TALES, FAILS AND BETRAYALS OF SEARCH ENGINE PLACEMENT Part 2

This is the second part of a series of articles about gaining an inside knowledge of search engine placement. If you missed part 1, put my full name into google or goarticles search and you will find part 1 of this article. For those who bought a redirect web name as indicated in part 1, don’t forget to set up your e-mail redirection also.As promised, I’ll explain e-mail redirection and its benefits. I’ll use a client as an example. This company was just starting e-mail marketing, and decided to send e-mails to their customers. They wanted to show appropriate departments for e-mail addresses. Unaware of e-mail redirection, the manager created e-mails with different free providers; john@hotmail; susan@msn; james@yahoo.com and so on. As an upscale restaurant, they had a prestigious reputation. However, when their business cards portrayed the above e-mail addresses, they shot their image in the foot! A free-service e-mail address on your business card shouts “business on a startup budget.” They had a fabulous web site, but the employees didn’t have corporate e-mail accounts? Using e-mail and web name redirection would enhance their image and search placement. The restaurant could get another web name (as explained in part 1 of this article) something like www.prestigedining.net, and establish e-mails as explained belowHere’s how it works. When I designed www.popcornfart.com, the web site for these articles, I received e-mail redirection option. E-mail redirection allows me to send to “anyone” at popcornfart.com. That means, I can pick any name and use it for e-mail as long as the ending part of the e-mail was @popcornfart.com. I can use the following e-mail addresses:jobs@popcornfart.cominfo@popcornfart.comsupport@popcornfart.comdodobird@popcornfart.comAll of these addresses redirect to one address; my company e-mail. That’s right! I only check one e-mail account. Just as popcornfart.com can redirect to another web site, you can have several e-mail addresses redirect to one account. If I wanted, I could use the e-mails in this fashion:Judy_in_HR@popcornfart.comMr._Johnson@popcornfart.comListing e-mail addresses on business cards using the first method, would also eliminate the expense of business card reprinting each time an employee left; another cost saving procedure to consider.The web site, www.popcornfart.com, has happily surpassed my estimation of search engine placement. For searches, I used both the term popcornfart, and popcorn fart with a space. This site, set up as the experiment for these articles, made its debut on October 12, 2004. On November 1, 2004, it was already in the top 10 positions on the big search engines. I even received this e-mail from a colleague that does search engine optimization.“ Hey… I just checked… popcornfart is all over in top positions. How did you do that so fast? What’s your secret?”I believe part of the success is the name, as the name draws attention. Another aspect that allows it to climb is the pure fact that it is “New Content.” Search engines love new content. But will it stay? That brings me to the next lesson! If you don’t change your web site, it falls off the search engines. Oh, I can already hear the groans. I don’t have time to change my web site. I don’t know how to change my web site. Hey, my company gives me a corporate cookie cutter site, and I’m not allowed to change it!For the first groan - I don’t have time. The web site doesn’t need a major overhaul, it only needs a change. Even a new picture or a new caption can confirm change. Another technique is the portal redirection page.For the second groan - I don’t know how to change. This is where you need to learn, or hire someone to do it for you. Once again, the change can be minor! You can also use the portal redirection technique.For the last groan, people who have a corporate cookie cutter site, you must market your site using a portal redirection page.What is the portal redirection page? It’s a simple one page web site that links to your corporate or business web page. Here’s the best part, it can be free. You read that correct, I said it can be free! Most providers allow you personal web space. Personal web space is used to promote oneself. I was told by our service provider that I can’t sell things on my personal web space, but I can talk about myself, my work, post articles, and link to my business web site. Best of all, I can redirect a web name to my free web page.Do free web pages climb the search engines? Yes, and they are usually easy to change. Most free web sites have a tutorial template you complete. If you use the web name redirection method (as explained in part 1 of this article series) and e-mail redirection, you can have a free web site and no one can tell especially if you turn on gripping!What’s gripping? It is a function used in redirection method that enables your web name to remain in the URL address, not showing the true web address. I use gripping on www.enhancedbenefits.net. A site my 14 year old daughter created as part of a school project. This is a perfect example of a portal redirection page.The name www.enhancedbenefits.net is another name we own. My husband does have a cookie cutter corporate site. This name is redirecting to a free web site. Notice as you click on the links, the name in the URL address does not change. That is how gripping works!Look for part 3 of this series, and watch popcornfart.com climb or fall in the search engines!