Warmest Greetings,

:: Monday, December 30, 2002 ::

Going Bonkers over Google?

This website should be renamed to Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Getting Into Google and More.

Newly redesigned - Click on >> WebWorkshop.net

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 12/30/2002 12:56:13 PM

:: Today's Post Permalink | Back to the BLOG Home
:: Website Evaluations
:: Email this Post  
:.................................

Some Like It New

If you didn't get what you wanted this holiday season, and you like cool stuff on your computer, this website is for you.

Click here >> New Software Products

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 12/30/2002 12:52:09 PM

:: Today's Post Permalink | Back to the BLOG Home
:: Website Evaluations
:: Email this Post  
:.................................

:: Friday, December 27, 2002 ::

Making Heads or Tails Out of Google's Crawl

If you're constantly glued to your logs, rank checks and website monitoring tools, and confused by what you see happening in Google, this article by Phil Craven may help. He explains everything in easy terms, so that even *I* understood it!

Click on >> Google Crawl to read all about it.

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 12/27/2002 10:08:21 AM

:: Today's Post Permalink | Back to the BLOG Home
:: Website Evaluations
:: Email this Post  
:.................................

:: Thursday, December 26, 2002 ::

Narrow it Down

Getting some notice is a nicely organized search engine/directory Directory resource called ISEDB.com, Internet Search Engines Database

I visited there and was impressed with the ease of use, clean layout, friendly content and organization of what is, and will be, a lot of information. I like websites that allow me to find something from smaller databases, such as theme oriented directories, because they are less likely to return back junk page clutter. The sites are reviewed by people before being added. This website offers such a place for productive searching.

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 12/26/2002 11:41:57 AM

:: Today's Post Permalink | Back to the BLOG Home
:: Website Evaluations
:: Email this Post  
:.................................

:: Tuesday, December 24, 2002 ::

Loving Holiday Greetings To All.

Please Create Peace (Cre8pc) and Joy On Earth

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 12/24/2002 10:49:12 AM

:: Today's Post Permalink | Back to the BLOG Home
:: Website Evaluations
:: Email this Post  
:.................................

:: Monday, December 23, 2002 ::

Yahoo! Acquires Inktomi

Google in shock.

Click on >>> Press Release

Click here >>> for Cre8asiteForum Discussion on this.

Click here >>> for Webmasterworld Discussion Discussion on this.

Seriously, I went back to Peter Da Vanzo's recent interview with Kenneth Norton, Director of Marketing and Product Strategy for Inktomi Web Search for hints on what we can expect.

SearchEngineBlog Interview

Quote:
"We sense that the next few years in search are going to be driven by a better understanding of users, their intent, their objectives, their context and the tasks they are hoping to accomplish. So while crawlers and algorithms continue to be essential, understanding the user will involve a human element to search. We're still in the very early days of this, but you can already see some features in Web Search 9 that are a step in this direction, such as Smart Summaries.

Any other initiatives are in the pipeline?

On the business side, we're aggressively pursuing new distribution partners as we continue to change the economics of search with our paid inclusion programs. On the product side, Inktomi Web Search 9 was the culmination of a year's effort to regain our leadership position in algorithmic search - the next initiatives underway are focused on changing the game through user intent and context."

End Quote.

So. What is Web Search 9?

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 12/23/2002 11:05:26 AM

:: Today's Post Permalink | Back to the BLOG Home
:: Website Evaluations
:: Email this Post  
:.................................

Not Your Usual Conversation

Cre8asiteForums was launched in August 2002 and has already been recommended and pointed to by many of the top SEO and Web Dev sites on the 'Net. We're still developing it's character, but so far, it's obvious to everyone that it holds within it "something different" that many people find appealing. It IS funny there. It does let people launch into hot debates and allows freedom of expression (within acceptable ethical constraints of course.) The backgrounds of the moderators are quite varied, so you don't get a "Do it my way or no way" lecture.

It's free. You can trust us. One subscriber had personal reasons for not sharing their URL publically but still wanted help with their website. They were able to do so at Cre8asiteForums because members found a way to help. A General Chat area was launched because of a member suggestion. What else would you like to see there? Please tell us what you think of the forums (feedback is a huge help and gauge for weighing furture enhancements or making corrections to procedures). You can privately PM any moderator, or make your wishes/thoughts known in the General Chat section.

Happy Holidays!

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 12/23/2002 11:00:41 AM

:: Today's Post Permalink | Back to the BLOG Home
:: Website Evaluations
:: Email this Post  
:.................................

My First User Persona

To hire Cooper to create personas can be costly. I worked for a company who did and I've seen their work. It's quite impressive. Now, on my own as a consultant, I wanted to learn more about them by actually creating them myself and applying them to my own work. I would have to devise my own version, without the resources Cooper has. My biggest resource was my own imagination. Armed with everything I could possibly read on the subject, I applied a user persona on a project for a client who wanted to rebuild their existing website. I knew the business and some functional specifications for their website. They had little usable demographic data on their users, so I made up one persona and acted out my role as a web user behaving as the user persona I created. It was very interesting!

Meet Susan Norman...Click here to learn more about user personas and how they're used for better website designs.

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 12/23/2002 09:34:10 AM

:: Today's Post Permalink | Back to the BLOG Home
:: Website Evaluations
:: Email this Post  
:.................................

:: Sunday, December 22, 2002 ::

Why Get The News For Free, When You Can Pay Yahoo!???

I don't get it.

New Test Site From Google Focuses on Products for Sale

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 12/22/2002 08:32:47 PM

:: Today's Post Permalink | Back to the BLOG Home
:: Website Evaluations
:: Email this Post  
:.................................

Alone, but not lonely

Seems as though some of my daily SEO bookmark stops are off until January. I wish Chris Ridings (http://www.supportforums.org/), Kalena Jordan (http://www.high-search-engine-ranking.com/search_engine_news_blog.htm) and Peter Da Vanzo (http://searchengineblog.com/) a delightful, loving holiday season and envy their chance to rest.

I'll be around all through the holidays, and so will Cre8asiteForums (http://www.cre8asiteforums.com/) and Cre8pc.com (http://www.cre8pc.com/) .

Somebody has to hold down the fort for heaven's sake!

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 12/22/2002 08:14:44 PM

:: Today's Post Permalink | Back to the BLOG Home
:: Website Evaluations
:: Email this Post  
:.................................

:: Friday, December 20, 2002 ::

The Ghost of SEO Future

has been speaking to Danny Sullivan of SearchEngineWatch. See what he has to say about the future of search engines, and more, in Peter Da Vanzo's last interview for this year.

Click here >> Interview with Danny Sullivan

Thank you Peter for introducing us to so many wonderful people in the SEO biz, for your superb SearchEngineBlog, and for today's picture of you....she swoons..

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 12/20/2002 11:44:30 AM

:: Today's Post Permalink | Back to the BLOG Home
:: Website Evaluations
:: Email this Post  
:.................................

I Just Love Affordable Stuff!

Fantomaster's fantomNews Premium Edition is about to debut, and is available at an introductory rate of $24 US a year. To be launched in January 2003, it will not have duplicate content taken from the free version. If you own a US SEO business, sign up now and get the tax deduction! Click here to order >> Order fantomNews

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 12/20/2002 09:32:34 AM

:: Today's Post Permalink | Back to the BLOG Home
:: Website Evaluations
:: Email this Post  
:.................................

Duck Duck Duck Duck...GoogleGoose!

Ducking for cover from Google's war on SEO's, many have decided to go underground in an effort to speak freely without risk to their website(s), business or clients. All membership and posts are anonymous-only. See SEO Forum if you hate SEO police or believe in freedom of speech.

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 12/20/2002 08:59:29 AM

:: Today's Post Permalink | Back to the BLOG Home
:: Website Evaluations
:: Email this Post  
:.................................

:: Thursday, December 19, 2002 ::

"Poppies....Poppies..." the wicked witch crooned as she waved her boney fingers over her many Link Farm fields.

If you're one of the poor souls under the spell of link farm pages, it's time to face the truth or turn into frogs.

Click on >> Warning!! Link Farm Ahead

Spinning Over to Fantomaster's Place

I followed my hunch. Had a feeling my friend Ralph would get a chuckle out of my Googlism rant, and he did just that! Click on >> Fantomaster News and scroll down past some great stuff until you hit "Watch What You Say. Google Is Listening."

Ralph, wish you'd been here when I found that. Woulda loved the gjggle company!

Desperately trying to keep up with search engines, who feeds what and if you submit to one, how many other portals will your website be shown in? I keep these babies up to date just for you! Click on>> Search Portal Relationships and Search Portal Fees and Submit to Search Engines to stay on track.They've been updated again due to recent changes by Alta Vista, Hotbot, AskJeeves/Teoma and more.

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 12/19/2002 08:34:01 AM

:: Today's Post Permalink | Back to the BLOG Home
:: Website Evaluations
:: Email this Post  
:.................................

:: Wednesday, December 18, 2002 ::

Traffic Cop

Interesting question posed in Cre8asiteForums.com today. How much traffic is needed?

"Viability = Number of visitors, multiplied by conversion rate percentage, multiplied by profit on each conversion, then subtract all overheads including wages. That's as 'rule-of-thumb' as it can get."

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 12/18/2002 01:23:45 PM

:: Today's Post Permalink | Back to the BLOG Home
:: Website Evaluations
:: Email this Post  
:.................................

So when the polar ice melts, we have Mars to rely on?

NASA: Water, water everywhere on Mars

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 12/18/2002 12:38:20 PM

:: Today's Post Permalink | Back to the BLOG Home
:: Website Evaluations
:: Email this Post  
:.................................

And then Baby Bear said, "This SEO is just right!"

Ever wonder what you should be paying for SEO services, or if you're providing SEO services, what to charge? There's a dynamite discussion on fees, packages, customer expectations and more here:

Selling SEO services

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 12/18/2002 09:19:50 AM

:: Today's Post Permalink | Back to the BLOG Home
:: Website Evaluations
:: Email this Post  
:.................................

:: Tuesday, December 17, 2002 ::

Inside Ink

The SearchEngineBlog continues with its interviews, this time with Kenneth Norton, Director of Marketing and Product Strategy for Inktomi Web Search.

Read it here: Ten Questions with: Kenneth Norton

"Inktomi Web Search 9 represents a year's worth of effort to deliver better relevance and the freshest content on the Web. It also combines algorithmic and editorial relevance techniques to better interpret user intent."

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 12/17/2002 10:15:38 AM

:: Today's Post Permalink | Back to the BLOG Home
:: Website Evaluations
:: Email this Post  
:.................................

:: Monday, December 16, 2002 ::

An Unfriendly Google Dance

This Wired article was hot before it even hit the Internet due to the print version...Google vs. Evil covers a lot of ground.

"Every month, when Google updates its index and its mix of algorithms, it rakes a disruptive claw across the optimizers' systems. In the industry, the monthly shuffle is known as the Google Dance, and Brin doesn't mind letting on that if Google ends up dancing all over the optimizers, so much the better. "When we change and improve our technology, things get shuffled around," Brin says, "and sometimes it has a disproportionate effect on optimization sites."

Feedback on it welcome here Wired Article

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 12/16/2002 09:42:06 AM

:: Today's Post Permalink | Back to the BLOG Home
:: Website Evaluations
:: Email this Post  
:.................................

You Build The Search Portal, I'll Send The Sites

"Search engines do not know how to effectively sort and filter those billions of pages they index. Google turned it into a popularity contest, which was easy to take advantage of - so people do."

"Search Portals seem focused on devising roadblocks to submission practices which were developed to help sites that must compete in a global environment because the present solution for ranking sites isn't working. It's like applying a band-aid on a cut that won't heal because there's always new ways to re-injure it."

To read the entire article click You Build The Search Portal, I'll Send The Sites

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 12/16/2002 07:38:41 AM

:: Today's Post Permalink | Back to the BLOG Home
:: Website Evaluations
:: Email this Post  
:.................................

:: Friday, December 13, 2002 ::

12 Days of Web Marketing

I just can't thank SageRock enough for writing this and for thinking of such a fantastic, creative way to promote themselves.

12 Days of Web Marketing

Go there now if you want to sing and laugh outloud!

"On the first day of Marketing, SageRock said to me:
Choose objectives for your site

On the second day of Marketing, SageRock said to me:
Do Key Phrase Research and
Choose objectives for your site

........."

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 12/13/2002 11:57:27 AM

:: Today's Post Permalink | Back to the BLOG Home
:: Website Evaluations
:: Email this Post  
:.................................

Watch What You Say. Google Is Listening.

Inspired by a Fantomaster tip off about Googlism's, I typed in "cre8pc.com" and got the following feedback from Google:
Quote:
Googlism for: cre8pc.com

cre8pc.com is a labor of love
cre8pc.com is also supported by
cre8pc.com is a porn site
cre8pc.com is consistently in the top 10
cre8pc.com is the honest
cre8pc.com is a search engine
cre8pc.com is the only internet promotion website in the us run by a woman who is accessible to her visitors

A PORN SITE?????????????????????????????????? Is a search engine?

I think I know how Google came to the conclusion my site is a porn site. I wrote on this page, About Cre8pc, the following:

"My very first website, in 1995, was called Dancing Thunder's Playground, and everyone thought it was a porn site. It wasn't. It was about building websites, which I had no idea how to do. I was a newly divorced mother of two children who happened to like computers and wanted to build websites so I could support us. "Dancing Thunder " is a name given to me by Internet friends back then when I didn't sign my real name anywhere, but used "Timid Thunder" instead. My ancestry includes Cherokee, Blackfoot and Shawnee, and my Great Grandfather brought his family over from Sweden on a ship in 1912. My friends changed my name to "Dancing Thunder" because they said I'm not timid. What the heck do they know? But, I liked the name."

From this, Google has pulled information out of context. I'm sure no one will complain when a Googlism portrays them or their website in a good light, but what about those whose Googlism is just plain gobblety gook?

Considering the expectations for excellence Google has for SEO's, the least they could do is provide the same from themselves. Taking a bunch of words from pages and making up information about that site is really crude and unacceptable, even if it IS a new Google dog trick to show off their Phd employees.

Googlism

Don't take it literally. Google is not God and Googlisms are not divine commandments. Google is a search engine. Therefore, it, like the rest of us, is not perfect.

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 12/13/2002 07:47:40 AM

:: Today's Post Permalink | Back to the BLOG Home
:: Website Evaluations
:: Email this Post  
:.................................

:: Thursday, December 12, 2002 ::

Happy Birthday Mom!

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 12/12/2002 04:03:35 PM

:: Today's Post Permalink | Back to the BLOG Home
:: Website Evaluations
:: Email this Post  
:.................................

Google Blitzing

In an effort to appease everyone else other than SEO professionals, who are never satisfied, Google has launched the following new toys to play with:

Froogle
http://froogle.google.com/
Google's beta launch of its product search tool.

Google Launches Catalog Search
http://searchenginewatch.com/sereport/02/01-catalog.html
Details about Google's other product search service, which allows you to
search through the contents of mail order catalogs from over 5,000
companies.

Google WebQuotes
http://labs.google.com/cgi-bin/webquotes
Google WebQuotes annotates the results of your Google search with comments
from other websites.

Google Viewer
http://labs.google.com/gviewer.html
View search results as scrolling web page images.

So sorry I didn't bother to link to them as my Google PageRank score isn't good enough for them and will likely bring down their Rank.

Ha ha

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 12/12/2002 10:27:39 AM

:: Today's Post Permalink | Back to the BLOG Home
:: Website Evaluations
:: Email this Post  
:.................................

:: Wednesday, December 11, 2002 ::

Vacation For Your Hands

Do your hands need a break from your keyboard? Google elves have developed a new toy, called Google Viewer, which allows you to sit and watch Google bring back results in a slideshow type format. It even shows you a glimpse of how the page looks just underneath the site description, etc. Kinda cool.

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 12/11/2002 12:24:11 PM

:: Today's Post Permalink | Back to the BLOG Home
:: Website Evaluations
:: Email this Post  
:.................................

What's In a Name?

When it comes to SEO, nobody seems to know, or agree. SupportForums.com's Chris Ridings insists he has the answer : SESlow. "There's been a recent spate of people trying to create new terms for the SEO industry or segments of it, none of them helpful. I've decided that the only helpful term would be SESlow," Chris writes. But even his term doesn't do justice to the various skills required to do the job professionally and wisely.

A Cre8asiteForum member was quite interested in the naming of SEO/SEM and started a thread on it here - SEO: Sending Everyone Out to look for a new name. It was born out of discussion seeded in our Does SEO = SPAM topic, which is still going gangbusters. You can jump into it here.

Snippet from my post: "I think they can specialize or promote areas they're skilled in, and those areas are varied. Can be simply submission (including PPC), to working strictly with DHTML pages, to usability oriented input that increases end user satisfaction. I'm not a marketing professional. I have an interest in it, but it's not my strongest skill. My passion is users. Hence, my clients would be getting a perspective focused on search engine results AND user satisfaction.

An SEO house, such as iProspect, can apply a whole team to a website. A client will pay accordingly. A smaller SEO company, or individual, can emphasize certain strengths and approaches and the client can decide what suits their needs. To lump it all under "SEO" or "SEM" is limiting, but it's a homebase and is a term most people recognize."

Today's Blab: Forgot to set the alarm clock...woke up 15 minutes late. While waking my eldest to get ready for school, the phone rang at 6:20am with the news from someone who knows me and my morning daze to say schools were closed due to icy conditions. Went back to bed. Am quite fortunate my office is just downstairs!

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 12/11/2002 10:06:16 AM

:: Today's Post Permalink | Back to the BLOG Home
:: Website Evaluations
:: Email this Post  
:.................................

:: Tuesday, December 10, 2002 ::

Group Hug

One of the things myself and the moderators wanted for our new forum was a warm, open door feeling, with no censorship of posts (other than the usual code of email ethics.) Some people have abandoned forums because of their personal experiences with censorship or other indications signaling they're no longer welcome to post. I rarely felt I was *really* welcome in most forums and anything I said was likely thought to be construed as me promoting myself. Since I can barely handle my present workload and, in fact, farm out the entire SEO portion of it, these assumptions about me were incorrect, but I wasn't about to get into a hissy fit about it.

One forum was quite popular and is where many top SEO professionals "met" for the first time. Alliances and long lasting friendships were formed. While the forum supported software, it also became a general search engine optimization "helpdesk" where anyone could ask for help regardless of whether they had purchased the product. I can verify this, as I never used it (I tested it when it was first launched, while an employee for a company interested in doing their own SEO). Even though I was a manual website promoter, I was still welcomed by the forum owners. The respect shown me by MarketPositionTalk was the main reason I returned over and over, for years.

Lately the forum seems to be slowing down, with many people abandoning it to come to my forum, or some of the others, like ihelpuservices.com. Recently I happened upon this thread Where Has Everyone Gone? and was shocked and saddened to learn Cre8asiteForums may be contributing to the demise of one I've enjoyed. I dropped a few words about MarketPositionTalk.com to Cre8asiteForum moderators, some of whom are strong supporters of this long-time forum. A little reunion has occurred I'm happy to say, with much deserved cyber-hugs going to moderator, Susan Goodson.

If you haven't seen it yet, the MarketPositionTalk forum is a friendly place to learn about SEO or ask for help. Sure, they can get into debates there too, but sometimes the best education comes from considering many different views. If you use WebPositionGold, this forum is for you as well, especially if you need help understanding their software. And I still look forward to Brent Winters' newsletters, which are free. (Learn more about the Market Position newsletter here.)

Thanks to Brent, Susan and the 1st Place Software folks, for all they've done for so many people over the years with online support and information on search engines (and for holding up under some bad times too.) It's been appreciated!

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 12/10/2002 09:27:21 AM

:: Today's Post Permalink | Back to the BLOG Home
:: Website Evaluations
:: Email this Post  
:.................................

:: Monday, December 09, 2002 ::

Number 9. Number 9. Number 9....

Taking a hint from the Beatles's White Album, Inktomi has launched "Web Search 9".

"With the release of Web Search 9, Inktomi meets or exceeds all other search engines in the key metrics of search performance: relevance, freshness and index size," says Inktomi, on a summary page about the changes at the company's web site."

To which Google responds, "We all live in a Yellow Submarine..."

Bet you don't believe any of this do you. Read more about Ink's ever-changing approach to searches here, In Search Of The Relevancy Figure By Danny Sullivan

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 12/09/2002 10:28:18 AM

:: Today's Post Permalink | Back to the BLOG Home
:: Website Evaluations
:: Email this Post  
:.................................

:: Friday, December 06, 2002 ::

Ok. I Get It Now...

The proof of a real SEO professional is you have to be either interviewed by Peter Da Vanzo for his Search Engine Blog, get a call from the Wall Street Journal for article information, like someone I know, or just be totally hilarious and not afraid to say ANYTHING, like Ralph Tegtmeier aka Fantomaster and Chris Ridings aka SupportForums owner.

The latest interview with Mike Grehan by Peter is downright side splitting hysteria. A must read.
Click now to Interview with Mike Grehan

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 12/06/2002 02:12:14 PM

:: Today's Post Permalink | Back to the BLOG Home
:: Website Evaluations
:: Email this Post  
:.................................

What's Good For the Goose, is Good for the Google

In response to Google's posting it's opinion and recommendations on search engine optimization, which surprised or angered many SEO/SEM businesses, forums erupted with comments and debates. But, the best reaction has been by two prominent professionals in the field who took the Google piece and had a little fun with it.

Tips to help you choose your SE, a hilarious, creative parody by SupportForums.com.

and

fantomaster's Ten Commandments of SEO According to Google - This one took some research and time to produce and is fun to read if you're fed up with Google "God".

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 12/06/2002 08:49:49 AM

:: Today's Post Permalink | Back to the BLOG Home
:: Website Evaluations
:: Email this Post  
:.................................

:: Thursday, December 05, 2002 ::

...and speaking of snow

We got some! Finally. I look a fright, let me tell you. But the kids are happy playing, shoveling, and I'm looking for the thingy that blows up the snow tubes.

Hope no clients are reading this today...

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 12/05/2002 02:39:42 PM

:: Today's Post Permalink | Back to the BLOG Home
:: Website Evaluations
:: Email this Post  
:.................................

White Flag Waving~~~~~

I can't get in a word edge-wise in the Does SEO=SPAM?discussion, which turned into What is the Definition of SEO? My head is spinning. Only one thing left for me to say on the matter.

I am the Walrus.

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 12/05/2002 09:07:28 AM

:: Today's Post Permalink | Back to the BLOG Home
:: Website Evaluations
:: Email this Post  
:.................................

:: Wednesday, December 04, 2002 ::

Duh

And there it is again. Today's "Duh Moment". Right smack on the Searchengineguide.com website (I won't embarress the company by saying where) is an ad claiming to GUARANTEE Website Inclusion.

Well of course it's guaranteed silly! All you need is $299 for Yahoo!, misc. money per URL for all the others, someone to link to your site so you can get into Google for free and a quality site so you can get into DMOZ. It's that easy. Now, if you can guarantee the number one spot in all the top search portals without doing anything "unethical", I'm all ears.

Today's sad news: I can't get Otis to stop pulling the X-mas garland off the staircase. (Otis is a 3 month old kitten.)
Today's glad news: The outside temperature is still above zero. Barely.
Latest adventure: Finding a humidifier that doesn't make so much noise it keeps everyone awake.
Believe it or not: Jill and Phil are battling it out (again) over at the Cre8asiteForums.com in the Does SEO=SPAM? thread. If you go there, bring your earplugs.

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 12/04/2002 01:57:49 PM

:: Today's Post Permalink | Back to the BLOG Home
:: Website Evaluations
:: Email this Post  
:.................................

:: Tuesday, December 03, 2002 ::

SEO=SPAM?

The fun and challenge of SEO was taken away when pay per click advertising and Google Ads took over as the leading way to get a site ranked at the top overnight. Lately, it appears as though ANY attempt at search engine optimization or marketing is viewed by webmasters, companies and search portals as SPAM. For those us interested in helping websites compete, and producing user satisfaction by producing web pages well targeted for the search phrases you type in, this has been a real slap in the face. Many SEO professionals want to work WITH search portals, not against them. Google appears to be taking a stand publically and in doing so, has put all SEO in a bad light.

We've decided to launch a discussion of this at the Cre8asiteForums. Please join us. Does SEO=SPAM?

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 12/03/2002 08:00:52 AM

:: Today's Post Permalink | Back to the BLOG Home
:: Website Evaluations
:: Email this Post  
:.................................

:: Monday, December 02, 2002 ::

Thanksgiving and Intolerance

Every Thanksgiving my kids and I talk about how Thanksgiving started, and we remember the part that most people forget - that the Indians who helped the Pilgrims were later killed by hatred and disease by the children of those Pilgrims and additional settlers to the region.

We talk about how people think they know what's right for other people, and interfere with lives, culture and religious teachings because they feel they have the right to do so. The Native Americans had no defense against bigotry, germs and beliefs brought about by fear. Fortunately some people, such as Benjamin Franklin, saw how intelligent the "savages" were, and the US Constitution is based on Indian political practices.

Thanksgiving 2002 in the US is over, but the lessons from 1620 still exist to this day. Surviving Native Americans have been pushed into lands designated for them to live. Americans are preparing to go to war in Iraq and possibly change an entire culture again, with the help of countries who helped displace the original inhabitants of North America.

In 1970 an ancestor to the original Wampanoag people, who helped the Pilgrims, said in a speech:

"Today is a time of celebrating for you -- a time of looking back to the first days of white people in America. But it is not a time of celebrating for me. It is with a heavy heart that I look back upon what happened to my People. When the Pilgrims arrived, we, the Wampanoags, welcomed them with open arms, little knowing that it was the beginning of the end. That before 50 years were to pass, the Wampanoag would no longer be a tribe. That we and other Indians living near the settlers would be killed by their guns or dead from diseases that we caught from them. Let us always remember, the Indian is and was just as human as the white people. Although our way of life is almost gone, we, the Wampanoags, still walk the lands of Massachusetts. What has happened cannot be changed. But today we work toward a better America, a more Indian America where people and nature once again are important."

Source: Thanksgiving Story

Today's sad news: Google is still in the news
Today's good news: My kids are cleaning the house without me asking for their help.
Latest adventure: Two surprises from generous people that gave me a chance at some much needed R&R
Believe it or not: I didn't drop the turkey on the floor while pulling it out for carving.

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 12/02/2002 05:20:08 PM

:: Today's Post Permalink | Back to the BLOG Home
:: Website Evaluations
:: Email this Post  
:.................................

PS. We Are Not Mind Readers

Chris Ridings of SupportForums.org wrote an "open letter to search engines" that, although long (the way I tend to write stuff like that), is likely sharing what many other people have felt, or are feeling, about search engines in general. See if you agree or disagree...

Dear Search Engine

:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 12/02/2002 11:26:51 AM

:: Today's Post Permalink | Back to the BLOG Home
:: Website Evaluations
:: Email this Post  
:.................................

Feed Bin

• User Centered Design
• Usability Industry Research
• Increase Website Conversions
• Starter Ecommerce Checklist

• Web Design & The Usability Effect
• Usability and SEO Humor

Crooked sunglasses

My artistic friends love this picture.

• About Kim Krause Berg
• My resume (PDF)
• July 2004 : Interview with Kim
• My Partners
• My Articles
• Not About Me
• Me Again (My Fave Blog Posts)
• August 2005 : Expanding on Usability - An Interview with Kim Krause Berg
• Kim's Wish List

Recent Posts

Pondering Your Search Engine Marketing Navel

No Awesome Usability Experience Ecommerce Trend This Year

Cre8pc's SEO, Usability, and Internet Predictions for 2006

A Google Carol

Repeat After Me. Change Is Good. Change is Good.

Cre8asiteForums Has a New Look

Where Are The Women SEO's?

When Did Blogs Sell Their Souls to the Devil?

Never Mention the Words "SEO MYTH" Around Bill

Yale Law School Hosts A Symposium on Search Engines, Law, and Public Policy

Monthly Archives

It's That Book Again

Conversions Topic is New York Times Best Seller (Seriously)

Kim is a Member of the Usability Professionals Association

"This report exceeded my expectations. After reading it a few times, I went through and highlighted those parts of your actionable advice that I want to implement right away... I ended up highlighting most of the report. Stellar job. I won't hesitate to recommend you to one of my own clients." -- Andy Hagans of AndyHagans.com

"I have implemented the most obvious changes and I suppose the fact that we've seen an immediate increase in sales/conversions is no coincidence. I'd highly recommend your service to anyone running a serious web based business." -- Steve Clay, Plumeriabay.com

"As soon as we get our hands on one of her usability studies, my clients and I have a better understanding of what needs to be done with their sites to make them the best they can be from their site visitors' perspective."
-- Jill Whalen, HighRankings.com

"This is an exemplary piece of work." -- Rand Fishkin, SEOMoz.org

View more Testimonials | Clients
Learn about Website improvement services.