The Bad Side of Getting Inbound Links from Client Websites

Attention web design companies. If you are fond of putting your link at the footer section of websites you built, make sure you ensure the website is thoroughly tested and error-free when tested. And if installed with content management system, make sure that pages will not display undesirable content even when client’s designated staff makes crazy updates.

Otherwise, you’re simply showcasing inept workmanship. (If you don’t know what I mean, take a look at the lower right portion of the screen capture above.) While the link helps you in your SEO efforts, the appearance of your brand in that odd page displayed might just drag your profile down.

Google Maps Paid Version

BBC News reports that Google Maps will soon be a paid service — to websites deemed heavy users of the supposed free service. “Heavy” is certainly a subjective word but the report says starting Jan 1, 2012, Google will start charging websites for using Google Maps API when they reach above the 25,000 map hits in a day.

Google is rumored to be charging $4 per 1,000 views in excess of the limit.

60 Site SEO Audit Checklist

Reviewing SEO in an audit sometimes can be overwhelming. We all want to make a systematic approach so we are able to address two important issues: a) Make use of time efficiently and b) Ensure we don’t miss any relevant SEO issue. Hence this SEO audit checklist for webmasters who don’t want to engaged with a consultant and learn more about SEO at their own pace.

1 Indexed pages
Use the “site:” operator in Google search (for example enter “site:seo-hongkong.com“) and verify how many pages are indexed in Google.

BarCamp Hong Kong 2011

For the first time since it was first held in Hong Kong in 2007, I will be joining BarCamp, a gathering of enthusiasts not necessarily like-minded but collectively embrace the culture of open learning.

Photo credit: www.yopyblog.com

Described as “an ad-hoc “unconference” born from the desire for people to share and learn in an open environment”, BarCamp provides a platform for people to share, learn or both without the formalities quite common in organized conferences. That means you may a master of iPhone app development but nobody’s going to prevent you from sharing your passion for landscape photography. Predictably, I shared about search marketing in 2007.

Site Structure Pitfall No. 238: Failure to Add Index Pages for Subfolders

One of the things I sometimes encounter on local websites is the ’404 Error’. Although seeing the custom 404 is an upgrade over the generic error message generated by web browsers or web servers, such errors are deemed unnecessary and paints a bad impression of the website. Not that we clicked on a broken link has generated this ’404 File Not Found Error’ page but a random ‘hack’ of removing the trailing filename will reveal this error.

For example, it very is common to view Hong Kong Observatory’s pages during time of inclement weather conditions. With a wealth of timely weather information — from synchronizing time to climate change — the Hong Kong Observatory is the place to go. However, when it comes to organizing content, the site is a bit wanting.