9/30/2005 09:34:00 PM|W|P|Sage|W|P|Here are the latest numbers: Search Engine Blog.com - Search Engine Marketing News, Views & Rants: Top Search Engines in September|W|P|112813406044493540|W|P|Top Search Engines in September|W|P|sagerock@gmail.com9/28/2005 10:25:00 AM|W|P|Sage|W|P|It seems that Martha Stewart's Apprentice show as an optimizer in its midst. That might help continue to push the awareness scale a bit. Search Marketer A Candidate On The Apprentice|W|P|112792115629479107|W|P|Search Marketer A Candidate On The Apprentice|W|P|sagerock@gmail.com9/28/2005 10:22:00 AM|W|P|Sage|W|P|This topic doesn't overly excite me in that I am not usually a big conspiracy theorist when it comes to the engines doing some highly covert manipulation of their listings. I think we give all large organizations too much credit when we suspect them of being able to do something so coniving and spectacular as to be able to control our lives to such an extent as some would like to believe. There's probably not some big "hijacking" of Yahoo listings going on, as Danny Sullivan points out below. But what's interesting is what he points out here:
As for the ranking, paid inclusion URLs are given a quality score checkoff, and that can help with rankings. Some non-paid inclusion URLs are also given it, but that's more random. The checkoff for any site isn't a guarantee, but it can help. All the more reason why people may want to do paid inclusion at Yahoo -- or all the more reason Yahoo might want to elminated that, because of the trust issues involved.
Paid Inclusion Making Yahoo Results Seem Hijacked? Don't write off paid inclusion. It can be a handy way to get good ranking at Yahoo.|W|P|112792097247915411|W|P|Paid Inclusion Making Yahoo Results Seem Hijacked?|W|P|sagerock@gmail.com9/27/2005 02:42:00 PM|W|P|Sage|W|P|Here are some of the more interesting numbers:
  • Advertisers spent $5.8 billion to place ads online this year
    • a 26 percent increase compared with the first six months of 2004
  • Spending on search-related ads reached $2.3 billion
    • a 27 percent increase compared with the same period last year
  • Search ads accounted for 40 percent of Internet ad sales, in line with last year
  • Advertisers spent nearly $3 billion online in the second quarter alone
    • 26 percent increase over the same period last year
  • Online ads that incorporate streaming video or audio accounted for just 8 percent of online ad revenue in the first half of the year
    • but are among the fastest-growing segments
    • Spending on these "rich media" ads grew 26 percent
    Internet ad revenue climbs 26 percent | Tech News on ZDNet|W|P|112785014244391570|W|P|Internet ad revenue climbs 26 percent | Tech News on ZDNet|W|P|sagerock@gmail.com9/26/2005 10:44:00 AM|W|P|Sage|W|P|This is very interesting. This site draws a map of a specified zip code on top of a Google Maps area. It must take people who organize that sort of thing a lot of effort to lay out zip codes the way they do. Click for a zip code picture|W|P|112774945205360682|W|P|Zip Code Mapper|W|P|sagerock@gmail.com9/26/2005 08:19:00 AM|W|P|Sage|W|P|This is an interesting topic for me. The position and the message of the optimizer is really lowsy. Search engine optimization, as this article finds, is a better performer than pay per click. But it doesn't matter. People prefer ppc because it's easier... and, I think, because they feel like they are paying for something that they don't really know will work or not.
    For those new to the search engine marketing space, it would seem logical to conclude that based on the vast number of marketers participating in PPC advertising that it would be a more lucrative channel than search engine optimization, which is known to involve a lot of work,� says Murray. �But the numbers speak for themselves.
    InternetRetailer.com - Daily News for Wednesday, September 14, 2005|W|P|112774074190889331|W|P|SEO Out Performs PPC|W|P|sagerock@gmail.com9/24/2005 06:28:00 PM|W|P|Sage|W|P|"MarketingSherpa cites Merrill Lynch data that the U.S. total SEO spending rose 177 percent over the last 12 months. The study projects the growth will continue, but at a slower pace." It continues to be a good time to be in Search Engine Marketing SEM Sees Optimization PPC|W|P|112760450755644369|W|P|SEO spending rose 177 percent|W|P|sagerock@gmail.com9/20/2005 07:00:00 PM|W|P|Sage|W|P|Alright folks, this is how it's all going to go down. Matt is giving the details as what to expect if Google has found that you triggered a spam penalty: Matt Cutts: - The Google Spam Penalty Aler|W|P|112726085975530079|W|P|Matt Cutts: - The Google Spam Penalty Alert|W|P|sagerock@gmail.com9/20/2005 06:54:00 PM|W|P|Sage|W|P|Well look at this, SageRock is only one month younger than iProspect. I knew I felt a kindred spirit with those guys. Domain Back Links Domain Age http://www.sagerock.com 8,420 20-nov-1999 http://www.iprospect.com 14,600 19-oct-1999 http://www.oneupweb.com 3,980 27-oct-1998 http://www.bruceclay.com 117,000 24-jan-1997 |W|P|112726048348459767|W|P|Domain Age of SageRock and Some Fellow SEOers.|W|P|sagerock@gmail.com9/20/2005 06:50:00 PM|W|P|Sage|W|P|I've become quite a fan of Jim Boykin's blog. He's got some really good insight. Check out these two tools put out by webuildwebpages.com. They are Age and Links Analysis Tools. Jim has a theory that the age of a site plays a bigger role in coming to the top of the engines than people might have previously thought. These two tools make checking that really easy: Jim�s SEO Thoughts - New Age of Website SEO Tools|W|P|112726024806977259|W|P|Jim�s SEO Thoughts - Age and Links Analysis Tools|W|P|sagerock@gmail.com9/20/2005 06:01:00 PM|W|P|Sage|W|P|Just the confirmation from Google engineers that this sandbox thing does exist is a relief. I've been on the "does exist" side for quite some time. It exists. Case closed. Get back to writing content and focusing on making your site great. The search engines will take care of themselves. Confirmation From Google That The Sandbox Does Exist|W|P|112725727452292216|W|P|Confirmation From Google That The Sandbox Does Exist|W|P|sagerock@gmail.com9/20/2005 10:48:00 AM|W|P|Sage|W|P|I haven't read this yet. But it's been well reviewed. This pdf gives some insight into key phrase research... especially for niche key phrases. Key phrase research is by far the most important part of a search marketing strategy. Any research in this arena is always welcome. Check it out here: Keyword Research Guide Oh yeah, and it's free.|W|P|112723128043763286|W|P|Free Keyword Research Guide By Wordtracker|W|P|sagerock@gmail.com9/18/2005 04:32:00 PM|W|P|Sage|W|P|If you have fallen out of Google, here's the official response as how to get back in: Matt Cutts: Filing a reinclusion request at Google|W|P|112707917853206726|W|P|Matt Cutts: Filing a reinclusion request at Google|W|P|sagerock@gmail.com9/16/2005 06:37:00 PM|W|P|Sage|W|P|Spiritual Marketing: Free Press release distribution|W|P|112691382403832651|W|P|Free Press release distribution|W|P|sagerock@gmail.com10/08/2005 01:57:00 PM|W|P|Anonymous Anonymous|W|P|I found also that PR.com is an excellent Free Press Release Distribution Service and Business Marketplace. It is also a directory of businesses, products, services, jobs, articles and more.10/08/2005 05:43:00 PM|W|P|Blogger Sage|W|P|That's a good one. Thanks for posting.9/16/2005 06:33:00 PM|W|P|Sage|W|P|"This theory holds that trying to rank high for 'blue widgets' with a site registered in 2005 certainly can be done�but it will probably take a few years, if, during those years you�ve been working your butt off creating great content and gathering as many links as you can to your site." This is a pretty interesting theory. I would suspect that he's really on to something here. "The key is links over time." Jim�s SEO Thoughts ? Blog Archive ? I like �em old.|W|P|112691360080672152|W|P|Jim�s SEO Thoughts - Age Of A Web Site and Ranking|W|P|sagerock@gmail.com9/16/2005 08:38:00 AM|W|P|Sage|W|P|
    SEO Still a Tiny Portion of Total Search Marketing Spend -- Most companies are pouring money into paid search (pay per click). A far smaller percentage goes to optimizing web pages so that they show up better in the organic search results. The reason? Search optimization is considered too complex and so apparently executives find it easier to ignore SEO. Sounds to me like an opportunity for the SEO firms to improve their marketing messages.
    The message definitely needs to be improved. Our positioning is really problematic too. Optimizers are seen as one person shops in some guy's basement. It doesn't have a tremendous amount of credibility. Small Business Trends: Top Trends in Search Marketing|W|P|112687791095603856|W|P|Small Business Trends: Top Trends in Search Marketing|W|P|sagerock@gmail.com9/19/2005 10:16:00 PM|W|P|Blogger Anita Campbell|W|P|Of course, the good news is that there is plenty of upside opportunity.

    And if other SEOs don't "get it," then those like you who do should have a field day with easy pickings.

    Best,
    Anita9/20/2005 07:10:00 AM|W|P|Blogger Sage|W|P|Hi Anita,

    Thanks for writing. I keep your blog in my bloglines rss feed reader.

    You are definitely my kind of thinker. There is always great opportunity where others find difficulty.9/16/2005 07:09:00 AM|W|P|Sage|W|P|Granted, it would be scarey to get this letter... that you are being removed from Google. But on the other hand, it's going to be nice to know that it's happening. It will give you a chance to correct your mistakes. Their first trial notice is for JavaScript redirects. The next is for hidden text. I'm intererested to see how this all pans out. Google Will Notify You That Your Are Being Removed|W|P|112687258756623342|W|P|Google Will Notify You That Your Are Being Removed|W|P|sagerock@gmail.com9/15/2005 07:12:00 AM|W|P|Sage|W|P|If you haven't heard yet, Google has just unveiled, Google blog search. It is a live updating engine. So everything is extremely fresh. "We look for sites that update pinging services, and then we crawl in real-time so that we can serve up search results that are as fresh as we can," said Goldman. You can check out the search engine here: Google Blog Search Chris Sherman does a very good overview of Google Blog Search here: Google Launches Industrial Strength Blog Search Search Engine Watch has put together a list of blogs talking about the Google Blog Search tool, if you are interested in hearing all the buzz: Roundup Of Google Blog Search Commentary Happy blog searching! |W|P|112678635390889660|W|P|Blogs about Google Blog Search|W|P|sagerock@gmail.com9/14/2005 02:20:00 PM|W|P|Sage|W|P|I have become quite a fan of Bob Parsons... the owner of Go Daddy. He was a marine, built and sold a wildly successful company - Parsons Technology - and now is running Go Daddy. They were the only people to try something bold as a commercial in last year's Super Bowl. He has an interesting blog here: Hot Points � A blog by Go Daddy founder and president Bob Parsons He spends a lot of time on his blog and consequently he has some really inspiring and helpful advice. His most recent post I've found applies to so many areas of life... not the least of which is marketing. The secret John D. Rockefeller used to build Standard Oil. He's talking about tracking. He's an avid tracker of his business. He writes:
    I learned that Mr. Rockefeller was one of the few people in his industry (perhaps the only one) who knew exactly how much it cost to extract, refine and deliver a barrel of oil. In fact, he was entirely aware of all his costs. Knowing this information (and acting on it) gave him a huge competitive advantage. He knew how much he could price a barrel of oil for and still turn a profit.
    Tracking is definitely not the most glamorous part of marketing. It's not going to directly make your phone ring, it isn't going to give you the nice shiny ad in your trade magazine and it's not going to get you to the top of the search engines. But without tracking, all of those actions are probably costing you too much money. If you are like the majority of businesses, you probably can't tell someone right away where all of your clients came from. You'll likely say, most of your business comes from "Referrals". That could very well be true. But what referrals? Are there people or companines that are generating leads for you more often than others? It's really easy to do. In fact, we've put together a tracking spreadsheet that you can download here:Marketing Tracking Spreadsheet. It's in a zip file. Just unzip it and you should be ready to go. It should be pretty straight forward. This is how the spreadsheet is laid out:
    • In Column A record your marketing activities for the year
    • In Column B place the amount of money it cost you
    • In Column C put the costs of your labor to execute the marketing activity
    • In Column D record the # of clients you acquired through that marketing activity (if this is 0, put -1 so it won't crash the formula)
    • Column E will be generated for you and shows you how much your marketing cost per client.
    • In Column F record the total dollar amount of sales that marketing activity gave you.
    • Column G is generated for you and shows you, on average, how much money that marketing activity made per client.
    • Column H is generated for you and shows you your times return on investment.
    If you spend a little time on this, you are very likely going to be amazed at what you find out. Once you know where your best return on investment is, you can much more easily focus your marketing where it is most effective. Everything that is watched improves. This is especially true for marketing. Filling out this spreadsheet is going to go a long way in helping you become a much more effective and savvy marketer.|W|P|112653627000965645|W|P|Everything that is watched improves|W|P|sagerock@gmail.com9/14/2005 12:22:00 PM|W|P|Sage|W|P|Here's a good write up of yesterday's meeting of the Cleveland tech community. This was an impressive meeting. I'm pretty confident there has never been a single meeting of so many technology people in one room. Cleveland Tech Community Rallies to Aid New Orleans Michael DeAloia wrote to the group yesterday:
    Good-Afternoon: I just wanted to thank everyone who attended the Tech Meeting today as we defined the scope and need of IT support and aid for the New Orleans area. I believe the final numbers were 65+ individuals/groups in the conference room and an additional 35+ on the conference call. Never has there been an outreach like this from the regional tech community and I am very proud and touched by the efforts of all involved. Let me provide for everyone there and who could not attend the action items and things already accomplished: Website: www.tenthfloor.com/katrinarelief.com (Developed by Tenth Floor � many thanks Tony.) All aid and outreach agreed to by local companies will be placed on this website within the next few days. For those of you who could not attend or who did not have the offer form � I have attached a copy. Please feel free to fax it (216.664.3681) to my attention or send it to me (mdealoia@city.cleveland.oh.us). I will make sure that all data is placed on the site. Proposed Aid: The following six categories are what we are willing and able to provide to the New Orleans region immediately: I. Help Desk: If you would like to coordinate help to this silo please connect with Joe Smucny of Perceptis @ 216.533.3028 or joe.smucny@percpetis.com. II. Crisis Communication: We have created a team that will aid New Orleans region companies in their communications as well as helping us deploy our message to them. If you would like to coordinate help to this silo please connect with Matt Ziaja of Business Wire @ 216.781.5830 or matt.ziaja@businesswire.com. III. Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity: If you would like to coordinate help to this silo please connect with Michael Bennett of BlueBridge Networks @ 216.346.0156 or mbennett@bbnllc.com. IV. Website Infrastructure: If you would like to coordinate help to this silo please connect with Tony Pietrocola of Tenth Floor @ 216.575.1010 or tonyp@tenthfloor.com. V. Software Deployment: If you would like to coordinate help to this silo please connect with Joe Lamantia of e-Ventus @ 216.643.6840 or jlmantia@e-ventus.com. VI. Physical Space/Relocation: We are dedicated to getting not just the tech companies but all companies from the affected region up and running as quickly as possible. Cleveland has the capacity and infrastructure to make this happen post haste. To help coordinate any and all efforts here please connect with Brian Lenahan of Colliers @ 216.861.5380 or brian.lenahan@colliers.com. Contact: We talked extensively this morning with Mark Lewis, President of the Louisiana Technology Counsel on ways to help. It was decided to help Mark develop a monkey survey that can be sent to over 3,000 business owners, leaders and entrepreneurs in the New Orleans region. Jim Cookinham of NEOSA will be leading this effort. If you would like to help Jim in any way or have some tremendous insights please connect with him at 216.621.3300 or at jimc@neosa.org. The survey should be finished by tomorrow and results will be sent to all parties connected with this email. Leadership Contacts: Please feel free to contact the following individuals with comments, questions or ideas: Jim Cookinham of NEOSA @ 216.621.3300 or jimc@neosa.org. Michael DeAloia of City of Cleveland @ 216.664.3644 or mdealoia@city.cleveland.oh.us Cathy Panzica of Thompson Hine @ 216.566.5500 or cathy.panzica@thompsonhine.com Other Action Items: SUGAR Software: David Moss of the Cleveland Institute of Art is working on getting this software so that we can communicate between our selves better and so we can manage all projects that come through the new website. Other Points of Contact: PLEASE forward any points of contact in New Orleans that can benefit from this aid/support. Matt Ziaja is researching how to connect with the cell phone carriers so that we can in the future not only send out email blasts but cell phone blasts as well. I will be coordinating a next meeting after the results of the monkey survey are received. If I missed anything or anyone, please let me know. Again the efforts are fantastic. And what we have here, I believe, is a model that we can now apply to any disaster (God forbid) in the future. Cleveland�s tech community will always be ready to help and now will have the methods to get that support to any region quickly and efficiently. I have never been so proud in my life. Many, many thanks to all of you. PLEASE FORWARD TO ANYONE I MIGHT HAVE MISSED.
    This is a very noble effort. And there was no doubt that many people are chomping at the bit to help. There's a lot of really strong personalities in this group. It is going to take some finesse to get them all moving in the same direction. I think it can be done. But it's not going to be overly easy.|W|P|112671854785664411|W|P|Cleveland Tech Community Rallies to Aid New Orleans|W|P|sagerock@gmail.com9/13/2005 07:41:00 AM|W|P|Sage|W|P|
    PS: Look deep into my eyes. You are feeling sleepy. You need Bloglines. Or some other aggregator. Really. You'll love it :)"
    Search Engine Blog.com - Search Engine Marketing News, Views & Rants: Search Community Still Doesn't Get RSS" He's right. In the last couple weeks, I've tried bloglines and it literally has changed how I surf the net. I'm much more efficient and I can cover a wider array of topics. I would have never had time to know this post existed, for example, if it hadn't been for bloglines.com RSS is truly a disruptive technology. Give it a try.|W|P|112661531394135052|W|P|Search Engine Blog.com - Search Community Still Doesn't Get RSS|W|P|sagerock@gmail.com9/09/2005 12:04:00 PM|W|P|Sage|W|P|Giovanni Gallucci over at The Agency Blog (a Zunch property) talks a bit about blog litigation that potentially is coming down the pipe. He also mentions the idea of having a blog policy in your handbook for this. His, like ours, is quite open ended. I'm a firm believer that innovation comes from chaos. Having too much of a will on what people can and cannot say in their blog is not a great long term strategy for a company with our culture. The Agency Blog: The Rise of Employee Bloggers - Some Good Some Bad|W|P|112628548579592847|W|P|The Agency Blog: The Rise of Employee Bloggers |W|P|sagerock@gmail.com9/08/2005 08:03:00 PM|W|P|Sage|W|P|This is such a handy article for me because I had a client ask me why there haven't been any changes in the number of links at Google. Matt Cutts is an engineer at Google. Here's the jist:
    We only export new backlinks, PageRank, or directory data every three months or so though. (We started doing that last year when too many SEOs were suffering from �B.O.�, short for backlink obsession.) When new backlinks/PageRank appear, we�ve already factored that into our rankings quite a while ago. So new backlinks/PageRank are fun to see, but it�s not an update; it�s just already-factored-in data being exported visibly for the first time in a while.
    You can read the whole thing here: Matt Cutts: Gadgets, Google, and SEO ? What�s an update?|W|P|112622781364172430|W|P|Google Update Gilligan: What�s an update?|W|P|sagerock@gmail.com9/08/2005 02:00:00 PM|W|P|Sage|W|P|I just got an email from Michael DeAloia. He is putting together an emergency tech support meeting on Tuesday September 13, 2005. It's a clever idea and it's a great way for all of us who would like to help fellow Americans in a time of need. Please pass this message on to any technology person in Cleveland or Akron who you think might be interested. Even a search engine optimizer has a place in this kind of thing. Look how many people are bidding on "hurricane katrina". Everyone has a skill that could be used. Here's the email he sent:
    Good-Afternoon: Based upon numerous conversations I have had with other tech companies in the region - I wanted to connect with everyone and ask for help in supporting the tech needs of New Orleans � its businesses, non-profits, civic organizations, etc. The City of New Orleans desperately needs to get its tech infrastructure up and running, and truly there is no better infrastructure and talent than what we have in the Cleveland region. I am asking for everyone to join me and the City of Cleveland in convening an emergency meeting next Tuesday, September 13 @ 10:00am. This meeting will be held in the Board Room at Thompson Hine � located at 127 Public Square, Key Tower � 39th Floor. Immediate needs would be the following: Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity (We need to get all businesses, schools, hospitals, civic institutions live with their data as soon as possible.) Web Site Development & Hosting (We need groups to help develop, manage and host web sites for New Orleans� entities.) Software Support/Software Talent I am asking all of us to work as a team to support any and all IT needs of New Orleans, at this meeting on Tuesday we will all discuss what we are willing to provide � be it money, talent, facilities, software and other support. These are immediate needs but certainly other tech emergencies will arise and I would like for all the great tech companies in the Cleveland region to give what they can. All I ask is that we be as creative and ingenious as possible. Tenth Floor has generously agreed to build a website that will display what each and every company in the Cleveland region is willing to provide. We will use the Office of Economic Development and the Mayor�s Office to make sure the New Orleans region is aware of what is available to them. If you cannot attend, PLEASE SEND SOMEONE IN YOUR STEAD. I want us to rally like no other region in the U.S. and I want the Cleveland area to be the region that can support all of the IT needs of New Orleans. We have the capacity and the talent to make a difference like no other group. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact me at the numbers listed below or to RSVP please email me at mdealoia@city.cleveland.oh.us. I want to thank you for your time and for your support. Please forward this message to those I have missed and would like to participate in this endeavor. Regards, Michael C. DeAloia Senior Executive for Technology Support City of Cleveland 216.664.3644 (O) 216.857.2628 (M)
    |W|P|112620604234821830|W|P|Emergency Tech Support Meeting|W|P|sagerock@gmail.com9/08/2005 08:11:00 AM|W|P|Sage|W|P|And here you have it, from a Google Engineer: " For urls in Google, I would recommend using dashes. " Matt Cutts: Gadgets, Google, and SEO � Dashes vs. underscores|W|P|112618508010972141|W|P|Matt Cutts: Gadgets, Google, and SEO � Dashes vs. underscores|W|P|sagerock@gmail.com9/08/2005 07:56:00 AM|W|P|Sage|W|P|BidHero is put out by the people from ClickTracks and conveniently, it integrates with ClickTracks Pro. There's a nice review of it here by Jennifer Laycock: BidHero Brings Bid Management to the Masses BidHero currently integrates only with AdWords and Yahoo!/Overture but more engines are expected. BidHero pricing starts at $69 per month. This isn't as advanced as an Atlas One Point type of product. But it will get you in the bid management game. You can check it out here: BidHero PPC Bid Management|W|P|112618416387906156|W|P|BidHero PPC Bid Management|W|P|sagerock@gmail.com9/08/2005 07:50:00 AM|W|P|Sage|W|P|Here's a good list of known penalties that Yahoo and MSN are inflicting on sites. Make sure you are not doing these things. Search Engine Penalties at Yahoo |W|P|112618382727385176|W|P|Search Engine Penalties at Yahoo & MSN|W|P|sagerock@gmail.com9/08/2005 07:45:00 AM|W|P|Sage|W|P|Here are the top 500 blogs as reported by Feedster: Feedster (sf) :: RSS Search Engine|W|P|112618353569486575|W|P|Feedster (sf) :: RSS Search Engine|W|P|sagerock@gmail.com9/08/2005 07:32:00 AM|W|P|Sage|W|P|If you are a service business that makes sales by building relationships, pay per call might be an area for you to consider. Here's an article highlighting some success stories of companies who have used pay per call: Pay-Per-Call Wins Converts...|W|P|112618277713638520|W|P|Pay-Per-Call Is Seeing Fans|W|P|sagerock@gmail.com9/07/2005 12:37:00 PM|W|P|Sage|W|P|If you like to drive yourself crazy with this sort of thing, you should know that a Google update is going on right now. It always is cause for a lot of uproar at the forums. Here's webmasterworld: Update Gilligan : Google Update Sept 2005 And here it is at Searchenginewatch: Sept. 2005 Google Index Update On September 5, Danny Sullivan warns us to expect a big increase in the overall size of Google's Index. He writes about that here: Google About To Increase Index Size? The question is, "What does all this all mean?" Google's phallic obsession with being bigger than Yahoo is really not of much value to anyone from a searching perspective. It seems to be more of a pride issue that, once again, Google is bigger than Yahoo. It doesn't seem to interest me, particularly. But the average surfer on the web might be impressed by that type of thing. I'm not really sure. Either way, a Google update often causes tension and stress in the lives of webmasters that watch that sort of thing. And rightfully so for some. There are many people who are making entire livings out of where Google has elected to place them on the search engines. That's a real risky way to live. But it's nice while it lasts. I just thought you might like to know...|W|P|112611466675838422|W|P|Update Gilligan : Google Update Sept 2005 |W|P|sagerock@gmail.com9/07/2005 08:42:00 AM|W|P|Sage|W|P|I am getting ready for a 12 hour course spread over 4 classes all about SEO. It should be pretty comprehensive. If you are interested, you can find out more about it here: Ohio Web Marketing: Learn SEO at Cleveland State Today, I'm starting to put together a list of resources that I think the class would find particularly useful. It's mostly made up of the usual suspects. But if you happen to think of any others you think they should know about, drop me a comment. Here's the list: Domain Age Checkers: This tool is to check age and Yahoo backlinks of the top 10 domains in Google under your specified Keyword or phrase This tool is to check age of a selection of domains and the Yahoo backlinks Backlink Checker: This tool is to check your backlinks and the anchor text used in those backlinks. Yahoo Site Explorer - more comprehensive information about a particular site than any engine has put out so far. SBC Yahoo! Site Explorer Site Explorer allows you to explore all the web pages indexed by Yahoo! Search. View the most popular pages from any site, dive into a comprehensive site map, and find pages that link to that site or any page. NEW! Search Engine Ranking Factors SEOmoz | Search Engine Ranking Factors - this recently has come out and I felt it was a good resource to use. NEW!Tools Free SEO Tools SEO Chat - SEO Tools NEW!Rank Checkers We Build Pages Cool SEO Tool Check the top 10 sites in Google and shows pages indexed (google/yahoo), backlinks, link domain, allinanchor rank, domain age and keyword phrase count. Search Engine Rankings - FREE! Search Engine Rankings offers instant, online reports of web site rankings in 7 top search engines, including Google, Yahoo! Search, MSN, AOL, Teoma (Ask Jeeves), AltaVista, AllTheWeb, and the top 3 web directories; Yahoo! Directory, Open Directory (Dmoz), and LookSmart - FREE! Search Engine Placement Check - Marketleap Search Engine Verification Tool Our verification tool checks to see if your site is in the top three pages of a search engine result for a specific keyword. It checks multiple engines NEW!Links to Places Where You Can Make Money On Your Site The Amazon Associates program Amazon Link Example: Sage Lewis: Ladder 49 - The Movie Commission Junction: Publisher Sign Up Publishers Info: Online marketing solutions: performance-based affiliate programs Login - Yahoo! Publisher Network Google AdSense Affiliate and Advertising Resources: WMW Advertising Sales and Affiliate Programs ReveNews Online Revenue News

    These are additional links that I have collected over the years that have struck me as valuable resources:

    |W|P|112610093567739730|W|P|SEO Resources|W|P|sagerock@gmail.com9/07/2005 07:03:00 AM|W|P|Sage|W|P|If you offer advertisement on your site, you might take a look at this program: phpAdsNew / Open-source ad server It allows you to rotate banners and buttons, pop-ups, text ads, DHTML banners and more. It also lets you track Flash banners, which can sometimes be a problem. It's targeting and capping is also pretty thorough. You can track by keyword, IP address, domain, weekday, hour of the day, language, browser or operating system. You might check it out if you've ever considered such a thing. If you like it, they ask for a donation.|W|P|112609461438479743|W|P|phpAdsNew - A free ad server for your site|W|P|sagerock@gmail.com9/06/2005 02:19:00 PM|W|P|Sage|W|P|I just added our blog to this handy small business blog directory: Small Business Blog Directory I got right in and further, it seems like a handy directory for small business blogs. Check it out.|W|P|112603435605760476|W|P|Small Business Blog Directory|W|P|sagerock@gmail.com9/06/2005 01:08:00 PM|W|P|Sage|W|P|Are you in the mood for a marketing competition? TiVo is giving away some sweet prizes if you present the best video as to why TiVo is the best. Become the TiVo Ambassador | PVRblog|W|P|112603010245057221|W|P|Become the TiVo Ambassador | PVRblog|W|P|sagerock@gmail.com9/05/2005 06:37:00 PM|W|P|Sage|W|P|You may already have checked out this blog. But if not, there is a really interesting blog coming right out of the heart of New Orleans. It's DirectNIC. It's put out by Michael "Interdictor" Barnett. You can read a good review of the whole thing here: Wired News: Flood Waters Can't Sink Net Link|W|P|112596347886120354|W|P|The Only Blog From Inside New Orleans|W|P|sagerock@gmail.com9/03/2005 09:24:00 AM|W|P|Sage|W|P|Here's a way we can all get a little extra cash from Yahoo:
    Affiliate Program Yahoo! Search Marketing continues to offer its self-service affiliate referral program for smaller publishers managed by Commission Junction. Publishers can download banners and text links to place on their site and drive referrals to Yahoo! Search Marketing. This program offers cash commissions for publishers referring new Yahoo! Search Marketing sign-ups--up to $80 per referral.
    Yahoo! Search Marketing - On Target|W|P|112575748751653565|W|P|Yahoo! Search Marketing Affiliate Program|W|P|sagerock@gmail.com9/02/2005 11:16:00 AM|W|P|Sage|W|P|In its ongoing effort to absorb everything, Google is now experimenting with reselling advertisements in PC Magazine and Maximum PC. If you are interested, you can read my theory on where MSN and Google are all headed with their purchases and experiments: SageRock: Microsoft to Acquire Teleo for VoIP - Web Marketing Blog I like this offline lead generation idea in that it fits well with how I predict marketing is going to transform in the coming years. I predict that the vast majority of marketing is going to try to push people to the web. The reason for this is simply because the greatest part of the web is its trackability. Once you get people to your web site you instantly have the highest level of tracking of any form of marketing. You can look micro, macro, any time frame... it's superior to any tracking you can do in any form of marketing. People are eventually going to stop thinking of the web as a place where their web site is. They are going to realize their web site is simply the tip of a massive analytical iceberg. The analytics will be the driving force of all their marketing. Google is heading in that direction. The print ads they buy for their clients are all going to push the visitor to the web which gets everyone into the web analytics cycle. And don't forget, Google is ready to serve you with their own analytics tool: Urchin Web Analytics: Software and On Demand services It's all a brilliantly weaved plan. You can read about the offline ad buys here: (registration required) Google Dips Into the World of Print Advertising - New York Times|W|P|112567778058261621|W|P|Buy Print Advertising Through Google|W|P|sagerock@gmail.com9/01/2005 02:23:00 PM|W|P|Sage|W|P|All Blogged Up And No Place To Go - Small Business Blog Survey This is an interesting survey done to see how successful people felt blogging was for their business. 57% of respondents claimed they had no plans to blog in the near future. That's not surprising. I've found that marketing is something a lot of companies don't really get. And those that do, really do. It probably follow that 43% to 57% ratio pretty nicely. Here's the trick to blogging. If you want it to be successful... You have to do it regularly. This is good information to back up what we try to let people know.
    A telling fact came to light however when considering only those who said they posted to their blog anywhere from 3 times a week to once a day. In this group the marketing benefits soared. 39 percent claimed that search engine traffic grew, 18 percent stated that leads were generated and 11 percent could attribute sales activity directly to their blog. Another key point made repeatedly by this group in open ended responses was the fact that their �expert status� in a chosen industry was enhanced. Jantsch added, �The benefits of blogging are immense and those that get that, and take advantage of it, will win long term.� While the marketing benefits of blogging may be questioned in some circles it is clear that those who approach marketing as a serious business building tool and commit to blogging on a regular basis seem to gain the most from this technology.
    All Blogged Up And No Place To Go - Small Business Blog Survey|W|P|112560258016823298|W|P|Small Business Blog Survey - Post 1-3 Times a Week or Forget It|W|P|sagerock@gmail.com9/01/2005 11:45:00 AM|W|P|Sage|W|P|I'm not going to promote this very heavily. But if you, for whatever reason, need a keyword frequency counter, you can use one we have set up here: Keyword Frequency Counter by SageRock.com|W|P|112559315754442921|W|P|Keyword Frequency Counter by SageRock.com|W|P|sagerock@gmail.com