Self Taught SEO | Search Engine Optimization Blog

Greg Grothaus one of Google Search Quality Engineers discuss duplicate content issues.  It’s a great discussion and he touches on a number of duplicate issues.  Greg couldn’t have been more direct and logical in his conclusions about the way duplicate content can pose a threat or simply not be an issue at all.

Richard over at SEO Gadget discussed a touchy topic.  He did the research to determine the ranking ratio for  authority of the page vs. the relevancy of the page.  Shockingly surprised for some the authority of the page means much more than the relevancy of the page.  However, it hard to say if this would stick in the long run or if its only a short term solution.

I believe it is very dependent on the state of the website.  If the website is branded and has trust within the search engines then irrelevant links will stick.  However, if the site is new without a web presence then it is advised to build relevant links as these will give the long term effect needed to succeed.

The point is the page of where the link resides may change in quality or value over time.  With this being the case, when these pages are devalued so are the links which linked from this page.  It’s never 100% when predicting the effectiveness of a page, but starting with the root domain will probably be a good start.

I use various strategies for affiliate marketing.  One of more better strategies involve creating local blogs on local news websites, basically I create niche specific blogs (if local niche then even better), I then write blog post on topic which fester opinion and views — I always give a link to more details or where to purchase (if a selling item) which redirects through one of my domains to my affiliate links.   These news websites usually have traffic levels over 100,000 sometimes over 1,000,000 — so the blog posts does get its fair share of traffic and click-throughs.  I focus on making the blog as personal as possible with local references when I write, I upload a photo (some person pic from the public domain — male or female, it depends on what I’m selling), I add a description, fill out a complete profile, I respond to private messages (I even agreed to meet folks before — I’ve never been in their state) and I participate in commenting on other blogs and news stories.  I also never promote anything until I have 15-20 posts.  I operate over 100 of these external “covert affiliate” blogs and make at least one post a week on each (well, my hired content writers do).  I don’t mind giving away the strategy because first of all its no secret for the guru affiliates out there, plus a lot of time and effort goes into it so many won’t last long enough to gain success, lastly without knowing specifically which niches work — well you know where I’m going with this!

Anyway, so I got my account disabled from one of the news networks where I have a blog hosted because I created a marketing campaign targeting a specific blog post on the network.  I suppose what happened is this triggered a red flag and got my account banned!

It wasn’t for days I didn’t know the account was disabled.  I blog approximately twice a week to the blog.  I had a Google Adwords campaign pointing to various posts on the blog I advise not driving large amounts of traffic to your external covert operations!  Especially, not through easily detectable pay per click links.  This may seem like common sense to most, but to me it seemed like a strategy!  Now, I have learned my lesson and have to learn my way around it!  :-)

I am actually one of the ones who like Skype, even though I don’t use it, because its forgettable.  I forget it even exist.  What I’ve learned about Skype is that most people don’t use it because the non-techie don’t know how to use it.  They find its difficult and confusing.

Let me ask you?  How do you make a free call with Skype?  Do you know?

It’s really simple, but they have lacked educating the public on their product.  They should take the time to making people understand how they can make a phone call with a download.  On their site pages it’s hard to find information about how to actually use the product, it goes as far as the download installation, but that’s it.  I am not talking about the product manual or help pages, but just simple hey this is how you talk — here’s what you’ll need.  This should be broadcasted on the homepage or highlighted, but it’s not!

How would you use MagicJack?  If you heard of MagicJack or seen a commercial within seconds you knew how it could be used.  You plug in a USB jack then attach your phone cord…that’s it!  This made the product look simple, easy, and useful.  Skype lacks this same interpretation, because not only are their ads non-educational, but their homepage doesn’t show any simplicity for their product.  All you know is you can make free phone calls using Skype, but you don’t know if you need your telephone, headset, microphone, or have to shout into the computer!

The next hurdle Skype will need to overcome is the increasing number of cable subscribed VoIP solutions, such as Time Warner Cable, Comcast, etc.  These big name brands have vested interest in their subscribers, even though overpriced subscribers are more likely to take on a contract with their cable company because they already trust them, they already rely on them, and the bill is consolidated with their other household luxuries such as cable TV, Internet service, and phone.

Ebay was smart enough to get rid of Skype for $1.9 billion plus an $125 million I.O.U. from a team of investors.  They purchased Skype in ‘05 for $3.1 billion after it was all said and done.  Ebay outbidded Google and Yahoo! who both were trying to acquire Skype at the time, but Ebay jumped out the window to win the bid.  Since its acquisition it hasn’t proved to be worth the investment.  Ebay is lucky enough to get as much as it has for this deal.

Surprisingly it seems Google is at it again with their behavioral targeting technology.  I  can’t be too sure, but either it was a freaky coincidence   or Gmail behavioral targeting software is sending me junk mail, based on my own messages.

Earlier I wrote a message that used a specific and unpopular phrase.  I sent the message to its recipient.  Later today I got a message in my main inbox from a mailer which usually would be found in my SPAM box, in the subject line was the same specific and unpopular phrase I had wrote in the message I sent earlier, but this message was completely separate.

Could this be completely coincidental or is Google starting to decide which messages are relevant to us by using advance behavioral targeting techniques?  If this is the case then it’s only a matter of time before Google will start using Gmail data for rank and position purposes.

If anyone else witnessed this strange occurrence then please share your story, I’d love to know if this is more than just a coincidence.