PIPA and SOPA Threaten Harmful Regulations on Online American Businesses

There are currently two bills that sit before Congress that would censor the Web and cripple sites and businesses accused of piracy, without even proving that those websites are meaningfully doing so. It threatens the free flow of information and the potential for innovation online.

What are SOPA and PIPA?

Wikipedia's "Dark Wednesday" Message

Essentially, they are new ways to give copyright holders the ability to go after companies that host pirated content. Once accused, the site would be blocked from anyone within the U.S. to access them and all search engines would be required to delete links to the accused sites. Also, it requires advertisers and payment services (such as Google Adwords, Adsense, etc.) to withdraw their business with the accused site. This would literally mean that site would no longer exist, and it's days of business would be done for good.

Online giants such as Google, Twitter and Reddit have all publicly opposed the bills by "going black" today. Wikipedia has even gone completely dark by taking down the site and replacing it with a message stating, "Imagine a World Without Free Knowledge," with more information regarding PIPA and SOPA and the reasons they oppose the legislation.

Millions of Internet users and entrepreneurs already oppose the two bills, but we need everyone's help in opposing it by signing a petition created by Google.

Click here to oppose the bills and sign the petition!

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The Facts on Search Engine Optimization

The primary benefit of search engine optimization (SEO) is widely known as a prime placement on a search engine’s first result page. Companies across the globe are manipulating their website in order to achieve the elusive status of a first page appearance. There are many things that a company should be aware of in the SEO process. First, it will necessitate change and a significant amount of time. Along with this, keywords will be chosen and links will be earned. Above all, your company should set realistic goals for your search engine optimization.


Change

In order for SEO to be effective, you web page will change; it may be as simple as minor wording adjustments or it may be a complete overhaul. The HTML code on your site must be changed so that search engine spiders can easily scan your site. Along with this, the keywords for which you want to be known must appear throughout your web pages. If you are a small site competing against large sites with various blogs, communities, archives, and forums, your site will most likely require significant change in order to compete.

Time

SEO does not garner immediate results for your website. It should be seen as an ongoing marathon, instead of a ½ mile sprint. A search engine has to first find and index your website. Older, more established sites are rewarded a higher ranking because of their long-standing success. New sites require much more time, sometimes even years, to rank well in big search engines. On the other hand, some sites may only require relatively quick fixes to appear on the first page. Be persistent and continually work toward optimization success.

Keywords

In order to attract your target customer to your site, your keywords should be chosen specifically and deliberately. Although common words may appear on your list, it is also important to target the keywords to the best products/services/information on your site. For example, the website of a cosmetic dentist will contain keywords of elective dental treatments rather than general dental provisions. In this way, you are attracting your target audience to your site rather than those that are looking for something else entirely. It will often take time to find the best keywords.

Links

The right backlinks are crucial to your placement on Google’s results pages. Generally you are looking for links to your site from related websites. Your keywords should appear in the link text. If you only have links that were simple to get, it is likely that their influence will be minimal to Google or another major search engine. Create a high-quality, dynamic, attractive website in order to obtain good links. After all, if your content is bland and dull, no one will find it linkworthy.

Goals

Successful search engine optimization involves setting realistic goals. First of all, the objective is to draw your target audience to your website based on the keywords they have entered into the search engine. You need not lure just anyone to the site; the goal is the draw potential buyers to the site. Additionally, your goal should be to increase your sales based on the SEO efforts.

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Mr. Ballard Google Is On The Phone

My phone rang a few minutes ago and our receptionist buzzed into my office saying "Chris from Google" is on the line and would like to speak to you.

My first thought "WOW- Google wants to talk to little old me?"

I quickly picked up the phone and a low energy voice at the other end of the line and answered my greeting with a "Hello, this is Chris from Google"

My first question- "How can I help you Chris"

Chris- "I'm On Your Website"... Wow a real Google employee on my website... "and I see your not ranking very well" (Wow, Google is really getting involved with their customers)

Me- "Which website are you on Chris?" (Since we are a web development company we manage hundreds of sites)

Chris- "www.gamebirdhunts.com"

Me- "What search term are you looking at Chris?" (Gamebirdhunts.com is a pheasant hunting site with thousands of unique visitors per day) -

Chris (He seemed a little shocked by this question- Who is little old me to talk to a Google God Like this?) "Well... Montana Deer Hunting, Your 4 pages back and we can guarantee you the first page for that listing"

Me- (This is when I knew that Chris was not everything he seemed to be) Are you sure you work for Google Chris?"

Chris- "No, I work with Google" (That's not the story he used to get through my gate keeper and not what he told me when he first got me on the phone)

Me- "So Chris, What are you offering me, some sort of pay per click service?"

Chris- "No, it's not pay per click you get a monthly bill for the top search position on Google"

Me- "So you want to charge me more then I would pay doing pay per click directly with Google in return for setting up Pay Per click for me?"

Chris- Click

Me - "Hello, Hello Chris"

The moral of this story is if Chris From "Google" calls you beat him to the hang up. There are a lot of companies running scams on unsuspecting sites out there. Phone answerer be ware! I wish I would have caught Chris's companies real name.

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