Defend Against Black Hat SEO: Your Web Host Can Help

Defend Against Black Hat SEO: Your Web Host Can Help
By Frederick Townes

The world wide web is a dynamic, exciting place to launch a new business or promote your organization's message. It's also a lawless landscape in which black hats – crackers, hackers and other on-line evil doers – roam with very little oversight or law enforcement.

And that means it's up to every site owner to ensure that his or her site is defended against intrusions, code injections and other forms of attack. There's plenty of software to help keep hackers out of your desktop pc, but what about your hosting service? How can you protect server-based data?

Top-tier web hosting firms design proprietary hardware and software protection to ensure that your business is secure. But site security doesn't stop with impenetrable firewalls, spam zappers and e-mail scanners. In fact, if you go with a hosting service that isn't up to speed on the latest forms of hacker attackers, you could quickly find your site is no longer under your control!

Great hosts "harden" their server systems to deter and deflect known exploit points in the software the servers run and in any client-site's code! There is where the value of quality hosting comes into play .

XSS Attacks

XSS stands for cross site scripting and it poses a threat to even the most secure sites because XSS exploits vulnerable hardware and software holes that allow black hat SEOs to circumvent commonly employed security systems. In an XSS attack, black hats inject malicious HTML script into site pages of other domains. They do this for two reasons.

First, in some instances, black hats inject undetected scripting into competitor sites to taint these sites when SE bots spider them. Imagine, a competitor is able to access your site's code, insert invisible text (at least invisible to you) and, when an SE bot discovers this invisible text, your site is slammed. Even banned from Google. Don't think it can happen? It closes down on-line businesses daily.

So what kind of attacks can be "planted" on your site? There are plenty:

• Redirects take visitors to another site as soon as they reach yours.
• Overloading alt tags, meta tags and other interior coding with keywords, sometimes called keyword stuffing.
• Inaccurate or misleading keywords inserted within site pages.
• Cloaking, which detects search engine spiders and changes site text to improve PR.
• Pagejacking, the practice of stealing site content, can not only cost you in sales, it can also slam your PR because your content isn't "original" any longer.

Any of these black hat SEO tactics and more (spamglish, links farms, virus injections, etc.) can and will do severe, if not irreparable, damage to your on-line enterprise. Why?

SE Bots Are Brainless

SE spiders are dumber than a box of rocks. They're unable to discern legitimate text from a malware injection. They rely, solely, on automation to assess and categorize a site. There's no subjective analysis. Just text strings that are sorted completely by brainless bots.

A competitor, using one of the XSS attacks listed above, exploits to "de-optimize" and make it appear that you're using black hat SEO tactics, or can gain access to your site through a web browser and/or inject toxic data to devalue your content.

Google Penalties For Black Hat Tactics

The purpose of any search engine is to deliver relevant, useful SERPs to users' queries. So, when a Google bot discovers what it perceives as an attempt to falsely increase value, the site may suffer serious, site-threatening sanctions.

Some of these penalties may be imposed without you even knowing about it – until you discover that site revenues have dropped 75% in two days as a result of lost rankings and traffic! A site discovered to employ black hat SEO may be penalized in page rank, may lose PR altogether, may experience SE indexing issues (partial or mis-indexing, for example) and, for the worst offenders, banishment from the Google site altogether. Dead in the eyes of Google bots.

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So, here's the problem: without your knowledge, a black hat competitor can inject toxic script into your site that could, conceivably, get your site banned from Google. Even if you and your web host have all the firewall and intrusion detection protection there is.

It Gets Even Worse

The second reason black hats use cross site scripting is to actually gain access and control of your on-line business. Certain types of XSS attacks actually enable a complete stranger to acquire the same system privileges reserved for the site owner - you.

Access to sensitive customer data, bank account information, the entire back office – all can be achieved with relative ease by a knowledgeable cracker looking to steal and plunder your site.

Whether the black hat is a competitor who wants to eliminate the competition, or a script-kiddie looking to clean out the till and sell some credit card numbers, your on-line business is at risk regardless of how much security you and your web host deploy.

This Is Where Quality Web Hosting Enters

During the design, administration and growth of a web-based business, numerous tools and applications are used by site owners and designers. There's site building software, email management software, a check-out, customer database, automated shipping apps, tools for developing site metrics and many others.

This software isn't necessarily designed with security as Priority One. Often, there are openings in commonly-used ebiz software that are exploited by black hats during the execution of an XSS attack.

And, because of the nature of these attacks, system and server security measures can be breached because, in essence, the hackers piggyback their way onto an unsuspecting site using the site administrators' credentials to gain access and/or control.

The key to protection from XSS attacks is in the proper configuration of all of the applications and tools that comprise your on-line enterprise. These apps must be synced up to work together while, at the same time, developing protection against XSS attacks.

This configuring of applications is done at the host level and should include a detailed analysis of potential XSS entry points within the site's design and reconfiguration to fit the server security already in place.

Go With The Host Who Knows

If your web hosting service isn't familiar with the growing danger of XSS attacks based on application exploitation points, consider finding a more informed host.

It's not a matter of securing your business system locally. And it's not a matter of the multi-layers of protection offered by your web host.

It's a matter of thinking like a black hat and taking a proactive stance against XSS attacks they may employ. If you aren't sure your site is protected, and your hosting rep can't provide the assurances you require, talk to another hosting company before disaster strikes and your site is banned from Google.

It's that important.

About The Author
Frederick Townes is the owner of W3 Hostíng, a web hostíng company dedicated to providing fast servers, guaranteed uptime and reliable, friendly support. When your site is an important part of your business you need a professional web hosting company to keep it online and running smoothly. W3 Hosting is just that – and more.

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Pricing Models for the Small SEM Shop

Pricing Models for the Small SEM Shop

By Christine Churchill,
August 30, 2006

How do you go about establishing prices for your search marketing efforts? What kind of contracts do you need to protect your business? A group of experienced search marketers offer advice.

A special report from the Search Engine Strategies conference, August 7-10, 2006, San Jose, CA.

One of the biggest stumbling blocks for small search engine marketing (SEM) shops is learning the mechanics of running a business. SEMs may know optimization inside out, but like many entrepreneurs, not have a grasp on the business end of their operations. This is where many companies get sidelined because a big part of running a successful business is developing pricing models and contracts that work well.

At the San Jose Search Engine Strategies conference, veteran entrepreneurs Ken Jurina, Todd Friesen, Jessie Stricchiola and Greg Boser shared their experiences in a new session called "Pricing and Contracts for the Small SEM Shop."

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The first speaker was Ken Jurina from Canada-based Epiar. Jurina described the pros and cons of several typical industry pricing models. The first involved a retainer and monthly fee along with a six- to 18-month contract. Jurina outlined this as a hunt-and-peck model without clearly defined deliverables or a phased, targeted approach.

The second contract approach in Jurina's presentation was the fee-for-service model. Under this approach there are clearly defined projects with a finite scope of work. Citing that his own company followed this business model 75% of the time, Jurina presented the method as one that delivers core services for a specified fee.

Two other pricing models that Jurina highlighted were pay-for-performance and hourly consultation. Pay-for-performance is normally tied to a commission structure and dependent upon the outcomes of the SEM campaign. The hourly consultation model is frequently used as a quick-fix approach when offering suggestions for improving optimization. Jurina also mentioned that some firms practice a combination of all models in order to ensure maximum flexibility.

As Jurina continued his presentation, a discussion of customer profiling emerged. In an effort for small SEMs to pursue clients that are a good fit with their organizations, Jurina recommended defining a particular target market and focusing on it. While small companies are usually quicker to be convinced of the value of search marketing, they often can't afford the services. On the other hand, while larger companies are more able to afford the services, buy-ins take longer because they often have to cross various departments. As a happy medium, the small SEM may want to consider working with mid-sized companies in order to deal directly with the primary decision-maker.

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Pricing and perception were also included in Jurina's presentation. Speaking from personal experience, Jurina relayed a story about how his company's initial pricing structure caused sticker shock. Recognizing that the client was being turned away by price alone, the entire sales presentation was restructured to show the various phases of the SEM process and the corresponding ROIs from beginning to end.

In order to protect the SEM firm and give the appearance of professionalism, small shops would be wise to draw up proposals and legal contracts. What does Jurina's firm use? Their contracts evolved from a monstrous 25-page novel to a comprehensive five- to seven-page document that clearly defines the work without being bound to a guarantee. Spelling out services in phases throughout the proposal helps clients better understand the process and the deliverables. However, keep in mind that pricing is based on what the market can bear. If SEM shops aren't working with clients located in major markets (New York, Los Angeles, etc.), premium pricing may be a hard sell.

Todd Friesen from Range Online was next to take the stage, providing practical advice on key clauses that should be included in contracts. Small SEMs can be vulnerable, so legal protection becomes an important issue. Friesen listed five clauses on which no SEM shop should ever compromise. These clauses include:

• Indemnification - Covers you in the event of errors.
• Termination - Specifies a time period (longer than two weeks) for the ending the contract, if needed.
• Intellectual Property Rights - Makes sure all tools, programs or other intellectual property remain solely in the possession of the SEM.
• Confidentiality - Keeps the confidences of your clients and requires them to do the same for you.
• Dispute Resolution - Keeps resolution proceedings in the state of the SEM, not in the client's state.

As Friesen's presentation moved forward, the topic of performance-based contracts was approached. While the payouts on performance-based contracts can be great, rules need to be defined clearly and up front. You must first establish the baseline - that is key to establishing your reward. Friesen recommended that companies work off gross revenue figures since the SEM has no control over the clients' costs. He also encouraged SEMs to ask for a reasonable percentage in order to build a long-term and fair relationship with each client.

Next to present was Jessie Stricchiola of Alchemist Media who discussed the transition from in-house search engine optimization (SEO) to running an SEM shop. Small companies don't have a large marketing budget, so they have to rely on word-of-mouth marketing quite a bit. This can make small firms more dependent on strong client relationships. Stricchiola gave a on-target reminder that while big companies could lose a few clients and not suffer, small companies take every loss hard.

To avoid client dissatisfaction, client relationship management must be a priority that starts even before the client becomes a client. Echoing Ken Jurina's recommendation of targeting clients that are best fits with your firm, Stricchiola suggested prescreening potential clients including:

• Evaluating the client's understanding of the SEM industry.
• Asking about prior SEM engagements/commitments (a company with more than three prior SEM firms might be considered a red flag & require further investigation).
• Discussing the client's financial stability and accounting policies.

Don't take anything for granted. Some firms have received signed contracts from the IT or marketing department heads only to find later that the accounting department had much different terms than expected. Stricchiola gave excellent, practical advice in this area, recommending that the SEM request a direct accounting contact who could explain the client's payment processes before contracts are signed.

The final speaker was Greg Boser of WebGuerrilla who gave additional details about performance-based contracts (PBC). Citing PBCs as the model of the future, Boser believes this approach benefits small SEOs more than other contract models.

In negotiating a performance-based contract, Boser recommended working out agreements with client companies to get a percentage of sales (or profits, etc.) as payment after the SEO delivered the desired results. Clearly, if pay is dependent on performance, any SEO will have a vested interest in the clients' success. But what about clients that refuse to take the action a SEO might suggest?

Whether it's a difference of opinion or an underhanded client hoping to reduce his/her costs, Boser has a solution. Set the contract up to automatically extend if the client doesn't fulfill his/her part of the agreement. That way the client can't wait for the contract to expire and then implement the optimization recommendations without paying when those suggestions succeed.

The SEM industry is maturing quickly, but is still made up largely of small shops. This session provided great, practical advice that any SEM entrepreneur could use. Through real-life experiences and in-the-trenches recommendations, SEMs were able to gain a wealth of new ideas from this session that could aid in protecting and prospering their businesses.

Christine Churchill is President of KeyRelevance.com, a full service search engine marketing firm.

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How to effectively select and use keywords for your website

How to effectively select and use keywords for your website

Correctly choosing the keywords that your website wishes to compete on is the single most important aspect of a search engine optimization campaign. Proper keyword selection can provide your business with an extremely solid foundation to build.

However, the opposite can be said for websites that make mistakes at this point. If your website dives straight into a competitive keyword selection there is a good chance of drowning in the oblivion of search engine results. Choosing keywords for your website requires a fine balance of research and modesty.

Be Specific
If there is a particular item or product range that your company sells then make sure your keyword selection reflects this. Being vague results in higher levels of competition. If your website sells golf clubs then optimize your pages to match what kind of golf clubs you are offering. Do they have graphite shafts? Do you sell a left-handed selection? What kind of brand are they?

Regionalize your selection if appropriate
Focusing on a regionalized market will result in a much more targeted market and the competition will also lower significantly. If you only sell your products and services within Ireland make sure you contain specific phrases (e.g. Ireland, Irish, Dublin, etc.) within your Title, body and anchor text.

Domain Name Selection
For many new (and existing companies) the ideal website name might already be taken. Or, for branding purposes, the choice of a keyword rich domain name may not be applicable. This shouldn't be a major concern to companies as the weight search engines give to the URL of a website is of limited importance when it comes to ranking well within the results pages. However, if your website contains keywords that your company wishes to compete on then you should exploit this when choosing your inbound linking text (a.k.a. anchor text).

Anchor Text
Inbound links from websites can provide your site with a two-fold benefit. The first (and obvious) is that these links can help your company by sending potential customers to your website. The second benefit is that Google and the other major search engines will see these links as votes of confidence therefore giving your website a boost in its rankings. When developing inbound links it is important to take advantage of keywords that your site might be targeting.

For example, my website is http://www.betteririshwebsites.com. It contains a number of articles that can help webmasters and companies promote their websites. With this in mind, a link that contains the anchor text Website Promotion Articles will help both visitors and search engines to understand what this website is all about. By developing links with keyword rich anchor text your website can rank higher in the search engine results for the terms that you are competing on.

Landing Pages
When choosing keywords you feel are suitable to target your desired market you may end up with a list the length of your arm. If you create a website with a logical structure containing a number of pages that deal with the range or products your company offers you will be able to professionally and effectively optimize your entire site for all of your selected keywords.

For example, if your company sells office supplies and office stationary (both extremely competitive keyword phrases) you could still drive a large amount of traffic to landing pages that sell "Executive Leather Chairs" and "Printer Ribbons". This is only an example, creating and optimizing landing pages is a technique that all websites could and should do regardless of what they are offering.

Remember, your optimization efforts should never stop after your home page is completed. Your entire site should be professionally optimized for maximum results.

 

About the Author: Barry Fenning is the owner of Irish Website Promotion, A website that is aimed at people new to the area of search engine optimization and online marketing. The articles available on the website are suitable for people that want to learn how to conduct effective and professional SEO campaigns without having to outsource. There are also a number of more "advanced" articles suitable for experienced webmasters.

 

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