Last November, I wrote that the Google Sitemap Protocol (open-source protocol based on XML) had become the de facto Standard in the search engine industry. Webmasters no longer had to submit sitemaps in different formats to different search engines. However, only Google and Yahoo! had sitemap submission sites.

In a recent post on Official Google Webmaster Central Blog, What’s new with Sitemaps.org?, Vanessa Fox announced that Google will ‘discover’ your sitemap from your robots.txt file. All you have to do is add a single line to your robot.txt file in the following format¹:

Sitemap: http://www.mysite.com/sitemap.xml

This makes perfect sense because all search crawlers recognize the robots.txt file. OK, so most webmasters have already submitted their sitemaps via Google’s Webmaster’s Tools and Yahoo!’s Site Explorer. So what’s the big deal? The key change is that other search engines including Yahoo!, MSN Live Search, and Ask.com are supporting both the sitemap protocol and robots.txt inclusion.

This is especially good news for WordPress users because a sitemap can be automatically generated in the XML format using the Google Sitemap plugin.

Also, I highly recommend using the Smart Update Pinger plugin to insure that services are pinged only when you first publish a post and not each time you edit it.

Getting your WordPress blog properly indexed just got a lot easier!

See also:
Discovering Sitemaps
Webmasters Can Now Auto-Discover With Sitemaps

BlueHost meets or exceeds all requirements for running WordPress. The latest version can be installed from their applications library in a matter of minutes.

Using Google AdSense on your blog? Probably! AdSense seems to be everywhere these days. Everyone is blending their text ads using the same color palette producing similar and sometimes exactly the same ads resulting in a new form of ad blindness.

A new site (established Dec. 2006) called adClustr is offering free innovative ad embellishments. According to the webmaster, “adClustr is a place where you can find new and innovative ways to blend those text-based ads provided by such services as Google AdSense, Yahoo Publisher or Text-Link-Ads. Successful ad integration is the top priority here at adClustr. We will show you how to combat ad blindness and increase your CTR, all in legal fashion without the use of any nasty banned practices”.

AdClustr combines a bit of Photoshop work with some clean CSS code and voilà – your ad has a totally new look! Currently, there are embellishments for most of the standard ad formats. These ads embellishments are not tacky – no postcards or clipboards.

You will need to download a lightweight image, upload to it your server, update your CSS, and generate new AdSense code using the recommended colors. Below is an example¹ of an adClustr.com 234x60px ad embellishment called: ‘Simple Slanted Black Half-Banner‘.

My favorites are the 125x125px button ads. Without a bit of bling, these small ads are boring and disappear into blog content. Dressed up with a new background, they really stand out nicely. Mosey on over to adClustr.com and take look around. I am sure you find some ad bling to your liking (new ad bling is added regularly). You will also find other timely information on ad networks, blending, and compliance issues.

Just a reminder that adding AdSense code inside a WordPress post or page requires a plugin such as AdSense-Deluxe.

Tags: AdSense

Sansa® Connect MP3 player is the first Wi-Fi based MP3 player from SanDisk. Designed as a flash-based player, it keeps you connected to your music, friends and fresh new entertainment streams via WiFi (if available). The Sansa Connect plays music, photos and Internet radio. It has a very attractive, sleek design includes a 2.2″ TFT color screen with advanced navigational features and an easy to use interface. For now, there is only one version available with 4GB of memory.

SanDisk’s recent partnership with Yahoo! Music means that Sansa Connect owners with a Yahoo! ID will be able to listen to LAUNCHcast Internet radio and browse Flickr albums and photos, as well as purchase and download songs from their subscription music service. The unit also works with Microsoft PlaysForSure subscription music service.

Feature List

• Play music and view your photos
• Enjoy Internet Radio wirelessly¹
• Connect to any open Wi-FiTM network
• Get your music subscription library on the go²
• Recommend songs to your friends
• Sleek, attractive profile with large 2.2” TFT color screen
• 4GB memory plus MicroSDTM slot for capacity expansion
• Features an internal speaker
• Standard Sansa connector for ‘Made for Sansa accessories
• Requires Windows® XP or Vista® Operating System

What’s in the box?

Sansa Connect MP3 player, AC charger/adapter, USB 2.0 transfer cable, Earphones, Protective case, Lanyard, Quick Start Guide, and Installation CD with user guide.

Yahoo! [[YHOO]] has announced a new version of Site Explorer that addresses some of the top-rated suggestions from users.

The key features are:

• Site Authentication using META tags: You can now authenticate your site in Site Explorer by including an authentication key as part of a META tag on the home page of your site. This is in addition to the existing mechanism of putting a file on your site home directory.
• Detailed Authentication Errors: Yahoo! now provides detailed errors on authentication failures, making it much easier to diagnose possible problems.
• Delete URLs: For your authenticated sites, you can now delete any URLs from the index. Simply locate the URL in Site Explorer and click on the ‘Delete URL’ button. The URL and all its subpaths will be deleted shortly thereafter. Yahoo! suggests making permanent changes via the robots.txt file.
• Site Explorer Badge: Get a Site Explorer badge for your Website and retrieve the count of live links (site or page) from the whole web.

Conspicuously absent is any mention of the XML sitemap format that they have promised to support. To cover all possibilities, I submit an urllist.txt, sitemap.xml, and RSS feeds for each of my websites.

Tags: Yahoo!, Site Explorer

Commenters do us a favor by participating in our blogs, the least we could do is give them a followable/indexable backlink. However, all versions of WordPress adds the rel=”nofollow” attribute to links inside the comments box. The major search engines (Google, Yahoo, MSN etc…) all obey this rel attribute (nofollow) which when used on a text or image link tells them not to index the link or pass link benefit to PageRank (Google). Both the comment author url and links inside the comment box are blocked.

WordPress developers have taken this step due to the deluge of blog comment Spam currently plaguing the blogosphere. In fact, they have been encouraged by Google to use the rel=”nofollow” attribute: “anywhere that users can add links by themselves, including within comments, trackbacks, and referrer lists. Comment areas receive the most attention, but securing every location where someone can add a link is the way to keep spammers at bay”. This recommendation makes sense as many bloggers do not actively control Spam or manage comments.

However, Spam can be well-controlled if you use one of the three Spam control plugins for WordPress; Spam Karma 2, Akismet, or Bad Behavior. And, if you actively moderate comments for meaningful content.

Disabling the the rel=”nofollow” attribute can be done in 3 different ways:

1) Modify the comment-functions.php file in the /wp-includes/ folder.

2) Use the Show Top Commentators plugin.

3) Or, use the No Nofollow plugin.

I will not discuss modifying the comment-functions.php file as it’s beyond the capabilities or interests of most bloggers. The two plugins are easily installed and easily activated from the plugin admin page. Both plugins, written for WordPress v1.5, work in WordPress v2.0.

The ‘Show Top Commentators’ plugin has customizable features the require modifying sidebar template and modifying the plugin file itself. The ‘No Nofollow’ plugin very simply removes the pesky tags from the comment links. I prefer this plugin as it takes only a few minutes to install and activate.

Keep in mind that you are sharing some of your PageRank (albeit a small amount) with commenters when your remove the rel=”nofollow” attribute.

More cool ‘No nofollow’ logos can be found on Randa Clay’s site.

Update June 2006: This plugin has been disabled. Comment links are marked ‘nofollow’. Sorry about that.

Tags: WordPress, Spam

Google [[GOOG]] deals a serious blow to Yahoo, online brokers, and financial data providers by announcing free real-time last-sale prices across all Google properties including Google Finance, Personalized Google, Mobile, and Google.com. The Google service will be similar to Yahoo who offers free ECN quotes but charges $9.95 per month for streaming real-time quotes through its MarketTracker service.

It’s not a done deal yet as Google is waiting for approval from the SEC. Also, ZDNet points out that Google is not mentioned anywhere in the documents they referred to in their article. Therefore, the changes to be made could be global in nature rather than simply creating an exemption for one specific company. This fact was verified by a Reuters article that revealed the plan will allow websites to publish real-time prices in return for payments of $100,000 a month (original source – WSJ). Clearly, this deal is only for companies with deep pockets.

One caveat is that Reuters and Google mentions ‘NYSE’ real-time quotes. Does this include AMEX and NASDAQ quotes? If not, it will be nearly useless to the average investor. Google is a member of a group called NetCoalition, which has complained about a lack of real-time stock data offered through services owned by the NYSE Group and Nasdaq Stock Market Inc.

I will keep my current paid service active until all this shakes out.

Note: This blog uses several Google services including AdSense to monetize the site, Sitemaps to insure good indexing, and AdWords to promote branding and generate traffic. Sign-up links are on the sidebar.

Tags: Yahoo, Finance

Both advertisers and publishers should expect delays in getting updated stats as servers will be jammed. Get everything set by early December at the very latest. Then, sit back and relax!

Here are few tips:

For Advertisers:

• Get seasonal ads submitted and approved as soon as possible
• Tweak existing ads for seasonal messages and trends
• Increase your budget settings for weekends and off hours
• Use destination URLs that take shoppers directly to product pages
• Use the new AdWords tool to optimize landing pages
• Enter a back-up credit card in AdWords to prevent downtime

For Publishers:

• Use the maximum number of ads per page allow by your providers
• Write posts on seasonal topics using keywords that drive traffic
• Write a speedlinking post to highlight old posts with high conversion rates
• Embed text links in posts for products (mouseover AdWords link below)
• Use AdWords or low cost CPM ads to drive traffic to your site
• Check that your sitemaps are up-to-date

Reference:

Search Engine Marketing, Inc. by Mike Morgan and Bill Hunt

Note: This blog uses several Google services including AdSense to monetize the site, Sitemaps to insure good indexing, and AdWords to promote branding and generate traffic. Sign-up links are on the sidebar.

I am using Skype more and more for both personal and business calls. Typically, the person on the other end is still using a headset and microphone. This set-up results in excessive echoing and erratic performance. Months ago, I switched to Skype phones for my desktop and laptop computers. There is no going back!

For desktop Skyping it’s hard to beat the Linksys products. I am currently using a Linksys CIT200 Cordless Internet Telephony Kit that comes with a handset and charger, and a USB Base Station that plugs into your computer. With the easy-to-install Skype program running on your PC, the handset can read and display your contact list on its built-in illuminated display. You can choose who you want to talk to from the menu, press a button, and make a call. It is so nice not having to sit in front of the computer when you want to talk over Skype. For more features at a slightly higher cost, consider the Linksys CIT300. Want to integrate your regular landline along with Yahoo! Messenger + Voice? Then, go for the Linksys CIT310 or a Linksys CIT400.

For travel, I am using a RANGER RUP-800 Skype phone. It is the perfect laptop companion for travelers. Yes, it has a cord – however, on the positive side, it takes all its power from the USB port. Just plug it in and Skype! The RUP-800 features a large LCD Screen which allows contact and call list display, Caller ID (for incoming calls), and a headset jack for hands-free operation. You won’t get any echoes with this gem!

Can’t find the Ranger phone in a store near you? Try the IPFones Ip-700m. It is top-rated and available from Amazon.com (mouseover the link).

Reference Links:

Sign-up for Skype
Best Sellers in Electronics at Amazon.com
Skype Phones Marketplace (USA)
Skype Phones Marketplace (UK)

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If you are not already using Arne Brachhold’s Sitemap Plugin for WordPress, you had better get it installed as soon as possible. Google announced this week that Yahoo! and Microsoft are joining them in officially supporting the Sitemap 0.84 XML protocol.

Sitemaps help improve website visibility in search results by insuring that indexing bots don’t miss pages. Google’s Webmaster Central supports only the XML protocol. Yahoo’s Site Explorer current supports a plain text list of site URLs that must be named ‘urllist.txt’. Microsoft simply crawls your site the best they can once they either find it or are notified via their submit page.

I have been using a modified version of Elliott Kosmicki’s script to convert the XML file generated by Arne’s plugin into a Yahoo compliant sitemap. Maintaining sitemaps is going to get a lot simpler and indexing is going to get better. Kudos to Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo! for agreeing to support the same standard!

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Note: This blog uses several Google services including AdSense to monetize the site, Sitemaps to insure good indexing, and AdWords to promote branding and generate traffic. Sign-up links are on the sidebar.

Tags: Google, Yahoo!, Microsoft