Gaz Jones - Webmaster Rantings

New Social Networking (Flirting!) Site: www.foom.com

Gaz Jones — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 14:47:27 +0000

Found a new social networking / flirting website called FOOM today which seems to be a social networking site of sorts however not in the conventional sense. The website seems to allow you to signup and post a profile while then allows you to add messages and “foom” other users.

The website seems to have an extensive database of pubs and clubs where you can add comments and something called “missed opportunities”, anyone else who was in the bar at the time could therefore try to get in contact with another person who was there who they didn’t get a chance to talk to.

I would imagine the site is mainly targeted at the younger generation but its quite good and easy to use and so could appeal to all.

If you want to have a look the site is located here.

Sorry to anyone receiving spam E-Mails

Gaz Jones — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 18:06:22 +0000

Someone is sending out E-Mails with this web address as the reply address.

If you have received one I apologise, there is nothing I can actually do about it, I have received in excess of 10000 failure notices myself and they are still coming.

UK Pay as you go car tax! WTF!

Gaz Jones — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 10:33:30 +0000

Extract from an E-Mail I recieved. I recommend everyone signs it….!

Sarah Kennedy was talking about this proposed car tax scheme on Radio 2. Apparently there is only one month left to register your objection to the ‘Pay As You Go’ road tax.

The petition is on the 10 Downing St website but they didn’t tell anybody about it. Therefore at the time of Sarah’s comments only 250,000 people had signed it and 750,000 signatures are required for the government to at least take any notice. Link to site:
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/traveltax

Once you’ve given your details (you don’t have to give your full address, just house number and postcode will do), they will send you an email with a link in it. Once you click on that link, you’ll have signed the petition.

The government’s proposal to introduce road pricing will mean you having to purchase a tracking device for your car and paying a monthly bill to use it. The tracking device will cost about £200 and in a recent study by the BBC, the lowest monthly bill was £28 for a rural florist and £194 for a delivery driver. A non working mother who used the car to take the kids to school paid £86 in one month.

On top of this massive increase in tax, you will be tracked. Somebody will know where you are at all times. They will also know how fast you have been going, so even if you accidentally creep over a speed limit in time you can probably expect a Notice of Intended Prosecution with your monthly bill.

If you are concerned about this Orwellian plan and want to stop the constant bashing of the car driver, please sign the petition on No 10’s new website (link below) and pass this on to as many people as possible. Sign up if you value your freedom and democratic rights -

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/traveltax

Is Google “Grooming” Webmasters?

Gaz Jones — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 12:29:27 +0000

It occured to me while reading a post on the WebTalkForums Forums message boards.

A user posted a question asking if Google gives more weight to related links with lower PR’s than non related links with higher PR’s. The obvious answer to this question is that the related link with the lower pagerank will overall provide more benefit to your website.

The next question that arised from this however was if links from bad sources e.g. spam directories and ffa sites damage your sites positions or pagerank in Google.

It interesting to note that a few people on this thread said that links from these sites damage your site. This is of course incorrect as if this where possible we would be able to destroy the rankings of top sites simply by link bombing them on ffa and other unrelated websites. My question as the title says is “Is Google Grooming Webmasters?”, this is a good question…

It has to be said that at no point has it been proved that ffa and spammy link directories damage your sites rankings. To me they actually are quite useful as they provide quick links into a new site to help it get spidered while you post around trying to find quality related links. Perhaps Google is just trying to “groom” webmasters so they do not get links from these types of websites.

As undesirable as they are ffa and spam sites do provide a good service. It is perhaps time that some of these questions where ironed out indefinatly. Perhaps Google will come along and tell us exactly how this part of the system works!!!

I think not…! For now however just feel happy in the knowledge that the odd link from a bad site is not going to do you any harm.

Link To Increase Traffic

Gaz Jones — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 07:16:46 +0000

Not only is the number of links into your website important, but also important is the weight (or quality) of the websites which have links to your site. The sites that link to yours must be related to the industry you are in and the sites should not contact any spam, dubious search practices etc. This gives search engines some help with your ranking, If they think you are offering a public service, for free or have highly relevant content to your industry its likely they will rank you accordingly.

There are a few website that offer to help gather links or broker links for you. One such site is Qualified Links which allows you to trade or exchange links for free with other webmasters, they also have a sister site called Qualified Freelancers which allows you to find a freelancer to do some work for you or you can post yourself as available for work.

Another good way to get links into your website is to offer link bait. This basically is either something people will want to link to because its fun like a game or a puzzle, other link baiting things include well written articles and news articles.

For more in depth information there is an article available on SEO CHAT.