Big Daddy Update

Big Daddy Update

Author: Mark Lawson

If you own or run a website and are trying to increase your search engine ranking, you are probably very interested in learning more about the Google Big Daddy update. Google is one of the major search engines that determine site ranking and also one of the most popular among those searching for information. Many webmasters and online businesses design their content around Google’s site ranking policies. While Google will not go into great detail in terms of describing the ways that they determine a website’s ranking; there is a lot of information online written by knowledgeable SEO experts and successful online business owners. The emergence of the Big Daddy update is causing much confusion and upset especially among the ecommerce community. When ranking a website, the search engines do not take into consideration how long the site has been in existence.

Although it does sometimes take a couple months for your site to be included in all of the major search engine rankings, the length of time you have operated your site is not a relevant factor is determining how it ranks among other sites. Since Google’s Big Daddy update, many veteran websites have experienced a drop in their search engine ranking. If you depend solely on you online business income, this drop in visitor traffic can have a devastating effect. Many webmasters and business owners are frantically struggling to try and figure out how to regain their previous rankings.

Websites that are designed mainly to provide the owner with affiliate income are being affected the most by the latest Big Daddy update. Often times when a website is created for the purpose of generating income from ads or affiliate advertising, the sight itself does not contain a lot of useful information. Webmasters or business owners will often use short keyword articles to fill the content of their pages. Often times these articles are written for the search engines only and do not provide content that is easily readable for actual visitors. Many of the articles may include the required search keywords but the articles themselves are not relevant to the topic and do not make a lot of sense.

Google is now able to better detect this and the result is that these sites are being penalized for their marketing techniques. Whether you are a new or experienced webmaster, the best advice you can heed in dealing with Google’s Big Daddy update is to make sure your website contains content that is of value to visitors. Don’t write your web pages just to please the search engine spiders. Try to have as much helpful and useful information as possible for visitors to your site. If you have a website that contains around one thousand pages of content, you are more likely to be higher ranked among the search engines than a site that only contains fifty pages. Another important point to remember is that although Google has a big impact on how your site is ranked, it is not the only search engine available.

In recent years, Yahoo has also become a popular search engine company for Internet users. Be sure that your site is listed with all of the major search engines. By doing this the Big Daddy update will not have such a dramatic effect on your ecommerce site. Websites that have a high number of incoming links seem to be enjoying a reasonable amount of success since the Google Big Daddy update. It is a good idea to ask webmasters who have a product or service that compliments your site to add a link for your site to their web pages. However, before doing this you should make sure that the company is reputable and has a good customer service track record. Also, be sure that their site contains quality content that is valuable to visitors. Although Google’s new Big Daddy update may be having a temporary ill effect on some websites, this can often be overcome but simply making a few changes to your site.

First of all, try increasing the number of pages linking to your website. Second check your site to make sure that all of the pages contain quality well written content. If your website is mainly composed of a lot of ads and outgoing links, do not expect to have a favorable ranking among any of the major search engines. In order to achieve and maintain a successful ranking among the search engines, you have to update and add new content to your website on a regular basis. Remember there are no shortcuts or quick fixes available to improve your site’s ranking. A successful website takes time and patience.
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Mark is an editor with article alley a leading free content directory . Please feel free to republish this article provided a working hyperlink remains to our site.

Directories Post Big Daddy

Directories Post Big Daddy

Author: Mark Lawson

Unless you are a webmaster or attentive to the developments in SEO there is a very real chance you do not know of “Big Daddy”, but Big Daddy definitely knows about you –or at least your website. Google’s latest update is impacting directories all over the world.

Described by Google as not a mere algorithm, but a ‘major infrastructure update’, Big Daddy (satirically referred to on some bulletin boards as ‘Big Brother) seems to be an oddly appropriate name for a Google update which sent the SEO and web development world into total uproar over the ranking and indexing of their directories post Big Daddy; that is if one considers the explosion of webmaster bulletin board activity on that topic since the updates implementation. So intense and rapid was the discourse come mid-March that Google engineer and self-appointed webmaster liaison, Matt Cutt, advised Google to set up a team to address the ‘supplemental’ problem faced, for no clear reason. For this to make much sense for us less specialized folk, some rudimentary knowledge the Google search machine is required.

At its most basic, Google serves an indexing and categorizing function so that when people search for something, certain algorithms have already determined (are always determining) where they will take the viewer to look. This indexing is performed by the Googlebot 2.1 and the Mozilla Bot, both of which ‘crawl’ directories while applying content-analyzing algorithms to web content and code. These algorithms determine, among other things, which directories go into the main index (which is where you want to be) and which into the supplemental index, referred to in webmaster jargon as ‘Supplemental Hell’ since not only does it exclude its contents from searches, but is notoriously difficult to escape once thrown in. The functionality of a special corner for inactive websites, spam sites, and other nuisances extant on the web is clear.

The current problem and essential source of confusion, however, is that active, original, and non-spam directories, post Big Daddy, are being cast into the supplemental flames for no apparent reason. As one of the many people to comment in response to Matt Cutt’s ‘Gone Supplemental’ blog post of March 22, 2006, “Our site has been redesigned…If I do a search…most url’s are from our old site marked as supplemental results. Google is hardly indexing our new site…” And the problem was not limited to just one directory here or there, but thousands around the world, as the following comment, one of many, indicates. “I have a site with 4 sub domains including www.

All of them have active content…all of them are supp and I do not see any return at all nor is google heavily crawling them. We are talking about 300k+ pages in the supp index for some reason.”If it has not occurred to you to do so yet, it may be a good idea to see where sit your directories post Big Daddy. To see if you are directories are affected, simply paste the URL as a Google search. If the page comes up as missing it has fallen from main index grace. If this is the case with your directories post Big Daddy the first thing you will want to do is look for any code or content which might cause the bots to reject the page.

Any number of things from spam (or what the bots code as spam), hidden text, and copied or ‘scraped’ content (closely paraphrased with the same keywords) can push a directory into Supplemental Hell. Depending in the use and complexity of your directories, the services of an SEO expert or organization might come in handy to take a look at your directories post Big Daddy. While some webmasters are reporting a return to normal, others are still faced with difficulties regarding their directories post Big Daddy. While Big Daddy is drawing attention to the need for more and better communication between Google, the web design world, and users, it may be some time yet before all the kinks are worked out and fluid channels of communication for problems like these are in place. For now the best one can do is pay close attention to the indexing of their directories post Big Daddy.

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Mark is the webmaster of indexplex a popular web directory . Please feel free to republish this article provided a working hyperlink remains to our web site.

Ecommerce Design

Ecommerce Design

Author: Mark Lawson

Ecommerce DesignIf you are looking to expand your business, an ecommerce store can be a very good investment. However, just building a website alone will not attract the customers you desire. In order for your site to be effective, it needs to be designed properly. One of the most important factors related to ecommerce design is search engine optimization.

For your website to be noticed by potential customers, they have to actually be able to locate it online. The majority of people today use search engines when seeking information. For any given search term, you are likely to get several results. However, most people do not browse beyond the first three pages of search results. If they cannot locate your site via the search engines, you cannot increase your sales and clientele. Having a high ranking among the search engines should be a top priority for ecommerce design.An important point related to ecommerce design is to honestly describe your product or service.

For example, if you are selling the popular weight loss product called Hoodia, you want to be very clear when marketing it online. Be sure to include weight loss product or appetite suppressant in your description. You do not want to describe it as a natural way to improve your health. Customers reading this description may feel deceived or even upset if they click on your site and discover you are selling a weight loss product. The best advice is to always be honest and upfront about what you are marketing. By gaining customers trust first, they are more likely to purchase your products.While ecommerce design will most likely require the use of specific keywords to market your product, this technique alone will not draw tons of traffic to your website.

Today the search engine spiders are much more efficient in detecting actual content from keyword stuffed pages or articles. In order to achieve and maintain a good ranking among all of the major search engines, your site needs to include quality content that is well written. Most people browsing the Internet are looking for information. If your site cannot provide answers to the questions they are seeking, they will look elsewhere. Be sure to provide sufficient information regarding the product or service you are selling. Try to think about what questions potential customers might have about your product or service.

It is a good idea to include a FAQ section within your ecommerce site. On this page you can list answer to the most frequently asked questions about your product. Be sure to include a way for customers to contact you if they have further questions. It is a good idea to have more than one method of contact. The more information you provide regarding your company such as physical address, email, and phone number, the more likely customers are to feel comfortable in placing an order with you. Another good ecommerce design technique is to actively sell your product.

If you have an item to sell, be upfront and forward about it. Let customers know the benefits of your product and why it is superior to other similar products available. Your website should include an easy to locate buy now or order now button. If customers cannot easily find how to purchase your product they are not likely to spend a lot of time searching for this information. If they become frustrated and look elsewhere, you have just lost a potential customer.

If you are somewhat familiar with ecommerce design, you have probably heard the popular phrase “content is king” before. What this means is that in order to attract customers to your website and rank high with the major search engines, you need to have quality written content. However, having quality content is only the first step. The number of pages your ecommerce site contains will also greatly affect the amount of visitors to your site. In general the more pages you have, the more likely you are to receive a high amount of traffic on a daily basis. An important tip to remember when writing content for your site is that the information must be both useful and unique.

There are many online sites that allow you to download content articles for free but these articles most likely are being used at a number of other sites online. If your content is identical to that on another site, the search engines are not likely to rate your site too favorably. You should either take the time to write unique content of your own or hire a freelance writer to do the job for you. If you decide to hire someone else to write your content, make sure you have full rights to all of the articles that you purchase.

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Mark is a webmaster with Discount Domains a leading Budget Web Design house. This article is free to republish provided a working hyperlink remains to our site.

SE Friendly Web Design

SE Friendly Web Design

Author: Mark Lawson
SE Friendly Web Design An SE friendly web design, or a search engine friendly web design, is one of the essential components to generating traffic to your ecommerce website through search engines. Of course, your web site must be appealing to the eye of the consumer, but it must also be appealing to the 'eye' of the search engine.

Search engines 'read' websites in order to find and rank the ones most appropriate for each keyword phrase entered by a potential customer. Designing a search engine friendly website is not difficult. Some of the elements you should implement in your design may even seem like plain common sense. You may be surprised, however, to learn how many people don't follow these simple rules and create websites that search engines find difficult to read.

First of all, the text should be in a simple font. The fancy cursive like scripts may look pretty, but they aren't very easy for the eye to scan. Neither are they easy for the search engine to read. This means keeping the font basic, the color plain, and the size normal. Black, 12 point, Times New Roman, Courier, or Arial are preferred. The actual text is not where you want to draw the attention. Instead, the subject that the text conveys should be in the spotlight.

Furthermore, arrange your text naturally just as you would on the page. Use proper paragraphs and bullet points as well as other devices to break up the text into bite size pieces. Take it easy when using capital letters, bold faced print, and exclamation points. Using as much text as possible (at least 250 words but no more than 750 words) will help search engines not only find you but rank you as an expert in the field and place you closer to the top of the list. Avoid flashing text and cutesy graphics at all costs. Not only are they distracting and amateurish, but search engines read graphics and pictures like blank space. Blank space doesn't boost page rankings. Make sure that every page utilizes text and specific key words associated with the product or information that you are utilizing to pull in targeted traffic. Text is the focus as far as search engines are concerned. Graphics are for the customer, and each one should sell an aspect of your product and carry meaning.

But if search engine friendly design is your goal, take careful consideration of your text. Another thing to avoid in creating a solidly SE friendly website design is spam. This can show up in your site in the form of hidden text in the HTML code. Instead, make sure that your HTML code includes Meta Tags. These aren't the big hook to catch the attention of search engines that they once were, but they do help. And every little bit adds up to a higher page ranking!Another element of search engine friendly web design and, possibly the most important, is the layout of your site.

Unwieldy navigation with dead end links on your site does not just annoy the potential customer, but it confuses search engines, as well. Confusing search engines is no way to boost your rankings, your traffic, or your sales. Use a sitemap if you need to and make sure that the hierarchy of pages makes sense. Use a Google sitemap if you have a large site, and make sure that your navigation tools are concise and specific – no creative misnomers or questionable graphics. Though the elements of search engine friendly web design emphasize simplicity and therefore come across as simplistic, ignoring them will not only turn off customers but search engines as well. Make your web site search engine friendly and watch your traffic increase exponentially in no time.
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Mark is a webmaster with Discount Domains a leading Budget Web Design house.
Please feel free to republish this article provided a working hyperlink remains to our site.

Using Ecommerce Templates

Using Ecommerce Templates

Author: Mark Lawson

Using Ecommerce TemplatesIf you’re thinking of designing your own website, you can save a lot of money by using ecommerce templates.

While a website is a must if you want your business to grow, it can be a very costly project, especially if you hire someone else to help with the job. Although you may not consider yourself talented enough to design the site yourself, you will be surprised at how much easier it is to design web pages using ecommerce templates. With a little practice and effort, most business owners are able to design a professional looking site on their own.Ecommerce templates provide webmasters with a preset look for their site. While you still need to enter in the HTML code for your text, the amount of code you will need to write using a template is much less than if you had designed the whole site on your own. For example, with a template you will not need to write the code to design tables and frames. A template is like an outline design for your site. All you really need to add is the written content. There are several companies that specialize in designing templates.

It is a good idea to do some research first before deciding upon a specific template. Shop around to see what different companies have to offer. Be sure to choose a template that gives you the look you desire for your site. Although there are some companies that offer templates free of charge, these may not be enough to meet your needs. Some templates are designed more for homepages or personal websites. In order to have an effective ecommerce website, you will want to choose a template that is both simple and professional looking. If you want customers to purchase products or services via your ecommerce site, they need to feel comfortable ordering from you first.

A professional looking site that is pleasing to the eye may help to encourage customers who are a little hesitant. How you present your business and product is almost as important as the product itself. Another factor you will want to take into consideration when building an ecommerce website is time. Even if you are doing all of the work yourself, you will still be concerned with the amount of time that it takes for you to complete the entire project. Using ecommerce templates are a much quicker process than designing all of the pages yourself. If you are a novice or inexperienced webmaster, the task of creating several web pages can be very frustrating. Even if there is just a small error in your code, it can mess up the look of the whole page. In some cases, it can even affect the ability of visitors to view your site.

If you are constantly checking your source code for errors, it will slow down the whole process of designing the site. In the business world, time is a valuable asset. The sooner your website is finished and uploaded to the server, the sooner you can start earning money through your business online. The cost to purchase templates for your site is just a fraction of what it would cost you to hire someone to design the whole site from scratch. Good quality templates can be purchased for fewer than one hundred dollars. The cost to hire a webmaster or team of technical workers to design your site can easily end up costing you thousands of dollars. If you can design a quality website for less money, using ecommerce templates can be a valuable resource.

If you check around online, you will discover that there are many successful ecommerce stores and websites that used templates when building their site. Templates are a very popular choice among those designing their first website and individuals who have a limited knowledge of HTML. In fact, the number of websites designed by the use of templates outnumbers the number of custom designed sites.

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Mark is a webmaster with Discount Domains a leading Budget Web Design house. Please feel free to republish this article provided a working hyperlink remains to our site.

Good and bad SEO

Good And Bad SEO Practices

Author: Andreas Obermueller

Search Engine Optimizing is a set of practices developed to help you get a high traffic and PageRank, while simultaneously building a useful and functional website that will respond to the needs of your potential users. While some website owners are getting their site indexed by following and enhancing these guidelines, others are looking for a way to sneak in and crawl up search engines by developing various strategies to cheat spiders.Most search engines have their specific rules on which SEO practices are legitimate and which are not. While they disagree on some borderline issues, they do have a set of basic principles in common.

Good SEO Practices• creating logically-structured pages• logical paragraph use• including a site map• providing clear links to each page• using descriptive and not too long meta-tags• validating you code• providing information-rich content that visitors would find useful• creating your website content based on the users' needs as if search engines didn't exist• using spell-check• avoiding duplicate contentBad SEO Practices• using invisible text and links to create false keyword density • using non-compliant HTML to manipulate relevancy (e.g.: a title that doesn't have anything to do with the page content) • using CSS to manipulate relevancy (e.g.: using hidden elements by executing code to reveal them) • sending automated requests to search engines • using doorway pages created just for search engines • using machine generated code to produce keyword-rich content • cloaking - presenting a different content to users than to search engine spiders • linking to spammers and other bad websites • participating in linking schemes to increase PageRank • creating pages that install viruses and other badware • using unauthorized software to submit pages, check ranking etc. • re-submitting the website without any reason Borderline Issues• inserting comments in the HTML code • using invisible form elements to hold keyword values• using HTML elements for keyword stacking (e.g.: image alts)• using machine generated code for usability reasons (e.g.: in order to check for browser versions)These borderline issues are controverted and ambiguous techniques.

Most of the time it is very difficult to say whether these techniques were used to trick the spiders or only for usability purposes. The search engine is the one who has to make the ultimate decision. Major search engines are constantly fighting against illicit techniques to get your website indexed and increase your PageRank and developing new and improved automated solutions to detect them. They even encourage users to report any website that is trying to abuse SEO guidelines. Thus using illegitimate ways to crawl up search engines may result in your website being banned. Once it's been removed from the search engine index, it will no longer appear in search results. Google, as well as other search engines, are trying to develop a pro-active attitude among website owners and convince them it's more efficient to make use of legitimate SEO practices.

One thing you should always ask yourself when building new features and writing content is whether you would be doing it even if search engines weren't there at all. This is the best way to drive traffic to your website and get better ranking.Copyright © 2006 Andreas ObermuellerAbout the Author:Andreas Obermueller is webmaster of Hit4Biz.com - Marketing Related Informationand recommends Marble Host as reliable Web Host

SEO Practices

The Elusive Practice of Search Engine Optimization
Posted: 11-05-2006 Views: 1
Author: Ted Roxan

Search engine technology has completely revolutionized the way we retrieve relevant information. Mastering the algorithms that drive these marvels of technology is the challenge, and assures the webmaster complete marketing success. In 1990, Alan Emtage at McGill University developed the first search engine, named Archie. Its purpose was to create a database of web filenames that could be queried, and retrieved by any user. Archie helped address this data chaos by integrating a script-based data collector with a standard expression matcher for relevant user query retrieval.

Contemporary search engines use software 'spiders' that go out into the internet, and retrieve content and data. Armed with this retrieved data, search engine algorithms rank content based on the relevance of what the user is searching for. It is the job of the webmaster to optimize a web site based on relevant keywords, so that search engine algorithms list their URL as close to page one as possible. This is the practice of Search Engine Optimization, determining how search engines think, and if successful could lead to very lucrative returns. The process of search engine optimization is plagued with unscrupulous scammers, spammers and deceptive practitioners. This is referred to as Black-Hat Search Engine Optimization, and it hurts the search engines as well as the users who query them. Black-Hat techniques employ techniques that trick the search engines with thousands of meaningless articles loaded with keywords carefully chosen to draw traffic, and generate quick revenue. In addition to link farms that artificially inflate the importance of an otherwise irrelevant web site.

Some black-hat hackers attempt to negatively influence competitor’s rankings by exploiting various search engine vulnerabilities. All these practices dilute the true value of legitimate web sites, and realize only short term gains. Gradually search engines started recognizing these techniques, and have taken proactive approaches. Algorithms have been developed to uncover and ban sites that employ those practices. Search Engine Optimization is a long term goal that requires astute and careful planning. White-Hat optimization is the ethical means to this end. "Give the public what the public wants", this is the mantra of any successful search engine. If a user places a query, and receives very relevant data, the user will most likely return for future inquiries. The objective of white-hat optimization is to provide the user with a content relevant search result.

White-hat search engine optimization is the practice of improving the design and content of websites to draw more search engine traffic in an ethical manner. Content is king, it is important to have content that's relevant to your visitor’s expectations, otherwise they will just hit their back button. It is important that your pages are well structured, using descriptive page titles and other page text. Further, keyword rich inbound links must be built, and submitting original articles will accomplish this goal.. Providing fresh new content will assure repeat visits with the opportunity to expose more products to your users. White hat SEO techniques can take some time to implement however their results tend to last for a long time. As the web continues on its exponential growth path, the need for better search engines becomes more vital.

These are the challenges that face the search engines, as well as the experts that contribute to their success. Search engine optimization is an art that requires skill, and creativity, a synergy of original content, efficient marketing, and site analysis. These are the foundations for a successful search engine optimization campaign. Jay B Stockman is a contributing editor for Free Search Engine Submission Service. Visit http://a-search-engine-submission.com/ for more information