[Wylug-discuss] Webtraffiker

[Dave Fisher]

On Wed, Nov 17, 2004 at 03:32:51PM +0000, James Holden wrote:
> --
> Anyone heard of these people? They're a 'SEO' company.
>
> www.webtrafficker.uk.com
>
> A client of mine is looking at using them. They mumble about
> 'microsites' and keyword buying in their explanation.
>
> Their site also has an editorial piece about Google's recent pagerank
> changes which reads like a 'boo hoo our sneaky tricks don't work no
> more' kind of rant.
>

Hi James,

SEO is the big thing I do with my technical hat on.  I'm a bit
expensive, so here's some free advice before you go shopping around.

I tend to regard the kind of stuff they are doing as search engine spam.

As I suggest here:

  http://training.gbdirect.co.uk/courses/web/web_site_visibility_by_design.html

SEO in the narrow sense is a pointless activity.  If you optimize your
site (or sites) to a particular engine's current algorithms, you'll have
change everything every time the algorithms change (several times a
year).

The sane strategy is to focus on the generic features of searching
and indexing that every end-user and search engine architect will always
have to employ, and to optimise for those techniques which are likely to
be employed more heavily in future.

PageRank may not be entirely dead, but it has already been seriously
compromised by the link-farming tactics employed by people like
webtrafficker (such an appropriate name).  It is entirely possible that
PageRank will ultimately be abused into oblivion, like the good old
keyword meta tag.

Dave

P.S. Give us a ring, if your client has deep enough pockets to even
consider 'microsites' and other such snake oil.

P.P.S. Anyone who knows the content management systems used by
webtrafficker's big name clients will understand exactly why they are
forced to buy themselves to the top.
--
Principal Consultant (Web Usability and Visibility)
GBdirect Consulting, Leeds Innovation Centre
103 Clarendon Road, Leeds LS2 9DF, West Yorkshire
tel: 0870 200 7273 consulting at gbdirect.co.uk http://consulting.gbdirect.co.uk