CrankyDave

There’s been many discussions on the value of web directory links of late. Directories being devalued and pages being removed from their index. Do directory links still have value and can they drive visitors and potential customers to your site? In a word, yes.

It’s important to realize that not all directories are created equal and not all of them are necessarily quality directories providing solid resources and quality links. The question is, what is a quality directory and how can you tell?

First things first. For those of you using the Google toolbar and the “little green PR indicator”, turn it off. That’s right, disable it, and turn it off. Look at and analyze the directory for what it is and what it delivers to the visitors of the site. No cheating, turn it off at take a closer look at the things that really matter. How well is the directory categorized? Do the descriptions actually describe the site or are they simply advertisements? Is the directory providing quality listings or is it “come one come all”?

One in particular I like is the Crosswalk Directory. It’s a general niche directory that targets the religious conscious searcher looking for Christian related or owned businesses, Ministries or Churches. Well maintained and categorized and can drive targeted traffic and is what I would consider a quality resource for visitors.

Deep Link Directories

Deep link directories are a viable way to help get pages that are deep within a site indexed as well as direct visitors right to the most important informational and resource pages deep within a site. Again, the quality of the directory and what it provides to the visitor matters.

There’s of nice lists of directories that accept deep links you can find at the Directory Critic. Remember, do your own due diligence and decide for yourself whether or not the links being listed are quality resources that you want a link to YOUR site to be included.

As an example, the Deep-Link-Directory.com, one that appears to be very new, is well categorized, is a PPR deep link directory where inclusions are reviewed by an actual editor and makes it clear that not all submissions are approved and appears to focus on the quality and relevance of the links they include.

As far as I’m concerned, directory submissions and links from directory remain an excellent opportunity to facilitate indexing and drive valuable traffic to your website. Google still suggests submitting websites to directories. Just make sure you take the time to evaluate the site or directory where you’d like your link included.

Finally, for those of you who actually did turn off or disable the “little green fuel gauge” as I suggested earlier, go ahead and fire it back up if you’re going through withdrawals. Hopefully, you’ll have a little bit better insight and perspective into actually evaluating a site or directory for what it is and what it delivers to visitors. For those of you who didn’t… guess you have to hope it never gets turned off or becomes obsolete.

Dave

Is there such a thing as writing naturally for SEO purposes and benefits?

Seems like a silly question doesn’t it? Well, I guess it just surprises me a bit when the subject comes up, gets debated, and usually ends up with someone checking the keyword density and arriving at a ranking conclusion based entirely on that.

MJTaylor over at WPW asked this very question in a recent thread…

Is it possible to write naturally and optimize for the search engines?

Well of course it is!

Look folks, for just a minute, hide all of your tools, especially that keyword density checker. Yes, even your spellchecker… use a dictionary.

Now pick a subject, any one at all and simply write. Write as if you’re actually having a conversation with someone. Simply write naturally. Once you’re finished, reread what you’ve written and make any additions or changes and title it. Remember… NO TOOLS! Just your brain. File it and forget it for the time being.

Now, pick another totally different subject. Use all the writing tools, density checkers, thesaurus, keyword suggestors that you want. Make all the changes you want and title it. Finished?

Okay, give both pages to someone to read and ask them what they honestly think. You may find yourself surprised at to which page they preferred reading.

Don’t get me wrong, there are tools that can help you when you’re writing for SEO but far too often, people rely solely upon those tools to determine the final product, adding keywords, phrases and text to SATISFY THE TOOL AND NOT THE READER.

Write naturally first. It’s far more pleasing to read than a page that was obviously written with SEO and ranking as its primary purpose. It’s easy to spot those from a mile away and is often no fun to read because the key phrases and related phrases are stuffed into the text every time a “tool” tells the writer to do so.

Natural writing for SEO can have even more benefits than what’s simply on the surface. Interesting and fun writing, even when it may not be the “best” writing, keeps people’s attention. They’re more likely to read it instead of skimming and more likely to read other things you’ve written. More likely to tell other people about it and more likely to link to it.

Dave

It seems every time I turn around I find yet another reason as to why SEO is a dirty word. Not surprisingly, that reason is exactly the same as almost all the others.

Take a look at this thread titled SEO for Google on WWS. A straight forward very basic question asked by folks new to SEO all the time. Basically…

“How do I rank well in Google?”

Innocent enough right? Wrong! Look again. Take a close look at the original poster’s profile and the website they list. What a surprise. Yet another company selling SEO services asking for very basic help in doing what they sell. Yes, I did consider that this may be another of those (cough) “creative” spam posts made simply in a effort to get the URL or link out there. However, any SEO company worth their salt would not have “stupidity” associated with the services they sell.

No small wonder that SEO is fast becoming a dirty word with help like that.

No, I don’t want to get into yet another prolonged debate about how “easy” SEO is supposed to be. But I do have a simple question for those who “think” it is…

If SEO is so damned easy how come there are so many people or companies selling the service that don’t have a clue as to how to do it?

Riddle me THAT Batman.

Dave

Get your website on millions of desktops with a Vista Sidebar Gadget.

Windows Vista has what’s called a sidebar which is installed and turned on by default. From the moment someone first turns on their computer they can install a variety of different gadgets directly, and easily from the Windows Live Gallery.

These gadgets can be made to do just about anything you like. From simply displaying the time and date, to providing timely tips and useful information directly to the user right on their desktop. A gadget that provides a direct link to your site right from their desktop.

Microsoft estimates that in the next two years, the Vista user base will swell to 200 million users. That’s 200 million potential users that could install YOUR gadget. That’s 200 million reasons why marketing your website should now include a Vista Sidebar Gadget.

Personally, I see an extraordinary marketing potential that’s still in its infancy. By providing a unique and useful sidebar gadget, you can get targeted traffic directly to your website from millions of computer desktops. Clearly, the folks at Gadget Spark agree. They can design and develop a sidebar gadget exactly to your specifications AND get it listed on the Microsoft Windows Live Gallery for you.

I’m very interested in seeing just how much traffic my sidebar gadget drives and what kind of conversions I get from that traffic.

Dave

What is Polite SEO?

Well, it’s another of those ultra low competitive phrases that some folks like to rank for and then wildly flap their arms and stamp their feet shouting… “SEO is Easy!”

Generally I find that folks who think ranking for terms, like Polite SEO, either…

1. Don’t understand what SEO today really is.
2. Don’t know how to use SEO to their advantage well enough.
3. Have some sort of “anti-SEO” service or book they’re hawking.
4. Wouldn’t know a competitive phrase if it bit them on the ass.
5. Think that dissing what they can’t do promotes their cause.
6. All of the above

Well, it seems the latest arm flapping foot stomping “poop on SEO” genius because I can rank for a non-competitive phrase like Polite SEO is Anthony Fallon of Warrington Web Works. Yep, he was able to rank for SEO Mind Crime quite quickly and has become the next in line to declare the death of SEO based on that.

In the immortal words of “Iron” Mike Ditka… “Who you crappin?!?!”

If I was in the travel insurance or mobile phone industry, such competitive markets, why on earth would I waste money on an SEO company optimizing my website and chasing a top ten position on Google?

Let’s see… Perhaps because of the amount of targeted traffic it can drive to your website WHEN you know how to research keywords and select the right ones to rank for? Perhaps because then you can get repeat business, bookmarks, save as favorites, referrals AND links when searchers find you? Just a thought.

I’m not in those industries so I haven’t tried those terms but if I did the content would be indexed within 24 hrs and if it’s indexed it has the same opportunity to be ranked as any other site.

Let’s see, you’re not in those industries. You wouldn’t have done any research so you wouldn’t have a clue as to what would be good phrases to rank for but you can automatically rule out SEO for a top 10 organic position for those industries? Genius I tell you, pure genius.

Instead, you decide to rank on SEO Mind Games, a real competitive term (cough, cough), and cry to the world…

Believe Me - When I say you don’t need SEO, You Don’t need it.

I suppose if my blog happens to rank well for a search for Polite SEO I don’t need SEO for my sites either? Hardly. Get a grip Mr. Fallon.

There’s a current discussion over at the SEO Forum about SEO Mind Crime you might like to visit and a blog article from one of the members there called SEO Mind Crime - SEO is a Complete Waste of Time?!?!

I guess I’m just left to wonder whether or not my blog will actually rank well for Polite SEO and if Mr. Fallon loses his initial rankings for SEO Mind Crime will he do a bit of SEO work to regain them so he doesn’t look really silly.

Dave

Update: This blog was indexed and showed up in position #10 for SEO Mind Crime and position #1 for Polite SEO on Google.com in exactly 1 hour. What does this tell us about SEO? Absolutely nothing.

I just finished rereading Dave Pasternack – Master Chef Extraordinaire and while I don’t agree with all the thoughts Greg shares, he does make a very good point.

It’s likely that some folks searching for Dave Pasternack aren’t particularly interested in person that thought it was a good idea to insult the SEO industry, but ESCA Restaurant in New York where you’ll find master chef Dave Pasternack in the kitchen. A restaurant he opened with with partners Joseph Bastianich, Mario Batali, and Simon Dean.

I won’t speculate as what Chef Pasternack knows about SEO, but I rather suspect he’s far more concerned about the fresh fish he has available for the ESCA Dinner Menu than where he ranks for his name.

I’m certainly not a fan of SEO contests myself, and for me, my previous two blog posts were not about ranking on Dave Pasternack’s name. It was about my thoughts and opinions in regards to the irresponsible comments made by Mr. Pasternack of DidIt.com.

I for one, would much rather spend my time and effort in satisfying my clients rather than having to debunk the nonsense that gets spewed by people who don’t know what they’re talking about. I’d much rather use my expertise than have to defend it just because of irresponsible comments made by people of the same ilk as DidIt.com’s founder Dave Pasternack.

Perhaps some good will come from all of this.

Perhaps someone who is looking for a Southern Italian Seafood Restaurant in New York where Chef Dave Pasternack is hard at work in the kitchen, will happen across my blog and find exactly what they were looking for.

Perhaps someone doing their due diligence on the other Dave Pasternack and his PPC company will happen across my blog and think twice about who they spend their money with. Why not try the Crudo – Italy’s answer to sushi at ESCA while you’re thinking about it.

At any rate, when it comes to anything in the kitchen, including baking a cake, my money’s on Chef Dave Pasternack.

Dave

I found myself mulling over Dave Pasternack’s comments in regards to SEO not being “rocket science” or akin to baking a cake even further. Not from an SEO perspective, but from that of an expert. You know what? I find them to be even more distasteful, even irresponsible.

I’ve spent nearly two decades learning and refining my skills as an expert jeweler. I can certainly sit down with you Mr. Pasternack, and show you HOW to solder a chain in less time than it would take a novice to read and fully understand the Google Webmaster Guidelines, and then off you go. Right? Hardly. In all likely hood, you’d melt the chain and burn the solder. Me showing you how to solder the chain may not be rocket science but having the proficiency to do it well IS as is any other skill on the planet. If I were to come out and say being a jeweler isn’t “rocket science” or compare it to baking a cake it would be very misleading to any aspiring jeweler. I were a watchmaker and could be construed as expert jeweler to make such assertions publicly would be downright irresponsible.

I have wonder how quick you’d be to insult any other professionals outside your realm of expertise, which is PPC if I’m not mistaken, like you did to the SEO industry experts. I have a master carpenter building some custom cabinets for me right now. I’ve no doubt he’d be able to show you HOW to build the cabinets I want but I’ve little doubt I’d not be pleased with your results. Are his skills and expertise “not rocket science” and comparable to baking a cake? I asked him and will refrain from repeating his “colorful” reply.

I was also pleased to see that I was not the only one who was “annoyed” when Kevin Lee was published saying…

By the way if Google’s purity is preserved (perhaps through bloggers who wish to anchor link to Dave’s bio page on our site), and we win the $1000, we’ll donate it to the American Cancer Society.

I guess that saying that IncrediBILL was “annoyed” when he blogged Dave Pasternack’s Company Asks Others for SEO Help is a bit of an understatement. Having to ask for SEO help after your insulting comments is bad enough, but doing by using the such an emotionally charged issue as cancer is really sad. Attempting to mask your actual intent of getting links within a veil of supposed benevolence is rather pathetic if you ask me Mr. Pasternack.

Although I rather doubt you will happen to stumble upon my comments, if you do, I hope you’ll take a moment to read the suggestions Michael Gray proffered when he wrote Dave Pasternack of Did-it.com How to Fix Your Problem. The ability to check your ego at the door, admit you may have been mistaken, perhaps having learned a thing or two, is a good quality for most anyone.

I guess the thing about it that has me the most puzzled is why? Why insult SEO experts and SEO in general in the first place especially when they’re outside of your perceived realm of expertise? Why not simply outperform them? Just to create attention? Linkbait? I certainly hope that’s not the case because if it is I think it’s rather stupid. I think Ron White might have put it best when he said…

“You can’t cure stupid”

Dave

There’s a current thread at DCTip discussing whether or not Forum Signature Links are Underrated as a means of link building.

In short, no they are not. If anything, they are exceptionally overrated as a means of link building. What they are however, is an opportunity that is most often squandered.

Each and every post you make in a forum is an opportunity to create content. Indexable content. Content people search for. Content that comes complete with a signature link to you. This is the importance of signature links and not the link itself.

Think about it for a moment. How often have you searched for something and found forum postings at the top of the SERP’s? How often are those “I agree” or “Good idea” drive by spam type posts?

Find forums you genuinely like and become a solid contributor to the community. Don’t look at your posts as an opportunity to get “another link” but an opportunity to create good content that searchers will find that comes complete with a link to discover even more about you.

Dave

I’m sure some of you have read my title and are asking yourself… “Has CrankyDave lost his mind?!?!” No, not me, someone I’d never heard of before today named Danny Wall.

I was pointed his PDF document titled…

“The New Rules for Google SEO”

To save time, you can skip page 1 of the PDF since it’s little more than a cheesy graphic and the copyright and some distribution information.

Page 2 of the PDF is Danny Wall telling us how wonderful he is. This should have been my cue to stop right there. But having never heard of him before, I continued on.

Well I got to page 4 and read skimmed over the nonsense about click through rates affecting the SERP’s when I came upon the following…

Possibly the biggest change will come from Google looking at “not referred ” traffic as part of the mix. In other words, Google is going to start looking at people who simply type in your URL into their browser as an indication of the “strength ” of your site (and therefore its relevance for the key phrases for your site). Another example of “not referred ” traffic as far as Google will be concerned is traffic that originates from a link you click out of your local email client.

What?!?! Google is going to rank sites based upon information they can’t possibly know! Oh my goodness. This sent me running for cover and the roll of paper towels to clean the Doritos off my monitor.

But wait! There’s more!

You’d have thought the episode with the Doritos would have been enough to discourage me from wasting any more time reading on wouldn’t you? Had I not gone back for more, I would have missed the following “pearls of wisdom” from Danny Wall…

THIS MEANS THAT YOU WILL WANT TO CREATE PRESS RELEASES THAT ARE VERY KEYWORD RICH!

Adding to that, you will want to include keyword rich links back to your site as well …and those links should lead to similarly keyword rich (and targeted) landing pages on your site (NOT simply your site’s front page).

Pssssst… Danny… This would be referred to as traditional SEO. You know, the stuff you’re predicting the death of back on page 3? Really basic stuff here Danny.

At any rate, I certainly can’t see reading any further. But if you’d like to, here’s the URL…

http://www.dannywall.com/audio/transcriptions/newrulesforgoogle.pdf

No Danny, I’m not going to link it. After all, you’re going to get all the “ranking juice” you need just from folks pasting it in their browser right?

Dave

Recently, it’s been alleged that a DMOZ editor was soliciting cash payments as a means for site owners and webmasters to get their sites reviewed and listed in the DMOZ Directory.

I personally believe that this is the exception and not the norm, but I find it most troubling that what I believe to be a DMOZ editor had this to say in a WPW thread…

The fact still remains that editors do not, if they don’t want to, have to look at suggested sites. I’m one of those that choose not to, so the “backlog” is of no concern to me.

This is not only most troubling, but a major source of the “ill will” directed at the DMOZ in my opinion. If the DMOZ policy is to not require editors to even bother to take a moment to glance at submissions, then don’t accept submissions.

Let me repeat this because I feel it’s important…

If the DMOZ guidelines do not require editors to take the time to even glance at the sites submitted to their category, stop taking submissions. In fact the DMOZ directions on how to submit a site clearly state…

An ODP editor will review your submission to determine whether to include it in the directory. Depending on factors such as the volume of submissions to the particular category, it may take several weeks or more before your submission is reviewed.

The DMOZ published guidelines don’t say may. They don’t say might review your submission. They clearly say they will review it.

I am a proponent of the DMOZ but when editors state that what they do in actuality is totally opposite of their publically stated policy, it’s no small wonder there’s so much negativity aimed at them.

Dave

Digg it!