Code Samples,Search Engine Optimization
Creating an XML Data Feed for Google Base in VB.NET
OK, even I have to admit this post is so highly targeted to one specific kind of task that most readers won’t be interested in it at all. But since I had to write this code over the weekend, I decided I might as well share it with someone. If you’re working on the .NET platform and you want to upload your products database to Google Base in an XML feed, than this code is for you!
Before I get technical, I’ll explain why you might want to do this.
asp.net, google base, google data feed, rss, seo, source code, System.XML, vb.net, WriteElementString, WriteStartElement, xml, XmlTextWriter
Google Releases Official SEO Starter Guide
Yesterday I noticed a tweet from Matt Cutts announcing the release of Google’s official Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide. (Perhaps they released it this week in the middle of Pubcon for a reason, while all the SEOs are out in Vegas?)
As expected, there was really no ground breaking news here – they didn’t release a 3 step guide to getting the #1 result in Google. But what is interesting is they supported basically all the arguments SEOs have figured out on their own about the Google algorythm – and more importantly (for me at least), everything I’ve been blogging about. It’s good to be told you’re doing something right every once in a while :)
google, nofollow links, Search Engine Optimization, search engines, semantic coding, seo, starter guide, Web Design
Marketing Your Online Presence: Banner Ads or Text Links
In case you didn’t know it, the days of traditional banner advertising on websites with high volume traffic solely for the sake of getting traffic are pretty much over. That’s right, I said it – there’s just no ROI in banner ads. Conversions are low, prices are still inflated, and there is little or no SEO benefit. Most website visitors are just too sensitized as to what an advertisement looks like and click on them with less and less frequency. Sure, there are some modern variations besides the typical 468 x 60 top of page banner, such as dancing animations, small square blog banners, etc., and they do perform a little better. But for the most part people simply don’t like graphic banner ads.
advertising, banner ads, itcn, marketing, nj seo, organic search results, Search Engine Optimization, text links
Code Samples,Search Engine Optimization
SEO Search Engine Friendly URLs with ASP.NET and IIS
I decided it was about time for another code update, and since there are plenty of SEO tips for PHP hackers and Wordpress users, I’m going to help out the ASP.NET programmers out there still in the dark about SEO problems with their code. The concept is useful for anyone; but the code is specifically for a function I programmed in VB.NET.
.net, asp.net, code sample, IIS, iis6, is7, Search Engine Optimization, seo, url rewrite, vb.net
Photos from the Hunt: Steeplechase Horse Racing in Far Hills, NJ
We had an early start this year. I was on the Morristown train by 8:30 yesterday morning along with a few thousand other early party-goers, heading to the Steepchase Horse Race in Far Hills, NJ. Better known simply as The Hunt (aka the Hunt for beer, the Hunt for a ride home, the Hunt for pretty much anything except class, dignity and sobriety), this is a massive tailgate party for what I’m told is a horse race which goes on all around the infield festivities. Everyone from Northern New Jersey (or, as it seems, everyone who is anyone) is probably aware of the Hunt party at Moorland Farms in Far Hills, NJ.
far hills, horse racing, horses, hunt, new jersey, nj, party, steeplechase, tailgate, train
Code Samples,Search Engine Optimization
SEO Canonical URLs And 301 Redirects In Windows IIS 6, IIS 7
Some readers have emailed me asking why I’m only writing about canonical URL and redirect issues for the apache/linux platform and haven’t given any advice on how to fix these issues on Microsoft Windows IIS/ASP.NET servers. So in the interest of equal time, I figure I had better present fixes for both old and new versions of IIS. In IIS 6 it can be corrected with global.asax, but with IIS 7 Microsoft added URL redirect support to the web.config file. First a URL redirect fix for the older versions of ASP.NET on IIS 6:
301 redirect, asp.net, canonical urls, IIS, Microsoft Windows, search engines, seo, Web Servers
Code Samples,Search Engine Optimization
SEO Issues with Duplicate Content: Htaccess, Robots and URLs – Part 2
This is Part 2 of a series on SEO and duplicate content issues. In the first part I discussed using your Apache .htaccess file with 301 redirects on Linux servers to fix canonical URL problems.
OK, now that I’ve answered the question of canonical URLs, let’s get back to that pesky duplicate content issue. Hacking your .htaccess file solved one problem, but what if you have different URLs which all point to the same content? Something like this …
duplicate content, google, htaccess, robots, search engines, seo, sitemap, yahoo
Code Samples,Search Engine Optimization
SEO Issues with Duplicate Content: Htaccess, Robots and URLs – Part 1
There’s a lot of important SEO issues to talk about here, so I am breaking this blog post into two parts. First let me start by explaining why this blog post came about. I recently encountered a problem with a client who was on a shared hosting platform with really bad tech support (you know the type – godaddy, 1&1, hostgator, etc.). The problem was the site’s home page was answering on too many URLs. For example, the following URLs all delivered the same content:
301 redirect, canonical urls, google, htaccess, live, msn, pagerank, Search Engine Optimization, search engines, seo, yahoo
