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Search Engine Optimisation – What Not To Do – A collection of my notes on breaking Google's rules…. and what happens. PLEASE NOTE I AM CURRENTLY UPDATING THIS PAGE (Feb 2014)
So Google has now released a search engine optimisation starter guide for webmasters, which they use internally:
Although this guide won't tell you any secrets that'll automatically rank your site first for queries in Google (sorry!), following the best practices outlined below will make it easier for search engines to both crawl and index your content. Google
Still worth a read even if it is fairly basic, generally accepted (in the industry) best practice search engine optimisation for your site.
Here's a list of what Google tells you to avoid in the document;
- choosing a title that has no relation to the content on the page
- using default or vague titles like "Untitled" or "New Page 1″
- using a single title tag across all of your site's pages or a large group of pages
- using extremely lengthy titles that are unhelpful to users
- stuffing unneeded keywords in your title tags
- writing a description meta tag that has no relation to the content on the page
- using generic descriptions like "This is a webpage" or "Page about baseball
cards" - filling the description with only keywords
- copy and pasting the entire content of the document into the description meta tag
- using a single description meta tag across all of your site's pages or a large group of pages
- using lengthy URLs with unnecessary parameters and session IDs
- choosing generic page names like "page1.html"
- using excessive keywords like "baseball-cards-baseball-cards-baseball-cards.htm"
- having deep nesting of subdirectories like "…/dir1/dir2/dir3/dir4/dir5/dir6/
page.html" - using directory names that have no relation to the content in them
- having pages from subdomains and the root directory (e.g. "domain.com/
page.htm" and "sub.domain.com/page.htm") access the same content - mixing www. and non-www. versions of URLs in your internal linking structure
- using odd capitalization of URLs (many users expect lower-case URLs and remember them better)
- creating complex webs of navigation links, e.g. linking every page on your site
to every other page - going overboard with slicing and dicing your content (it takes twenty clicks to get to deep content)
- having a navigation based entirely on drop-down menus, images, or animations (many, but not all, search engines can discover such links on a site, but if a user can reach all pages on a site via normal text links, this will improve the accessibility of your site)
- letting your HTML sitemap page become out of date with broken links
- creating an HTML sitemap that simply lists pages without organizing them, for
example by subject (Edit Shaun – Safe to say especially for larger sites) - allowing your 404 pages to be indexed in search engines (make sure that your
webserver is configured to give a 404 HTTP status code when non-existent
pages are requested) - providing only a vague message like "Not found", "404", or no 404 page at all
- using a design for your 404 pages that isn't consistent with the rest of your site
- writing sloppy text with many spelling and grammatical mistakes
- embedding text in images for textual content (users may want to copy and
paste the text and search engines can't read it) - dumping large amounts of text on varying topics onto a page without paragraph, subheading, or layout separation
- rehashing (or even copying) existing content that will bring little extra value to
Pretty simple stuff but sometimes it's the simple seo often get overlooked. Of course, you put the above together with Google Guidelines for webmasters.
Search engine optimization is often about making small modifications to parts of your website. When viewed individually, these changes might seem like incremental improvements, but when combined with other optimizations, they could have a noticeable impact on your site's user experience and performance in organic search results.
Search Engine Optimisation – Don't make simple mistakes…..
- Avoid duplicating content on your site found on other sites. Yes, Google likes content, but it *usually* needs to be well linked to, unique and original to get you to the top!
- Don't hide text on your website. Google may eventually remove you from the SERPS (search engine results pages).
- Don't buy 1000 links and think "that will get me to the top!". Google likes natural link growth and often frowns on mass link buying.
- Don't get every body to link to you using the same "anchor text" or link phrase. This could flag you as an seo.
- Don't chase Google PR by chasing 100's of links. Think quality of links….not quantity.
- Don't buy many keyword rich domains, fill them with similar content and link them to your site, no matter what your seo company says. This is lazy seo and could see you ignored or worse banned from Google. It might have worked yesterday but it sure does not work today!
- Do not constantly change your site pages names or site navigation. This just screws you up in any search engine.
- Do not build a site with a navigation system that Google, Yahoo and Bing cannot crawl.
- Do not link to everybody who asks you for reciprocal links. Only link out to quality sites you feel can be trusted.
- Do not submit your website to Google via submission tools. Get a link on a trusted site and you will get into Google in a week or less.
If you want to learn more about SEO, check out our free seo training guide in pdf format or our online beginners guide.
Don't Flag Your Site With Bad Onsite SEO
The aim of any 'rank modification' is not to flag your site as spammy to Google, and I think if you navigate on-page seo successfully, you're ready to get to the on-site stuff Google also rewards – internal links.
For me, the key is to keep it as clean as possible on-site over the greatest amount of time. Forget about tricks like links in H1 tags etc and linking to the same page 3 times with different anchor text on one page. Forget about 'which is best' when considering things you shouldn't be wasting your time with. Every tag on your page is a score. Put a keyword in every tag and you will flag your site as 'trying too hard' if you haven't got the link trust to cut it.
So with regards to on page, spamming Google is dangerous. Don't spam your anchor text link titles with the same keyword. Don't spam your ALT Tags, or any other tags either. Add your keywords intelligently. Try and make the site mostly for humans, not search engines. Even Google says this, and I believe them this time.
On Page SEO is not a checklist any more of keyword here, keyword there. We're up against brainy folk here. But for those who need a checklist, this is the sort of one that gets me results;
- Identify Your Keywords
- Identify Searcher Intent Opportunites
- Identify The Audience & The Reason For Your Article
- Write An Article. Use related terms. Use plurals. Use words with searcher intent like buy, compare. I like to get a keyword or related term in every paragraph
- Use Emphasis sparingly To Emphasise the important points in the page wether they are your keywords are not
- Pick An Intelligent Page Title with your keyword in it @ 10 words
- Write An Intelligent Meta Description @ 20 words
- Add an image with user centric ALT text
- Link to related pages on your site within the text
- Link to related pages on other sites
- Call your page file name something clean, as part of a clean
- At all times, Keep It Simple Stupid!
- You can forget about just about everything else.
Negative Ranking Factors
SEOmoz just updated a cool group consensus of search engine ranking factors. From that study, here's a quick rundown on the most 'agreed' search engine tanking factors:
- Cloaking
- Link Aquistion from known link sellers
- Server downtime
- Hidden text
- Links to bad neighbourhoods
- Keyword Stuffed Text
- "Excessive Repetition of the Same Anchor Text in a High Percentage/Quantity of External Links to the Site/Page"
It might have been interesting to isolate the algorithm from the human element AKA the Google Web Spam Team. I seeing a lot of old seo tricks like keyword stuffing getting past the G maths that 'shouldn't' and which would not pass a human review – that is, pages ranking successfully because of individual strengths in particular/other areas even though they might be for instance, keyword stuffed to high heaven – the latter is the whole reason I wouldn't use it for clients, not the algo.
The algo can weigh you and measure you and think you're no1 yet when a human reaches your page all you get is keyword stuffed nonsense and that's without cloaking anything.
I'm looking at one example of that now in a competitor audit for a customer.
Pure crap hat seo which Google loves enough to rank a particular site no1 for a keyword worth £3K for a sale which I need to circumvent in some way. It's obvious (but not apparent) this competitor site has done something RIGHT, it's no1, but it's done EVERYTHING ELSE SO BADLY it will not pass a human spam review site – it's an embarrassment to Google as it stands.
I think it's safe to say seo tactics that are violations of Google TOS in Google webmaster guidelines might very well …er, work lol, as long as you don't get caught (by the algo or the web spam human reviewers). OR they wouldn't be in there.
A lot of the SEOmoz report is standard seo Google tells you not to do, but the whole report by Rand Fishkin is a great idea (one of the best in SEO Land) and so well presented it's worth a good look over.
Low Quality Links
It's been interesting of late in SEOland, with a lot of BIG sites getting nuked in Google because of manipulative ranking techniques – e.g. aggressive linkbuilding or content spamming or e.g. talking the p*ss.
Overstock's situation is interesting as this is a fairly well used linkbuilding technique that was discussed.
It's interesting how it was outed by perhaps a comepetitor. In Webmasterworld.
It's interesting how it was devalued. Manually.
What was wrong with it exactly? Well, the search engineer who looked at it immediately probably looked for the 'Google Taking The P*ss Nuke Button' when he read this:
Overstock.com is offering ABAC students and faculty 10% off of selected products using the coupon code: 121728… Link Details; please use the following hyperlinks for each keyword: "vacuum cleaners†should by the hyperlink to: http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/VacuumCleaners/2004/subcat.html
"gift baskets†should be the hyperlink to: http://www.overstock.com/Gifts-Flowers/GiftBaskets/125/dept.html… S EL
and saw this:
…and realised this site was trying to rank, it seems, for…everything! That's a lot of competitors to p*ss off as well.
- don't get outed, and
- don't be caught asking for links with specific anchor text – ever.
- Don't take the p*ss and
- This seo technique works.
The recent JCPenney debacle as well as a clear example of talking the p*ss as well, trying to rank for everything, and using over-the-top techniques. Again, this had to be a manual change, and again, it was outed. Again it was a clear example of manipulative links. Even more damaging – paid links from obvious low quality domains – lots of them.
- Don't get greedy and
- Don't get caught buying links on lots of crappy domains when you have tons of great positions.
- Don't get outed by a national Newspaper.
- Don't take the p*ss
- This seo strategy works…..
….. but before you start buidling links like that – be aware – Google now has a webspam process looking specifically for this type of abuse.
Low Quality Content Farms
Google also took issue with massive content farms – and apparently, re-ranked them.
# | Domain | Change | SISTRIX (before) | SISTRIX (after) | # KWs (before) | # KWs (after) |
1 | wisegeek.com | -77% | 121,58 | 28,22 | 74.024 | 21.940 |
2 | ezinearticles.com | -90% | 65,08 | 6,65 | 184.508 | 54.277 |
3 | suite101.com | -94% | 54,04 | 3,28 | 178.373 | 36.904 |
4 | hubpages.com | -87% | 55,16 | 7,40 | 152.998 | 50.178 |
5 | buzzle.com | -85% | 43,25 | 6,55 | 86.472 | 24.423 |
6 | associatedcontent.com | -93% | 38,29 | 2,57 | 216.429 | 53.512 |
7 | freedownloadscenter.com | -90% | 30,26 | 3,01 | 42.486 | 7.992 |
8 | essortment.com | -91% | 25,73 | 2,32 | 27.501 | 7.459 |
9 | fixya.com | -80% | 28,78 | 5,83 | 62.034 | 36.167 |
10 | americantowns.com | -91% | 24,88 | 2,18 | 26.000 | 9.799 |
11 | lovetoknow.com | -83% | 25,75 | 4,28 | 49.544 | 17.833 |
12 | articlesbase.com | -94% | 19,96 | 1,16 | 82.274 | 31.365 |
13 | howtodothings.com | -84% | 21,20 | 3,39 | 33.222 | 7.601 |
14 | mahalo.com | -84% | 20,49 | 3,23 | 33.875 | 9.740 |
15 | business.com | -93% | 17,24 | 1,13 | 21.556 | 4.813 |
16 | doityourself.com | -77% | 20,89 | 4,90 | 23.256 | 6.870 |
17 | merchantcircle.com | -85% | 18,43 | 2,67 | 93.347 | 34.681 |
18 | thefind.com | -83% | 18,95 | 3,27 | 74.506 | 45.495 |
19 | findarticles.com | -90% | 16,98 | 1,74 | 64.810 | 20.189 |
20 | faqs.org | -91% | 16,52 | 1,46 | 33.648 | 11.142 |
21 | tradekey.com | -89% | 16,83 | 1,79 | 37.364 | 16.268 |
22 | answerbag.com | -91% | 12,93 | 1,11 | 67.314 | 26.054 |
23 | trails.com | -87% | 12,05 | 1,62 | 38.346 | 8.511 |
24 | examiner.com | -79% | 10,54 | 2,19 | 70.781 | 31.272 |
25 | allbusiness.com | -88% | 8,86 | 1,08 | 16.457 | 6.034 |
Content farms are at the other end of the scale – massive, low quality content farming sites, who apparently don't care about the quality of the content, as long as it ranks in Google and people click on adverts. Most of these sites are authority domains and have decent links because of good and bad PR – and the way Google ranks authority sites, it benefits them just to pump oodles of content into Google, as Google doesn't really know the difference between good content and bad – only what's 'relevant'..
- This SEO strategy worked
- Don't take the p*ss
Somewhere in the middle of all that above are similar strategies that work to dominate search engines. Crap links work sometimes. Paid links work (of course). Content spamming works if you have a smidgeon of domain authority.
Hardly inspiring seo but the techniques outlined above beat the algorithms of every search engine out there and it's the way of the world and it's not illegal.
No wonder lots of people out there do it.
Content Farm Algorithm Change Is Named Google Panda
I'm tracking a page on this site that, all of a sudden, in April 2011, seemed to have a lot of trouble ranking for terms it ranked well for maybe years… even though it's well cited, original content. I wonder if it has something to do with Google PANDA. I've purposely left it alone to see what happens……
Google Panda, if you don't know, is what seo (and Google employees) are calling the latest changes to how Google ranks pages and SEL have a good round up of when they think it hit sites…..
Google may have rolled them out just a bit earlier or later than those exact days. The bigger issue is that you can see a trend developing. About every month, Google reruns its Panda algorithm. Each time Panda is run, there's a chance some hit from the last update will improve, while other sites might see traffic drops. In between updates, changes people may make specifically in hopes of fixing a Panda problem won't show any impact until the next update is run.
So far, the Google Panda update schedule has been like this:
- Panda Update 1.0: Feb. 24, 2011
- Panda Update 2.0: April 11, 2011 (about 7 weeks later)
- Panda Update 2.1: May 10, 2011 (about 4 weeks later)
- Panda Update 2.2: June 16, 2011 (about 5 weeks later)
- Panda Update 2.3: July 23, 2011 (about 5 weeks later – The 2.1 to 2.3 dates are approximate.)
Those later dates seem to correlate a little with the graph above, which makes my page all the more interesting, as I did do a few things to that page back in the day to test some stuff…..
Looks like page quality issues – specifically – keyword relevance issues and depth of content……
April 2012 – Google Titanic Update?
If you work in search marketing, unless you have been living under a rock, you'll be no doubt aware of the hundreds of thousands of webmaster messages that Google sent out basically telling people Google knows about your crap links and it's going to do something about it.
Well, a lot of chatter in webmaster forums at the moment is saying it's started. And the focus is Unnatural Links.
Welcome To The New Google
Google Webmaster Tools notice of detected unnatural links
Dear site owner or webmaster, We've detected that some of your site's pages may be using techniques that are outside Google's Webmaster Guidelines. Specifically, look for possibly artificial or unnatural links pointing to your site that could be intended to manipulate PageRank. Examples of unnatural linking could include buying links to pass PageRank or participating in link schemes. We encourage you to make changes to your site so that it meets our quality guidelines. Once you've made these changes, please submit your site for reconsideration in Google's search results. If you find unnatural links to your site that you are unable to control or remove, please provide the details in your reconsideration request. If you have any questions about how to resolve this issue, please see our Webmaster Help Forum for support. Sincerely,Google Search Quality Team.
Google sent a lot of these "Google Webmaster Tools notice of detected unnatural links" messages out to a LOT of website owners recently – and there's a lot of noise around the web.
THIS SIGNALS A BIG CHANGE IN HOW GOOGLE REACTS TO YOUR LINK BUILDING EFFORTS. The short answer is IF you are linkbuilding using low quality and inexperienced methods….Google is now organised enough to start slapping you about a bit.
- No longer it seems, can you rely on Google to 'just ignore' links it doesn't like and you've made yourself. Now, these links may well get you penalised – and quickly – and a lot more noticably.
- No longer, it seems, should you be very cavalier about were you get your links. I, for one, have been happy to take links from anywhere, pretty much safe in the knowledge links are not toxic, and Google will ignore a lot of them. I'm not even sure letting people scrape your content for links is that safe these days!
Google even said recently links can't **hurt** you, that toxic links don't really exist, but what's clear, is that your website CAN have a toxic link profile. It's clearly all about YOUR INTENT. If your intent was to rank high in Google for particular keywords…. I think that's enough for Google, these days, to sink your site.
EDIT – A number one consideration in 2013, is to ensure your link does not end up duplicated across LOTS and LOTS of low quality sites. Too many of these types of links DECLARE AN INTENT to Google to manipulate rankings.
Beware overdoing any of the following…..
- sitewide links and site interlinking, and ESPECIALLY if using rich anchor text, and or manipulating the links in any way (like changing the keyword text)
- blog comment links
- article marketing links
- rss syndication links
- directory links
- Get links from real websites
- focus on getting links to inner pages of your site
- build natural domain authority
- Add lots of new content to your site
- Make sure your web page is OPTIMISED for EVERY keyword phrase you think it needs to rank for…..SERIOUSLY…these phrases need to be on the page if you expect to rank
- make sure your content is shareable
Is linkbuilding dead? No. But it just got a LOT more risky.
This advice is not new – it's just that much more important now.
Unnatural Anchor Text Icebergs
Too much anchor text and little brand signal? If your anchor text profile looks like this:
…expect some ranking woes over the next 6 months….. ESPECIALLY if those links are from low quality sites.
If your site is in Google Webmaster Tools – check for a warning message. You will have about 3 weeks to sort this. If you see your rankings take a nosedive – something is toxic about your link profile.
I don't usually recommend using GWT especially if you are up to anything a bit grey…I thought the recent changes to Google's Privacy policy (possibly illegal in the EU) may be the Patriot Act of Search Marketing – effectively giving Google permission to REALLY investigate what you do across ALL it's products – but if your site is suffering, GWT may be the only way out at the moment, unless you want a LONG wait at the bottom of Google.
Light at the end of the tunnel? Once you clean up your profile and get back into Google's circle of trust, perhaps you have a clean start and a chance to do it a bit differently this time? Especially, if Google is going to actually take action on your competitors who are spamming worse than you…. time wil tell on that one.
If you do get a Google Webmaster Tools notice of detected unnatural links message:
- stop link building **wether** or not you are fighting fire with fire
- make an effort to remove your crap links (especially the ones with a lot of similar phrases – there is a lot of phrase match penalties being handed out and some are reporting their websites and blogs deindexed)
- submit a reinclusion request
- accept responsibility and take your penalty
- reconsider where you are getting your links from – and definitely,
- KNOW where you are getting your links from
- pay attention to site-wide links from other sites…. not only are most of them useless anyway…. now they can make your link profile REALLY toxic ( I think!) – (UPDATE – this has been confirmed with an example actually included in Google's recommendations to webmasters)
- focus on getting links from REAL sites, and ideally, sites with REAL online business authority
- You can probably forget about generating a lot of anchor text rich links fast….
For now you should probably concentrate on building links with brand signals like simple website addresses and/or your brand name, while paying particular attention to the QUALITY of the site you are getting links from.
I am certainly ONLY marketing my site via CONTENT CREATION, for instance. Social links DO NOT pass the same amount of link power as traditional links especially from very trusted websites…. but they are getting more important, and the more people who see your site, the more chance there is of picking up natural links…..
Manipulating anchor text is very risky now…. and ESPECIALLY if those links are from low quality sites.
maybe next time…..
Interesting times indeed. Google didn't like that name though….
Google Webspam Update Renamed Google Penguin
Here's a quote btw from possibly the hottest forum on the web at the moment…..(EDIT – about the Google Penguin Update or Google Webspam update, as it turned out, that affected A LOT of webmasters – not just the type Google would label webspammers).
Google has dropped the nuke
If Google didn't win the war today…. they certainly dropped a nuke on a particular battlefield of it.
this algorithm represents another improvement in our efforts to reduce webspam and promote high quality content. While we can't divulge specific signals because we don't want to give people a way to game our search results and worsen the experience for users, our advice for webmasters is to focus on creating high quality sites that create a good user experience and employ white hat SEO methods (GOOGLE)
Forum posters went on to elaborate how this algorithm is treating them:
Here we go again. This has gone from an attack to a massacre.
I have always thought if you want to know if Google is winning the war against webspam, as labelled by Google itself – you listen to the people doing it – and a lot of them are talking. Actually – it's pretty clear it's NOT just 'webspammers' as GOOGLE labelled them, that are getting hit.
It is way to early to decide if these guys are the experienced ones or not, of course.
I think they may have rolled this change out now in the UK. Almost all of my site have been wiped out!
there's more
I got hosed bad too, about 4 hours ago.
and more
If these SERP changes I'm seeing hold, we are gong to need to turn off that "profanity" filter because this is a blood bath!
and more
Bah, will this madness never end. The fallout from this algorithm change is shaping up to be pretty messy
and more
A ton of my sites have just tanked big time…….in fact rankings in a lot of my niches have taken drastic changes. My days as an internet marketer look to be numbered….
I think my days as an internet marketer are numbered too.
It goes on and on – read the forum posts for more. I don't want to nick ALL the forum content.
I also think some of these webmasters and/or being a bit hard on themselves. If you can spam – you can probably market a site in Google, without spamming (if that's what they have been up to).
Where Did It Come From?
I found this comment interesting when the discussion moved to how Google had tracked them down…..
it has to be how many domains link to the same 10, 50, 100, or 1000 or more domains. These are link schemes, doesn't matter what the anchor is.
It appears a certain type of linkbuilding will be less effective from this point on.
I can't see anybody going to the hassle of building a private network letting inexperienced webmasters into it…. so it probably just got a lot more expensive, too.
So did white hat seo btw. A LOT more expensive.
IS SEO Finally Dead?
And even before white hat seo everywhere scream hallelujah and start partying…. consider this:
I see a site no1 in Google on TONS of the same EXACT MATCH keyword anchor text – ranking on ZERO diversity – ZERO organic links – all the same keywords – the only difference?
The links are from real sites.
THAT's a problem Google cannot blame on 'webspammers'. That's a problem Google invited by the way it actually works to rank pages, and has done since it started.
So in a lot of ways – it's still the same as it ever was.
White hats still have lots to complain about by the looks of it, for now.
Strike ONE?
Google evolves. Spam evolves. Google evolves. Spam evolves.
Though I don't know how spammers (and no, I am not talking about anyone in particular) can have the stamina to keep up, especially if Google intends this to be the first of a few nukes…. the fear will be enough to put a lot of them of for a while, that's for sure.
Fallout Cloud
The fallout cloud is rising…. it's probably going to take time to settle on the web, so it's too early to say what the final result of all this will be…
One of my next posts may be about this next comment….
soon it will be nothing but name brands because they are the only ones who can really create buzz and backlinks "naturally" – seriously, who the F wants to link to my los angeles personal injury website… no one gives a sh!t
Collateral Damage?
The reports will be in shortly….. no doubt.
It's Not Just Links That Sink A Site
It's worth remembering it's not just links – or specifically unnatural links – or either, your LINK PROFILE as a whole – that make your site lose rankings in Google. Chances are – if you are running a new affiliate site, for instance, with little domain authority, Google isn't going to rank you very high in it's search results pages at all – NO MATTER how good and original your content is.
- Quote: If A Page Exists Only To Make Money, The Page Is Spam
- Doorway Pages Penalty – The Neutral Zone
- Sites Treated Differently For A While Regardless Of Inbound Quality Signals
- Google Sandbox? Or Do You Just Have The Wrong Type Of Site To Compete In Organic Results?
What Makes A Page Spam?
What makes a page spam?:
- Hidden text or links – may be exposed by selecting all page text and scrolling to the bottom (all text is highlighted), disabling CSS/Javascript, or viewing source code
- Sneaky redirects – redirecting through several URLs, rotating destination domains cloaking with JavaScript redirects and 100% frame
- Keyword stuffing – no percentage or keyword density given; this is up to the rater
- PPC ads that only serve to make money, not help users
- Copied/scraped content and PPC ads
- Feeds with PPC ads
- Doorway pages – multiple landing pages that all direct user to the same destination
- Templates and other computer-generated pages mass-produced, marked by copied content and/or slight keyword variations
- Copied message boards with no other page content
- Fake search pages with PPC ads
- Fake blogs with PPC ads, identified by copied/scraped or nonsensical spun content
- Thin affiliate sites that only exist to make money, identified by checkout on a different domain, image properties showing origination at another URL, lack of original content, different WhoIs registrants of the two domains in question
- Pure PPC pages with little to no content
- Parked domains
More at Search Engine Watch
If A Page Exists Only To Make Money, The Page Is Spam, to Google
If A Page Exists Only To Make Money, The Page Is Spam
In BOTH leaked quality rater guidelines we've seen for Google quality raters – as leaked and then pulled by Search Engine Land (if you didn't get a copy – maybe you should be subscribed :) ) – this statement is pretty standout – and should be a heads up to any webmaster out there who thinks they are going to make a fast buck from Google organic listings these days.
It should at least make you think about the types of pages you are going to spend your valuable time making. Without VALUE ADD for Google's users – don't expect to rank.
If you are making a page today with the sole purpose of making money from it – and especially with free traffic from Google – you obviously didn't get the memo. I talked about this sort of thing a long time ago in a Google sandbox article.
Big sites with marketing clout can sidestep this of course – so a lot of small sites trying to make some cash get hit. That might be unfair – but at least we know what field we are playing on – even if we don't quite know what the 'rules' are.
It is worth remembering that your site MAY VERY WELL have to pass a manual review at some time – so just, as i also mentioned last year, getting to the top of Google isn't enough.
Consider this from a manual reviewer:
…when they DO get to the top, they have to be reviewed with a human eye in order to make sure the site has quality. potpiegirl
It's worth remembering:
- If A Page Exists Only To Make Money, The Page Is Spam
- If A Site Exists Only To Make Money, The Site Is Spam
This is how what you make will be judged – wether it is fair or not. I guess that makes a lot of us little guys spammers – wether we think we are, or not! If you are building a page that is already classed as spam by search engines, does that mean you may as well SPAM the search engines silly? I mean – you are already a spammer, anyways? Mixed messages – but TBH it is for this very reason I do not promote pure-affiliate sites for anybody else – so there is no point contacting me to do so.
Of course not – in some cases – it actually levels the playing field. I certainly don't want to be a spammer.
If you come at a website thinking it is going to be a load of work and passion, thinking:
…. then you might actually find you've built a pretty good site and even – a brand.
Google doesn't care about us seo or websites – but it DOES care about HELPING USERS. So, if you are actually helping your visitors – and not by just getting them to another website – you are probably doing one thing right at least.
With this in mind – I am already building affiliate sites differently.
Doorway Pages
The dreaded doorway pages penalty…..
One of the more interesting tasks I am looking at at the moment….
A few of my friend's web sites were penalised recently. The site pages seemed to be hit with a -50+ penalty.
First – Google rankings for main terms tanked….
… which led to a traffic apocalypse of course….
…and they got a nice email from Google WMT:
Google Webmaster Tools notice of detected doorway pages on xxxxxxxx – Dear site owner or webmaster of xxxxxxxx, We've detected that some of your site's pages may be using techniques that are outside Google's Webmaster Guidelines. Specifically, your site may have what we consider to be doorway pages – groups of "cookie cutter" or low-quality pages. Such pages are often of low value to users and are often optimized for single words or phrases in order to channel users to a single location. We believe that doorway pages typically create a frustrating user experience, and we encourage you to correct or remove any pages that violate our quality guidelines. Once you've made these changes, please submit your site for reconsideration in Google's search results. If you have any questions about how to resolve this issue, please see our Webmaster Help Forum for support. Sincerely, Google Search Quality Team
Doorway pages?
Doorway pages are typically large sets of poor-quality pages where each page is optimized for a specific keyword or phrase. In many cases, doorway pages are written to rank for a particular phrase and then funnel users to a single destination. Doorway pages are web pages that are created for spamdexing, this is, for spamming the index of a search engine by inserting results for particular phrases with the purpose of sending visitors to a different page. They are also known as bridge pages, portal pages, jump pages, gateway pages, entry pages and by other names. Doorway pages that redirect visitors without their knowledge use some form of cloaking. Whether deployed across many domains or established within one domain, doorway pages tend to frustrate users, and are in violation of our Webmaster Guidelines. Google's aim is to give our users the most valuable and relevant search results. Therefore, we frown on practices that are designed to manipulate search engines and deceive users by directing them to sites other than the ones they selected, and that provide content solely for the benefit of search engines. Google may take action on doorway sites and other sites making use of these deceptive practice, including removing these sites from the Google index. If your site has been removed from our search results, review our Webmaster Guidelines for more information. Once you've made your changes and are confident that your site no longer violates our guidelines, submit your site for reconsideration.
Google being more aggressive with doorway pages?
I didn't immediately class the pages on the affected sites in question as doorway pages. When I look in Google Webmaster Forums there are plenty of people asking questions about how to fix this – and as usual – it seems a bit of a grey area with a lot of theories….. and some of the help in the Google forum is, well, clearly bollocks.
I wonder if people even realise they are building what Google classes as doorway pages these days….. and it's indicative that ….. what you intend to do with the traffic Google sends you may in itself, be a ranking factor not too often talked about. (Distilled has a timely complimentary piece to this today which is worth a link and save me the bother – time based penalty in Google.)
Interesting stuff for a seo geek.
But having access to the stats of such a site is interesting in so much it shows you what happens when a site is penalised for being a doorway site….
After being notified via GWT of a doorway pages penalty, my friend has submitted numerous reconsideration requests on the above site with no luck yet…..
Positions 40-70 is in some sort of neutral zone for it's main keywords – effectively a -50 penalty to begin with. It's something to check your rank checker stats for if you think you have been hit with a penalty.
NOTE – A lot of people don't realise this (or something like it) happens all the time to thin affiliate sites…..
Another example of if Google classifies your site as undesirable or manipulative, there might be VERY LITTLE you can do to it to get it back in Google's good graces….. nothing to the site in question, at any rate.
I think Google is probably a lot better at discovering and classifying a site and it's intent these days – which also may lead to why Google feels comfortable about actually informing people via Google Webmaster Tools (which ironically you DO NOT want to register with if you have lots doorway page sites lol) about naughty stuff. I remember reading A LOT about -50 penalties etc in the last few years and reading LOTS of different ideas about how to recover from it. I have also seen a LOT of folk try and recover from PANDA, for instance, and apparently FAILING.
Maybe sometimes it's not always about your backlinks, your anchor text, or your on page content, your bounce rate or the position of your adverts.
Maybe it's a classification thing. You're either trying to be a middleman or you are not.
Google Will Determine Your 'Intent'
Experienced Affiliates SEO – This isn't probably for you. You know this stuff. I'm just thinking out loud here….. although feel free to rain on any theories about observations expressed :)
I read some forums and just about every answer to somebody's ranking woes is get better quality links. In the long term of course for most sites, it's useful advice (if a bit cryptic). I looked at a site that was given as an example, and wondered if the site itself wasn't the reason for crap rankings, and perhaps even the age of the operational site present.
I mentioned before I class myself as a corporate seo. Moving into affiliates last year and building a lot of sites gave me a chance to experience things I just hadn't experienced before. I've worked in a lot of different verticals in very competitive niches. Just NOT to experience things I experienced this year in my web travels gave me a gut feeling that once Google identified your NEW site's 'INTENT' by classifying your site (I'll surmise – as either a 'bricks and mortar' business or a middleman site) your rankings where at risk regardless of any quality onsite or inbound signals your site may have.
Normally we build a small microsite for a client around a keyword rich url, build a good, user friendly site, ensure it has all the normal business 'signals', and submit it to directories and article sites for search engine discovery and get on with coming up with ways of getting real business signal links to the site (local gov links, sites that don't normally link out to crap etc etc ).
The graphs below illustrate 3 MINIsites all targeting one main keyword phrase, all built virtually identical, all with quality inbound link signals, with just a few differences between them. 2 sites rank today, 1 site is 'sandboxed' for want of a better term.
Exhibit 1 – Small Business Mini Site With Good Rankings
- Class: Mini-Site (Ecommerce)
- Outbound Links:No
- Unique Content
- Rankings: Constant (+Improving)
- Organic Traffic: Constant (+Improving)
- Honeymoon Period / Sandbox: None
- Prospects: Looking Good – No10 For Main Keyword after 2 months and improving
Exhibit 2 Private Affiliate Deal With Good Rankings
- Class: Mini-Site (Private Affiliate – Non-Affiliate Links – ie straight url links)
- Rewritten Content found on just a few sites
- Outbound Links:Yes
- External Nofollow: Yes
- Cloaked: No
- Rankings: Constant (+Improving)
- Organic Traffic: Constant (+Improving/stable)
- Honeymoon Period / Sandbox: None
- Prospects: Looking Good – No2 For Main Keyword – traffic stable
Exhibit 3 With Affiliate Network Links & TERRIBLE RANKINGS
- Class: Mini-Site (Affiliate – Affiliate Urls – ie detectable parameters)
- Rewritten content (+content found on other sites – but all target pages had unique content and lots of it)
- Outbound Links:Yes
- External Nofollow: Yes
- Cloaked: No
- Rankings: ERATIC!
- Organic Traffic: ERATIC!
- Honeymoon Period / Sandbox: 3 Instances
- Prospects: FOR THE MOMENT FECKED – @4weeks top ten for main keyword & great rankings, then SHORTCIRCUIT – top ranking pages are severed from the index, lower, irrelevant pages rank in -50+ positions. Rankings tank, traffic drops to virtually ZERO from Google.
All sites are built on the same platform. All sites have decent links.
How The Sites Perform The Way They Do
Exhibit 1 + 2 perform well and like any other small microsite you build. A few months, some original content, a few decent links, some directory links and articles and the odd quality link here and there.
There's not much difference between exhibit 2 and 3. I mean, these two sites are BUILD EXACTLY ALIKE on the same platform. Site 3 actually has the better link profile as I knew it needed it!
- The only real world difference I can see is they are in different markets, one (SITE2) lacking some real quality sites, and the other, seasonable spam city. This could be very important of course.
- The only technical difference are affiliate 'looking' links – that is, urls with affiliate IDs. Site3 has them and site2 does not
- All sites have pretty decent links (and I mean decent!)
Of course, it's not news Google, it is often argued, hates new affiliate sites – or middlemen sites as I think about it. If you're intent is to make a fast buck out of Google – and upset the status quo Google has decided should merit their rankings (calculated over a longer period than your new site has been in the mix) – then why should Google help you out? At least while your site is so young?
I knew this before I started, but I decided not to cloak or hide my affiliate links on a few sites to see what happened, because this whole year is for learning. (Site3 is one of them)
How Has Google Classified Your Site?
What if – if Google counts a lot of affiliate urls as a signal of your intent, it can class you as a particular type of site. If Google classes you as a particular type of site, it means your NEW SITE (I am talking about brand new domains) may be eligible for a kick in the nuts in terms of rankings fluctuation at least in the short term. What if that filter was perhaps a date activated filter that say shorcircuits new sites in an already crowded set of results?
I'm new to afiliate seo and I know I should be hiding my affiliate ID links. In fact, all my new affiliate sites I 'cloak' my links with a custom script these days. To be honest though, I think if Googlebot comes accross links to internal pages it is blocked from accessing, it's might well class those as affiliate links as well by default – they won't trust those links either.
Your site might well still be classified as an affiliate. Putting nofollow on affiliate links? I heard Google 'drops' nofollow links from the link graph – but that's not to say they won't investigate the link and what it points to before it does drop it.
But I will play along as the new sites we're planning on making will CERTAINLY NOT BE 'frustrating user experiences' – we've put a lot of effort into building sites that actually perform some amazing functionality – ALL USER FOCUSED TOO.
You might not be in affiliate search engine optimisation, but thinking about "does Google classify my site a certain way and will this affect my rankings?" perhaps we really need to think about the signals of intent your site has for best chance of great rankings, or indeed signals it lacks, to ensure you are not classed as the type of site Google has in it's 'short term' sights.
We know Google identifies information sites, like wikipedia as important, and it can easily identify forums, shopping sites, spam, blogs etc and tailor for specific search queries. We know Google has a history of mucking things up at holiday times etc too and perhaps it's by this sort of classification.
It would be very wise to make sure you are in the right classification by sending the right signals to Google at all times, and trying NOT to exhibit any negative footprint it may be on the lookout for. For instance, if you have a NEW small business site, I'd hesitate to put any affiliate links on a page to make a bit of extra cash, for instance.
I have a few ideas what those signals might be but then again so does everyone else (for instance perhaps the AGE of the OPERATIONAL domain (that is, the site that has been operational on that domain) would help in this scenario – that would be why you can't fast break into markets where it's all affiliates with a new site – as this would encounter the dreaded sandbox) . If you do affiliate seo I'd love to hear your thoughts either here or in private :)
These questions and all the other questions that arise are why I love SEO and stuck with it for so long, I think. I always find my self thinking "of course", after every post, "maybe it just looks that way", but it does urge me on to build a better site, at the very least.
Does Google Really Need Your Site?
I am a corporate seo and link builder – I am far from what I would call an expert in affiliate websites. This post is about what I think I have observed making the transition from corporate seo (my livelihood) to affiliate seo (my beer money).
When I started playing about with affiliate websites last year it's kind of apparent that some sites that should rank, don't.
For Example
I built 6 NEW test sites with exact match web addresses RECENTLY.
5 of them do well in organic rankings – very well. One of them is nowhere in Google, after months, and after getting some real links to the site too. (EDIT – The same site is Number 1 in Yahoo for it's main keyword after a few months).
The performing sites are affiliate sites, made in much the same way as the underperforming site – but notably, these sites are NOT in a crowded space.
The underperforming site is a pure affiliate site in a very crowded (seasonal) space, with uncloaked affiliate links to suppliers, and discount codes and vouchers slapped all over the place. In short, I made no effort to hide it was a 100% affiliate site.
I did think we've made a nice niche site though – informative and easy to navigate for the user – better, in my opinion, than the competition. There is a lot of competition in this space, mostly spammy, and from the analysis I did, I thought it would be able to break into pretty quickly. I had 200 pages of content hand written too, to make the descriptions completely unique.
It all looked so good……
Top Rankings – Then ZZap! Nothing!
Much like the mythic Google sandbox some folk go on about, the site burst into the rankings and shot right to the top of Google. Then the site virtually disappeared for months (it still is nowhere – I have purposely let it be to see what happens to it). It almost looks like there's a rankings short circuit. It's as if Google is ignoring page relevancy within the site, and the page that should rank, is completely ignored, and as a result, another page on the site ranks on (for example) page 15. The pages that should rank within the site, do not.
Corporate SEO
As a corporate seo, I NEVER experienced a sandbox effect, even launching new sites – obtaining credible links from trusted sites always had an impact within months if not weeks.
Affiliate SEO
As an affiliate seo, I think I see this sort of sandbox (for want of a better word) as a phenomenon in some industries.
Google believes that pure affiliate websites do not provide additional value for web users, especially if they are part of a program that distributes its content to several hundred affiliates. Because a search result could return multiple sites, all with the same content, they create a frustrating user experience.
Hmmmm… well, that is exactly the type I built lol – no matter how well I built it.
It certainly looks as though Google has reacted and:
- identified it as an affiliate site, in an already 'spammy' industry with products already syndicated to a LOT of websites
- penalised it, or 'sandboxed' it – 'for later'
Why should Google do this? To stop seo like me just wandering into it's index, probably. Didn't Google recently say they don't think a site should rank JUST because a good seo is at the helm?
More Corporate?
I've spent my corporate career trying to make my sites not look spammy. Perhaps affiliate sites need to look more corporate.
Maybe Google just doesn't want another site like yours – and mine – in this space? Well, there ARE hundreds, if not thousands. IT IS a "frustrating user experience" if I take my marketer hat off and put my searcher hat on.
Wether or not this is the case, I'm certainly thinking more about making my affiliate sites different to all the competition…. easier said than done of course.
That is actually what Google wants you to do:
If you participate in an affiliate program, there are a number of steps you can take to help your site stand out and to help improve your rankings. Affiliate program content should form only a small part of the content of your site. When selecting an affiliate program, choose a product category appropriate for your intended audience. The more targeted the affiliate program is to your site's content, the more value it will add and the more likely you will be to rank better in Google's search results and make money from the program. For example, a well-maintained site about hiking in the Alps could consider an affiliate partnership with a supplier who sells hiking books rather than office supplies. Use your website to build community among your users. This will help build a loyal readership, and can also create a source of information on the subject you are writing about. For example, discussion forums, user reviews, and blogs all offer unique content and provide value to users. Keep your content updated and relevant. Fresh, on-topic information increases the likelihood that your content will be crawled by Googlebot and clicked on by users.
Do You Have The Wrong Type Of Site?
I see a lot of folk in forums bemoaning how their rankings are terrible, they are 'sandboxed', or they have lost previous good rankings. If you look at Google's advice, you can see, Google actually warns you about building sites they, well, just don't need any more:
Pure affiliate sites consisting of content that appears in many other places on the web is unlikely to perform well in Google search results and can cause your site to be negatively perceived by search engines. Unique, relevant content provides value to users and distinguishes your site from other affiliates, making it more likely to rank well in Google search result pages.
Do you have the exact same type of site as the current competition? Do you have the same affiliate links as most of the competition? If the answer is yes, and you want to compete for free google traffic, perhaps you need to think about the actual site you are building, rather than just the marketing of said site.
Just Get More Quality Links? Really?
I see a lot of advice from seo in forums and they seem to all mention at some time the same seo advice:
get more quality links
You know that advice on getting quality links to your website is sound, but what if Google has identified your site type as one it does not need in it's already crowded index? What if this advice is from corporate seo, and not affiliate seo?
If this is the case, then you might be swimming upstream as far as good google rankings are concerned, and quality links won't always rescue the site (in time for what you need it for).
It's not as if quality links are that easy to come by these days anyways lol
For Discussion
Do let me know what your thoughts are especially if you are an affiliate seo – this is ONE site, and usually I wouldn't blog about ONE site underperforming, but I thought it worth DISCUSSING as if Google is identifying particular types of site this aggressively, perhaps it's a pointer of what's to come (or is happening) in other verticals.
I have seen the arguments in this space FOR A LONG TIME. 'There is a sandbox'. 'The sandbox is a myth'. 'Google hates affiliate sites'. 'No Google hates crappy affiliate sites'. What I am saying is perhaps, in some scenarios, they are connected.
PS Check out Google's advice on Affiliate Websites here. I've never really discussed affiliate websites on the Hobo blog, so I thought this might be a decent place to start….. even if I am way off with my theories, it's probably useful to highlight what Google recommends about affiliate websites. :)
A Real Google Friendly Website?
A Google-friendly website used to mean a website built so Google could scrape it properly and rank it accordingly. While SEO has never been easier – the meaning of a Google friendly website has changed for me. When I think 'Google friendly' these days – I think a website Google will rank top, if popular and accessible enough, and won't drop like a f*&^ing stone for no apparent reason one day, even though I followed the Google SEO starter guide to the letter…..
The reason for the post was basically about Google treating different types of sites, differently (!) – just because they are a certain type of site – and the apparent wide-spread ignorance of this (on Google forums at least). This was big in 2011 – and will be in 2012 I think.
IN these forums – I see a lot of folk complaining about ranking drops and site traffic annihilation – and long-time before Google Panda*.
My website has lost all it's rankings! My website has lost all traffic from Google! My website is now on page 4,5,6 of Google….
Is It The BackLinks?
Well, if you are Google Chrome – at the moment – yes it is :) – But it's not always about the links these days. You can have great links and still tank.
The following image graphs what happened to a site classified as a doorway page, for instance. This was apparently nothing to do with backlinks…..
Lots of people ping me and say "this type of links got me reduced in rankings", or "this type of links gave them a -40 penalty", or "links from this site vaporised their website".
It's The Website?
*NOTE I am not talking about 'over-optimisation' – or rather, poor optimisation. It's never been easy to build a google friendly website in 2012 – from a technical point of view.
I'm talking about 'commercial intent' as the Google Quality raters handbook defines it.
Why does a well built site with good links and good content tank? This has nothing to do with the backlinks in this example, either…..
Anyway. I think the majority of sites tanking, today and tomorrow that show up in Google webmaster forums…. will be sites Google has categorised / classified as a site Google can do without – rather than the spammy links these sites may or might not have. The fact Google now tells you in Google Webmaster tools they class your site as a doorway page, to me, was an indication of this.
I have stopped looking at sites in Google forums with this problem because – more often than not – the sites are just low quality information sites that make money passing the visitors from search engines to another site for a 'couple of bob' – effectively 'thin-affiliate' sites. Why even bother looking at their spammy link profiles.
Lots of people seem to think it's all to do with back links FROM DIFFERENT SITES and this doesn't really sit well with me.
Sure, you can get penalties based on links – if that's the case – lots of websites probably have them – and just don't know. I've certainly seen keyword specific penalties on specific keywords – even for 'real' websites.
Your spammy links probably helped you rank, then you got manually – or algorithmically – penalised because your site was a bit sh*t and your particular commercial intent was pretty obvious and all-too commonplace. Or you may be collateral damage – a site that just looks a bit like a 'content farm', as opposed to a 'thin affiliate'… I'd imagine lots of similar pages, lots of similar page titles… sort of thing.
But this isn't new – Google has been actively targeting these kind of sites since 2005 or something…..just now it's not JUST about original content anymore – it's about the function your site provides to Google's visitors.
Google Panda * – Perhaps about SITE BLOAT (lots of pages with similar content) + A Particular COMMERCIAL INTENT = RANKING DESTRUCTION. Panda looks a bit like a doorway page penalty focused on specific parts of the site – like sub-folders – as opposed to pages on the site AND the home page – or on specific keywords – without, of course, a nice Google website message saying 'you've been pandalised! I am no Panda expert though.
I am building affiliate sites at the moment with the following in mind…..
- Don't be a website Google won't rank – What Google classifies your site as – is perhaps the NUMBER 1 Google ranking factor not often talked about – wether it Google determines this algorithmically or eventually,manually. That is – wether it is a MERCHANT, an AFFILIATE, a RESOURCE or DOORWAY PAGE, SPAM, or VITAL to a particular search – what do you think Google thinks about your website? Is your website better than the ones in the top ten of Google now? Or just the same? Ask, why should Google bother ranking your website if it is just the same, rather than why it would not, because it is just the same…. how can you make yours different. Better.
- Think, that one day, your website will have to pass a manual review by 'Google' – the better rankings you get, or the more traffic you get, the more likely you are to be reviewed. Know that Google at least classes even useful sites as spammy, according to leaked documents. If you want a site to fly in Google – it better 'do' something other than just link to another site for commission. Know that to succeed, your website needs to be USEFUL, to a visitor Google will send you – and a useful website is not just a website, with a sole comercial intent, of sending a visitor from Google, to another site – or a 'thin affiliate' as Google CLASSIFIES it.
- Think about how Google can algorithmically and manually determine the commercial intent of your website – what are the signals that differentiates a real small business website from a website set up JUST to send visitors to another website – non-masked affiliate links, on every page, for instance, or adverts on your site, above the fold etc,can be a clear indicator of a webmaster's particular commercial intent
- Google is NOT going to thank you for publishing lots of similar articles and near duplicate content on your site – so EXPECT to have to create original content for every page you want to perform in Google, or at least, not publish content found on other sites….
- Ensure Google knows your website is the origin of any content you produce (typically by simply pinging Google via xml or rss) – I'd go as far to say think of using Google+ to confirm this too…. this sort of thing will only get more important as the year rolls on
- Understand and accept why Google ranks your competition above you – they are either:
1. more relevant and more popular,
2. more relevant and more reputable, or
3. manipulating back-links better than you.
4. spamming
Understand that everyone at the top of Google falls into those categories and formulate your own strategy to compete – relying on Google to take action on your behalf is VERY probably not going to happen. - Being 'relevant' comes down to keywords & key phrases – in domain names, urls, Title Elements, the number of times they are repeated in text on the page, text in image alt tags, rich markup and importantly in keyword links to the page in question. If you are relying on manipulating hidden elements on a page to do well in Google, you'll probably trigger spam filters. If it is 'hidden' in on-page elements – beware relying on it too much to improve your rankings.
- The basics of GOOD SEO hasn't changed for years – though effectiveness of particular elements has certainly narrowed or changed in type of usefullness – you should still be focusing on building a simple site using VERY simple seo best practices – don't sweat the small stuff, while all-the-time paying attention to the important stuff – add plenty of unique PAGE TITLESand plenty of new ORIGINAL CONTENT. Understand how Google SEES your website. CRAWL it, like Google does, with (for example) Screaming Frog SEO spider, and fix malformed links or things that result in server errors (500), broken links (400+) and unnecessary redirects (300+). Each page you want in Google should serve a 200 OK header message.
As I said… this excellent info-graphic was very timely:
Internet Marketing Infographics by SEO Book
*OK that's me – sorry about the grammar – as usual this post ended up being a bit of a ramble – I will work on that in 2012 – but for now…. back to work. :)


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01 Jun 2009 | #20 |
Hello Roy,
Sorry, but it is required to reboot when dual booting operating systems to select and startup in the other one. However, you can use virtual machines to have a operating system installed in to run another OS within a window in Windows 7. Hope this helps, Shawn |
My System Specs |
07 Jun 2009 | #21 |
Hi Shawn
Can I ask a couple of more fairly basic questions (as already mentioned dual booting is a new experience for me but I am learning!!!). When deciding on the size of the new partition on the Vista C drive should I make allowances for any programmes I will want to load onto the new Windows 7 operating system or is it sufficient to allow just enough space for the new installation? If in the future I need to do a complete reinstal of Vista (the existing operating system) will this delete the Windows 7 installation and remove the partition? Many thanks for your excellent guidance thus far. Regards Roy |
My System Specs |
07 Jun 2009 | #22 |
Hi Roy,
Depends what you want to have on that partition. Many people have just the o/s and installed programs, and keep all their data on a separate partition. 30 - 40 gb is enough in that case. If you reinstall Vista, you can either just reinstall it to the partition it is already on - in which case the 7 partition will remain. You would need to add an entry to Vista bcd to get the option to boot either Vista or 7. Or, after reinstalling Vista, you could use Disk Management to delete the 7 partition if you no longer want it. Alternatively, while reinstalling Vista, select Drive Options (advanced) and delete and repartition as you like. |
My System Specs |
09 Jun 2009 | #23 |
I was able to work with dual boot. Then when I upgraded the win 7100 to 7127 I got aditional boot option including the previous seven. I intend to remove the previous win seven boot option, should I used the Easy BCD from XP or edit it from win seven? Kevin |
My System Specs |
09 Jun 2009 | #24 |
Either method is fine Kevin. I would do whichever one that you are more comfortable doing.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials...list-boot.html |
My System Specs |
09 Jun 2009 | #25 |
OK then
I did ask you as a self assurance and for being cautious. Because I do exercising all this stuff either with my offline home PC and my workplace PC. Just wanting to achieve both work and fun in exploring this OS with minimal risk. Thanks Brink Kevin |
My System Specs |
09 Jun 2009 | #26 |
It's no problem Kevin. That's what we are here for.
My System Specs |
11 Jun 2009 | #27 |
I got a couple of questions...ahem a question. This is my first time trying to dual boot a system and I'm trying to figure out if it'll do me any good. First off I have a lot of programs installed on my Vista installation. Will Windows 7 be able to use those applications or am I going to have to double install the programs?
I guess my biggest question is will I have to double install programs in order for both OS's to use them? That'll take up quite a bit of memory. I've got a lot of multimedia software and they can take up a lot of space, so that's why I'm concerned. Thanks, PW |
My System Specs |
11 Jun 2009 | #28 |
Hello PW, and welcome to Vista Forums.
Unfortunately, on separate installations like that, you will need to reinstall the programs in each OS that you want to run them in. On the bright side however, if your computer supports virtualization, then you could install Windows Virtual PC in Windows 7 with Vista installed as a virtual PC (VM). The programs that you have installed on the Vista VM can have a shortcut of them placed in Windows 7 to be able to run them in Windows 7 from Vista. Windows Virtual PC - Create Virtual Machine Hope this helps, Shawn |
My System Specs |
11 Jun 2009 | #29 |
Thanks Shawn.
Yeah, I wanted to avoid VM, but that's okay. I'll just wait till Windows 7 actually comes out so I don't have to worry about formatting my comp again. I reinstalled my 64 Ultimate today and managed folders from my storage drives to get rid of unnecessary clutter. I was going to prepare the system for the dual boot now that I had extra space, but I don't want to lose my programs as soon as the expire date hits. I might still install the OS to play around with it. The only problem is deciding which one I want to be my main workhorse. I was hoping to utilize Windows 7 until the date, and then just easily plug back into my Vista install with no fuss and continue using my programs until I could pay for the new OS. Sokay though. I'm still deciding on what to do. I'd like a new fresh interface to play with and work in. PW |
My System Specs |
Tutorial Tools | |
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Authors: 267
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Art of Worldly Wisdom Daily In the 1600s, Balthasar Gracian, a jesuit priest wrote 300 aphorisms on living life called "The Art of Worldly Wisdom." Join our newsletter below and read them all, one at a time. |
Sonnet-a-Day Newsletter Shakespeare wrote over 150 sonnets! Join our Sonnet-A-Day Newsletter and read them all, one at a time. |


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Important Info:
Discernment Event
3/12/15 - 3/15/15
8/24/15 - 8/31/15
Transition Event
9/23/15 - 9/27/15
READ about the YAV experience
Read about YAV site in Daejeon (South Korea) and what the 2013-14 YAVs are doing there.
Read now...
Hear about the YAV experience
Hear from YAVs Chad Pittman and Kristi Click, who were featured guests on NPR program "Keepin' the Faith" December 16, 2012. Listen to the show to hear Chad and Kristi discuss highlights of the YAV program and share their stories of how they found their way into God's service.
Listen now
What is the YAV Program?
Want to grow as a leader in Christian service?
Want to see the world while serving God and those in need?
The YAV Program might be just for you…
a year of service for a lifetime of change
The Young Adult Volunteer program is a one year service opportunity for young adults from 19 to 30 years. YAVs live in Christian community, deepening and developing their faith while serving in communities of need. The YAV program has sites around the United States and around the world, and YAVs serve for one academic year, August - July.
Volunteers are placed in community agencies or local churches, with jobs depending on the needs of partners and the skills of the Young Adult Volunteer. YAVs exposed to some of the hardest problems in the world – poverty, violence and reconciliation, and sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ – while living and reflecting with other volunteers on the meaning and motivation of their Christian faith.
Each YAV experience is different – but all YAVs will participate in a mutual discernment process to be a part of the program, receive national and on-site orientation, work closely with mentors and peers during, participate in vocational discernment activities, and integrate the whole experience at a transition retreat. All YAVs receive health insurance and student loan repayment is available for qualified applicants. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), you and your supporting congregation and presbytery, and some placement agencies share funding of this program. All volunteers are required to raise some of their financial support – the requirements for fundraising have been cut in half since 2013 – to $3,000 for national service and $4,000 for international service. A limited number of scholarships are also available each year.
The Young Adult Volunteer program is one of many ministries of Presbyterian Mission Agency that serves young adults. For more info for young adults visit our young adult website.
Watch a webinar presentation to learn more
You can download the video of our December 2010 informational webinar which has conversations with former YAVs and an interactive conversation with other inquirers, touching on many frequently asked questions.
YAV Fundraising Q&A
Watch a recent webinar in which YAV staff explains fundraising issues and fields questions about the support raising process.
Goals of the YAV Program
The Program was developed with several goals in mind:
- To experience living in intentional Christian community — Whether or not the young adults live under the same roof, they explore what it means to be a Christian community.
- To focus on spiritual formation — Through the mentorship of site coordinators and fellow interns, young adults reflect on their experiences and explore their relationship to the church and their ministry in a broken world.
- To engage young adults in the church's mission — The church seeks to provide opportunities for young adults to serve the church and their communities. Young adults experience and develop leadership within communities of faith. With training and support, they can provide leadership in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and in the ecumenical church.
- To assist YAVs in vocational discernment.
- To be present in communities of need and to facilitate young adults' engagement in communities of need.
Eric and Ashley, Young Adult Volunteers from 2011-12, talk about the YAV Program.
Read a YAV dad letter
"YAV Dad" Jeff DeYoe, who also happens to be the senior pastor of Worthington Presbyterian Church, Columbus, Ohio, recently wrote the following letter to Hunter Farrell, Director of Presbyterian World Mission, after being inspired by his recent visit to his daughter's YAV site in Guatemala.
Continue reading


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Me: What's up buddy?
Son: Dad, what is that Pebble Mine sticker for?
Me: Well, way before you were born there was a mining project that was proposed up in Alaska that would have done a huge amount of damage to the Bristol Bay area.
Son: So what happened to the Pebble Mine? I haven't heard anything about it.
Me: Well, it is a long story so I will keep it short. Basically, a whole bunch of people got together and fight as hard as they could to stop the Pebble Mine from being developed. After some long drawn out battles and with some serious pressure being put on the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) the mine was stopped.
Son: Cool thanks for telling me dad. I was curious about this.
Me: No problem buddy. You ready to go fish? If you are and show me that you are good with a Tenkara rod maybe I will take you to Bristol Bay so you can experience what we fought for.
Area of the Bristol Bay Watershed
Photo Courtesy of Sportsmansalliance4ak.org


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A growing economy constantly creates new job opportunities in new sectors, but also displaces and even destroys existing jobs. The workforce in an entrepreneurial economy must always evolve as well. Government efforts to protect jobs are often misguided, hindering growth and new job creation. Pro-growth workforce rules should instead focus on developing worker skills, allowing maximum hiring and layoff flexibility, and focus adjustment efforts on getting displaced workers into new jobs as soon as possible. Small firms employ half of all private sector employees and create 60-80 percent of net new jobs in the U.S., according to the SBA. Labor rules are one of the largest barriers to entrepreneurial ventures. The World Bank's cross-country comparison of labor regulations shows lower job creation where workplace rules are more rigid. Labor rules must move beyond the early 20th century framework of management versus labor and encourage new firm formation as well as a dynamic, not static, worker.
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Our tip this week is so fast and easy, you won't believe you'd never thought of it before! You might be like me, climbing up on ladders and chairs while trying to juggle a picture, nails AND a hammer. Well, with this tip you an remove one of those items…those sharp, pesky nails! Simply take a glue gun or some super glue and glue a magnet to the bottom of your hammer. The nails will stick and there will be no juggling required!
Check back each week for a new tip and trick from KAYU FOX 28! And don't forget to follow us on Facebook @ facebook.com/fox28spokane


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Wireless (Wi-Fi) Internet
We offer free wireless internet to our shoppers at this Simon mall. Any shopper with a Wi-Fi enabled laptop, tablet or smartphone can easily log onto the Wi-Fi network. All shoppers have to do is open their web browser or select "Simon WiFi" (the SSID name) from their available list of wireless networks to get to the Simon Malls Wi-Fi landing page. All shoppers that choose to use the Wi-Fi network at this mall must agree to Simon Wi-Fi Terms & Conditions of Use prior to using this free service. If there are any issues or questions, shoppers and tenants should contact the Wi-Fi network technical support hotline at (888) 726-5930 for assistance.
Foreign Currency Online Ordering with Travelex
Order your travel money online for convenient home delivery. Did you know that some Simon mall locations also include retail Travelex stores for your convenience. Travelex is the world's largest retail foreign currency exchange specialist, with over 1000 stores around the world. We can provide you with over 75 foreign currencies as well as a Cash Passport that can be pre-loaded with either Pounds or Euros and includes chip & PIN technology, a must when traveling in Europe. To get started, visit Travelex now.
Simon Giftcard®
Give the gift of shopping with a Simon Giftcard, available at Simon Guest Services® in denominations ranging from $20 to $500. There are no fees after purchase and the funds do not expire. The Simon Giftcard can be used anywhere Visa or American Express are accepted. See cardholder agreement for complete terms and conditions.
Gift Wrapping
Charity gift wrapping services are available seasonally for a nominal fee.

Plan to stay overnight and get a great rate on a hotel room near the mall. Click here to book online or call 1-800-916-1681 to make your reservation today!

Save up to $100 - click here for more details
iPhone® & Android™ App
The Simon Malls Mobile App can help you find your favorite stores, dining and entertainment options at the Simon Mall nearest you. You'll also be able to check out the latest deals and events available at your favorite mall right from your phone. And there are many more features designed to enhance your shopping experience including mall maps & gift card balance check. Download the free app from the App Store℠ for iOS powered devices or from Google Play™ for Android powered devices today. iPhone is a trademark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc. Android and Google Play are trademarks of Google Inc.
Lost and Found
Lost and Found is located in the Mall Management Office, or you can stop by the Simon Guest Services Desk in Center Court for assistance.
Brunswick Square has plenty of free parking, plus new mall entrances on the west side of the building with easy access to Starplex Luxury Cinemas!
Public Transportation
If you need a cab, stop by the Simon Guest Services Desk and personnel will be glad to call one for you.
Shopping Bags
Stop by the Simon Guest Services Desk in Center Court and purchase a shopping bag for $1. All proceeds benefit the Simon Youth Foundation.
Strollers are available for a nominal fee from an automated vending machine located by Route 18 entrance inside the mall.
TDD Phone
Located in the corridor next to JCPenney
Ticketmaster, the world's leading live entertainment ticketing company, now has a retail location at select Simon® Malls Guest Services Booths. You can access event information and purchase tickets at Guest Services to a wide range of venues and entertainment options including sporting events, museums, theaters, performing arts and family shows. Did you purchase tickets from Ticketmaster online? You can conveniently pick them up at our mall. Stop by Simon Guest Services for all of your Ticketmaster ticketing needs.
Wheelchairs (Complimentary)
Wheelchairs are available free of charge with proper identification. Wheelchairs are available on a first-come, first-serve basis at the Simon Guest Services Desk, located in Center Court.
Enhanced Cellular Connectivity
This property features enhanced cellular connectivity that improves the signal strength and brings the cell phone tower inside of the mall.


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Wish Farms also has started in-line scanning for blueberries. Each package has a unique quick-response code that is scanned by a high-speed scanner and associates a container with a particular run, which is initialized with data such as field location, pack date and other information. The QR code also includes a mobile web address for consumers.
Yerecic develops new two-layer label
Yerecic Label, New Kensington, Pa., has developed an Easy Fresh Cooking brand one-peel, two-layer label, said Rich Thoma, vice president of sales and marketing.
The label has a top layer that can be peeled back to reveal recipes, company facts or additional information that allows a producer to connect with consumers.
The company also is adding attention-getting processes using, for example, sparkle, metallic inks or holographic overprints for a 3-D look usually seen only with high-margin items or health and beauty aid products. These come with little or no up charge, in keeping with perishable product producers' need to keep costs under control, Thoma said.
Yerecic also has developed recyclable label liners — the backing from which adhesive labels are peeled, which traditionally end up in landfills.
The company is exploring anti-counterfeiting technology that allows the authenticity of a label to be determined by scanning it with a special device.


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2012 MLB™ American League Quilt + Sham
No longer available
- Overview
The perfect bedding for true baseball fans, this 100% cotton quilt features appliqués of official American League MLB™ team logos in rich color.
- Pure cotton percale.
- Lofty polyester fill.
- Appliquéd with team logos from the American League of MLB™.
- Embroidered with decorative quilt stitching.
- Quilt reverses to a solid percale.
- Quilted sham has an envelope closure.
- Twin size quilt fits both standard twin and twin XL dorm mattresses.
- Quilt, sham and insert sold separately.
- Machine wash.
- Imported.
Mix + match our bedding to create your own unique look with our Design Your Own Bed Tool.
- Dimensions + Care
- Twin: 68 x 86"
- Full/Queen: 86" square
- Standard: 20 x 26"
- Made of 100% cotton fabrics.
- Filled with 320-gram-weight batting using a blend of 55% cotton, 45% polyester.
- Yarn dyed for vibrant, lasting color.
- Sham features an envelope closure. Insert sold separately; down blend or synthetic.
- Machine wash in warm water; gentle cycle.
- Use only nonchlorine bleach, if needed.
- Tumble dry on low heat.
- Warm iron as needed.
- Shipping Info
- Please allow 5-7 business days for delivery. Delivery estimate includes monogrammed and gift-wrapped items.
No longer available
Standard Sham (Sold Separately)
No longer available
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$22 – $29
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2014 MLB™ Sheet Set
Sheet Set
Please Select Size: Twin/Twin XL
Please Select League:
Monogram this item
$69 – $119
Classic Metro Duvet Cover + Pillowcase
sale $99 – $139
- More Colors


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Style Number: 35386603 Color: Buckthorn Brown
Available in mid or low cut, the Puma Deck is a sophisticated sneaker constructed with premium materials. Part of the Alexander McQueen collection, they feature clean lines, a soft leather upper, leather lining, Alexander McQueen branding, and a rubber outsole.
With FREE RETURNS there's no risk. Sneakerhead.com will issue you a FREE return label if you are not completely satisfied with your purchase. Simply return items(s) for an exchange or refund within 30 days of the delivery date. Learn more
(no reviews) | Be the first to rate and review this item |
Create an account today and start earning points you can redeem for discounts, goods & more.
Get the sneakers & goods you want, shipped to your part of the globe. Int'l Shipping details.


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Maestro: Notes of Life Collector's Edition
Stop the young prodigy and save everyone from his evil plans in Maestro: Notes of Life! A missing girl has been lured away by evil music and now it's up to you to save her in this incredible Hidden Object Puzzle Adventure game. Find the source of the music by scouring beautiful locations and put an end to the deadly tune. Solve tricky puzzles to become a hero and complete your journey in Maestro: Notes of Life!
This is a special Collector's Edition release full of exclusive extras you won't find in the standard version. As a bonus, Collector's Edition purchases count toward three stamps on your Monthly Game Club Punch Card!
The Collector's Edition includes:
- Bonus gameplay
- Stunning Screensavers
- Wonderful Wallpapers
Game System Requirements:
- CPU: 1.4 GHz (INTEL ONLY)
- Hard Drive: 654 MB
Game Manager System Requirements:
- Browser: Safari 4.0 or later
Buy this game Get 3 punches
The Big Fish Guarantee:
- Quality tested and virus free.
- No ads, no adware, no spyware.
Recently Viewed Games
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Maestro: Notes of Life Collector's Edition
Customer Reviews
The Windows logo is a trademark of Microsoft, Inc.


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Experts in London, Shanghai and Delhi convened for a series of roundtables on diversity which underlined the importance of leaders who set the tone from the top in harnessing the strengths of diversity for business growth and innovation around the world. The outcome of these discussions is summarised in 'Driving Business Performance through Diversity' published today.
The three expert panels were organised by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants). They brought together chief executives, CFOs, entrepreneurs, renowned academics, HR directors and heads of diversity from organisations such as Credit Suisse, KPMG, the Equality and Human Rights Commission, Henkel China and Max India Foundation.
The discussions took a broad view of diversity, describing it as "not just an ethical or moral imperative, but one that can drive performance and innovation through the positive management of different perspectives." This enabled a free-ranging discussion, which also looked at the economic, political and sociological aspects affecting diversity in business.
The two factors promoting business growth that attracted the most interest and discussion in all three cities were talent and leadership.
Helen Brand, chief executive of ACCA, said: 'It is clear from all three events that diversity is about people and that is probably why the issue of leadership received such emphasis at each roundtable. Most panellists said that having the right leadership was essential to drive diversity, and that the right tone needs to be set at the top of the organisation.'
Professor Paul Boyle, CEO of ESRC and Chair of the Delhi panel, said: 'Effective talent management was also seen as essential to driving diversity. Organisations that seek to harness the creativity and innovation that can result from greater diversity need to adopt a broad mindset that encourages and accommodates a range of perspectives, fresh thinking and autonomy.'
The expert panels also discussed the need to train managers in how to bring out the diverse strengths and viewpoints of people in their teams. An important attribute for leaders today and in the future is cultural intelligence. The report's author, Alison Maitland, said: 'We know about emotional intelligence and IQ, but the London panel raised the important issue of cultural intelligence and the need to instil this into children, early at school, as a valuable asset for work in the future. Panellists also spoke about the importance of CEOs and other leaders having their hearts and minds open to accepting differences, such as different cultural perspectives, if they are to keep up with the realities of global business today.'
Comments from the roundtables include:
- 'Diversity is not about innovation, diversity is about survival. It's not a luxury. It is essential thinking.'
- 'India has more diversity in one country than in the whole continent of Europe.'
- Panellists questioned how diversity and innovation could be encouraged in a culture where people are highly respectful of hierarchy.
- Panellists in Shanghai looked at the need for managers to upgrade their soft skills especially as China shifts from low value to higher value manufacturing.
- Panellists also said there is a war for talent, and that the country benefits from a relentless approach to innovation with an attitude of 'if it doesn't work, try another way.'
- Future expansion was a concern for panellists, questioning how Chinese business should handle overseas expansion and acquisitions.
- The economic downturn has posed many challenges for diversity - if jobs are being cut, how can companies best encourage an influx of new and diverse talent?
- One panellist said it was a problem relying only on the HR function to find and recruit diverse talent, rather than using women / ethnic minorities already in the workplace to do this.
- A panellist said the UK should do more to showcase its own best practice when it comes to diversity: 'There's a job to be done to showcase how we can leverage the diversity that we have within the UK to other parts of the world.'
The expert panellists were:
Ravi Chaudhry, founder Chairman of CeNext Consulting and Investment Pvt Ltd
Andrew Jackson, British High Commission
Lalit Jain, Senior Vice President & Company Secretary, Jubilant Life Sciences Ltd
Ashish Makhija, Corporate Consultant and Lawyer
Vandana Saxena Poria OBE, CEO, Get Through Guides
Mohini Daljeet Singh, Head, Max India Foundation
Charlie Walker, Director of Programmes, British Council
Christina Antoniou, HR Partner, Deloitte China
David Cavanna, CFO, HSBC China
Stewart Chen, Learning and Development Director, Asia Pacific, Honeywell
Chun Wee Chiew, Head of Policy, Asia Pacific, ACCA
Michael Gui, Senior Consultant in Talent Management, Right Management
Jing Ning, Staff FP&A Analyst, GE Industrial Solution, Asia
Jason Wang, CFO, Henkel China
Yanqing Yang, Deputy Editor-in-Chief, CBN newspaper
Bieneosa Ebite MPRCA, Managing Director, Bright Star Public Relations
Alan Gillespie, ESRC Chair, Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)
Lord Hastings of Scarisbrick, Global Head of Citizenship & Diversity, KPMG
India Gary-Martin, Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer, J.P. Morgan
Monder Ram OBE, Director, Centre for Research in Ethnic Minority Entrepreneurship (CREME)
Michelle Mendelsson, Director EMEA, Global Diversity and Inclusion, Credit Suisse AG
Alice Teague, Head of Policy, Equality and Human Rights Commission
Andrew Leck, Head of ACCA UK, Association of Chartered Certified Accountants


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Mini handbags are all the rage this season, and this studded cross-body is just what you need to nail the trend. Pair it with your daytime street-style or after-dark attire—it's the perfect mix of fashion and function.
Shipping Options:
Orders are shipped via UPS using the following rate scale:
Standard 5-7 Business Days - $8.95
Second Business Day - $14.95
Next Business Day - $26.95
NOTE: No Saturday or Sunday deliveries.
No shipping to P.O.Boxes. A.P.O and F.P.O addresses are automatically shipped via
USPS Ground.
Orders placed during regular business hours (Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. EST) are typically processed and shipped within one business day.
We do not offer international shipping at this time.
For complete details, click here.
Easy Return Options:
Take it back to your local GUESS store for FREE or ship it back to us.
GUESS gladly accepts unworn, unwashed or defective full-priced merchandise for up to thirty days after purchase date. Original receipt, hygiene strip and tags must be attached. Unfortunately, pierced jewelry, innerwear, fragrances, lotions and items marked "final sale" are not returnable. Sale merchandise may only be returned to a store for an exchange. Shipping charges are not refundable.
For complete details, click here.
Contact Us By Email:
Use our online contact form for quick, personalized assistance. Click here.
Contact Us By Phone:
Toll Free: 1-877-44-GUESS (48377).
Monday through Friday 6:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., Saturday 7 a.m. - 4 p.m. (PT)


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News & Notes: Kistler Engines Classic Featuring The World of Outlaws |
Wednesday, 29 May 2013 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
By Sam Martin - World of Outlaws STP Sprint Cars PR The World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series invades Attica Raceway Park on Friday, I-96 Speedway on Saturday for the NAPA Auto Parts Outlaw Showdown, and Kokomo Speedway on Wednesday, June 5, in a three-race swing through Ohio, Michigan and Indiana. Kasey Kahne Racing's Daryn Pittman continues his stranglehold on the championship lead with five victories and a 178-point lead, but Tony Stewart Racing's Donny Schatz is coming off his fifth win of the season and is closing the gap in his quest for a sixth World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series crown. PREVIOUS WoO STP SPRINT CAR FEATURE WINNERS AT ATTICA: 2011: Donny Schatz - May 20th WORLD OF OUTLAWS STP SPRINT CAR DRIVER POINTS:
2013 FEATURE WINNERS: Daryn Pittman - 5 (Perris Auto Speedway on April 13, Tucson International Raceway on March 9, Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 15, Eldora Speedway on May 4, and New Egypt Speedway on May 21); Donny Schatz - 5 (Kings Speedway on April 12, The Dirt Track at Las Vegas on March 6, Knoxville Raceway on May 11, Williams Grove Speedway on May 17, and Lawrenceburg Speedway on May 27); Tim Kaeding - 4 (Thunderbowl Raceway on March 15, The Dirt Track at Las Vegas on March 7, Tri-State Speedway on April 20 and Elko Speedway on May 10); Craig Dollansky - 2 (Thunderbowl Raceway on March 16 and Salina Highbanks Speedway on April 27); Paul McMahan - 2 (Silver Dollar Speedway on March 23, The Dirt Track at Charlotte on May 24);Danny Dietrich - 1 (Lincoln Speedway on May 17); Shane Golobic - 1 (Antioch Speedway on April 5);Kraig Kinser - 1 (Orange County Fair Speedway on May 20); Steve Kinser - 1 (El Paso Speedway Park on April 16); Kyle Larson - 1 (Stockton 99 Dirt Track on March 22); Danny Lasoski - 1 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 17);Kerry Madsen - 1 (Eldora Speedway on May 3); Terry McCarl - 1 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 16), Sammy Swindell - 1 (Merced Speedway on March 29). TUNE IN: Listen live as the Voice of the Outlaws, Johnny Gibson, calls the action at all World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series events on the DIRT Radio Network, with a number of events throughout the season being featured on the DIRTVision Cybercast. Visit DIRTVision.com for more information on all the features. LIVE UPDATES ONLINE: Check out the Official World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series website at WoOsprint.com for live, interactive text updates of each race. It also includes driver biographies with statistics and pictures, race-by-race stats, detailed track information and race coverage, series news and team press releases. |
Last Updated ( Thursday, 30 May 2013 ) |


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Surya Sculpture Collection SCU7506 Designer Rug
$80 – $1412
Striking and sophisticated, the rugs of the Sculpture Collection utilize the art of surface carving to reveal elegant pattern and textural energy. Created by respected interior designer Candice Olson, each rug is an artistic representation of ultimate luxury and simplicity. Hand-woven from 1% Wool, they make the ideal addition to any transitional or contemporary interior.
Care Instructions | Vacuum regularly. For stain care: with a dry cotton towel or white paper towel, blot out stain as much as possible. Scrape off any food or debris with a dull instrument. Mix a very small amount of dish soap with a cup of cold water. With clean sponge and soap mix, gently remove remainder of stain. Avoid using excessive water. Bloat area with dry towel. Professional Cleaning is recommended every 2-3 years. |
Collection | Sculpture |
Construction | Loomed |
Country Of Origin | India |
Pile Height | 0.437 |
Material | 100% Wool |
Shape | N/A |
Style | Designer |
Warranties | 1 year manufacturer guaranteed warranty |
Price | N/A |
AreaRugs.com offers an extensive variety of area rugs from the top rug manufactures. Our merchandise is of exceptional quality, and it is our goal to bring you the latest designs at the best prices.
Our Guarantee
We stand behind every product we sell. If, for any reason you are not 100% satisfied with your purchase, return it within 30 days and we will exchange it or refund the purchase price, whichever you prefer.


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You're leaving Wedding Paper Divas to see the Deal of the Day at our parent site, Tiny Prints.
You won't be able to dismiss this by usual means (escape or click button), but you can close it programatically based on user choices or actions.
"I had a 50th very upscale birthday party and I wanted to give all of my out of town guest something personal to say "Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to attend my party." So added 8 pictures of each one of them and gave them to my guest for Christmas. Well they all ABSOLUTELY loved these mugs. Each person just raved about getting this personalized mug. Not to mention all the pictures from the party "like no other" and all the great memories of the fun time they had. The pictures look amazing. They are glossy and a very high quality. They really do put the "fun" in personal."
"We ordered a mug with our save the date on it. It turned out better than I anticipated. The quality and design were worth every penny. After reviewing my picture I wanted on the mug, one of the customer service rep. had taken the time to call me to let me know that the image wasn't going to print as beautiful as we would like (due to the poor quality and pix elated picture). She actually took the time to help me decide on a picture that was better! Wedding Paper Diva's is an amazing company. I ordered my save the dates, a mug, labels, and now we are ordering our wedding invitations through them. Thank you Wedding Paper Diva's!"
"I bought these mugs to match my save the dates and gave them to my mom and mother in law to be. They love them! It's a great little gift they can both enjoy and still use after the wedding!"


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HAPPY SOCKS Dark Blue with Pink Hearts
Happy Socks are designed in Sweden and manufactured in Turkey. All Happy Socks are high quality socks. The hand linked toe seam ensures that there is no bulging overlap at the toe, but a perfectly smooth seam, making the sock fit your foot like a glove. Produced from the best yarns with handlinked toe. All combed cotton, tubes, and hemp models are unisex. Dark Blue with Pink Hearts
Price $12.00
All sizing is US based unless otherwise noted. Please refer to the size chart for conversions to European, UK or Japanese sizes.


text: I just purchased a new Bersa Thunder 22 to go along with my Thunder 380. The gun is well made, fit and function also good. The double action trigger pull is long and a bit heavy but in single action the trigger is not bad at all. The safety also is a bit stiff when decocking the piece but I hope this will loosen up a bit with use. I have about 200 rounds thru the gun so far, with both CCI Blazer and Remington yellow-head high velocity ammo and function thru the gun has been 100%. No misfires, not failures to feed. I really like this gun EXCEPT for one annoying item- The gun shoots 2-3 inches below point of aim. Result with either ammo is nearly the same. How you supposed to hit anything when you can't see it below the sights? Is there anything one can do about this?


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Let me re-phrase the discusssion.
Up until now, we never had a doubt that when a new sports channel came along that D* would carry it, if it could. It would take the fans' position and try to do what it could to obtain carriage. We know that channels such as CSNPhilly, CSNNW and other owners throw road blocks in D*'s way so they could keep their channel(s) off of its system, and we lived with it because we felt that D* was in our corner.
But now, things seem to have changed. I get the feeling D* is putting its interests ahead of ours, and that's the issue.
I would agree with that.
D* claims they are looking out for their customers by keeping their bill from going up. But if the things I most want to watch --Lakers basketball and USC football -- are not available to me on D*, than my interests are not being served very well, no matter what my monthly bill is.
Last week's Cal game was the first USC game in 11 years that was not available on my TV. Sure, the Pac-12 shares some of the blame, but it does feel as if something has changed at D* -- and not for the better.


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Hippety hop in hilariously huge high holiday fashion this year! Our Parade Easter Bunny Costume features a festive purple flowered hat headpiece, clever chestpiece with grinning bunny face and hair, and a colorful jumpsuit with attached patterned vest and oversized orange bow tie. Awww!
Adult Parade Easter Bunny Costume includes:
Available Sizes: Standard