book

Professional Search Engine Optimization with ASP.NET: A Developer's Guide to SEO

Name: Professional Search Engine Optimization with ASP.NET: A Developer's Guide to SEO
ISBN: 9780470131473

by Cristian Darie, Jaimie Sirovich

August 2007

Intermediate to advanced

430 pages

11h 5m

English

Wrox

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Copyright
About the Authors
Credits
Acknowledgments
Introduction
0.1. Who Should Read This Book0.2. What Will You Learn from This Book?0.3. Contacting the Authors0.4. Conventions0.5. Source Code0.6. Errata0.7. p2p.wrox.com
1. You: Programmer and Search Engine Marketer
1.1. Who Are You?1.2. What Do You Need to Learn?1.2.1. SEO and the Site Architecture1.2.2. SEO Cannot Be an Afterthought1.2.3. Communicating Architectural Decisions1.2.4. Architectural Minutia Can Make or Break You1.3. Preparing Your Playground1.3.1. Installing Visual Web Developer 2005 Express Edition1.3.2. Installing SQL Server 2005 Express Edition1.3.3. Installing SQL Server Management Studio Express1.3.4. Installing IIS1.3.5. Creating the seoasp Web Site1.3.5.1. Windows Vista: Creating the seoasp Application1.3.5.2. Windows XP: Preparing the seoasp Web Application1.3.6. Creating the seoasp Web Application1.3.7. Creating the seoasp SQL Server Database1.4. Summary
2. A Primer in Basic SEO
2.1. Introduction to SEO2.1.1. Link Equity2.1.2. Google PageRank2.1.3. A Word on Usability and Accessibility2.2. Search Engine Ranking Factors2.2.1. On-Page Factors2.2.2. Visible On-Page Factors2.2.2.1. Page Title2.2.2.2. Page Headings2.2.2.3. Page Copy2.2.2.4. Outbound Links2.2.2.5. Keywords in Page URL and Domain Name2.2.2.6. Internal Link Structure and Anchors2.2.2.7. Overall Site Topicality2.2.3. Invisible On-Page Factors2.2.3.1. Meta Description2.2.3.2. Meta Keywords2.2.3.3. Alt and Title Attributes2.2.3.4. Page Structure Considerations2.2.4. Time-Based Factors2.2.4.1. Site and Page Age2.2.4.2. Link Age2.2.4.3. Domain Registration Length2.2.5. External Factors2.2.5.1. Quantity of Inbound Links2.2.5.2. Quality of Inbound Links2.2.5.3. Relevance of Inbound Links2.2.5.4. Link Churn2.2.5.5. Link Acquisition Rate2.2.5.6. Link Anchor Text and Surrounding Copy2.2.5.7. Reciprocal Links2.2.5.8. Number of Links on a Page2.2.5.9. Semantic Relationship among Links on a Page2.2.5.10. IP Addresses of Cross-Linked Sites2.2.5.11. TLD of Domain Name for a Link2.2.5.12. Link Location2.2.5.13. Web Standards Compliance2.2.5.14. Detrimental "Red-Flag" Factors2.3. Potential Search Engine Penalties2.3.1. The Google "Sandbox Effect"2.3.2. The Expired Domain Penalty2.3.3. Duplicate Content Penalty2.3.4. The Google Supplemental Index2.4. Resources and Tools2.4.1. Web Analytics2.4.1.1. Google Analytics2.4.1.2. Other Web Analytics Tools2.4.2. Market Research2.4.2.1. Yahoo! Site Explorer2.4.2.2. Google Trends2.4.2.3. Alexa Rankings2.4.3. Researching Keywords2.4.4. Browser Plugins2.4.5. Community Forums2.4.6. Search Engine Blogs and Resources2.5. Summary
3. Provocative SE-Friendly URLs
3.1. Why Do URLs Matter?3.2. Static URLs and Dynamic URLs3.2.1. Static URLs3.2.2. Dynamic URLs3.2.3. URLs and Duplicate Content3.3. URLs of the Real World3.3.1. Example #1: Dynamic URLs3.3.2. Example #2: Numeric Rewritten URLs3.3.3. Example #3: Keyword-Rich Rewritten URLs3.3.4. Maintaining URL Consistency3.4. Implementing URL Rewriting3.5. URL Rewriting with IIS and ISAPI_Rewrite3.5.1. Introducing Regular Expressions3.5.2. Rewriting Numeric URLs with Two Parameters3.5.3. Rewriting Keyword-Rich URLs3.6. URL Rewriting with ASP.NET and UrlRewriter.NET3.6.1. Configuring IIS to Pass All Requests to ASP.NET3.6.1.1. Configuring IIS on Windows XP and Windows 2000 Server3.6.1.2. Configuring IIS on Windows 2003 Server3.6.1.3. Configuring IIS 73.6.2. Using UrlRewriter.NET3.7. Creating Your Own Rewriting Code3.8. Technical Considerations3.8.1. Handling Postbacks Correctly3.8.2. Absolute Paths and ~/3.9. Rewriting ID-Free URLs3.9.1. .NET Regular Expressions3.9.2. Rewriting ID-Free URLs Using Generic Handlers3.9.3. Rewriting ID-Free URLs Using HTTP Modules3.10. Rewriting Images and Streaming Media3.11. Building a Link Factory3.12. Problems Rewriting Doesn't Solve3.12.1. A Last Word of Caution3.13. Summary
4. Content Relocation and HTTP Status Codes
4.1. The HTTP Status Codes4.2. Redirection Using 301 and 3024.2.1. 3014.2.2. 3024.3. Removing Deleted Pages Using 4044.4. Avoiding Indexing Error Pages Using 5004.5. Building Custom Error Pages4.6. Redirecting with ASP.NET and IIS4.6.1. URL Correction4.6.2. Dealing with Multiple Domain Names Properly4.6.3. Using Redirects to Change Domain Names4.6.4. URL Canonicalization: www.example.com vs.example.com4.6.5. URL Canonicalization: /Default.aspx vs./4.7. Other Types of Redirects4.8. Summary
5. Duplicate Content
5.1. Causes and Effects of Duplicate Content5.1.1. Duplicate Content as a Result of Site Architecture5.1.2. Duplicate Content as a Result of Content Theft5.2. Excluding Duplicate Content5.2.1. Using the Robots Meta Tag5.2.2. robots.txt Pattern Exclusion5.2.2.1. More robots.txt Examples5.2.2.2. robots.txt Tips5.2.2.3. Generating robots.txt On-the-Fly5.2.2.4. Handling robots.txt Limitations5.3. Solutions for Commonly Duplicated Pages5.3.1. Print-Friendly Pages5.3.2. Navigation Links and Breadcrumb Navigation5.3.2.1. Using One Primary Category and robots.txt or Meta-Exclusion5.3.2.2. Changing Up the Content on the Various Permutations5.3.2.3. Some Thoughts5.3.3. Similar Pages5.3.4. Pages with Duplicate Meta Tag or Title Values5.3.5. URL Canonicalization5.3.6. URL-Based Session IDs5.3.7. Other Navigational Link Parameters5.3.8. Affiliate Pages5.3.8.1. Using Referrers and Cookies instead of Query String Parameters5.3.8.2. Using Excluded Affiliate URLs5.3.8.3. Redirecting Parameterized Affiliate URLs5.4. Summary

6. SE-Friendly HTML and JavaScript
6.1. Overall Architecture6.2. Search Engine–Friendly JavaScript6.2.1. JavaScript Links6.2.2. DHTML Menus6.2.3. Popup Windows6.2.3.1. Implementing Popup Navigation6.2.4. DHTML Popup Windows6.2.5. Crawlable Images and Graphical Text6.2.5.1. The "sIFR" Replacement Method6.2.5.2. Stewart Rosenberger's Text Replacement Method6.3. Search Engine–Friendly HTML6.3.1. HTML Structural Elements6.3.2. Copy Prominence and Tables6.3.2.1. The Table Trick Explained6.3.2.2. ASP.NET ViewState6.3.3. Frames6.3.4. Using Forms6.4. Using a Custom Markup Language to Generate SE-Friendly HTML6.5. Flash and AJAX6.5.1. The Blended Approach6.6. Summary
7. Web Feeds and Social Bookmarking
7.1. Web Feeds7.1.1. RSS and Atom7.2. Creating RSS Feeds7.3. Syndicating RSS Feeds7.4. Other Sources of Syndicated Content7.5. Social Bookmarking7.6. Summary
8. Black Hat SEO
8.1. What's with All the Hats?8.2. Bending the Rules8.3. Technical Analysis of Black-Hat Techniques8.3.1. Attack Avoidance8.3.2. Insertion Attacks8.3.3. HTML Insertion Attacks8.3.4. Avoiding Comment Attacks Using Nofollow8.3.5. Sanitizing User Input8.3.6. Requesting Human Input8.3.7. 301 Redirect Attacks8.3.7.1. Using a 302 Redirect8.3.7.2. Using robots.txt to Exclude Redirect.aspx8.3.7.3. Using a Database-Driven Solution8.3.8. Content Theft8.3.9. On Buying Links8.3.10. Digital Point Co-op, Link Vault8.4. Summary
9. Sitemaps
9.1. Traditional Sitemaps9.2. Search Engine Sitemaps9.2.1. Using Google Sitemaps9.2.2. Using Yahoo! Sitemaps9.3. Informing Google about Updates9.4. The Sitemaps.org Standard Protocol9.5. Generating Sitemaps Programmatically9.6. Summary
10. Link Bait
10.1. Hooking Links10.1.1. Informational Hooks10.1.2. News Story Hooks10.1.3. Humor/Fun Hooks10.1.4. Evil Hooks10.2. Traditional Examples of Link Bait10.3. Interactive Link Bait: Put on Your Programming Hardhat!10.4. Case Study: Fortune Cookies10.5. Summary
11. Cloaking, Geo-Targeting, and IP Delivery
11.1. About Cloaking, Geo-Targeting, and IP Delivery11.1.1. More on Geo-Targeting11.1.2. A Few Words on JavaScript Redirect Cloaking11.1.3. The Ethical Debate on Cloaking11.1.4. Cloaking Dangers11.1.5. Using the Meta Noarchive Tag11.2. Implementing Cloaking11.3. Cloaking Case Studies11.3.1. Rendering Images as Text11.3.2. Redirecting Excluded Content11.3.3. Feeding Subscription-Based Content Only to Spiders11.4. Implementing Geo-Targeting11.5. Summary
12. Foreign Language SEO
12.1. Foreign Language Optimization Tips12.1.1. Indicating Language and Region12.1.2. Server Location and Domain Name12.1.3. Include the Address of the Foreign Location if Possible12.1.4. Dealing with Accented Letters (Diacritics)12.2. Foreign Language Spamming12.3. Summary
13. Coping with Technical Issues
13.1. Unreliable Web Hosting or DNS13.2. Changing Hosting Providers13.3. Cross-Linking13.4. SEO-Aware Split Testing13.5. Detecting Broken Links13.6. Summary
14. Case Study: Building an E-Commerce Store
14.1. Establishing the Requirements14.2. Implementing the Product Catalog14.3. Summary
15. Site Clinic: So You Have a Web Site?
15.1. 1. Creating Sitemaps15.2. 2. Creating News Feeds15.3. 3. Fixing Duplication in Titles and Meta Tags15.4. 4. Getting Listed in Reputable Directories15.5. 5. Soliciting and Exchanging Relevant Links15.6. 6. Buying Links15.7. 7. Creating Link Bait15.8. 8. Adding Social Bookmarking Functionality15.9. 9. Starting a Blog and/or Forum15.10. 10. Dealing with a Pure Flash or AJAX Site15.11. 11. Preventing Black Hat Victimization15.12. 12. Examining Your URLs for Problems15.13. 13. Looking for Duplicate Content15.14. 14. Eliminating Session IDs15.15. 15. Tweaking On-Page Factors15.16. Summary
A. Simple Regular Expressions
A.1. Matching Single CharactersA.1.1. Matching Sequences of Characters That Each Occur OnceA.1.2. Introducing MetacharactersA.1.3. Matching Sequences of Different CharactersA.2. Matching Optional CharactersA.2.1. Matching Multiple Optional CharactersA.3. Other Cardinality OperatorsA.3.1. The * QuantifierA.3.2. The + QuantifierA.4. The Curly-Brace SyntaxA.4.1. The {n} SyntaxA.4.2. The {n,m} SyntaxA.4.3. {0,m}A.4.4. {n,m}A.4.5. {n,}A.5. Exercises
Glossary

Content preview from Professional Search Engine Optimization with ASP.NET: A Developer's Guide to SEO

Chapter 10. Link Bait

Link bait is any content or feature within a web site that is designed to bait viewers to place links to it from other web sites. Matt Cutts defines link bait as "something interesting enough to catch people's attention." Typically, users on bulletin boards, newsgroups, social bookmarking sites, or blogs will place a link to a web site in some copy that further entices a fellow member or visitor to click. It is an extremely powerful form of marketing because it is viral in nature, and links like these are exactly what a search engine algorithm wants to see — that is, votes for a particular web site.

Some readers might notice some similarities between this first paragraph and the Wikipedia page on Link Bait. That is because Jaimie Sirovich originally created the wiki page on Link Bait himself.

Soliciting links via link-exchanging is less effective than it once was to the end of improving rankings, as discussed in Chapter 2. Link bait creation is one of the newer popularized concepts in link building. In the article at http://www.seomoz.org/blogdetail.php?ID=703, Rand Fishkin of SEOmoz states "... I'd guess that if Matt (from Google) or Tim (from Yahoo!) had their druthers, this would be the type of tactic they'd prefer were used to achieve rankings." It is frequently, with a lot of luck and some skill, an economical and ethical way to get links to a web site; it is considered to be a white hat search engine optimization technique universally.

This chapter introduces ...

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Professional Search Engine Optimization with ASP.NET: A Developer's Guide to SEO

by Cristian Darie, Jaimie Sirovich

Chapter 10. Link Bait

Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
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