Many of StepForth’s clients are familiar with our use of small, 4 – 5 page miniature portal information sites for our more powerful search engine placement promotions. The creation of portals allows our optimization staff to target a wider array of keyword phrases and offers us the ability to specify the materials we work with. The use of highly focused information driven sites has proven remarkably successful for StepForth and our clients over the past 18-months, bringing more Top10 placements than any other form of promotion. Here are some suggestions for other uses of portals for more effective web-design and customer service.

Targeted Information mini-sites can be used to promote unique or high selling products without overshadowing or devaluing the information on the main-corporate website. One of our clients uses six portals attached to their main website to differentiate between unique applications of their product, inviting purchase agents into a website designed with their specific industry in mind.

Mobile staff portals can be created for employees whose tasks keep them out of the office. These portals can be individualized to the each staff member and the projects they are working on. Mobile staff portals can allow for an extra measure of security, as they don’t necessarily need to be connected to the main sections of the corporate server. A personal portal also offers your sales staff a bit of personalized prestige that can act as a long-term calling card to be left in the potential client’s Favorites File.

Geographic specific portal sites allow companies to present information using examples or language that directly pertains to clients in unique locations. An automobile sales site, for instance, might want to tailor different messages to potential buyers in Los Angeles, Winnipeg and Manhattan. Location specific (or City Specific) portals are among the most successful sales sites on the web.

When a company has established a series of smaller, mini-sites, they can be networked into a powerful search engine promotional tool. StepForth has seen great success using customized portal-network promotion techniques. There are several ways to make portals work for your company and clients, all of which can lead to stronger search engine placements if treated properly.

AOL has taken the offensive against some of the most offensive elements in cyberspace, the purveyors of Spam. Targeting businesses that have sent over 1Billion unsolicited advertising emails over the past twelve months, AOL has identified and filed suits against five individuals and their businesses. Examples of email sent by those charged include messages promoting cut-rate mortgages, pornography, Viagra, steroids and human growth hormone.

According to UK Internet statisticians, MessageLabs, with businesses relying more than ever on Email and other Internet communications, Spam is costing UK businesses over 3.2Billion pounds per year! That translates into almost $5Billion US! That’s a lot of poorly processed material polluting inboxes around the world. After targeting spammers using AOL owned residential ISPs Comcast and RoadRunner, Spam originating from these services declined by over 90%!

The West Coast Anti-Whaling Society (WAWS) is a group of citizens on Vancouver Island dedicated to preserving the sanctity of life for whales, dolphins and porpoises. The primary objective of the society is to oppose and work to prevent any return to whaling. The society is dedicated to protecting any species of cetacean (whales, dolphins, porpoises) coming under the threat of whaling. WAWS believes whales hold an inherent biological value, which should be respected and studied, and no group has the right legal or otherwise to hunt and kill whales. Activists from WAWS led the dramatic protests off the coast of Washington State in 1998 and 1999.

StepForth created and promotes this site on a pro-bono basis as a contribution to our city and greater society.

Spam is an overused word. Describing everything from luncheon 'foodstuffs' to the flood of advertising Email we all receive each day. This simple, four-letter word is used as creatively as many other deceptively descriptive four-letter words are. In the SEO sector, the word Spam is used to describe illegal techniques used to try to fool search engine spiders. Examples of SEO techniques that cross the “spam-line” include, hidden text, off-topic and/or redundant text, the overuse of keywords in the meta-tags or out of context in the body text, transparent or hidden links, mechanically generated doorway pages, and cloaking. If you spot any of these techniques used on your website, we strongly advise removing them as quickly as possible.

Would you like more information on search engine spam?
See our article on the types of spam that you should be aware of on your web site.