ABAKUS ist SEO Consultants Mitglied

Issue #3
23- 09-2003

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ABAKUS Internet Marketing - Newsletter – Issue #3

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Editor: Alan Webb
mailto:nl [at] abakus-internet-marketing.de

Welcome to the third edition of my SEM newsletter. I'm really pleased that the English version has become as popular as the original German version. I hope you enjoy it, and if you find it informative and useful, please pass it on to your friends and colleagues.

In this issue:

Editor Foreword

1. Search Engine Marketing News
2. Link Text - Revisited
3. Favicon.ico
4. Newsletter information and press info

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Editor Foreword

A relatively quiet month for search engine news. Google and Yahoo! have been swapping places for the title of 'search engine with the most indexed pages'. First the FAST database announced a record 3,151,743,117 documents indexed. Not to be outdone, on the 26th Augest Google tops that with 3,307,998,701.

Altavista launch a toolbar (better late, than never I guess). Now that just about everyone has abandoned them for search. it's a bit like shutting the barn door after the horse (read searchers) has bolted. Overture/Yahoo! are at least trying to spark some life back into what used to only a couple of years ago be THE place to search.

ABAKUS were again the first to announce a new Google datacenter! This time its www-kr.google.com (and www-kr2) which is based in Dublin. Don't forget you can keep up with the very latest search engine world happenings by visiting the SEM blog http://www.abakus-internet-marketing.de/en/seoblog/index.php.

And now for the news:

1. Search Engine Marketing News

Altavista launch toolbar
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Some cool things are happening with Altavista since Overture/Yahoo! took control. The latest is that Altavista has launched a toolbar, complete with pop up blocker and translation tool. You can download it here: http://www.av.com/toolbar. It's ironic that it has taken Altavista all this time to come out with a toolbar, now that hardly anyone searches there anymore. Sad really, AV only a couple of years ago used to be the most used search engine. I fear they are a tad too late in trying to revitalise the search engine but we shall see.

Yahoo! Launch Blog service
====================

Yahoo! Has launched it own Blog service. This was to be expected and is a move to keep up with Google's blog service strategy (blogger.com). The new blog service is currently being tested in Korea kr.blog.yahoo.com but is likely to reach the US by the end of the year I should think.

ABAKUS discover new Google databases www-kr and www-kr2
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Yet again, it is one of the ABAKUS team researchers who discovers two new Google data centers. This time its http://www-kr.google.com and http://www-kr2.google.com

The new datacenters appear to be based in Dublin, Ireland.

Happy Birthday Google
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Google celebrated its 5th birthday on September 7th. Google is currently however getting some pretty heavy mainstream media criticism and allegations of Google censorship are rife. (http://sf.indymedia.org/news/2003/09/1639862.php). Google has seen better days but they are fighting back with new features (the calculator) and Google Adword enhancements.

Google News now in Italian
====================

Google news goes Italian http://news.google.it. Google are syndicating from 250 italian language news sources. This is the third language to be covered after German and French. Odd really that the US second language of Spanish, hasn't been catered for yet. It's probably next though.

For current news and other stories, be sure to visit the ABAKUS Blog http://www.abakus-internet-marketing.de/en/seoblog/ and the ABAKUS news forum http://www.abakus-internet-marketing.de/en/forum/viewforum/f-1.html

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2. LINK TEXT- REVISITED

Link text, or the html term for it 'anchor text', has been a factor that has had a weighting in Google, and other search engines, for quite some time now. This boost in ranking, through links containing keyword rich link text, has been written about in forums and articles before.

I'm going to go a little deeper on the subject in this article, as one thing I, and other SEOs, have noticed within the last couple of weeks, is that the weighting given for link text appears to have risen sharply. It is feasible now with absolutely no on-page optimization (pure flash or frame site) to rank top on competitive terms, solely based on a high number of incoming links that all use the ideal link (anchor) text to the site.

I want in this article to address how a webmaster can optimize their current internal linking, provide a few tips on how to make sure for example that those linking to you are not just using your URL but are using your keywords as anchor text, and ideas how to increase the number of internal keyword filled links on your own site.

Let's start off with inbound links (external websites linking to your own):
===================================================

Clearly, the optimal link to your site will contain your main keyword phrase. Often a webmasters ego will get in the way of optimization (this applies to title tags as well all too often), and just the company name will be used as link text 'XYZ Ltd.'.

Let me give you an example.

Lets say you have a website that sells car insurance online. When you solicit links, and do not give guidance as to the what the link should like, you will commonly get something like

'John Smiths Insurance Ltd.' as the link text. This is great if you want to be found with your company name and can help for the extremely broad term 'insurance'. It is however far from ideal.

Ideal is 'Cheap Car insurance - John Smiths Insurance Ltd'. Whereby ONLY 'Cheap Car insurance' contains the link. If this whole sentence is too long, simply 'Cheap car insurance' or just 'Car insurance' is preferable.

There is also some evidence, although not conclusive, that the title attribute can add a slight ranking boost. So let's take the example above and show you the html code for it.

<a href="http://www.johnsmithsinsurance.com" title="car insurance">Car insurance</a>

Or for the very first example:

<a href="http://www.johnsmithsinsurance.com" title="Cheap Car insurance">Cheap Car insurance</a> - John Smiths Insurance Ltd.

If you do not specify the html code to be used upon successfully soliciting a link, you will very likely just end up with:

<a href="http://www.johnsmithsinsurance.com">John Smiths Insurance Ltd </a>

or worse

<a href="http://www.johnsmithsinsurance.com">http://www.johnsmithsinsurance.com</a>

(This is why all those domains with keywords in their domain tend to do well.)

Not good!

Therefore, the solution is to provide a webmaster who has agreed to link to you with the exact html code. This has two main advantages, the webmaster will be grateful, as all he/she has to do is copy and paste the code in his/her site, you also get the text link that does your site the most good. Although by far the most common way to get links is through mutual link exchange by email solicitation, there are several other ways.

1. If you have a unique feature such as a tool or valuable article. Mention on your webpage something like "Webmasters are most welcome and encouraged to link to this [article/tool/xyz]. Simply copy and paste the code below". With a box underneath supplying your code as above. An example of this can be seen at the end of my SEO tutorial here. http://www.abakus-internet-marketing.de/en/seo-tutorial/seo-summary.htm .

2. Most online services / shops etc. can be affiliated. A lot of sites with very high Google *PageRank, have such high Pagerank because in their terms and conditions, a link to their homepage is necessary. We've all I'm sure seen the 'powered by...' links and suchlike before. If you offer an affilate program, think SEO and insist partners provide a link to your homepage with the exact code. If you don't have an affiliate program, then consider one. It should be noted that a written condition to have a back link on a customers site, is vastly different than a partner program back link. For a list of good affiliate management resources check out the Google directory http://directory.google.com/Top/Computers/Internet/[...]s/

* Pagerank: A measurement visible with the google toolbar that shows in a scale of 0-10 what Google evaluates as the 'value' of a site based on link popularity and quality of incoming links.

3. If you can offer something valuable for free, consider something like a 'Link and Win!' feature on your site. All those that link to your site will receive a free ebook (or whatever). This may well tip the balance if someone is considering linking to your site anyway. If you have something particularly valuable then make it a 'Link and enter our draw for..' kind of thing.

4. Where you can post your own link, you should of course use optimized link text rather than just your company name. For example submission to theme related directories, or more commonly, contributing in theme related forums where signatures are allowed. This is NOT to say you spam forums, but you contribute normally and spend more time answering questions than asking them (you gain much more respect and the click rate on your signature links will also be far higher).

A little tip is to put yourself in a different webmasters shoes who has just arrived at your site. Ask yourself the question 'Why would I link to this site?'

Does it have something unique? Is it informative? Is the website well designed and user friendly? Does it have any useful Tools/FAQ? Would I feel comfortable recommending the site to others? Does it consolidate lots of theme related information in an easy to read format.

The most important question is really 'What does this site offer that the thousands of other websites on this theme doesn't?'

With a site full of marketing blurb and sales copy, it's going to be hard work getting links. A site full of valuable content and unique features, will in time, be recognised as an 'expert' site or at the very least a good resource worthy of linking to. It's a cliché, but Content is King. You may be thinking that your site has more than one main keyword phrase. Do you only use link text for one of them or do you split your icoming/internal links 50/50 for say two main terms? The answer is it depends on the competitiveness of your search terms. If they have say less than 150,000 competing pages in Google, then split your inbound links 50/50.

For example in the insurance example above, 50% of incoming links with 'Car insurance' as the anchor text, and the other half for say 'household insurance' (assuming you DO offer it) or whatever. For competitive terms (+150,000) stick to the top one keyword phrase for incoming links. When you rank well with this term, then change your link text for new incoming links to your second most important keyword phrase.

Internal Linkage and Link Text:
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Link text should not only be considered for incoming links, but also internal linkage as well. It is no coincidence that websites with many pages, tend to rank above those with just a handful. The main reason isn't directly due to the number of pages, but the number of optimized links that contain keywords in the link text pointing to the homepage.

There is however a balance between keywords in link text and user friendliness. If I was to have 'Internet Marketing' instead of 'Home' on my left hand navigation, it would not be clear at all that the link is for my home page. Many understandably would think it's a deep link to some 'internet marketing' article. Common sense is required, and you shouldn't just add keywords to link text to everything automatically. There are however many examples where you can take the knowledge that link text is powerful and use it to your advantage. Eg. 'Car Insurance FAQ' instead of just 'FAQ'.

Let me give you a working online example. I have linked my online tools page throughout my site with the link text 'Online Tools'. Combined with on page optimization my online tools page is currently ranked for a German search at 9th from a total of 1,040,000 competing pages.

http://www.google.de/searc[...]che&meta=lr%3Dlang_de

For 'Kostenlose Online Tools' (free online tools) my page ranks top worldwide. Sure, the page has been optimized for 'online tools', however the main ranking boost for this page is due to the literally thousands of internal links with 'online tools' in the link text. For those who read last months newsletter, you might be able to guess how I managed to get 20,000 + pages linking to my tools page with 'online tools'. The answer can be found in the footer of this page http://www.abakus-internet-marketing.de/foren/ and every other forum post page.

Clearly, the more pages you have the more links with optimized link text can point to your main pages. Here a few ideas for creating more content.

1. Many sites fail to provide a sitemap. It is not only a good web design practice, but it is also a page that can be indexed and therefore a page where link text could most definitely be used to boost your internal pages (http://www.abakus-internet-marketing.de/sitemap.htm).

2. Create a FAQ (frequently asked questions) page for your theme. It is work, but its worth it. It also gives your website more standing and stature.

3. Create additional pages for products. Perhaps detailed technical info. A main product summary page with a link to a 'specific detail' page is a known and legitimate SEO tactic to create more highly optimized pages and also of course adds pages for the inclusion of more link text.

4. Articles & Newsletters. If you feel you could write an article on your theme ("Car insurance claim Do's and Don'ts") or you have a newsletter, then you have an opportunity there to add content on a regular basis. I archive on the web all my newsletters. It's not just for those that haven't subscribed, but for the good of my own ranking as well! 5. 'About us' , 'Terms and conditions', 'Contact' sub pages, are all pages that will be indexed and the links on them will be followed and carry weight. You don't have an 'about us' page? Create one!

Of course a forum is ideal for adding content pages which can contain text links. I firmly recommend you don't go down the doorway page spam route. If the pages are visible, don't have an automatic redirect, contain readable text and are not just designed for search engines, then that's fine, and you can sleep at night knowing that a competitor filling in a google spam report will not get them anywhere. Product/Service detailed description pages are a good example of how to create many additional pages. It's more work than hitting a doorway page generator button, but definitely worth it.

Be consistent in your internal linking. Don't change keywords throughout the site in order to try and get a boost for many keywords. Also use the same internal link text as you solicit from external sites linking to you. Particularly for competitive terms

Here are some 'ToDos' you might consider:
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Take the time to review your internal links with a view to consistency and link text..

Can you add additional pages, such as add a 'details' page to your products thereby doubling the number of your product pages.

Can you add keywords in your navigation text links without the navigation looking odd or nonsensical. Can you change graphic links to text links (CSS text formatting can be very attractive you know).

Review your backlinks (links from external websites), could you perhaps ask for a change in link text if the links you currently have only contain say your company name.

Do you have a 'link to us' page where those wishing to link can copy and paste the ideal link code.

Could you install a SE friendly forum.

I hope this article has at least given you some food for thought. If you underestimate the value of link text, you are missing out on potentially a huge ranking boost.

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3. Favicon.ico

Although the Favicon is not really directly relevant to search engine marketing. I'm going to discuss it anyway, as it can have several very positive effects on your traffic and your website. A Favicon is what you sometimes see when you visit a website, and in the address bar you don't see an 'e' (explorer logo) but a small icon just before the url.

This adds to a sites 'look and feel' and I believe perhaps subconsciously gives the site more of a professional aura. The major advantage however of the favicon, is as its name suggests, you get a icon next to the site title in the internet explorer favourites list. The advantages of this should be clear, if you have a lot of links in your favourites or are researching say online insurance providers, you are likely to bookmark them for further review. What sites do you think catch the eye most in a long favourites list? Those with an attractive icon that clearly stand out from those with the standard 'e' of course! It really can make the difference between a visitor coming back to you're site from a favourite bookmark or not. This is particularly valuable for online shops. A favicon increases brand awareness a great deal. I strongly recommend it to all my search engine marketing customers, although really it has nothing to do with search engine marketing.

The icon itself is normally 16x16 px and uses only 16 colours. Here is mine… http://www.abakus-internet-marketing.de/favicon.ico

Note the .ico ending. There is a file type called 'ICO -Windows Icon' which is how the file should be saved. Just saving a bitmap and changing the ending to .co will not work! Neither will renaming a gif or jpg file. There are however fortunately several useful favicon creation tools out there. Here is a good resource that goes into depth on the favicon: http://www.favicon.com where you can find out more about them. As for Favicon creation tools, there are a bunch out there. The one I used is shareware and is called Icon Forge. http://www.cursorarts.com/ca_if.html.

Once you create your icon and save it locally as favicon.ico, you can then upload it to your root directly (same folder as your homepage). You can test that all is well by calling it from a browser. eg. www.yourdomain.com/favicon.ico, if it displays properly then it should work. This is normally all you need to do. You can however add a line in your head area which goes something like

<LINK REL="SHORTCUT ICON" HREF="http://www.mydomain.com/myfavicon.ico">

Some recommend not doing so as apparently, its not really html/W3C compliant. I haven’t bothered using it but many do.

Note when you use this 'Link Rel' method you do not need to save the file as ’favicon.ico’ but can call it whatever you like (.ico).

Get those creative juices going, and take the time to make your site much more visible in favourite lists whilst also giving it a more professional look and feel. Its actually good fun trying to create a 16x16 logo with just 16 colors.

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4. Newsletter information / Press

You can pass on this newsletter, publish it in part, or in its entirety, under the one condition that full accreditation is given (Name, Company, and home page link). Any online incoming links must contain as link text 'ABAKUS Internet Marketing' or 'Search Engine Marketing'.

Members of the IT or internet press can receive full details about ABAKUS and Alan Webb upon request. Alan Webb is experienced in writing on search engine marketing and would welcome any press interest with a view for exclusive articles.

Alan Webb

Editor & CEO, ABAKUS Internet Marketing
Copyright 2003 (c) ABAKUS Internet Marketing

Alan Webb
http://www.abakus-internet-marketing.de/en/

Copyright (c) ABAKUS Internet Marketing

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