Doctor Learns To Blog

What comes to mind when you think of ‘reciprocal linking’ or ‘link exchanging’? You probably think of two sites who link to each other for mutual benefit. A great percentage of these sites put your link on a ‘links’ age which you probably do as well. Is this hard to do? Is it hard to gain reciprocal links? Not really. Even if you stick strictly to relevant sites it is very easy to create a massive list of sites to reciprocate with(in most niches). My question is if it is so easy should it be valued very high? The answer is no and Google has already figured this out. Traditional reciprocal linking is greatly dis valued by Google and in fact can get you banned if you link to a bad neighborhood, now this is highly unlikely to happen with most sites unless you get into link farms and the like. At best it can ruin your authority because your linking out to all this trash. I say trash because most sites will link to anything for a link back.

But I have a theory about another kind of reciprocal linking which is not so dis valued and may actually pass a considerable amount of value assuming other factors such as relevancy also play a part on the site. Here is my theory. Content link reciprocation is the highest valued reciprocal linking. No I didn’t just say to exchange articles. What I mean is place your reciprocal links on content pages or in other words pages worth something. Links pages are near worthless.

Sites like seochat.com, devshed and other sites link their sites together but it is all open. They don’t try to hide it on a links page or hide it from Google. I have a theory that reciprocal links directly on your pages pass more value especially if surrounded by content so exchanging articles can be a good idea but keep in mind that both sites should be related. Think about it, who is going to link to your links page or the links page YOUR link is on? If backlinks are what ranks pages isn’t it logical to assume that a page with tons of reciprocal links but no inbound links to that page will be considered useless by Google and the value of the links on those pages will plummet? This is very logical thinking and is exactly what Google ha done.

I think if you exchange links and even give one-way links in this manner and only accept this kind of reciprocation in return your value will be much higher and you won’t have to worry as much about Google dis valuing your links. But the biggest reason I am bringing this up is because of posts I find in seo forums. Webmasters are worried about linking their sites together for fear Google will penalize them for it. The short answer is they don’t. I link my sites together and have no problems. The secret is in how you link and who you link to. Linking your flowers site with a gambling site is not a good idea and will be useless to you. Use your brain and try and keep things as relevant as possible. If you accomplish that you will not have to worry about Google penalizing you for trickery.

Lastly I want to warn you against using automated linking tools. They don’t work. You may gain rankings but they won’t last. Why not spend your time gaining natural links to your site which will last and may grow in value over time. This kind of linkbuilding will put you in a position which you are more likely to be able to hold. I am not saying you will never lose a ranking but I am saying that your rankings will be much stronger. I have never done any linkbuilding for this blog. So any links it gets are generally pretty valuable. And so my rankings rise slowly but I have not so far lost one ranking on this site. Not one. The value of linking is in where the link is placed, the relevance of the site and of course its backlinks. So next time when your reciprocating take these facts into consideration and move wisely. You’ll be glad later that you didn’t clutter your site with a bunch of worthless reciprocal links.

Have you noticed that Google invades every tiny corner of our online lives? My mail, news feeds, and calendar all rely on Google to keep working. Right now, I have three Firefox tabs open to Google applications, plus the resident Google search in the upper right corner.

I’m not complaining about it. In fact, I want to teach you some cool Google tricks. Yep, we’re going to pimp your Google.

But first, two quick notes:

1. All of these nifty hacks require Firefox. If you’re using another browser, just read on to see what you’re missing.

2. Everything marked with an asterisk (*) requires the Greasemonkey extension for Firefox. It’s simple to install and gives you some real power over your browsing experience.

One extension to rule them all

Customize Google

If you’re only going to use one Firefox extension for Google, this is what you want. Customize Google removes info you don’t want and adds things you do want. You can remove ads (from all Google services), remove the Gmail spam counter, secure Gmail and Calendar, plus much more.

Search

AutoPager* - View all your search results on one page. This script automatically appends the next page’s results to the current page. It’s an infinitely scrolling Google!

Googlenlarge* - Shows a handy popup preview of images in Google image search.

Google Preview - View a thumbnail preview of search results in regular Google search.

Define - Select and right click on a word to define it via Google.

Google Advanced Operations Toolbar - Easily look up stocks, weather, movie times, and more, all through Google.

Googlepedia - Enhance your search results with Wikipedia listings.

Google Icon - Add the favicon of websites, next to search results.

Google Maps Directions - Highlight an address, right click, and get the Map for it.

Gmail

Better Gmail - Lifehacker’s got your one-stop Gmail solution. This extension incorporates a bunch of popular Gmail Greasemonkey scripts into a handy interface. You can select exactly which ones you want to use via the options menu.

Gmail Signature Float* - Put your signature above the email you’re responding to, not below.

GTDInbox - Use Gmail for your GTD setup, including contexts, projects, next actions, etc.

Gmail + Google Reader* - View Reader feeds from with Gmail.

GmailChecker - Shows a little icon in your statusbar that checks for new messages.

Email This! - Send web pages to friends with a simple click.

Calendar

Google Calendar Display Current Time Line* - Shows a little red line on your calendar for the current time.

To Do List* - Integrate a to do list into your calendar.

Google Calendar Quick-Add - Add an item to Calendar anywhere in Firefox, by simply pressing CTRL+;

Google Calendar Notifier - Have event reminders popup in your browser.

Reader

Google Reader Notifier - Get notified in your status bar when you have new Reader items.

Miscellaneous

Adsense Preview -

gTalk Sidebar - Put gTalk in your sidebar for ease and convenient usage.

IGoogle Sidebar - View your personalized homepage widgets in your sidebar.

gTranslate - Translate text on a web page by selecting it and right-clicking.

More

Firefox Extensions - There’s plenty more, in case you’re looking for something I missed.

Greasemonkey Scripts - There are even more scripts available, so have fun trudging through the list.

Ten years may not seem like a long time, but at the pace of change in business, it sometimes feels like a lifetime.

For example: When Outsource Marketing first launched in 1997, outsourcing was not some trendy term for staffing CSRs and software programmers in India. It would be eight years before Tom Friedman's The World Is Flat was published and introduced people to the notion that the global economy had arrived.

Marketing has changed even more dramatically during the past 10 years than any other similar period in the past. Why? Technology and its incredible impact on how we access and process information.

In 1997:
* There were fewer than 500,000 Internet Web sites
* Google, YouTube, MySpace or the iPod didn't exist
* Cell phones were just phones

Now there are more than 100 million Web sites, 35 million blogs, and cell phones are hand-held computers that can multitask phone calling, text messaging, photography, video downloading, digital music files and an endless variety of games. It was in 2004 O'Reilly Media coined the phrase Web 2.0--a group of second generation Web-based services.

A decade ago, high-tech acronyms such as CRM, PPC, SEO, MP3, DSL and DVR were yet to join the lexicon. Television consisted of sports, movies and shows you watched on a set in the living room and maybe on another in the kitchen or bedroom. Now TV programming--all 580 channels--can now be TiVo'd, recalled on demand or viewed on a laptop, MP3 player or cell phone. Cable providers now offer high-speed broadband, as well as local and long-distance phone services.

New tech, new media, new Marketing

What does all this mean for marketers? A change in the landscape, a whole new set of consumer and customer segments and a wealth of new tools that still must be smartly deployed and effectively targeted.

Marketing in today's crowded, infoglutted world is more exciting than ever, but it's challenging in new ways. Here are three key dynamics affecting small and mid-market businesses, and some new media strategies to connect customer with your message.

1. Marketing is now in the hands of the people.

As coined by Peter Kim, from Forrester Research in Reinventing the Marketing Organization, participation is now the fifth "p" joining price, product, placement and promotion.

Whether it's blogs, consumer produced Super Bowl commercials or e-mail sharing, customers have never been in such control. Embrace that change. Give your customers opportunities to generate testimonials, feedback and suggestions for product improvements. Allocate time to listen to what they say and respond promptly and honestly. Product and service improvements start with feedback from your own customers.

Instead of being talked at, customers now expect being talked to. Wikis, e-mails, live chat, bulletin boards, texting and video sharing are just some of the ways the word gets spread. Start with the right product (that's never out of date), couple it with good customer service, and you won't need to be afraid of interactive communication--as much communication as you can handle.

American Idol and similar television reality shows are the epitome of the new customer participation model. Instead of just sitting back and watching shows, viewers are now choosing who they want to see by voting. Be creative and think about how you could develop your own company's "fan base." With the technology tools now available, you can deepen your relationships with customers and create the dialogue that leads to loyalty.

2. Online media are mandatory in today's marketing mix.

The Internet continues to absorb more and more of the advertising dollar, leaving other media with less. Newspaper readership is declining. Network TV ratings have declined steadily over the past 10 years. With Internet search engines, consumers can find what they want, rather than be pushed toward purchases with advertising messages. In fact, 66 percent of high school students report that they get their news and information from Web portals such as Yahoo! and Google. More than one-half of U.S. broadband customers said that a recent purchase was influenced by an online message (36 percent by shopping sites and 15 percent by search sites), exceeding the impact of TV commercials (11 percent) and magazine ads (6 percent), according to a 2007 study by market researcher Media-Screen.

"Even the most intensive users of newspapers and magazines spend less time reading these publications than they do online or watching TV," a 2007 Jupiter Research study confirmed.

While a Web site is a marketing "must-have" for today's businesses, additional online presence is also required. E-mail newsletters, blogs, interactive Web elements (videos, podcasts, direct response tools) keep your site fresh and relevant. Targeted e-newsletters are a great way to provide inexpensive yet highly valued information of interest to customers and prospects. New tools now make it easy to personalize the messages and track e-mail opens and click-through rates.

3. Integration is the key to success.

Do all these new media seem like a bit much for any one customer? Possibly. Most people average more than 3,000 commercial message exposures a day, and the volume continues to grow. (Reality check: After you've bought your next $12 movie ticket, count the commercials and previews you have to sit through before the film begins). Creating clear, concise messages that are smoothly integrated is absolutely crucial to successful customer communications.

That's because, despite all the new technologies, this marketing principle hasn't changed: You must start with a relevant position, supported by consistent communications, to achieve a desired position with your target audience.

It used to be that companies could get away with broadcasting clever commercials that generated awareness, and even sales. Now, thanks to infoglut, your company and product and service positioning must be clearly evident across all media. Every customer contact point--how you answer your phone, your e-mails, your customer service and your advertising--need to project the reason why your company provides a unique, relevant value for your intended audience.

Ten years goes by quickly, doesn't it? In 1997, Outsource Marketing started as a way to help companies get the best, most efficient marketing. Even as we strive to keep pace with evolving trends, that remains our most fundamental mission