Search Engine Optimization - I need your help

[Luckey]

You guys crack me up I knew I was in the right place

[Luckey]

BTW, you guys are doing a great job! Thanks for giving the likes of us such a great place to hang out

[ccga3359]

Mike, you do realize that with all the yelling, you did at Panache, he got a higher thread count than kilt!

Panache you get us all kept in after school I gonna give you such a thumpin'.

[highlandtide]

So basically, you're trying to get a higher page rank so that more members sign up/visit and create more revenue through advertising, right?

It really has nothing to do with the promotion and education of wearing a kilt?

Over 2 Million page views per month is pretty good you know. There must be something here that people want to see. My guess is that they are coming here to get good info about kilts and wearing kilts.

Luckily we don't have much trash talk and off-topic to junk our forum up. I cant help it if advertisers like that kind of format.

[Colin]

BTW, you guys are doing a great job! Thanks for giving the likes of us such a great place to hang out

It's not about you guys, this is just a tax right off for all of us so that the man isn't after us for the millions we are all raking in

Seriously thanks for the nice comment. Xmarks is a sum of it's parts and our members are the absolute best. Without the members of this forum I would likely be wearing a backwards kilt made out of flannel with knee high tube socks and would be appearing in one of P1M's posts at some other juncture.

Oh, I wanted to mention this in my original post but completely forgot. Mike is setting the same thing up for the Pub, which many of you will note has NO sponsors, so you can see we are all in it for the cash.....

[Panache]

Panache still gagged and bound in the back row of the classroom notices that Mike has finished his lecture. The members of X Marks the Scot seem energized, they get up from their chairs and head out the door. They are ready and willing to go out and help XMTS grow bigger and better. He feels great pride in being a part of such a great group of people. He basks in the glow of good fellowship. He feels that this online community is really worth the effort. He also is somewhat concerned that no one seems to be untying him and removing the gag. He sees Colin turning off the lights and Nelson shutting the door…

"Mmmmummmmmbbbmmmmbbbbllnffffffllllllffled???"

[Mike1]

Quite a few still do not use bots and expect you to apply to them to attach your web site to their search engine. Yahoo being one of those (excepting the fact Yahoo is not technically a search engine).

Well, I don't want to give up the play book, but we've been supplying Goober and Yahoo with some daily bait for some time now. And if you look closely at some of the "guests" we've been getting, you'll see that they seem to like our RSS feeds, as well. Shhhh, don't tell anyone.

I'm am curious whether these are meta tags or some kind of new tags.

They are just keywords. But they are also LINKED keywords. People laugh because I refer to them as spider food. Some believe that meta words and phrases aren't that critical any longer. So I just sit back, smile and agree with them, whilst watching the tag links from my own forums climbing in the SERPS.

Understanding this technology is certainly an opportunity to better market the web site.

BAH! Market, schmarket. Let me tell you something about the "marketing" rumors around here. People don't want to conform to the forum rules and they get their noses out of joint because we won't conform our rules to them. So, they try to point their dirty little fingers at this site by complaining about something. Apparently since there's nothing else they can find to gripe about, they gripe about us trying to pay the overhead. They apparently don't see the commercials on television, or hear them on radio, or see the billboards on the roads, or the ads in the newspapers. It's just Hank and the rest of us that are the evil monetizers. Whatever... I wonder how Avonlea would feel if he ran into a forum that charges its members for premium forum access. We don't charge our members a single cent and he's griping about that, so how would he feel about the other? Boggles the mind, doesn't it?

There are those individuals that build up and there are those that tear down. <shrug> I don't need to point my fingers, you can sort the players by the fruit they bear.

For the record, I've no idea of the earnings or the earning potential of this site. Frankly, it's none of my business. I was invited (note - invited and NOT hired) to become a part of the staff and I accepted. I enjoy the site, the members and the people I work with. I receive absolutely no compensation, other than the simple satisfaction of watching this site grow.

The only time I am ever concerned with dollars on this site is when I'm trying to get Hank to spend some of them. (And I've a couple of requests on the table at present. ) Other than that, I simply don't care. As long as Hank can keep the lights turned on, that is all I need to worry about.

I find it interesting that Avonlea is so concerned about it, however. I've no interest in his career or what he's paid for it. It's never come up in conversation with other staff members, either. I'll leave you to form your own opinions on his apparent "concern".

BTW, you guys are doing a great job! Thanks for giving the likes of us such a great place to hang out

Ooops, now there is a form of compensation I neglected to mention. Every now and then, someone says something kind and we really appreciate it when it happens.

Cajunscot - Kiltedmusiclover - Freelander Sporrano - Colin - Panache - Rufus

Those are the fellows you want to thank. I see what they do, every day. I see what they go through, every day. And I'm here to tell you, they deserve every bit of praise they get. They've earned it.

And just for the record - to the naysayers like Avonlea, I always like to point out that we have a strict forum policy of never holding anyone hostage. No member has ever been forced to log into this site and no member ever will. We don't hold people here against their will, anyone is free to log out whenever they choose. If we're not your cup of tea, we're sorry and we sincerely hope you will find a community more to your liking.

And that's me, off to find wherever Panache seems to be hiding at present.

[MacWage]

With the SHEER amount of traffic and content, I wonder how much it costs simply to maintain this site. I'm sure it AIN'T CHEEP (I'm not a techie,so I have NO IDEA of what I am talking about). I seriously doubt Hank (or anyone else) is making a bundle on it, BUT that is THEIR business.

Mike, thanks for all your work you do on this site behind the scenes.
Hank, thanks for making this corner of teh internet what it is.
All the other mods, thanks for what you do.
Panache, thanks for just being you.

For everyone else . . . uh . . .uh . . .

:butt:

[Don Patrick]

BAH! Market, schmarket. Let me tell you something about the "marketing" rumors around here. People don't want to conform to the forum rules and they get their noses out of joint because we won't conform our rules to them. So, they try to point their dirty little fingers at this site by complaining about something. Apparently since there's nothing else they can find to gripe about, they gripe about us trying to pay the overhead. They apparently don't see the commercials on television, or hear them on radio, or see the billboards on the roads, or the ads in the newspapers. It's just Hank and the rest of us that are the evil monetizers. Whatever... I wonder how Avonlea would feel if he ran into a forum that charges its members for premium forum access. We don't charge our members a single cent and he's griping about that, so how would he feel about the other? Boggles the mind, doesn't it?

There are those individuals that build up and there are those that tear down. <shrug> I don't need to point my fingers, you can sort the players by the fruit they bear.

I guess I should have spoke in better terms. When I say market - I meant spreading the knowledge and traditions concerning kilts. You seem to be doing an exceptional fine job of it. How will the lowlanders know if they don't find their way to the fountain. I come from the academic side of the community (Texas A&M) - where knowledge is susposed to be more important than money.

I don't know Avonlea - but I guess there will always be a sour grape in any group.

[Riverkilt]

Okay...."think" I get it....have slowly digested the above.

Think I even just got a sample of what you're talking about.

Totally not kilt related...but I had a great time (okay I was kilted) at a Hopi AA gathering last summer. I want to go again this summer, but didn't have the dates. So...hey, I figured I'd google up the dates by searching for "Freedom in Sobriety."

Google only gave me two answers... BOTH were my posts from last summer on this board when I posted kilted pics....nothing more...just this board.

And of course hearty thanks to all the mods and to Hank, not just for the hard work, but also for patience with slow pokes like me, and deep breaths with those that falsly accuse and misunderstand.

Ron