Search Engine Marketing Tools: NetMechanic®

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a safe and wonderful holiday season. To start off the new year I am going to give you a look at a bundle of online search engine marketing tools by NetMechanic®.

If you are looking for convenience, then NetMechanic’s® Search Engine Power Pack is for you. At $89 per year, you get five tools to help you with your search engine marketing efforts: Keyword Popularity Tool, Meta Mechanic, Page Primer, Search Engine Starter and Search Engine Tracker. Let’s take a look at each of the tools in the Search Engine Power Pack.

Keyword Popularity Tool
This is the same tool that you can [sometimes] find at Overture [formerly GoTo]. Simply type in a keyword or phrase, and it will return several alternative search phrases that people have used for search queries at Overture. It’s easy to use and fairly quick.

Meta Mechanic
This is a handy little tool that creates your meta tags for you. Simply type your title, keywords and description into the appropriate text boxes, press the "Generate Tags" button, and the Meta Mechanic builds your title, meta keywords and meta description tags for you. You can either have NetMechanic® put them directly into your page or make them available for you to copy and paste into your page yourself.

Page Primer
Page Primer analyzes a page you designate for keywords and phrases in the title, meta keywords and description tags, body content and comments. It also returns a keyword density for selected words in your body content. It lets you know if there are problems, and what you should do to correct them. The Page Primer report also contains links for more information for each part of the report.

Search Engine Starter
Search Engine Starter submits any page in your web site to your choice of 100 search engines. Many of the major search engines are available, as well as several minor and foreign engines. You enter in some submission information, such as title, keywords, description, and category. Once the submission process is complete, you will receive an e-mail showing you the status of each submission and the approximate time to indexing [if known]. If the submission was unsuccessful, you are told the reason why, if you should submit manually and a link to do so. This tool is similar to other submission programs.

Search Engine Tracker
Search Engine Tracker runs weekly ranking reports for 15 search engines for up to 20 keywords you designate. You may choose to have your reports, updates and alerts e-mailed to you in HTML or text format. The Executive Summary report "shows the top score achieved by all ranked keyword phrases in each search engine." You can also view only "the top score achieved by the best performing keyword phrase in each search engine."

The detailed report tells which pages rank in the Top 40 for each keyword or phrase in each search engine, current position, page found and change in ranking [if any]. You can choose to view the report sorted by search engine or by keyword phrase. If you have a page ranked, you are able to view a graph that shows historical data for that page listing.

Other Tools*
Besides the Search Engine Power Pack, NetMechanic® offers the following tools:

Browser Photo – Identifies browser/platform compatibility problems

Annual subscription is $135 or a one-time fee of $15

View up to 16 browser/platform configurations

Browsers – Internet Explorer, Netscape, AOL, Opera

Browser versions from 2.0 to 6.1

Platforms – PC, Mac and WebTV

Screen resolutions – from 640x480 to 1024x768

Shows HTML errors and browser bugs that break your page in browsers

HTML Tool Box – Five tools to help you build an error free web site

$50 per year for one URL and up to 100 pages

Checks links

Validates HTML and offers suggestions for fixing problems

View browser compatibility

Check browser load times

Spell checker

Server Monitor – Monitors your server 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, every 15 minutes

$9.99 setup fee

$14.99 per month

GIFbot – a free tool that compresses GIF, JPEG, and animated GIF images

*Note, I did not test these additional tools. I just present the other tools as additional information.

Impressions and Comments
NetMechanic® offers an interesting bundle of tools in its Search Engine Power Pack. On the positive side, the Search Engine Power Pack offers convenience. Everything you need to optimize, submit and track pages in your web site is in one place for a low annual price. The Search Engine Tracker tool offers nice, clean and concise reports. The historical graph is a nice touch and makes it easier to track your ranking progress than using the Trend report in WebPosition Gold.

NetMechanic® is dead on with the page elements that have the most impact in search engine rankings, although the comment check is not needed since virtually every search engine now ignores comment tags. A suggestion would be to replace the comment check with one that checks for keywords in image alt text, which may give a small boost in determining rankings.

The inclusion of the keyword popularity tool in the bundle stresses the importance of selecting keywords that are used in actual search queries and that could potentially bring visitors to a site.

Final Thoughts
While the bundled tools in the Search Engine Power Pack are useful and offer convenience, I feel that experienced search engine marketers will find them underpowered for their needs. There are more powerful tools, programs and services available for them.

Although these tools may not be appropriate for experienced search engine marketers, the Search Engine Power Pack is perfect for the novice and part-timer. Others who may benefit from NetMechanic’s® Search Engine Power Pack are webmasters with a single web site to manage, non-profit webmasters with a small budget, and beginning Academy of Web Specialists students.

You can learn more about the program at NetMechanic®.

Thank you to NetMechanic’s® Cindy O’Gorman who set me up with a free Search Engine Power Pack account so that I could try it out for this review.

Next month, I’ll review Position Technologies’ Position Pro web site analysis and search engine submission service.

***About Bill Gentry: Bill Gentry has been a professional Web designer since 1999 and a Search Engine Optimization and Online Marketing specialist with Look Sharp Designs since February 2000. Earning a Bachelor's of Science in Geology and a Master's of Business Administration in addition to his employment as an Aircraft Armament Systems Specialist for 10 years contributed to his attention to detail.

Review may not be reprinted without permission of Look Sharp Designs. To request permission for reprinting rights, please contact Look Sharp Designs.

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Search Engine Marketing Tools: NetMechanic® Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a safe and wonderful holiday season. To start off the new year I am going to give you a look at a bundle of online search engine marketing tools by NetMechanic®. If you are looking for convenience, then NetMechanic’s® Search Engine Power Pack is for you. At $89 per year, you get five tools to help you with your search engine marketing efforts: Keyword Popularity Tool, Meta Mechanic, Page Primer, Search Engine Starter and Search Engine Tracker. Let’s take a look at each of the tools in the Search Engine Power Pack. Keyword Popularity Tool This is the same tool that you can [sometimes] find at Overture [formerly GoTo]. Simply type in a keyword or phrase, and it will return several alternative search phrases that people have used for search queries at Overture. It’s easy to use and fairly quick. Meta Mechanic This is a handy little tool that creates your meta tags for you. Simply type your title, keywords and description into the appropriate text boxes, press the "Generate Tags" button, and the Meta Mechanic builds your title, meta keywords and meta description tags for you. You can either have NetMechanic® put them directly into your page or make them available for you to copy and paste into your page yourself. Page Primer Page Primer analyzes a page you designate for keywords and phrases in the title, meta keywords and description tags, body content and comments. It also returns a keyword density for selected words in your body content. It lets you know if there are problems, and what you should do to correct them. The Page Primer report also contains links for more information for each part of the report. Search Engine Starter Search Engine Starter submits any page in your web site to your choice of 100 search engines. Many of the major search engines are available, as well as several minor and foreign engines. You enter in some submission information, such as title, keywords, description, and category. Once the submission process is complete, you will receive an e-mail showing you the status of each submission and the approximate time to indexing [if known]. If the submission was unsuccessful, you are told the reason why, if you should submit manually and a link to do so. This tool is similar to other submission programs. Search Engine Tracker Search Engine Tracker runs weekly ranking reports for 15 search engines for up to 20 keywords you designate. You may choose to have your reports, updates and alerts e-mailed to you in HTML or text format. The Executive Summary report "shows the top score achieved by all ranked keyword phrases in each search engine." You can also view only "the top score achieved by the best performing keyword phrase in each search engine." The detailed report tells which pages rank in the Top 40 for each keyword or phrase in each search engine, current position, page found and change in ranking [if any]. You can choose to view the report sorted by search engine or by keyword phrase. If you have a page ranked, you are able to view a graph that shows historical data for that page listing. Other Tools* Besides the Search Engine Power Pack, NetMechanic® offers the following tools: Browser Photo – Identifies browser/platform compatibility problems Annual subscription is $135 or a one-time fee of $15 View up to 16 browser/platform configurations Browsers – Internet Explorer, Netscape, AOL, Opera Browser versions from 2.0 to 6.1 Platforms – PC, Mac and WebTV Screen resolutions – from 640x480 to 1024x768 Shows HTML errors and browser bugs that break your page in browsers HTML Tool Box – Five tools to help you build an error free web site $50 per year for one URL and up to 100 pages Checks links Validates HTML and offers suggestions for fixing problems View browser compatibility Check browser load times Spell checker Server Monitor – Monitors your server 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, every 15 minutes $9.99 setup fee $14.99 per month GIFbot – a free tool that compresses GIF, JPEG, and animated GIF images Note, I did not test these additional tools. I just present the other tools as additional information. Impressions and Comments NetMechanic® offers an interesting bundle of tools in its Search Engine Power Pack. On the positive side, the Search Engine Power Pack offers convenience. Everything you need to optimize, submit and track pages in your web site is in one place for a low annual price. The Search Engine Tracker tool offers nice, clean and concise reports. The historical graph is a nice touch and makes it easier to track your ranking progress than using the Trend report in WebPosition Gold. NetMechanic® is dead on with the page elements that have the most impact in search engine rankings, although the comment check is not needed since virtually every search engine now ignores comment tags. A suggestion would be to replace the comment check with one that checks for keywords in image alt text, which may give a small boost in determining rankings. The inclusion of the keyword popularity tool in the bundle stresses the importance of selecting keywords that are used in actual search queries and that could potentially bring visitors to a site. Final Thoughts While the bundled tools in the Search Engine Power Pack are useful and offer convenience, I feel that experienced search engine marketers will find them underpowered for their needs. There are more powerful tools, programs and services available for them. Although these tools may not be appropriate for experienced search engine marketers, the Search Engine Power Pack is perfect for the novice and part-timer. Others who may benefit from NetMechanic’s® Search Engine Power Pack are webmasters with a single web site to manage, non-profit webmasters with a small budget, and beginning Academy of Web Specialists students. You can learn more about the program at NetMechanic®. Thank you to NetMechanic’s® Cindy O’Gorman who set me up with a free Search Engine Power Pack account so that I could try it out for this review. Next month, I’ll review Position Technologies’ Position Pro web site analysis and search engine submission service. **About Bill Gentry: Bill Gentry has been a professional Web designer since 1999 and a Search Engine Optimization and Online Marketing specialist with Look Sharp Designs since February 2000. Earning a Bachelor's of Science in Geology and a Master's of Business Administration in addition to his employment as an Aircraft Armament Systems Specialist for 10 years contributed to his attention to detail. Review may not be reprinted without permission of Look Sharp Designs. To request permission for reprinting rights, please contact Look Sharp Designs.	Guarantees Privacy Policy Terms of Use Get targeted global traffic with SEO Copyright © 2002 Look Sharp Designs. All rights reserved.

Search Engine Marketing Tools: NetMechanic®

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