Webmasters perform search engine optimization (SEO) and want to get high search engine ranking in Google because it is the most popular search engine in the world. However, you must aware that Google is very strict in fighting against unethical manipulation of search engine ranking.

To  optimize for top Google ranking, your SEO effort must alert the following:

Basic Google Optimization Principle

SEO means to make your website appealing to visitors and search engines through proper practices, and your Google optimization effort must not involve tricks to manipulate search engine ranking.

Website Structure and Content Development

1. Make a site with a clear hierarchy and text links. Every page should be reachable from at least one static text link. The key point is a clear hierarchy, and reachable from static text link.
2. Offer a site map. It is a very important SEO element for Google to index your web pages and assign appropriate search engine popularity scores (link popularity) to your web pages. It is particularly useful for large websites.
3. Create a useful, information-rich site, and write pages that clearly and accurately describe your content with words users would type to find your pages . Google clearly states that they love information-rich website. So, SEO should emphasize on content development, and not SEO tricks. Of course, it is important to optimize webpage content.
4. Try to use text instead of images to display important names, content, or links. The Google crawler doesn’t recognize text contained in images. If you use images, make sure you provide descriptive and accurate ALT tags.

Avoiding SEO Spam

The fundamental works for SEO or Google optimization is to ensure only search engine acceptable practices are used, that is, make pages for users, not for search engines.

If you or your SEO company implements unacceptable SEO practices or tricks, your website can be banned and removed from search engine index. This is especially true for Google. From experience, they are very determined to fight against search engine spam.

Therefore, you must alert that your optimization efforts do not commit in unacceptable SEO practices listed below:

1. Don’t deceive your users or present different content to search engines than you display to users, which is commonly referred to as “cloaking.” Cloaking refers to the practice of presenting different content or URLs to users and search engines , for example, showing different content to search engines than to users, or present HTML version to search engines and present Flash pages to users . Serving up different results based on user agent can be perceived as cloaking.

2. Hiding text or links in your content can cause your site to be perceived as untrustworthy since it presents information to search engines differently than to visitors.

Text (such as excessive keywords) can be hidden in several ways, including but not limited to the following “black-hat” SEO techniques : white text on white background, use of CSS display:none or display: hidden to hide text, including text behind an image via DIV tag or layering techniques, small font size such as setting font size to 0. Some SEO companies believe that Google cannot detect spam if CSS tricks are used. Unfortunately, this is wrong.

Links can be hidden including but not limited to the following “black-hat” SEO techniques: link consists of hidden text, use of CSS to make tiny hyperlink such as text with one pixel high, link hidden in a small character such as hyperlink a hyphen in middle of a web page.

3. “Keyword stuffing” refers to the practice of loading a webpage with keywords in an attempt to manipulate a site’s ranking in Google’s search results. Excessive keywords in a meaningful web page can be perceived as keyword stuffing. Proper SEO must take care of this element.

4. Duplicate content generally refers to substantive blocks of content within or across domains that either completely match other content or are appreciably similar. Google tries hard to index and show pages with distinct information. This filtering means, for instance, that if your site has a “regular” and “printer” version of each article, and neither of these is blocked in robots.txt or with a noindex meta tag, Google will choose one of them to list.

In the rare cases in which Google perceives that duplicate content may be shown with intent to manipulate our rankings and deceive our users, Google also make appropriate adjustments in the indexing and ranking of the sites involved. Google implies that your website or whole network of websites can be penalized with low search engine rankings or removed from their index. Are you willing to take this risks and continue to build shadow websites?

For some reasons, if you cannot avoid duplicate content, Google suggests you can make use of robots.txt file to avoid Google indexing duplicated web pages or websites.

Alternatively, you can re-think of consolidate duplicated pages into 1 or expand each page to contain unique content.

Conclusion

SEO is not meaning of applying tricks to manipulate search engine ranking. SEO is about making a website search engine friendly and trustworthy, and building reputation to your website. To be search engine friendly and trustworthy, you must avoid unacceptable search engine optimization practices described above. If your SEO service provider is committing to those practices, stop to use them now and remove all spammy elements before your site get banned.

Information is provided by Agog Digital Marketing Strategy Ltd, a SEO service provider.

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Notes: Is this a new trend for search?  If this is a trend,  search engine optimization firms have lots of thought.  Do search engine optimization firms need to get their clients listed in those vertical portals?  and different clients should get listed in different vertical portals?  How search engine optimization firms ensure clients with local focus get top rankings?  Please read on.

We’ve noted before how the Seattle area — for whatever reason — has become a hotbed of innovation when it comes to finding recipes on the Internet. And now one of the region’s tech giants is entering the virtual kitchen, looking to help consumers cook up everything from chili to cheese tortellini.

The Microsoft search engine Bing unveiled a new way for people to search for recipes, pulling those creations and more from sites such as MyRecipes.com and Microsoft’s own Delish.com. The search results include photos, ratings and nutritional information. They also allow cooks to search recipes by season or special occasion, allowing someone to find green chili cornbread stuffing for Thanksgiving or a deep dish apple pie for Fourth of July. If someone actually wants to locate the instructions to make a specific dish, they must click through to the partner Web sites.

The move is yet another example of how Microsoft is looking to segment search results by trying to go deeper than Google in certain niche categories. (Travel and shopping are two other examples).

I asked Steve Murch — a former Microsoft marketing executive and current CEO of online recipe site BigOven.com — for his take on the move. BigOven’s 170,000 recipes are not yet indexed in Bing, though Murch said he’d welcome the opportunity to distribute his recipes through the search engine.

“It’s great that Bing is focusing additional resources on helping cooks find great recipes faster and in a more consistent manner,” said Murch. “It’s one of many examples of various key verticals in search getting more structured over time.”

Of course, having so much recipe information residing in Bing could prevent cooks from clicking through to the partner recipe sites.That means a cook could spend more time perusing Bing than say AllRecipes or other recipe sites.

“While that trend will adjust the economics a bit for those companies that rely exclusively on advertising revenue, those that have structured data and productivity, publishing and grocery list tools like BigOven.com end up with a great vehicle for awareness and search engine optimization,” he said.

That’s good news for companies like BigOven, which last November became the first major cooking site to open the vault on its recipe database to outside developers. But Murch also noted that the move could challenge food writers and old media content producers.

“Over time, it’s our belief that those who take a more platform-based approach, that have the most comprehensive data, let users put data into the platform and then fetch it from anywhere and manage it using complementary productivity tools, generally stand to benefit as the search engines continue to structure their search,” he said.

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Microsoft and Apple are reportedly discussing the possibility of changing the iPhone’s default search engine from Google to Bing, which experts say could be a significant change in the fast-growing mobile search marketplace.

BusinessWeek quotes anonymous sources as saying that “talks have been under way for weeks,” and that Microsoft was a “pawn” in the deepening feud between Apple and Google. The competition has been growing fiercer since Google began competing with Apple in the mobile market with its Android OS and Nexus One smartphone.

Additionally, BusinessWeek says that Google is in danger of suffering financial losses if the rumored move to Bing is made, since AdMob reports that most mobile advertising in the U.S. is viewed on iPhones and iPod Touches. The iPhone is the most popular smartphone in the U.S., so any changes to its default programming are likely to produce measurable shifts in mobile search figures, according to analysts.

So, is there any new opportunities for mobile search engine optimization (SEO)?  I think search engine optimizer and SEO company should think about this especially if their clients want to get exposure in mobile phones.

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Just as you manage your employees, you need to manage the boss. Your management career will take off if you can show the higher-ups that you’re a reliable, trustworthy star. The very thought of trying to impress the boss may make you cringe. The notion of currying favour with powerful people at your organization may strike you as a fake, calculated attempt to get ahead.

There’s a right way and wrong way to impress VIPs.

If you exceed expectations, anticipate and address a boss’s concerns, and consistently look for ways to add value, you’ll shine.

But if you show off, bad-mouth colleagues, and hog credit for team accomplishments, you’ll muddy your reputation and lose any chance of advancement.

Speak in can-do language.

Bosses will heed your comments if you sound like you’re organized, enthusiastic and eager to deliver results. When they ask you a question, give a one-sentence overview before you dive into the details. For example, start by saying, “We have three options” or “Let’s examine this on three different levels.”

Look ahead when discussing the status of a project.

Focus on what will happen next rather than rehash what’s already occurred. And never admit you’re in wait-and-see mode. It’s better to say, “We’re going to make progress when we resume our meeting next week” than “I’m waiting for a return call so we can schedule a meeting next week.”

When the boss asks you to do something, respond with confidence.

Say, “I’ll have that for you by 8:00 tomorrow morning” rather than “I’ll try to get that to you tomorrow morning.” Don’t leave yourself an out. Executives grow suspect of managers who lace their remarks with qualifiers and back off from making bold commitments.

Look for patterns in your interaction with your superiors.

Anticipate what issues or requests the boss will raise and be ready to answer. If you promise to do something, follow through promptly. Never make your boss nag you.

Most importantly, adopt a “no excuses” policy.

Failing to produce results almost guaranteed that a boss will doubt your abilities. When you’re asked to give a progress report, start by summarizing what you’ve done, not what you haven’t been able to do. Say, “Here’s where we are at” or “So far we’ve achieved these five goals.” Don’t say, “I haven’t had a chance to…..” or “I’m hoping that soon I can….”

Prepare to delight the boss by taking these steps:

Arm yourself with answers:

Think in advance of what the boss will ask you – and prepare concise answers. Research the facts and gather the latest information so you’re ready to impress with your vast knowledge of an issue.

Under-promise and over-deliver:

Set time frames that you can beat. List your project objectives – and then accomplish all of them along with tossing in something extra. Consistently go beyond what’s expected and you’ll stand out.

Challenge in private:

Wait for a calm moment to question a boss’s order. Make sure no one else can overhear. Never object to the boss’s comments in public.

Source:

Andrew Rondeau.  He is the author of the free guide “The Simple Steps To Deliver A Dazzling Presentation”. Grab your complimentary copy at http://www.greatmanagement.org/blog/

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1. The Gray Suit

Think of it as the anchor of your business wardrobe—strong, elegant, and always appropriate, whether you’re interviewing for your first job or addressing the shareholders at your last. A gray suit looks sharp and clean with a white, soft blue, or light pink shirt but is versatile enough that it’ll go with just about anything. Any shade will do, but we recommend a medium gray, like the one this gentleman is wearing. Click on the NEXT button below for the season’s best gray suits, in three price points.

Suit, $1,705, by Jil Sander. Shirt, $250, and tie, $115, by Ralph Lauren Black Label. Shoes, $595, by J.M. Weston. Cuff links by Montblanc.

2. The Solid Navy Suit

You can’t go wrong here. A navy suit is always a safe, classic choice, and it travels seamlessly from the boardroom to an evening out. It lends itself well to almost any shirt-and-tie combination, but to up the elegance factor, pair it with a crisp white shirt, a dark solid tie, and a pocket square (think Cary Grant).

Suit, $945, by D&G. Shirt, $295, by Versace Collection. Tie, $98, by Emporio Armani. Shoes, $595, by Tod’s. Watch by Rolex.

3. The Solid Black Suit

It used to be that a black suit wasn’t a safe choice for the office, but these days it’s a staple. Just make sure yours is cut on the slim side and fits correctly. (However you feel about your job, you don’t want to look like you work in a funeral home.)  Anyway, black suit is the most common one in Hong Kong.

Suit, $3,295, by Giorgio Armani. Shirt, $475, by Giorgio Armani. Tie, $125, by Band of Outsiders.

4. The Pin-Striped Navy Suit

A cool classic that exudes confidence. You can anchor it with a solid shirt and tie or get adventurous— mixed it with a striped shirt and a striped tie. Just keep the components within one basic-color family and make sure that the stripes of the suit, shirt, and tie aren’t too close in scale; one of the patterns should be bold and the other two more muted.

Suit, $1,590, by Etro. Shirt, $59, by Tommy Hilfiger. Tie, $98, by Emporio Armani.

5. The Khaki Cotton Suit

A business wardrobe might consist mostly of dark suits, but spring and summer give you the chance to lighten up (literally). Do it in style with a khaki cotton suit. Pair it with a solid (blue, white, or pink) shirt and a dark tie for the office, then loosen it up (e.g., lose the tie and socks) for an evening out.

Suit, $1,550, by Dolce & Gabbana. Shirt, $355, by Dsquared. Tie, $100, by Burberry London. Shoes, $895, by Martin Dingman. Watch by Rolex.

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Jennifer Aniston, Halle Berry, Kate Hudson, Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon. A fashionista’s dream team and we’re about to get a massive, massive, massive dose of glamour this weekend at The 67th Annual Golden Globes!

“You never really know what people will wear, you never do. They could all walk out in black caftans for all we know, it’s always a surprise!”

That’s InStyle Fashion Director Hal Rubenstein. Hal says it’s hard to make predictions, but he definitely has ideas on five cool things we could see Sunday at the Globes as well as a few opinions on what people should wear.

1. SHORT IS SWEET
“Young actresses should wear short,” Hal says. “I think it’s odd for young girls to wear these big dresses. If you’re on the cast of ‘Glee’ or Carey Mulligan, what could be cooler than wearing a sexy short dress? You’re only young once, only got skin like that once, show it off!”

2. COLOR, OF COURSE
“But unexpected color,” Hal says. “Instead of black, white, pink or red, look for deep fuchsia or really dark teal. You might also see prints because there are so many extraordinary prints this season thanks to advances in technology. Someone with a fun, bold personality like Kate Hudson can pull off a print beautifully.”

3. GROWN UP GLAMOUR
“We will still see ‘The Big Dress’ on someone like Penelope Cruz. But also look out for dresses that are closer to the body, less ball gown-ish.” Hal loves that evening wear right now is “designed for grownups and by that I mean anyone over the age of 12 and more than a size zero! Women have curves and evening wear is more sensual, more womanly,” which is perfect when nominees include actresses Meryl Streep and Sandra Bullock.

4. RED CARPET RISK TAKERS
“No one wanted to be destroyed in tabloids the next day and people got safe. But every year, the range of looks gets wider and wider and there are more and more possibilities. With more choices, expect less of a cookie cutter look. Look for dresses that have incredible embroidery, layering, texturing of the fabric and prints.”

5. NOT YOUR USUAL BLING
“I think jewelry will be more exotic. Some people will wear classic jewelry from the big houses, but there are so many other amazing pieces out there.” Hal says look for mixed stones and jewelry with a more romantic flair, as well as jewels with Indian influences and Eastern exoticism.

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Sony’s Stan Glasgow talked recently about Sony’s OLED plans, his expectations for 3D technology, and of some upcoming improvements to core products.  Stan Glasgow is the current Chief Operating Officer and President of Sony Electronics USA and he’s got some interesting insight into Sony’s strategies for the coming year.

In an interview with Sony Insider, Stan says that the company won’t be selling a new OLED this year. He loves the technology and says that there’s no better way to create a 3D picture, but admits that “getting it to be commercially reasonable in price, we’ve got a long way to go.”

When it comes to 3D, he’s much more enthusiastic. “I think the adoption of 3D may be a surprise in the second half,” he says. “I believe that 3D is going to take off possibly more quickly than we’re all thinking.”

He also mentioned yet another update coming to the PS3 in the next year. “We’re doing BRAVIA Internet Video Link – which is more of a streaming service than a downloading service… we added it to Blu-ray players, and we’re adding it to the PS3.”

Source: Sony Insider

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Google’s Nexus One phone may have been one of the most anticipated devices of the last few weeks. But since the smartphone’s launch last Tuesday, it has left a string of unhappy customers in its wake.

Nexus One has been plagued by consumer complaints including spotty 3G connectivity, a high early termination fee, poor customer support from Google and problems with the touchscreen.

“There are some aspects of the experience that Google didn’t think through as carefully as they should have,” says Charles Golvin, an analyst with Forrester Research. “This has implications for the store they have launched and their future ambitions for it. Google, clearly, has a lot of work ahead of it.”

Google introduced the Nexus One as the first device to be sold by the search company itself, rather than a manufacturing or carrier partner. The Nexus One, which runs Android 2.1, has been designed by HTC and works with T-Mobile’s network in the United States.

But contrary to initial speculation, the device isn’t free. It will retail for $180 with a 2-year contract with T-Mobile. An unlocked version is also available for $530 — a price similar to most other smartphones — and that version will work on other GSM phone networks worldwide as well as AT&T in the United States, although with some limitations.

The difference, though, is the Nexus One is available only through Google’s online store. Unlike with a Motorola Cliq or a HTC G1, users can’t walk into a T-Mobile store and buy the Nexus One.

They can’t even count on T-Mobile’s customer service representatives in store or the company’s phone support to solve their problems.

It’s a strategy that has backfired on Google. The company’s support forums are full of customer complaints around the Nexus and the company’s poor service.

“A lot of complaints and frustration that people are expressing would normally be handled by going back into the store or by calling the support help line,” says Golvin. “Having a physical location where you can take your phone back helps customers and Google seems to have underestimated that.”

“Solving customer support issues is extremely important to us, because we want people to have a positive Nexus One experience,” says a Google spokesperson. “We are trying to be as open and transparent as possible through our online customer help forums.”

Many of the customer complaints are centered about the device’s inability to connect to T-Mobile’s 3G network. The Nexus One does not pick up the 3G network or keeps switching to the slower EDGE network, say some users.

A Google spokesperson says the company is aware of the problem. “We are aware of the issues that have affected a small number of users and are working quickly to fix any problems,” the spokesperson told Wired.com in an email. “We hope to have more information soon. When we do, we will post it to the user forum.”

Add to all this Google’s decision to charge a separate early termination fee in addition to the one charged by T-Mobile. Nexus One customers who bought the subsidized, $180 version and then decide to cancel their contracts will have to pay $200 to T-Mobile.

But Google also charges users a $350 “equipment recovery fee” if you give up on the contract within 120 days.

Including all charges, Nexus One customers who want to bail early will end up paying $550. That’s significantly higher than the controversial $350 early termination fee imposed by Verizon last year.

“Google provides a subsidy for devices purchased with T-Mobile USA service. If a consumer cancels service after 14 days, Google recoups this subsidy in the form of an equipment recovery fee,” says the Google spokesperson.

“After 120 days, the equipment recovery fee will no longer apply. This is standard practice for third party resellers of T-Mobile and other operators, and you will find similar policies for other mobile service resellers. The T-Mobile early termination fee is separate and handled by T-Mobile.”

Despite the problems, Google can bounce back, says Golvin. Customer dissatisfaction is likely to be just a small speed bump in the road for Google’s mobile ambitions, he says.

“Google tends to have a bit of a Teflon coating,” says Golvin. “People tend to cut them a lot more slack — as they do with Apple — than they do with their mobile operator.”

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A 48-hour-old fundraising campaign to help Haiti earthquake victims, done solely through text messages, was already stunning Red Cross officials on Thursday when it hit $3 million. By Friday morning, the tally had more than doubled. (notes: Please still help those victims online and offline)

The campaign, made viral on networking sites like Twitter and Facebook, had raised $8 million by Friday, according to a Twitter message from the White House that was reposted on the Red Cross account. The campaign leads a spate of online efforts that have allowed people to help victims of the devastating quake.

The Red Cross campaign’s tally would be double the $4 million that was donated to all charities by mobile texts in all of 2009, a spokeswoman said.  Abi Weaver, spokeswoman for the Red Cross, confirmed that the mobile giving campaign hit the $7 million mark about 11 p.m. Thursday.  “It’s shattered any record that we’ve seen with mobile giving before,” Wendy Harman, social media manager for the Red Cross, said Thursday.  Friday morning, “Red Cross” was among the 10 most popular topics on Twitter.

Many celebrities, including singer Adam Lambert, actor Ben Stiller, cyclist Lance Armstrong and actress Lindsay Lohan, used their Twitter feeds to plead for earthquake-relief donations.  “Yele haiti now for the disaster,” Lohan tweeted Wednesday, referring to musician Wyclef Jean’s online earthquake relief fund. “Please do all that you can. Please.” Yele Haiti also has launched a text message fundraising campaign.

Armstrong, an active Twitter user with more than 2.3 million followers, posted that his Livestrong Foundation had pledged $250,000 to humanitarian aid groups.

The online classified site Craigslist posted a list of relief organizations, including Medecins sans Frontieres and CARE, along with links via which users can donate.

Multiple Facebook groups related to Haiti had been created by Thursday. One of the largest, Earthquake Haiti, had nearly 170,000 members. Many Facebook users also were changing their status updates to reflect when they’d donated to the Red Cross campaign, thus encouraging their friends to do likewise.

Earlier Thursday, when the Red Cross topped $3 million in text and social media donations — it hit nearly $40 million from all sources by late Thursday — spokesman Jonathan Aiken described it as “a phenomenal number that’s never been achieved before.”

“People text up to three times at 10 bucks a pop,” Aiken said. “You’re talking about roughly 300,000 people actually spontaneously deciding, ‘I can spare $10 for this.’ And that’s remarkable.”

As of late Thursday, more than half of all donations to the Red Cross’s Haiti relief effort had been received online, according to a news release. Harman said the Red Cross has been active on Twitter since the California wildfires of 2007.

The organization also has accounts on Facebook, Flickr and YouTube as well as its own blog, and hosts an online newsroom that provides updates on the organization’s disaster responses. She said the Red Cross has “a pretty robust social media strategy” but that the Haiti response is unprecedented.  “It feels like every person who has a Twitter account has tweeted about it, which is a pretty amazing thing to see,” she said.

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Barcelona president Joan Laporta hopes to have an answer from coach Pep Guardiola in April over new contract talks.

Laporta insists there’s “no pressure” on Guardiola, despite press speculation he could stand down at the end of the season to take a 12-month break from the game.

“It is a reasonable time, it would give us time to seek alternatives, but it is something that we’re not even contemplating because Guardiola has a huge influence in Barcelona. But at Easter it would be good to know who will be our coach,” said Laporta.

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