Free Money Making eBook

Posted on February 3, 2009 by Hari Varrier

Hi guys,

I recently found an ebook which detailed different ways to make money. I must sayit is not something new but, it talks about all the latest methods that one can use to make a living online. If you are a beginner to this thing, you will find it pretty usefull I must say. Experienced users I must say will find little use for this except as a checklist when going into a new venture. Nonetheless, I urge you to try this.

Free eBook

Yes it is an affiliate link. I would appreciate it if you would use that.

Google Definitions

Posted on February 3, 2009 by Hari Varrier

Every once in awhile, I get someone who refers to an issue with the wrong term, or using a term incorrectly. Worse yet is getting that blank stare when I am talking SEO. So, here are some quick definitions to help clear up any issues for you.

PageRank: It is a measure of “popularity”, “quality” and “connectivity”. Simply, PageRank is calculated by counting up the number of sites that link to the page (not the site) and taking the numerical value of each link received and comparing the total to a numerical range. PageRank is not the main source for the algorithm with Google. PageRank is overrated and if you have “Green Bar Addiction” we are working on a 12-step program for you.

Sandbox: This is an area that a new site “sits” while it waits to be “trusted” by Google. Many claim that the Sandbox doesn’t exist, including Google. This is real despite what Google says. We will be updating our Getting out the Sandbox article soon. It was interesting that once this term became popular Google called the keyword research tool inside of AdWords the “Sandbox”.

Supplemental Index: This is Google’s “second index” and is a bad place to be. Normally, pages that are here are about to be dropped from the index.

Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI): This is a process where the English language has been converted into numerical data for easy storage and retrieval. Words that are similar have numerical values that are very close. This rewards “theme based” sites. I have seen strong evidence that Google is using LSI in their algorithm. This is how a page can be #1 for a keyword that is not on the page, nor in incoming anchor text.

Hilltop: This is a theory that Google uses this algorithm structure for their results. Hilltop is essentially based on an expert rating system according to Aaron Wall. An example would be if Page A relates to Page B and Page B relates to Page C, then a relationship, or connection between Page A and Page C is assumed. This is strong as this gives topic sensitive sites more of a boost, which would make the SERPs cleaner and more relevant. The areas that are strong for Hilltop are Page Titles, Page Headings, and Bolded Text. Link Popularity is also highly scored. Despite my numerous conversations with Google reps, they will not confirm, nor deny the use of Hilltop in the Google algorithm. It is almost always a “I cannot comment on that.”

Data Center: Refers to the servers where Google stores the data for their index. Google has several data centers, and they constantly test the results and the most consistent is the one that is used. These data centers sit on specific IP addresses rather than domains. When doing testing, Google often serves a different data center to the east coast of the US and another to the west coast. If you are seeing the SERPs “bounce” this means that they are swapping out data centers while they make changes to their algorithm.

Location Script For Your Sites

Posted on January 30, 2009 by Hari Varrier

So I wanted to introduce my visitors with my name and telling them I live in “their location” to help make my sales pitch more presentable, this will be great addition to landing pages by providing a personal touch.

The script is quite simple, replace “Demo Town” with a town you would like it to say if there town can’t be read from there own location, and “Demo State “ with a state you would like.

Go ahead and copy the code and place wherever you’d like on your page, no need for any other styles, it’s based on Google

Script:

<p><em>My name is Hari Varrier – I live in <script src=”http://www.google.com/jsapi” type=”text/javascript”></script><script type=”text/javascript”><!–
if (typeof(google.loader.ClientLocation.address.city) != null) {
document.write(google.loader.ClientLocation.address.city
+”, ”
+google.loader.ClientLocation.address.region);
} else {
document.write(“Demo Town, Demo State”)
}
// –></script> and I would love some backlinks to this blog</em></p>

Demo:

My name is Hari Varrier – I live in and I would love some backlinks to this blog

Downtime

Posted on January 26, 2009 by Hari Varrier

The Blog suffered from a major downtime lasting almost three days. I lost the database and the whole server. I have reconstructed everything from the google cache as I had no other option. reat assured, the site is back and I will be posting great a great deal from now on and also there will not be any downtime.

Demystifying Split Testing

Posted on January 26, 2009 by Hari Varrier

Split testing is a method of finding out which of two items is more popular, converts better, etc. It’s based on the profound wisdom that “you don’t know what your customer likes best… they do.” For the purpose of this article, I’ll talk about a simple text advertisement on a webpage. But know that you can use this same concept for graphics, products, colors… in fact, for just about anything that contains two choices that you want to determine which is the most popular or effective.
So suppose you’re creating a short webpage, and you want to improve your conversion click-thru’s… the number of people who see your ad and are interested enough to find out what’s on the other side by clicking on it. One thing you’d want to try is two different headlines, to try to get more people clicking than before. What you’d do is write your two headlines, and create two copies of the webpage you’re using it on. Version 1 has Headline 1 on it; Version 2 has Headline 2 on it. And here’s the important point:
NOTHING ELSE IS CHANGED on the two pages. They’re identical except for the different headline. Now, using whatever traffic method you choose, send at least 100 people to your site. But do it like this…** send 50 people to Version 1 page, and the other 50 to Version 2. **
After you see how many people clicked through to your next desired action on each separate page, you’ll know which one was more effectiveattractive to the viewers. So if 10 out of 50 people clicked thru on Version 1, and 3 out of 50 clicked thru on Version 2, then Version 1 was more than 3 times as effective in converting viewers. And since the only difference between the pages was the headline, you know that Headline 1 was the winner. Now you might decide to try testing something else, maybe page color for example. So do the same thing… put up two different pages with identical text, graphics, headlines, etc. and change ONLY THE BACKGROUND COLOUR between the pages.
Split your traffic evenly and randomly between them, and very soon you’ll know which the most popular color was. And on and on! Split-testing gives you a scientifically accurate way of determining what works best. You have to provide a statistically valid sample before making a decision (that’s why I suggest at least 100 viewers).
Note: It’s best to run the test elements at the same time, to the same audience, under the same conditions, etc. That way, your test ‘sample’ contains only the single variable you’re trying to test. No point in testing a page in October, then trying a different headline for a test in April… too much has happened between those times, you’d have no idea what mood the viewers were in.

New Google Bug

Posted on January 19, 2009 by Hari Varrier

There seems to be a new google bug. It involes the keyword “hyves“. If you add the term to your domain either as subdomain or if you are lucky enough to create a new hyves domain with any tld, it will have an instant PR (pagerank) of 7. This is pretty cool! Here is a screenshot with proof of that I am saying.

the-new-google-bug

Some webmasters are hyping up their website PR using this. So to fellow webmasters out there, please refrain from doing this. You will be “google slapped”!

Digg VS Stumbleupon

Posted on January 13, 2009 by Hari Varrier

We all know that both Digg and Stumble are extremely popular, but for as webmaster, which of the two is the best for you to focus on?

Step 1: Find if Digg dig’s you!

Here is the thing… Digg tends to favors content of a certain variety. Whereas, StumbleUpon welcomes more variety. So, go to Digg.com and use the search feature and type in the main 3 keywords associated with your niche.
How many results were there? Have there been many front page successes in your industry?
If you answered NO to any of the above, then StumbleUpon is your winner.If you answered YES, then we move onto step 2.

Step 2: How New Is Your Site?

Here is the thing… StumbleUpon is generally much easier to get instant traffic from, whereas Digg can be hit and miss, and can take a lot of time to get the ball rolling. If your site is fairly new, or your traffic fairly low, I recommend starting with StumbleUpon.

Step 3: What Sort of Content Do You Have?

The type of site is also critical. Digg tends to favor humor, tech, breaking news, celebs, and gadgets. Whereas, StumbleUpon has a wider range, but is especially keen on photos and images. Both sites like list-based content, StumbleUpon has a slight preference for tutorials.
Still not sure which site is for you? Ok, let’s look at the traffic.

Step 4: How Much Traffic Can You Handle?

Both sites can deliver huge amounts of traffic, but StumbleUpon can generally get results quicker. Digg will give a HUGE burst of traffic, which will last less than a day, whereas StumbleUpon is more likely to give you traffic for days and often weeks at a time.

Would your server struggle with such a fast burst of Digg traffic ? If so, StumbleUpon may be for you.
So Which IS Best? The above is a guide to show you where you should focus your efforts, but it doesn’t really answer the question of “which is best?”. That is because there is no fixed answer. It will vary from person to person.
Let’s move onto the most important part…

Quality of Traffic

It is widely known that traffic from sites like these is nowhere near as targeted as paid traffic like AdWords.

That said, the quantity far outweighs it. That said, the quantity far outweighs it. So it is a numbers game. For example, 1,000 hits from StumbleUpon may be worth roughly the same as just 10 paid hits from Adwords, or 500 from Digg. But remember, it is FREE, and there are many other benefits to the traffic, such as branding, links, subscribers, fans, boosting your stats, getting comments and more.
If you are looking to sell your site in the near future, then StumbleUpon is your best bet, as it can inflate your stats greatly. If you are looking to build links, then Digg is by far the better choice. Stumble users tend to not stay on the site for very long, but a Digg user may comment, check out your other pages, link to you etc…

Summary

So with all the above in mind, are you any nearer to knowing which is best for you? If not, here are some additional thoughts from other people:

Additional Thoughts

Many webmasters are saying that DIGG is the best. Hobby bloggers prefer StumbleUpon. Stumble will likely give you more upfront traffic but the traffic you generate from Digg is a little more targeted. So, Digg has more long-term and financial benefit for you. Digg didn’t give me much traffic but with StumbleUpon I can see immediately the result. Digg can be great if you already have a lot of traffic or social networking buddies that can click of the “Digg it” button to promote your page. Having a good member base can also be useful if you can convince members or clients to encourage you by clicking on your button.

By Stumbling you get good amount of traffic but bounce rate is pretty high. If you want to do branding you can go for Stumble but if you want targeted audience then go for Digg.

Blog Spam, Fun Way To Counter it!

Posted on January 11, 2009 by Hari Varrier

If you have a Blog you are probably very familiar with Blog Spam. Two of the most popular security options is Captcha and the “Math Problem”. So, I was getting dozens of spam on one of my blog and most of it was porn. So, I put in the Captcha security option. And one spammer got around it, and he was posting about 1500 spam’s per day. Now, these weren’t showing up, as I had the comments set to “moderate”. But it was a pain having to clear the spam every day. So, we put in a second level of security … and about a week or two later, they got around that one too and the spam resumed. The IP address was in EU.

So, I did some digging and found one of their blogs, and put in my .htaccess file that when their IP came in, to route it to their blog. So, when they posted their spam comments through their comment automater, they would be spamming their own blog! It worked well. However, I must have made them mad, because above 5 hours after doing it, our server got nailed with attacks … so I took down the “return volley” and just did a denial of service. The attacks stopped and we are now more than 24 hours since the spam attack … so far no spam.

So, if you run a blog, make sure you have the comments set to be moderated before they are posted, so you are protected against Spam, and monitor any spam you get. Abuses simply put their IP address in your “denial service” in your .htaccess (Apache Servers). The code is below:

order allow,Deny
Deny from IPADDRESS
allow from all

Of course you would enter the IP ADDRESS to deny where it is clearly indicated. Also, while tricks like I did above are fun to do, and sometimes funnier to tell your friends, what happened above is a clear indication that regardless of how good you think you are on the web, there is always someone better. And clearly, that includes me as well. Be careful out there. If you shove somebody on the ‘Net, they might just shove back harder.

Have fun fellas!

Integrate Ad Management plugin with any WordPress theme

Posted on January 11, 2009 by Hari Varrier

This tutorial will show you how to integrate the Ad Management plugin with any WordPress theme. This will allow you choose the exact location you would like to feature your ad zones. Please note that this will require you to have a basic and simple understanding of HTML. There are 5 different zones; header, footer, sidebar, single post, and search box.

Step 1. Open your internet browser and navigate to your WordPress login.

Step 2. Login to your WordPress installation.

Step 3. Click [Presentation] and then [Theme Editor].

Step 4. Locate the file you would like to add ads to on the left side of the screen, labeled theme files. 4.1. Here are the typical names of the files you will edit with its corresponding ad zone: 4.1.1. Header – Add the “Header” code to this file
4.1.2. Footer – Add the “Footer” code to this file
4.1.3. Sidebar – Add the “Sidebar” and “Search Box” code to this file 4.1.4. Single Post – Add the “Single Post” code to this file 4.2. Click on the file you wish to edit.

Step 5. Since all themes are not the same it is difficult to tell you exactly where to place the ad code. This is where knowledge of some basic HTML comes into place. All you have to do is copy and paste the corresponding code into the location of the file where you want the ad to show. This can be done by trial and error. Copy and paste the code into the file, update the file, and see if the ads show in the desired location.

5.1. Here is the code for each zone to be copied:

5.1.1. Header:
<?php
$zheader = stripslashes($GLOBALS['Ad Management']['Options']['z4']) ;
if($zheader != “”) {$zheader =
“<center>$zheader</center>”;}
print $zheader;
?>
5.1.2. Footer:
<?php
$zfooter = stripslashes($GLOBALS['Ad Management']['Options']['z5']) ;
if($zfooter != “”) {$zfooter =
“<center>$zfooter</center>”;}
print $zfooter;
?>
5.1.3. Sidebar:
<?php
$zsidebar = stripslashes($GLOBALS['Ad Management']['Options']['z2']) ;
if($zsidebar != “”) {$zsidebar =
“<li><h2>Featured</h2><ul>$zsidebar</ul></li>”;} print $zsidebar;
?>
5.1.4. Single Post:
<?php
$zsinglepost = stripslashes($GLOBALS['Ad Management']['Options']['z3']) ;
if($zsinglepost != “”) {$zsinglepost = “<p><center>$zsinglepost</center></p>”;} print $zsinglepost;
?>
5.1.5. Search Box:
<?php
$zsearchbox = stripslashes($GLOBALS['Ad Management']['Options']['z1']) ;
if($zsearchbox != “”) {$zsearchbox = “<center>$zsearchbox</center>”;}
print $zsearchbox;
?>

Step 6. After you have finished replacing the two pieces of code, click on [Update File] in the bottom right hand corner of the page.

Step 7. You’re done!

Remember: You will have to do this process for each individual theme. So if you change your theme to your blog, you will need to update the Header, Footer, Sidebar, and Single Post files as outlined above. Also remember you must have the Ad Management plugin installed and active for this to work. Make sure you copy and paste your ad code into the correct fields from within the WordPress admin panel >> Options >> Ad Mangement.

Duplicate Content Issues and Scrapers

Posted on January 5, 2009 by Hari Varrier

An interesting article by Sven Naumann, from Google’s Search Quality Team, indicates that there are two kinds of duplicate content:
Internal – Identical content appears in more than one location on your site.
External – Your content appears on other sites, outside your own.

It even states that the duplicate content whether internal or external doesn’t negatively affect a site. My testing shows otherwise. Here is one example. Most “duplicate content” issues revolve around your site and your site only. External duplicate content is rare, even though Google would want you to believe otherwise. For example, do a search in Google on a recent news story. Hundreds of results will be displayed in Google’s results carrying the exact word-for-word story from the AP.
Another example is if you take two pages of your site, each page with different content, but you use the exact same Title and Description on both pages, Google will mark one of the pages as duplicate. However, if you take two pages with the exact same content, but you create unique Titles and Descriptions, Google will treat the pages as unique. I doubt this will last as Google should fix this issue by the end of the year.
Here is what you can do to combat internal duplicate content:
• www-Protection: Be sure you have the fix in your .htaccess file. (Apache servers only).
• Use 301s: If you have modified your site, use 301s in your .htaccess file to redirect users, Googlebot, and other spiders to the proper page.
• Block Bots: Never give Google the power to make a decision you should make. You choose which version of the document you want indexed and block the bots (by use of the robots.txt file) from the other versions, such as “Printer Friendly” versions.
• Link Consistently: Use relative or absolute links for your internal linking, but not both.
• Top Level Domains (TLD): TLD help Google serve the best version of the document for country-specific content. www.mydomain.de indicates German document better than www.mydomain.com/de.
• Preferred Domain Feature: In webmaster tools, there is a feature that allows you to indicate to Google which version you prefer to show in the SERPs. This is not a replacement for the non-www redirect.
• Avoid Repetition: If you have a lengthy copyright, disclosure or other text that is required on every page of your site, think about putting the text in an image and serving it via external css or JS.
• Understand your CMS: Be familiar with how content is displayed on your site, blog, and/or forum. Be aware that they may show the same content in various formats and locations. Work with your provider for different ways of solving this duplicate content problem – whether it is disallowing bots to a page or removing the option to view in another format altogether.
• Syndicated Content: Include a link back to your site within the content.
• Titles & Descriptions: Confirm you have unique titles and descriptions on every page. This is a good practice even if Google fixes the issue listed above.
For dealing with the latter, Sven claims that Google looks “at various signals to determine which site is the original” and “that you shouldn’t be very concerned about seeing negative effects on your site’s presence on Google for site scraping.” In my testing, I’ve seen that this is not the case, your site can be negatively affected in rankings and in traffic. Remember, traffic is related to rankings. Yes, there are other aspects of getting the click – a compelling title and description – but ranking is also part of the equation, because few if any users go past the top ten results.
In more instances than Google would care to admit, the scraper out ranks the original content. Here’s what to do if that happens:
Confirm your content and pages are accessible and have not been blocked by your robots.txt file or any meta tags on the page.
Ensure your site is well within the guidelines set forth in the Webmaster Guidelines.
Review your sitemap to see if you had made any changes for the content that was scraped. Changes to the original could make it appear as the counterfeit version in Google’s eyes.
File a DMCA Request if you have fixed the above and see no change in the rankings.