Golf Newsletter Issue 4
June 1999
Like to print this for off-line reading. Please click here.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Online Golf Solutions monthly golf Newsletter (from Dan Perry) http://www.onlinegolfsolutions.com
danperry@onlinegolfsolutions.com
Issue 4, Volume 1, June 1, 1999
-----------------------------------------------------------------
In this issue:
* From Dan's Desk
* Golf Quote of the month
* Link of the Month
* Feature Article "The META tag Keyword List"
* Feature Tip
* Site Updates
* Interesting News
* Subscribe/Unsubscribe info
* Advertising in this Ezine
-----------------------------------------------------------------
* From Dan's Desk
-----------------------------------------------------------------
This has been quite a busy month for me. First it was the Web Design Conference
in Atlanta. Long story short, it was a very good conference, but I can't
justify the money I spent on the amount of information I received. It
was all good, current info, but I already knew, or had a good idea of
about 90% of it. If you are a beginning designer, and work for a company,
I would urge you to go to these conferences. You will learn a lot, and
your employer will get the most bang for his buck. Footing the bill myself,
I should've went to UCON99, which is a Macromedia specific conference
in San Francisco. Maube next year!
I also decided to change my web-hosting providers. I currently have sites
scattered all over the place, and am in the process of having them all
hosted by the same provider. Anyone who has gone through this realizes
what a pain in the butt this time-consuming process this really is. If
you've sent me email, and I haven't responded, or if it got sent back
to you, that's why.
My father also had an operation this past month. Him and my stepmother
own a "mom and pop" store. After the operation, he's not able to drive
for 6 weeks, or pick up a gallon of milk for 2 months. I've been spending
a lot of time there when I can, so if this comes a day or two late, that's
why.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
* Golf Quote Of The Month
-----------------------------------------------------------------
'It will be interesting to see if the ball goes left or right.'
President Bill Clinton, on the Peace Missile driver, made from melted
down nuclear missile parts in Russia.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
* Link of the Month
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Newbie University
http://www.newbie-u.com/
This is a great site for newbies (I never liked that word, but almost
everyone knows what it means) and for Internet pros alike. There is a
lot of info here, not only about the internet, but also IRC, FTP, Usenet,
Email, and there's even a P.E.G. (Plain English Glossary), that explains
many words about related to the online world. There's even a place to
post a question, or read what others are asking about the online world
(newbieq). This site is definitely worth visiting.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
* Feature Article "The META tag Keyword List"
-----------------------------------------------------------------
As I stated last month, I'll be discussing a very important part of every
web page this month, the META tag keywords. If you've already read last
months newsletter, you already know what META tags are, what their used
for, and what the keywords section is for. If not, please read April's
issue in the Archive.
Without going into "Splash" pages, and pages specifically designed for
each engine (gateway pages), the following are some general rules that
your designer should be adhering closely to:
1. Put your most important keywords first
If your web site revolves around a golf course, then the first listing
in your keywords should definitely include the word "golf". The term for
placing your most important terms first is called "prominence". Giving
your most important keywords prominence will help your site in the rankings.
2. Don't Spam
You may be thinking, "Maybe if I just used the word 'golf' a hundred times,
then my site would have to show up high in the rankings", think again.
It's called spamming, and is frowned upon in one form or another by every
engine. As previously stated, every engine is different, but I think it's
safe to say that you can use any single word 5 times in your META tag
without penalty. I've read other numbers in articles on keywords, but
5 has worked just fine for me.
3. Include mispellings
If you're trying to attract course superintendents to your site, consider
using mispellings of the word. If someone didn't know how to spell superintendents,
how might they try to mispell it (superintendints)? Be sure to include
some common mispellings, but put them at the end of the list (least amount
of prominence).
4. Use only related keywords
I've seen many sites that will include some of the more (sad to say) popular
keywords to attract people to their site. The designer has included terms
like sex, pamela anderson, etc., into his META tag. This may atract people
to your site, but are these the people you're truly trying to attract?
If you're running a porn site, probably, but for just about every other
business, you'll be attracting the wrong people, which wastes both time
and bandwidth.
5. Don't go overboard
You can use as many keywords as you'd like, but I would advise against
going overboard. On my sites, I use around 20-30 keywords per page. I've
seen sites with more than 500. Personally, I think that the keywords get
diluted with that many, thus lowering the importance of all of them. Also
some engines will only go as deep as 600 words on a site, then make a
judgement as to your sites content and ranking. Some of these engines
aren't even making it past the keyword list.
6. Examples
Let's use a typical golf course. What should be included in the keyword
list? The following are some things I would consider: Definitely use the
term "golf course". Use the name of the course. City, County and State
of course. Use Country Club and Resort if applicable. Use golf-specific
terms, such as pro shop, and stay and play. Include the course designers
name. Look at it through the users eyes; if you were searching for your
course on the Internet, what would you type in the search engine box?
Hopefully this article on keywords will help you understand more about
them, and their use on the Internet. If you have any questions concerning
this article, please send them to danperry@onlinegolfsolutions.com Also,
be sure and ask your designer about them, and if they are being implemented
to their fullest extent on your site.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
* Feature Tip
-----------------------------------------------------------------
No new tips this month. Ran out of time.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
* Site Updates
-----------------------------------------------------------------
As I said, with all the things going on this month, I haven't had a whole
lot of time to spend on the site. I have created a FAQ, and am adding
some printing options for the newsletter, and other text-heavy pages.
If you decide to print the newsletter, you won't have to print out the
navigation bar, header, or footers, just the newsletter. Look for these
items to be active by the middle of May.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
* Interesting News
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Deadhead site gets heavy letter over MP3 tapes, man... http://www.theregister.co.uk/990418-000003.html
We Got Game; All the sports from all the papers all the time http://www.nydailynews.com/1999-04-18/New_York_Now/Technology/a-26035.asp
School's Internet project too successful http://www.canoe.ca/TechNews9904/20_email.html
Find your forgotten fortune on the Web http://www.techserver.com/noframes/story/0,2294,40436-65237-473600-0,00.html
----------------------------------------------------------------- *Subscribe/Unsubscribe
Info
-----------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe from this Ezine, please visit any page on my site, and
type the email address where this Ezine is being sent into the appropriate
box, check "Unsubscribe", and click the button that says Subscribe Me.
You will automatically be unsubscribed.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
* Advertising in this Ezine
-----------------------------------------------------------------
This Ezine is targeted towards all golfers, web users, and webmasters,
but particularly to head pro's, and superintendents. I will accept advertising
that will be beneficial to my user base only. If you are interested in
reaching this very targeted market, please send email to: danperry@onlinegolfsolutions.com
and place "Advertising Info" in the Subject Line.
-----------------------------------------------------------------