Ten Site Optimization Resources

with Google-specific
page optimizing. In this regard, most professional optimizers are one of two
types: general optimizers who work across the board or Google optimizers.
The truth is, optimizing exclusively for Google is needlessly fanatical. First,
Google doesn’t publicize its algorithm tweaks and the subsequent recalculations
of PageRanks and reordering of search results. Following a silent but influential
Google upgrade, wails of anguish from Webmasters around the world can
be heard as their sites drop from previously hard-won positions. As a community,
Google optimizers try to figure out what changed and how to reoptimize
their domains. This manic-depressive process is ongoing and necessary, but
it probably shouldn’t be the only page-tweaking task on your plate.
Second, and the main reason that general optimization is the way to go,
all important search engines respond well to the same basic optimization
improvements. If your site needs an optimization overhaul, chances are the
most basic spider-friendly improvements will dramatically raise your visibility
in Google — and in any other index that lists your site.
284 Part V: The Part of Tens
Hitch your wagon carefully
This chapter spotlights optimization sites, tools,
gadgets, and more. When following these suggestions
and exploring on your own, you’re bound
to encounter some strong come-ons from optimization
companies and specialists. SEO is a
competitive field, especially with the Google feeding
frenzy. Some optimization pitches resemble
get-rich-quick spam. Outlandish promises are followed
by unrealistic (and probably untrustworthy)
guarantees. However, I’m not one to throw
out the baby with the bathwater. (Who coined
that barbaric expression?) Plenty of great optimization
specialists are just a link away. You just
need to know the telltale signs to avoid.
Guarantees of any sort should set off alarms in
your head. Google’s indexing can lead to unpredictable
results — and no optimizer can seriously
promise a specific search ranking or ad position.
The more dramatic the guarantee, the less
you should trust it. Guaranteed number-one
placement on a search results page is frankly
absurd. You might indeed claim the top spot for
certain keywords, but don’t believe anyone who
promises you such a thing. Another enticement
is the promise of placement on the first page of
listings — this is both unrealistic and a bit sleazy.
The first results page in Google can be as short
as 10 listings or as long as 100, depending on the
user’s Preferences setting.
Automated optimization is troublesome. Certain
handy tools automate the creation of meta tags;
I cover these tools in this chapter and they’re
fine. Automated measurements — of keyword
density and crawler readiness, for example —
might or might not be accurate or helpful, but
they’re not dangerous. But automated rankchecking
engines violate Google’s terms of service
and can get your site into hot water.
Optimization is mostly a hands-on affair. Some
SEO companies sell software packages that
assist the process with a combined set of online
and offline tools. Various invasive elements can
be planted in your computer whenever you install
a new program, and I’ve never found it necessary
or desirable to employ desktop applications when
optimizing.
Speaking of automation, some companies offer
bulk submissions to hundreds of search engines.
According to traffic measurement statistics, more
than 95 percent of all search engine traffic
derives from a handful of top engines. Hiring
somebody to bulk-submit your site globally might
not be the best investment.
Link farming (see Chapter 3) is not optimizing. Be
wary of any SEO company that proposes mutual
links between its site and yours.
Finally, understand the difference between optimized
results and paid results. Some search
engines (not Google) accept fees for placement
in their search results (not off to the side). Nothing
is inherently unethical in this business model,
even though it did give the entire search industry
a bad reputation in the 1990s. But a lack of ethics
is at play when an optimization consultant spends
your money gaining paid placement in some
search engines instead of spending it working
up the Google results page. Sometimes this
strategy is used to fulfill a promise of top-page
search listing — a promise that should never be
made to begin with.
Google optimization, as a specific tactic, comes into play when a Webmaster
limits the entire marketing plan to Google. There’s nothing wrong with that at
Google’s current levels of traffic. (See Chapter 1 for a discussion of Google’s
competition and the prospects for the future.) Another example of Googlespecific
optimization is a highly optimized site that tweaks its page features
specifically to eke out better returns from Google. In both cases, optimizations
made for Google tend to help in other search engines, just as general
optimization helps in Google.
The resources suggested in this chapter fall into three categories:
 Do-it-yourself optimization. These sites offer tutorials, interactive tools,
directories, and other resources, some of which might cost money.
Don’t expect consulting, site management, or individualized optimization
reports.
 Don’t-do-it-yourself optimization. These companies and individuals cater
to Webmasters and businesses that don’t want to master optimization fundamentals
or plunge their hands into code and keywords. This category
also includes many of the questionable SEO practices that leverage their
clients’ naiveté and need to outsource, promising unrealistic results and
employing unwholesome strategies. At the same time, this space is where
you find the many honest, smart, and skilled optimization specialists who
can deliver personalized site evaluations for a reasonable cost, tighten
your code, deepen your keyword identity, and multiply your Googlederived
leads in a single crawl cycle. Don’t be afraid of SEO specialists;
just be cautious.
 Hands-on tools. Online gadgets! Keyword analyzers, meta tag generators,
page evaluators, and other interactive assistants populate this category.
These tools are for the do-it-yourself crowd.
Some sites cover all three bases. SEO specialists usually (but not always)
include some do-it-yourself content on their sites.
Search Innovation
www.searchinnovation.com
Search Innovation is a search engine marketing company with a strong optimization
streak. Two sections of this site generously provide information: the
Articles and Resources sections.
Chapter 16: Ten Site Optimization Resources 285
The site’s articles, mostly written by founders Daria and Dale Goetsch, are
detailed, serious, and informative. These pieces cover such topics as effective
keywords, “organic” SEO (the practice of optimizing toward high placement
in search listings, as opposed to purchasing placement on search pages),
optimizing dynamic pages (a tricky subject many optimizers don’t go near),
link building, SEO myths, crawler methods, building site maps, writing effective
link text, and content writing.
The articles at this site are enough to get this site mentioned in this chapter,
but the Resources page shines just as brightly. Here you find a directory of
forums, newsletters, blogs, interactive tools, seminars, and Web sites that are
resourceful in other ways.
HighRankings.com
www.highrankings.com
Operated by Jill Whelan, an optimization consultant, the HighRankings site
is distinguished by a friendly atmosphere, a generous allotment of free articles,
a free, almost-weekly newsletter, and a discussion forum dedicated to
optimization.
The High Rankings Advisor newsletter, contains articles by Whalen and
guest writers. Many of these pieces are archived in the Advisor Articles
section; new and mid-level optimizers would do well to read through
the whole lot of them. The articles tend to be detail-oriented, with, for
example, entire tutorials devoted to a single meta tag. You can also find
great information about getting framed sites indexed in Google, submitting
to directories, and other basic tasks sometimes ignored by high-pressure
optimization shops. HighRankings.com maintains a vigorous do-it-yourself
sensibility, even as it offers site evaluations, writing services, and content
editing.
The discussion forum is possibly the most thorough and SEO-dedicated set of
message boards anywhere. This forum hosts well over 1000 topics and about
15,000 messages covering every possible aspect of site optimization. (See
Figure 16-1.)
Jill Whalen is an active participant and friendly moderator of the voluminous
Webmaster chatter. Conversations, like the articles, tend toward technical
details. Participants use the space to work out fine points of site coding, CSS
style sheets, supplementary programs that bundle code in spider-friendly
ways, strategies for organizing page elements at the code level, and so forth.
I recommend the HighRankings forum most highly to serious optimizers and
Webmasters at all levels who have questions.
286 Part V: The Part of Tens
Mediumblue.com
Newsletters and newsletter archives are a terrific resource for optimization
tips. Beyond the sheer informational value, receiving newsletters sparks
continued work on your site, reminding you that optimization is an ongoing
(frankly, never-ending) occupation. True, you can’t avoid repetition when
scanning dozens of articles, but sometimes we need to be nudged repeatedly
to do our online chores.
Medium Blue is an optimization and marketing consultancy with a free monthly
newsletter. Less chatty and varied than Jill Whalen’s High Rankings Advisor
(see the preceding section), the Medium Blue sheet is informative in its formal
way. Each newsletter is a single article utterly lacking in chatter, ads, links,
and other distractions.
Past editions are archived back to November 2001, forming a useful knowledge
bank covering subjects as diverse as keywords (of course), evaluating site performance,
monitoring search engine positions, long-term techniques to attain
high rankings, and site traffic analysis. Broad rather than detailed, the articles
don’t divulge finicky matters of HTML tagging or keyword density. One
newsletter from 2003 contains an interview with the founder of Wordtracker
(see Chapter 4).
Figure 16-1:
The High-
Rankings.
com forum
is the most
impressive
discussion
area for
search
optimization
topics.
Chapter 16: Ten Site Optimization Resources 287
Keyword Verification and
Link Popularity Tools
This section spotlights a few interactive tools. These pages don’t provide optimization
tools per se, such as meta tag generators. Rather, these gadgets check
on the results of your optimization efforts in two areas:
 Keyword verification, which checks a URL’s presence on the results
pages of several search engines, when searching for certain keywords
 Link popularity, which checks the number of incoming links to a URL, as
viewed through multiple search engines
Marketleap Keyword Verification tool
www.marketleap.com/verify
Marketleap.com provides an integrated set of optimization checks. The two
tools described here are beautifully designed and create elegant displays of
results. These gadgets are free to use.
Figure 16-2 shows the Keyword Verification tool. It tells you whether your site
(or specific page) is returned in the search results of 11 major search engines
and, if so, on what search results page it appears. (The definition of a results
page is not provided; my experiments indicate that a page probably equals 10
results.)
Follow these steps:
1. Enter a URL.
If you’re checking an inner page of your site, you don’t need to enter the
full address of that page, although it doesn’t hurt to do so. Marketleap
finds inner-page matches to your keywords to whatever extent the tested
search engines can find them.
2. Enter a keyword or phrase.
Type whatever you’ve optimized for, as if a Google user were searching for
that phrase. You’re likely to get more encouraging results if you enter a
phrase, not a single word. Placing quotes around the phrase, for an exact
match to word order, creates more hits, but doesn’t necessarily create a
realistic report of your site’s visibility to the average Google user.
288 Part V: The Part of Tens
3. Enter the displayed access code.
Simply type the code that appears in colored letters. Forcing users to
replicate the code prevents this tool from being overused by automated
scripts.
4. Click the Generate Report button.
A moment after the results first appear, they’re redrawn in a table, as
shown in Figure 16-3.
Note in Figure 16-3 that some engines match your keywords with a targeted
inner page (in this example, the page that’s best optimized for the keyword
phrase), and other engines can’t see that deeply. Google has crawled the site
carefully, but AltaVista has not.
Marketleap doesn’t check any engines beyond the third page. If your page
doesn’t appear in the results table, the omission is not necessarily an indicator
that your page has not been crawled by that engine. However, it does indicate
that the page is not optimized powerfully for that engine. In the context
of this book, Google is the top priority, so all is well with the results shown in
Figure 16-3.
Figure 16-2:
The
Marketleap
Keyword
Verification
tool, ready
to search
the engines
for a site’s
visibility
against
keywords.
Chapter 16: Ten Site Optimization Resources 289
Marketleap Link Popularity Check
www.marketleap.com/publinkpop
Marketleap’s second optimization tool measures your incoming link network
(see Chapter 3). In an attractive twist, this little engine also lets you compare
your main link with three comparison URLs, as shown in Figure 16-4.
Finally — and this goes above the call of duty — the results page fills in gaps
by supplying total incoming links for many other URLs, providing a broad
context in which to evaluate your site. The result can be discouraging, but
here goes:
1. Enter your site’s URL, and then enter three comparison URLs.
In both cases, enter the exact page you want to compare, with the
understanding that in most cases it should be the home, or index, page.
Most incoming links aim straight for the front door. However, if you have
been optimizing and networking an inner page, this is the place to check
out the results.
Figure 16-3:
Results
of the
Keyword
Verification
test. Some
engines see
the inner
page; some
do not.
290 Part V: The Part of Tens
2. Select an industry from the drop-down list.
This selection determines the nature of the fill-in sites that Marketleap
provides on the results page. The more accurately you choose the industry,
the more meaningful the context of your results.
3. Enter the access code.
Again, this step blocks automated scripts.
4. Click the Generate Report button.
Wait a few seconds for the results to appear on your screen. This tool is
usually slower than the Keyword Verification device.
Figure 16-5 illustrates a results table. You see only part of the table; the
comparison results continue down the page, ending with media juggernaut
CNN.com and its impressive 6.6 million backlinks.
Note that Google often shows fewer incoming links than the other four search
engines in the table. It can be a shock to think that your site’s hard-won backlinks
are incompletely represented in Google. Actually, Google doesn’t necessarily
divulge all incoming links in its index for a given page.
Figure 16-4:
The Link
Popularity
Check,
ready to
compare
the backlink
totals of four
sites in five
search
engines.
Chapter 16: Ten Site Optimization Resources 291
Google excludes similar results, which, in many cases, means inner pages of
sites. Those inner pages might be in your own site, if you generate a lot of your
own incoming links (most sites do). Furthermore, Google (at its discretion)
excludes the display of incoming links with low PageRanks. The result of these
omissions can make it seem that other engines do a better job of assessing a
site’s backlink network. That might or might not be true in any given crawl
cycle. The more common truth is that Google withholds some results of some
searches using the link: operator. Google explicitly warns Webmasters not to
trust the link: operator (used here for Google’s column in the results table)
for a full backlink picture. The value of this table lies in the comparisons it
affords.
From the search results table, use the drop-down menu to run the search
again against a different industry.
Mike’s Link Popularity Checker
www.mikes-marketing-tools.com/link-popularity/
An alternative to the Marketleap tool described in the preceding section, Mike’s
backlink checker does not include results from HotBot but adds Teoma to the
mix. Google, of course, is included. The results are packaged in an attractive
Figure 16-5:
The Link
Popularity
Check
results
table. You
can search
again
against a
different
comparison
industry.
292 Part V: The Part of Tens
table, and several preset sites from diverse industries are checked along with
yours, for comparison, as shown in Figure 16-6. Google is one of those comparative
sites — notice that Google’s assessment of its own backlink network
is much lower than the networks of MSN, AllTheWeb, and AltaVista.
Mike’s backlink checker conveniently remembers the five URLs you last
searched. Each search after your first includes the results for your previous
five searches.
When you get to the page listed in the URL, scroll down a bit to find the Link
Popularity Check button and URL entry box.
TopSiteListings.com
http://www.topsitelistings.com/optimization.php
TopSiteListings is an optimization consultancy with an abundance of do-ityourself
information on the site. The preceding link leads you directly to a
section of the News & Article archive devoted to optimization.
Figure 16-6:
Results of
Mike’s Link
Popularity
Checker.
Chapter 16: Ten Site Optimization Resources 293
These articles are for serious, technically minded Webmasters. The articles
don’t shy away from thorny subjects such as dynamic page optimization and
using your server logs as optimization indicators. Mathematical formulas are
sometimes used to convey a point. This archive might be the spot where you
find answers to nagging questions, such as how to optimize a graphical site
without devolving to all text, thus destroying its look and feel. TopSiteListings,
as a company, responds quickly to Google emergencies such as the late-2003
algorithm change that sent many top listings plummeting down the search
results page. Bookmark this page and check it often. New articles are posted
weekly, more or less.
SEO Consultants Directory
www.seoconsultants.com/
SEO Consultants is what it says it is, and more. Although the site focuses on
SEO issues, the company also consults on the larger field of search engine
marketing. The directory published at this site is excellent. Click the SEO
Resources button in the left navigation panel to get started.
This site provides a definite rarity: a Froogle optimization tutorial. Click the
Froogle SEO button in the left navigation bar. If that button doesn’t exist
when you read this, try the following link:
www.seoconsultants.com/articles/1383/froogle-optimization.htm
Search Engine World Tools
www.searchengineworld.com/misc/tools.htm
Search Engine World is a terrific search marketing resource that every
Webmaster should know about. Here, I want to point you to three tools
related to optimization.
Webpage Size Checker
You don’t need a special tool to see the file size of your Web page; a quick
glance on your hard drive can tell you that. But this gadget gives you more
than just the raw file size, as shown in Figure 16-7.
294 Part V: The Part of Tens
Below the Total WebPage Size in the results table are three related statistics:
Visible Text Size, Size of HTML Tags, and Text to HTML Ratio. In Figure 16-7,
you can see that the text in the HTML tags (all of which are listed below the
table) outsizes the text on the page body by more than two to one. Troubling?
Well, it depends on the page’s intent. Low text-to-HTML ratios often indicate
pages hosting many links, because links take up a lot of HTML space. So a
directory page, for example, should have a low text-to-HTML ratio.
The next three statistics in Figure 16-7 are also related to each other: Number
of Images, Largest Image Size, and Size of All Images. From the standpoint of
usability and optimization, you want these numbers to be low: few images
(because the Google crawler doesn’t understand what the images are saying),
small images, and low total size of images (for the user’s benefit when loading
the page).
Sim Spider
Sim Spider presents a view of any Web page as a search engine spider sees it.
Spiders also crunch the page down into a compressed index form, which you
don’t see.
Figure 16-7:
The
Webpage
Size
Checker
results.
Chapter 16: Ten Site Optimization Resources 295
Figure 16-8 shows what Sim Spider looks like after it has finished surveying
a page. The illustration shows only a small part of a moderate-sized page.
Beneath the text summary is an inventory of every link on the page. You can
launch a Sim Spider crawl through that link with a single click.
Keyword Density Analyzer
The Keyword Density Analyzer, shown in Figure 16-9, is frequently used by
Webmasters who optimize. This famous, indispensable gadget crawls whatever
page you put into it and computes the frequency with which your chosen keywords
appear on the page. Keyword density is usually regarded as a crucial
optimization consideration. Generally, the more dense, the better. This means
that the more instances of your keywords on the page, the more readily Google
can understand what the page is about and rank it accurately. However, too
many mentions of a keyword can be interpreted as spam by Google, serving
to lower the page’s rank rather than raise it.
Figure 16-8:
Sim Spider
results,
summarizing
a Web page
with all formatting
and
graphics
removed.
296 Part V: The Part of Tens
Figure 16-9 shows this tool just before launching a search. Note the following:
 It is important to include the page title, meta keywords, and meta description
in the analysis. Remember that the density should be much higher
in those fields.
 The default word length is set to four letters and above; this is reasonable.
I’ve never changed it.
 Using the stop word list prevents small words from mucking up your
results. Click the stop word list link to see a complete list of excluded
words.
 For a general analysis of every word that appears on your page, select
the radio button next to Ignore the following word list. To analyze specific
keywords, select the radio button next Include only the following word
list, and then enter your keywords in the box.
Figure 16-10 shows the keyword density results. Note that the engine analyzes
all possible variations of your keywords, even if they make no sense. Those
tables can be ignored.
Figure 16-9:
The
Keyword
Density
Analyzer
before
launching
an analysis.
Chapter 16: Ten Site Optimization Resources 297
JimWorld
www.jimworld.com
Another articles-and-forums site, JimWorld is stronger in the latter department.
A slim but useful selection of articles leads to a fine optimization forum
featuring four major discussion areas and about 60,000 messages divided into
some 8000 topics. Registration is free.
Figure 16-10:
A Keyword
Density
analysis.
298 Part V: The Part of Tens
Finding SEO forums
Optimization results are hard-won, involving
fastidious work and patience while waiting for
its rewards. Community forums are wonderful
places for would-be and experienced optimizers
to visit. Finding a home in one or more of
these forums gives you someplace to go when
you need a question answered. Beyond that
convenience, the message boards make good
and informative reading.
The best communities maintain a topical focus
broader than just site optimization, ranging over
the spectrum of search engine marketing. Here
are two that cover optimization issues within
their diverse marketing topics:
 www.webmasterworld.com
 www.ihelpyouservices.com/forums
Eric Ward
www.ericward.com/articles
Eric Ward is a link-building specialist, and this site is a must-bookmark for any
Webmaster who focuses on the networking aspect of Google optimization.
Because Google plainly states that backlink networking is the single most
important factor in PageRank, every Webmaster should be concerned with
incoming links. An astonishing persistence of focus on backlinks creates the
most concentrated resource site on this crucial topic I’ve ever seen. Tons of
articles explore every angle of creating backlinks. Legal issues of deep-linking
are covered. Guest writers contribute generously.
SEO Directory
www.seolist.com
This optimization directory seeks to be a topical link farm, but that aspect
isn’t as important as its articles. The site is young, and the selection of articles
is a bit sparse. Let’s hope it grows with an emphasis on the editorial side.