http://seoblog.microwebmasters.com MicroWebmaster Gurus on Search Engine Optimization Thu, 15 May 2008 03:43:08 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I'm tired of it... I'm tired of the controversy, I'm tired of explaining the same things over and over, and I'm tired of being handed a bunch of incomplete information and being expected to draw a useful conclusion from it. I'm tired of clients who have been harmed by others ... http://seoblog.microwebmasters.com/seo/tired-of-writing-about-seo/ Took the SEO Quiz at a site that shall remain nameless. I was not impressed by it, in the least. The quiz was designed so that you could not leave an answer blank - clicking an answer moved it to the next question. Fine with me, I didn't want to leave ... http://seoblog.microwebmasters.com/seo/a-joke-of-a-quiz/ Traffic isn't enough.  It has to be GOOD traffic. Often, after an optimization, traffic can actually drop. But if conversions rise, then the optimization was on target. If optimization occurs though, and there is no increase in conversions, or worse, a drop in conversions, then the optimization was not done correctly. See, correct ... http://seoblog.microwebmasters.com/seo/optimizing-for-conversions/ Another one of those things that is whispered in corners online... can Private Registration affect search engine ranking? This is another “who knows” issue, because there is a great deal of controversy, and Google isn't saying either way. It is generally accepted that Google looks at Whois information to determine ownership of ... http://seoblog.microwebmasters.com/seo/seo-and-private-domain-registration/ I've had more clients that have suggested that we put up an “under construction” notice! I can't blame them, most of them do not realize that they have not seen a notice like that on a website for at least three years. It is a logical thought – my site ... http://seoblog.microwebmasters.com/seo/under-construction-or-coming-soon/ It is late, we have an IT Summit to attend tomorrow, and the last thing I feel like writing about are MetaTags... But we have a lot more stuff coming up, so I really have to get ahead on some blog posts. The title is just a question I spied online ... http://seoblog.microwebmasters.com/seo/are-metatags-dead/ We are still battling it. Our best information tells us that after we complete the work of cleaning up every single page in the site, that it will take a minimum of 6 weeks for the penalty to be lifted by Google, IF they do so without the site owner ... http://seoblog.microwebmasters.com/seo/seo-vandalism-and-the-google-penalty/ Several kinds of sites fall into this category, including many kinds of site builders, shopping carts, and some other specialty niche business sites. Niche business sites include Real Estate, Insurance, Kitchen Designer, and other business sites hosted by a company that “specializes” in “easy” sites for that kind of business. Not ... http://seoblog.microwebmasters.com/seobreakpoints/the-backlash-of-hosted-site-solutions/ Another “dictated by Google” topic. Nofollow was originally designed to keep search engines from indexing links that you did not want them to index. It seems though, that search engines pay attention to it when they want, and ignore it otherwise. So as a protection, which it was originally intended ... http://seoblog.microwebmasters.com/seo/no-follows-and-google/ Apparently, backlinks are bad. Except when they are good. And nobody seems to know just what that means anymore, including Google. The rules for backlinks are so convoluted now, that not even Google knows just what is, and is not, an acceptable link. Now, don't misunderstand me. I have never been ... http://seoblog.microwebmasters.com/seo/building-backlinks-more-confusing-than-ever/