Tonyandjohngarcia.com Blog

Link Exchange Directory vs 1 Link Partners Page

By tony garcia | Published October 3, 2011

What is the difference between having a 1 page full of outgoing links and a directory of categorized pages with hopefully less than 20-25 outgoing links? For those who are used to maintaining directory type link sections on their websites you must notice the many websites that have tried to move over to a 1 page format filled with all of the links that were originally split up into categories.

I have not researched the question myself before writing up this post. I do work in the industry myself. Depending on the industry, at times I will use a 1 page format. The number of reciprocal linking opportunities varies between industries. The amount of link partners you find in say the baby industry or furniture industry you are not going to find as easily in the electroplating or mining equipment industries. That doesn’t mean that I am going to place 100 links on a page because I do find needed link partners. My personal limit is usually 25 or less on a page.

There are many people out there who say reciprocal links are a thing of the past in the SEO industry. In past and present experience it is still working for me and the clients I have implemented the strategy to. Those clients range in industries from safety gear and first aid supplies to vehicle graphics and acting auditions in New York. I am in no way saying reciprocal linking or linking in general is the way to go for all SEO campaigns. I am no expert and don’t claim to be but do talk from my own experiences in the industry the past almost 7 years.

I still believe that if remaining relevant and conducting ethical link exchanges with likeminded individuals can be a good thing. I personally do not like anything automated, link exchange emails not using proper English or webmasters that don’t prove in their email they actually visited the website of mine they are looking to exchange with. IF I have to choose a winner between the 1 page and link directory formats when working link popularity into a client’s SEO campaign either one has worked for me in the past.

Even with the recent Panda updates I personally and the company I work for have survived in a big way when it comes to our clients overall search rankings in all of the major search engines.

Stay Relevant
Forget Fully Automated Link Programs
Seem Personable When Emailing
Add Before Requesting
Be Fair

1 page or link directory; good luck with your link popularity efforts. We can all have a place at the top. Hard work and patience will help you get there.

Posted in Links, SEO | Tagged directory vs 1 page of links, link directory, link exchange directory, link partner page | Comments Off

Affordable Gifts: Gift Shopping for the Holidays

By tony garcia | Published October 2, 2011

Holidays are coming. Gift shopping season is going to start and all of those great places to buy affordable gifts are going to be streaming with impatient customers, stressed out staff, many sold out items you wanted when you went out and other issues that only those who care think about.

Finding affordable gifts isn’t really that hard anymore. Gift shop online and your time and patience get to relax for the rest of the day or night after the 30-45 minutes or much less it takes for you to pick, choose and buy all of the gifts you wanted. Gifts for kids, baby gifts, personalized gifts, home and garden gifts and tons more for you to choose from are available through the Tonyandjohngarcia.com Gift Shopping category.

We try to only list website offering the best products, lowest prices, nice selection and of course affordable gifts for you to buy for friends and family during the holidays. We also accept submissions from the same gift companies I speak of that are looking for a great place to have their company represented. We are a 6 year old directory with over 1200 great link partners helping us come up for all sorts of great keywords. We want to make finding affordable gifts an easy task with the variety of gift shops available on our pages.

Everybody you can think of that deserves the gift of giving from you including grandmothers, grandfathers, aunts, uncles, cousins, brothers, sisters, friends, coworkers and everyone else are covered when gift shopping online. Tonyandjohngarcia.com would like to provide the gift resources you need while searching online. Gift shops and online stores offering gifts are welcome to contact us for inclusion in to our always growing gift shopping and business directory.

Posted in General | Tagged affordable gifts, gift shops, holiday gifts, online gifts | Comments Off

North Haven Youth Football: Sunday Oct. 2nd 2011

By tony garcia | Published October 2, 2011

I just came back from a 4^th grade football game between two disciplined and athletic teams of kids. The North Haven Indians vs. the Clinton Huskies played in North Haven, Connecticut.

The Indians ended up losing 27-19 but that is not to say that any of these North Haven kids should bow their head about. It is a battle of the unbeaten; Clinton was for 5-0 coming in and North Haven was carrying a 4-0 mark due to a bye week. I have been around the buildup to this game firsthand because I know the head coach of the Indians personally. Him and everyone around him have been talking about this game since last week.

I don’t know how the Clinton side felt coming in but if they thought they were coming in to route another team their plans surely got reversed. North Haven was able to get the ball on downs on more than one occasion and their running game was superb as it usually is. 3 key misses in the passing game meant a lot to the scoreboard.

It was a back and forth grudge match between the top teams of the league and you could tell. Clinton had a decent passing game that seemed to befuddle Indian defenders where the Indian’s running game was able to get passed the great defense of the Huskies. In the end the kids had a blast. Both sides did what they had to do and North Haven in no way can be laughed at when the Huskies get back to Clinton. The game was surely close enough for the Huskie’s coaches to remember they will probably be meeting this same North Haven Indians 4^th grade youth football team in the playoffs.

For the kids and adults involved with the sport of Youth Football, you are all great to come out and support these kids. I have to give a shout out to the cheerleaders as well of both teams that dance and sing for their home teams. Coaches and staff don’t have to do this. Their time and dedication shows in the production of their players on the field.

Congratulations to the Clinton Huskies for an awesome win. Congratulations to the North Haven Indians for doing what you had to do to keep the game interesting throughout. I wish sometimes when I was a kid I was able to be involved with these types of things. At the same time I have the pleasure of watching mine and others grow through youth sports.

Posted in Connecticut, News, Sports | Comments Off

Whitewater Rafting: Rogue Klamath River Adventures

By tony garcia | Published September 29, 2011

With 30 years experience the owners and their staff run an awesome whitewater rafting operation in Medford, Oregon. Their website Rogueklamath.com, offers everything you need to plan an adventurous rafting trip with friends and/or family whether on vacation, on a local day trip or maybe you want to plan a team building expedition with your staff. Oregon rafting at it’s best, the Rogue Klamath River Adventures website is your source for the ultimate in whitewater rafting experiences when searching online.

One of the most known waterways in the area; the Rogue River is a preferred choice for many visitors. You have the 14 mile Gold Hill section and the Recreation section that flows 16 miles from where it flows with the Applegate River in Grant’s Pass to Galice. Go on a 2-3 day trip and you can hike through the Rogue River canyon. Watch animals run in their natural settings while areas that seem uninhabited can be found everywhere.

Get picked up at your hotel, motel or bed & breakfast to be on your way to take a run on the Upper Klamath class IV+ run from Spring Island to Copco Lake. The first spot to maybe run you off the raft is Hell’s Canyon Gorge that is said to be the start of an 80fpm drop. From there you run into another 40+ sections of rapids from one called ‘Caldera’ to none other than the ‘Bermuda Triangle’. That is not to say that you don’t have time take in the natural wonders that you will surely pass throughout your trip whether on the water or on the road.

The Lower Klamath River according to National Geographic Adventure Magazine in 2008 was considered one of the top 10 family adventures. You get Class III whitewater, waterfalls, unending natural wonders on all sides and plenty of history to go around. The staff will surely provide you with answers to all of your questions about the area. Moving 184 miles from the Irongate reservoir to the Pacific ocean, the Lower Klamath is long, long, long. Take advantage of all of it.

You can check out the Owyhee River, too. This is a high desert canyon trip that consists of a true ‘wild and scenic’ river. 8 hours from Portland, 2 hours from Boise, Idaho and 4.5hrs from Reno, NV you get to enjoy the experience of a lifetime in what seems like the middle of nowhere.

That was 3 rivers to get you started in terms of choice. The people of Rogue Klamath River Adventures to also introduce you to the 19 mile Class V Cal-Salmon river and another 18mile Class IV section on the Scott River. The Scott drains from both Marble Mountain the Salmon-Trinity Alps.

If I had the time or ever appreciated whitewater rafting I would surely take the trip with my fiance and the kids. If you are a nature buff or are tired of only seeing it on television or in the movies Medford, Oregon has this little company named Rogue Klamath River Adventures that is waiting to provide you the experience of a lifetime in terms of natural surroundings while having a blast. They also have salmon and steelhead fishing trips available. Make your reservation today by visiting Rogueklamath.com.

205 Garden Row | Gold Hill, OR 97525 | 800.231.0769

Posted in Business, Friend Sites, General | Comments Off

Indoor Play Place in Connecticut

By tony garcia | Published September 28, 2011

Submitted by Dawne Morrison: Owner of Bright Spot Children’s Playplace of Vernon, CT

The Bright Spot Children’s Playplace is the perfect place to play for your young child! It’s a clean, safe indoor play space especially for children under 6. We have fun active play equipment, pretend play, arts & crafts, and science & discovery areas all in space designed especially for young children. It’s big enough for your children to be happy and engaged and small enough for you to see them from anywhere in the space. Come in for open play, unique classes taught by an early childhood professional, and one-of-a-kind birthday parties for children 5 and under!

The Bright Spot was created by Dawne Morison, a mother of 2 young children and former teacher. Dawne is the owner and director and has a Masters in Early Childhood Education. The design of the space, the class curriculum, and even the birthday parties are based on sound early childhood practice and what works for children under 6. Dawne has taught toddlers to second graders over the years and was a stay-at-home mom before opening The Bright Spot.

The Bright Spot Children’s Playplace, LLC
520 Hartford Turnpike (Rt. 30)
Vernon, CT 06066
(860) 871-9334

www.brightspotplayplace.com

Posted in Business, Connecticut, Cool Sites | Comments Off

Link Management Jobs: Finding Long Term Employees

By tony garcia | Published September 25, 2011

I don’t know about the rest of the SEO companies out there that offer in-house link popularity building but it seems finding someone to do it long term has become difficult and I think I understand why.

I came into the game back in 2005, injured, in need of a job and had no real advanced education but I was hungry. My leg industry kept me out of my safe zone in terms of “preferred” employment; roofing, construction, moving, waste management, etc. I came to realize quickly that SEO was a growing industry and one that could prosper if done the right way. I came in handling reciprocal links for maybe 5-6 small clients. I say “small” compared to the clients we deal with today in terms of size, budgets and industries. The number today is more near 95-100 domains.

In-House Link Building…

Industry Research for Category Building: Take some time to research the industry you are working from. For link generation purposes you give yourself a path to take in terms of websites, directories and search engines to search as well as what keywords may help most when searching for relevant link partners. Then there is generating the appropriate links for the categories chosen and submitting them to their respective webmasters hoping they will link in return.

Link Generation: Going out and locating websites to contact for linking purposes. To me, the in-house “link manager killer”. It could take hours and hours, many times; days to locate 300-500 links. Depending on the industry you are working in finding 300-500 links could seem damn near impossible. Note that I have my own way of doing things. With 6 years in the game I have networked with many companies and individuals that help in MY time locating links. For beginners, to find good 3 way link resources you have to get to know a few link managers that handle multiple clients. One-way link building usually consists of 3^rd party companies.

Link Submissions: After all of the links have been generated and uploaded to the respective newly indexed pages it is time to submit your client’s link to each of the respective webmasters or website owners either using template emails or filling out link exchange forms. Depending on the experience you have this can take hours in itself. I have seen coworkers take up to 9 hours to submit 400 links both using emails and link exchange forms. Submissions are done twice usually. After the 2^nd I will give it 2 weeks and then remove all non-reciprocating links.

Reciprocal Link Checks: Not all webmasters own up to their end of a reciprocal link exchange agreement. In fact in my experience up to 20% of the 1000s of websites I am currently exchanging links with will remove my link with no notification to me. For this reason you would like to conduct reciprocal link checks to make sure your link is still active on the page or website agreed upon originally. Depending on if you are adding and removing from the actual websites yourself or records keeping are done with Excel sheets, the time associated with the checks varies.

NOTICE I mention the time associated with each of the 3 variables above and the title of the post is “long term link managers”. It is hard to find them these days. As I mentioned in the beginning of this article; I was hungry and had no college education. When I came into the SEO industry I was at the bottom of the totem pole but I saw room for advancement. I am now lead programmer and company link manager for other employees. My “responsibilities” list is too long to list. The biggest reason I am still around is I had no higher education or direction I was moving in.

HUH? I came in with a fresh mind, saw what it was about and gave myself a path compared to those shopping for jobs because of the present climate here in America. The hustlers out there are willing to do just about anything knowing they will be on their way as the opportunity arises. That is what companies are suffering from. Hiring kids out of college, people with too much work experience or people with credentials that make them seem they could work for Microsoft. There is NO WAY they are sticking around for the long-term. It is nice to brag about them to coworkers until they go through all of the training and learn all of the games that have made your company only to move on. For owners I can understand the frustration. For the hustler who comes and goes, “go for it”.

Long term link management positions are no longer “long term”. Outsourcing to India seems to be the popular way of doing things. NEVER in my days will it happen on my watch at the company I work for. In house link building has brought many, many positive experiences. With all of the variables aligned from your SEO campaign the good results can be endless. At the same time you can think you have done it all only to have to wait for what seems “forever”. Patience!!!

Posted in Links, News, SEO | Comments Off

Solar Panels that Work in the Dark

By tony garcia | Published September 23, 2011

Scientists from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have supposedly come up with a way for solar panels to work in the dark. Myself and most everyone I believe never thought the day would come. Check out a great article on the news..

CleanTechnica says,
In earlier trials, the researchers used different alloys that achieved full spectrum responses but involved very high production costs. The advantage of gallium arsenide nitride is that it is very similar to a conventional semiconductor, gallium arsenide, and it can be…

Let’s hope that people near 40 like myself will get to see the day. Alternative energy is the only way us here in America can stop depending on oil products and the countries that seem to keep building hatred towards our way of living. Let’s see this through.

I am giving big props to the scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory of California.

Posted in Cool Sites, General, News | Comments Off

Link Exchange Network

By tony garcia | Published September 21, 2011

Good morning people. Tony Garcia here of Tonyandjohngarcia.com. People will ask right away; is he really pushing a link directory on people through this blog and the social media he has set up?

YES I am. I have found other link exchange/manager networks out there but it seems most are only out to promote themselves or the company that is behind the effort. Here at Tonyandjohngarcia.com we are TRULY looking to help webmasters and website owners find a place to have their website listed and have it count at some point. I have been updating this website and still do regularly for 3 years and change now. The main site has been up for almost 6 years.

Many will say that exchanging links; whether reciprocal, 3 way, one-way, through blog reviews or what have you are in one way or another bad for something. Listen, I have been at it 6+ years in the links game of SEO and have nothing but awesome results for the clients I have implemented the practice to. Know that LINKS are not everything. The good experiences I have had totally had to do with utilizing the many aspects associated with an SEO campaign.

The important variables being Content Creation, Keyword Research and Custom Meta Tag implementation as well as Social Media marketing, Article Marketing and more.

I pointed the latter paragraph out for those who assume Links are everything. They count for a lot of the success websites gain but without the proper help from the many variables associated with an SEO campaign, those link management efforts will continue for a long time before ever seeing a generic term at the top.

I am trying to build or bring together a network of like-minded webmasters that care about what they do and how they do it. If they are like me they have already done the basics, lets get your link popularity efforts rolling. If interested in getting involved be sure to let us know by liking us on Facebook or checking us out on Twitter.

Thanks for reading!!!

Posted in General, Links, News, SEO | Comments Off

Blog Looking Like Main Website

By tony garcia | Published September 18, 2011

Finally, finally, finally. I have gotten my blog to look like the main site. It took a lot of research and tinkering and I still have a bit more tinkering but I am just about fully there.

At my day job I create blog for clients on a regular basis. Usually I go out and find free templates, hack them up a bit and I have a new client blog. The problem of course with that is the blog never matches the actual client website.Yeah, I am able to add their header images and maybe get some of the colors to match but it is never an exact replica.

Friday before leaving work I told my boss and a few co workers that I would figure it out. I had already checked a few resources online and it seemed it would be easy. What I need to point out is that I am in no way a PHP programmer. I CAN edit code in all languages for the most part but to do this type of stuff I thought it would be harder.

At a later date may I will post something on how exactly I did it but for now I just wanted to get it out there that a new time has begun. I am probably making an excuse for myself when I say posting on here while the template didn’t match never really suited me. There is a lot I have to say and a lot I think the world should know about all kinds of things.

If you have a topic you want to read about or a website you would like reviewed and posted about here let me know about it. I am Tony Garcia, owner and operator of Tonyandjohngarcia.com and this adjoining blog.

I am so happy this has come to be. Thanks for reading if you did.

Posted in Cool Sites, My Sites, News | Comments Off

Hurricane Irene & Connecticut

By tony garcia | Published August 26, 2011

Follow Hurricane Irene

The media has turned this Hurricane Irene into a super star among the throngs of people who grabbed up all the water from a Walmart in Wallingford I believe. My fiance has the picture to prove it that I will put up when she gets in. How does this happen? How do grown adults turn into paranoid freak within minutes of hearing the local meteorologist or from a friend for that matter.

I have been hearing about it since Wednesday night from every person I have personally been in contact with. I personally feel that where we are there will be some heavy rain, heavy winds, some downed treed and power lines maybe but nothing hurricane force. I could be wrong, who knows? Connecticut is protected in a big way by Long Island sound and the many breakwaters we have along our coastline.

At the same time for anyone who reads this if you were one of those who jumped when you heard it, got in the stores early and were able to get what you thought you needed, more power to you. From what I hear there are many out there who missed the boat on a lot of things today recommended for the upcoming storm.

Citizens on the coastline can tell another story when this thing passes in forms of visual and physical experience is concerned. I wouldn’t want to be there and hope those that are in the direct line of fire are able to temporarily get out of there. We all know how some people can be about their homes. “Don’t be crazy people, get out while you can? Even if DOES just pass, the risk isn’t worth it.”

For constant news updates you can visit your favorite news channel online or your favorite search engine be it Google, Yahoo or Bing each have their own weather apps. For all of those here in Connecticut, Good Luck this coming Sunday. I will post again while it’s happening. Hopefully there is only minor things to report. Take care now.

Posted in News | Comments Off

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