The year is coming to a close and it's time for "best of 2007" lists to start popping up in your feed reader. While there are some great ones out there, I wanted to make sure to draw your attention to Evan Carmichael's "Top 50 SEO Posts of the Year." Evan has put together one of the most comprehensive lists of great posts you'll see this year. In fact, he's done it without any writer overlap. That means he's offering up fifty articles from fifty different writers.

To read about the biggest controversy of the year you'll want to start with Matt Cutt's hysteria inducing "How to Report Paid Links" along with responses from writers like Danny Sullivan and myself.

For great "just getting started" articles, try the listings from Kevin Newcomb and Debra Mastaler.

Tired of all the talk about links? Check out the best posts about topics like Google's supplemental index, press releases, Wikipedia and local search.

You'll also find super valuable resource posts from the likes of Andy Beal, Todd Malicoat, Andy Hagans

This list is not for the faint of heart, but is is for the person looking to get a fantastic overview of the changes in the search engine marketing world over the past year. Even better, it's a wonderful way to get exposure to dozens of writers, many of whom you may have never heard of.

So grab your energy-inducing beverage of choice, fire up your browser and prepare to grow the number of search feeds in your RSS reader.

If you own or work with a search engine optimization company, or even if you're just hoping to better your search engine placement, then you are probably aware of the recent acquisition frenzy that took hold among the major search engines. Google paid $3.1 billion for DoubleClick, Microsoft paid $6 billion for Aquantive, and Yahoo paid $680 million for the 80 percent of Right Media that it did not already own and another $300 million for BlueLithium. The companies purchased are all intended to help widen the advertising range of each of the engines in question, and to take advantage of increasingly sophisticated behavioral-based ad-serving technologies that the acquired companies owned.

What many people failed to realize was that when Google purchased DoubleClick, it now was also the owner of a very large search engine optimization company called Performics, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of DoubleClick.

This fact is of course raising some eyebrows in the industry. Google has consistently maintained that there is no way that people can pay for better search engine placement in the organic index, a stance that the company still claims applies despite this recent purchase. In fact, a portion of Google's published guidelines about SEO says, "While Google doesn't have relationships with any SEOs and doesn't offer recommendations?" In another portion, Google says "While Google never sells better ranking in our search results?" However, anyone who hires search engine optimization company Performics is of course now paying Google for better search engine placement. It seems like a pretty black and white issue, but Google would obviously prefer that it was kept delightfully blurry.

A Serious Conflict of Interest

One would think that Google, aware of the controversy that would come from the fact that it now owned a search engine optimization company, would be eager to spin Performics off quickly in order to avoid the appearance of impropriety and of selling search engine placement. Not so, says the official Google/Doubleclick acquisition FAQ:

Q. What will Google do with Performics?

A. Performics is part of DoubleClick, and we are acquiring it as part of the transaction. We have no plans to dispose of it at this time.[1]

All right, so Google owns a search engine optimization company and seems prepared to hold onto it for a little while at least. Yes, there seems to be a huge conflict of interest. Yes, there appears to be a large double standard. Yes, Google appears to have abandoned its long-standing principles regarding organic search engine placement in the interests of profit. But surely, the search engine optimization company that it bought will quickly be forced to follow the guidelines that Google has published for companies that are looking for a search engine optimization company. Right? Well, no.

Here is a verbatim quote from the guidelines that Google provides to people thinking about hiring a search engine optimization company:

Make sure you're protected legally.

For your own safety, you should insist on a full and unconditional money-back guarantee. Don't be afraid to request a refund if you're unsatisfied for any reason?[2]

On the surface, this advice seems solid enough, but as an owner of a search engine optimization company, I can tell you how impractical it is. What would prevent a company that achieved fantastic search engine placement using my service from asking for its money back, claiming that it is unsatisfied? "For any reason" is a very slippery slope, and apparently Google agrees ? Performics does not offer a guarantee of any kind. How do I know? Simple -- one of my employees called and asked. We also have it in writing from an email we received from one of their sales reps.

What Are Google's Options?

Let's be charitable and assume that in the heat of the acquisition Google has forgotten to update the page of advice that it has created for website owners. This leaves only four things that can happen:

Status Quo: Google keeps this advice up on the page and Performics continues to offer no guarantee regarding search engine placement. We'll call this the "hypocritical" scenario.

Performics gets in line: Google leaves the advice up as is and forces Performics to offer an unconditional money-back guarantee. We'll call this the "free SEO from Performics" scenario.

Guidelines change: Performics maintains zero guarantees for search engine placement but Google modifies the advice to remove the inconsistencies pointed out in this article from its advice section. We'll call this the "shareholder's delight moneygrubber special" scenario.

Google spins off Performics and removes itself from the search engine optimization industry. We'll call this the "sanity over dollars" scenario.

I'm not betting on which of these scenarios is most likely. Some time back I would have picked #4, but as I pointed out in a recent article, Google has already crossed an invisible line by offering free advice about organic search engine placement to its biggest pay-per-click spenders.

Google owning a search engine optimization company -- a slippery slope, indeed. What does this mean for those hiring other companies and looking for great search engine placement? We will just have to wait and see.

[1] http://www.searchenginejournal.com/what-will-google-do-with-performics/4720/

[2] http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=35291

Product pages maintain considerable strategic importance for ecommerce websites. Your visitors enter your product pages not only with an intention to buy something (the most desired end action) but to also learn, research and compare what you have against a competitor. In addition to this, product pages also serve to help buyers find relevant pricing information, delivery costs, warranty and/or return policies and a whole lot more.

To be effective, your website must implement product pages that are able to satisfy each of your visitor's needs. But information isn't enough either. While providing necessary information, these pages must be convincing enough to entice your visitors to move through the purchase process -- on your site rather than on a competitor's website.

This is a tall order for pages that typically have very little content. But it's not impossible. Here are 12 things that will help your product pages convert visitors more effectively.

Calls to action

Every product page absolutely must have at least one, if not more, calls to action. The most important action a user can take is to "buy now" but other actions such as "purchase," "add to cart," "save for later," "add to wish list," etc, can be equally effective at capturing a sale.

Contact information

Not all shoppers are comfortable using web forms or wish to purchase online. Others have questions they need answered before completing their purchase. For these shoppers you should have a visible phone number or email address as well as additional contact information and purchase options available.

Consistent layout

Product pages must be consistent from page to page (product to product). Don?t confuse visitors by changing the location of information from one product to the next. Keep information consistently located on all product pages.

Overview information

Each product should contain a product summary, overview or short description. This information is best provided as high up on the page ("above the fold") as possible. Additional information such as features, specifications, etc. should be secondary.

Detail information

Leave room on the page for necessary information and details. You can also provide links to additional pages of content if necessary, but the less you force visitors to click away from the main page, the better.

Product comparisons

Allowing side-by-side product comparisons can enhance the shoppers experience. Comparisons help shoppers find the product(s) that best fits their needs and help them make the best purchase decision.

Printer-friendly option

Not every shopper will be ready to buy now and may need time to mull over their purchase. Product and comparison pages should contain printer-friendly links that allow shoppers to print the information for later reference. Once printed, this also provides them a reminder of where to come back to in order to make the purchase.

Pricing

Unless products are custom priced, pricing information must clearly be presented on the product page. If specific pricing information cannot be added to the page you should include price ranges or "starting at" pricing.

International options

If you sell products to international destinations include pricing information in different currencies. If you support a wide range of international destinations, provide a link to a currency conversion site allowing your shoppers to make the conversions easily on their own.

Quality images

Image quality plays a significant role in the mental process of making the decision to purchase. All images should be of the highest quality possible. Poor images convey poor products.

Enhanced Image views

Add additional alternate images whenever possible. Enhanced image views such as larger pictures, zoomed in and multi-angle views and even video can provide additional benefit to shoppers. This benefit enhances trust in the products shown.

The role of your product page is to inform and sell. It needs to do both. The better informed shoppers are, the more likely they will be not only to purchase from you, but to make the right purchase. A sale that later turns into a headache due to lack of information is a profit loss. On the other hand, giving visitors the information they need will steer them to the right product and help them make a informed purchase that creates profit not just from one sale, but repeat purchases for years to come.

There is a lot more that can be added to this, however much of that will be addressed when I talk specifically about shopping carts in the next installment.

Discuss this article in the Small Business Ideas forum.

Having bumped heads with Homestead.com twice now in the past year, I think it's time to speak up. Homestead is one of the best known template-website-builder companies out there. They offer website design and hosting, have a pleasant user interface and convincing testimonials. Companies like Homestead.com appeal to small business owners because of their promise that you can build a professional website in just minutes (a debatable claim) and their modest pricing. Yet, there is something about signing up with Homestead that must be located somewhere in fine print but appears to be escaping the notice of small business owners...until it's too late.

In both of my encounters with Homestead, a potential client came to us because they had signed up with this company, attempted to build a professional website in minutes, and found th ey could not get the WYSIWYG to do what they wanted. In one of the cases, the owner then paid Homestead's pool of professional designers to try to accomplish her wishes. I've noticed that most template-website-builder companies do offer this type of service, despite the fact that it casts a shadow of doubt over claims that anyone can use their templates to build a professional website, unaided, without a moment's training in web design, usability or SEO. This client could not get Homestead's professional designer to understand what she wanted, ended up feeling frustrated and that she had wasted her money and months of time.

In the second instance, the client had struggled valiantly with the WYSIWYG but was disappointed with the unpolished end result and then came to the conclusion that they really didn't know what to do with the website once it was built. Did they need to submit it to Google? How would anyone find their website? What were keywords? The client found themselves alone and puzzled about how search engines work and came to me with a request that I redesign the site so that it would reflect professionally on their company, and then teach them about SEO and marketing.

Then came the surprise.

As it turned out, neither of these clients owned the domain names that they had purchased through Homestead.com. Unless the client was willing to use Homestead's templates or Homestead's 'professional' designers, they were not allowed to use the domain and hosting they had purchased. Frankly, I was shocked when the first client came to me with this tidbit of information and I immediately phone Homestead for verification. The rep confirmed that Homestead will not allow you to custom build a site on a domain purchased and hosted with Homestead. If you won't use their products, no domain name for you!

I'd never encountered such a bizarre practice before. Shared hosting is a pretty generic commodity. You can get it from any number of decent providers and your small business website will do just fine. But your domain is another matter. Finding out that you don't own it and can't take it wherever you want it to go is a little bit like being told you don't own your own first name and that you have to behave a certain way if you want the right to introduce yourself as you. I was certainly unfavorably impressed by Homestead when I discovered this weird policy and my two clients were furious.

Our only option, at that point, was to get Homestead to unlock the domain so we could transfer to a different registrar. Transferring hosting is a piece of cake...but transferring domain name registrars is a big pain in the neck. And, of course, this process only further delayed the launch date for these clients who had given their money to Homestead, dreaming that they'd be doing business in just minutes on the web.

One of my main gripes with the template-website-monster-companies is that they profit off creating unrealistic public expectations. Suggesting that you can have a truly professional website without someone on the project having some education about designing for the web, for humans and for search engines is a little bit like saying your dentist can fix your car. Maybe he can tinker with your car. Maybe he's creative and can even paint your car a pretty color. But in the end, he's a professional dentist...not a professional auto mechanic and this would likely become obvious to you the moment you started up your engine. I would estimate that at least 70% of the website redesign work my firm has done over the years has come from clients who bought into the instant-website-for-cheap idea and then spent several years wondering why they couldn't rank in Google. A template is just some code and pictures. It's not a web designer or an SEO consultant. It's no t an education.

It is, however, cheap. In general, small business owners have small business budgets, and while I'd rather see a small business owner who can't hire a pro invest in Dreamweaver and the SEOBook and spend part of every day learning about how search engines work, I know the big marketing efforts of companies like Homestead will continue to draw many, many people into their net. My hope is that people researching Homestead will read this article and realize that having a domain name held hostage is a deal-breaker. Look elsewhere if you're determined to try doing-it-yourself with a template.

Arm yourself with the following 12 questions and get clear, written answers from any template-website-builder company before forking over a dime.

1. Do I own my domain name?
2. Can I host it elsewhere, or do I have to host it with you?
3. Can I bring in my own designer, or do I have to use your templates or your designers?
4. Is there a limit on the number of pages I can have on my website?
5. Is there a limit on the number of images I can have on a page?
6. Can I optimize my individual Title Tags, one at a time?
7. Can I write my own Meta Description Tags, one at a time?
8. Can I write as many words on my pages as I want, or is there a limit?
9. Is there a limit on the number of content pages (as opposed to product pages) I can have on my site?
10. Can I access the Robots txt. portion of my website?
11. Can I write my own search-engine-friendly URLs?
12. Can I access the CSS?

I have yet to come across a template company that meets all of the above criteria, and as these are 12 of the things I would consider vital parts of any truly professional website, the lack of any of them is eventually going to be felt by the business owner. While budget often means we have to make due with what we can afford, at the very least, I urge you not to purchase a domain through a company like Homestead, with their strings-attached policy. Your plan is to put in the work to make your small business succeed, and even if you can't afford a professional website design now, y ou will be hoping to be able to at some point. Your domain name is one of the most important purchases you will ever make for your small business, and you need to be able to take it with you as you rise to greater heights in the business world.

Discuss this article in the Small Business Ideas forum.