Archive for » May, 2007 «

24
May
Free Resources For Researchers, Webmasters & Bloggers

In an earlier article, I wrote about the frustration of outdated information on the internet. Today, I will list favorite research sites of mine that keep their information up-to-date.

When I’m in need of definitions I either go to: www.webopedia.com a free online dictionary – or, www.wikipedia.com – a free online encyclopedia

When I’m looking for information on HTML, XHTML CSS, I go directly to www.W3schools.com. They offer lessons, tips, tricks, and tests.

Another site worth checking out is www.webmonkey.com. They have a great “how to” library, and “quick references” well worth the read.

Remember to bookmark these sites for your future researching needs.

Category: Archives, Lessons Learned  Tags:  Comments off
23
May
Competitive Ads By Google? Use Google’s Competitive Ad Filter?

O.K., you decided to become an affiliate of Commission Junction, Link Share, or any of the other affiliate marketing companies. You carefully choose which ads to place on your site to target your audience. Everything’s going along fine, until you start micromanaging your site, and see that Google has an ad for the same company in their block of ads. What do you do?

I just ran into this situation on my observationmountain.com site. It’s a blog that covers an array of subjects, so my affiliate ads are targeted to whom I believe my audience is. I also do product reviews. I hand pick my ads, so I didn’t appreciate seeing that I was also competing with Google ads.

I wasn’t sure what to do, so went to the Goolge Adsense site and researched. They’re aware of this problem, and have installed a program named, “Competitive Ad Filter”.

I followed their instructions and listed the URL’s that I hoped to have “blocked”. Did it work for me? No!

I still have competing ads, but decided to just leave them as is. Hopefully my readers will believe what I have to say in my product reviews, and follow the links I have provided. If I feel strongly about a product or an advertiser, I decided not to stop writing about what I believe, to avoid Google’s competitive ads.

Category: Archives, Lessons Learned  Tags: ,  Comments off
22
May
Search Engines & Outdated Information

Is it just me, or do you get frustrated with the outdated information search engines are “throwing at you”?

I do a lot of research for my blogs, as well as for my full time job. What I find most frustrating, is that the information at the top of the search engines, is often outdated.

When I do research, it’s vital that the information I receive is current. So, as an added chore to my research, I now must check for the date of an article. It’s not uncommon to find a website at the top of the search engines which has articles that are two to three years old.

I think it’s great that “someone” is getting lots of “clicks” because their site has moved to the top of the search engine, but I also think it’s important that a search produces current information. Hmmmm! Maybe the Google bots, spiders, and crawlers should take that into consideration.

Related Posts with Thumbnails
Category: Archives, Lessons Learned  Tags: , ,  Comments off
« Previous Entries
Next Entries »