« November 2003 | Main | January 2004 »

December 31, 2003

Happy new Year!

We send you our best wishes for a happy new year. May it bring you everything you desire in your personal and professional lives.

Posted by Basileios at 09:09 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

December 24, 2003

Merry Christmas!

On behalf of all the members of Rugles.com we wish you

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Posted by Basileios at 12:44 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

December 18, 2003

Google and Froogle

Google has recently started displaying results from Froogle on its normal Search Engine Results Pages. Froogle is the products search engine of Google that is currently on beta development stage.

It is somehow becoming more apparent that Google has grown up and is moving into a tighter integration of its services. Dont be surprised by the changes. Google will try to be ahead of the game whatever the responses of the other search engines. Be prepared!

john@rugles.com
http://www.rugles.com

Posted by Basileios at 10:36 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

December 15, 2003

DMOZ/Open Directory and you

The Open Directory project is one of the most important directories in which your website has to be submitted.

The main reason has to do with the high importance that Google gives to the backward links to your website that are coming from the Open directory. This is in itself a very strong point for your site's link popularity and search engine positioning that makes the submission to the Open directory mandatory.

You may find, however, the process of getting your site accepted in the Open directory a rather long and 'painful' one. It may be weeks if not months before you hear from the Open Directory editors. As you may know the listing in the Open Directory is free and unfortunately it suffers from the disadvantages of all free services.

The editors of the Open Directory are volunteers that are doing their best to cover the huge amount of submissions that are done per day, but after all they are only human themselves. Sometimes your website may stay in a long queue waiting for a new editor to volunteer to cover all the bulk of submissions on that category.

If you want to speed up the process do not submit your site again! This will only place your website at the back of the queue and delay your listing even further. Talk to the editors by posting enquiries about your submission at the Open Directory Fora.

If you are up to it then there is an ever quicker way to get your site (and shareware) listed. Become an editor yourself (who said there is such a thing as a free lunch?). You will get your website up very quickly, but you will contribute to the work of the Open Directory by editing other website submissions. A small price to pay in order to get your website up within days.

john@rugles.com
http://www.rugles.com

Posted by Basileios at 10:23 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

December 11, 2003

The PageRank chase

I feel I must continue on the Google new algorithm saga. So much has been written so far and there has been a lot of debate and aggravation on whether Google did the right thing, on why it chose to follow this track etc.

We in Rugles.com do not want to fall into this trap of the PageRank chase. For many Search Engine Optimizers and web marketers the main aim in their attempts is to raise the PageRank and increase the link popularity and backward links of their websites. However, this is a situation of watching the tree and missing the woods. The true aim and reason of all your marketing efforts is is (should be!) to increase your websites visibility and increase your sales. And the only way you can achieve this is by building a solid basis for your long term future and build the best possible interaction with your customers. Content is king is mentioned so many times in the internet marketing world and it is so surprising that it is forgotten too often.

We feel we have to repeat that half measures cannot possibly offer long term and safe results. Only patience, proper integration of your efforts in your web marketing attempts and careful analysis and understanding of your site can lead you to your success. And no changes in any Google algorithm or other search engine can have long lasting effects on your websites progress.

Posted by Basileios at 10:42 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

December 09, 2003

The miserable failure Google bombing.

It has been in the news recently that if you search for miserable failure in google you are served with George W. Bushs biography page from the White House pages. This has simply been a result of a good understanding (and of taking advantage ) of the way Google works. Lets analyze how this happened:


Voila!

Google bombing isnt a new idea and has been used in a similar fashion in the past. It is very interesting to study this mechanism in order to understand that for some keyphrases it doesnt take much to create a success in search engine positioning. It doesnt take much to create a miserable failure either

john@jrugles.com
http://www.rugles.com

Posted by Basileios at 10:46 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

December 03, 2003

Google changes and search engine optimization

I was reading an article yesterday on the recent algorithm changes in Google, which we recently reported, in which the author claimed that the changes may slowly drive Search engine optimizers out of business.

Google certainly caused havoc in the market by the changes in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERP) which happened just before the busy Christmas season, that drove quite a few Search engine optimization investments out of the window, and there is certainly a lot of aggravation from business owners against Search Engine Optimizers and SEOs against Google.

Google, fortunately or unfortunately, is still the best available search engine, and the search engine that most people use for quality results. With the fact in mind that there is very little competition available in the search engine market we still have to obey to the power of Google.

Google owes nothing to webmasters, business owners and search engine optimizers. Googles aim is to provide spam free results that are the most appropriate and targeted for each search engine that an internet user will perform on the internet. On the other hand the internet is a dynamic, living organism with new site changing sites, new ideas, new SEO attempts and new spam attempts to beat the house.

Search Engine Optimization however, does not end and will not end with the changes that Google. I have read many views so far mentioning that this is the beginning of the end for SEO and that more businesses will be pushed towards Pay-Per-Click. Although there is great truth in the short term effects of these changes and that more marketers will start facing the PPC challenges, Pay-per-click is not a panacea, and as more and more people get involved there click prices will become forbidding for some small and large businesses.

We, in Rugles.com, believe that the changes in the search engine substratum (whether Google or any other Search engine) are part of the SEO game and, fortunately or unfortunately, they demonstrate a strong reason why SEO will keep people busy 9and frustrated) for the times to come, and part of their daily changing world.

However, SEO should not be considered as a unique investment but should always be placed on the same par as other investments (like PPC, newsletters, other advertising) which will bring long and short dividends to e-businesses.

Search Engine Optimization will not end with the current changes. The internet is a dynamic and fluid environment and has always been like that and we marketing professionals simply have to be quick enough to react to the changes of the environment in order to protect our business and the business of our customers.

Posted by Basileios at 11:09 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack