SEO by Chris Estes

Last week I posted about .htaccess and put a brief snippet about blocking hotlinks. Hotlinks are direct links to a web site’s files (images, video, etc.). Find out more about hotlinking, here. Hotlinking can cause bandwidth overages if you are the victim of hotlinking.

To stop hotlinking

In your .Htaccess file enter the:

RewriteEngine on RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^$ RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http://www.domain.com/.*$ [NC] RewriteRule .*.(gif|GIF|jpg|JPG|png|PNG|doc|DOC|pdf|PDF|txt|TXT|pl|PL|ico|ICO|css|CSS|js|JS)$ – [F]

By modifying the "RewriteCond" you can allow hotlinking from certain domains. You want to make sure you allow linking from your domain. The method above allows links from only the domain listed. "www.domain.com" should be changed to the url you would link for the files to appear. I block access to all files in my site that I do not want linked in other domains.

Reasons to be hotlinked

There is a certain school of thought that believes that some SEO "link Juice" will be passed from using links to these files. I have not found this to be true. Also, blocking images in this way is supposed to block files from appearing in search indexes and databases. Just the inverse of this it can help you get exposure via Image search or files if they are indexed. If you are an artist or graphic designer you may want your images to appear in search. That decision has to be made by you. I have seen some pretty nifty javascript and php code that will allow the files to be indexed in google/yahoo/live/ask image results and when clicked on it directs you to the page where usage requirements are shared and the images held for purchase.

Hosting Hotlinked Images

If you plan to host hotlinked images you need to be prepared for the extra bandwidth usage. Don’t forget to check with your host to make sure you have a proper plan for your planned usage. I have found 1and1.com to have adequate hosting plans that are inexpensive and very reliable. But if you post a video I recommend using a streaming video service such as YouTube or Google Video. A couple downloads and you have already depleted your bandwidth usage. In addition to using a lot of bandwidth it can also use a lot of system resources if the video will be streaming.

Bonus Information and video

Matt Cutts, a Star Google employee, talks about proper usage of image ALT attributes. If you are going to allow hotlinking it is best that you meet standards for inclusion. Whether you allow hotlinking or not it is a great idea to use the alt attribute as it makes it more accessible for screen readers and is simply an overall usability standard.

I do not want to share my bandwidth without consent. If someone contacted me with a request to share images it wouldn’t be a problem. What do you think hotlinking? To let others hotlink or to block hotlinking?

It has been a while since I have posted. Over the past few weeks there have been some interesting developments in Search Engine Optimization. One of the most interesting developments has been the discussions of Yahoo! and Microsoft’s Live.com merging together. There is a lot of speculation about what the consequences would be. The truth be known until it happens little will be known about how the merger will unfold.

Over the past few weeks increased additional security has been added. An Secure Socket Layer (SSL) to secure and encrypt data via the internet has been installed.

I have also done a lot of server work. Including .htaccess like the previous article. I have also been doing some design work for Bagley School. What started out as fixing broken image tags turned into a design and upgrade. You can see the work in progress here. Suggestions are welcome. I have taken this on for free using open source and currently available resources.

If you have been following this blog you know that I do this for entertainment and hold down a regular day job… Well, over the past few weeks I have been undergoing career changes. I am currently between jobs and actively seeking full-time employment. Being between jobs theoretically leaves more time for blogging. I have found that assumption to be the opposite. If you know of job opportunities please let me know. Don’t hesitate to share my online portfolio which includes my resume. portfolio.chris-estes.com Comments and corrections are greatly appreciated.

In other news you will notice some changes to Search Engine Optmization by Chris. In the month of January a new brighter more colorful design has been added. Also, Yahoo Publisher Network ads sponsored ads have been added. A different placement of ad’s has been put in to offer you a a much better range of services. As a supporter of Search Engine College I recomnd taking a look into one of their classes. All thought a class will help you get up to speed on SEO basices but n0thing is going to be as sufficient as an experienced professional. As always I have some affiliate marketers online that would like to put ads on the blog. So stay tunned to some deals I am tyring to work out for you the readers Discount programs and discounted SEO and other equipment.

You don’t want to miss out on some of the exclusive deals I am working out with companies like, Apple, Itunes, and dell stay tuned by subscribing to my feed.

A couple of weeks ago I posted about putting Google Adsense advertising on my blog to offset hosting cost. I am now reconsidering having the ads. It isn’t a matter of being an activist, as one stumbler accused me of on my personal blog, it is more taking up room with useless clutter. Although, the announcement of Adsense changing its commission polices does make it more appealing.

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I apologize for the long gap between posts. Due to the holidays and a writers block I have not posted. I have been reading a lot of great SEO articles and I wanted to take the time to share a couple of them with you.

I came across Andy Hagaans’s Ultimate guide to link baiting – a great post about crafting an article to for linking and social media popularity.

The debate on the “No Follow” continues. – It isn’t much of a debate as much as controversy

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I read a blog post over at SEO Factor Giving SEO links to Charity. SEO Factor is a freelance SEO, that has found it in his heart to give the best gift he can give a charity a link. Links are one of the most important factors in Search Engine Optimization. A company often spends thousands of dollars a month on SEO and SEM (Search Engine Marketing) but charities and non-profits don’t always get to spend money on organizing efforts or campaign building on the internet. So at the request of SEO Factor’s Josh Garner I have chosen non-profit.

The non profit I have chosen is Wake up WalMart Americas campaign to change WalMart. We all know the terrible stories of walmart driving down wages and hurting the small business while its leaders make billions in profits. WalMart has started a business that has the potential to hurt freelance and corporate SEO’s. So for my charity I choose them to hopefully help them strike back against Walmart with Free online Marketing.