I’ll bet you $1000 that if we took an existing and well established default site installation today, and first upgraded it to WP 2.82, then we set WP up correctly with our chosen SEO plug-ins, correct permalinks, etc. that we would LOSE rankings in the search engines within 90 days.

Why?
Because all of the default URLs will 302 to the new pages, instead of 301 redirect, and all of the inbound link equity and indexed pages would disappear. This means rankings would drop.

Why?
Because someone at WordPress actually made the conscious decision to change the CORRECT server response, a 301, into the WRONG one, a 302 with the latest release, 2.82. This doesn’t “accidentally” happen, someone forced a change!

Why?
That’s the million dollar question, isn’t it?

There are probably hundreds of websites that I’m sure are already being affected by this, . All it takes is for them to have changed permalinks or once they were into a 2.82 environment, and it’s “game over” after Google gets done with them, isn’t it?

There are also probably dozens or even hundreds of well-meaning development firms that are “fixing” client blogs TODAY, and in reality they may actually be doing them harm.

If you didn’t see my first post, with a short video, you might want to check it out, but the bottom line is that there’s a right way to do a redirect, that retains rankings, inbound link value, page rank etc. and there’s a wrong way, and this is wrong.

When WordPress 2.82 came out, we did more than our share of quick upgrades because it came out so quickly after 2.81.

It was after we’d done a few of them that @johnandrews first mentioned that he’d seen a problem, and after investigating a little further I posted about it, and resigned myself to wait for the fix.

Now however, it’s been two weeks, and we’re doing new installations with 2.81, and that’s just dumb.

Then I got a phone call yesterday, where someone had a WordPress site that had been around for 18 months and was older, 2.5, but was just a default installation.

Then a couple of weeks ago, they upgraded to 2.82 and he’s already seeing a loss in traffic.

I saw that his pages in the index were still the default WP url structure, even though his permalinks.

I also saw that the old urls were now 302 redirecting to the new. Not good, huh?

His WP site had been around for 18 months, he has links, traffic, PageRank and rankings. if someone doesn’t fix this, (Maybe redo the thing in 2.81?) who knows what might happen!

What I really can’t understand is why WordPress hasn’t fixed it, and why nobody in the larger community of WordPress & SEO seems to be talking about it yet.

I find it hard to believe nobody’s noticed, but maybe not?

Anyone want to take the bet?

One of the clients I work with has a web developer that implemented Microsoft Live Analytics last year, and Firefox users are seeing an SSL error when they visit their site.

I’ve been remiss in even reporting this because I keep assuming they’re going to fix it, but nobody seems to have noticed, and it’s been two months now.

I have not yet used their Microsoft Analytics, because frankly, there’s already enough discrepancy between their two versions of Live Stats, (.asp .net) and their Google Analytics.

Regardless, did their Web developer miss an e-mail telling him he had to change the code, or is there something really wrong with the security certificate?

Here’s a copy of the message –

If you hit “Examine Certificate” you get this –

And if you look at the “Details” tab, you see this:

Dear Microsoft, any ideas?

Anyone know much about Live Analytics? Does it offer additional insights that can’t be found elsewhere? For example, will it tell show me the bounce rate by browser type?

Google Analytics does…

I can’t share this particular domain name here – Does anyone know of another website they could check this on that’s running Microsoft Analytics? I don’t.

I’m not talking about them selling the company, (although there are rumors) I’m talking about their integrity and their overall credibility as a search engine, by appearing to sell the number one organic search result to the highest bidder.

Yesterday I attended the Internet strategy conference in Portland, and one of the speakers was Cammie Dunaway, the chief marketing officer for Yahoo.

During her presentation, she explained some new ways that Yahoo is working with advertisers, and she showed a TV commercial where the words “Special K” were typed into a Yahoo search box.

When the search result page appeared, there was Kellogs, at the top of the search results, with a Special K logo right there by the SERP.

Something about it looked odd to me, then it hit me… Directly above the advertisement, were the words “Search Results” but the tinted box and the words “Sponsored Results” had been removed.

Apparently this campaign is still running, as I just tried a search and here’s the result -

Perhaps this is nothing new, and Yahoo has done it before, but I’ve personally never noticed it.

What bothers me about this, is that by removing the tinted box and leaving out the words “sponsored results“, Yahoo is effectively selling the number one search result.

Is that option available for all advertisers? Is that option available for all phrases? Are they selling the number two, three, fours and five search results as well?

Cool, where do I sign up before my competition does, and how much does it cost?

Yahoo does seem to be leaving the actual ranking numeral to the left of the organic result, does not make this any less confusing for the end user.

Yahoo, I think I would I would like my graphic for my “ad” to be a large red #1? Would that be all right?

Clearly, it appears that Yahoo has gone out of their way to seamlessly blend an advertisement with their search results. Has anyone seen other instances of this?

Do you think we’re seeing the beginning of the end of organic search on Yahoo?

I was looking for particular type of audio file to use on a website, and wasn’t having much success with Google.

Finally, it occurred to me that maybe there’s a search engine devoted to sounds, and sure enough there is. It’s called Findsounds.com – and not only can you preview the sounds without ever leaving the search results, but you can also “see” them.

For example, if you search for “bell” you can see from the snapshot below that you can tell he if it’s a long ringing bell or a short quick one.

After listening to a couple of the sounds, (which you can do without visiting the individual websites),  I could can quickly tell at a glance of the page what the sample will sound like.  With a little practice, you can even identify pitch.

Now how do you optimize your sounds to come up high in the search engines? I’ll have to save optimization of your multimedia files for another day…

When you search for things, would you rather look at advertisements to subsidize the service, (like you do now) or might you prefer to earn points to win prizes?

There’s a new company called Irazoo, that combines the “top search results from major search engines” (their website didn’t say exactly who), and then shows them to you, asking you to vote on the results.

To the left of each search result is a small thumbnail (in beta the thumbnails aren’t working) of the website.

When you mouse over the thumbnail, a small window pops open with the opportunity to vote for that site if you are a member, or to join their community if you are not.

Members will get points by voting on websites they visit through the search results, and those points are redeemable for prizes like Itunes, Ipods etc. and apparently, the rankings will change based on user ratings!

I found out about them when I got a phone call from Houston Chronicle reporter doing a story on Irazoos venture, but this is the first chance I’ve had to check it out.

Reading their tiny informational text it is not quite clear whether the order of these results will be influenced by peoples voting or not, but it appears they will. In their non technical explanation of what they do, it does say this -

You get to help further refine our excellent search results for others as well as benefit from other’s refined search results

So basically, users join a community, ant then they can vote for sites, either good or bad, and earn prizes while they do it too. The most popular ones will rank highest, and ones with poor votes will get buried. Sounds pretty “Diggish” to me.

• Doesn’t this leave the door wide open to abuse?
• How reliable are the search results going to be when you’re paying people to vote?
• How long before organized bands of people start controlling the results?
• How long before people can just bury their competition?

Who knows, maybe the technology will get bought by Google, and voting will be integrated right into the Google search results?

In the meantime, you might want to check out Irazoo, and feel free to search for “internet consultant” and cast your vote for (or against) me.

Here is the article at the Houston Chronicle

Someone e-mailed me today, asking me what Stompernet really is, besides another Seo forum and a lot of hype about making millions. Since I had a post half completed that I started two months ago, I figured I would answer here…
Stomper Educational DVD’s

Within a week of joining I received a monster 16 DVD set, called “Stomping The Search Engines” that I had heard of before. It was made by Andy Jenkins and Brad Fallon, and released in January of 2006.

I think it originally sold for $2000, and it was designed to teach nearly everything from the ground up. I confess to seeing only the advanced ones in my areas of interest, and they were very detailed. A beginner could learn everything needed to work for tomorrow from these DVDs.

Conference DVD’s Sent Quarterly

As a member of Stompernet you are entitled to attend their quarterly conferences at no charge. I missed the first one in December and also the one this past February, but I got over a dozen DVDs of each session right after each the conferences. I’ve watched every one of those, and 80% of the speakers have been riveting.

There have been experts ranginf from usability and behavior, like Kara Perniece Coyne, from the Nielson Norman Group, to others like the Brandleys, a father & son team explaining their content and links exchange strategy for uh, more… aggressive internet marketers.

The production quality of the last set wasn’t great, but If I got DVDs like this for every session at Webmaster world or the upcoming SMX show I would be ecstatic amd amazed. I get a new set every quarter.

The Forums

Poking around inside the Stomper portal, it’s organized into several sections, not the least of which is forums. The nice thing about these forums is that you can trust the answers are accurate and usually plentiful, with faculty and moderators commenting.
Admittedly, the forums have grown noisier and more crowded than I would like, but the knowledge there is unsurpassed.

I subscribe to the Stomper WordPress forum, the Joomla forum, and 8 to 10 others that are on specific topics that I really need to stay on top of, and follow threads by email (RSS would be nice).

There are technical forums on site building, competition research, niches, keyword research, graphics, audio, video, ecommerce platforms etc. that I rarely go in unless I’m looking for something specific.

The also have some big picture forums too, like outsourcing, business strategies, business growth and services etc. that I wish I could spend more time in.

A recent forum post got me the solution to an annoying .htaccess problem, and in another, the Joomla forum pointed me to the right line of code, in the right file that was giving my developer grief. Those two answers alone were worth a mint to me at the time.

Stomper Library

There is a GIANT library that includes all of the teaching .pdf’s, audio and video material that the individual faculty (over 15 members now) have created about their own specialties.

For example, Dan Theis, (founder of SeoResearchlabs.com) has his session link building weekly clinic online,and has 20+ videos on Adwords, from basic fundamentals to split A/B testing using Google analytics. This way beyond anything else out there.

They have over a dozen comparable experts like Dan, and while not all members have full libraries, they are all adding to them fairly regularly.

Conference Calls

There are twice weekly conference calls you can download, and you can listen live t ocurrent ones. Not all the presenters will interact with the callers, but many do as they answer member questions.

Before each call they post enough in the forum, and you just write your question. Have an algorithm question that you need answered by Leslie Rhodes? Do you have wordpress issues that Sherman Hu’ didn’t provide in his 20+ videos? Affiliate or business strategy questions for Jerry West? it’s pretty neat to hear them answer you personally, and it’s a far cry from reading Webmaster world theories.

The main reason I joined was because I needed direct access to my own experts. The fact that there are specific instructions for all stages of learning beanie aspect of search is just a bonus.

What sucks about Stomper?

The fact that the world doesn’t seem to revolve around me, even though I pay that larger monthly fee. The faculty members do not immediately read and answer everything I say, and implement all of my suggestions for improvement immediately… (but then again, neither does my wife)

Sometimes questions can go unanswered unless you’re persistent, but too much persistence can draw fire, just like any forum. I actually got a personal phone call from Andy Jenkins after one of my rants. (Their search feature was non functional for too long IMO)

Overall, I’m thrilled with the value, and I only regret not having more time to spend there. I’ve called myself a search expert for quite a while now, but I feel like I’m getting my master’s degree from Stomper.

Try out the Stompernet Membership and devote the next 90 days to the best search education you can get, or, check out the 1$ trial offer for Stomper Simple.

Today is the day that the one dollar trial offer for Stomper simple goes into effect.

Earlier in the month, I posted about Stompernet having its reopening, but this is a pretty incredible offer.

Andy Jenkins and Brad Fallon have created something called Stomper Simple and for just a dollar, they are giving full access for 30 days.

Admittedly, the goal is to get you to sign up for the full program, but that doesn’t take away from the incredible amount of information that is available for just one dollar.

Even if a full membership to Stompernet is out of your budget, you have my word that if you do not feel like what you can learn is worth a dollar, I’ll buy you a beer or a cup of coffee. Check it out here

If you are a beginner at search, or you are your own webmaster in a small business, then you’ve undoubtedly heard that adding content to your site on a regular basis is critical to your continued success.

For SEO beginners,  I have a few tips in my SEO101 area, and I’ve just added an article with tips for adding relevant content. Enjoy…

Google keeps adding things all the time, and with this one, they’ve made an excellent addition that can be very helpful. You should use it to identify weakly “linked to” areas of your website.

Go to your Google Webmaster tools account and log in

Notice there’s now a fourth option tab called “Links” between the “Statistics” and “Sitemaps” tabs. You’ll see two options there, “Internet” or “External”.

External provides a complete list of pages on your domain that have links pointing to them from other sites, and then gives a hyperlink to the list for each page.
Internal gives you a list of pages on your domain that have links pointing to them from your own internal pages and then a hyperlink to the list for each page.

How cool is that? I’d say, real cool, since you can instantly spot weak areas, and react accordingly, (at least internally).

Many experts have long been pointing out that your own internal links can be nearly as valuable as ones from external domains, and I think the fact that this chart is provided here proves that theory.

ooking at either area you can see the need to “spread the wealth” and start linking to other areas of your website.

It’s going to take some time and effort, but you’d better get on it, because your competition probably is…

The largest search marketing event to ever take place in Oregon is coming next month, called Searchfest, and it’s going to be good.

I’m on the events committee for SEMpdx, and we’re in the process of finalizing all the plans right now. The speaker and presenter schedules are almost ready to make public, and we’re getting final commitments from people outside of the SEMpdx board.

Mark March 7, 2007 on your calendar, and keep an eye out for more details at the new SEMpdx blog

Although Google Base has morphed from Froogle, and it’s still in Beta, Google is displaying results at this moment for real estate with a drop down box.

I noticed it just now for “real estate Los Angeles”, and then trying a couple of other cities kept bringing up the search box. Is this permanent? If so, it seems like a winner for Google, and maybe for the home buyer too.

I did a quick search to see when this might have happened, but found nobody talking about it. Was it today?
I’m sure others have said this before, but I’m going to say it anyway…

SEO’s that are in the real estate game would be smart to get ahead of the curve, and embrace the Google Grid before your competition does. With this option coming up above all the organic results, why wait until your client asks you about it?

I first read the Guerrilla Marketing Handbook in 1997, and I read it in one “sitting”. I started the book while on a trip, in my hotel lobby before leaving for home, and I finished on the parking lot shuttle bus back in Portland. I really can’t think of a single other book that’s had such a major influence on the direction my life was taking.

That’s why I was honored (and a bit surprised) when Roger C. Parker called me personally, with an invitation to be their subject for a Guerrilla Marketing Association interview.

Mr. Parker and Jay Conrad Levinson conduct regular interviews by phone with various people, allowing members to listen live, and then they make those interviews available by for their subscribers.

On February 21st, 2007 I’m going to be the guest, and here are the details:

7:00 PM EST, 4:00 PM PST
call 404-920-6610
Use PIN 192304#

I don’t know the details and subject beyond certain search marketing principles, but the official announcement should appear soon on Roger Parkers event page with more details.