tools... and then I applied patience.

For three months I did nothing concerning this issue. I did not write to Google again. I did not change anything on the web site. I mostly forgot about this site, other than doing the things I'd normally do. For example, I added some Russian language graphics.

It appears that it takes Google about three months to review and act on a re-inclusion request.

An Easy Way To Get Banned From Google

2007-03-27T05:33:00.000-07:00

I regularly use the Google Webmaster Tools. The information they provide is invaluable.

Yesterday I was surprised to see that one of the web sites I manage was listed as being banned by Google! What was going on? I never use black hat SEO. Not only that, the banned site is a very simple web site with essentially no SEO. Why did Google ban such an innocent web site?

A deeper look into the information provided by Google Site Maps revealed the problem.

Going to "Page analysis" under the Statistics Tab revealed that the content Google was seeing was all mortgage and travel related. However, all of the links were Bible related (this is a Christian web site.) Google had determined that there was a significant difference between what Googlebot was seeing and what visitors saw. This is a major violation of Google’s rules and had resulted in the site being banned.

The problem was, I had never put mortgage or travel information on this web site. The web site had been online for about eight months, and it had had Christian content from day one… or did it?

When the domain was registered we were not sure what it would be used for, so the domain was parked at SEDO. This is a service that puts ads on parked domains and splits the income with the domain owners. I have no doubt that many of those ads were travel and mortgage related. But why was Google picking up the SEDO content as being the current content of the web site eight months after unique content had been developed for this site?

When the content for this site was ready we uploaded it to our hosting provider and set up their DNS records to point to the new web site. The result is that browsing to www.911christ.com brings you to the correct web site. However, Google does not look up web sites the same way a browser does. Google remembers the IP address. Google had used the IP address for SEDO; found a SEDO DNS reference for the web site (I had neglected to delete this web site from SEDO); and read the SEDO content. The result is that Google was seeing different content than visitors see and the site was banned.

I have submitted a reinclusion request through Google’s Webmaster Tools and, of course, deleted this web site from SEDO. So now we’ll see how the reinclusion process goes.

Google and Duplicate Content

2006-12-21T15:09:00.000-08:00

One of the biggest issues for web designers and SEO professions is that of duplicate content. What is duplicate content? Will it get your web site banned? Will it get your web site penalized?

The Official Google Webmaster Central Blog has posted much needed information about duplicate content. Adam Lasnik answers the following questions:

What is duplicate content?

What isn't duplicate content?

Why does Google care about duplicate content?

What does Google do about it?

How can Webmasters proactively address duplicate content issues?

The answers to this last question are particularly useful. Lasnik lists specific things web designers can do to address duplicate content, such as:

+ Use 301s permanent redirects.

+ Keep internal linking consistent, don't link to /page/ and /page and /page/index.htm.

+ If you syndicate your content on other sites, make sure they include a link back to the original article on each syndicated article.

+ Use the preferred domain feature of Google's webmaster tools. This allows you to tell Google whether they should link to www.yourdomain.com or yourdomain.com. otherwise Google might link to each individually and see the same page as being a duplicate of itself.

+ Minimize boilerplate repetition. If, for example, you must put a disclaimer at the bottom of each page, just include a short summary with a link to a separate page that has the complete disclaimer.

Plus five other suggestions. This is a blog post all web designers, SEOs, or anyone involved with web design should read, and have bookmarked.

Do It Yourself SEO

2006-12-08T05:53:00.000-08:00

Have you been reading about the importance of the internet and search engine optimization in various trade publications? Do you feel your web site could use some work to improve its position in search results? But you don't have the cash to spend on a search engine expert???

Before you try to do SEO (Search Engine Optimization) yourself, I have some suggested reading for you. Ross Dunn has updated his Ten Minute Search optimization white paper. I highly recommend reading it before you attempt to do SEO on your web site. In particular focus on the things not to do, such as item #3. You'll be wasting your time if you spiff up your site, only to make common mistakes that will get it penalized, or worse yet... banned from Google. Once you have the DO NOT things firmly fixed in your mind, then start on making the changes that will improve your search visibility.

You'll find the Ten Minute Optimization paper at: http://www.searchengineguide.com/dunn/2006/1130_rd1.html

Counting Backlinks

2006-12-07T05:58:00.000-08:00

Enter the following in the search box of any search engine to see the backlinks for any web site. Of course, replace "www.yoursite.com" with the appropriate URL.

MSN
link:http://www.yoursite.com

Google:
link:http://www.yoursite.com

Yahoo:
Yahoo now has a separate "search engine" for learning what information they have in their index about a specific site. It is called Site Explorer. Go to Site Explorer at the URL below and enter the URL for the web site in the search box. When the results page appears, click on the "In Links" link.

http://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com/

Yahoo's help page says this about Site Explorer:

" You can use Site Explorer to track the coverage and freshness of your site in the Yahoo! Search index. You can find out:

Which pages from your site are indexed by Yahoo! .
What links exist to your site's web pages.

If you "authenticate" a site by validating your access to a site, you can access more detailed information like:

What subdomains from your site are known to Yahoo!
What other information Yahoo! detects about your site, such as language."

Google Search For Your Site

2006-10-24T05:27:00.000-07:00

In the past it has been possible to add Google search to your web site, but Google has now made it a much more powerful tool. You'll find information and the signup at: http://www.google.com/coop/cse/

Google describes this new search tool as providing:

Specify the sites you want to include in searches.
Place a search box and search results on your website.
Customize the look and feel to match your website.
Invite your community to contribute to the search engine.
Make money from relevant ads in your search results.

Looking For An Image

2006-09-27T08:22:00.000-07:00

Images are expensive to produce. Whether creating art or hiring a photographer, you can expect to send significant dollars for images. But, having quality images for your web site is important.

Stock.XCHNG is a free stock photo web site. Over 200,000 images are available for use without fees. Some of the images have restrictions that, for example, do not allow them to be used on commercial web sites. However, most may be freely used on any web site.

Images are uploaded by people who are willing to share their photography. Quality of the photography varies, but after reviewing over 500 images I can't say that I saw any that were terrible, and I did find about a dozen excellent images for a new web site I was creating.

Give Stock.XCHNG a try. It's worth a visit.

Four Steps Every Business Can Take to Improve Local Search Results

2006-09-06T10:11:00.000-07:00

In the past the greatest value in having a web site was that you were reaching a worldwide market. A business that served a local market might have avoided the web because it brought in inquires from a worldwide market they did not serve, and did not want to spend time dealing with. If this is the way byou are thinking, it's time to change your thinking.

Patricia Hursh has an excellent article on Clickz that discusses "Four Steps Every Business Can Take to Improve Local Search Results". If you are targeting a local market you need to be showing up in the local search results. This article provides the best suggestions I've seen for accomplishing this. Here suggestions are:

"Update your business directory listings. Visit the Amacai, infoUSA, and Acxiom Web sites."

"Submit your site to local search engines. Submit your Web site to local search engines such as Google Local, MSN Local, Yahoo Local, Ask Local, and TrueLocal."

"Update your IYP [Internet Yellow Pages] listings. Likewise, find and update your listings at YellowPages.com, Verizon SuperPages, and SwitchBoard.com."

And don't neglect to "Feature your address on your Web site."

More Free Press Release Services

2006-08-23T10:04:00.000-07:00

Last February I listed some of the better free press release services. Here are three more to add to you list. I've just started using these three, so I can not yet comment on how effective they are. For now I'll just say they exist and their service is functional.

http://i-newswire.com/ - Fast and easy to use. No registration required. Releases are reviewed and put online within 12 hours.

https://www.pr.com/ - Has a somewhat lengthy registration process. Links within the press release are not clickable. There is a $30 fee for each link you want to be a clickable link.

http://www.clickpress.com/ - Requires a quick registration process that includes validation of an email address. Submittng a press release is quick and easy.

http://www.przoom.com/index.php - A free press release distribution service. Does not allow links, or even a non-clickable URL in text form, in the press release. Seems like too much work for not enough return.

News Wire Today - I've not yet had a chance to review this service. However, I'm seeing press releases on their site receiving high placements in search engine results.

Likno AllWebMenu Pro

2006-08-01T04:18:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty good with javascript and CSS, so whenever I've needed a web site menu system I've just written it myself. That was not a very bright thing to do.

Recently my workload has grown such that I needed to find ways to save time--and I had a web site that desperately needed its site navigation to be simplified. I quickly investigated software for automatically creating nested menus, and selected Likno AllWebMenu Pro. That was a very good decision.

It took less than 30 minutes to install AllWebMenu Pro and start creating the menu system I needed. Including the installation time, learning curve (which is very short), and the time it took to create a custom menu system for the web site, I spent about 1/4 of the time I'd have spent creating a menu system myself. This software paid for itself on the first day!

A wide selection of menu themes are included, with more available for purchase. Select the theme that is closest to what you want, then customize it using an easy-to-use style editor. Just fill-in-the-blanks with characteristics such as background color, opacity and the type of border you'd like and you are good to go.

Creating your menu is just as easy. Once again just fill-in-the-blanks with the text and the link and you are building your menu. What's nice about AllWebMenu Pro is that menus can be created by just entering basic information, and it also offers more advanced options such as setting the Z-index and running a javascript when a menu item appears or disappears.

This is a powerful menu building package that is easy to use. No DHTML, javascript or CSS knowlege is required. AllWebMenu Pro will create the files you need and even automatically place the code that is needed in your web pages. All you need to do is follow the instructions AllWebMenu Pro provides that describes which files to upload and where they should be located. It's soooo easy!!

What I particularly like is that adding to or updating menus is so quick and easy. A new menu item can be added (or removed) in less than a minute... and you don't have to worry about the changes introducing bugs into the code (as my fat fingers sometimes do). So not only do you get great menus and save time making them, you get the peace of mind knowing that the code will be clean and bug free.

Every web designer should have a copy of AllWebMenu Pro in their "toolbox". There are all positives and no downsides to owning a copy of this software. For more information about AllWebMenus Pro visit the Likno website.

Google Revealing "Click Fraud" Numbers

2006-07-31T23:06:00.000-07:00

A post on the Google Inside Adwords blog announces that you can now see the number of invalid clicks as a part of an Adwords report. The report can show you both “invalid clicks” and the “invalid clicks rate”.

Most people seem to be jumping on this as a number that shows the level of "click fraud" - people intentionally clicking on ads multiple times for fraudulant reasons. But that is not the complete story. For example, there are times when I've clicked on an ad, read the page, moved on to something else, and then wanted to go back to the ad landing page. Maybe another question has come to mind or I need to clarify some of the information on the landing page. The easiest way to get there is to do the search again and click on the ad again. Google counts this as an invalid click. They only charge for the first visit, they do not charge the advertiser again if that same visitor returns within a reasonable time period.

There are other sources of invalid clicks that are not fraudulent clicks. So, although this new Adwords reporting feature gives you some insight into the potential click fraud your Adwords campaign is experiencing, don't count these numbers as "hard" click fraud numbers without another source of information such as your landing page logs. (Landing pages I create always include a lagging feature that logs each hit on the landing page.)

Deleting Search Engines From Firefox

2006-07-18T14:44:00.000-07:00

Firefox is the browser to use, but it does have one thing I find irritating. It is difficult to find out how to remove search engines from the Search Engine Bar. I'm not interested in searching EBay or Creative Commons and I like to simplify my life by removing things I don't need or want. But I could not find a button or menu option to remove search engines.

That's because there isn't one.

Removing search engines is actually very easy, but it involves deleting the search plug ins for the search engines I don't use. This is how it's done:

Go to the folder where Mozilla Firefox is installed and then go to the "searchplugins" subfolder. In most cases you'll be looking a path that looks like this:

C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\searchplugins

Then delete the search plug in files associated with the search engines you want to remove from the list. There will be two files for each search engine. A PNG image file and a SRC file. Delete both files. When you restart Firefox those search engines will be gone.

Guaranteed Top Spot in Google

2006-07-18T13:17:00.000-07:00

Here's a web site that uses an interesting approach. The web site is: http://www.cablingproducts.com/ . Scroll down toward the bottom of the page where you'll find three links for free guides. But instead of going to a page that offers the free guides, these links go to Google searches. The web page boasts that you'll find links to the free guides offered by this company at the top of the Google rankings... and you do. Isn't that taking a risk that their pages, at some time in the future, might not rank in the #1 position. How do they get Google to always show their pages as #1 in the search results?

It's not that hard.

There is a search phrase built into the link that is specific to a unique phrase found on the web page they want to be in the #1 position. If you check the total number of pages found for these searches, it's a very smal number... 20 or 30 pages. There's no competition for the search phrase and it's so specific that the pages they want are just about guaranteed to top the rsearch results.

There is a risk in doing this. A competitor could put the target search phrase in one of their web pages and possibly take the top spot away.

Exclude DMOZ Descriptions On Google

2006-07-17T12:17:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday Google annouced a new tag that allow web markerters to indicate to Google they do not want DMOZ descriptions used to describe their web site in Google search results. Google calls the descriptions they use "snippets. The post on the Inside Google Sitemaps blog said:

"One source we use to generate snippets is the Open Directory Project, or ODP. Some site owners want to be to able to request not using the ODP for generating snippets, and we're happy to let you all know we've added support for this. All you have to do is add a meta tag to your pages.

To direct all search engines that support the meta tag not to use ODP information for the page's description, use the following:

<META NAME="ROBOTS" CONTENT="NOODP">

DMOZ, also know as the Open Directory Project, is a volunteer edited directory of web sites. It is probably the most respected web directory, but as a human edited directory it has some characteristics some web marketers do not like. One of those is that it is difficult to get the description you want for your web site. DMOZ has non-commercial guidelines editors follow that result in descriptive, but at time rather dry descriptions.

Having your web site listed in DMOZ is important both because it provides a quality link to your site, and DMOZ provides information to many other directories on the web. Now, with the new Google META tag, if you do not like your DMOZ description, you can have Google find a description elsewhere. This does not mean you'll get the perfect description to promote your products, nor does it mean the description in the description META tag on your page will be used. It just means the DMOZ description will not be used.