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Yeah I think the paid link hypocracy is part of it, but it might also have to do with the fact that oficially recommending lining the pockets of your competitor to the tune of $300 per website, per year, isn't the best business decision either...
@mediafortemarketing - Thanks for trying it!
@g1smd - duly noted and already on the bug report - It shows the text in the upper area, but not in the summary - smae thing for Alt tags.
Thamks for Sphinning Todd and others - and I'll keep checking for feedback and ideas...
All the reported bugs are now fixed - Thanks for all the contributions here and via email, blog etc.
@johnhgohde -
I'd suggest that any site for which "the tool doesn't work for" might actually have a problem of some sort?
Also, I do point out on the tool that the keyword tak "isn't really critical" - and it's just my opinion there anyway.
We've been unable to replicate the "repeating some of the tests rwice" and getting different favicon results. Thanks for the input
, it's much appreciated.
Well I, for one, really hope "this is all just crazy talk" ;) Affiliate marketing is tough enough already...
Story: ADD: The AID Of SEO
Nice post Todd, and very true. However, I actually find that music makes it WORSE for me to focus, instead of better, and I... umm.... aww, dammit, what was I gonna say again?
Adventageous yes - but painful sometimes... I'd say it's "advantageous to HAVE A FRIEND be an early adapter of technology as opposed to a herd follower". ;)
Good point, @johnandrews - maybe true? I couldn't think of a single reason he might say something so completely stupid.
I'm a huge fan, and have been for a long time, and I assumed it was just irresponsible link bait. I can't see how the damaging effects of this practice could actually escape his consciousness.
@johnhgohde - the Sphinn is for the post that calls Seth out - that's what's gone hot - not Seths post
A good read, and a not so gentle reminder for growing affiliate marketers to "get it in writing".
Pretty funny Todd - Also seems to indicate that you have some time on your hands -
Want to help me paint my house next week? Seriously, this was augh out loud funny... Nice job!
I noticed the pictures not matching results either - Not to mention that finding company names not always coming up on page either.
huh - site: isn't working "due to load"
the blurb says they claim to be good, "based on how they index websites"... How's that?
I see no reference in log files - Anyone know their bots name?
Ok, Todd, I just joined Plurk. Maybe when Twitter crashes for good I'll even start using it ;)
Also need a test 6, with the first link being a picture, with both a totle and alt tag. I'm sure we can ASSUME the result would be the same, but might be nice to verify...
Imagine how you'd feel if your credit card or ATM card was only as reliable as Twitter?
@Burgo - been using it for a long time - on SOME hosts, it changes the ownership of the /wp-autoupd directory that it creates, preventing you from getting into "maintennance mode".
An email to tech support will usually quick fix - other than that, it totally rocks, and yeah, a 20 second long upgrade process is pretty darn easy to deal with. My 11 year old son actually upgraded 23 affiliate sites for me one Saturday in under an hour - ;)
Cool WP plugin for website optimizer here... I had forgotten about it! http://websiteoptimizer.contentrobot.com/
I went to tweet that I was Sphinning a story about twitter, but they're down again ;)
Thanks for the comments -
Now if I could get certain clients to believe it, I'd really be on to something... One in particular seems to be living in 2005, and is hung u pon volume. His main competitor has thousands of crappy links, so he thinks he needs them too...
He wants me to "get more links" but can't answer my question, "Why should anyone link to you?"
re: missing post - oops - When things are Spunn before their release dated, @#$t happens
- all fixed now
@Sphinndr - C'mon, admit this is the best article you've read the entire month of... April.
Stoney, you are one diabolical SOB - (I thought so ;)
Now how much was forethought, and how much played out over time? heh...
Aaron, Rand commented (at the original post) something I find hard to believe...
in a survey of our members, only about 20% know who I am personally, and less than 10% are people I’ve met in person. I suspect those numbers are even smaller for Aaron.
Even if this were not legit, (but I believe it is) it's quite a good bit of info, and should be read by everyone.
It's well worth grabbing a copy of the .pdf file and reading it at your leisure, but the key theme throughout the entire original document (blog article links to it) and throughout the summary on the blog post seems to be "added value".
No matter what sort of site you have, if you're not adding something useful, shut up and face it - you're a spammer.
Throughout the document, definitions of added value kept popping up, like this -
Examples of content that provides added value include:• Price comparison functionality: Even though the user has to go to another site via the affiliate link to place an order, there is value to have price comparisons right there on the page.
• Product reviews: Pages that provide original reviews offer added value. Items that are commonly reviewed are books, electronics, and hotels.
• Recipes: Pages that provide recipes offer added value.
• Lyrics and quotes: Pages that display lyrics or quotes offer added value.
• Contact information: Pages that provide contact information, especially physical addresses and phone numbers, offer added value.
• Coupon, discount, and promotion codes: Affiliate pages that provide coupon, promotion, or discount codes for the consumer offer added value
Notice anything missing? Like perhaps subject relevant original content?
Ahh, further down, content is mentioned, but it's not a perceived added value unless it's a review?
Well excuse me, but as an owner of some sites labeled here as "thin affiliates", I work very hard to get original quality content on these sites, and this statement ticks me off -
Unfortunately, some content is written specifically for Spam pages and you will not find it on another source. Although you may be convinced that the intent is to deceive, if the content makes sense and appears original, you will not be able to label such pages Spam.
So by adding original subject relevant content, the intent is to decieve? At least the author grudgingly says that they CAN'T label those as spam, but their bias shows through. What does he have against ghost writers?
Um, yeah - the intent is to "deceive" people into believing the site is an authority on the subject of widgets, and at the same time provide links to buy those widgets.
Apparently this "deception" can be accomplished by adding dozens or hundreds of original articles about the very industry for which you're a "thin affiliate". How deceptive.
I'll say again, the document is well worth grabbing and saving for reference.
I was sorry to have to miss Marty's SearchFest '08 session, and was in the next room instead, listening to John Andrews and Matt McGee.
It was a tough choice, and from the reviews I heard, Marty's was great. The presentations are mostly all here now too, including Marty's.
Nice closing -
A purchase initially worth more than $3 billion, and Google still hasn't assessed that Performics poses such a huge conflict to own? Disappointing.
Story: SEMpdx Presents The Aaron Wall SEO Strategies Webinar