I think I covered this session at least twice. So let's see if there is anything new or not. One new thing I see is that Jennifer Laycock is the moderator for this session. Seems like they are a bit late to start, projector issues or something, maybe its a sound issue because I know Matt Bailey does this thing with screen reading tools that shows off how funny spam sites sound with a screen reader.

Michael Murray from Fathom SEO
I'll leave his introduction out of this coverage, since I disagree with it.

- SEO is not a shopping spree
- Yes, you need the traffic but try to pace yourself
- Even sound practices may fail if they are rushed into and overdone

- Domain Stuffing
-- Short domains are easy to read
-- Multiple hyphens or forced capitalization looks like spam

- Managing too many keywords at once
-- Prioritize
-- What are your profit margins
-- Give main keywords enough attention

- Folder and Page Name Excess
-- Yes, keywords can influence rankings
-- Make sure they match content

- Taming the Title Tag
-- Long titles are useless
-- Multiple keuwords that create lengthly titles cant all rank well

- Meta Descriptions
-- Avoid long descriptions
-- Portion appears in the search results
-- Laundry list of keywords may not match content

- Over the top meta keyword tags
-- Hard to avoid this traditional step
-- Some engines downplay this tag

- META Bonanza
-- Skip misc meta tag options
-- They do little for search engines

- Overdone Visible Text
-- Massive keyword repetition in a small space may annoy Web site users.

- Heading Tag Misuse
-- Don't overstuff
-- Avoid OVeruse
-- Complement design

- Visible Text in Unusual Places
-- Looks like an amateur put the site together
-- Text placed above the entire page

- Site Maps
-- Site maps are essential
-- Don't pursue too many keywords
-- Avoid major copy clusters

- Visible Links Blitz
-- Yes, links in content are useful
-- Too many may be viewed as spam

- Anchor Text Gone Wild
-- Too many search terms in the same hyperlink dilute the impact of a favored keyword or phrase

- Renegade Programmers
-- Know what your programmers are doing

- Link Title Attribute Mess
-- Prime example of overkill
-- You can do these things, but should you?
-- No consistent opinion about their value

- ALT Tag Overflow
-- Easy to do but use restraint
-- Only a marginal factor in rankings

- Links - Too many Too Fast
-- Be careful what link you get
-- Favor slow, steady growth
-- Relevancy is the key

- Hidden Text
-- Avoid all forms of hidden text
-- Make font colors and sizes match design
-- Excessive keywords offer no value

- Micro Sites
-- Search engines hate duplicate content
-- Add good content to your main content

- No Frames Tag - No End in Sight
-- The no frames tag space is ideal for citing browser limitations
-- Include a robust summary of the site and links to specific pages

Matt Bailey from SiteLogicMarketing.com (new company?)
- Rand heckles Matt after he puts up a Jacob Nielson slide.
How do users scan?
- Headlines
- Meaningful Sub Headings
- Bulleted lists
- Headers
- Content Arrangement: Inverted Pyramid style
- Half the word count, double the retention

- He gets into his screen reader slides, see chicago, last session
- Then the mobile device...
- This as was Fathom SEO's presentation, is basically the same...so please see past coverage
- Sorry about that

Heather Lloyd Martin of SuccessWorks
Why SEO Overkill is Bad for Conversion
- Troublesome title stuffing
- Kooky copy to get clicks (just to get clicks)
- Linkarama Losers (same slide as Chicago)
- Conversion Confusion (hard to find buy button, too much info)
- Baby, don't stuff keyphrases
- Clean up your stuffing
- Bad, Bad, Misspellings

SES NYC Tag: sesny2006

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