What is NoFollow?

February 28, 2008 by Chadwick · Leave a Comment
Filed under: SEO 

NoFollow is a HTML tag you can place on a link to tell search engines not to follow that link. The link will not pass any link juice to your site. The only benefit of the link will be the traffic it sends.

Note: Some larger sites such as wikipedia automatically make their links nofollow.

How to NoFollow Properly

Normal Link

<a href=”http://www.link.com”>Anchor Text</a>

NoFollow Link

<a href=”http://www.link.com” rel=”nofollow”>Anchor Text</a>

Aaron Wall, from SEOBook has a Firefox plugin called SEO for Firefox that will show you which links are nofollow when your browsing the Internet. This will stop the madness of viewing the source of every webpage your link is on.

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Why the Ebay Strike shouldn’t have happened!

February 18, 2008 by Chadwick · Leave a Comment
Filed under: SEO 

Brand yourself, not Ebay

In the beginning Ebay was used by the average person looking to get rid of that item that has been lingering around the house for a while. A nice fit, if you think about it. Ebay supplied a great tool allowing for the average computer user to post their products and start making money online from the comfort of their own home.

Next, online marketers and store owners caught on to the Ebay trend and started creating their own ebay stores. This is my eyes is where it all started to go wrong.

Yes, Ebay is very well known, and one of the most visited sites on the Internet, but all of these users are promoting Ebay’s brand instead of their own.

Some problems associated with Ebay’s online growth

  • Inflated Shipping Charges
  • High Risk Merchants
  • Increased Fees
  • Items Listed Above Retail Cost
  • Ebay Product Sniping (Gixen, EZSniper, AuctionSniper)
  • SPAM

What should current Ebay sellers do?

  • Create a Website
  • Perform SEO (search engine optimization) / SEM (search engine marketing)
  • Invest in a PPC (pay per click) campaign
  • Promote their own brand
  • Learn from the mistakes Ebay has made
  • Provide Excellent Customer Service

Performing the steps above will create an online presence for the Ebay sellers and help them to be less reliant on ebay. Should you still list your items on ebay? Yes, if your currently having a good ROI with Ebay I would continue to list my items, but start to promote your new website to your existing customer base. Offer promotions or special discounts to shoppers who purchase from your site rather than Ebay.

Ebay will be around for years to come, regardless of how many times they increase their fees, or make feedback changes. What’s going to change is how people & businesses use Ebay in the future.

 

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