Graphic Design Cookery Book - All posts by r.p.

How not to build back links to your website

by R.P. 18/11/2008 11:27:00

One of the general goals of any website is to get up the search rankings for relevant search phrases, particularly in popular search engines such as Google or Yahoo.

There are a number of factors which contribute to a pages position on the results, including keyword positioning and content, but one of the most imnportant issues are back links - links from other sites which link back to the page. However, not all links are equal. What are the kind of things that should be avoided in anyones link building strategy? I found the following useful, taken from here.

"The Web is woven out of links and inbound and outbound links are most natural. Generally, the more inbound links (i.e. other sites link to you) you have, the better. On the contrary, if you have many outbound links, this is not very good. And what is worse – it can be disastrous, if you link to improper places – i.e. bad neighbors. The concept is hardly difficult to comprehend – it is so similar to real life: if you choose outlaws or bad guys for friends, you are considered to be one of them.

It might look unfair to be penalized for things that you have not done but linking to sites with bad reputation is equal to a crime for search engines and by linking to such a site, you can expect to be penalized as well. And yes, it is fair because search engines do penalize sites that use different tricks to manipulate search results. In a way, in order to guarantee the integrity of search results, search engines cannot afford to tolerate unethical practices.

However, search engines tend to be fair and do not punish you for things that are out of your control. If you have many inbound links from suspicious sites, this will not be regarded as a malpractice on your side because generally it is their Web master, not you, who has put all these links. So, inbound links, no matter where they come from, cannot harm you. But if in addition to inbound links, you have a considerable amount of outbound links to such sites, in a sense you vote for them. Search engines consider this as malpractice and you will get punished."

Tags: seo, links, back links, linking, web, website

Category: SEO

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Rebranding the Hut - anyone for Pasta?

by R.P. 22/10/2008 11:02:00

The trial rebranding of Pizza Hut - now known sometimes as Pasta Hut, has been underway for little under a month, replacing its pizza-focused menu with a menu consisting mainly of pasta dishes.

As far as rebrands go, this seems to be a subtle change building upon the familiar rather than a new image or focus.The look remains almost identical, with the graphic elements, font type, size and even the overall shape of the brand name remaining the same (you notice that both Pizza and Pasta begin with P, and are 5 letters long, maintaining consistency in image even with the change).

My own guess is that it is a ploy to push the line-up of Pasta they have on offer, and then revert back to the tried and tested (and catchier) Pizza Hut once they have got the news out there and achieved their objective.

BACKGROUND

The re-branding is part of an £18 million revamp package designed to attract new customers and move it into more upmarket terrain - competing I would imagine with the likes of Pizza Express (though, personally, changing the name is not going to help them much if the product stays the same)

As part of the revamp, the chain has been temporarily re-naming 30 of its branches Pasta Hut.

Pizza Hut (Pasta Hut?) boss Alasdair Murdoch has said that "We're trying to say to people: 'Yes, we're great at pizzas, but we're also great at salads and pasta.' "

They have also said that the restaurant plans to sneak 'hidden vegetables in kids' meals'. (Is nothing sacred anymore?)

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Category: General

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Creative uses of Graphic Design Services - Exhibit 4

by R.P. 14/10/2008 11:59:00

Continuing our series demonstrating innovate uses of graphic design services - in this case the infamous exploding billboard. Used by a courier firm in a marketing campaign that supposedly only cost them $20000 NZ dollars, and yet attracted a million viewers to the youtube recording of the event when it eventually took place.

The concept is of course that deadlines matter, and the consequences of missing the appointed time can be drastic. The exploding billboard was used to reinforce the brand promise of the firm Deadline Couriers - "when we give you a time we mean it".

The campaign, run in 2007, has since received several Asia Pacific awards including a Gold at the Spike Awards and Best in Show titles at New Zealand's Axis award