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Archive for January, 2006

Dump of PHP Predefined Variables

Tuesday, January 10th, 2006

Not dumped below are $_SESSION, $_ENV, $_FILES, $GLOBAL, $_SESSION.

For more information on the variables use see here.

$_SERVER

DOCUMENT_ROOT /my/docroot
HTTP_ACCEPT image/gif, image/x-xbitmap, image/jpeg, image/pjpeg, application/x-ms-application, application/vnd.ms-xpsdocument, application/xaml+xml, application/x-ms-xbap, application/msword, application/vnd.ms-excel, application/vnd.ms-powerpoint, application/x-shockwave-flash, application/x-silverlight, */*
HTTP_ACCEPT_LANGUAGE en-us
HTTP_CONNECTION Keep-Alive
HTTP_COOKIE __utma=56526719.905094558.1204581256.1209075425.1209143129.11; __utmz=56526719.1208363160.4.3.utmccn=(organic)|utmcsr=search|utmctr=elixirsystems.com|utmcmd=organic; __utmb=56526719; __utmc=56526719; seen_flash=1
HTTP_HOST www.elixirsystems.com
HTTP_REFERER http://www.elixirsystems.com/seo_tips/
HTTP_UA_CPU x86
HTTP_USER_AGENT Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 6.0; SU 3.011; SLCC1; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; .NET CLR 3.0.04506; InfoPath.2)
HTTP_VIA 1.1 EBSS-WS1
PATH /sbin:/usr/sbin:/bin:/usr/bin
REMOTE_ADDR 70.96.173.130
REMOTE_PORT 32011
SCRIPT_FILENAME /my/docroot/seo_tips/PHP_Predefined_Variables.php
SERVER_ADDR 216.126.64.170
SERVER_ADMIN webmaster@elixirsystems.com
SERVER_NAME www.elixirsystems.com
SERVER_PORT 80
SERVER_SIGNATURE
Apache/1.3.37 Server at www.elixirsystems.com Port 80
SERVER_SOFTWARE Apache/1.3.37 (Unix) PHP/5.2.0 mod_auth_passthrough/1.8 mod_log_bytes/1.2 mod_bwlimited/1.4 FrontPage/5.0.2.2635.SR1.2 mod_ssl/2.8.28 OpenSSL/0.9.8a
GATEWAY_INTERFACE CGI/1.1
SERVER_PROTOCOL HTTP/1.1
REQUEST_METHOD GET
QUERY_STRING  
REQUEST_URI /seo_tips/PHP_Predefined_Variables.php
SCRIPT_NAME /seo_tips/PHP_Predefined_Variables.php
PATH_TRANSLATED /my/docroot/seo_tips/PHP_Predefined_Variables.php
PHP_SELF /seo_tips/PHP_Predefined_Variables.php
REQUEST_TIME 1209147519
argv Array ( )

1
argc 0

$_REQUEST

__utma 56526719.905094558.1204581256.1209075425.1209143129.11
__utmz 56526719.1208363160.4.3.utmccn=(organic)|utmcsr=search|utmctr=elixirsystems.com|utmcmd=organic
__utmb 56526719
__utmc 56526719
seen_flash 1

$_COOKIE

__utma 56526719.905094558.1204581256.1209075425.1209143129.11
__utmz 56526719.1208363160.4.3.utmccn=(organic)|utmcsr=search|utmctr=elixirsystems.com|utmcmd=organic
__utmb 56526719
__utmc 56526719
seen_flash 1

$_GET

$_POST



Copywriting Makeover: Subtle Changes Make A Noticeable Difference

Friday, January 6th, 2006

Changing a few words in your copy can lead to double-digit increases in conversions. If that sounds like a bunch of hype from an online infomercial, stick around and I’ll show you how it’s done.

That’s really all that happened with Kneelsit.com, an Australian ergonomic computer chair manufacturer. They had what would be considered a successful site with a continual stream of orders. All the basic information was already included on the home page, but the owner felt as though something was not quite “there” yet. He wanted a fresh approach to the site’s copy, so that’s what he received. And the results were simply amazing.

The Problems

While Kneelsit had great rankings for their key terms (normally #1 to #4 in popular search engines) keeping those rankings high required some attention to the SEO piece of the puzzle. Conversions, however, were not at their maximum. The business was not suffering, but it did have room for improvement. So, after receiving a sample chair to use during the process, I set (or should I say “sat”) out to work.

Once I assembled the chair and rolled it up to my desk, I kept a notepad nearby so I could jot down benefits as I noticed them. In just a few days’ time, I had a long list of features and benefits to refer to.

As I read over the original home page copy (which can be seen here: http://www.copywritingcourse.com/kneelsit-home-original.html), I noticed something else. Many of the benefits I had on my paper were referenced (at least briefly) in the original copy. Some were phrased differently than I would later phrase them, but most were there.

However, in this highly competitive industry, I wanted to be sure to keep the uniqueness of the chair on the forefront. Visitors needed to quickly see that the Kneelsit was superior to other computer chairs available. The changing of some verbiage and providing more details in some areas would help keep visitors reading and help them easily distinguish this chair from others on their comparison list.

Once my list of benefits was completed, I began relating these options to other kneeling chairs and to users of ergonomic computer chairs. I wanted to see which benefits on my list were unique in the marketplace. I also wanted to know about the users of these chairs. After all, the buyer is the center of the process and should also be the focus of the copy.

My research revealed some of the reasons users would need an ergonomic chair and also the biggest complaints about some of the current ergonomic designs. In addition, I discovered which benefits were common to other ergonomic chairs and which were distinctive.

The Solutions

Armed with the research results, I started crafting the copy to speak to that one person who was forced to sit at a computer all day, in pain, and who desperately needed help. This person had tried several other computer chairs before with little to no results and was getting skeptical about finding a solution.

I looked back over my list of benefits in search of the ones that would not be found in the competition’s copy. I focused on one exclusive, patented feature (the axle design) and the fact that the chair was customizable for every body type.

I laid out a plan for the new copy including keyword selection, keyword placement, benefits and key points to be mentioned.

Similar in many ways to the original copy, the new version had some subtle, but powerful, changes. The goal of the new copy was to show the true distinction of these chairs by highlighting the most impressive benefits.

I would also focus on incorporating keyphrases in headlines and sub-heads (where it made sense to do so) and throughout the copy. I had to pay careful attention to making the copy sound natural, as I never want the SEO factors to overshadow the message of the page.

In Part 2 of this series, we’ll take a look at what went into the rewrite as well as what type of results were achieved with the new copy.

Copy not getting results? Learn to write SEO copy that impresses the engines and your visitors at http://www.copywritingcourse.com. Be sure to also check out Karon’s latest e-report “How To Increase Keyword Saturation (Without Destroying the Flow of Your Copy)” at http://www.copywritingcourse.com/keyword.



Search Engine Friendly 301 Redirect in ASP

Wednesday, January 4th, 2006

If you are finding that the www.sitename.com and sitename.com version of your site are both being indexed by the search engines you could hit an issue with the search engines seeing duplicate content – after all most sites have both site names resolving to the same underlying file structure. This can also be an issue for people with parked domains – if you’ve brought multiple domains with the common misspellings of your company name (for example), if the search engines index the parked domain you could have a duplicate content issue. Another issue is having links pointing to the various site names dilutes their value, but pointing them all at just one domain name you’ve got a better chance of higher rankings.

One of the best ways around this issue is to redirect all traffic destined for the domains you don’t want to get indexed to the site name you do want to get indexed. By using a 301 redirect the value of the links will also be redirected to the main site name.

ASP 301 Code

Place the following code into the header of any asp document and it will redirect the page access to the correct site name while preserving the script name and the query arguments.

<%
  ' If the server name is not www.sitename.com we can do the redirect to www.sitename.com.
  ' The only time we can is if the method is a GET
  ' (no way to pass along the POST arguments) and its on port 80 (don't want to redirect the SSL).
if ( strcomp( lcase( Request.ServerVariables("SERVER_NAME") ) , "www.sitename.com", 1 ) <> 0 _
    AND Request.ServerVariables("SERVER_PORT") = 80 _
    AND strcomp( lcase( Request.ServerVariables("REQUEST_METHOD") ) , "get" , 1 ) = 0 _
) then
    URL = "http://www.sitename.com" & Request.ServerVariables("SCRIPT_NAME")
    if len ( request.servervariables("QUERY_STRING" ) ) > 0 then
        URL = URL + "?" + request.servervariables("QUERY_STRING" )
    end if
    Response.Status="301 Moved Permanently"
    Response.AddHeader "Location", URL
    Response.End
end if
%>

Related

PHP 301 Redirect
ASP 301 Redirect
CFM Coldfusion 301 Redirect

JSP Java Server Pages 301 Redirect
404 Redirect one file at a time
404 Redirect one directory at a time
404 Redirect multiple pages easily