Friday, August 29, 2008

Custom 404 Error Page for SEO Purposes

I am tired of getting the generic, non-informative 404 error pages. Then I realized that anyone on my website would see the same thing, so I had to change it! I found a couple of great websites that gave me a lot of information. Does it really help you if you get to the top of the search engines but your website isn't user-friendly? No users means no sales means no money.

Back in March 2007, Bruce Clay, Inc. wrote on their blog about the importance of custom 404 error pages and seo:
  • Your custom error page should contain the following ingredients:
    • An apology for the error
    • A prominent search box
    • A link to your site map
    • A link to your home page
    • Links to the other main areas of your site
Jeff Atwood points out something that I didn’t know:
  • He says to make sure your customized 404 page is larger than 512 bytes or
  • some browsers will assume it’s the standard Web server 404 message and
  • replace it with their own
Google Webmaster Tools is now offering a great new service with a free custom 404 error page widget.
  • Automatically provides users with helpful suggestions
  • It adds a search box for your site with appropriate search suggestions
  • It tries to provide alternatives to incorrect URLs

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Blue Sky Adventures Skydiving - Classic ASP Website - Calendar and Upload Features - Portfolio - K2

Blue Sky Adventures Skydiving website was developed in classic ASP and includes a forum, member login, the ability to upload videos and images, a calendar function, a repack calculator, and the homepage has been translated into Spanish and French.

We chose to translate the homepage into Spanish and French using the information provided by Google Analytics. The majority of visitors were coming from the United States; however, Spain and France were second and third respectively.

The Internet is a global presence and you must think in terms of the whole world when you are building your website. To only plan for English-speaking countries is to shut yourself off from half of the world. The last time I checked, other dollars spend just as easily as the US dollar.

The other major tool on Blue Sky Adventures Skydiving is the parachute repack calculator. According to section 105.43 of the Skydivers Information Manual, the reserve parachute must have been packed within 120 days by a certificated parachute rigger before the date of its use.

Monday, August 25, 2008

Coffee Shops Near Utica, New York

Finding coffee shops near Utica, New York, can be very difficult. We don't have very much nice weather in Upstate New York; and we're always looking for ways to enjoy it as long as possible. The only catch is that they have to offer WiFi. Our favorite is Mojo'z in Clinton; however, the best food is Cafe Florentine in New Hartford. I wish there was a way to combine the two!

I would love it if these coffee shops had a larger Internet presence. The website for Mojoz is really annoying and Cafe Florentine doesn't even have one.


If you go to Mojo'z, try the Dark Roast Coffee; Chicken Caesar Wrap; and Oreo Cake. If you go to Cafe Florentine, try the Regular Coffee; Chicken Caesar Wrap; and Godiva Chocolate Cake. You'll want to hang outside at coffee shops near Utica all night long!

Friday, August 22, 2008

So far, so good with seo efforts!!

I am so excited!! I've been working on search engine optimization for my website and here are the terms that I'm ranking in Google's Top 100 for:

Keyword Google Rank
accomplishments increase natural traffic 1
increase natural traffic by using local searches 1
k squared online marketing 1
aspx websites using master pages 1
.net master pages meta info 1
meta information in aspx master pages 1
meta information in .net (aspx) websites using master pages 1
increase natural traffic 1
meta information in .net (aspx) 1
keyword selection skydiving 1
keyword selection k2 1
aspx master pages meta info 1
website and application development blog 1
denise valdes report 1
increase natural traffic google 1
keyword selection for increased conversions 2
natural traffic 2
cnyjewelry 3
k squared youtube 3
youtube blue sky adventures 3
.net websites using master pages 3
using youtube as an effective online marketing 4
problems adding meta information 4
using youtube online marketing tool 5
using youtube for seo 6
increase natural traffic from search engines 6
keyword selection accomplishments 8
denise valdes 8
number two spot google 8
youtube keyword suggestion tool 14
skydiving cny 15
using youtube for search engine optimization 33
keyword selection strategy 35
publish search engine optimized press releases 42
youtube skydiving videos 42
using master pages 46
writing search engine optimized press releases 52
youtube skydiving 59
k squared 75
publish optimized press releases 86
tandem skydiving videos on youtube 93

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

CNYJewelry - Portfolio - K2

CNYJewelry was developed using OsCommerce. A custom-built web application allows the data to be extracted from the manufacturer's website without any data entry needed by the owner. The design elements are custom, including the header. The header was created using images from iStockPhoto, which carries hundreds of thousands of images (and video) for sale, usually around $1.

OsCommerce is powered by an ever-growing community and is considered the leading Open Source online shop e-commerce solution, and is released under the GNU General Public License.

It can be difficult to start up a new business, especially a dropshipping business because you have to keep up with the manufacturer. With this web application, that is no longer necessary.

Monday, August 18, 2008

Aerospace Bearings - Aircraft, High Precision, Aeronautic, Components - FAA TSO-C149

Aerospace bearings, including aircraft bearings and high precision aeronautic components, are available from Pacamor Kubar Bearings. PKB's ISO9001:2000, AS9100:2004 and FAA TSO-C149 certified manufacturing facility is located in Troy, New York.

Aircraft Bearings


Aircraft bearings must perform flawlessly and are not always easily accessible for routine maintenance. High precision aeronautic components must be high quality and reliable.

High Precision Aerospace Bearings


PKB offers high precision oem and replacement miniature ball bearings for commercial, private and military aircraft and aerospace systems. All of their aerospace bearings and aircraft bearings are manufactured from 440c stainless steel, the preferred choice for all high precision miniature metric and instrument bearings. PKB produces their aerospace bearings to meet every ABEC tolerance as defined by the American Bearing Manufacturers Association. These ABEC tolerances are standard grades of precision with established tolerances for size and geometric accuracy.

Friday, August 15, 2008

Using YouTube For SEO

Using YouTube for SEO or search engine optimization purposes as an effective online marketing tool can benefit your online business in more ways than one. One benefit is to increase natural traffic. Many companies are already using YouTube for search engine optimization.

YouTube offers a unique tool with their "Insight" feature; it includes: Views, Popularity, Discovery, Demographics. Below is a screenshot of some of the information that you can get to determine the quality of your Internet marketing efforts using YouTube for SEO.

Using YouTube for SEO
Screenshot includes "Insight" on the Blue Sky Adventures Skydiving - WSYR Channel 9 Syracuse News

When it comes to keyword selection, YouTube has released its "YouTube Suggest" enhanced search functionality which doubles as an excellent video marketing keyword suggestion tool for doing keyword research on YouTube. Essentially, this feature uses predictive text to display popular query suggestions (in order of search volume) in the YouTube search box.

"The problem with doing [traditional] keyword research for videos ... is that the most popular queries in WordTracker, which takes its data from meta search engines, are not necessarily the most popular queries in YouTube. In fact, in most cases they’re probably entirely dissimilar." said Bryson Meunier.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Meta Information in .Net (aspx) Websites Using Master Pages

If you are having problems adding meta information to your .Net (aspx) website using master pages, try this:
Add these lines of code to your master page right under the <title> line:
<asp:contentplaceholder id="headerPlaceHolder" runat="server">
</asp:contentplaceholder>

Then each new page you create will have a section for you to add the meta information to. Then add these two lines to each "headerPlaceHolder":
<meta name="description" content="Your website description should go here.">
<meta name="keywords" content="keywords that describe your website should go here">

Now you'll be able to update the meta information for each of your web pages even if you're using master pages.

Monday, August 11, 2008

Writing Search Engine Optimized Press Releases

Writing search engine optimized press releases and getting them published is an important part of increasing natural traffic to your website. K2 has a few examples of press releases written for search engine optimization and published and the primary and secondary keywords for which they are found on the first page of Google. Keyword selection is extremely important to achieve maximum results in search engines.

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Increase Natural Traffic - Number Two Spot on Google

After one week, my new page targeting the primary keyword phrase "increase natural traffic" is on the first page of Google!! Amazing!! There are approximately 333,000 websites competing for that term. It just goes to show that all you really have to do is follow the directions. Search engine optimization is not hard; it's just labor intensive. Next I'm targeting the phrase keyword selection which has approximately 559,000 websites competing.

Friday, August 8, 2008

Here is what my best friend Denise's Google report had to say today:

Here is what my best friend Denise's Google report had to say today:
Lately I'm thinking... That I am spolied by the summer heat and fun.
Currently watching... Movies, movies & more movies
Current Status... L-A-Z-Y
This is really interesting... Obama has rejected the rap that Ludacris created as an endorsement of him. What Obama needs to remember is that while he might not be comfortable with the lyrics, he might want to temper his rejection. After all, rappers and their fans have a vote to cast, and despite his large constituency, he will need every one. My questions are these: Who is financing his campaign? Who is he afraid of offending? Who does he owe favors to?

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Increase Natural Traffic for Blue Sky Adventures

One way to increase natural traffic for Blue Sky Adventures, K Squared made sure that all meta information was unique. In addition, K2 knows that on-site content plays a big enough part to increase natural traffic so we wrote each page with a consistent theme and usable information. In order to increase natural traffic by more than 100 percent from the same time period the year before, we knew that our information had to be accurate, up-to-date and engaging. A side benefit of following these simple rules is that we decreased the bounce rate by more than 30 percent.

If you are interested in what we can do for you, please contact us.

Sunday, August 3, 2008

K2 - Testing Keyword Selection

I am conducting a little test on the importance of keyword density as it relates to search engine result placement. I created a new page on my website and assigned it the primary keyword of keyword selection. We all know that I shouldn't have a chance in heck of showing up on the first three pages of Google for that term but I figured it was worth a shot. My next step is to find links from websites relevant to that term and link back to my interior page. If anybody is interested or has any suggestions, please let me know. Thanks!

Saturday, August 2, 2008

First Blog - Website and Application Development

Here goes anything...

This is my first blog. I've never quite understood blogs; however, I'm willing to give them a chance. I'm hoping that this will become a place for my friends (and new friends) to come and share thoughts and ideas.