November 10,
2004
In
This Issue:
1. Content Is King
2. In the News - MSFT Search, Firefox browser, Google cheat sheet
3. More News Headlines
4. This Week's Q&A - Music on our web site?
5. Wrapping It Up
_________________
Content is King
At just about every meeting we have with existing or prospective
clients, when the discussion turns to search engine rankings we
end up talking about one of the biggest mistakes business make
with their web sites: nothing. As in, doing nothing -- launching
the site and then leaving it alone, letting the content grow old
and stale, like bread on the counter.
That problem, and our solution, is the subject of the most recent
article we've posted on owtweb.com (and it'll be the subject
of the next article we share with the Tri-City Area Journal of
Business
newspaper):
Adding Quality Web Site Content Regularly
It's a trite phrase, but it's true: Content really is king when
it comes to competing web sites. Someone should make a bumper
sticker that says "He who dies with the most web site
content ranks best". You have a choice with your web site:
You can use it to advertise, or you can use it to inform. If
all you're doing
is selling your products or services, that's no different than
a TV or newspaper ad. But if you're writing articles and newsletters
for your customers, you're keeping them informed. You're engaging
them. How many people use the web to find advertisements? Probably
very few of us. But we do use the web to find information.
And that's how you get and keep customers, and also how you
improve
your search engine rankings.
In addition to our article, here's another one with specific
examples that show how content is king on the web. It puts
too much emphasis
for me on Google PageRank, but the main tenets of the article
are sound and worth a read.
What Posting Articles Online Did for My Google Page Rank
in 90 Days
_________________
In The News
Microsoft Search Tomorrow
There are news reports on the wire today suggesting Microsoft
is ready to release its new search engine, and that it'll happen
tomorrow (Thursday). But there's also a report on InternetNews.com that I tend to believe more which says MSFT will be releasing
the newest beta version of its search engine tomorrow, not the
final product. I guess we'll know in about 24 hours....
Firefox 1.0 Debuts
If you're one of the many who are tired and frustrated by the
security flaws inherent in Microsoft's Internet Explorer web
browser, you
might consider switching to Firefox -- the newest challenger
to Explorer's crown. Version 1.0 of the browser has just been issued,
and it's getting a lot of attention. The "SearchDay" newsletter
is running a series this week about Firefox, calling it "the
searcher's browser." it's a good place to learn more about
Firefox.
SearchDay Newsletter
Download Firefox
Google's Cheat Sheet
Google has recently updated its "cheat sheet" -- a page
that helps searchers get the most out of Google. Lots of good information,
including the method to use if you want to search just a single
web site and how to use Google as a calculator.
Google Cheat Sheet
_________________
More News Headlines
Here are a few news headlines worth your time to read.
These are just some of the headlines we've posted
to OWTweb.com in recent
days.
Using press releases in search engine marketing
November 09, 2004 - Pandia
Link development: The key to successful SEO
November 08, 2004 - ClickZ.com
Web site owners can put all the keywords they wish on a page
and develop a search-engine friendly navigation scheme. But
without a well-planned link-development campaign, search engine
visibility
is short term.
More headlines: http://www.owtweb.com/news/
_________________
This Week's Q&A
Matt,
Our company sells music-related products and we're debating the
idea of having music playing when customers come to our web site.
The general feeling is that it will help set the mood and get
people interested in our products. But there's one person on
the committee that doesn't think we should. What are the pros
and cons?
Thanks,
Jill
Hi Jill --
I'm with the "one person" you mentioned -- there are
more cons than pros. The biggest argument against it is this: more
and more web users are surfing the web from work, and many of those
people work in quiet office or store environments. A sudden burst
of music on your site is likely to have these people leaving your
site more quickly then they came, and they may never come back
if it's going to disturb the office environment.
My advice, if you insist on putting music on your web site,
would be to make it an optional item. Let the people who
want to hear
it click a link to do so; don't force it on all your visitors.
(Have a question? Email questions@owtweb.com)
_________________
Wrapping it Up
Here's some cool eye candy.
Letterhead Fonts Design Gallery
A collection of great logo designs. I'm partial to #4 myself.
Last note -- send in any questions you have about web development,
web design, search engines, etc. Running out of material
for the next newsletter! Don't be shy....
Thanks for reading,
Matt McGee
The OWT Newsletter is a weekly service offered free to anyone
interested in learning more about web development, search engine
optimization/marketing, and just about anything else related to
running a business web site. You don't need to be an OWT client
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Subscribing and unsubscribing can be done online at OWTweb.com.
You may share this newsletter with others as long as the newsletter
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