Business Blogging Awards voting closed

The voting for The 2005 Business Blogging Awards is now completed.

The polls were closed as of noon Pacific Standard Time today.

Overall, the concept of honouring business blogs was a good one. For too long, the various blog awards shows have ignored business blogs; leaving them without a category at all.

That should be changed now.

With the strong voter turnout, resulting in some very close races, there clearly is an interest in business blogs. They are a rising force on the internet in general, and in the blogosphere in particular.

In the future, I hope to see business blog categories in all the blog voting events.

Thanks to all of the voters and the entered blogs for participating.

Your support for The 2005 Business Blogging Awards was important and appreciated by everyone involved.

I want to send a special thanks to all who supported and voted for Blog Business World. I was touched and honoured, that so many of you find my blog to be helpful in reaching your goals, and in achieving your success in business and in blogging.

Every blog nominated was definitley a great blog, and I personally visited every blog in every category.

Thanks as well to Jeremy Wright and Darren Barefoot of Inside Blogging for running the awards so well. They definitely deserve our gratitude for developing these awards for everyone.

Let's have hearty round of applause for Darren and Jeremy!

The 2005 Business Blogging Awards were truly a landmark event where every blogger was a winner.

Tags: Business Blogging Awards, blogging, business blogs, blogosphere.

Blogging: A contrarian viewpoint

Blogging has some possible bad points?

Say it ain't so!

After all, on this business blog, the chances of anything bad ever being said about blogs is akin to claiming the Earth is flat.

Right?

Well, partially true.

There are still many unreconstructed blog non-believers out there on the internet who need a good conversion. The road to Damascus guides, we might not be, but we are at least able to attempt a bit of friendly persuasion.

You've all heard the objections to blogging.

Perhaps they need a few rebuttals; or perhaps a kick in the rebuttal, if mere words aren't up to the job.

Blogs and blogging take time that busy business and professional people can't afford to spend; so the story goes.

Of course, the same people who claim to not have any time, happily spend it on some other activity that is less likely to make them any money, improve their marketing and public relations efforts, and raise their website's rankings in the various search engines.

Oh well, if they choose to use their time in other ways, like watching television shows, who are we to judge. After all, there are only ten places on the Google search engine first page. We don't have to worry about their business as competition.

And you know that no one would ever be able to find enough topics to blog about. You've all heard that one.

If the blogger can't find enough business and personal examples for at least two posting ideas per week, they must have no imagination. My readers all seem to have ideas for many times that number of posts.

In fact, the same blog posting idea can be examined from several different directions. After all, there are more things to discuss about regarding elephants than simply the trunk.

They could also blog about those television shows that they were watching that took all of their time away from blogging. We all know many bloggers who can watch TV and blog.

Often at the same time.

Doubters will often point out the classic outmoded line that blogs are simply personal online diaries.

I know my blog isn't an online diary, and I highly doubt that yours is an angst ridden lament about the Prom either. Old prejudices die hard.

Don't worry though.

When your business growth explodes past theirs, as a direct result of your blogging activities, be gracious in your success. Recommend a good blog hosting company for them to use. It's the right thing to do.

Yes, blogs have so many disadvantages.

I can't imagine why anyone even bothers writing blogs.

Tags: business, blogging, topic, Google.

Carnival of the Capitalists at Weekend Pundit

This week sees a thought provoking adventure for the travelling business show, recognized by one and all as Carnival of the Capitalists makes a stop at a blog where politics, economics, and opinion are the order of the day.

This week's tremendous lineup of posts feature a political and market oriented side as we visit Weekend Pundit.

When the Weekend Pundit blog isn't jam packed with political and economics posts, there are some postings dedicated to life and happenings in New England.

This week's edition of Carnival of the Capitalists highlights some of the best bloggers writing on the internet today.

Blogging topics presented include entrepreneurship, management, education, legal issues, spam, insider trading, internet commerce, marketing, the national and global economies, politics, and technology.

As you would expect from Weekend Pundit there are many discussions of politics, markets, social issues, and economics ideas.

It's always great to read and discover the many high quality blogs out there in the blogosphere.

We don't always get to them all, and this edition of Carnival of the Capitalists has introduced many of us to some brand new ones.

As I am always privileged to do, I have an entry in this week's Carnival of the Capitalists as well.

My entry post this week is entitled "A9 Search: Optimization on the Amazon" where I discuss techniques for optimizing your blog or website for the Amazon.com owned A9 search engine.

If you wish to submit an entry to next week's, or any Carnival of the Capitalists edition, e-mail your entries to the new address:

cotcmail -at- gmail -dot- com

You can always use the handy entry form at Gongol.com where all you have to do is fill in the blanks. Talk about making it easy to be included!

If you are searching for new and exciting ways to expand your blog's readership, you should seriously consider sending an entry to Carnival of the Capitalists.

Merely being included in the company, of the first rate regular Carnival of the Capitalists contributors, will enhance the reputation of your blog.

The extra visitors can't sent to your blog won't hurt either!

The growth and staying power, of Carnival of the Capitalists, is beginning to catch the attention of people outside the blogging community. Each hosting, brings a fresh assortment of new readers, to the various blogs involved.

The visitors aren't only bloggers anymore.

Readership is expanding to include the mainstream media, various government and private organizations, many businesses, and other interested people from beyond the blogging community.

Many people are introduced to some tremendous blogs that they might otherwise have missed.

Next week's Carnival of the Capitalists will make a visit to Adam Crouch and Reena Ganga's well known economics and current affairs blog called The Raw Prawn.

In the meantime, click that mouse over to the Weekend Pundit hosting of Carnival of the Capitalists.

If the great posted entries don't convince you to click, or the possibility of finding some brand new blogs to read doesnt do it, then Carnival of the Capitalists certainly will offer you a chance to tour New England, at least vicariously. (groan)

Tags: Carnival, Capitalists, business, blogs.

Google filters: How to avoid them

Some of the major concerns, of many search engine optimization (SEO) professionals, are the various alleged filters employed by Google.

It is thought, that the search engine giant has placed many dampening and blocking devices, in its algorithm. They are collectively referred to as filters.

The reasoning behind the alleged use of the various filtration systems is still unclear. It is also not universally agreed, by all SEO professionals, that filters even exist.

Most SEO experts agree, however, that there are some sort of dampening type filters built into the Google algorithm. The evidence for filters is circumstantial, but is fairly evident across the search engine results pages (SERPs).

Since about one hundred factors and variables are programmed into the algorithm, it is entirely probable that a number of them are filters. The questions then become what are the various filters and what are their purposes.

While some experts believe that there are no such filters, it is still a good idea to guard against their possibility. Whether you take the position, that some filters and dampening effects exist or not, there are ways to avoid them entirely.

Let’s examine some of the techniques, of search engine optimization, that help you to steer clear of any of the actual and coincidental filters. Since no one knows precisely what’s in the Google algorithm, it’s better to be safe than sorry. Instead of being caught in a possible filter, or being assessed a Google penalty, it’s a much wiser course of action to be safe rather than sorry.

With a good SEO strategy, you can avoid any possible Google filters, or possible penalties that might result.

What are some of the alleged filters?

There are a number of filters and dampening effects that are noticeable by SEOs. They range from the well known sandbox effect to the so-called over optimization filter.

This list is by no means comprehensive, and doesn’t include every alleged filter. Note as well, that the alleged filters mentioned are purely speculative. Our main purpose is to show the widespread possibility of filtering and dampening, that may result in penalties.

While many SEO experts disagree as to whether any, some, or all of the alleged filter actually exist, it makes good sense to be aware of them. Avoidance of their potential triggers goes a long way toward prevention of possible problems.

In fact, many of the techniques that avoid being trapped by a filter, are also good methods of gaining higher search engine rankings. They provide what amounts to a double benefit.

Let’s consider some of the alleged filters, one at a time, along with some possible methods of avoiding them.

Possible link related filters

One fairly well documented filter involves the use of identical link anchor text on all of your site’s incoming links. Many SEO professionals have noticed, that the use of the same anchor text raises some red flags, that all of the links are not naturally created. The same link text might be signs of link manipulation for the purposes of higher Google PageRank and link popularity.

An easy solution, to the possible identical anchor text filter is to mix up your link text wording. The use of somewhat different keywords, and perhaps even your site title, will bypass that problem entirely. By using no more than a maximum 80% of your regular link text, and at least 20% alternative text, the filter will be avoided.

Potentially, the variety of anchor text wording could provide benefits. The different texts will show a wider range of incoming links, and that could show up well in your backlink totals and search rankings.

There is some evidence that links.htm pages, that place virtually all of a site’s outgoing links on a page labelled in that manner, triggers a filter. Many website owners have seen their links.htm pages not given credit either for their own PageRank, or PageRank and backlink credit for their linking partners. Other webmasters have seen no such lack of link credit.

To overcome even the possibility of being caught by a links.htm filter, simply name your links something else entirely. In fact, don’t use the word links at all. Another idea that might work for you, is to split links up by themes, and place them over several pages. Writing a brief description of each link, and how it is themed to your site might also prevent tripping off the possible filter.

There is concern that reciprocal links may invite a Google filter. There is some evidence that reciprocal link pages may be discounted, but that may be a side effect of the possible links.htm filter as well. Blogs contain many reciprocal links, but seem to have suffered no ill effects, either in backlink totals or in PageRank loss.

One method to combat the possible reciprocal link filter may be to maintain a positive ratio of incoming one way links. Blogs use that technique without thinking about with their heavy tendency to link to one another constantly.

Many observers have noticed a cross linking filter resulting from cross linking together too many sites from the same server, and especially from the same c level block. A c level block is the part of a website address in the third section. Example: 123.123.xxx.123 xxx = c level There is some belief that the threshold trigger for that filter is about 20 linked sites.

To avoid this potential filter, it is a good idea to avoid reciprocal cross linking of many same hosted websites. A good method is to triangular link them A to B and B to C with C back to A. Do not use any other combinations as they could trip off a filter in the algorithm. Being careful with cross linking should avoid any such problems.

Potential multiple cause filters

The so-called over optimization filter appears to be more the result of a number of triggers, than from simply one cause. No one is certain if there ever was an over optimization filter, but strong evidence of it occurring was seen during the infamous Florida update and the later Austin update.

The main culprits appear to have been, the now isolated anchor text filter, various on page problems caused by over use of h1 and h2 tags, and some keyword stuffing concerns.

The over optimization filter appears to have been most active, in the most competitive and therefore most spam laden, keywords and phrases. Website owners, in the more competitive keyword areas, should consider using only the most reasonable levels of keywords in their content; certainly not more than 3%.

Writing naturally will work best for the search engines and for conversions to sales. Over use of keywords may even trigger a filter all by itself. Be careful of overusing h1 and h2 tags. Make certain each page has a unique title tag related to that page’s actual content.

There is thought by some people to be a damper placed on new incoming links. Those freshly created links allegedly don’t give the same bang for the buck as older more established links. This theory is usually discussed in conjunction with the famous sandbox filter.

The sand box filter allegedly works this way. A new site will receive a fresh site bonus from Google and rank highly. Following that initial blush with fame and fortune, the site will drop in the search rankings, and drop, and then drop some more. That is where the alleged sandbox occurs.

Once in the sandbox, the site will be anywhere from two to four months rising in the SERPs to a respectable position. During that sandbox period, regardless of the number and quality of inbound links and the PageRank, that site will not rank well at all.

It is thought that gaining too many links too quickly might be part of the reason for the sandbox. On the other hand, building up a domain with incoming links prior to site launch, may help avoid the sandbox entirely.

Some observers believe only certain search terms are filtered through the sandbox. If that is true, then the sandbox is tied in with the alleged most competitive search term filter as well.

In any case, it’s wise to take the ranking time into consideration when launching a new site. Perhaps setting the site up live, slightly earlier than planned for business, will allow time for any damper placed on the site to be removed.

Duplicate content may not only trigger a filter, but sites that contain a large number of pages that are similar in content might be targeted. If that is indeed the case, then webmasters must be careful to differentiate their pages more completely. Of course, that is a great idea from an SEO point of view. More different pages, each with individual titles and main keywords, means more potentially high ranking pages in the search engines.

Many of the larger sites, which may be experiencing a possible large site and duplicate content filter, are thought to be affiliate sites. If that’s true, then there may even be a bias filter against affiliate sites by means of clamping down more tightly on duplicate or very similar content.

As always, the best way to avoid the possibility of duplicating web page content, is to make certain all pages contain unique and differentiated copy. By continually updating and adding different pages, you will also benefit from the search engine algorithm preference for fresh content.

Conclusion

As stated from the outset, many of these alleged filters are based on partial observation. The filters and dampers are not definitely in place. On the other hand, where there is smoke, fire might be close at hand.

The best way to avoid any filters or dampers is to employ common sense search engine optimization practices. Mix up your link anchor text. Write natural sounding unique content for each web page without keyword stuffing. Avoid duplicate content. Don’t employ any questionable practices designed only to fool the search engines.

Following best SEO practices will work best for you in the long run, and you will avoid any filters, real or imagined.

Tags: Google, SEO, links, filters.

Blog comments help everyone

Writing comments on other people's blogs helps everyone.

Comments on another blogger's post helps them.

Placing comments on other blogs helps you.

Talk about your win/win situation.

When you visit other blogs, adding a comment makes the blog post writer very happy. This is true for several reasons.

When you add a comment to a post that you like, or even one where you disagree entirely, you show the blogger that you actually read the post.

Not only did you read the post, but you cared about the subject matter and the opinion offered, to voice your approval or dissent. Your blog comment could add more information to the post, or send the discussion into new and exciting directions.

Additional comments are gratifying to the blogger because it's nice to read other people's thoughts and ideas. In effect, comments start a back and forth interaction between writer and reader.

As my good friend David St. Lawrence of Ripples is so fond of saying, "Blogs are conversations".

What that conversation can lead to is a new friendship, or a more involved business relationship. The entire chain reaction is set off by simply writing a blog comment.

Since the comments offer links back to the writer's blog, or to the person's e-mail, a return visit or response can take place.

I have often suggested that writing comments is a great traffic builder for your own blog. Many other very knowledgeable bloggers have agreed. Of course, that is a rather narrow and self centred viewpoint.

It's still an important consideration, however.

Comment writers get more visitor traffic, and that's a good thing.

Even more important than visitor traffic is the start of the conversation between yourself, the blog post writer, and other commenting bloggers. The interation can lead to some fascinating possibilities.

Talking together via comments and e-mails has very often led to telephone discussions, and some very rewarding in person meetings between bloggers. Lifetime friendships can be formed.

Simply taking a few seconds to write a comment on someone else's blog can open up new doors to exciting new possibilities. In effect, you can change not only your own future, but that of the other blogger as well.

Talk about how such a simple act can alter the future.

Write some blog comments, and create some new timelines for your future and that of other bloggers.

Today.

Tags: comments, conversations, possibilities, future.

Advertising: Testing its value

A businessperson once said that she knew one half of her advertising expenditure was wasted. The problem was she was not sure which half that was.

Is that how you feel about your advertising spending? If so, then you need to test and track your ads for effectiveness.

Advertising is expensive. We all understand that.

We also realize that spending money on paid advertising can bring in many new customers. The problem lies with a failure to recognize that all advertising vehicles are equal.

Some ads may return numerous visitors. Some may result in high conversion rates. Some may provide both. Others might get no response at all. The only way you can tell which ad is working for you, and which one is enjoying a paid holiday, is to track and test them.

Tracking ads involves mechanisms to show which ads are sending traffic from different locations. Testing involves knowing which ad works best in a specific location.

By combining these powerful tools, a website owner will know which ads are working better than others, and how each advertising medium is producing as well.

Tracking the game

No advertising materials should ever be employed by your business without some form of tracking system. A simple code will suffice. All it needs to do is indicate which advertising vehicle sent the visitor to your site.

Many companies resort to asking the question, “How did you hear about us?” While nice in principle, the question is ineffective in practice.

Most people don’t remember, or even know how they arrived at the site. They certainly won’t know which advertising material they read and followed. Their answers won’t help, if in fact they even tell you at all.

Place a simple tracking code on the advertisement, so the click registers on the site visitor logs as to its origin, is possible. Another easy idea is a separate landing page for each separate advertisement.

For incoming phone calls, place a different “extension” number on each ad material. The same technique can be used for mailed in responses. A different “department” number will work well, separating the results quite nicely.

While none of these concepts is ground breaking, they are very easy to employ. Not many businesses utilize them effectively. Without knowing which marketing pieces are sending customers, and which are not, you will never know which ones are complete waste of money.

Testing the waters

Some advertisements bring in more business than others. That is a given. What is also important to remember, is some changes in the advertising copy and design, can make an ad even more effective than before.

Every business person wants to have more effective marketing, but to fully take advantage of any improvements, they need to be tested.

The results of the original ad must always be compared to the returns from a slightly changed version. Sometimes content changes are for the better, and sometimes the alterations create worse results. Without testing the different variations, you never know which copy and design is more effective than another.

Many purchased ad spaces let the buyer change the advertising copy at certain intervals. Take advantage of the opportunity, to test different versions of the marketing material.

To test advertising copy, try two different formats and designs of the same ad. Make only one change in the copy at a time to determine which version works best.

If possible, run both versions at the same time, keeping careful records of the resulting click throughs and conversions. By utilizing a simple tracking device, the effectiveness of each test can be calculated. When a version of the ad that works well is discovered, try another change elsewhere in the ad.

Keep testing and tracking different advertising materials, to uncover the best possible marketing device.

The tested results, of course, should be logged through careful tracking. Note that testing different versions and tracking the results work together to provide a better understanding of the effectiveness of a marketing campaign. One won’t work very well without the other.

With the visitor logs, or other tracking system records in hand, a series of tests can turn a very poorly producing ad into a much better one. If the same ad copy is used in multiple locations, the new and improved version can be tested as a replacement for other purchased spots as well.

Putting testing and tracking to work for you

Start by taking an inventory of all of your ads both online and offline. If you have any way to track their effectiveness up to this point, take advantage of those materials.

They might be in the form of landing pages from banners, classified ads, or a newsletter placement. These rough results will provide an initial idea of what ads are providing some return.

Following that examination, you will at least have some idea of what is happening.

Immediately implement a tracking system for every advertisement that you can. Track the results for thirty days to get an early sample of the results.

After the weak performers are located, either drop them entirely, or make some testable changes in the copy.

Use testing and tracking, to keep your advertising materials working for you, and not the other way around.

Tags: advertising, testing, tracking, traffic.

Linking out is seeing the light for blogs

Few topics in search engine optimization, cause as many heated disputes, as the concept of linking out to other sites.

Whenever the subject of linking to other blogs and traditional sites arises, in conversation or on and internet message forum, the sides in the debate are certain to become very polarized.

The speed at the taking of sides, and the lack of compromise on the issue, is always amazing to many impartial observers. Why people feel so strongly either one way or another usually boils down to the outgoing link value.

How fast a webmaster seeks benefits and returns, and whether any or all of the value of linking out can be measured, in any objective manner.

The search engine optimization community usually examines the issue of linking out based on the search engine algorithms. Their questions surround whether or not the search engines give the activity any weight.

Many search engine optimization experts even believe that the practice of linking out to other sites is indeed harmful. The answer to those questions are important to the entire discussion.

We do know one thing. Bloggers link out freely to other blogs and websites, and are rewarded in the search engines for doing so.

Note how bloggers are on the cutting edge of SEO thought once again.

The search engine marketing community, along with the internet informational community, take the opposite point of view. They believe there are hidden short and long term benefits to linking out that don’t show up immediately, if at all, in the search engine results pages (SERPs).

The believers in linking out usually consider the search engine rankings to be given far too much importance. Linking out, they contend, has far more benefits than the search results can begin to measure.

As with most discussions concerning the more contentious issues, involving search engine optimization, there are valid points made on both sides. Pluses and minuses to any search engine related activity can be debated. In the end, the best answer is what is right for the website owner’s individual goals. Not all sites share the same objectives.

A closer examination of the pros and cons, of linking to other sites, is required for a fuller understanding of the topic. Finding the costs and the benefits of linking out, in an open and objective way, is helpful to all webmasters.

Knowing the value or cost, of any search engine optimization or search engine marketing activity, is a step toward maximizing the value of your own website.

Armed with the facts, from both sides of the outbound links debate, you can decide which course of action is right, for your own website.

Seeing the dark side of outbound links

Many search engine optimization experts oppose needlessly linking out to other sites. They cite some powerful reasons for reaching that conclusion. The opponents of outbound links will point out that the SERPs tell the story, and the search engine algorithms are not friends to those who link outwards.

Most SEO professionals tend to agree that linking out provides no real boost in link popularity. They rightly point to the fact that the search engines, and especially link obsessed Google, reward incoming links. The search engines are thought to provide no weight to the links going to other websites. With that in mind, many website owners are reluctant to link out to other sites.

That concept is now under debate, as linking out works for blogs and helps to create the highly regarded hub site.

Along with the lack of link popularity benefit in the search rankings, there is also a widespread fear of loss of Google PageRank. Google PageRank, of course, is Google’s numerical measure of the importance of a web page on the internet. The PageRank calculation is based on the number of incoming links, and of their quality in the form of the transferring page’s own PageRank.

Since PageRank flows from one web page to the next, there is concern among many webmasters and SEO experts, that PageRank will be lost through leakage. That alleged loss of PageRank requires constant replenishment, they say, and outgoing links are merely a drain on its level. In other words, the worry is that too many outgoing links will drain away a web page’s PageRank, to other pages on other websites.

Many webmasters are strongly opposed to linking out to competitors, even if the competing site is considered an authority site by Google. An authority site is one that Google rates as among the most important websites in any particular theme area. These webmasters don’t like the possibility of sending potential customers, and perhaps their business as well, to other sites.

Some SEO professionals prefer not to provide competitors with any more inbound link popularity than they already possess. If a competing site is an authority site, they argue, they want to help them even less with link power. With links being important to the search engines, and especially Google, the last thing these SEOs want to do, is to help their competition to defeat their own or their clients’ sites in the rankings.

Seeking the light in outbound links

Outbound links are not all bad, according to many internet marketing specialists. By linking out to other related sites, a visitor is provided with even more helpful information on the topic. Sending to traffic to other useful websites is especially important for purely informational sites.

Since the goal of knowledge based sites is to give visitors as much information on a topic as possible, outbound links are simply a service from the site. Not all webmasters believe they can afford to be so generous, however. The question for those website owners is whether or not linking out will give them benefits in return.

Linking out can help develop a reputation, for a webmaster, of being helpful to the site’s visitors. By creating a reason for returning to the site, the visitor traffic will not be permanently lost. In fact, many visitors will often bookmark a site that they trust to help them. That built up trust factor can translate into many online and offline sales for a business.

People purchase goods and services from people they trust. Those who provide access, to many sources of useful information, gain the trust of their visitors. Once again,we see the blogging advantage.

While the occasional link to other related sites might not provide much search engine value, to a website owner, many outbound links are an entirely different matter. If a site links to the most relevant sites on the theme, including the most important authority sites, the linking out site can gain major importance in Google.

That importance arrives in the form of being regarded as a hub site by Google. Along with the hub site status, conferred upon sites that are like train stations for themed links, comes high search rankings.

Search engine optimization professionals agree that becoming a hub site, for a site’s most important keywords, is a worthwhile goal. Part of becoming a hub site involves linking out to related sites. Some of those sites might even be competitors.

You win some and you lose some

As with all matters of linking out to other sites, and in particular, to websites that might be your competitors for customers and clients is problematic. No website owner wants to risk losing paying business to other sites. Loss of visitors is especially painful, if the traffic was sent to the competitor, through a link out from your own site. The question is how large is that risk.

If a webmaster believes, that visitor traffic will maintain loyalty to their site, then sending visitors elsewhere will do little or no harm to sales. The concern is not with the outgoing links, but with onsite conversion factors anyway. If a site provides no good reasons to buy their products and services on offer, then sales will be weak, whether there are links to competitors or not.

A strong website offers a balance of useful information as a reason to visit, and powerful reasons to buy once there. Offering that assistance to visitors develops a trust factor that will lead to more sales.

If a potential customer is lost, due to an outgoing link, they might not be strong long term buyers in any case. They may just as easily return to your site, as quickly as they left for the competitor’s offer.

In fact, loss of customers to competitors, can serve as a powerful wake up call, to improve your onsite conversions of visitors to customers. Without the feedback found, through escaped traffic, that systemic site problem might never have been discovered.

Any perceived outflow of traffic, through links to other sites, can serve a very useful purpose. Use that market intelligence to improve your conversion rates.

Not all search engine optimization experts believe that Google PageRank is leaked away through outgoing links. In fact, many SEO people believe that the PageRank, that flows out in one area, is returned through inbound links from other websites. They argue that the level of Google PageRank, paradoxically, can only really be increased by linking out to other sites.

In that regard, creating a PageRank island with no outgoing links is harmful to a site. Linking out becomes a good thing, resulting in more inflowing than outflowing PageRank. Provided a solid ratio of somewhat more inbound links than outgoing links is maintained, PageRank will constantly rise. The positive ratio of links will serve a site in good stead in the SERPs as well.

Conclusion

Linking out to other blogs remains a controversial topic. Sending visitor traffic to other sites is considered offering service and information by some webmasters, and is decried as throwing potential customers and search engine power away by others.

The transfer of Google PageRank is considered a net loss to a web page by some search engine experts, and part of a cycle that returns even more PageRank inflow by other SEO professionals.

There will always be people who leave a site for other places, as they are only a click away. It’s really impossible to keep a web visitor captive on a site. The best solution is probably to provide a great site, to which visitors will return over and over, while linking to sites that provide additional theme related information.

If a website owner wants to gain customers and clients, the onus rests on them to develop the best site possible. That situation will require outgoing links to other blogs and sites as well.

There is some definite long term advantage to linking out, as well as offering immediate assistance to your blog’s visitors.

Your site might be accorded the coveted hub site by Google, and the high search rankings that come with that status.

You will be glad you linked to some other blogs and sites in that case.

Tags: links, SEO, Google, PageRank.

Local Online Marketing seminar with Debbie Weil a success

The first in the Duct Tape Marketing hosted Local Online Marketing teleseminar series, featuring internet marketing and blogging expert Debbie Weil of BlogWrite for CEOs,, was a huge success.



The February 9 telephone hosted seminar was filled to capacity with business people, sharing an interest in learning more about blogging.



They were not disappointed.



The hour long session flew by in what seemed like only a few minutes, as the very knowledgeable and highly informative Debbie Weil, and enthusiastic host John Jantsch, kept the blogging information flowing smoothly.



Whether a blogger had little experience or was a seasoned blogging veteran, everyone left knowing much more about blogging than when they started.



I learned a few interesting details about blogging myself.



Without a doubt, everyone else listening in to the tremendous seminar learned much more.



I would highly recommend signing up for the rest of the nine part teleseminar series from Local Online Marketing and Duct Tape Marketing.



I intend to enrol in them all, and join in the fun, for each and every one of them.



You should too.



Surf immediately to the Local Online Marketing sign up page and register now!



The next installment in the series, scheduled for February 23, is called "How to deliver your marketing message directly to your customer's computer desktop - The basics of marketing with RSS", featuring RSS expert Rodney Rumford of My RSS Creator and Feed Syndicator.com.



You won't want to miss a single seminar.



Enrol now!

Tags: Debbie Weil, John Jantsch, seminar, Local Online Marketing.

Local Online Marketing seminar with Debbie Weil: Update

Today's Duct Tape Marketing presentation, of the Local Online Marketing seminar with Debbie Weil, has received an outstanding response.



The teleseminar, scheduled for Noon Central Time (1:00 pm Eastern, 10:00 am Pacific, GMT -6 hours) today, has seen double the phone lines opened. Originally set for 100 participants, John Jantsch and Debbie Weil have graciously doubled that number of participant phone lines to 200 spots.



John Jantsch had the following to say about the time and the response:

The seminar starts at Noon Central Time (That is 10:00 am Pacific,

11:00 am Mountain, 1:00 pm Eastern, and for those outside the US - GMT -6)



Here is a web site that will help you convert the time.



www.timeanddate.com



Initially, I said this seminar would be for the first 100

who responded but, because of demand, I have opened up 200

phone lines. I will tell you that over 250 have signed-up

so don't be late or you will get locked out.

As John says, "Don't be late!"



I will be in attendance, and I hope that I will be on time too.



You be on time as well, so you won't be disappointed.

Tags: seminar, John Jantsch, Debbie Weil, Online Local Marketing.

Duct Tape Marketing seminar with Debbie Weil tomorrow

John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing is presenting the first of his nine part seminar Local Online Marketing series on Wednesday, February 9, at 1:00 pm Eastern Time.



The first teleseminar is entitled "The Basics of Business Blogging and why every business should have a blog".



The special guest presenter, for this free online audio conference, will be the highly regarded marketing expert Debbie Weil.



As a blogger, Debbie Weil maintains two blogs. One of her blogs is Debbie's Blog by Debbie Weil, while the other is called BlogWriteForCEOs.



As a matter of interest, I am a long time subscriber to Debbie Weil's very informative e-mail newsletter.



John Jantsch had this to say on his seminar schedule page about Debbie Weil:

You've heard a lot about Blogging in the media, but the small business marketer and consumer is just waking up to this powerful new marketing medium. Some suggest blogs will change the way many businesses market and advertise. Don't miss the wave. Every time I hear someone talking about blogs, I hear them mention Debbie Weil. She is a highly sought after writer and speaker on this new medium.

John Jantsch will be hosting the free seminar and Debbie Weil will be the speaker in this high powered blogging discussion.



To register, click on over to the Official Registration Page.



The start time for the seminar is 1:00 pm Eastern Time.



There are a total of nine free seminars in the series, each one featuring a very well known expert on their chosen topic.



As for flexibility of time committment, you can register for one, or sign up for them all. Registrants for multiple seminars will receive e-mail reminders from John so they don't miss any of the free sessions.



Register now.



You will learn more about blogs, from one of the best: Debbie Weil.



You can't beat the price. It's free!

Tags: seminar, John Jantsch, Debbie Weil, Local Online Marketing.