Search Engine Optimization with
WebPosition Gold™ 2
Brad S. Konia
Wordware Publishing, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Konia, Brad. Search engine optimization with WebPosition Gold / by Brad Konia. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN 1-55622-924-0 (paperback, compact disk) 1. Search engines. 2. Web sites — Indexing and abstracting — Computer programs. 3. WebPosition analyzer. I. Title. TK5105.884.K66 2002 005.75'8—dc21
2002 2002006567 CIP
© 2002, Wordware Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved 2320 Los Rios Boulevard Plano, Texas 75074 No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from Wordware Publishing, Inc. Printed in the United States of America
ISBN 1-55622-924-0 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0205 WebPosition Gold is a trademark of FirstPlace Software, Inc. Other products mentioned are used for identification purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective companies.
All inquiries for volume purchases of this book should be addressed to Wordware Publishing, Inc., at the above address. Telephone inquiries may be made by calling: (972) 423-0090
Contents Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii Chapter 1 Why WebPosition Gold? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 From Archie to Google — Search Engine Background. . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Chapter 2 Principles of Search Engine Optimization . . . . . . . . Why Should You Use WebPosition Gold? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Background Theory — Why Isn’t Your Site Listed on Search Engines? The Myth of Meta Tags. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Relevancy — What Makes One Page More Relevant Than Another? .
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11 12 13 15 17
Chapter 3 HTML Primer . . . . . . . . . Writing HTML . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reading HTML Online . . . . . . . . . HTML Tags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HTML Tag . . . . . . . . . . . . . Head Tag . . . . . . . . . . . . . Title Tag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Meta Tags . . . . . . . . . . . . . Body Tag. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Paragraph Tag . . . . . . . . . . . Break Tag . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bold, Italic, and Typewriter Tags . . Heading Tags . . . . . . . . . . . Changing Font Size (Font Tags) . . Creating Hyperlinks (Anchor Tag) . Image Tag . . . . . . . . . . . . . Comment Tag . . . . . . . . . . . Saving an HTML Document . . . . . . Opening Documents in Web Browsers . Default Page. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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21 22 23 23 24 24 24 25 26 27 27 27 28 29 29 30 30 31 31 32
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Chapter 4 Keyphrase Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Which Phrases Do You Want to Optimize For? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Keyword Tactics to Consider . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Chapter 5 Installation and Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Registering WebPosition Gold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Configuring Internet Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
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Chapter 6 Reporter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating a Mission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mission Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Keywords Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . URL Verification Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . Engines Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Options Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Customize Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Results Tab. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mission Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Concise Summary Report . . . . . . . . . Summary Description Report. . . . . . . . Detail Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alert! Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Trend Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Competitive Analysis Report . . . . . . . . Page and Keyword Report . . . . . . . . . Log Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . URL Submission Verification Report. . . . . Getting the Most Out of Your Reports . . . Additional Tips for Accurate Mission Runs . . . Position Changes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Do You Think Your Results May be Inaccurate? Why aren’t You in the Top 30? . . . . . . . . . Select Engines for Multiple Missions . . . . . .
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Chapter 7 Page Generator . Page Generator Tabs . . . Page Setup Tab . . . . Engine Tab . . . . . . Keywords Tab . . . . Description Tab. . . . Meta Tags Tab . . . .
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. 53 . 54 . 54 . 59 . 61 . 65 . 69 . 77 . 79 . 82 . 83 . 90 . 92 . 94 . 96 . 99 100 104 106 109 109 110
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115 120 120 123 127 130 140
Contents
Options Tab . . . . . . . . . . Template Tab . . . . . . . . . . Placeholders . . . . . . . . . . . . Case Study: Silver Platter Foods Available Placeholders . . . . . . .
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141 143 145 148 153
Chapter 8 Page Critic . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page Critic Tabs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page Setup Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . Engine Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Settings Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page Editor Tab. . . . . . . . . . . . . Page Critic Analysis Report . . . . . . . . . Report Header . . . . . . . . . . . . . Factors That Affect Web Page Relevancy Page Critic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page Properties. . . . . . . . . . . . . Top Pages List . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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157 160 160 164 165 168 172 173 174 181 184 202 204
Chapter 9 Upload Manager Queue Tab . . . . . . . . Reports Tab. . . . . . . . Upload Tab. . . . . . . . Results Tab . . . . . . . .
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207 209 214 218 221
. . . . . . . . . Search Engines? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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225 227 228 228 230 231 233 251 253 258 261
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Chapter 10 Submitter . . . . . When Should You Submit to Submitter Tabs . . . . . . . Web Site Tab . . . . . . Contact Tab . . . . . . Keywords Tab . . . . . URLs/Engines Tab . . . Categories Tab . . . . . Options Tab . . . . . . Results Tab . . . . . . . Paid Inclusion . . . . . . .
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Chapter 11 Traffic Analyzer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263 Traffic Analyzer Tabs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267 Setup Account Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267 v
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Log On Tab. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268 Add Tracking to My Pages Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270 Troubleshooting the Traffic Analyzer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273 Chapter 12 Scheduler . Scheduler Tabs . . . Missions Tab . . Time Tab . . . . Options Tab . .
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277 279 279 284 286
Chapter 13 Link Popularity . Link Partners . . . . . . . Arelis. . . . . . . . . Unsuccessful Shortcuts . . Link Farms . . . . . . FFA Sites . . . . . . . Researching . . . . . . .
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Chapter 14 Top 5 Tips and Mistakes of Search Engine Marketing . . . . . Top 5 Mistakes of Search Engine Marketing: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mistake #1: Buying into the Myth that Search Engine Optimization (SEO) No Longer Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mistake #2: Bulk Submitting is the Path to Riches . . . . . . . . . . . Mistake #3: Meta Tags Will Solve All My Problems . . . . . . . . . . . Mistake #4: Believing “Doorways” Don’t Work or Will Get Me Banned . Mistake #5: Submitting Before Establishing any External Links . . . . . Top 5 Search Engine Marketing Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tip #1: Target the Right Keywords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tip #2: Proper Submission to the Major Directories is Critical . . . . . Tip #3: Optimize Your Page Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tip #4: Increase Your Link Popularity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tip #5: Track Your Progress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Chapter 15 Thou Shalt Not Spam! . What Happens If I Spam? . . . . The 12 Commandments of Search Don’t Duplicate . . . . . . . Don’t Misrepresent . . . . . . Don’t Hide . . . . . . . . . . Don’t Cloak . . . . . . . . . Don’t Stuff . . . . . . . . . .
309 311 312 312 312 313 313 313
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Contents
Don’t Don’t Don’t Don’t Don’t Don’t Don’t
Redirect . . . . . . Page Jack . . . . . Build Bad Doorways Fail To Cross-Link . Link Farm . . . . . Over-Submit . . . . Build Junk . . . . .
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Chapter 16 Hiring a Professional . . . . Cost of Services and Choice of Services Credibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Communication and Customer Service .
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317 319 324 327
Afterword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333
vii
Foreword I’m often asked how I came up with the idea for WebPosition. After all, WebPosition broke new ground in 1997 when it became the first software product in the world to report web site rankings on the major search engines. More importantly, it divulged the secrets we’d discovered to achieve those rankings, as it still does today. Businesses that can rise to the top of the search results discover a gold mine of free, highly targeted traffic for their web sites. These prospects are all actively searching for a product, solution, or answer to their question. Millions search the web every day. Whether they find you or your competitor can make or break a business. As with most of the products I’ve designed over the years, my ideas are born out of a simple personal need. I still vividly remember what would later become one of the defining moments in my career. It was an evening in the winter of 1997. I’d just finished typing a lengthy e-mail to a company that sold software which submitted web sites to the search engines. At that moment, I was just a single keystroke away from making perhaps the biggest mistake of my life. To explain, we must jump back a few months to late 1996. I had just noticed one of the software products we were reselling on our web site had jumped dramatically in sales. This puzzled me since we had done nothing to advertise the program. . . or so I thought. How were they finding us? Why were we selling so many copies of this particular product? After some investigation, I discovered buyers were arriving from one of the popular search engines of that time. One of the pages I’d built was popping up at the top of the search results, even ahead of the publisher of the program. Intrigued, I spent many hours querying the search engines and studying the pages that popped up near the top. I discovered certain key traits common to most of the top-ranking pages. Convinced I was on to something, I made changes to the other pages on our web site to mimic elements found in existing top-ranking pages. I eagerly resubmitted and then waited for the engines ix
Foreword
to recognize the changes. A couple of weeks later, our sales began to skyrocket. Within months we’d tripled the sales of many of the products we were promoting. The amazing thing was that we’d not spent a single dime in advertising to achieve this remarkable growth. Despite the success, I soon ran into a roadblock. I needed to know which page designs were ranking well and which were not for the dozens of keywords and phrases that described these products. I asked an employee to query all of the most popular search engines for each keyword we were targeting. He had to do this in between his other responsibilities like taking orders for all the new sales we were generating. He painstakingly queried a dozen search engines for the list of keywords I’d given him. After each search, he’d sift through several pages of results, looking for our web site and recording the date, engine, keyword, and ranking achieved, if any. I also asked him to create a chart to show how that ranking compared to the previously known ranking. The whole process took him more than a week to accomplish between his other responsibilities. It quickly became apparent that there had to be a better way. I spent hours scouring the web for a solution to our problem. I found a number of search engine submission products and services in my search. They all claimed to submit you to the search engines, but none recognized the importance of achieving a top ranking. I kept asking myself, “If nobody can find you, why bother submitting in the first place?” All the products I found appeared to be competing entirely on how many engines they could submit you to. However, my research showed that only about a dozen engines at the time commanded any significant amount of traffic on the web. The rest were worthless in terms of bringing visitors to your web site. It was similar to erecting 300 tiny signs in the middle of the Sahara desert. Who was going to notice? So, in January 1997, I settled into my home office one evening. I invested several hours outlining the reports and features I needed to save us countless hours of time each week. This product would make it truly practical to sustain many top rankings on the search engines and to continue to fuel our rapid sales growth. I completed the e-mail addressed to a company already offering submission software. I reasoned that since they were already in this market, they would be in the best position to quickly build what I needed. All I had to do was describe how it was to their benefit to add such features to their existing software. x
Foreword
After finishing my e-mail, I reached for the Send button. It then struck me how much market potential this design really had. After all, who wouldn’t want to have a tool that generated thousands of dollars of free advertising for their business? So, I never pressed that Send button. Six months and many long hours later, the first version of WebPosition was born, and it became a smashing success. In March 1999, my company FirstPlace Software released WebPosition Gold. Like its predecessor, WebPosition Analyzer, it broke new ground by becoming the first product to combine all the tools necessary for gaining top rankings into a single integrated package. Prior to this date, web marketers seeking a top ranking were forced to spend hours reading WebPosition’s tutorials along with other resources offering tips for gaining top rankings. The way search engines ranked pages often changed monthly, requiring a constant and laborious investment in time to keep up with it all. Those who were the most successful had to be mathematical geniuses to tear apart a page’s ranking at the top to discover its secrets. You had to figure out what made those pages more relevant to a search engine versus the millions of other pages in its index. WebPosition Gold changed all that by providing a Page Critic to analyze your page and tell you exactly what you needed to do to achieve a top ranking. The Page Critic included a unique knowledge base updated monthly to keep pace with the search engines. Gone were the days of endless research, at least for those who discovered WebPosition Gold. We have now released the third generation of WebPosition, known as WebPosition Gold 2. I was originally asked to author a comprehensive book on how to get the most out of this latest version. Unfortunately, I found myself with little extra time to do so while continuing to manage FirstPlace Software’s growth. Instead, I suggested that the publisher contact Brad Konia, CEO of MarketMySite!, which is a full-service online marketing company. Mr. Konia is a long-time user of WebPosition Gold and he knows the software better than most, having developed the official WebPosition Gold training video for both version 1 and version 2. Luckily, Mr. Konia was gracious enough to step in and offer his keen insights into the software. Although I could not author the entire book, I have taken the time to contribute two very important chapters: “Top 5 Tips and Mistakes of Search Engine Marketing” and “Thou Shalt Not Spam! The 12 Commandments of Search Engine Marketing.” If these chapters are taken to heart, I’m certain they will help any new web marketer or veteran avoid the costly mistakes so xi
Foreword
many others have made. I’m sometimes asked how it’s possible to obtain a top ranking if everyone else wants to be on top too. As with all things in business, those who have the desire to succeed and the willingness to learn become the true winners in the marketplace. This book will help you learn what it takes to come out on top in the search engines and hopefully with your business. WebPosition Gold is the tool to give you a real competitive edge so you can achieve that goal. Brent Winters Founder of FirstPlace Software, Inc. and chief architect of WebPosition Gold
xii
Introduction By purchasing this book, you’ve taken the first step toward learning a valuable and highly marketable skill — search engine optimization. Whether you’re an independent entrepreneur, a web designer, a marketing consultant, or an employee working in the marketing department of a large company, you’ll find this book extremely useful in helping you acquire the necessary skills to get your web site positioned in search engines so potential customers can locate it. My personal experience with search engine optimization began in 1995. This was the dawn of the Internet revolution, and I was one of the principals in a digital printing startup. Our clients were graphic artists designing full-color brochures and catalogs using desktop publishing systems. Believe it or not, full-color desktop publishing was a groundbreaking concept for that time. Most printing companies were ill-equipped to handle desktop publishing files and those that did have this capability charged a fortune for full-color printing, particularly in smaller quantities. Our concept was that a designer working anywhere in the world could transmit his or her files to us over the Internet, and in as little as 24 hours we would print and ship the finished full-color product, in quantities from 100 to 50,000 pieces, for a fraction of the price that a conventional printing company would charge. Since we were the only company in the world offering this service at that time, we realized that our market was global. We also realized that most graphic designers were already using the Internet extensively, and thus the best way to reach our market was online. At that time, AltaVista was the largest and most well-known search engine, so I began learning everything I could about AltaVista, analyzing top-ranking pages for various keyword searches and trying to figure out how they got to the top. Eventually, I became very successful at getting our site positioned in AltaVista and other search engines. Consequently, our web site received global exposure to our intended market. The orders started coming in from xiii
Introduction
all over the world. We eventually built the company into a multimillion dollar operation, using search engine optimization as our primary means of advertising. In 1999, I launched a new company called 1st Place Search Engine Ranking to provide search engine optimization as a service to other companies. We’ve now expanded beyond search engine optimization to offer a full suite of online marketing products and services. These services include web design and hosting, search engine marketing, automated lead follow-up systems, and much more. In keeping with the new services, we’ve changed the company name to MarketMySite! We’ve also developed a strong relationship with FirstPlace Software, the company that developed WebPosition Gold. Please note that although the original name of our company was similar to theirs, the two companies have always been separate and independent entities. I would like to acknowledge FirstPlace Software for their generosity in supplying me with a complete copy of their internal technical support database. Many of their Frequently Asked Questions and answers regarding WebPosition Gold and some of their help file topics have been reprinted or paraphrased in this book with their permission. WebPosition Gold is, of course, the subject of this book. It is the most well-known and widely respected software used for search engine optimization. We developed the official video training course for WebPosition Gold, and with this book, we hope to make this powerful, complex software more accessible to the average user. Search engine optimization offers two major advantages over conventional forms of advertising. The first advantage is that it costs very little in terms of actual cash outlay. Yes, if you want to do it yourself, you must buy the software and invest your time in learning how to use it properly. Since everyone knows that time is money, it’s really a misstatement to say that search engine optimization is entirely free. In fact, many companies recognize the cost of their time and choose to hire a company or consultant to perform this work on their behalf. That’s how people like myself earn a living. However, if the return on investment is compared with that of conventional advertising, it is apparent that search engine optimization offers a substantially better value than any other form of online advertising, including banner ads. The second advantage is that this type of marketing typically reaches the most targeted and most highly qualified market possible. People who type a description of a product or service into a search engine are actively searching xiv
Introduction
for a seller of that product or service. In many cases, they are ready to buy immediately. They are simply looking for the best possible company with which to do business. This is a much better quality prospect than the typical passive viewer reached through conventional advertising. Think about it: If you run a full-page ad in a magazine, how many people who are exposed to that ad are actually potential buyers? Even if the content of the magazine is very specific to your business, it does not guarantee qualified buyers. For example, how many people who read Car & Driver magazine have the means to purchase a Mercedes-Benz S-Class sedan? Probably less than 5% of the magazine’s readership. This means that when Mercedes runs a full-page ad for this vehicle in Car & Driver, they are wasting 95 out of 100 of their advertising dollars on non-qualified prospects. Conversely, think about the person who lives in New York and searches for “Mercedes dealer in New York” in a major search engine. Do you think this is a qualified buyer? You bet! Why else would someone be searching for a dealer? Sure, it’s possible that he or she is looking for a job at a dealership, but the vast majority of people who type this phrase into a search engine are ready to purchase a car and are looking for a dealer to sell it to them. If you owned a Mercedes dealership in New York, wouldn’t you like your web site to show up on the first page of results for this search phrase? Of course you would! By reading this book and learning how to use WebPosition Gold, you will acquire the necessary skills to improve your web site’s rankings in major search engines and reap the financial benefits that can result from this kind of visibility. Search engine optimization is an important component of online marketing today. If you want your business to have a strong presence on the Internet, you must be aggressive in promoting your site in the search engines. This book is a hands-on guide to WebPosition Gold 2 and will help you learn how to get the most out of this powerful tool. Each chapter will focus on one of the specific modules that WebPosition Gold provides to take your web site step by step through the optimization process. With WebPosition Gold’s accessibility and power, you can be on the right track to higher rankings and higher traffic. Remember, however, that WebPosition Gold is a sophisticated program, and it will take time and effort to learn how to use it effectively. One of the goals of this book is to help you understand how search engine optimization fits into the larger concept of web marketing. Search engine optimization is one important aspect of web marketing, but it is by no means the only aspect. Likewise, web marketing should be just one aspect of your xv
Introduction
complete marketing strategy, including both online and offline marketing tactics. Do not make the mistake that so many others have by assuming that you simply need to build a web site, get it listed in the search engines, and instant riches will follow. One important point to remember is that advertising is not marketing. Advertising is just one part of a successful marketing program. Jay Conrad Levinson, author of Guerrilla Marketing and one of the most famous marketing consultants of all time, defines marketing as any contact that your company has with the public. This includes over a hundred different elements — everything from your company name and logo, to the way your employees answer the phone, to the types of customers that you’ve chosen to pursue, to your pricing strategy, and much, much more. Success in marketing and, ultimately, success in business result from good planning and pinpoint execution in dozens of different areas. Those who focus on just a few aspects of marketing are inviting failure. In an attempt to make the information in this book easier to digest, we’ve created a fictional company called “Silver Platter Foods,” which exists both in the book and on the Internet at http://www.silverplatterfoods.com. As you progress through the book, you will be able to refer to specific pages on this web site to see examples of how we put the principles into actual practice. We’ll also include screen shots of the web site in the book, so you won’t necessarily need to be sitting in front of your computer while you’re reading. You can view the screen shots in the book and then go to the web site afterward to get a more detailed understanding of the concepts. Inside the back cover of this book, you’ll find a companion CD-ROM that includes the following:
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A trial version of WebPosition Gold 2 that you can install on your computer immediately. The trial will last for 30 days, after which you’ll have to purchase the software if you want to continue using it.
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A link to order WebPosition Gold 2 online.
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A demo of our training video for WebPosition Gold 2. Although this book will provide you with a comprehensive understanding of the program, it’s sometimes easier to learn by watching an on-screen demonstration. After viewing the demo, you’ll have the option to order the actual training video.
Introduction
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A link to our web site and information on hiring MarketMySite! to market your site. While WebPosition Gold is an excellent tool, you can tell by the thickness of this book that it requires a substantial amount of time to learn and use effectively. If you’d rather focus on running your business than trying to become a marketing expert, we can handle your search engine optimization for you. We also provide numerous other online marketing services and educational resources, including: n
Information on creating a marketing plan
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Domain registration
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Trademark registration and monitoring services
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Web design and logo design
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Web hosting
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Web site monitoring
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Automated lead follow-up systems
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Credit card merchant accounts and shopping carts
In short, MarketMySite! provides all the resources you need to build your site, promote your site, and convert your traffic into paying customers. I hope you enjoy this book, and I look forward to sharing the knowledge I’ve accumulated over the past several years to help make your online business a success.
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Why WebPosition Gold?
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2
Chapter 1: Why WebPosition Gold?
earch engines serve the purpose of indexing the millions of pages available on the World Wide Web. When you search for a word or phrase, the search engine scans its entire database of pages that it has previously indexed and returns a list of web pages that it considers most relevant to the word or phrase for which you searched. Whether you’re looking to purchase a car or find a landscape architect, search engines will point you in the right direction. The number of web sites you have to choose from depends entirely on how many links a search engine can lead you to. Therefore, you can find a car dealership that has the best prices and locate a landscape designer who meets your needs, no matter where they are located. Since search engines are free and available for anyone to access, you may wonder what’s in it for them — what keeps them in business? The answer to this question is key to understanding their motivations. This knowledge will help you to understand how to achieve top search engine rankings for your web site. Not surprisingly, search engines want traffic. Their revenue model is very similar to that of printed magazines and newspapers. Just as magazines derive the bulk of their income from advertising, so do search engines. Just as magazines rely on circulation to justify their advertising rates, so do search engines. For magazines, higher circulation means higher advertising rates. For search engines, higher traffic means higher advertising rates. If search engines are motivated by higher traffic, the next logical question is how they expect to get that traffic. Of course, we’ve all seen advertisements for search engines in magazines, on billboards, and on television. Advertising, therefore, is one way they attract traffic. Yet, just like any other business, advertising alone will not lead to success because it does not lead to long-term customer retention. In this sense, search engines are no different from any other business, including your own. They keep people coming back by providing a quality product. As a user of a search engine, how would you define a “quality product”? You’d probably say that a high-quality search engine is one that gives you the most accurate and relevant results when you perform a search for a word or a phrase, and you’d be right.
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Search engines compete with one another to develop the best formulas, or algorithms, for evaluating the relevancy of web pages in relation to people’s chosen search words and phrases. These algorithms are constantly changing because search engines are continuously trying to improve their product and produce better search results for their users. If you want to achieve high rankings in search engines, then your goal is to make sure that your web site is designed to appear relevant to the search engines for the keywords and keyphrases that describe your business. If you owned a pool supply store, here are some keywords and keyphrases that people might search for if they were potential customers: pools pool supplies chlorine chlorine tablets pool cleaner pool sweep pool filter You would want to ensure that the search engines considered your site to be highly relevant to these words and phrases, among others. Here are some statistics: In May 2001, nine out of ten web users visited a search engine each month and revisited them nearly five times each month (Nielsen/NetRatings, May 2001). In March 2001, a survey showed that users looking for products were more likely to type a product name or keyword into a search engine’s search box than browse particular “channels” search engines may offer or click on advertisements (Jupiter Media Metrix & NPD, March 2001). With statistics like these, you should comprehend the importance of having your site show up at the top of the search results when people are searching for your products and services.
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Chapter 1: Why WebPosition Gold?
From Archie to Google — Search Engine Background Search engines have been around since 1990 when Alan Emtage, a student at McGill University in Montreal, developed a search tool called Archie. He designed a device that could search through data on anonymous FTP (file transfer protocol) servers. While the files of these FTP servers were available to everyone, they were only retrievable if users knew the exact server address and names of the files. Archie searched these databases and began to gather site listings of the addresses. In doing so, it used what is called an expression matcher that used characters and partial phrases to bring users the specific address of the necessary file. Archie may now seem like an ancient method of database searching, but its creation jump-started the beginning of the race for the perfect search tool. As the public became more aware of the newly emerging World Wide Web, the need for web search tools soon became apparent. The concept of spidering was introduced in which automated software robots scoured the web, following links from one web site to the next and saving all the text from each web site into a database for later searches and retrievals. In 1994 and 1995, three major search engines — AltaVista, Lycos, and WebCrawler — debuted, promising larger databases and ease of use. Yahoo! also came into existence around this time, yet contrary to popular opinion, Yahoo! is not a search engine. Yahoo! is a directory, organized and maintained by human editors. As such, Yahoo! emphasizes quality over quantity and has never attempted to be a comprehensive index of the web. Over the years, Yahoo! has partnered with several major search engines, such as Inktomi, and more recently Google, to provide supplementary search results that reach beyond the scope of Yahoo!’s human-edited directory. Today, search engines are in intense competition with one another. There are hundreds of search engines in existence on the Internet, but there are only about a dozen “major” search engines. This small group of search engines is responsible for over 90% of all search traffic on the web. Therefore, this is the group that you should focus on. Not coincidentally, this is the group of search engines that WebPosition Gold supports. In addition to this group, version 2 of WebPosition Gold now supports a number of smaller but still significant engines. It also supports the international versions of many of the
Chapter 1: Why WebPosition Gold?
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major search engines, such as AltaVista UK. Between the primary and secondary group and the international group, WebPosition Gold 2 now supports more than 70 search engines.
Created by FirstPlace Software, WebPosition Gold was the first software available to help unlock the mysteries of search engine optimization. It is made up of a series of modules designed to assist you in each crucial step of the process. These modules are the focus of this book, and they are listed below: n
Reporter — Before making any changes to your web site, WebPosition Gold checks your site’s current search engine positions to determine its rankings. This is the starting point if your web site is already up and running on the Internet.
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n
Page Generator — If you don’t already have a published web site, this should be your starting point with WebPosition Gold. This user-friendly module helps you create search engine optimized pages. Page Generator takes you step by step through keyword placement in various parts of your web pages, including title tags, links, headings, body text, and more.
Chapter 1: Why WebPosition Gold?
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Page Critic — This is one of the most important functions of WebPosition Gold. Page Critic analyzes your web pages using its built-in knowledge base. It then presents easily understandable reports specifying the exact changes that you should make to your pages in order to improve your rankings. Since this advice will vary for each of the search engines, you will need to create different versions of your pages for each search engine. These different versions are the optimized pages described above. The Page Critic knows each search engine’s unique personality. If you subscribe to the Knowledge Base update service, this information will always be completely up-to-date. The Page Critic also offers an HTML editor to help you make quick changes to your pages.
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Upload Manager — This program tracks the optimized pages you create as well as any pages you have modified. It will automatically upload new or changed pages to your web site. The Upload Manager can also upload reports to your site. Your clients can then view their sites’ rankings online.
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n
Submitter — This module automatically submits your web site to each search engine that accepts automated submissions. The WebPosition Submitter is much more intelligent than most other submission programs on the market. It makes sure that each step is taken correctly so that your site is not rejected due to mistakes such as submitting too many pages in one day or misspelling a page name. It also knows which pages you’ve modified since you last submitted and avoids unnecessary submission duplication by resubmitting only those pages.
Chapter 1: Why WebPosition Gold?
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Traffic Analyzer — WebPosition Gold tracks visitors to your site, using an invisible counter on your web site. The Traffic Analyzer keeps statistics on your visitor traffic and provides detailed reports specifying which search engines your visitors came from, when they visited your site, and which page they visited first. It also reports the keywords and keyphrases for which visitors searched in order to find your site, allowing you to further optimize your web pages based on actual searches people are performing.
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Scheduler — This module automates the Reporter and Submitter programs, allowing WebPosition Gold to monitor your rankings within search engines and ensure that submissions occur on a regular schedule. You can set the Scheduler to run reports and submissions monthly, weekly, or daily, and at a convenient time.
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Chapter 1: Why WebPosition Gold?
If you’re reading this book, you likely either already have a web site or you want to build one for your organization. More importantly, you want to ensure that your site has sufficient exposure in the search engines to attract the traffic necessary to justify the investment in the site. Hopefully, you also realize by now that simply submitting your web site through traditional search engine submission software is ineffective. With millions of other web pages competing for top rankings, submitting alone is not enough. Search engines are one of the most important ways that potential customers will find your web site, leading to increased exposure for your company. Without sufficient visibility, you’ll lose out on a very inexpensive source of highly targeted traffic. This is where WebPosition Gold comes in.
Chapter 2
Principles of Search Engine Optimization
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Chapter 2: Principles of Search Engine Optimization
Why Should You Use WebPosition Gold? Whether you have your own business or you work for a large company, getting your web site exposed to consumers is critically important to your success and shouldn’t be taken lightly. The Internet is a large part of many people’s daily work routines, and a large percentage of your potential customers turn to search engines when they’re ready to buy or research products and services in your industry. If your site isn’t found when people search for these products and services, you will lose business that you might have had otherwise. Search engine optimization refers to the idea of modifying the HTML in your web pages in order to achieve higher rankings in the search engines. Unfortunately, there is not and never will be a software product that can automatically improve your search engine rankings. Search engine optimization is a learned skill that requires practice and time. As you read through this book and learn to use WebPosition Gold, you’ll begin to understand how all the pieces fit into place. Though there’s no way to completely automate this process, WebPosition Gold does make it as painless and rapid as possible. Common sense dictates that people who find your site through search engines are highly likely to do business with you. The rationale behind this thinking is identical to the rationale behind yellow pages advertising. People will only see a search engine listing if they actively search for a product or service. These people who actively search are much more qualified prospects compared with people who arrive at your site by clicking on a banner ad. It’s possible that after reading this book and learning to use WebPosition Gold, you may decide you really don’t have the time or inclination to dedicate yourself to search engine optimization. If you find that this is the case, your other option is to hire a professional search engine optimization (SEO) company, and I’ve included a chapter on how to select an SEO firm. This book will benefit you even if you do decide to hire an SEO firm because it will make you a more educated client. My hope is that once you understand the amount of skill and effort that goes into this type of marketing, you’ll have a greater appreciation for how SEO companies earn their fees.
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Background Theory — Why Isn’t Your Site Listed on Search Engines? If you’ve had a web site online for any length of time, it’s likely that you’ve already made a few mistakes trying to get your site listed and you now want to learn the correct way to optimize. Maybe you submitted your site to 1,500 or more search engines using automated search engine submission software and a few months later, your site is still nowhere to be found. Unfortunately, many software companies use the “bigger is better” marketing approach in promoting their submission products. Rather than explaining how their product will get your site listed, they instead focus on the number of search engines to which it submits. I’ve seen products advertised that submit to 100 search engines, 1,000 search engines, and even 200,000 search engines! Who do they think they’re kidding? 200,000 search engines? What’s next — a million search engines? I wouldn’t be surprised if one of these companies started advertising that for the sheer hype value. In reality, there are only about a dozen or so major search engines in the world. So how do these companies get away with advertising 200,000 search engines? When you see big numbers like this, they’re usually referring to so-called “FFA” (Free For All) sites. These sites are not true search engines. They are simply arbitrary lists of links to other sites. Anyone can submit their site to an FFA and minutes later see it appear in the list of links on that site. The problem is that no one actually uses FFA sites to search for anything. Additionally, anyone who might actually find your link on an FFA site would likely be an unqualified prospect, as most of these sites are completely untargeted. FFA sites exist primarily as a mechanism for collecting e-mail addresses. When you submit to an FFA, you must register with that site by entering your e-mail address. If you do make the mistake of giving them your e-mail address, you’ll soon have the unpleasant experience of being placed on seemingly every junk e-mail list in the world, both from the FFA site itself and from other sites to which they may have sold your address. When your inbox starts filling up with spam (unsolicited commercial e-mail, aka “junk”), you’ll immediately realize that you’ve made a grave error. Besides being inundated with spam, you’ll find these products ineffective in
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getting your site into the major search engines, which are the only engines that really matter. Why are mass submission products so ineffective, and why is your site nowhere to be found even though you did everything you were “supposed” to do by submitting it to all the search engines? Perhaps you even submitted manually, following all the steps and guidelines that the search engines provided. Don’t they owe you a listing? After all, your competitors seem to be listed — why not your site? In reality, search engines owe you nothing. They don’t exist to serve the needs of your business. Search engines serve the public by attempting to provide relevant search results. This is the key to search engine optimization. If you work with the search engines and give them what they want, rather than trying to fight them, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the outcome. Theoretically, search engines should display listings for web sites that are most closely related, or relevant, to the searched-for phrase. Too often, however, search results have little or nothing to do with the phrase entered. Think about a service you might need: Say you own a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, and you need to find a repair shop. You type in “HarleyDavidson” on Yahoo! and find 389 web site matches. You would think that the top three sites would lead you to at least one motorcycle repair shop, right? Instead, there’s a motorcycle enthusiast’s personal home page, a Harley-Davidson clothing retailer, and the official Harley-Davidson home page. It’s going to take more specific wording to find that local shop, and the process can be quite frustrating. As a consumer, search engines often don’t make it easy to find what you need. As a businessperson, search engines are not going to make it easy for your site to be highly ranked. Following their official guidelines won’t secure your site a premium spot in the search engines. So how are seemingly nonrelated sites getting into the top ten rankings? Maybe there’s something that you’re not aware of yet, some trick you’re missing no matter how much you study your competitors’ web sites. The answer comes back to relevancy. To get to the top of the search engines, your site must appear more relevant to the search engines than your competitors’ sites. There are many, many techniques and tools that you will learn to use in this book, but always keep in the back of your mind the idea that relevancy is the ultimate goal.
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WebPosition’s page analysis features are the true strength of the program and one of the main factors that differentiates WebPosition Gold from the myriad of submission products on the market. Yes, WebPosition does automatically submit to the search engines just like all the other products on the market. The difference is that WebPosition’s submission capabilities are probably the least important aspect of the program. Submitting to the search engines does not require any great intelligence or skill. Intelligence and skill come into play during the optimization of your web pages, not in the submission. You’ll find WebPosition to be an invaluable tool in helping you optimize your pages to make them as relevant as possible in the eyes of the search engines.
The Myth of Meta Tags There’s a lot of misinformation floating around the Internet pertaining to meta tags. Many people are under the mistaken impression that meta tags are the key to getting their site to the top of the search engines. At one time, this was true, but today meta tags are probably the least important aspect of search engine optimization. The original idea behind meta tags was to provide search engines with a description of your site (meta description) along with keywords that you wanted the site to be listed under (meta keywords). This system worked well before the web became commercialized. Search engines assumed that people were acting in good faith when creating their meta tags, and for the most part they were. Therefore, a site in which a certain keyword appeared many times within its meta keyword tag would be considered more relevant for that keyword than another site that had fewer repetitions.
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Consider the following examples: “Site A” meta keywords: vacation travel, vacations, vacation in orlando, vacation in new york, vacation in paris, vacation in hawaii “Site B” meta keywords: vacation travel, travel, travel to orlando, travel to new york, travel to paris, travel to hawaii “Site A” contains six repetitions of the word “vacation” embedded with various phrases. Years ago, search engines would have considered this site to be very relevant for that keyword. “Site B” is similar, but focuses on the keyword “travel” rather than “vacation.” Search engines would have considered that site to be very relevant for “travel.” Guess what happened next? “Site C” meta keywords: vacation, vacation, vacation, vacation, vacation, vacation, vacation, vacation, vacation Now which site would be most relevant for “vacation”? Inevitably, “Site D” would come along next: “Site D” meta keywords: vacation, vacation, vacation, vacation, vacation, vacation, vacation, vacation, vacation, vacation, vacation, vacation, vacation, vacation, vacation, vacation, vacation, vacation and so on, and so on, and so on. . . . Search engines soon realized that they could no longer rely on the good faith of companies to determine their rankings via meta keyword tags. In addition to the keyword stuffing illustrated above, some companies went so far as to put nonrelevant keywords into tags. People were catching on to the fact that since the spiders were simply reading and indexing the meta tags and not monitoring them, they could place any keyword into the tag and it would be indexed accordingly. If a popular word, such as “Elvis,” was placed in the meta tag, anyone, whether they were looking for a motorcycle or a tour of Graceland, would see the link to the site. Most search engines now either ignore the meta keyword tags entirely or they assign very little importance to this tag. Some engines may actually penalize your site for using meta keywords! Many engines continue to use the meta description tag, but primarily to determine how the site will be
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listed in the search engine, not to determine its ranking. So meta description is still important but not for the reason that most people think.
Relevancy — What Makes One Page More Relevant Than Another? Once the search engines realized that they could no longer rely on meta tags to determine relevancy, they had to develop alternative methods that would produce truly relevant results for their users. WebPosition Gold’s Page Critic knows the relevancy criteria for all of the major search engines. By subscribing to the Knowledge Base update service, you will receive information that is always current and accurate. The Page Critic will tell you when it is appropriate to use meta tags and when to avoid them. Modern search engines use extremely complex formulas, also known as algorithms, to determine how relevant different pages are for particular keyphrases. This is the heart of the search engines, their secret formulas. When you submit your site, or the site is spidered by a search engine, it gets added to that search engine’s vast database of web pages. Then, when a user types in a search phrase, the search engine scans every page in its database to match the web sites that it considers most relevant to the search phrase you entered. It then sorts the results based on relevancy. n
Why do search engines sort the way they do?
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What factors are the most important to the search engine?
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What makes one page more relevant than another?
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What can you do to make your pages more relevant?
These are certainly not easy questions to answer, but these questions are at the heart of what WebPosition Gold is all about. Every search engine uses a different algorithm to determine relevancy. Some search engines use what’s known as “link popularity” in their algorithms. Others place more importance on something called “keyword weight” or “keyword prominence.” Some keep track of how many times people click on certain links and favor those sites that get clicked on often. To make matters even more confusing,
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search engine companies are constantly merging with one another and being acquired by other companies, so what works today may not work at all tomorrow. As you progress through this book, you’ll learn what all these different terms mean and how to take advantage of them to optimize your web pages for the search engines. However, I will not make any attempt to provide the exact guidelines for any specific search engine. The reasons for this are twofold: n
As mentioned above, search engines are constantly revising their algorithms. If I told you the formula that Google uses today, you could be sure that this information would be out of date before this book was even published.
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WebPosition Gold’s Page Critic will provide you with completely up-to-date analysis of any web page for any search engine. The Page Critic contains a built-in knowledge base of recommended optimization parameters for each of the major search engines. This knowledge base is updated monthly by the research team at FirstPlace Software. Provided that you’ve signed up for WebPosition Gold’s Knowledge Base update service, every time you run the Reporter or the Submitter, it will automatically connect to FirstPlace Software’s server and download the latest knowledge base.
To quote a well-known expression, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” This book will not give you a fish, but will teach you how to fish instead. Before concluding this chapter, I want to describe in general terms the concept of keyword weight, also known as keyword density. Keyword weight is, and always will be, one of the most important factors in determining page relevancy, so it’s essential that you understand it completely. Keyword weight is determined by dividing the number of times a given keyword appears on a page, or in a section of a page, by the total number of words on that page, or in that section. For example, if you want to optimize for the keyword “travel,” you may consult WebPosition Gold’s Page Critic for a particular search engine and find that the optimal keyword weight for that engine is 2%. This means that to achieve optimal keyword weight for the word “travel,” that word should appear on the page two times for every hundred words on the page. This is an extremely simplified example, because it
Chapter 2: Principles of Search Engine Optimization
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doesn’t take into account the keyword weight within different areas on the page. It only considers the weight of the page as a whole. It’s also a very unrealistic example because it’s nearly impossible to achieve a top ranking for an extremely competitive single keyword such as “travel.” You’ll learn why this is so later in the book. Many people become confused about the concept of keyword weight and assume that the higher the percentage, the better. This is not true, and in fact, using too high a keyword weight will probably have an adverse affect on your rankings. In extreme cases, it could even cause your entire domain to be banned from search engines. Years ago, when people first began optimizing web pages for search engines, they would repeat important keyphrases multiple times within the page. This is an extension of the idea I mentioned earlier in my discussion of the meta keyword tag. That was an example of abusing keyword weight within a specific area of the page. However, the same principle applies to any area of the page and to the page as a whole. The motorcycle repair shop, for example, could place the word “motorcycle” on one of its pages 100 times, making that site seem highly relevant for the keyword “motorcycle.” But, if a competing company wanted to be higher in the rankings, they could repeat “motorcycle” 101 times within their page. For no other reason than a single increase in word repetition, this site would seem more relevant. It’s easy to see how this could get out of hand and why search engines put a stop to it. Today, the number of times a keyword appears within a web page is still a critical factor in determining its relevancy, but like meta tags, it’s just one factor in a larger formula determining page relevance. If a keyword or keyphrase appears in a web page too many times, the search engine will determine that the webmaster is simply trying to manipulate the search results and may ignore the page altogether. There’s a fine line between making your pages relevant for your keywords through repetition and abusing this method, which could result in your site being penalized for abuse. There are many rules of which to be aware, and these rules are different for each search engine. Some engines may prefer a 1% weight, and others may favor a 4% weight. WebPosition Gold’s Page
20
Chapter 2: Principles of Search Engine Optimization
Critic will analyze your pages based on its built-in knowledge base and produce reports, specifying the exact changes you should make to your pages to make them appear highly relevant without raising any red flags with search engines. This is one of WebPosition Gold’s most powerful features.
Chapter 3
HTML Primer
21
22
Chapter 3: HTML Primer
efore I explain the specific WebPosition Gold modules, it would be helpful for you to read a brief tutorial on Hypertext Markup Language, or HTML, which is the language of the web. FirstPlace Software, the creators of WebPosition Gold, has told us that a large percentage of technical support calls for WebPosition Gold specifically pertain to HTML. If you’re a web designer, you can skip this chapter. If you’ve used an outside designer or a step-by-step HTML template that requires you to fill in the blanks to create a basic web page structure, this will be a good beginning guide. You must be at least familiar with HTML in order to get the maximum benefit from WebPosition. In this chapter, we will cover the basic HTML tags, as well as any tags that are pertinent to search engine optimization.
Writing HTML Writing HTML involves using specific language commands, known as HTML tags. These tags specify the appearance and format of page elements, such as text and images. When a user opens an HTML document in a web browser, the page will display according to the specifications in the various HTML tags. You can write and edit HTML in a text editor such as Notepad, but for your convenience WebPosition Gold includes HTML authoring and editing tools. The Page Generator module creates HTML pages automatically and the Page Critic module includes a built-in HTML editor. WebPosition Gold will analyze your web pages and make suggestions for changes to your pages, but you will have to make these changes yourself. This chapter will introduce you to HTML, but if you want to learn more, there are many books and online guides available.
Chapter 3: HTML Primer
23
Reading HTML Online One way to become more familiar with HTML is to look at existing web pages. The HTML code for every web page on the Internet is completely readable online by viewing what’s called the source code. While you’re reading this primer, don’t be afraid to view the source code for your favorite sites to see how HTML is structured. Try to view simply designed web sites at first, since the more complex the web site, the more complex the source code. HTML source code may look very confusing at first, but once you learn some of the basic HTML tags, it will become much more comprehensible. Here’s how to view the HTML source code of a web site: 1.
On the page you want to read, select the View tab in the upper-left corner of your browser screen.
2.
Under View, select Source.
3.
The HTML source code will automatically open in a new window.
Don’t worry about trying to decipher what the lines of HTML mean. It will make more sense after you finish reading this chapter. Keep referring back to this source code as you learn more about HTML.
HTML Tags HTML uses commands known as tags, which surround words and phrases included in your document. These tags serve a variety of functions, including specifying the appearance of text and the layout of the page. Tags are placed both before and after blocks of text and are signified with the begin tag name enclosed in angle brackets at the beginning of text () and the end tag name enclosed in angle brackets with a forward slash () at the end. Most tags used in HTML documents are called “open and close” or tag “pairs,” referring to the quote-like format they resemble before and after text. The first tag serves as a marker to tell the browser to begin the feature you indicate (bolding text, underlining, etc.). The second tag signifies the end of the feature. As you’ll quickly learn, if you want to make any modification to your text, you have to insert a tag both before and after the text.
24
Chapter 3: HTML Primer
HTML tags are not case-sensitive; all of the following tags would have exactly the same meaning: The following sections discuss some of the most important tags.
HTML Tag Every HTML document must start with the tag at the top to allow the Internet browser to recognize the document as HTML. Every HTML document must end with a closing HTML tag written as .
Head Tag HTML documents are divided into two main sections: head and body. The head area refers to the document header and contains tags that describe the document, such as the Title tag and the meta tags. The body area contains the actual visible text and graphics that will appear in the web browser window. (We will discuss the Body tag in a moment.) The opening Head tag is written as . The closing Head tag is written as .
Title Tag The next tag that normally appears in an HTML document is the Title tag, which represents the title of the page. When viewing an HTML document in a browser, the content of the Title tag will be visible at the very top of the window, above the File, Edit, and View menus. In the Explorer browser, this is the blue bar at the top of your screen. For example, the Silver Platter Foods home page contains the following Title tag: <Title>Silver Platter Foods This will show up in the upper-left corner of the web browser as “Silver Platter Foods.”
Chapter 3: HTML Primer
25
Meta Tags Meta tags normally appear after the Title tag, but unlike the Title tag, meta tags are not visible anywhere in the browser. The two most common meta tags are the meta keyword tag and the meta description tag. The meta keyword tag contains a list of keywords and keyphrases that you would like search engines to index. The meta description tag contains a description of your site as you would like it to appear in search engines. For example, if you were to search for “Gourmet Food” on the HotBot search engine, you’d see that the structure of the top-ranked listing looks like this (as of the publication date of this book; as you’ll soon learn, search engine rankings are constantly changing): The Gourmet Food Store — featuring gourmet ingredients for the home chef including gourmet mushrooms, chiles, exotic. . . The Gourmet Food Store - gourmet mushrooms, chiles, exotic grains, gourmet rices, specialty beans, dried fruit, herbs and spices. http://www.gourmetstore.com/ The text that follows the hyperlinked text is taken from the site’s meta description tag. You would click on the underlined section of the paragraph (the hyperlink) to reach the web site. On MSN (Microsoft Network), the same search for “Gourmet Food” results in the following top-ranked listing: Dean & Deluca Browse this famous New York gourmet store’s catalog of food and cookware. Find oils, coffee, chocolate, herbs and spices. The text contained within the site’s meta description tag is also underneath the hyperlink, but of course this is a completely different web site. Some search engines ignore the meta description tag and instead use the first 25 or so words on the page as the description. We’re going to discuss meta tags in more detail in the next chapter. Contrary to popular opinion, meta tags are just one small factor among many factors that search engines consider when ranking web sites.
26
Chapter 3: HTML Primer
Body Tag The Body tag marks the beginning of the body area of your HTML document. The body area contains all the text and graphics that will be visible in the browser window. If we wanted to place the phrase “Welcome to Silver Platter Foods” on our page, we would use the following syntax: Welcome to Silver Platter Foods So, with only the HTML opening tag, Head, Title, meta description, and meta keyword, this bare-bones document contains the following HTML code: <Title>Silver Platter Foods <Meta NAME=“keywords” CONTENT=“gourmet food kitchen cooking recipes international food”> <Meta NAME=“description” CONTENT=Silver Platter Foods brings gourmet food from all over the world to your kitchen, with recipes for new and experienced cooks.”> Welcome to Silver Platter Foods
Chapter 3: HTML Primer
27
Paragraph Tag The Paragraph tag specifies the beginning of a new paragraph and is written
. This tag causes a line break and allows you to specify formatting options for the new paragraph. These optional formatting options are known as attributes. You specify the end of the paragraph with a closing Paragraph tag, written as
.
Break Tag Although most tags required in HTML documents are tag pairs, there are a few tags that stand on their own. An example of a single tag is the Break tag, which is written as
. There is no closing tag. This tag breaks the text whenever you want your writing to begin on the next line. If you don’t use the Break tag, then text will automatically wrap when it reaches the right margin of the browser window. The Break tag allows you to force a line break at a specified point. Unlike the paragraph tag, the Break tag does not have any optional attributes. The Break tag is used to force a line break within a paragraph.
Bold, Italic, and Typewriter Tags Now that you’re getting used to writing lines of text in your HTML document, you can begin to make that text more sophisticated. For example, the tag for bolding text is, logically, the letter “b.” If we wanted to display the text “Silver Platter Foods” in boldface, we would enter the following HTML code: Silver Platter Foods is the begin Bold tag. “Silver Platter Foods” is the phrase being bolded. is the end Bold tag. It is exactly the same as the begin tag, except for the forward slash (/). So, “Silver Platter Foods” typed with the Bold tag would be “Silver Platter Foods” on the web site. If you wanted to italicize the phrase, you would use the Italics tag: Silver Platter Foods
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Chapter 3: HTML Primer
You can also bold and italicize at the same time, making sure that you begin and end the HTML tags in the proper order. Silver Platter Foods gives you: Silver Platter Foods. Finally, you can change the font to typewriter-style text (fixed spacing) with the Typewriter tag, or . Silver Platter Foods would display as: Silver Platter Foods
Heading Tags One way to make your web pages more attractive is by using a heading to begin a new section in your HTML document. There are six heading commands to choose from, through , being the largest heading and being the smallest heading. These tags are pairs, so they must be used both before and after your heading text. Here are examples of the relative sizes of the Heading tags:
We Bring the World to Your Table!
We Bring the World to Your Table!
We Bring the World to Your Table!
We Bring the World to Your Table!
We Bring the World to Your Table!
We Bring the World to Your Table!
Chapter 3: HTML Primer
29
These sizes are only examples. The actual size that they will display depends on many factors, including the user’s browser, the resolution of her screen, and her display settings.
Changing Font Size (Font Tags) The Font Size tags work almost the same way as the Heading tags. There are 12 Font Size tags available, from sizes +6 through +1 and –1 through –6. The syntax of Font Size tags is a little different from the syntax of Heading tags. Here are some examples of using a font tag to specify the size of some text: Silver Platter Foods might display as:
Silver Platter Foods Silver Platter Foods might display as: Silver Platter Foods
Then, of course, there’s an in-between size, where: Silver Platter Foods could look like: Silver Platter Foods
Creating Hyperlinks (Anchor Tag) Hyperlinks are links from one web page to another. For example, a hyperlink to the Silver Platter home page might look like this: Click here to visit the Silver Platter home page n
A stands for “anchor,” specifying that a link will be anchored to the destination URL specified by the HREF attribute.
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Chapter 3: HTML Primer
n
HREF stands for “hypertext reference.” This is an attribute of the Anchor tag that indicates the destination URL of the link.
n
http://www.silverplatterfoods.com is the destination URL of the link. This is what WebPosition Gold refers to as the “hyperlink URL.”
n
“Click here to visit the Silver Platter home page” is the text that will appear on the page as a link. This is what WebPosition Gold refers to as the “link text.” When a user clicks on this text, her browser window will display the page specified as the destination URL.
n
closes the Anchor tag pair.
Image Tag The Image tag is a single tag that inserts an image (graphic) into your page. The syntax of this tag is: n
Img specifies that this is an Image tag.
n
Src = “Filename” specifies the URL of the image that you want to display.
n
Alt = “Alternate Text” specifies what’s known as alternate text, or alt text. The alternate text is the text that will display if a user has images turned off in his browser settings. Some people prefer to surf the web with images off because pages load much faster without graphics. The alt text will also display if a user places his mouse pointer over an image for a few seconds. Some search engines consider alt text as one of the criteria in their ranking algorithms.
Comment Tag The Comment tag allows you to insert comments into your HTML code. You can use comments to make your code more readable by explaining the purpose of different sections of the document. The Comment tag is a paired tag and its syntax is:
Chapter 3: HTML Primer
31
Open comment: Anything between the open and close Comment tags will be ignored by a web browser when it displays the page. For example: tag comments, 30-31, 192 company name, including in page title, 132 competitive analysis, 40 Competitive Analysis Report, 99-100 Concise Summary Report, 83-90 cross-linking, 298, 315
D default web page, 32 Detail Report, 92-93, 129 directories, 4, 304 importance of correctly submitting to, 304-305 submitting to, 238-242 directory-based engines, see directories Domain Management dialog, 58 domain name, importance of having own, 56 doorway pages, 301-302, 314-315
334
Index
duplicate pages, 118, 312
E end tag, see tag engine properties, 66 engines, global, 65-66 pay-per-click, 68-69 regional, 66 selecting, 66-68, 123-125, 164-165, 236-237 event, 279 setting when to run, 284-285 exact matching, 163, 176-177 excessive keywords, 117-118 express inclusion, see paid inclusion express submission, 261 expression matcher, 4
F failed searches, 106 FFA sites, 13, 297 File Transfer Protocol, see FTP font size, changing, 29 Font tags, 29 frames, 203 Free For All sites, see FFA sites FrontPage extensions, 208 FTP, 4, 208 status messages, 222 using to upload files, 218-221
G global engines, 65-66 graphic, inserting in web page, 30, 133-134 guided submissions, 238-242
H head area, 24 analysis of, 186-188 Head tag, see tag Heading tag, see tag headings, placing on page, 134-135 help files, 83 Hidden Input tag, 202-203 hidden keywords, 313 hidden text, 117, 202
hits, recording, 273 tracking, 266-267 HitsLink tracking service, 266-267 home page, importance of ranking high, 102 HTML, 22 reading online, 23 tags, 22 see also tag writing, 22 HTML document, opening, 31 saving, 31 HTML Editor, selecting, 169-170 hyperlink URL, 30, 90-191 hyperlinks, creating, 29-30 Hypertext Markup Language, see HTML
I image, inserting in web page, 30, 133-134 Image tag, see tag Import URLs dialog, 248-249 indexing, verifying on search engines, 61-65, 107-109 inexact matching, 163, 177 Internet connection, configuring, 48-52 invisible text, 117, 202 IP address, importance of unique, 56 Italic tag, see tag italicizing, 27-28
J JavaScript, 204 junk pages, 316
K keyphrase positions, comparing, 99-100 keyphrase rankings, 85-89 keyphrase selection for search engine optimization, 34 keyphrases, see also keywords choosing with WordTracker, 37-39 location of, 132 tips for targeting, 41-43 using in body text, 136-138 using in title, 132-133 keyword density, see keyword weight frequency, 176-178, 305
Index
location, 305 matching, 163-164, 177-178 placement, 175 prominence, 180-181, 305 proximity, 175-176, 306 stuffing, 16, 202, 313 weight, 18-19, 178-180, 305 keywords, see also keyphrases consecutive use of, 202 excessive, 117-118 off-topic, 117-118 targeting, 303-304 using in page name, 306 where to include, 306
L length of page title, 133 link farms, 296-297, 315 link partners, 294-295 finding using Arelis, 295-296 link popularity, 66, 173, 181, 294 increasing, 307 unsuccessful methods of increasing, 296-297 link relevancy, 294-295 link text, 191 linking text, 139-140 links, importance of, 302-303 reciprocal, 298, 315 listings, displaying for each keyphrase search, 92-93 displaying for site, 90-92 Log Report, 104-106
M matching, keyword, 163-164, 177-178 meta description, 15-17 meta description tag, 25, 140-141, 188 meta keyword tag, 25, 140-141, 187-188 meta keywords, 15-16 meta refresh tag, 203 meta tags, 15-17, 25, 140, 301 misrepresentation of page content, 312 Mission, 54 checking status of, 79-80 reports, 83-109 results of, 82-83
running, 81 running individually or combined, 57 scheduling, 280-284 selecting engines for multiple, 113-114 setting up, 54-59 using effectively, 109 Mission results, assessing, 83-109 Mission status, checking, 104-105
N non-exact matching, 177 non-qualified traffic, 264
O off-page factors, 173, 294, 306 off-topic keywords, 117-118 online marketing, xii-xiii optimization company, see SEO firm optimized pages, 116 customizing, 143-145 misuse of, 117-118 myths of, 116 tips for creating, 146-147 oversubmitting pages, 315
P Page and Keyword Report, 100-104 page areas, analysis of, 187-193 Page Critic, 7, 18, 41, 158-159, 306 configuring, 160-172 Engine tab, 164-165 Page Editor tab, 168-172 Page Setup tab, 160-164 Settings tab, 165-168 Page Critic Analysis Report, 172-173 Page Analysis section, 184-193 Page Critic section, 181-184 Page Properties table, 202-204 report header, 173-174 Top Pages List, 204-205 Page Generator, 6-7, 116 configuring, 120-145 Description tab, 129-140 Engine tab, 123-127 Keywords tab, 127-129 Meta Tags tab, 140-141 Options tab, 141-142
335
336
Index
Page Setup tab, 120-123 Template tab, 143-145 troubleshooting, 147-148 using, 119 page jacking, 314 page title, 130-131, 187 tips for creating, 132-133 pages, adding to submission list, 233-235 deleting from submission list, 235 importance of regionalizing, 306 naming, 120 optimizing content of, 305-306 oversubmitting, 315 saving, 121 selecting for traffic analysis, 270 uploading, 218-221 paid inclusion, 261-262, 323 Paragraph tag, see
tag partial matching, 163-164, 177-178 pay-per-click advertising, 69 pay-per-click engines, 68-69 phrase vs. word, 42 placeholders, using in template, 145-146 valid, 153-155 position changes, interpreting, 110
Q qualified traffic, 264
R rankings, checking history of site, 96 checking in search engines, 100-104 notifying of change in position, 95-96 tracking, 307 reciprocal links, 298, 315 redirecting, 118, 203, 314 regional engines, 66 relevancy, 14-15, 17 factors for web page, 174-175 Reporter, 5-6, 41, 54, 83 configuring, 54-81 Customize tab, 77-79 Engines tab, 65-69 Keywords tab, 59-60
Mission tab, 54-59 Options tab, 69-77 Results tab, 79-81 troubleshooting, 110-113 URL Verification tab, 61-65 reports, Alert! Report, 94-96 archiving, 72-73 Competitive Analysis Report, 99-100 Concise Summary Report, 83-90 customizing, 77-79 Detail Report, 92-93, 129 Log Report, 104-106 Page and Keyword Report, 100-104 Summary Description Report, 90-92 Trend Report, 96-98 URL Submission Verification Report, 106-109 using effectively, 109
S Scheduler, 9, 278-279 configuring, 279-291 disabling automatic running of, 278 log, 291 Missions tab, 279-284 Options tab, 286-291 setting, 278 Time tab, 284-285 search engine marketing, guidelines for, 312-316 mistakes of, 300-303 tips for successful, 303-307 search engine optimization, x-xi, 12, 14, 34, 300 as part of web marketing strategy, xii-xiii choosing keyphrases for, 34 limitations of, 100-101 vs. advertising, xi-xiii search engines, 2 algorithms for indexing, 3 development of, 4 importance of, 10 reasons for submitting pages to, 227-228 selecting for Missions, 113-114 supported by WebPosition Gold 2, 4-5 verifying that pages have been indexed on, 61-65 searches, failed, 106 SEO, see search engine optimization
Index
SEO firm, 318 advantages of hiring, 321-322 choosing, 319 communication, 327-328 credibility of, 324-327 customer service, 327-328 pricing models of, 319-321, 329 services, 321-324 Silver Platter Foods case study, xiii analyzing pages, 157, 161-172 basic HTML code, 26 building optimized pages, 148-153 choosing keyphrases, 35-41 Concise Summary Report, 84-89 increasing link popularity, 295 optimizing pages, 119-120, 137-138 optimizing Title tag, 193-194, 196-202 page analysis, 181-193 scheduling missions, 282-284 searching for keyphrases, 59-60 selecting search engine category, 251-253 setting up Mission, 55 tracking pages, 270-273 uploading files, 210-211 URL verification, 61 using placeholders, 148-153 web site, xiii source code, 23 spam, 13, 306 spamming, 202 results of, 311 spelling variations, 43 spidering, 4 Submission Assistant, 241-242 submission dates, tracking, 108 submission fees, 323 submission files, archiving, 257-258 Submission Guide, 239-240 submission list, adding pages to, 233-235 deleting pages from, 235 options, 243-247 submission options, 250 submission recommendations, 108-109 Submission Results report, 259-260 submissions, automated, 238
bulk, 301 directory, 238-242 guided, 238-242 Submitter, 8, 226 Categories tab, 251-253 configuring, 228-260 Contact tab, 230-231 features, 226-227 Keywords tab, 231-233 Options tab, 253-258 Results tab, 258-260 URLs/Engines tab, 233-250 Web Site tab, 228-229 submitter software, 157 submitting pages, reasons for, 227-228 Summary Description Report, 90-92
T tag pairs, 23 tags, see HTML tags template, creating, 143-145 using placeholders in, 145-146 title of page, see page title Title tag, see <Title> tag title, tips for creating, 132-133 top page statistics, interpreting, 194-196 total words, 178, 305 tracking hits, 266-267 traffic, 264 traffic alerts, 268 traffic analysis, selecting pages for, 270 Traffic Analyzer, 9, 41, 264, 266 Add Tracking to My pages tab, 270-273 configuring, 267-273 Log on tab, 268-269 reports, 264-266 Setup Account tab, 267-268 troubleshooting, 273-275 Trend Report, 96-98 resetting, 98 Typewriter tag, see tag
U unique phrase, importance of on web page, 62 Upload Manager, 7-8, 122, 208 configuring, 209-223
337
338
Index
Queue tab, 209-214 Reports tab, 214-217 Results tab, 221-223 Upload tab, 218-221 Upload Queue, 209-210 adding files to, 211-213 removing files from, 213 URL Submission Verification Report, 106-109 URLs, adding to URL Verification tab, 63-64 importing, 247-249 linking, 138-139 tips for using in web pages, 191
V VBScript, 204 visibility percentage, 85 score, 85 statistics, 83-85
W web page, analyzing, 160-164, 193 comparing to another page, 166-168 default, 32 relevancy factors, 174-175 title, see page title verifying indexing on search engines, 61-65, 107-109 WebPosition Gold, 5, 310-311, 318 installing, 46 modules, 5-9 reasons for using, 12 registering, 46-48 search engines supported by, 4-5 using to optimize pages, 15 word stemming, 177-178 word vs. phrase, 42 WordTracker, 35-36 using to find keyphrases, 37-39
About the CD The companion CD contains a 30-day trial version of WebPosition Gold 2, along with a demo of a WebPosition Gold 2 video training course, and information about and a link to MarketMySite!. The CD will auto-run when you insert it into your CD drive. Follow the on-screen instructions.
WARNING:
Opening the CD package makes this book non-returnable.
CD/Source Code Usage License Agreement Please read the following CD/Source Code usage license agreement before opening the CD and using the contents therein: 1. 2.
3.
4. 5.
6.
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8.
By opening the accompanying software package, you are indicating that you have read and agree to be bound by all terms and conditions of this CD/Source Code usage license agreement. The compilation of code and utilities contained on the CD and in the book are copyrighted and protected by both U.S. copyright law and international copyright treaties, and is owned by Wordware Publishing, Inc. Individual source code, example programs, help files, freeware, shareware, utilities, and evaluation packages, including their copyrights, are owned by the respective authors. No part of the enclosed CD or this book, including all source code, help files, shareware, freeware, utilities, example programs, or evaluation programs, may be made available on a public forum (such as a World Wide Web page, FTP site, bulletin board, or Internet news group) without the express written permission of Wordware Publishing, Inc. or the author of the respective source code, help files, shareware, freeware, utilities, example programs, or evaluation programs. You may not decompile, reverse engineer, disassemble, create a derivative work, or otherwise use the enclosed programs, help files, freeware, shareware, utilities, or evaluation programs except as stated in this agreement. The software, contained on the CD and/or as source code in this book, is sold without warranty of any kind. Wordware Publishing, Inc. and the authors specifically disclaim all other warranties, express or implied, including but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose with respect to defects in the disk, the program, source code, sample files, help files, freeware, shareware, utilities, and evaluation programs contained therein, and/or the techniques described in the book and implemented in the example programs. In no event shall Wordware Publishing, Inc., its dealers, its distributors, or the authors be liable or held responsible for any loss of profit or any other alleged or actual private or commercial damage, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages. One (1) copy of the CD or any source code therein may be created for backup purposes. The CD and all accompanying source code, sample files, help files, freeware, shareware, utilities, and evaluation programs may be copied to your hard drive. With the exception of freeware and shareware programs, at no time can any part of the contents of this CD reside on more than one computer at one time. The contents of the CD can be copied to another computer, as long as the contents of the CD contained on the original computer are deleted. You may not include any part of the CD contents, including all source code, example programs, shareware, freeware, help files, utilities, or evaluation programs in any compilation of source code, utilities, help files, example programs, freeware, shareware, or evaluation programs on any media, including but not limited to CD, disk, or Internet distribution, without the express written permission of Wordware Publishing, Inc. or the owner of the individual source code, utilities, help files, example programs, freeware, shareware, or evaluation programs. You may use the source code, techniques, and example programs in your own commercial or private applications unless otherwise noted by additional usage agreements as found on the CD.
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