Hello, I'm Dan Thies. I've been writing about, teaching, and practicing search engine optimization for over 12 years.
In spite of what you may have heard, SEO is very simple. If you don't believe that, then you really need to read my book! It's only 100 pages long, and it's free.
Comments on Tools Questions & Feedback
Who would you say are the top 5 hosting providers.
I use Rackspace, Lawrence. At this point, I wouldn't go anywhere else. They've been absolutely heroic in their support, especially during this launch.
For high traffic websites I use dreamhost – 1.538 TB/month for around $10/mth with one year pre-pay
The LunarPages, HostGator, and BlueHost services each serve tens of thousands of customers, provide excellent control panel tools, and offer good support for the price. These services exhibit a good performance/price ratio.
Dan, thanks for including the useful tracking tools in the book! Having the url's at my fingertips, will make it easy to implement them. I finally added analytics to my site and feel confident to increase conversion.
Thanks, Jeff
P.S. Can I purchase 1 on 1 coaching at SEO Research Labs with you?
I already have a question. Before I start off building the site. Chances are that I will be working with a chinese version of my site as well, next to English. I have the domains in china/taiwan registered, as well as the regular .com.
Would it be wiser to build the chinese version on the .com domain, that can be reached via the regular .com site by a "click here for chinese", or just build a seperate site under the chinese domain?
I'd recommend using the local domain for that site, Nikkie, but linking to it from the .com makes good sense.
Thanks so much for the advise Dan!
The best link checker tool is ?
Zoran, what kind of links are you trying to check? I recommend a couple in the book, to check competing sites' inbound links, and your own links.
To check for broken links on your site, Xenu's Link Sleuth is my favorite: http://home.snafu.de/tilman/xenulink.html
Dan,
I should really read the book before asking questions, but I was wondering what your opinion was on reciprocal link exchanges?
I've been told in the past to not reciprocate links and work on building one-way links.
I have a page full of reciprocal link partners, and I know that many of them have dropped my link, is their a tool where I can check this quickly?
Darren, I don't recommend link exchanges for SEO. Even if we didn't expect search engines to discount or ignore those links, it's just a huge time investment that doesn't return much.
Aaron Wall has a free tool to check links, but no tool is perfect since links may exist but not be found: http://tools.seobook.com/general/link-check/
Now go read the book! (It's only 100 pages)
Dan, I noticed Don Crowther added Brandley's Trust Guard logo to his gift basket site. The fees start at 159.00 per year and have multi-seal options. He is also using ISafeSite. There is a one time fee of 19.95.
I currently use Hackersafe as you do and have seen positive test results with Petco, etc. However, I have not seen an increase in conversion at this point. Switching to Trust Guard and saving $100.00 per month could be a wise decision.
Do you have an opinion other than to split test?
Thanks, Jeff
Split test if you can, Jeff… and look at the details of the case studies. The right positioning for the trust seals is not "hidden in the page" but at the top. The most dramatic impact will show up when you look at cart/funnel abandonment rates.
I'd bet on the Hackersafe seal doing slightly better, because I suspect part of the effect is about recognition – the Hackersafe seal is on a lot of sites, so may be more recognized and trusted.
Dan
You always have me on my toes Dan…
I just heard from 1 Shopping Cart. Their next model is coming out in 45-60 days. It will be HackerSafe. Therefore, I have a strong feeling it will play a role to increase conversion. HackerSafe compliant sites with logo's flowing from the product pages to the cart sounds like a win win. Greatest weight is placed on HackeySafe over Trust Guard for now (in my opinion).
Did you catch that?
Also, I had a concern with 1 Shopping Cart not displaying their Verisign & Security Metrics logo prominantly in the cart. The new version will display them prominantly (:
See Ya, Jeff
New version of Yahoo Site Builder with built-in meta description tag! I put in several requests to have this added. The previous version only had the title & keyword tags. I am sure there were many other requests to have it added too. It will save alot of time and help with conversion for the 2nd & 3rd tier.
I should really use Dream Weaver or something for my next site. Does anyone have an opinion?
Jeff
Hi Dan, I have your SEO toolkit from 2005, and I wondered if you could comment on WebCEO. I am actually webmaster for many websites, and recently, with your latest SEO FastStart have put nose to the grindstone. I hate websites the 'lay there' and do nothing…and so am wanting to promote more SEO to my clients. I also often purchase your SEO Research Labs report and it seems to get me up and running more quickly.
But i wonder what i am missing by not using WebCEO more and/or what more i should do in addition to the report information i get from SEO Research Labs.
In addition, i use Wordtracker often as i move through the keyword process. I am so happy to have your process spelled out in the new report. It was an answer to a lot of frustrating moments of wanting to be more organized and get more results.
thanks, claudia
I don't use WebCEO, Claudia. I use Microsoft Excel, Outlook, etc. to keep track of stuff. I'm probably just a caveman, and missing out on something great.
Actually, WebCEO has seemed cumbersome when i tried to use it, but hadn't gotten deep into it to give it a fair test. Not as intuitive as i would have hoped.
And actually, without really studying your course, much of it is meaningless. I may do better to peek in at it again now that i've had some hands on experience.
Dan, can you recommend software for a membership site? 1ShoppingCart is partnering with aMemberPro. Other options are MemberGate & an open source – Joomla. I will need to apply SEO and am uncertain about their structure.
I built my USPropertyBuyers.com membership site from scratch (a few years back) and it was painful. Now that my Foreclosures&Flips book is climbing on Clickbank, I think I need to counter the memberships off the book.
I am equivocal to restructuring but if it's cost effective, I might consider (prior to my next start up).
Thanks, Jeff
Dan, please disregard the above question. I found a few viable solutions from reliable sources.
Thanks, Jeff
hi Dan,
Id like to thank you for giving out free tutorials and lessons. It helps a lot of beginners in the game like me to get on the right track.
Where can I download the link tracking excel file that you have on the fourth lesson? I kinda missed that email I just subscribed 3 hours ago. thanks
Aldo, you can get the directory submission tracker (think that's what you're looking for) @ http://www.seofaststart.com/bonus/submittrack.zip
Dan
Great. Thanks Dan!
I didn't know where to post this question since there is no Chapter 9 on the site.
I have a question about 301 redirects.
http://www.domain.com/ has PageRank in the toolbar http://www.domain.com/index.htm has a greyed out box
Do I need to do a 301 redirect for this? Is it that big of a deal?
Should I reference all internal links to my home page as "www.domain.com" or "www.domain.com/index.htm" in light of this?
If it's a 301 redirect is this sufficient? redirect 301 /index.htm http://www.domain.com
I'm having a hard time trying to find a good resource on 301 redirects with how-tos.
Hope it was ok to post this here. Paul
Yes, Paul, a 301 is the right way to do it… and yes, you really do want to fix your internal links so they all point to the "one true home page."
redirect 301 /index.htm http://www.seefred.com
This line gave me some problems in my .htaccess file…what am I doing wrong?
Firefox said this: "Firefox has detected that the server is redirecting the request for this address in a way that will never complete."
Paul
Paul, here's an .htaccess & mod_rewrite solution for Apache servers, courtesy of Jerry West @ StomperNet:
Options +FollowSymLinks
RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} ^.*\/index\.htm
RewriteRule ^(.*)index\.htm$ http://www.domain.com [R=301,L]
Works like a charm! Thanks Dan.
Paul
Hi Dan, Today I was contacted by a company trying to sell me exclusive banner adspace for my primary keywords. Have you heard of myspaceguardian.com? They give away a toolbar (12 million downloads to date) so that when a network user (who has their toolbar) does a search on the major search engines, a paid visual of a website targeting those keywords pops up before the center sponsored results. You can see an example of the ad space they are selling at http://godemo.net and click on the left link "online demonstration" then enter the search term "bmw" and see that a bmw website frame pops up.
Anyway, they want to sell me ad space for my key terms. They'll give me the exclusive right to my key phrase for a flat fee for a year so that anytime one of the 12mil. in their network searches on my keyword, my website will show up above the sponsored results. I compared the numbers to my Adwords budget, and it looks good, but I'm concerned about whether this is a wise decision or not. I'd still have to use Adwords for all my keyword variations. What do you think?
One word, Diane: run.
Thanks, Dan, I will!
If they ever really had 12 million downloads, you can expect that a fraction would actually install it, and since things like this fall under the adware/spyware category they get removed by all those removal tools that people use when they can't figure out how to get rid of the ads, why their computer is so slow, etc.
Let them join your affiliate program and offer them a percentage of sales – they won't take you up on it.
Someone emailed on Xenu's Link Sleuth… I can't vouch for the political rant on the site, I just click the download link, because it's the best tool I've found for checking broken links. If anyone can suggest a better tool, I'll be happy to link to it.
I saw this today and thought I'd share it with anybody who hasn't seen it yet.
I've downloaded the program and it seems to be a pretty good tool…your thoughts Dan? He references your book on the download page and Aaron Wall referred it so I'm assuming it's respectable.
http://www.seo4fun.com/blog/2007/08/08/how-to-exploit-the-pagerankbot-tool.html
Paul
Thanks for the link, Paul. Been looking at that one, it's similar to a couple other tools that I've seen (none released publicly) and could be real helpful for mapping out structural issues.
Hi Guys I found a new keyword tool http://www.wordze.com/about.php
take a look
Hi Dan,
I am new to SEO and found your website great resource. And already I have asked some questions for other chapters. here is one for tools. Say I advertise in a magazine and they mention my web address with .NET at end instead of .COM Then they redirect .NET traffic to .COM using 301 redirection. Will it cause any problems to my google rankings. Or it is fine if any other domain redirects to you using 301. They do it to track who is going to our website after reading the magazine.
thanks
A 301 redirect should do you no harm at all, and anyone who links to that would be sending some "link juice" to you through the redirect.
thanks Dan for always there to answer questions.
Hi Dan, I have a question. If we use Webmaster tools and especially the set the geographic tool, how this affect our target group?. For example if i set my business location, lets say Germany, and if i have a good SERP for specific keywords, then those keywords will affect only for german people? Thanks
Hi Dan,
Need your advice!
You know companies spend lot of money on adwords to attract traffic, but with little conversion.
Our company cQSight(just me and 2 other guys) have developed a tool (DEEFBOX) to connect website/blog visitors to the site owners.
What is the best way to market this tool?
Regards, Lexman Nandan cQSight.com
Hai everyone, I am Arulkumar need to know, which technique among forum submission,blog submission,link submission, is best for get good site ranking.I know the above three would be very important to get site popular. But I'd like to know the priority of those techniques,which one should have to get more priority.
Have you read the book, Arul?
I found this great adwords tool KeywordSpy.com . I'm using it and it has really improved my profits. It offers Free trials.- http://www.keywordspy.com/
Thanks for the useless (and nofollowed) ad for Keyword Spy, "Michelle." How's the weather in India these days?
Folks, this is an example of how you can lose credibility by hiring people to post spam comments on others' blogs:
What are the odds that I would ever recommend this tool? Not too high…
I downloaded the book which I must say is awesome for a beginner. Explains everything in real basic and logical steps. I am having some problems with keywords and I have come back to find the forum that I registered for during the SEO Fast Start registration process but I can't find it anywhere??? I can't for the life of me remember what it was. Is it still active?
While waiting for the link to the forum, I thought I'd post the question here for review.
Firstly, how much time would you dedicate to keyword research & expansion? Without considering plurals and location I have managed to generate approx. 7000 variations of keywords with modifiers… Adding a location to all these keywords and phrases will create 1000's of additional keywords and phrases (i.e. in Australia, If I use the major towns and cities I would have and additional 50-60 variations X 7000 phrases = lots and lots of phrases…) I have a feeling I'm going about this wrong, which leads me into my second question;
Q2: My website is being designed for people to find a qualified tradesman to assist with assembly and installation of outdoor furniture & structures, indoor furniture, Home Theatre/AV equipment & Fitness/Gym Equipment. I have a feeling I need to be doing this 4 times (Once for each category) What are my core keywords – Are they Assembly, Installation, Configuration, Setup OR are they variations of outdoor furniture & structures (sheds, gazebos, clotheslines, tables), indoor furniture (tables, chairs, wardrobes, shelves, beds, desks), Home Theatre/AV equipment (plasma's, lcd's, speakers, amplifiers, dvd's) & Fitness/Gym Equipment (treadmills, home gyms, exercise bikes). The latter is how I have done it but I'm coming up with too many terms and I think I am just complicating things and confusing myself…
Thanks
Hi Dan. Tank you for a greet book. I have reead it – but i still have problems with a keeword can – you give any hints to get a special word highere on google ? i have tried to follow you'er book and it is working a lillel do you have any other hints ?
Thanks and regards Lars
Hi Dan,
I was wondering if you can recommend any tools for managing AdWords campaigns for 500 clients?
We have a project going where we manage client's AdWords ads as part of a marketing platform we offer.
Do you do that "within" AdWords or are you using any external tools at all?
Cheers,
Jonathan
Jonathan,
I use the Adwords Editor, and not much else. Google Analytics of course, some reporting tools like Winner Alert, some spreadsheets to analyze stuff.
I don't have 500 clients. I would consider having more than a few clients a complete breakdown in my plans for this life. Actually, even having one client represents a failure on my part, but I'm not perfect.
If I did have 500 clients, I would expect to manage them with 'a bunch of employees.'
Dan,
Thank you for your reply. I'm sticking to managing it directly then, as usual.
Thanks again, your advice lets me rest assured, as always.
It's great having you as a mentor.
Regards Jonathan
Hi Dan, Can you tell me what is a good free tool that can automate my social bookmarks?
Sorry Dan, I meant to ask, what is a good free tool that automates multiple social bookmarks, with just a 1 button push.
Dan,
How do I send an email or communication to you or to your team? I have an idea that I thought I'd pass on to you. I really thought you'd already cover this, but you haven't and yet you should!? I joined BrainTrust and love the content. I have a ways to go before everything is implemented but working on it. In the meantime I can't find a contact us or email for you.
Thanks. -DK