OK, this has absolutely nothing to do with SEO, VOIP or search marketing, but I just posted a little demo of the FrameFinder Virtual Tryon System that FramesDirect.com features on their site for people to try on frames online.

Take a look at some of the frames I tried and get a sneak peek at their new blog, The Eye Zone.

Skype has introduced its new Skype Prime Services Beta as a part of Skype 3.1 which allow users to offer services by way of Skype at pay per call charges. For instance, say you are a consultant who charges by the minute for phone consults. Set yourself up as a service in Skype Prime Services with a per minute or set charge, place a button on your site (these can be custom configured through Skype. See below.) and you’re set to go. Payments are made by way of PayPal and Skype keeps a hefty 30% of the fee. The amount you can charge is pretty restrictive at this time, too. For instance, there’s a cap of $2.50 per minute.

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Google has dropped a bomb on shopping sites and their advertisers who have been counting on search result pages showing up in Google’s serps. Google says it ain’t gonna happen any more.

What’s been happening is that shopping sites have been optimizing their internal search results to show up in a Google search. For instance, a search in Google for “outdoor bench” today brings up the Bizrate.com page in the top 10 results - http://www.bizrate.com/outdoorfurniture/products__keyword–Bench+or+Benches.html - which is a Bizrate.com search results page. Google thinks this type of page showing up in their results is of no value to the searcher.

Of course, some would disagree. For me, this saves a lot of time if I’m comparison shopping. But, Google now wants sites to purposely block this type of page from being spidered in their robots.txt file.

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It wasn’t that long ago that submitting your site to every directory on the planet was a way to get backlinks for your SEO efforts. These days, submitting to too many directories (especially a ton at once) can be a signal to the search gods that you’re trying to game the system with a ton of backlinks.

So, I’ll be putting together a list of suggested directories for those getting started with optimizing a site. This will be a work in progress. I’ll be adding and subtracting along the way. Most will require payment, but face it, the ones I suggest you get into will give you trusted backlinks and most, with the exception of Yahoo Directory, are a one-time expense.

The Big Two are still ODP and Yahoo Directory. Despite the hassle of trying to get into the Open Directory Project, a listing there is still considered a major trusted link. And, though expensive, if you have the budget I still recommend getting a Yahoo Directory listing. You won’t get much traffic directly from it, but you will get a bigger boost from that trusted link than from just about anywhere else for the money.

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I will soon be offering SEO training workshops for businesses and groups. In the meantime, I am offering Personal Site Overviews at a cost of $50 per 20 minute session. During the telephone session we will go over your site from a Search Engine Optimization point of view and I will make suggestions that should help you with your SEO efforts. In addition, prior to the call I will take a look at your site and provide you with a report of basic things that can be done to help your site rank better.

To schedule an appointment, simply e-mail me and we’ll set you up with a time and I’ll send you an e-mail invoice. Payment for the service is by PayPal and appointments won’t honored until payment has been completed.

Training sessions and workshops will be centered in Southern California, but other locations are also possible for large groups (hey, buy me an airline ticket and get me a room and I’ll be there). Watch this blog for future announcements.