Month: January 2010

Keywords out of Season

I’ve recently seen a large drop off in traffic for one of my sites. Instead of adding more backlinks and H1 tags I decided to switch out the keywords. I figured that the issue wasn’t with the optimization tactics I was using but with the keywords that where being applied. According to Google my keywords where just out of season. Follow me on this one, using Google’s External Keyword Tool and selecting the “Show All” settings Google will give you an idea of when a particular keyword is in or out of season. Basically what month does the keyword get searched on the most. Using this information you may want to switch out, add to, or focus only on a set of keywords that well increase in search frequency.
Take a look at my example. Using the keyword tool I did a search for “Umbro Shorts”. According to Google this keyword increases in frequency around September. So if you had a site that sold these kinds of shorts you would have a general idea on when to start building up your strategies.
Of course a lot of this is common sense, but it’s still kind of nice to have a little more information on when you should expect to see a drop in traffic or a spike.

Ebay EPN Geo-Targeting PHP Script

Big development day yesterday, I took some time to re-write some of the code on my EPN templates, giving the URL’s a much SEO friendlier structure. Before I was using the PHP base64 encoding function to mask the redirect URL’s, but doing some gave me this extremely long and ugly URL. I’m not sure if the previous technique was hurting me or not. I assumed so because they didn’t look like anything anyone would want to bookmark.
I also noticed that one of my domains was picking up some traffic from counties other then the U.S. So I added a Geo Targeting script to flip out the Ebay EPN rover code, don’t quote me on this terminology I’m not certain if Ebay calls these code “rover codes” or not. I read on thier blog that an affiliate will not get credit if this code does not correspond to the correct country, so there you go, I’m covered now. You can read more about the Geo Targeting and rover codes here.
http:/www.ebaypartnernetworkblog.com/en/news/implement-geo-targeting-today
I’m also adding the actually function that I’m currently using so please feel free to use it, mash it up or do whatever with it. But I should mention that my sites are fairly new and do not generate that much traffic as of yet. So I can not confirm how reliable the Geo IP Look Up API maybe on larger trafficked sites. You may want to look into adding a more robust solution. And lastly I added a new domain today handheldbaglessvacuums.com yea it’s probably the longest domain I own. I thought Cordless Vacuums, Bagless Vacuums and Vacuums Cleaners Would be some great keywords to target for this niche. Wish me luck.

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/* Implement Geo-Targeting Today */
/* http://www.ebaypartnernetworkblog.com/en/news/implement-geo-targeting-today/ */
/*
eBay Program / Placement ID
eBay US / 711-53200-19255-0
eBay AU / 705-53470-19255-0
eBay BE / 1553-53471-19255-0
eBay CA / 706-53473-19255-0
eBay ES / 1185-53479-19255-0
eBay FR / 709-53476-19255-0
eBay IT / 724-53478-19255-0
eBay UK / 710-53481-19255-0
eBay IE / 5282-53468-19255-0
eBay NL / 1346-53482-19255-0
eBay DE / 707-53477-19255-0
eBay AT / 5221-53469-19255-0
eBay CH / 5222-53480-19255-0
*/

function EPN_Program($countryID){
switch ($countryID) {
case US:
$ePNlink='711-53200-19255-0';
break;
case AU:
$ePNlink='705-53470-19255-0';
break;
case BE:
$ePNlink='1553-53471-19255-0';
break;
case CA:
$ePNlink='706-53473-19255-0';
break;
case ES:
$ePNlink='1185-53479-19255-0';
break;
case FR:
$ePNlink='709-53476-19255-0';
break;
case IT:
$ePNlink='724-53478-19255-0';
break;
case UK:
$ePNlink='710-53481-19255-0';
break;
case IE:
$ePNlink='5282-53468-19255-0';
break;
case NL:
$ePNlink='1346-53482-19255-0';
break;
case DE:
$ePNlink='707-53477-19255-0';
break;
case AT:
$ePNlink='5221-53469-19255-0';
break;
case CH:
$ePNlink='5222-53480-19255-0';
break;
default:
$ePNlink='711-53200-19255-0';
}
return $ePNlink;
}
$ip=$_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'];
$countryID = file_get_contents('http://api.hostip.info/country.php?ip='.$ip);
$ePNlink=EPN_Program($countryID);
?>

Ebay Affiliate Network

Lately I have been really excited about working with Ebay affiliate network. This past Friday I download and printed all of their guidelines hoping to read through them more thoroughly. I want to be 100% sure that I’m legit since I’m spending much more time developing niche sites for this program. This past weekend I added two more of my older domains to my custom script MyAuburnTigers.com to host and sale Auburn University Football Jerseys and NuttyShark.com to host and sale Shark Motorcycle Helmets. I’m danger close to purchasing a car related domains but I want to see if I can hold out a bit to make a bulk purchase to take advantage of the discount. The only issue with waiting is that you stand a chance of someone else swooping in and registering the domain from underneath you.

Ebays EPN Reporting

This is quite small to some but it’s big news to me. I have been a part of Ebay’s EPN affiliate networks for sometime now and have recently started taking a closer look at their report center. I’m kind of amazed how far they allow you to drill down. For example in the previous year the category I sold more merchandise in was the “Cameras & Photo” category and so far this year it’s the “Home & Garden” category, go figure. Nothing to go screaming off the roof tops about but it’s still a bit interesting. I haven’t made any big website changes for this shift to happen so I’m taking this information as a clear indication of when the season changes. So moving forward I think this data could and should be considered when developing future marketing strategies. If I’m losing some of you guys I apologize, but basically what I’m trying to say is there is no need to place all of your focus on every website you own at all times. But why not just focus on a smaller set of websites when they are about to go into season. Just a thought. I’m sure some of you big dogs are already doing this. 🙂

R.I.P. Yahoo Search Submit Pro

YSSP went offline this morning; it’s going to be interesting to see what Yahoo will focus on next. I actually believed in the YSSP program, it was a great way for some of these mammoth sized websites to get their products indexed. Could there have been more transparency, yea probably so. But to see the true benefit of the program you would have to look at the big picture. A bunch of revenue was generated and butt load of jobs where also created. Plus I like to believe that the program help customers locate products easier. And if I had to guess I would guess that majority of the agencies/resellers that Yahoo partnered with operated in good faith. So think about it for a second there where probably hundreds of agencies/resellers submitting millions and millions of clean, optimized and sometimes fresh URL’s to Yahoo. I like that idea. I like the fact that I can trust a program that employed a bunch of people to police and submitted trusted data. So when I clicked on a link then that’s where I’m directed to. Yea in any program that involves money your going to have people who will try and dupe the system. But in the grand scheme of things I believe there had to be more good then evil here.

Anyway sorry for the rant, back to topic, what will Yahoo focuses on next. I personally hope Yahoo and the other engines will put a little more effort into the Search Monkey, RDFa and Rich Snippet projects. I think there’s a lot of opportunity in enhanced search results, especially if your site is product driven. Right now it doesn’t seem like it’s on anyone’s radar and that perhaps all of the Search Monkey and Rich Snippet hoopla was a just a big PR stunt. Basically one of those “We can do it also” type of things.
Here’s an example. Shortly after the dust settled on the Yahoo killing YSSP program stuff AOL announced that they may offer a paid inclusion program. Now it’s hard to tell if this was a serious statement or just a stunt to attract attention.

AOL To Capitalize On Yahoo Ending Paid Inclusion Program

 

Geolocation by IP Address with PHP

Something kind of interesting happened today. I was going through my log files and noticed a query for “joe Tinsley woodland park” the query originated from “Medford, Massachusetts”. Woodland Park was an elementary school located on an air force base in South Carolina that I attended when I was a kid. I take it that someone from my past is trying to locate me. That’s pretty cool. The crazy part is I just noticed that I don’t have anyway for anyone to contact me via my website… Ha! I make the craziest moves sometimes.
Well I’ve mentioned all of this to say If you’re looking for a way to pull Geolocation Data from a single IP address try IPpages.com’s APIs. I’ve been using them for some time now and the service is pretty good. It does require some programming knowledge to the extract the data from the XML results.
Please let me know if I can help with any programming questions (PHP only!).

Domain Portfolio Cleaning House

Today is actually the start day of my New Year and I’ve decided to start if off by reorganizing my domain portfolio. This includes dumping nonperforming domains and adding new potentials. This year I’m attempting to focus on building and monetizing niche websites for some of the maybes domains I’ve been holding onto for some reason. The overall goal is to create a much leaner and valuable domain portfolio. I’ve been purchasing domain names for a couple of years now and at times without rhyme or reason (I.E TshirtsandSocks.com) and on a monthly average I spend between $50-$100 dollars on renewals. I’ve monetized some but I can do better. Looking over my 2009 books/spreadsheet I realized I truly do not have a great account practice in place, so I can’t really tell you how much I made or loss. So this year I’ve decided to make this one of my top priorities in 2010.

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