-----------------------------------------------------------------
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.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.onlinegolfsolutions.com