With all the pundits talking about how much money Barack Obama has raised and spent during the general election campaign, all the hubbub about his decision to opt out of public financing, etc. - I have wondered why so little talk about the right-wing money machine. You know, the organizations (including the Republican National Committee) that pumped untold millions into supporting George W. Bush against Al Gore and John Kerry.

Nobody mentions the little fact that if Obama had accepted public financing, he would have been outspent as badly as Kerry, or worse. That's because although the candidates have equal public money to spend, social conservatives* and other interests behind the right wing will spend like crazy to keep their friends in power. Campaign finance "reforms," championed by John McCain and others, didn't reform the system - they just changed the game.

But we all know that. Right?

If you follow the campaign online, you've probably seen about 18 gazillion image ads run by "Newsmax.com," asking questions like "Can Obama Win?" If you click one (I encourage you to do so, for research purposes), there's a multi-question "poll," followed by an email opt-in box. If you subscribe, you'll begin receiving "news" updates via email. The "news" you'll receive is slanted so far to the right that it makes FOX News look like, well, real news.

These ads have been running throughout the campaign. Any site with election news that carries Adsense or YPN ads is likely to be littered with them.

Is Newsmax's spending on behalf of the McCain campaign subject to any sort of limits? Of course not - nor should it be - I don't see how any spending limitation squares with the 1st amendment… but I do wonder how much cash Newsmax and others are pouring into this thing.

Whether you're a pathetic tool of the vast right wing conspiracy, a pathetic tool of the vast left wing conspiracy, or just an ordinary citizen trying to make the best decision on election day, know this:

John McCain and his supporters are whining about Obama's decision for one reason only. They're upset about losing the huge money advantage they've had in previous election cycles. They can't "Swift Boat" their way to victory. I don't remember any of them complaining about the "unprecedented" money being spent on Bush's behalf in 2004. The shoe was on the other foot back then.

Democrat or Republican, you can count on politicians to be outraged at the amount of money being spent, when they are at a disadvantage in a given race.

Sorry for the rant.

No, I'm not.

* Are there any fiscal conservatives left in the Republican Party? If so, why? They don't even try to balance the budget - jeez, the Democrats managed to do that under Clinton. Isn't it time we had a party of our own?

Stompernet member Jim MacKay has come up with a neat little plug-in to allow nofollow on individual links in Wordpress posts. In the WYSIWYG editor for posts, it adds a checkbox to the dialog box on the "insert link" button. There are other ways to do this, but Jim's plug-in looks like a nice time saver for those who frequently link to sites that don't deserve any link love.

Now that Semiologic is once again stable and great (serious credit to Denis & the new team for an excellent job), I'll be testing Jim's plugin a bit. If you try it out, I'd like to hear your comments here as well.

Podiatrist Todd Schafer reached out to me for help with a vexing problem today… although he has gone through all the steps, and jumped through all the hoops, to correct the physical address Google displays for his business, Google just can't seem to get it together.

As you can see in his blog post for customers, Google shows an old address for his practice on search results. For example, if you search for Chino podiatrist, you get the old address displayed on the SERP, and an invitation to view that address on a map. If you click through a couple times to get to the map at maps.google.com, it still shows the wrong address.

Now, Google Maps has a feature (an Edit link with "NEW!" next to it) that's supposed to let you correct a bad address… Funny thing is, when I clicked on that link, Google instantly showed the new, correct address. So clearly, Google has the correct address stored in a database *somewhere,* but in spite of this they show the old address on SERPs.

Google clearly has at least two separate databases with business addresses, and going through the whole "postcard in the mail, call in, punch in the secret code" trip only fixes one of them.

Are you kidding me? All those computer scientists, and not one of them says "hey guys, shouldn't we have *one* record for local businesses?"

In researching this for Todd, I found that this and similar issues are affecting thousands of folks. I'm sorry Todd, I can't help you solve this, because you've done the right thing.

Now, Google needs to do the right thing. It's frickin' obvious, and people have been fighting this for a long time. Get it right, Google.

Well, it's done. After six months of testing, editing, and just plain hard work, my new SEO course is done! If you're interested in getting the latest instruction on SEO, you'll be able to get your hands on it next week.

Chances are pretty good that you've already heard about it, because we've send out hundreds of review copies to folks all over the world. What my readers might not realize, amid all the hoopla surrounding the release of "Stomping the Search Engines 2," is that this is my baby, all the way.

I had planned to release this course as "White Hat Black Belt SEO," but when Stompernet offered to market it, and gave me virtually unlimited access to the faculty and other resources, well… I jumped at the chance.

Not only did this make the course a lot better, it means that a *lot* more people will be able to afford it. As in, pretty much everyone.

New Info & Tactics, Same Great Strategy

If you've already read SEO Fast Start, the overall structure of "Stomping 2" will feel very familiar… so what's different? Well, for starters…

• It's hours and hours of video - which means we can get into some stuff that just wouldn't fit into SEO Fast Start. SEOFS is only 99 pages long, and the script and slides for Stomping the Search Engines 2.0 are a giant stack of paper… one that I still need to get off of my desk.
• It's right on the cutting edge - the final updates of the content were turned in to me on August 19. This included brand new information on the Google Keyword Tool changes, and a very useful bit from Leslie Rohde on the right way to handle breadcrumb navigation. Turns out you can do it wrong - who knew?
• Speaking of Leslie Rohde… he watched my entire video training module on Site Structure, and then we rewrote the whole thing. Nobody knows this subject better than Leslie, and between my "cautious" approach and Leslie's knowledge, I don't think you'll find anything better or more up to date.
• Readers will probably agree that I do a pretty good job of shining a light on how search engines work, and why… but Andy Edmonds, who actually worked on MSN's Live search, spent a great deal of his time to review, update, and re-record the module on "How Search Engines Work."
• I've been criticized for over-simplifying On Page Factors… so we got Jerry West, who obsessively tests and tweaks, to give you *both*  the "Dan Thies shorthand version" and the Jerry West "details matter" version… I think the fusion of the two is fantastic.
• All introduced by Brad Fallon & Andy Jenkins, who created the original "Stomping the Search Engines" course… and by the way, in case you didn't get a copy of that course four years ago when they sold out, it's included in the package. That course sold for $297, and you're going to get both for… sorry, I can't tell you just yet.

Are you & Stompernet gonna stick it to us, Dan?

No!!! In fact, you won't believe the offer we're going to make next week.

And it has to be that way… you see, I have no doubt that every single one of my readers, if they liked SEO Fast Start, will want to get these videos. The only thing stopping you from doing it would be the price, right?

OK. I got that… and I can't tell you the price just yet. I have been sworn to secrecy and they know where I live, so for now, I'll just say that when we make our offer to you next Wednesday, I expect that nearly all of you will decide that it's a no brainer to order my course.

And that's exactly what we want. We want everyone to have this information, not just a privileged few.

I'll let you know when it's time to "go," or you can head on over to www.stomping2.com, read more about what's in the course, and watch the countdown.

Trust me - you won't have to think too hard about this one. Here's that link again:

www.stomping2.com

Thanks!

Dan

P.S. By the way, this isn't a "supplies are limited" deal… we're producing thousands of DVDs as we speak, and we'll make more if we need to. As long as you order next week, we'll have your DVDs on the way to you in a hurry. There will be some strong incentives, of course, for those who don't wait around too long.

SEO Fast Start Live – Maximizing Search ROI

June 25 & 26, 2008 – Crowne Plaza Galleria – Addison, TX

Day 1 – Wednesday, June 25, 2008 – Strategies for Maximizing ROI

• 9-10am: Introduction & The “Fast Start” Planning Process

Presenting a simple process for planning, measuring, & improving your ROI from search. This planning process puts a “wrapper” around the rest of your search marketing activity, from SEO to PPC to copywriting & testing.

• 10-11am: Understand Your Brand & Using It Profitably

A different way of looking at branding, that takes the often-mushy topic to a concrete level. Student case studies demonstrate the results that come from understanding your brand & integrating brand messaging into your search marketing.

• (break)

• 11:30am-1pm: Keyword Strategy Clinic

The “Keyword Strategy” chapter of SEO Fast Start is 12 pages long… in this clinic, the “Keyword Guru” explains how to lay your competitor’s keyword strategy bare, understand the real intent behind search queries, and find the hidden profits.

• (lunch)

• 2-3:30pm: Content Development & Copywriting

Do big sites always win? Is content really King? In this session, we’ll explore the balance between SEO, PPC, content creation, and copywriting. Content isn’t just there to get you on SERPs, it must inform, engage, and persuade your visitors to take action.

• (break)

• 4-5pm: Open Q&A

Day 2 – Thursday, June 26, 2008 – The “Missing Training”

• 9-11am: Link Building for Fun, Profit, & Link Juice

Exploring, via case studies, how link building strategies can be profitable on their own, how to get beyond “link bait” to create willful linking, and how to evaluate and channel the link juice you create.

• (break)

• 11:30am-1pm: Adwords – What They Forgot To Tell You

Battle-tested strategy & tactics to attack the “big head,” the long tail, and everything in between. Lead generation strategies, campaign organization to maximize profits. Day parting, day-of-week effects, and geo targeting techniques that any advertiser can use.
(lunch)

• 2-3:30pm: Social Media Strategies "Outside the Box"

Developing a blogging strategy, leveraging social networks to create ‘instant community,’ content sharing & syndication strategies for traffic, links, and reputation management.

• (break)

• 4-5pm: Open Q&A

Thanks to everyone for your patience - the "early bird" price of $97/seat will be extended through this Wednesday (June 4), but then I have to pull it down and lock in our room block. From Thursday on, for any remaining seats, the price will be $297/seat. (Update: the price has now gone up.)

Click here to register now at $297 per seat!

(You will be returned to this site after completing registration).

Agenda is subject to change & tweaks. I'll have some announcements in the next week or so, as speakers confirm.

Update: Working on closing the deal with Dr. Ben Mack and Jerry West today… Ben is a magician, Ben is Branding, Ben is worth a trip to Addison, Texas.

For those who have already registered, hotel discount info should be on its way today via email.

First, a definition, in the context of pay-per-click advertising: Dayparting is the practice of limiting or shutting down ad campaigns at certain times of the day, and/or increasing activity at other times, in an attempt to maximize the profitability of the campaign.

Or you may prefer SEMPO's definition:

Dayparting – The ability to specify different times of day – or day of week – for ad displays, as a way to target searchers more specifically. An option that limits serves of specified ads based on day and time factors.

No matter how you define it, a lot of advertisers are left wondering how it works, and whether they should do it… Over the years, I've seen many speakers, writers, and educators talk about pay-per-click advertising. I've done training on this myself, of course.

When it comes time to talk about day-parting, we all seem to get a little scared that someone will misunderstand, so the explanation of dayparting rarely seems to get beyond the definitions offered above.

While it's true that a complete understanding of dayparting would require a lot of discussion, it's equally true that there are some very simple things an advertiser can begin to do, in order to understand how "time of day" affects their profitability.

Getting Some Numbers

What you really want is your revenue per visit and cost per click, hour by hour, for each ad group, keyword, and campaign… but guess what? That's kind of hard to get. If you use Google Analytics, you can't get 'hourly' reports for keywords… so, what to do?

Although you can't get hourly reports at the level of detail you want, you can get an overall sense of how well the incoming traffic on your site performs at different hours of the day.

In the ECommerce section of Google Analytics, you want to look at two reports:

• First, the Conversion Rate report - click the link for hourly data, and export that report.
• Second, Average Order Value - do the same - hourly report, export the data. If you collect leads, just assign a value.

The next steps are 5th grade math:

• Your average order value times your conversion rate = your revenue per visitor
• Mulitply your profit % by your value per visitor = your breakeven click cost

The table below, from Microsoft Excel, shows this calculation for a friend's site:

They are at breakeven between around 8am and midnight, and most profitable during the hours of 10am-8pm (shown in green).

Not Science, But Maybe Better Than Nothing

While this method isn't as scientific (or accurate) as analyzing your keyword campaigns' traffic directly, it does have the advantage of being easy to do. For a campaign that is losing money, or barely profitable, eliminating click costs during off hours can make a huge difference. Maybe even enough difference to get some better-than-free analytics software up and running.

That's it for today… we'll talk more soon.

(PS - Stompernet is open today for a few hours to fill up the last few spots. If you missed it last week, today is your last opportunity.)

Nobody Sphinn this, please…

Hype in the marketplace… affiliates running wild… but what's it really about?

Today, you're going to get a chance to join a coaching and training program that my colleagues and I have spent 18 months building. That program is called Stompernet… and if you think you know what it is, you're probably wrong.

This is personal for me: More on Want To Work 1 on 1 With Me? Stompernet coaching opens today!

As you can clearly see by searching Google for [seo book], my site is nowhere to be found on the first page…

In fact, there's some guy named Aaron (probably not even his real name) ranked #1, 2, 3 and 4… obviously he has some kind of "in" with Google.

Proof that "Aaron Wall" gets special treatment!

Even though Google "claims" to treat subdomains like folders, he still has 4 listings, including one with a bunch of extra links! Clearly Google's "organic' engineers are HAND EDITING this SERP out of fear that this Aaron fellow will come over to the Googleplex and eat all their free organic hot dogs.

But it gets worse!! After investigating, I discovered that he doesn't even *sell* a book any more. That's right - not a book to be found, and Google still dedicates 14 links on page 1 of the SERP to this clearly irrelevant site.

If the definition of SPAM is "sites positioned above mine," this Aaron character is clearly a SPAMmer in the extreme… even if you overlook all of the "thin affiliate" sites for his "product" that are also Positioned Above Mine (TASPAM?).

Clear evidence that the -12 penalty exists!

Well, not only do I have an SEO book, it's even free. Clearly Google has slapped me with some kind of penalty or filter. I can prove this, because you have to go all the way to page 2 to find my site at #13:

Now, since my book is obviously better than no book at all, for people who are searching for an SEO book, my site, quite obviously, should be ranked #1. Why isn't it? Clearly, further research into this "-12" phenomenon is required.

You can help advance this "SEO revolution" - act now!

Since I can't "prove" that the -12 penalty exists without attempting to escape from this filter, I need everyone who likes my book, and believes that it's better than no book at all, to link to my site with anchor text like "seo book," "free seo book," "aaron wall sucks organic hot dogs," "best seo book," "this site actually offers an SEO book you can read," and "world's best SEO book slapped by -12 penalty."

In a cause like this, there's no room for the wishy-washy. If you believe in good search results… if you believe in truth, justice, and fair play… you know what you must do.

We'll talk more soon, comrades.

Thanks!

Dan

Only 12 hours late - not bad for something I had a whole year to work on…

If you haven't read the 2007 edition, because you've been waiting for this, now is the time, and yes it's still free. If you've already read the 2007 edition, don't get too excited, because not very much has changed. Download here.

Sorry if you were expecting something radically different, but the point of the "fast start" system is that it doesn't have to change all the time. I can't reinvent SEO again, unless something big happens.

As I told someone the other day, the only thing that seems to never change in SEO is the persistent myth that the search engines "change the rules" all the time.

There are minor rewrites on Keyword Strategy, some more detailed advice for Site Structure, a little bit in Link Building, and a few other notes of newness here and there.

A big thanks to all of my readers for your help and support over the past year and change. In case you're wondering, PPC Fast Start is still on track for June 1 release… check out my video on Adwords if you want a sense of how "different" it's going to be.

SEO Fast Start Live Training June 25 & 26:

The first "SEO Fast Start Live" training is all set, for June 25 & 26 in the Dallas / Ft. Worth area. Addison, TX to be specific. The Crowne Plaza. If you want to attend, go grab the early bird discount while there's still space - it's just $97 a seat until next Wednesday, so all you have to think about is whether you can get there.

Once I have numbers, we'll get back to everyone next week on the room discounts. We got a GREAT classroom for this - power hookups for every student so you can use your laptop, etc.

Hope to see you there!

SEO Fast Start Live: Maximizing Search ROI
Presented by Dan Thies

June 25-26, 2008 - Addison, TX (Dallas / Fort Worth Area)

Okay, folks… it's on! The only question remaining is… will you be there for this one-of-a-kind event?

This is not your usual SEO training or conference…

If you want the basics of SEO, read my book. If you want to get more out of your paid and organic search efforts, I hope you'll be able to attend.

During this intensive 2-day training, we will discuss how SEO and PPC fit into the larger picture of your business… how to develop better strategies, tactics, and processes to maximize your return on investment from search engine marketing.

Topics will include:

• The "Fast Start" planning process
• Why "branding" is not a waste of time… Seriously!
• Keyword strategy & positioning tactics
• Content development and relationship marketing
• "Beyond the basics" strategies & tactics for Adwords advertisers
• Copywriting for Titles & Descriptions - selling the click
• Marketing, promotion, and link building that pays you back
• Social media strategies for traffic & links
• Lots of time for Q&A

A more formal agenda will be released in a couple weeks, as I get confirmation from speakers etc. If you don't know me well enough to trust that this event will be worth your time, I'm sorry - maybe there will be a few spots open when you're ready to decide.

For everyone else, I have a very special offer:

Early Bird Price - Just $97 per Person!
(Available for a limited time only.)

This is a limited time offer - the price will go up has gone up to $297 per seat.

Space is limited, and I fully expect this event to sell out. Once we've sold all the seats, we're sold out… I will not be able to get more space, nor do I want to offer a training to hundreds of people all at once.

I hope to see you there…

Click here to reserve your spot @ $297!

(You will be taken off site to register, and returned to this page)

The venue is the Crowne Plaza - Galleria/Addison, in Addison TX, about 2- minutes from DFW or Love Field airports. If you sign up, wait until next week - we'll get you details on the discount rate for the rooms then.

Thanks!

Dan Thies

PS - Feel free to post questions below - I'll do my best to answer everyone.