High Rankings Advisor
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The High Rankings Advisor has been in existence since 2002! Anything and everything you ever wanted to know about search marketing and SEO has probably been covered at some point. Search or browse through our past SEO articles here.
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We had an awesome response to the announcement
of our new search engine marketing networking organization for New England
(SEMNE).
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Fewer Links, but Better Rankings - I have better backlinks than my competitor and my site is also optimized,
but why is my competitor’s ranking better than mine? Our backlinks are
around 90 and the competitor’s backlinks are around 55. What can I do for
better rankings than the competitor?
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| Outbound Links - In the scheme of things, do you think it is important to add outbound links
from a web site?
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| | Usefulness of Adding a Sitemap - I’ve been told that adding a site map to our website increases the chance of
search engines linking to other pages in our site. Any truth to this?
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| Translated Pages and Duplicate Content - I have a client who has a website in
England for his English branch. He also has a branch in Turkey that doesn’t
have a website yet. He would like to use the template for his existing
English website for his new Turkish website.
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| | Update on Redirecting Multiple Domains - I recalled some advice you gave on redirecting multiple domain names
from a while back and to my surprise I was actually able to locate it on
your site...
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| Overture’s Keyword Selection Tool - I have been using Overture’s “Keyword Selection Tool” for a long time.
Lately I have experienced problems with it.
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| | Cold Fusion Pages - I have a client whose web site has been created in Cold Fusion. I am not all
that familiar with these types of pages but right now most of their page
text and metas are being pulled from another document and are not actually
part of the “live site code.”
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| Search Engine Using Old Domain Name - At the beginning of October we regenerated our entire site and
ran into a very strange problem. All of a sudden all our search results were
showing up under one of our old domain names.
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| | Content in Tables - If my pages are in a table, and if I add a header to
that table for a caption, put my main keyword for that page in it, and make
it a bold and big h1 tag, will it help?
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| Who Coined the Phrase “Search Engine Optimization”? - We’ve got a thread in the forum where we’re trying to figure out who coined
the phrase “search engine optimization.”
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| | Advisor Wrap-up 184 - Looks like that wraps up another Advisor! I didn’t think I’d be done with
this on time today, as I was in Boston most of the day.
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Hey everyone! Hope you didn't miss me too much last week. I figured an HRA
the Wed. before Thanksgiving might not be the most well-read newsletter in
the world, and decided to wait until this week instead. Plus, next week
I'll be speaking at the SES Chicago conference; no newsletter then either.
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10 Signs That Your SEO Is a Quack - As you know there are a lot of so-called SEO/SEM experts/gurus claiming all sorts of things. The analogy to me is like "quack" doctors compared to the genuine article. Are there 6 or a dozen questions that would expose those purporting to be experts?
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| Copywriting Makeover: Facts vs. Fantasy (Part 2 of 2) - Karon's back today to show us the results from the Julie's Jewels
copywriting makeover that she wrote about last time.
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| | Search Engine Marketing Organization for New England (SEMNE) - In the last newsletter I hinted about this, but now we're just about ready
for prime time! What my SEMNE partner Pauline and I have been working on is
a brand-new networking organization for people in the New England area who
are interested in the search marketing industry.
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| High Rankings® Seminar Comes to Minneapolis in March - We've listened to your feedback and understand that you'd like to be able to
have more advance notice for our seminars, so we're announcing that our
spring event will be held March 15th and 16th, 2007 at the Crowne Plaza
Northstar in the heart of downtown Minneapolis, MN.
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| | Advisor Wrap-up 183 - Whew…that was a long newsletter! I hope you managed to read every bit of
it, because I think it was all important stuff!
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I've got a great issue for you today...so be sure to read the whole thing.
I’ve got an answer to the question about whether it would be helpful to take
a company’s SEO campaign in-house, plus a new copywriting makeover from
Karon.
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Keep Current SEO or Take It In-house? - My CEO has been forwarding me your newsletters for some time now. I am in
need of advice, and I am hoping you might be able to help me out. We offer
online services and have been online since 1997 with our websites. I know a
little about SEO because I was once a junior SEO rep for my former SEO
manager but my primary skill set is not doing SEO but more managing those
who do it.
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| Copywriting Makeover: Facts vs. Fantasy (Part 1 of 2) - Time for a pop quiz! Name three products that sell better when a
facts-based approach to copy is taken.
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| | Interested in More Search Marketing Info and Events? - I've recently added some fields to the High Rankings® Advisor subscription
form and would really, really, really appreciate it if you'd take a few
minutes to update me with your most current information.
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| Google Minus-30 Penalty - Do you have a page that used to rank #1 in Google that is now suddenly
ranking #31?
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| | HRA 182 Wrap Up - Like I've seen with many in the search marketing world recently, it was a
crazy September and October for me. The good news is that it looks like
November and December -- as well as 2007 in general -- is going to be a time
for new (great) beginnings.
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We're back from Dallas and raring to go. I've got a Q&A about a site that
sells a project management ebook, and another terrific article from our
practically permanent guest writer, Karon Thackston.
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Project Management eBook Site Questions - Sixty-year-old newbie here with his first e-book! My site is unlinked -- just "up there." I teach project management for a living -- but ill health is forcing early retirement, and I have an urgent need to keep paying the mortgage!
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| Opening Sentences That Close the Sale - It's one of the best pieces of copywriting advice I've ever been given. "As
often as possible, start your paragraphs with sentences that hook readers
and drive them deeper into the copy."
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| | H1 Hidden in Comment Tag - Forum member “arteworks” noticed a competitor site that had a keyword phrase in a comment tag wrapped with an H1 tag. Is it spam or just stupid? (Or perhaps both!)
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| HRA 181 Wrap Up - We had an awesome time last week at the High Rankings® Dallas/Ft. Worth
seminar.
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After months of planning, it's nearly here! The High Rankings® Dallas/Ft.
Worth Search Marketing Seminar is next week, Thursday and Friday the 19-20th, 2006
to be exact.
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| Will Longer Keyphrases Hinder the Effectiveness of Your Copy? - The length of search phrases continues to grow. Back when the Internet was
just an upstart, single keywords were the only thing you needed. But in
recent years we've seen the number of words used in search phrases triple
and quadruple.
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| | Hired an SEO Comp and Now Feel Ripped Off - To go along with today’s featured article on trust, we also have a forum
thread on a similar theme.
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| HRA 180 Wrap Up - We’re back to an every-other-week schedule now. Next
week is the seminar anyway, and I’m really looking forward to seeing a bit
of Dallas/Ft. Worth, as well as getting to know the latest crop of
attendees.
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I've got a somewhat short newsletter today as I've been pressed for time.
Don't forget about the High Rankings® seminar coming up next month in
Dallas/Ft. Worth.
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Clients Who Think They Know SEO - In cases where a client is smarter than you are about SEO, insists on
saturating his keyword pages (10 per 200-word page) at 5% (which includes
the keyword phrase in two header lines), and currently (without keyword
saturation) consistently hits in the top 20 on his Google searches.
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| It's Not What You Say, but How You Say it - My friend and fellow High Rankings® Seminar speaker Matt Bailey writes
today's guest article.
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| | UK-specific Keyword Database - KeywordDiscovery announced today that they have a UK-specific keyword
database!
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| New Sherpa Search Marketing Guide - Are your search marketing results as good as they should be? Get the most
up-to-date tactics you should consider to improve your ROI for 2007.
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| | Who Loves Their Laptop? - If anyone is looking to buy a new laptop, Karon has started a thread at the
forum to try to figure out the best brands to buy.
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| HRA 179 Wrap Up - It's been a tough few weeks here at High Rankings® headquarters, but things
are looking up!
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I've got a number of quick SEO questions and answers from this week's
mailbag for you. Hope they'll be helpful!
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HRA 178 Wrap Up - Been a busy week gearing up for the seminar, plus trying to keep afloat with
all the work. So no time to chat today.
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| Organic SEO - Here's a question for you to answer in your newsletter. I was recently
quoted a job by an SEO consultant, and he kept using the term "organic" to
describe the methodology. What does this mean? And do I want it?
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| | Same SEO but No Rankings - I have been receiving your excellent newsletter for more than 3 years and
find it an invaluable help to understand the ins and outs of SEO.
Indeed I am sure that your advice has been instrumental in achieving a top 5
listing for the last 3 years in Google for my London site.
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| Characters in Meta Keyword Tag - How many characters are allowed in the keyword Meta tag? How will the
crawler treat a page that goes over this limit of characters?
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| | Optimizing for Conditions - I wonder if you can give me a steer on a particular SEO problem.
I have a client who specializes in acupuncture and other alternative
remedies in London We would like to optimise for the conditions she treats such as back pain,
insomnia, headaches, etc - about 40 different in all.
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| Tables and SEO - I have been a regular reader of your newsletter for some time. I hope you
have time to give me your thoughts on the following comment that I received
from a website designer.
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| | Lack of Copy on Home Page - The site I'm asked to work on really has no room for keyword rich copy (or
any copy in general). Nor do they want it there. They're very much in favor
of the current design which is mostly products. They like the way it looks.
The copy -- in their opinion and to some degree mine too -- would look odd,
even though everyone now understands the value of this copy on the front
page.
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Thanks to all of you who filled out our survey, which will help us better
prepare for future seminars. We'd still like a few more responses if
possible, so if you have previously attended one of our seminars, or any
other seminars/ conferences, or if you're seriously thinking of attending
one in the future, we'd really appreciate it if you would please take a few
minutes to fill out our quick questionnaire.
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Stats Demonstrating SEO/SEM Improvement - I represent a golf accessory manufacturer considering doing some serious
SEO/SEM. We are interested in determining the real efficacy of SEO/SEM as it
translates into online unit sales growth or online revenue growth. I have
searched through many, many sites and haven't been able to come up with any
good stats that demonstrate B2C improvements in eCommerce sales after
applying SEO/SEM.
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| Instant Staff for Your Website - My good buddy, Scottie Claiborne, writes today's guest article about how
she's created an instant staff to do her website work. Enjoy! - Jill
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| | PPC Rant - The usually unflappable High Rankings® Forum admin Alan Perkins has had it
with all 3 PPC providers and rants about it this week.
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| Advisor Wrap-up 177 - Had a nice brunch in Nashua, NH with my seminar partner Lee today, and still had time to finish this newsletter.
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Hey everyone! Just wanted to let you know that the October High Rankings®
Search Marketing Seminar in Dallas/Ft. Worth is filling up fast...and we're
psyched. Be sure to register as soon as possible, as we do limit the number
of attendees.
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Will a "Soft Launch" Cause Problems? - I have an interesting case of a client who is wanting to do a “soft launch”
of his site. The client wants to make the landing page or homepage a login
section with little to no information about his product on it except for the
name of the product and login details, as he wants to keep […]
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| Redirected Links - I’d like to thank you for the great information that you make available. I
read it and implement it — and it works. Thanks!
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| | Can Honest Copywriting Succeed? - Shel Horowitz writes today's guest article. I've been a long-time fan of
Shel, the author of "Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First"
(which I totally agreed with!), "Grassroots Marketing: Getting Noticed in a
Noisy World," and 5 other books. He is the originator of the Business Ethics
Pledge campaign to change the world.
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| Alt and Title Attributes - Forum member "suzstephens" asks: "Can anyone explain the difference
[between] ALT and TITLE image attributes?
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| | Wrap-up 176 - Been busy preparing for the seminar as well as for my kids going back to
school. I'm back working at home for a little bit, and I have to say, I'm
enjoying the peace and quiet of an empty house. It almost feels like I'm on
vacation!
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Hey everyone! Registration is live for the High Rankings® seminar. Let's
see if we can set a record for number of registrations the first week it's
available!
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Questions about High Rankings® Search Marketing Seminar - The following is an email exchange I had with someone who was wondering
whether he would benefit from attending our High Rankings® Search Marketing
Seminar in Dallas on Oct. 19-20, 2006.
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| The Purpose and Practice of Writing Successful SEO Article - Here’s Karon’s latest and greatest article on…well…writing articles!
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| | Website Maintenance - In case you were on vacation during the last newsletter and haven’t had a
chance to catch up yet, I wanted to point out my quick recommendation for
website maintenance from Pop2.net.
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| Worth Getting a Link on a PR0 Page? - Forum member “excel30″ asks whether it’s worth getting a link on a PR0 page.
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| | HRA Wrap-up 175 - Hard to believe it’s back-to-school time already. Corie’s back in NY at
college, and Jamie and Timmy start their respective schools next week after
Labor Day. What’s even harder to believe is that Jamie is going to be a
senior in high school this year…wow!
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Well, we finally have settled on a location for our October High Rankings®
seminar, and it is shaping up to be a great one! It's going to be Oct. 19th
and 20th at the American Airlines Training and Conference Center in Dallas/Ft.
Worth.
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Why Would Anyone Link to Some Sites? - Push the button of every SEO expert and he/she will start talking about the
importance of links for high rankings.
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| Copywriting with Google's Dynamic Keyword Insertion Tool - I hope you enjoy this brand-new article from Karon...it's hot off the
presses! - Jill
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| | Biggest Misconceptions People Have About SEO - In our forum thread of the week, new forum member “Carica” posted some information showing that many people have a lot of misconceptions about SEO. Carica was surprised by this, but we old, crotchety moderators weren’t.
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| HRA Wrap-up 174 - As you probably guessed, I’m back from the San Jose conference and from my vacation in Hawaii!
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Hope you’re staying cool. It’s like 100+ degrees here in Boston, and I can’t quite ever remember it feeling so hot. It will be nice to get away to cooler climates next week in San Jose for the Search Engine Strategies conference.
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Two Companies Merging - I'm looking for some advice on the impact of natural search on two companies
that have merged so I can advise on how best to proceed. They currently have
two sites that perform well in the SERPS and have different content but are
obviously competing on the same keyphrases and are now one company.
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| Extra Characters in Title Tags - Do the search engines see the addition of this character: | in the title tag
as words/characters, thus reducing the amount of words you should put in the
title tag?
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| | Domain Extensions - I have a question for you. Do extensions have any bearing on search engine
return? For example, are sites with .com extensions returned at a higher
ranking than a site with .net or .org?
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| What To Do with 3 Domains - I have found some great
information on 301 redirects, but nothing which exactly answers my two
questions.
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| | Keywords in URLs - Do you know if repeating keywords in the URL will help increase rankings
within search engine results? If so does it have a big impact?
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| Project Collaboration Using BaseCamp - Thanks for the tip on using Basecamp. I've tried it and love it! I've
uploaded all of my projects into it now.
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| | Home Page Redirect - You were talking
about robots.txt files and how you want to use them to prevent the search
engines from indexing duplicating information. I use a Miva cart and custom
Miva pages.
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| SEO Disclaimer - New forum member "norty911" asks fellow members if anybody knows of a place
where he/she can find a copy of an SEO disclaimer that says he/she cannot be
held responsible if there is not a significant increase in rankings for
his/her clients' sites.
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| | HRA Wrap-up 173 - And speaking of the forum, it was its third birthday this week. In many
ways it seems way longer than 3 years since we started it. I really can't
remember a time without it as it's been such a huge part of my life for so
long.
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*Introductory Comments:
----> Happy New Year!
*Search Engine Marketing:
----> No Quick Fixes
*This Week's Sponsors:
----> Keyword Discovery
----> SEO Copywriting Combo
*Guest Article:
----> Subtle Changes to Your Copy Make a Noticeable Difference (Part 1)
*High Rankings® Forum Thread of the Week:
----> Fortune 500 Sites Use Hidden Text To Fool Engines
*Advisor Wrap-up:
----> Lord of the Bongos
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