Splents

I was trying to install version 1.5 ZenCart, everytime the database started to install, it would just give me the error message.
I edited the SQL statement so that instead of having default values it was just NOT NULL.
This forum thread has a pretty good run-through.
The software successfully installed.
The problem was as per the the errror in the cache folder. BLOB cannot have a default value.
So now I’m trying to figure out how to rectify that…

Search engine optimisation is a bit of a black box to most web developers.
It is a tough balance between conventional website design with brief, informative information; versus SEO driven text, keywords and search phrases.

Competition sites often will employ SEO specialists who receive their money once the site has hit the top results of google.

The real secret is building content rich websites, with specific and relevant information.
This is a lot harder to do in practice, but there are some website seo tips that make a bit difference.

One thing I try and do is constantly research techniques, and analyse other websites code.
How did I end up getting on this site? The information is/isn’t relevant – what did they do?
Often I will watch fast rising websites to see how long they stay high in the results; if I notice sudden drops, then I dismiss the technique.

One seo technique that has me bemused at the moment is the new style link farming.
Here is how it works:

You buy a website which caters as some kind of service, say, seo-solutions.com.au.
You then setup LOTS of sub-domains; melbourne.seo-solutions.com.au, collingwood.seo-solutions.com.au, easy.seo-solutions.com.au
You then setup webpages on each of these subdomains, addressing specifically what is in the title.

SEO companies are doing this very cheaply – they buy one domain, then sell hundreds of sub-domains (which cost them nothing) to unwitting service men and women.
How long will it last? I don’t know. At the moment it has really messed up the Google search results in some industries.

This leads into my concern about this kind of link farming. Apart from being terrible for the integrity of search results, I am also concerned about the impact this kind of web marketing would have on brand value, and dilution.
If a customer can’t search for anything except you, then after a while, they will hate your brand.
I want Tech guys to flash back to the early days of experts-exchange. SO annoying. (although now its “free”, so so handy)

One article I was reading to help consul myself was the link dilution: links and pages on Google Answers.

The poster slawek-ga made an amazing reply (where did he find the time???) Nice.

Working on another website at the moment. Tree-rrific Tree Service

• Tree Lopping Mornington
• Tree Removal Mount Eliza
• Tree Removal Mt Eliza
• Tree Pruning Mount Martha
• Mornington Peninsula

I built a site for a company that specialises in all kinds of weed control and weed spraying.
Victorian Vegetation Management is based in the Yarra Valley and has a range of services rarely offered by other weed spraying groups.

• Yarra Ranges Weed Control
• Yarra Valley Weed Control
• East Gippsland Weed Control
• Gippsland Weed Spraying
• North East Victoria Weed Control
• Blackberrys
• Elm Leaf Beetle

Sherbrooke Tree Service is a business trading under Chebter Pty Ltd that has been operating since 1976.

Graeme McMahon is owner, operator and main climber.

The services include

• Tree Lopping
• Tree Pruning
• Tree Removal
• Tree Felling
• Storm Damage
• Emergency Assistance

Lilydale Trailer Spares was built for a company with the same name who are based in Lilydale.

They supply parts and services to Lilydale and the eastern suburbs of Melbourne.

Yarra Valley Trailer parts is probably a better way of looking at them.

They supply:

• Trailer Parts
• Trailer Repairs
• Trailer Serving
• Trailers for sale
• Tandem Trailers
• Tipping Trailers
• Custom Trailers
• Trailer Spares

If you need any of the above, get onto www.lilydaletrailerspares.com and give Terry a call!

Building websites is something that I’ve done on the side for a number of years. Recently, I’ve taken to building a lot of wordpress websites – I can produce them quickly and cheaply. Over time clients can slowly ad more to their sites and can change their marketing strategy without outlaying huge amounts of money early on. This is good.

One of the really important parts of SEO is link building – not bad links – valuable links.
I’ve held off blogging about the websites I’ve made, because generally my personal blog is contains tech related content that could potentially mess with my other sites results.
I no longer care. In fact, I’m interested to test out what exactly happens when I start building link trees. This is one reason.

The second reason is many of my clients have seen this website – whilst its casual approach to language, grammar and information is misleading – it does advertise well my interest in solving technical computing, surveillance, programming and radio problems. So, without further ado, I’ll begin sharing over time some of the websites I’ve built, am building, or have in the pipeline.