When is a back link a bad link - seo article

When is a back link a bad link?

In days of old, back links or reciprocol links were considered the very essence of search engine optimisation. In didn't matter where you linked to or who linked back to you, any link was considered a good link.

The theory was that building up links to your website got you noticed more by the search engines, therefore, the more inbound links, the more notice.

Then there was a shift in emphasis as we realised that the search engines were really looking for authority – is your site the absolute authority as a match against a search phrase e.g: if someone searches for car turntables, is your site all about car turntables? Will the searcher be lead to your site only to discover when they click on the search result link that they go to a site that's all about photo gifts?

As social bookmarking began to dominate the need for returning valid search results, the search engines re-evaluated their importance on link exchanges and began to fine tune the 'authorative' a bit more.

Not only will exchanging or receiving a link from an unrelated topic website negate itself (in the eyes of the search engines) it can now actually count against you as your linking attempts are classed as a blatant SEO trick and nothing more.

When you sit back and think about it logically, it makes perfect sense. If someones searching for photo gifts, what possible interest is a car turntable going to be to them?

Some sites contain off-topic links because the company or person linked to is a friend. That's fine but don't harm theirs (and yours) search engine standing by including a link. If you have to include a link, then use the "nofollow" attribute that tells search engines that the link is NOT a vote by your site for that site!

Like everything else in the seo world, old habits die hard and long held beliefs remain, and a lot of 'quick fix' seo companies still hold link building as a valuable tool. I still receive emails now from companies offering a reciprocol link and even offering an online login area to administer my link.

Unfortunately, linking with a Canadian halibut fishing lodge or an American tour operator is likely to be as damaging to my (online) health as a fishing party would be for those poor halibut (read more here).

Yes, there is still a place for links but make sure they're on topic and the landing page when the link is followed is specific and relevant. Go back and check them regularly just to make sure.

Another interesting revelation with regards links relates to Page Rank. The higher rank a page has, the better it will do in search results (that old authority thing again).

Now I'm a bit undecided on this issue of Page Rank. The known methods for calculating and watching your page rank don't seem to be an exact science and those that have it worry so much about loosing it that they can take their eye off the ball with regard the visitor experience.

What is clear is that if you have good page rank and you link to a page with poor rank, then that poorly ranked page jumps up a couple of notches. The downside is your own page can loose some of its page rank so its a bit of a see-saw as I understand it.

You can share your own good page rank fortune around your own website or blog by linking to your own pages that suffer low rank.

I've just read through what I've feverishly been typing above and it occurs that I'm saying Don't Link! That's not my intention. Well constructed links – links to pertinent pages using descriptive key phrased links to pages (not sites) of relevancy that are both informative and on topic will always be appreciated by all concerned.

Also, if you've recently launched a new website and it's not appearing in any searches yet, then a link or two from older established websites will give it a real boost, perhaps sites you own or control yourself. However, be warned that all of the above should still apply.

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New 60 piece express range photo jigsaw avaialble

New 60 piece Express Jigsaw available now.

We're nothing if not good listeners at Fabulous Photo Gifts. So when we received requests for a larger express jigsaw, we set to work straightaway.

The result is a new 60 piece (A3 size) express photo jigsaw that is normally delivered in 5 to 7 days.

It shares the same thick wooden pieces as our other express jigsaws and the same high gloss finish to the pieces.

To check out our new 60 piece (A3 size) express photo jigsaw, click here.

We'll be adding more express jigsaw options over the coming week as part of an exciting new line up of photo gift ideas!

Shhhhh – more about those later.

Personalised Photo Gift Vouchers now available at Fabulous Photo Gifts

Gift Vouchers now available at Fabulous Photo Gifts

You asked for them so we're doing them! Now you can give a photo gift Gift Voucher and leave it to the lucky recipient to add their own favourite photograph. Perhaps it's a photo you can't get your hands on or perhaps the photo hasn't been taken yet? A forthcoming wedding, birthday or other celebration or a special occasion.

Perhaps even a dream holiday of a lifetime that's about to be taken?

And they're dead easy to give. Just shop in the normal way but when you add a photo gift idea to your basket, you'll be given the option to 'Gift It'.

Select this option and then confirm it on the following page and then you'll see the basket status has changed to personalised and you can proceed to the checkout as normal.

Of course you can continue shopping and personalising other gifts with your photos there and then.

Our Photo Gift vouchers are sent in an attractive greeting card with a blank space inside for you to write your own message.

And redeeming a Photo Gift voucher couldn't be simpler. All the recipient has to do is email there photograph with confirmation of their unique voucher number to us and details of where they'd like the delivery to.

Alternatively, they can post their voucher and photograph or electronic image to us. We offer free scanning up to A4 size.

Full instructions are printed on the gift voucher.

To find out more about Fabulous Photo Gifts 'Gift Vouchers', click here.

Why you should buy your next personalised photo gift from Fabulous Photo Gifts.

Why you should buy your next personalised photo gift from Fabulous Photo Gifts.

When you're buying a personalised photo gift, to give to someone special, or as a treat for yourself, you want it to be right. You want to use a company that will allow you to browse in your own time a range of photo gift ideas and then let you upload your digital image and pay, there and then, online.

Or perhaps you're looking for a company that still takes orders by post (not everyone has a digital camera or files), where you can send your photograph along with a cheque and get free scanning on any photo gift idea.

Maybe you're looking for a company that's personal enough to call you back if your photograph isn't suitable, or that has the time to add a line of text over the top of your photo to make it extra special for the recipient?

Perhaps you just want to know that the company you've chosen will review every single order image by eye and make any tonal, colour or contrast adjustments as well as any cropping required to ensure that you are very happy with the finished photo gift, by hand.

Or you want to rest assured that the photo gift company you've chosen is run by a dedicated team with years of digital manipulation experience between them, fully conversant with the latest image techniques and software including Adobe Photoshop and keeps their web design in house too?

Finally, you may be looking for a photo gift company that offers probably the largest online selection of photo jigsaw sizes and piece numbers available, that come in a printed box just like the ones in the shops? (we offer 17 different sizes and pieces from 15 to 2000, including panoramic letterbox style sizes).

Whatever the reason, Fabulous Photo Gifts meets all of the above points and then some.

Our photo gifts are hand printed so we can take the extra time in ensuring that the finished print is as perfect as possible. What's more, we'll work on any image to remove red eye or obvious blemishes all as part of the service.

But don't take our word for it. Read just a selection of the many comments we receive from customers, quite unheeded. Click here to read them.

And it doesn't stop there. Not only are we always looking to expand our range of personalised photo gifts on offer, we actively involve ourselves in local fund raising, and have recently launched our Funds for Life scheme whereby any school, group, team, club, enterprise or charity can raise funds for their own good causes through their patrons and members using a unique scheme code everytime they order. Click here to find out more.

Finally, Fabulous Photo Gifts is very proud of its special relationship with both its suppliers and its customers. We work very hard to ensure you're delighted every time you order from us and the number of repeat customers we get bares testament to how well we do.

We look forward to being of service to you. You can email us or call our 0845 number by clicking here for our full contact details.

Proprietor Mandy Collins looks forward to hearing from you and assisting you with your next photo gift purchase soon.

If you're near to Belper, Derbyshire, please feel free to call at our workshop and discuss your requirements further. We have a small display of completed photo gift examples on show. It helps if you can telephone in advance just so we can make sure we're ready to receive you.

We're not the largest photo gift company in the UK, but we think we're the most caring and approachable when it comes to any special requests or enquiries.

Create a Google Sitemap

Hi.

Over on Blog Catalog, there's an interesting discussion about Google submission. I've found it helpful to create a Google Site Map and take part in Googles Site Map program.

One member asked about creating a site map for Google, so here's an example to follow:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<urlset xmlns="http://www.google.com/schemas/sitemap/0.84">

<url>
<loc>http://www.fabulousphotogifts.co.uk/</loc>
<lastmod>2007-07-15</lastmod>
<changefreq>weekly</changefreq>
<priority>1.0</priority>
</url>

(add other url's here in the above format)

</urlset>

Once you've created your sitemap .xml file, save as sitemap.xml and then you need to upload it to the home directory of your website e.g http://www.fabulousphotogifts.co.uk/sitemap.xml

You'll probably have to verify your url as part of the submission process, and you can do this either by adding a meta tag to your index page or uploading a .htm page with a title Google will generate for you.

I've found the easiest way is the uploading a .htm file.

The frequency - weekly / monthly etc needs to be in the correct syntax and the priority is between 1.0 and 0.1 (0.1 being least priority). DOn't rate all your pages as 1.0 and be honest when appraising the priority - a contact us page would have less priority than a product page etc. You may decide to assign all your products the same priority which is fine but don't make them all 1.0.

Finally - don't forget to update your sitemap as you add/remove pages or amend pages (change last mod date)
Hope that helps.

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Fabulous Photo Gifts and Data Protection - a checklist

Data protection checklist:

The Goverments Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) promote public access to official information and protection of your personal information and they have just issued a Data protection checklist. 10 items to help businesses and individuals comply with the Data Protection Act. This checklist will help you comply with the Data Protection Act. Being able to answer 'yes' to every question does not guarantee compliance, and you may need more advice in particular areas. But it should mean you are heading in the right direction.

Fabulous Photo Gifts endeavours to operate as transparently as possible so we wanted to take this opportunity to detail how we deal with the personal information we hold and answer each 'item' individually.

Do I really need this information about an individual? Do I know what I'm using it for?

The information Fabulous Photo Gifts collects about you when you visit our website is used to deliver photo gifts ordered, respond to orders or order queries by email, phone or post as appropriate.
Other information submitted may include specific contact information or in the case of certain photo gifts like t-shirts, size preferences.
Credit card and other payment details are collected by PayPal via a secure server connection.

Do the people whose information I hold know that I've got it, and are they likely to understand what it will be used for?

Fabulous Photo Gifts has a transparent privacy policy and terms and conditions page which sets out how we use information we may hold about you.

If I'm asked to pass on personal information, would the people whose information I hold expect me to do this?

We are obliged to pass on any information where requested by the authorities. Our privacy policy outlines data use by third parties acting on behalf of Fabulous Photo Gifts.

Am I satisfied the information is being held securely, whether it's on paper or on computer? And what about my website? Is it secure?

All personal information associated with orders is held both on Computer files (restricted access) and backup paper copies (restricted access). The Fabulous Photo Gifts website is protected and all customer payments are taken via a secure server connection.

Individual photographs uploaded for inclusion on photo gifts are held on a secure server, access is password protected.

Is access to personal information limited to those who absolutely need to know?

Yes!

Am I sure the personal information is accurate and up to date?

If we are unable to contact a customer on the email supplied, as a last resort, we will attempt to contact the customer by post. Customer records are updated on an 'as received' basis.

Do I delete or destroy personal information as soon as I have no more need for it?

Yes! We keep a copy of your original uploaded image for approximately 3 months on our secure server in case you wish to order again. Completed order images (where adjustments to red eye, tonal quality, contrast etc) are usually kept for a similar period, again in case of future orders.

Have I trained my staff in their responsibilities under the Data Protection Act? Are they fulfilling them in practice?

Yes! We also carry out daily system wide 'health checks' to ensure our website is operating correctly and that data collected is correctly handled.

Do I need to notify the Information Commissioner? If so, is my notification up to date?

Up to date.

You can get more information or advice on data protection and good information handling by visting www.ico.gov.uk or by phoning 08456 306060

*Fabulous Photo Gifts has no control over data collection and use of data collected, by other websites linked to or from Fabulous Photo Gifts and no liability for misuse or unauthorised use is accepted.

How do I turn a photo in to a Jigsaw Puzzle

How do I turn a photo in to a jigsaw puzzle?

At Fabulous Photo Gifts, we're specialists in how to turn a photo into a jigsaw puzzle.

In fact we've got so good at it that we've now increased our range of personalised photo jigsaws to include a new Express Range of photo jigsaws that you can order and personalise online with your own photographs.

Our Express Range are normally delivered in between 5 and 7 days from point of order.

Our range of boxed photo jigsaws are normally delivered in around 10 to 14 days from point of order. Whilst the process involved in turning your photo into a jigsaw is slightly different from our express range, and of course, there's a box to be printed as well.

Our boxed photo jigsaws are exactly like you'd buy in the shops. Available in a wide range of sizes and number of pieces, our boxed photo jigsaws come in a two part box with the completed jigsaw image printed on the lid. Open the box and you'll discover the individual jigsaw pieces in broken up and placed inside a poly' bag.

Our Express range come either in a clear cellophane bag (A5 sizes), ready made on a card backing or for our A4 and novelty wooden express jigsaws, these come in a clear presentation wallet, ready made on a card backing.

So how do you turn a photo into jigsaw puzzle?

Visit www.fabulousphotogifts.co.uk and select jigsaws from the shop menu. Select the size and jigsaw you would like to personalise and add to your basket. You'll be prompted to upload the photograph you want to appear on your jigsaw from your own computer files. Complete the upload and proceed to checkout.

If you would like to add another jigsaw, then go back to the shop and continue as above. When you've personalised a gift selection in your basket, it's status will change from personalise (purple) to personalised (green) and a mini picture of your uploaded photo will appear beside the gift item it's been uploaded for.

Don't have a digital picture or photograph file? No problem. You can still order a jigsaw puzzle made from your own photo. Just download our postal order form (there's a link at the bottom of each gift idea page), fill it in and send together with your picture and payment to the address on the order form.

We return all posted photographs by recorded delivery and suggest that you send us your order by recorded delivery. We do charge a pound extra for postal orders which goes towards covering the costs of return recorded delivery, however, this payment is optional if you do not require your cd or photograph back.

So there you have it. Turning a photo into a jigsaw is as easy as that. In fact the only difficulty you're likely to face is deciding which jigsaw you want to turn your photo into.... or perhaps a mug, or a mousemat, or a chopping board, or a t-shirt, or a money box, or a tea tray, or a set of coasters...

Who's a pretty boy then?

After a week of gale force winds and storms on Anglesey, how nice to return from our workshop holiday shutdown week, to the warm sun and blue skies of Derbyshire.

In fact it was so rough that we walked along the beach on our last day to view a yacht that had been blown onto the rocks and was decidedly left high and dry.

Our thanks to our customers both new and old for their patience during our week long shutdown. We have now caught up with all received orders and are now back to normal with delivery times.

One such order was for a round chopping board, personalised with a picture of a budgie.

The customer had this to say on receiving her personalised photo gift:

"I just wanted to say what a fantastic service you offer. The glass chopping
board is so very professional and has made a wonderful present for my
parents I will certainly recommend yourselves again and hope to use you
again in the very near future with one of your other items.

Many thanks."

You can personalise either a circular or rectangular tempered glass chopping board with your own photograph at www.fabulousphotogifts.co.uk.