Letters to the Editor
Web Marketing Today, Issue 50, November 1, 1998
I read with interest and agreement the letter from Donna Sagle regarding the design of Web pages. I tell my students that the purpose of using media such as the Internet is to communicate with potential buyers. If the buyers cannot see your message or get irritated at long download times, no communication takes place. This is a clear instance of where using cutting edge applications may not be appropriate. The needs of the market must come before those of the designer.
James Talaga, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Marketing
La Salle University
Congratulations on reaching 50 issues on Web Marketing Today. I joined you around issue 4, and have enjoyed, benefited and recommended subsequent issues.
Your most recent article How To Get Higher in the Search Engines made fascinating reading. I also enjoy the spiritual dimension you give a medium that can be soul-less or, at the other extreme, preachy.
Thank you, and I look forward to the next 50 issues!
Michael Reidy
Online Services, The Bespoke Agency
Banstead, Surrey, England
Issue #49 was excellent, and timely, since we are in the process of re-launching our website and re-registering with the search engines. Web Marketing Today is consistently excellent, and a tool I rely on regularly.
Patrick Baird, Marketing Coordinator
Jordan Controls, Inc.
I thought your article on the Science of "Gateway" Pages was well done. In a situation where you are analyzing highly ranked pages under the nanny key phrases, one must remember that some of the pages may have scored high under an older algorithm, not the one the search engine is presently using. If these older pages, particularly those with spam, are resubmitted they will often fall. This makes counting keywords and comparing pages confusing for "do-it-yourselfers."
Alta Vista has a built in penalty for about 4 months for newly submitted pages. This is a factor if the key phrases are competitive. Excite, WebCrawler and AOL Netfind are basically the same engine. Often pages that rank well here will also score high in HotBot. Infoseek has changed their algorithm to factor in the number of outside links back to the site, as well as the "quality" of outside links. Therefore the nanny site would benefit from having links on other nanny-related sites.
Don Dowell
GetRanked
Read additional articles from Web Marketing Today, Issue 50, November 1, 1998
