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Marketing Through Search Optimization
This page intentionally left blank
Marketing Through Search Optimization
How people search and how to be found
on the Web

Second edition

Alex Michael and Ben Salter

AMSTERDAM • BOSTON • HEIDELBERG • LONDON • NEW YORK • OXFORD

PARIS • SAN DIEGO • SAN FRANCISCO • SINGAPORE • SYDNEY • TOKYO
Butterworth-Heinemann is an imprint of Elsevier
Butterworth-Heinemann is an imprint of Elsevier
Linacre House, Jordan Hill, Oxford OX2 8DP, UK
30 Corporate Drive, Suite 400, Burlington, MA 01803, USA

First edition 2003

Second edition 2008

Copyright © 2008, Alex Michael and Ben Salter.

Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The right of Alex Michael and Ben Salter to be identified as the authors of
this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act 1988

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or

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Notice
No responsibility is assumed by the publisher for any injury and/or damage to
persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise,
or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions or ideas
contained in the material herein.

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 Contents

Acknowledgements ix

Introduction xi

Chapter 1: Introduction to search engine optimization 1

The history of search engines on the Web 1
Why do people search? 8
Finding out what people search for 11
So what’s so great about being ranked highly? 12
Should you use an SEO consultancy or do it yourself? 13
White hat or black hat SEO? 15
Natural traffic 17
In conclusion 17

Chapter 2: How people search 19

Power searching 19
Personalization 22
Mobile search 23
Social Media Optimization 26
Weblogs 27

Chapter 3: Linking strategies and free listings 29

Free mass submission services – do they work? 29
Free submission to major search engines 31
Building links 31
Increasing your link factor 32
Publishing an article 36
Building links to improve your search engine ranking 36
Automated link-building software – beware 41

v
Contents

Free-for-all links – a warning 41

Business directories 42
Which method should I use? 43
Weblog linking strategies 44
In conclusion 45

Chapter 4: Web crawlers and directories 49

Web crawlers 49
The root page advantage 54
Submitting to the major search engines 55
Directories 56

Chapter 5: Traffic and keyword tracking 69

How to research keywords for your website 69
Keywords’ page placement 70
Keyword research tools 74
Copywriting for search engine optimization 74
Web traffic tracking and analysis 75
SEO software 80

Chapter 6: The mobile Internet 89

The wireless revolution 89
Understanding the wireless world 98
Wireless technologies 101
Why have a WAP search engine? 107

Chapter 7: Page design and page architecture 109

Placement tips and page architecture 109
Entry pages 110
Site map 111
Help your target audiences 112
META tags 112
Make your site useful 126
Search engines and dynamic pages 129
In conclusion 130

Chapter 8: Building an effective WAP site 133

WAP and the mobile Internet 133
The WAP system 135
Mobile Internet design guidelines 136
Top tips for WAP 137
The XHTML Basic 142

vi
 Contents

Wireless Mark-up Language 143

WAP site developer tips 144
Top WAP sites 147
The long-term future of WAP 147

Chapter 9: Pay per click 149

Ad service functionality 151
Keywords and pay-per-click terms 151
Ad targeting and optimization 157
Categories 157

Chapter 10: Pay-per-click strategies 167

Google AdWords pay-per-click strategies 168

Appendix A: W3C Mobile Web Best Practices 179

Appendix B: Glossary of terms 219

Index 229

vii
This page intentionally left blank
 Acknowledgements

We would both like to thank Sprite Interactive Ltd for their support with this book.

ix
This page intentionally left blank
 Introduction

Search engines provide one of the primary ways by which Internet users find websites. That’s why
a website with good search engine listings may see a dramatic increase in traffic. Everyone wants
those good listings. Unfortunately, many websites appear poorly in search engine rankings, or may
not be listed at all because they fail to consider how search engines work. In particular, submitting
to search engines is only part of the challenge of getting good search engine positioning. It’s also
important to prepare a website through ‘search engine optimization’. Search engine optimization
means ensuring that your web pages are accessible to search engines and are focused in ways that
help to improve the chances that they will be found.

How search engines work

The term ‘search engine’ is often used generically to describe both crawler-based search engines
and human-powered directories. These two types of search engines gather their listings in very
different ways.

This book provides information, techniques and tools for search engine optimization. This book
does not teach you ways to trick or ‘spam’ search engines. In fact, there is no such search engine
magic that will guarantee a top listing. However, there are a number of small changes you can
make that can sometimes produce big results.

The book looks at the two major ways search engines get their listings:

1 Crawler-based search engines

2 Human-powered directories

Crawler-based search engines

Crawler-based search engines, such as Google, create their listings automatically. They ‘crawl’ or
‘spider’ the Web and create an index of the results; people then search through that index. If you

xi
Introduction

change your web pages, crawler-based search engines eventually find these changes, and that can
affect how you are listed. This book will look at the spidering process and how page titles, body
copy and other elements can all affect the search results.

Human-powered directories
A human-powered directory, such as Yahoo! or the Open Directory, depends on humans for its
listings. The editors at Yahoo! will write a short description for sites they review. A search looks
for matches only in the descriptions submitted.

Changing your web pages has no effect on your listing. Things that are useful for improving a
listing with a search engine have nothing to do with improving a listing in a directory. The only
exception is that a good site, with good content, might be more likely to get reviewed for free
than a poor site.

The parts of a crawler-based search engine

Crawler-based search engines have three major elements. The first is the spider, also called the
crawler, which visits a web page, reads it, and then follows links to other pages within the site.
This is what it means when someone refers to a site being ‘spidered’ or ‘crawled’. The spider
returns to the site on a regular basis, perhaps every month or two, to look for changes. Everything
the spider finds goes into the second part of the search engine, the index.

The index, sometimes called the catalog, is like a giant book containing a copy of every web page
that the spider finds. If a web page changes, then this book is updated with new information.
Sometimes it can take a while for new pages or changes that the spider finds to be added to the
index, and thus a web page may have been ‘spidered’ but not yet ‘indexed’. Until it is indexed –
added to the index – it is not available to those searching with the search engine.

Search engine software is the third part of a search engine. This is the program that sifts through
the millions of pages recorded in the index to find matches to a search and rank them in order
of what it believes is most relevant.

Major search engines: the same, but different

All crawler-based search engines have the basic parts described above, but there are differences
in how these parts are tuned. That is why the same search on different search engines often
produces different results. Some of the significant differences between the major crawler-based
search engines are summarized on the search engine features page. Information on this page
has been drawn from the help pages of each search engine, along with knowledge gained
from articles, reviews, books, independent research, tips from others, and additional information
received directly from the various search engines.

xii
 Introduction

How search engines rank web pages

Search for anything using your favourite crawler-based search engine. Almost instantly, the search
engine will sort through the millions of pages it knows about and present you with ones that
match your topic. The matches will even be ranked, so that the most relevant ones come first.
Of course, the search engines don’t always get it right. Non-relevant pages make it through, and
sometimes it may take a little more digging to find what you are looking for. But by and large,
search engines do an amazing job. So, how do crawler-based search engines go about determining
relevancy, when confronted with hundreds of millions of web pages to sort through? They follow
a set of rules, known as an algorithm. Exactly how a particular search engine’s algorithm works
is a closely kept trade secret. However, all major search engines follow the general rules below.

Location, location, location . . . and frequency

One of the main rules in a ranking algorithm involves the location and frequency of keywords
on a web page – let’s call it the location/frequency method, for short. Pages with the search
terms appearing in the HTML title tag are often assumed to be more relevant than others to the
topic. Search engines will also check to see if the search keywords appear near the top of a web
page, such as in the headline or in the first few paragraphs of text. They assume that any page
relevant to the topic will mention those words right from the beginning. Frequency is the other
major factor in how search engines determine relevancy. A search engine will analyse how often
keywords appear in relation to other words in a web page. Those with a higher frequency are
often deemed more relevant than other web pages.

Spice in the recipe

Now it’s time to qualify the location/frequency method described above. All the major search
engines follow it to some degree, in the same way that cooks may follow a standard chilli recipe.
However, cooks like to add their own secret ingredients. In the same way, search engines add
spice to the location/frequency method. Nobody does it exactly the same, which is one reason
why the same search on different search engines produces different results.

To begin with, some search engines index more web pages than others. Some search engines
also index web pages more often than others. The result is that no search engine has the exact
same collection of web pages to search through, and this naturally produces differences when
comparing their results.

Many web designers mistakenly assume that META tags are the ‘secret’ in propelling their web
pages to the top of the rankings. However, not all search engines read META tags. In addition,
those that do read META tags may chose to weight them differently. Overall, META tags can
be part of the ranking recipe, but they are not necessarily the secret ingredient.

Search engines may also penalize pages, or exclude them from the index, if they detect search
engine ‘spamming’. An example is when a word is repeated hundreds of times on a page, to

xiii
Introduction

increase the frequency and propel the page higher in the listings. Search engines watch for
common spamming methods in a variety of ways, including following up on complaints from
their users.

Off-the-page factors
Crawler-based search engines have plenty of experience now with webmasters who constantly
rewrite their web pages in an attempt to gain better rankings. Some sophisticated webmasters may
even go to great lengths to ‘reverse engineer’ the location/frequency systems used by a particular
search engine. Because of this, all major search engines now also make use of ‘off-the-page’
ranking criteria.

Off-the-page factors are those that a webmaster cannot easily influence. Chief among these is link
analysis. By analysing how pages link to each other, a search engine can determine both what a
page is about and whether that page is deemed to be ‘important’, and thus deserving of a ranking
boost. In addition, sophisticated techniques are used to screen out attempts by webmasters to
build ‘artificial’ links designed to boost their rankings.

Another off-the-page factor is click-through measurement. In short, this means that a search
engine may watch which results someone selects for a particular search, then eventually drop
high-ranking pages that aren’t attracting clicks while promoting lower-ranking pages that do pull
in visitors. As with link analysis, systems are used to compensate for artificial links generated by
eager webmasters.

xiv
 Chapter 1
Introduction to search engine optimization

To implement search engine optimization (SEO) effectively on your website you will need to
have a knowledge of what people looking for your site are searching for, your own needs, and
then how to best implement these. Each SEO campaign is different, depending on a number of
factors – including the goals of the website, and the budget available to spend on the SEO. The
main techniques and areas that work today include:

• Having easily searchable content on your site

• Having links to and from your site from other high profile websites
• The use of paid placement programs
• Optimized site content to make site users stay after they have visited.

This book will teach you about all this, but initially Chapter 1 will take you through the
background to search optimization. First of all we will look at the history of search engines, to
give you a context to work in, and then we’ll take a look at why people use search engines,
what they actually search for when they do, and how being ranked highly will benefit your
organization. Next we will provide a critical analysis of choosing the right SEO consultancy (if
you have to commission an external agency).

The history of search engines on the Web

Back in 1990 there was no World Wide Web, but there was still an Internet, and there were
many files around the network that people needed to find. The main way of receiving files was
by using File Transfer Protocol (FTP), which gives computers a common way to exchange files
over the Internet. This works by using FTP servers, which a computer user sets up on their
computer. Another computer user can connect to this FTP server using a piece of software called
an FTP client. The person retrieving the file has to specify an address, and usually a username
and password, to log onto the FTP server. This was the way most file sharing was done; anyone

1
Marketing Through Search Optimization

who wanted to share a file had first to set up an FTP server to make the file available. The only
way people could find out where a file was stored was by word-of-mouth; someone would have
to post on a message board where a file was stored.

The first ever search engine was called Archie, and was created in 1990 by a man called
Alan Emtage. Archie was the solution to the problem of finding information easily; the engine
combined a data gatherer, which compiled site listings of FTP sites, with an expression matcher
that allowed it to retrieve files from a user typing in a search term or query. Archie was the first
search engine; it ‘spidered’ the Internet, matched the files it had found with search queries, and
returned results from its database.

In 1993, with the success of Archie growing considerably, the University of Nevada developed
an engine called Veronica. These two became affectionately known as the grandfather and
grandmother of search engines. Veronica was similar to Archie, but was for Gopher files rather
than FTP files. Gopher servers contained plain text files that could be retrieved in the same way
as FTP files. Another Gopher search engine also emerged at the time, called Jughead, but this
was not as advanced as Veronica.

The next major advance in search engine technology was the World Wide Web Wanderer,
developed by Matthew Gray. This was the first ever robot on the Web, and its aim was to track
the Web’s growth by counting web servers. As it grew it began to count URLs as well, and this
eventually became the Web’s first database of websites. Early versions of the Wanderer software
did not go down well initially, as they caused loss of performance as they scoured the Web and
accessed single pages many times in a day; however, this was soon fixed. The World Wide Web
Wanderer was called a robot, not because it was a robot in the traditional sci-fi sense of the
word, but because on the Internet the term robot has grown to mean a program or piece of
software that performs a repetitive task, such as exploring the net for information. Web robots
usually index web pages to create a database that then becomes searchable; they are also known
as ‘spiders’, and you can read more about how they work in relation to specific search engines in
Chapter 4.

After the development of the Wanderer, a man called Martijn Koster created a new type of web
indexing software that worked like Archie and was called ALIWEB. ALIWEB was developed
in the summer of 1993. It was evident that the Web was growing at an enormous rate, and
it became clear to Martijn Koster that there needed to be some way of finding things beyond
the existing databases and catalogues that individuals were keeping. ALIWEB actually stood
for ‘Archie-Like Indexing of the Web’. ALIWEB did not have a web-searching robot; instead
of this, webmasters posted their own websites and web pages that they wanted to be listed.
ALIWEB was in essence the first online directory of websites; webmasters were given the
opportunity to provide a description of their own website and no robots were sent out, resulting
in reduced performance loss on the Web. The problem with ALIWEB was that webmasters
had to submit their own special index file in a specific format for ALIWEB, and most of them
did not understand, or did not bother, to learn how to create this file. ALIWEB therefore

2
 Chapter 1: Introduction to search engine optimization

suffered from the problem that people did not use the service, as it was only a relatively small
directory. However, it was still a landmark, having been the first database of websites that
existed.

The World Wide Web Wanderer inspired a number of web programmers to work on the
idea of developing special web robots. The Web continued growing throughout the 1990s, and
more and more powerful robots were needed to index the growing number of web pages. The
main concept behind spiders was that they followed links from web page to web page – it was
logical to assume that every page on the Web was linked to another page, and by searching
through each page and following its links a robot could work its way through the pages on
the Web. By continually repeating this, it was believed that the Web could eventually be
indexed.

At the end of December 1993 three search engines were launched that were powered by these
advanced robots; these were the JumpStation, the World Wide Web Worm, and the Repository
Based Software Engineering Spider (RBSE). JumpStation is no longer in service, but when it
was it worked by collecting the title and header from web pages and then using a retrieval system
to match these to search queries. The matching system searched through its database of results
in a linear fashion and became so slow that, as the Web grew, it eventually ground to a halt.
The World Wide Web Worm indexed titles and URLs of web pages, but like the JumpStation
it returned results in the order that it found them – meaning that results were in no order of
importance. The RBSE spider got around this problem by actually ranking pages in its index
by relevance.

All the spiders that were launched around this time, including Architext (the search software that
became the Excite engine), were unable to work out actually what it was they were indexing;
they lacked any real intelligence. To get around this problem, a product called Elnet Galaxy was
launched. This was a searchable and browsable directory, in the same way Yahoo! is today (you
can read more about directories in Chapter 4). Its website links were organized in a hierarchical
structure, which was divided into subcategories and further subcategories until users got to the
website they were after. Take a look at the Yahoo! directory for an example of this in action today.
The service, which went live in January 1994, also contained Gopher and Telnet search features,
with an added web page search feature.

The next significant stage came with the creation of the Yahoo! directory in April 1994, which
began as a couple of students’ list of favourite web pages, and grew into the worldwide phe-
nomenon that it is today. You can read more about the growth of Yahoo! in Chapter 4 of this
book, but basically it was developed as a searchable web directory. Yahoo! guaranteed the quality
of the websites it listed because they were (and still are) accepted or rejected by human editors.
The advantage of directories, as well as their guaranteed quality, was that users could also read
a title and description of the site they were about to visit, making it easier to make a choice to
visit a relevant site.

3
Marketing Through Search Optimization

Figure 1.1 The WebCrawler website

The first advanced robot, which was developed at the University of Washington, was called
WebCrawler (Figure 1.1). This actually indexed the full text of documents, allowing users to
search through this text, and therefore delivering more relevant search results.

WebCrawler was eventually adopted by America Online (AOL), who purchased the system.
AOL ran the system on its own network of computers, because the strain on the University of
Washington’s computer systems had become too much to bear, and the service would have been
shut down otherwise. WebCrawler was the first search engine that could index the full text of
a page of HTML; before this all a user could search through was the URL and the description
of a web page, but the WebCrawler system represented a huge change in how web robots
worked.

The next two big guns to emerge were Lycos and Infoseek. Lycos had the advantage in the sheer
size of documents that it indexed; it launched on 20 July 1995 with 54 000 documents indexed,
and by January 1995 had indexed 1.5 million. When Infoseek launched it was not original in its
technology, but it sported a user-friendly interface and extra features such as news and a directory,
which won it many fans. In 1999, Disney purchased a 45 per cent stake of Infoseek and integrated
it into its Go.com service (Figure 1.2).

4
 Chapter 1: Introduction to search engine optimization

Figure 1.2 Go.com

In December 1995 AltaVista came onto the scene and was quickly recognized as the top search
engine due to the speed with which it returned results (Figure 1.3). It was also the first search
engine to use natural language queries, which meant users could type questions in much the
same way as they do with Ask Jeeves today, and the engine would recognize this and not return
irrelevant results. It also allowed users to search newsgroup articles, and gave them search ‘tips’
to help refine their search.

On 20 May 1996 Inktomi Corporation was formed and HotBot was created (Figure 1.4).
Inktomi’s results are now used by a number of major search services. When it was launched
HotBot was hailed as the most powerful search engine, and it gained popularity quickly. HotBot
claimed to be able to index 10 million web pages a day; it would eventually catch up with
itself and re-index the pages it had already indexed, meaning its results would constantly stay up
to date.

Around the same time a new service called MetaCrawler was developed, which searched a
number of different search engines at once (Figure 1.5). This got around the problem, noticed
by many people, of the search engines pulling up completely different results for the same search.

5
Marketing Through Search Optimization

Figure 1.3 The AltaVista website (reproduced with permission)

MetaCrawler promised to solve this by forwarding search engine queries to search engines such
as AltaVista, Excite and Infoseek simultaneously, and then returning the most relevant results
possible. Today, MetaCrawler still exists and covers Google, Yahoo! Search, MSN Search, Ask
Jeeves, About MIVA, LookSmart and others to get its results.

By mid-1999, search sites had begun using the intelligence of web surfers to improve the quality of
search results. This was done through monitoring clicks. The DirectHit search engine introduced
a special new technology that watched which sites surfers chose, and the sites that were chosen
regularly and consistently for a particular keyword rose to the top of the listings for that keyword.
This technology is now in general use throughout the major search engines (Figure 1.6).

Next, Google was launched at the end of 1998 (Figure 1.7). Google has grown to become the
most popular search engine in existence, mainly owing to its ease of use, the number of pages it
indexes, and the relevancy of it results. Google introduced a new way of ranking sites, through
link analysis – which means that sites with more links to and from them rank higher. You can
read more about Google in Chapter 4 of this book.

6
 Chapter 1: Introduction to search engine optimization

Figure 1.4 HotBot (reproduced with permission of Inktomi)

Another relatively new search engine is WiseNut (Figure 1.8). This site was launched in September
2001 and was hailed as the successor to Google. WiseNut places a lot of emphasis on link analysis
to ensure accurate and relevant results. Although the search engine is impressive it hasn’t managed
to displace any of the major players in the scene, but is still worth taking a look. It is covered in
more depth in Chapter 4 and can be found at www.wisenut.com.

More recently we have seen the launch of Yahoo! Search, as a direct competitor to Google.
Yahoo! bought Inktomi in 2002 and in 2004 developed its own web crawler, Yahoo! Slurp.
Yahoo! offers a comprehensive search package, combining the power of their directory with
their web crawler search results, and now provides a viable alternative to using Google. MSN
Search is the search engine for the MSN portal site. Previously it had used databases from other
vendors including Inktomi, LookSmart, and Yahoo! but, as of 1 February 2005, it began using its
own unique database. MSN offers a simple interface like Google’s, and is trying to catch Google
and Yahoo!

Other notable landmarks that will be discussed later in the book include the launch of LookSmart
in October 1996, the Open Directory in June 1998 and, in April 1997, Ask Jeeves, which
was intended to create a unique user experience emphasizing an intuitive easy-to-use system.

7
Marketing Through Search Optimization

Figure 1.5 The MetaCrawler website ( ©2003 InfoSpace, Inc. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission of
InfoSpace, Inc.)

Also launched around this time was GoTo, later to be called Overture, which was the first
pay-per-click search engine (see Chapter 9).

There we have it, a brief history of search engines. Some have been missed out, of course, but the
ones covered here show the major developments in the technology, and serve as an introduction
to the main topics that are covered in a lot more detail later in this book.

Why do people search?

Having a page indexed is the first stage of being recognized by search engines, and is essential –
we can go as far as to say that until it is indexed, your site does not exist. Unless the surfer
has seen your web address on a piece of promotional material or as a link from another site,
they will try to find your website by using a search engine – most likely Google or Yahoo!.
If your site is not listed in the index of a search engine, then the surfer cannot access it.
Many URLs are not obvious or even logical, and for most searches we have no idea of the
URL we are trying to find. This is why we use search engines – they create an index of the
World Wide Web and build a giant database by collecting keywords and other information

8
 Chapter 1: Introduction to search engine optimization

Figure 1.6 The Teoma website (reproduced with permission)

from web pages. This database links page content with keywords and URLs, and is then able
to return results depending on what keywords or search terms a web surfer enters as search
criteria.

Our research shows that around 80 per cent of websites are found through search engines. This
makes it clear why companies want to come up first in a listing when a web surfer performs a
related search. People use search engines to find specific content, whether a company’s website
or their favourite particular recipe. What you need to do through your website SEO is ensure
that you make it easy for surfers to find your site, by ranking highly in search engines, being
listed in directories, and having relevant links to and from your site across the World Wide Web.
Essentially, you are trying to make your website search engine-friendly.

Search engines have become extremely important to the average web user, and research shows
that around eight in ten web users regularly use search engines on the Web. The Pew Internet
Project Data Memo (which can be found at www.pewinternet.org), released in 2004, reveals
some extremely compelling statistics. It states that more than one in four (or about 33 million)
adults use a search engine on a daily basis in the USA, and that 84 per cent of American Internet

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Marketing Through Search Optimization

Figure 1.7 Familiar to most of us, the Google homepage (reproduced with permission)

users have used an online search engine to find information on the Web. The report states that
‘search engines are the most popular way to locate a variety of types of information online’.
The only online activity to be more popular than using a search engine is sending and receiving
emails. Some other statistics that the report revealed were:

• College graduates are more likely to use a search engine on a typical day (39 per cent, compared
to 20 per cent of high school graduates).
• Internet users who have been online for three or more years are also heavy search engine users
(39 per cent on a typical day, compared to 14 per cent of those who gained access in the last
six months).
• Men are more likely than women to use a search engine on a typical day (33 per cent, compared
to 25 per cent of women).
• On any given day online, more than half those using the Internet use search engines. And
more than two-thirds of Internet users say they use search engines at least a couple of times
per week.
• 87 per cent of search engine users say they find the information they want most of the time
when they use search engines.

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 Chapter 1: Introduction to search engine optimization

Figure 1.8 The WiseNut homepage (reproduced with permission)

If you are not convinced already of the importance of SEO as part of the eMarketing mix, here
are some more interesting statistics:

• The NPD Group, a research group specializing in consumer purchasing and behaviour study,
has shown that search engine positions are around two to three times more effective for
generating sales than banner ads (http://www.overture.com/d/about/advertisers/slab.jhtml).
• 81 per cent of UK users find the websites they are looking for through search engines (Source:
UK Internet User Monitor. Forrester Research Inc., June 2000).
• According to a report published by the NPD Group, 92 per cent of online consumers use
search engines to shop and/or purchase online.
• A study conducted by IMT Strategies found that search engines are the number one way (46
per cent) by which people find websites; random surfing and word-of-mouth were ranked
equal second (20 per cent each).

Finding out what people search for

Sites that allow you to see what people are searching for are listed at the end of Chapter 5. As
well as being a bit of fun, these sites can be quite revealing; they let you see the top search terms

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Marketing Through Search Optimization

for particular searches across various search engines, and the terms that are doing the best overall.
Just to give you an idea of some results, here is a list taken from www.wordtracker.com of the
top twenty ranking searches across the top metasearch engines on the Internet (including the
Excite and MetaCrawler search engines) on 25 February 2007:

5027 myspace
4944 google
3852 yahoo
3772 ebay
3711 anna nicole smith
3498 games play
3469 britney spears
3361 myspace.com
3043 akon
2881 antonella barba

This is interesting reading – particularly the fact that people are actually searching on search
engines for ‘Google’ and ‘Yahoo!’. This goes to show that even if web surfers know a company’s
name (in the case of the 1411 searches for ‘Yahoo.com’ they knew practically the whole web
address), they will still search for it on a search engine. These searchers were using one particular
search engine in order to find another. If Google and Yahoo!, therefore, do not have good search
engine positioning, then they will lose a lot of users who cannot find their site in searches from
other engines. The same will, of course, happen to your site if it is not listed.

So what’s so great about being ranked highly?

Getting listed in a search engine doesn’t do you much good if you’re number 298 of 900 524
results, and it also doesn’t help much if you rank at number eleven. Most search engines display
ten results per page, and this is where you have to be aiming for. So once your site is indexed,
you will need to turn your attention to ranking. Realistically, you want to be aiming for the top
ten to twenty positions on any given search engine, and these are the most treasured positions
by webmasters. You will learn more about positioning on specific engines and directories as you
read through this book, but take the top ten as a general rule of thumb. Some webmasters go as
far as to employ ‘dirty tricks’ to get their site into the top positions, but why do they do this?

To find the answer, you need to put yourself into the position of a searcher. When searchers are
confronted with a page of results, their immediate reaction is to look down that list and then
stop looking when they see a relevant site. No major studies exist regarding the importance of
top ranking, but common sense dictates that searchers will visit the first two or three relevant
sites found rather than trawling through pages of search results to find your site listed at position
298. Our own research shows that around 50 per cent of search engine users expect to find the
answer to their query on the first page, or within the top ten search engine results. Another
20 per cent revealed that they would not go past the second page of search results to find the

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 Chapter 1: Introduction to search engine optimization

site they were looking for. Therefore, if your website is not ranked towards the top you will
essentially be invisible to most search engine users. Most search engine software uses both the
position and the frequency of keywords to work out the website ranking order – so a web
page with a high frequency of keywords towards the beginning will appear higher on the listing
than one with a low frequency of keywords further down in the text. Another major factor
that is taken into account is link popularity. All these topics are covered in more detail in
Chapter 3.

Today’s search engine promotion requires a multifaceted approach. To achieve a site’s full
potential, site promotion must incorporate target audience research and analysis, competitor
analysis, pay-per-click optimization, and professional copywriting. SEO also requires a sharp eye
and an ear to the ground; search engine technology is constantly changing, so you will need to
keep up with the changes and reassess your search engine strategy accordingly.

Should you use an SEO consultancy or do it yourself?

By buying this book you have already taken the first steps towards DIY SEO, but for some of you
the use of an SEO consultancy will be unavoidable and perhaps you have chosen this book to arm
you with the knowledge you need to approach an SEO company confidently. In any case, if you
do decide to use an SEO consultant there are a number of issues that you will need to be aware of.

Specialist marketing firms, like Sprite Interactive, live and breathe search engine marketing and
understand fully what it takes to generate traffic for your site and to achieve a top ranking. By
investing in the services of one of the many highly skilled SEO consultants available, you can
reap considerable rewards, but you need to have the knowledge to choose the company that is
right for you. There are a number of companies who will use underhand tactics to attempt to
promote your site, or who will not promote your site well at all. You should start with the basics
when you approach an SEO company. Ask the consultant to explain the difference between a
directory and a search engine (which you, of course, will know after reading this book). Then
ask what type of approach will be taken when the company optimizes your site – which should
be done within the site’s existing structure. SEO consultants should be able to explain to you
how the different search engines find their content, and have a good working knowledge of web
design and development – including HTML and Flash. You should be able to ask them questions
about the site architecture (see Chapter 7) and expect answers, as this information is essential to
any SEO campaign.

Credible SEO consultants should outline a plan where they will spend time working with you to
develop the relevant site keywords and phrases that you expect people to use when searching for
you. Consultants should also be skilled in writing quality concise copy. Building link popularity
for your site is another important service provided by SEO consultants, as it will boost your
ranking on certain search engines – in a nutshell, you should make sure any links you exchange
with other sites are relevant and that the consultant does not use automated linking software

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Marketing Through Search Optimization

(see Chapter 3). Be very wary of consultants who advocate ‘spamming’ techniques, such as using
hidden text on your web pages or submitting your site multiple times over a short period of time.
They will only be found out by the search engine in question, and thus run the risk of getting
your site banned altogether. Legitimate SEO consultants will work well within the rules set by
the search engines and will keep up to date with these rules through industry sources.

An investment in professional SEO consultancy is likely to be cheaper than one month of a print
advertising campaign. For your investment your site will be optimized across three to five key
phrases. Your contract will probably last from six months to a year, as it will take this long for
the optimization to take full effect. Expect your chosen SEO consultants to be able reliably to
inform you about the latest rates on all the pay-for-placement engines. If you choose correctly,
your SEO consultant can save you a considerable amount of time and effort, and will generate
quality targeted traffic for your site.

Watch out for companies that offer guarantees against rankings achieved. Many of these are pretty
worthless and generally have a number of ‘let-out’ clauses. There is no guarantee of success, but
there are ways to greatly increase the odds of being ranked highly. The main factor in measuring
the success of an SEO campaign is the increase in traffic to your website.

You need to ask yourself a few questions when choosing an SEO professional. Is it the consultant’s
job to increase your sales? Is the consultant there to increase your traffic, or just to get you a high
ranking? Most SEO professionals would agree that they are there to get their client’s site ranked
highly, and many will state up front that this is their main aim; however, generally speaking the
first two options will result as a knock-on effect of having a highly ranked site. What happens
if this is not the case? The client will often assume that high rankings will immediately result
in extra traffic and additional sales, but in some cases this does not happen, and the finger of
blame is pointed. So who is to blame? The answer will lie in what the original agreement and
expectations were between the SEO consultant and the client.

There are a number of reasons why sales or traffic might not increase, and these may be the
fault of either the SEO company or the client. For example, it would be the SEO company’s
fault if the wrong keywords were targeted. A client’s website may be listed highly but for the
wrong keywords and search terms, and therefore would not generate any relevant traffic, or any
traffic at all. So make sure you agree on what keywords you are going to use first, to avoid any
conflicts later on. There is no real excuse for an SEO professional to target the wrong keywords,
especially after having consulted you and doing the necessary research.

There are two immediate ways in which the client could be in the wrong. First, the client may
decide that they know best, fail to pay attention to the SEO advice offered, and choose unrelated
keywords for the website. It is up to the client to follow the advice of the SEO consultant.
Second, a client may have a badly designed site, which does not convert visitors into sales; an
SEO consultant can advise on this, but in the end it is down to the client to act and to commission
a site redesign.

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 Chapter 1: Introduction to search engine optimization

It’s important to know exactly what you’ll be getting from your SEO company right from the
start, so here is a checklist of questions to ask a potential SEO consultant:

1 How long have you been providing search engine optimization services?
2 Are you an individual consultant, or are you part of a team?
3 How long have you and your team been online?
4 What types of websites do you not promote?
6 Can you describe and/or produce recent successful campaign results?
7 Do you have website design experience?
8 What are your opinions with regard to best practices for the SEO industry, and how do you
try to keep to these?
9 How many search engine optimization campaigns have you been involved with? What
was your role for those projects? How many are still active? How many are inactive? If
inactive, why?
10 Are there any guarantees for top search engine positions? (The answer to this question will
depend on whether or not you choose a pay-per-click program; see Chapter 9 for more
information.)
11 Do you have experience managing bid management campaigns?
12 What strategies would you use to increase our website’s link popularity?
13 Explain to me how Google’s PageRank software works, and how you could increase our
website’s rating. (The answer to this will involve building quality inbound links to your
website.)
14 How would you orchestrate a links popularity campaign?
15 What changes can we expect you to make to our website to improve our positioning in the
search engines?
16 Will there be changes in the coding of our website to make it rank better?
17 What type of reporting will you provide us with, and how often?

This checklist provides a useful starting point for you when approaching an SEO professional. At
Sprite we make sure that all the consultants can answer these questions, and more, whenever they
are approached for new SEO business. Most importantly, however, if you choose to use SEO
professionals, be patient with them. You need to remember that SEO is a long-term process, and
it will take around six months before you have any real measure of success. If you are not happy
with the results after this time, then it is probably time to move on. Appendix A provides an
example SEO presentation; although this is more of an internal presentation, it will give you an
idea of some of the issues you should be looking out for.

White hat or black hat SEO?

There are considered to be two main areas of SEO methods and tactics in use: white hat and
black hat. Many of the search engines and directories have a set of unwritten guidelines that site
managers must conform to for their site to be indexed. These are put in place to ensure a level
playing field for the websites that are indexed by that search engine; however, many site owners

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try to bypass the guidelines without the website knowing, with varying levels of success. As these
guidelines are not generally written as a set of rules, they can be open to interpretation – an
important point to note.

A technique is ‘white hat’ when it conforms to the submission guidelines set out by a search
engine and contains no kind of deception in order to artificially gain higher rankings. White hat
SEO is about creating a compelling user experience and making the content easily accessible to
search engine spiders, with no tricks involved.

‘Black hat’ SEO techniques are efforts to try to trick search engines into ranking a site higher
than it should be. There are many black hat techniques, but the more common ones are ‘hidden
text’ that a site user cannot see but a search engine spider can, or ‘cloaking’, which involves
serving one page up for search engine spiders and another page up for site visitors. Search engines
have and will penalize and even ban sites they find using these techniques; one recent example
occurred in February 2006, when Google removed the BMW Germany site from its listings for
use of doorway pages.

White hat search engine techniques present a holistic view of search engine optimization – the
search engines are viewed as a necessary part of the whole web marketing mix – whereas many
black hat practitioners tend to see search engines as an enemy to be fought in order to get higher
listings. When using black hat SEO the content on a page is developed solely with the search
engines in mind. Humans are not supposed the see the black hat content on a page (such as
hidden links and text). The content may be incomprehensible to humans and if they do see it
then their experience of using the site will be considerably diminished. White hat techniques
produce content for both the search engines and the site user, usually focusing primarily on
creating relevant interesting content that is also keyword-rich for the search engine spider. Even
without the presence of a search engine, white hat pages will still be relevant.

Another area of concern should be your domains. There is always the risk of a search engine
removing your domain from their listings, due to a change in algorithm or some other related
cause, but in general by following white hat techniques you can reduce this risk. Black hat
techniques, on the other hand, will positively increase the risk. Many black hat practitioners view
domains as disposable, which can be especially hazardous if they are working on your primary
domain name. Black hat techniques may get you quick results, but these are more often than
not short-term gains, as the domains are quickly banned from the search engine indexes. White
hat techniques on the other hand will generally take longer to implement and be ingested by the
search engines, but they will provide you with a long-term stable platform for your website.

So the question is: how do I make sure I am following white hat techniques and search engine
guidelines? The one point to bear in mind is to make sure your site and its content makes sense
to humans! That is all you need to do to follow white hat guidelines. The only time you should
really have to consult search engine guidelines is if you are working on an element of your site
that is not related to the user experience, such as META tags, code placement and site submission.

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 Chapter 1: Introduction to search engine optimization

Natural traffic
If you are going to use an agency for SEO, then you will also need to tap into your site’s natural
traffic. Your natural traffic is web traffic that will develop outside of the optimization services
provided by an SEO company. It is not traffic that is ‘directed’ to your site by good search engine
ranking and positioning; it is traffic that will find your site in other ways, such as through printed
advertising or through having a shared interest in your website. You need to bear this in mind
throughout your SEO process, as it is part of the full marketing mix that will result in quality
traffic for your website. Make sure your print advertising (and any other promotional material
for that matter) features your web address in a prominent position. Target relevant publications
with your advertisements, and make sure that any groups that share an interest in your website
are well informed.

If you want to track the success of a print campaign, one technique you can use is to feature an
alternative URL; you can then track the amount of hits to this URL, which will tell you how
successful the print ad or campaign has been. Tapping into your site’s natural traffic may take
more thought and planning than just optimizing your site and hoping that people will find it by
searching for it, but the hits that you will receive from ‘natural’ traffic will be of a higher quality,
and will be more likely to spend longer on your site than those coming from search engine results
alone. Another way to increase your ‘natural’ traffic is by building your site’s link popularity (see
Chapter 3).

In conclusion
This chapter has been designed as a basic introduction to some of the concepts surrounding SEO.
It is clear from reading the statistics quoted that getting listed on search engines is essential to
promote your website effectively, and that ranking highly is essential if you want your site to be
noticed by surfers performing searches. If you do choose to use an SEO consultancy, then be
sure to follow the guidelines outlined above, and read this book first to give you the knowledge
to approach an agency confidently and make sure you are able to get the most out of them.
Remember that SEO is a long-term process; it cannot happen overnight, and is something that
you need to commit to fully to get the most out of.

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 Chapter 2
How people search

Power searching
Before commencing a search engine marketing campaign it is important to understand how
the search engines work and become a power searcher yourself. This will give you important
background knowledge into the area you are entering. Power searching means using all the
tricks at your disposal in your chosen search engine to get the most relevant results for you.
Modern search engines are generally pretty good on relevancy, but there are still pages that are
not particularly well optimized, but that will contain the information you’re after that can only
be accessed by using power search techniques. Learning power searching will also give you a
good background on what works and what doesn’t when optimizing your site.

It is worthwhile starting with the basics. The most important rule of any searching is that the
more specific your search is, the more likely you are to find what you want. Try asking Google
‘where do I download drivers for my new Motu sound card for Windows XP’, more often than
not this technique works to deliver relevant results. Here is a very brief summary of basic search
engine terms.

The + symbol
The + symbol lets you make sure that the pages you find contain all the words you enter. If you
wanted to find pages that have references to both Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie you could use the
following query:

+Pitt +Jolie

You can string as many words together as you like, and this technique is especially useful for
narrowing down results when you have too many to check through.

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Marketing Through Search Optimization

The − symbol
The − symbol simply lets you find pages that have one word on them but not another. If you
wanted to find a page with Brad Pitt but not Angelina Jolie then you would simply type:

Pitt−Jolie

Again, you can use this technique to filter your results as much as you like and it is useful to
focus your results when you get too many unrelated pages.

Quotation marks
You can use quotation marks around a phrase to be sure that that phrase appears as you have
typed it on the page, so a search for Ben Salter may return results with the two words appearing
separately on the page; if you typed in ‘Ben Salter’ then you would be guaranteed to return that
exact phrase which would lead to much more relevant results. Another example would be the
book title ‘Marketing Through Search Optimization’; without the quotation marks you would
be more likely to be presented with SEO consultancy websites, but with the quotation marks
the book title is much more likely to appear as one of the top search results.

These symbols can be added to each other in any way you please, and you can create some quite
elaborate search strings with them. For the most part these are the only ways most search engine
users will enhance their results – Boolean commands are not covered here as on the whole they
are not widely used by a typical search engine user.

Power search commands

These commands are usually located on the ‘advanced search’ page of a search engine; have a
play with them and see how they affect your search results. There are a number of commands
that are also very useful for marketing professionals to track their sites on the search engines. The
examples below will work on most search engines, but we have used Google commands as the
basis.

• Match Any – this lets you find pages that contain any of your search terms. Usually when this
is selected the search engine will first display results with both terms.
• Match All – this is similar to the + command and makes the search engine return results that
include all the terms you have specified.
• Exclude – similar to the − command, this lets you exclude words from the search if you don’t
want them to appear in the results that are returned.
• Site Search – this is a powerful feature that lets you control what sites are included or excluded
in a search. If you wanted to see all the pages in the Sprite Interactive website you could type:

site:www.sprite.net

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 Chapter 2: How people search

This would return all the pages in the search engine’s index for www.sprite.net. This is a useful
tool to see what pages from your site have been indexed and what versions of the page are in the
search engine directory, and whether it has picked up any recent updates you have done.

You can also add other terms onto the end of the search query to see pages from that site that
have specific content, for example:

Site:www.sprite.net search engine marketing

This returns the search engine marketing page from the Sprite Interactive website. You can also
use all the other search terms (+, −, ‘’) to refine your search further.

Title search
If you want to find pages that just mention certain terms in the title you can use the ‘:allintitle’
command and the resulting pages will be restricted to those containing just the terms you specified
in the title. Again, this is useful for finding certain pages in a site to see if they have been indexed.
You can also use ‘intitle:’ to return results that just have the first query in the title rather than all
the search terms; for example ‘intitle:sprite interactive’ would return pages with ‘Sprite’ in the
title, but with ‘Interactive’ in the body copy.

Info search
This is a great way to find out more information on your, or your competitors’, sites. It returns
all of the information Google has on the site you search for. If you typed ‘info:www.sprite.net’
you are given the following options from Google:

• Show Google’s cache of www.sprite.net

• Find web pages that are similar to www.sprite.net
• Find web pages that link to www.sprite.net
• Find web pages from the site www.sprite.net
• Find web pages that contain the term www.sprite.net

Link search
Perhaps the most useful power search tool for the SEO professional, this lets you see all the sites
linking into a particular URL; the search query would look like ‘link:www.sprite.net’. This is
a great way to see who is linking into your competitor sites to see if you can also benefit from
those links. It also lets you see if Google has indexed pages linking to your site – if it hasn’t then
you can submit them to Google yourself.

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Marketing Through Search Optimization

Personalization
The major search engines are now looking into personalized search, the main players currently
being Google, Yahoo!, MSN and Amazon’s a9.com service. Microsoft is seen as having the
advantage due to its ability to access the files on your computer (for PC users). The concept of
personal search is that the more a search engine knows about your likes and dislikes, your history,
your search patterns and your interests, the better search results it can provide you with. Not
only can personal search base results on the terms you enter in the search query, it can also use
your personal info to work out what you really mean by those terms and suggest other results
that may be relevant or interesting to you.

Many commentators have cited personalization as the ‘Holy Grail’ for search engines, and the
search engines are certainly ‘in bed’ with the concept. It is easy to see that the more data they can
collect on their users, the more they can target their results, and also the more they can charge
for targeted advertising. Here are a couple of examples of simple searches that can ‘benefit’ from
personalization: if you are searching for ‘beatles’ are you after the band or the insect? If you search
for ‘rock’ are you interested in music or geology, and so on. Of course, using the information
provided at the start of this chapter you could narrow your search engine results down to the
same as these particular personalized search results.

Google Homepage, My Yahoo! and My MSN also offer personalized versions of their homepages,
with services like email, chat and calendars readily available.

The essence of personalized homepages is a technology called Really Simply Syndication (RSS).
This allows content to be distributed through the Web very efficiently, so a news organization
like the BBC will use RSS to plug their headlines in to any site also using the technology.
RSS can be used for a wide range of content, like weather reports, star signs, traffic and road
information, and so on. RSS feeds can be seen on the Google homepage screenshot (Figure 2.1).

The search engines can use the information a user decides to display on their personal homepage
to then create the user profile. This profile enables them to serve up more relevant advertising.

One of the more negative features of personalized search is that once a search engine thinks
it knows what you want to be searching for it will narrow your results, thus narrowing the
amount of information you can access. Though getting narrow search results can be a good
thing, searching is also about broadening your mind, and search results regularly lead users off on
tangents into information that they may not necessarily have considered. Is ending this a good
thing? Should there be an option to turn personalization off ?

Another problem that people seem concerned about is privacy. What is to stop search engine
operators tracking everything a user does on the Internet? Though there is clearly going to be
an issue of privacy with any kind of personalization, this may be less of an issue than many have
made it out to be. The search engines can track users anonymously, setting a cookie in your
browser that simply contains an ID that gives you a profile, without having to enter anything

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 Chapter 2: How people search

Figure 2.1 Google personalized homepage

that will identify you as an individual. All they need to know is that you like the Beatles; they
don’t need your name or address. This system is being developed by the major search engines,
most notably Google.

There is another important side effect of personalization that is only just starting to be realized,
and that is the effect it will have on the SEO industry. If a user can filter results personally
then this change could lead to whole new profiles. What profile did they have? Where were
they located? This change could lead to whole new profiles being developed for different sets of
search engine users, and personal profiling would become commonplace. You would no longer
be tracking your site for a search on a particular keyword, you would be tracking your site by a
particular user demographic (London IT Worker, 25–30, for example). So this could lead to the
job of the SEO consultant becoming more complicated, but if you are creating useful relevant
sites aimed at people rather than search engines, you will be well on the way to benefiting from
personalized search.

Mobile search
With the increased use of the Web on mobile devices, the major search engines are now providing
support for mobile devices. The mobile Internet is developing in much the same way as the
Internet developed. In the early days of the Internet users were restricted to select content via
portals such as Netscape and Compuserve. These are reflected by the mobile operator portals
today (Vodafone, Orange Three, to name a few), who carry a very small selection of the mobile
content available, but are the first stop for many mobile users. Some of these operators have even

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Marketing Through Search Optimization

put a walled garden around their portal, so users cannot access any content outside those they
have chosen for them (as some of the early Internet portals did). As the Internet developed, and
the depth of content developed, the portal sites were unable to provide the necessary coverage,
and search engines such as Google and AltaVista provided a way for users to find this content.
This is now happening in the mobile space, as the search engines are starting to tap into the huge
amount of mobile content available that cannot be found on the operator portals.

Google provides search interfaces for devices such as Palm PDAs, i-mode phones and WAP and
xHTML enabled devices. Google also supports facilities that let users use their numeric keypad
to enter search terms and keywords. Yahoo! provides a directory of WAP-enabled sites and
delivers personalized data to mobile devices, such as sports scores, news and entertainment and
travel information, as well as the ability to use Yahoo! email and messenger on your device.
MSN’s strategy focuses on the pocket PC and smartphone devices, which have windows software
installed on them, and which deliver up web content through Pocket MSN.

Research from Bango (www.bango.com) indicates that the most popular mobile content
services are:

• Music (including ring tones) 32 per cent

• Pictures 15 per cent
• Adult services 22 per cent
• Video 7 per cent
• Games 14 per cent
• Information services 10 per cent

Personalized mobile search

Personalization is possibly more important for mobile search than it is for web search. A mobile
screen can only display a few results at a time, probably ranging from two to four, while on
a desktop you will typically see the top 10 results. It is critical, therefore, that the results are
accurate and relevant.

Location aware mobile search

One of the most interesting features of mobile search, which continues on from the personalization
discussion, is location-based search. Technologies such as GPS and wireless networks can detect
the location of a mobile user, which can then send additional data to a search engine to narrow
down its results. There are two main types of location-based search available for mobile users:

• Real time searches for local landmarks, such as restaurants, ATMs, specific shops.
• Predefined search, which can pull up preset data on what is available in a local area.

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 Chapter 2: How people search

Local search needs to be quick and accurate for it to be successful. For more detail on mobile
search and the mobile Internet see Chapters 6 and 8.

Social networks
A basic social network is a collection of people you know and stay in contact with. You swap ideas
and information, and recommend friends and services to each other. This leads your network to
grow. Sharing in a social network is based on trust; if the recommendation is unbiased and is
from a known source then you are more likely to trust it than not. The best recommendations
are therefore those that come from unbiased and trustworthy sources.

In the past few years social networks on the Web have become some of the most popular sites
around. Sites like Myspace, YouTube, Friendster and Linkedin have all become big business, and
there are ways you can benefit from their popularity and user-base. The key to all these networks
is the sharing of ideas and information, and the way that they open up this area to web users who
would previously have to have had knowledge of web development to be able to do what they
are able to do through these sites now, i.e. share photos, publish journals and create their own
personal web page.

Social networks open great new opportunities for viral and word-of-mouth marketing, and
provide huge marketing potential for your business. They make viral marketing and word-of-
mouth marketing much easier than before. The best use of social networks is not to make money
‘directly’ off them, but to harness their marketing potential and to use them to market your
own business. Each social network has its own unique language: YouTube is for uploading and
commenting on videos; Myspace is for finding interesting new ‘friends’ and leaving comments
for them.

Make your message unique

If you want your message to succeed on these networks the best thing you can do is to
make it unique – social networks are full of very samey content, particularly a site like
YouTube. To stand out from the crowd your message has to be interesting, easy to under-
stand, memorable, and easy to spread around (including being easy for someone to describe).
Being funny also helps a great deal. If you get the right mix for your content then you have
the potential to spread your idea through thousands of people without spending any money
at all.

Today’s SEO understands that standard manipulation of websites only achieves results in the most
non-competitive of markets. To profit from the Web you must cover the social connected aspect
of the Internet and make it work for you. This is partly covered through link building, but also
through tapping into social networks to bring traffic to your sites.

25
Marketing Through Search Optimization

Social Media Optimization

Social Media Optimization (SMO) was a phrase coined by Rohit Bhargava, who said:

The concept behind SMO is simple: implement changes to optimize a site so that
it is more easily linked to, more highly visible in social media searches on custom
search engines, and more frequently included in relevant posts on blogs, podcasts and
vlogs.

This quote encompasses all the social aspects of the Web. SMO understands that people are the
Internet, and optimizes your website and your promotional content for people as well as for the
search engines. SMO feeds into SEO – the links you build will benefit your site’s organic search
engine results and will naturally increase the profile of your site and content, and drive targeted
traffic through a whole new network that does not rely on the major search engines.

Bhargava, Jeremiah Owyang and Loren Baker have identified 13 rules between them to help
guide thinking when conducting SMO:

1 Increase your linkability: using blogs, ‘sticky’ content and aggregation.

2 Make tagging and bookmarking easy: make it clear and easy for users to tag and bookmark
your content and recommend it to sites like digg.com.
3 Reward inbound links: if someone links to you, list them on your links page or in your blog.
Make it worth someone’s while to link to you.
4 Help your content travel: use formats such as PDFs to allow people to easily download and
redistribute your content.
5 Encourage the mashup: let others use your content or your tools to create something new,
don’t be precious.
6 Be a user resource, even if it doesn’t help you: add outbound links to your site. Even if this
doesn’t help you in the short term by driving traffic away from your site, it will help in the
long term by making your site friendly.
7 Reward helpful and valuable users: give people who contribute or use your site regularly
something back in return.
8 Participate: get out there and participate in discussions, don’t just read them.
9 Know how to target your audience: understand how you can appeal to the people you are
targeting and focus on this.
10 Create content: create content that works for you.
11 Be real.
12 Don’t forget your roots, be humble: keep your feet on the ground and respect those that
helped you along the way.
13 Don’t be afraid to try new things, stay fresh: keep up with new tools, sites and content in
your area.

Having a large social network is what will turn your site content into ‘linkable’ content and
increase its ‘link factor’; for more on linking see Chapter 3. It is important to build links, but

26
 Chapter 2: How people search

it is also important to build the network that will give you the links into the future. If you
want something to spread virally it has to have a network to be seeded into. If your network
takes it on and the content is good, then it might spread into other networks, who might then
link to you too. As well as understanding the raw elements of SEO, such as site architecture,
keyword choice and keyword placement, SEO today is very much about making the social
Web work for you, as it will build the profile of your site in a way you never could on
your own.

Social network sites to check out

•Myspace – http://www.myspace.com
•Friendster – http://www.friendster.com
•YouTube – http://www.youtube.com
•LinkedIn – http://www.linkedin.com
•Orkut – http://www.orkut.com
•Flickr – http://www.flickr.com

Weblogs
A weblog (blog) is a personal website where the site owner makes regular entries, which are
presented to the viewer in reverse chronological order. Blogs are often a commentary on a
specific subject, such as politics, food or films, and some take the form of a personal diary, where
the author records their thoughts on a range of subjects. Blogs can feature text and graphics, and
links to other blogs and other websites. ‘Blogging’ is also a term that means to add an entry or a
comment to a blog.

Blogs evolved from the concept of the online diary, where writers would keep an online account
of their personal lives. Early blogs were usually manually updated sections of websites but with
the advance of technology and the introduction of blogging software, such as Blogger and
LiveJournal, the availability of blogging has been opened up to a much wider, less technically
minded audience. Blogging had a slow start, but it rapidly gained popularity. The site Xanga,
which was launched in 1996, featured only 100 diaries by 1997; this had leapt to 50 000 000 by
December 2005.

Blogging makes building your own simple web page easy. It also makes linking to other web
pages easy, with tools such as:

• Permalinks – this is a URL link that points to a specific blog entry even after the entry passed
from the front page into the blog archives.
• Blogrolls – these are collections of links to other weblogs. They are often found on the front
page of a blog, on the sidebar.
• TrackBacks – these are ways for webmasters (blog owners) to be informed when someone
links to one of their articles.

27
Marketing Through Search Optimization

Blogs and blog posts are naturally search engine-friendly as they are full of keywords and links.
They use style sheets and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), and generally have very clean HTML
formatting. Optimizing your blog is very similar to optimizing a web page, but depending which
software you use the results may look different. There are a number of simple rules, however, that
you can follow that will boost your blog ranking and perhaps rank it higher than many websites.
Once you have a blog ranked highly you can use its positioning to link to your websites; there
is more on using a blog to increase your link factor in Chapter 3.

Tips to increase your blog’s search engine ranking:

1 Pick a blog domain name that includes your keywords

This is pretty straightforward. If you have keywords in your domain name you will increase
your chances of being ranked highly. Even if your blog is a subdomain of your main website,
try to include relevant keywords in the subdomain URL.
2 Make sure your blog tags include your primary keywords
If you have identified your primary keywords as ‘running shoes’ make sure these appear in the
header tags throughout the blog (more on identifying keywords in Chapter 5). Make sure all
your blog titles also include the keywords.
3 Use your keywords throughout the body copy and link text
Make sure that all your keywords are used throughout each post on your blog, but not so
much that it doesn’t read naturally. Use your keywords throughout links on your page and
link your keywords as they appear in your posts.
4 Make your blog search engine spider-friendly
Set up your blog so that the navigation is present on every page and make sure that all your
posts, including your archives, are available from every page.
5 Get other blogs and sites to link to yours
Submitting to blog search engines and directories is a great way to get quality links into your
blog. Check out sites such as:
• Blogdigger
• Bloglines
• Feedster
• Google Blog Search
• IceRocket
• PubSub
• Technorati
Find similarly themed blogs and approach them to swap links into your content.
6 Keep your content fresh
Search engine spiders love fresh content, so keep your blog up to date with relevant and
interesting articles. Write posts that people will want to read as well; if they enjoy reading your
posts people will reward you by returning to your blog and possibly recommending it to their
friends and colleagues.

28
 Chapter 3
Linking strategies and free listings

So you’ve built a great site and you have great content; all you now need is an audience.
However, there is a problem: there are around 100 million web pages out there and well
over a million unique domains. Of these, the top 10 per cent receive around 90 per cent of
the overall traffic. The Web is a very tough place for small sites to get exposure, particularly
those without a large budget for promotion. In this chapter we’ll look at how you can build
a presence for your site and increase your traffic, even if you have little or no site promotion
budget.

Free mass submission services – do they work?

There are only two ways to increase a website’s traffic: you have to increase the number of
new users coming to the site, or you need to get your current users to look at more pages
when they are surfing your site. One of the main ways that the site is advertised is through
the use of mass submission services. Many people have lost money on lower priced, poor
quality services that guaranteed top search engine placements. If they had taken more time and
invested the little money they had in more relevant services, then they could have done a lot
better.

The first method discussed here of getting your site listed for free is one that should be avoided,
and one that is readily available across the Web. This is the mass submission service. There are
a number of companies offering this; just type ‘free search engine submission’ into Google and
this will become evident (Figure 3.1).

When you sign up for one of these services you will generally pay a low monthly fee and in
return the company will submit your site to what they describe as ‘thousands’ of search engines.
Don’t be fooled! Some services even offer submission to as many as 250 000 engines, although
there are not 250 000 search engines in existence. Many of these companies will take your money

29
Marketing Through Search Optimization

Figure 3.1 The results of a search on Google for ‘free search engine submission’; notice the sponsored links
(reproduced with permission)

and then generate spam email, which will give you no benefit and clog up your inbox. You only
need to concentrate on the top eight to ten search engines. Many of the top search engines will
not accept automatic submission of this kind and, even if your site does get listed, if it has not
been optimized in the first place it is very unlikely that it will rank well. When you next come
across a service that offers guaranteed top ten positions or submissions within a certain time (say
ten or fifteen days), it is worth remembering a few things. First, let’s take the previous example.
If eleven people apply to get the guaranteed top ten positions, what will happen then? Logic
dictates that it will be first come, first served, which is not very fair on the eleventh person, who
has also been guaranteed top ten placement. Anyway, submitting your URL to search engines
does not guarantee anything (see Chapter 4).

If you are going to use a mass submission tool, then use a recognized one such as Submit It. This
engine is so good and came so highly recommended that Microsoft bought it, and it is now a
part of their bCentral suite of site promotion tools. The service is not free, however, and there
is a charge to submit your site. For this, Submit It promises to get you a prominent listing on a
number of top search engines.

30
 Chapter 3: Linking strategies and free listings

Free submission to major search engines

Many of the major search engines still include a free submission section for their listings. Paid
inclusion is always the faster choice, but if your budget is limited you may want to consider
submitting and waiting the six to eight weeks (or more) that it often takes to see your listings
show up. Bear in mind that if you have no budget it is still well worth submitting to the major
search engines, as your site will be listed eventually.

Major search engines providing free submissions include:

• Google
• AltaVista
• Yahoo!.

Building links
Another great way to get traffic to your site for free is to have other sites link to it. This is
one of the most powerful tools you can use to promote your site. It’s the online equivalent
of word-of-mouth advertising and, just like word-of-mouth, it’s the most effective way to get
new business.

It’s like one of your neighbours recommending a good plumber; a recommendation carries more
weight than if a person just stumbles across your website using a search engine – and, for the
purposes of this chapter, it can also be free or come at a very low cost. One of the best ways to
find sites to approach to link to yours is to use the search results for terms that are important for
your site. Do a search at Google for phrases that you wish to be ranked first for, and then treat
all the top listed sites as potential linking partners. Some of the sites listed may be competitors,
and you will not realistically be able to trade links with them, but there should be a number of
sites that do not sell competitor products to you – the only thing you are competing for being
the same search terms.

Now you need to visit the sites that are not competitors and see how it would be possible for
your site to get a link from them. If they have a links page, this is an obvious place for your
site to be linked from; if they have an ezine that users subscribe to then you could place a text
link in this, maybe in return for promotion on your own site or for a small fee. An example of
this in action would be a nutritionist who has written a book on ‘living better through healthy
eating’; these words would therefore be very important to the nutritionist on a search engine.
Instead of trying to rank first for these results, he or she could try to exchange links with those
sites listed first – which would mostly be stores advertising vitamins and nutritionist services. The
technique is a cost-effective way of getting your site to the top, and is known as ‘piggybacking’.
You are using the fact that some sites will be ranked highly for a specific search phrase, and will
not compete with you. It can take you a very long time to get to these positions, especially if
you have little or no budget, so the next best solution is clearly to have a link from their site
onto yours. In time, if you have links from the top ten sites for a particular term or phrase you

31
Marketing Through Search Optimization

will receive a lot of traffic, as these sites will receive a lot of traffic anyway as a result of their
high listing. However, it is not quite this easy, and you have to work out why these sites would
want to give you a link.

There are a number of possible options:

• You could make them an affiliate of yours if you sell products

• If you already have a number of high-ranking pages, then you could simply swap links
between your sites in a mutual fashion – some sites actually have a reciprocal links page, in
which case you’ll have got lucky and will usually be able to place a link in return for a link
from your site.

In any case, it’s the research that goes into analysing sites and identifying how you can link
from them in the first place that makes all the difference. You need to seek solutions where
both parties win, and you can secure for your site a cheap and plentiful supply of valuable
traffic. You need to take the time to visit any sites you are asking for links from, then find
out who runs the sites and send a polite email – addressing them by name so it is clear that
your email has not come from a piece of link generating software. Tell them your name and
demonstrate that you have seen their site and taken the time to analyse it. Explain to them
why you think a link exchange makes sense and, if they have a links page already, let them
know you have been to see it and ask for a link from it. When you send another webmaster
a link request or reciprocal linking offer, you should also state what you would like your link
to say. It is suggested that you include a piece of HTML code in your email, such as the
following:

<a href=’’http://www.yoursite.com’’>Your Keywords</a>

Finally, you should offer to talk by telephone. This may seem like a lot of effort, but it works –
and is the only way that does. The goal is to leave zero doubt in the site owner’s mind that you
are a real person who has been to the site and taken the time to evaluate it and find out where a
link can fit in.

Increasing your link factor

Linking from one website to another is, in essence, why the Internet was created. Researchers
needed a way to link their documents together, and the Internet was how the academics were
able to achieve this. This section of the chapter is about increasing the link factor of your site –
both to make other sites link to yours more readily, and to give you the knowledge to be able
to identify sites that are worth linking to.

A site’s link factor is determined by having certain elements that will encourage other sites to
want to link to it, which in turn will inspire users to visit it more often and thus earn more
overall coverage for the site. At the top end of the link-factor scale are sites such as the British

32
 Chapter 3: Linking strategies and free listings

Library website, which contains links throughout the site to vast amounts of data as well as a
number of off-site links; there are also hundreds, possibly thousands, of websites that link into
the British Library. This is because it has extremely rich content that is organized efficiently and
with a lot of care.

Sites with a low link factor include those that have little or no relevant content, or rely on
databases or a lot of Flash content. This is not to say that Flash content or databases are a bad
thing, but these do reduce a site’s link factor. In the case of Flash content, the text in a movie
is all pre-rendered and a movie exists under only one URL. Database-driven content constantly
changes, so there are no static pages to link to and URLs in a database can change for every
page load, which negates the power to link to these pages. In some cases a database may be
absolutely necessary to organize a large amount of information, but when considering whether to
implement one into your site you should bear this major factor in mind. For example, a magazine
with a number of articles on the Web can have a very high link factor; however, if the articles
have been organized as a database this link factor suddenly goes down because if a user wants to
link to one, a direct link will not work.

The main issue in increasing your link factor will always be the quality and relevancy of content
and the architecture to support it. For every website there are many other sites or venues (such
as search engines, directories, web guides, discussion lists, online editors, and so on) that will link
to it, and your challenge is to identify these and contact them. As mentioned above, building
links to your site can be a great free or low-cost exercise to increase your traffic and, as we will
see below, your site’s ranking.

A good way to get people to notice your site, thus increasing its link factor, is to use guerrilla
marketing techniques. There are a number of tactics and methods that can be used to increase
the visibility of your website, but if you are operating on a small budget you need to remember
one major factor when using these techniques: set realistic goals and keep to them. You can
still achieve big results with a small budget, but this has to be done in a realistic and clear
manner, otherwise you can end up concentrating all your resources on one area only to find
that it is not working. Make sure that you analyse the media related to your industry or trade,
and learn about which trade shows to attend and who the respected figures are, etc.; you
need to know all about your target audience, and this will give you the knowledge to create
targeted campaigns that really appeal to them. One great guerrilla tactic for promoting your
site is using newsgroups and chat forums. Most email clients now include a newsreader that
will allow you to access thousands of newsgroups on a range of topics. You need to subscribe
to these in order to contribute, and you can subscribe to as many different newsgroups as
you wish.

You should be aware that each newsgroup is governed by a strict set of rules that generally
apply to the posting of messages on the board and to members’ conduct. You should make sure
you read this before posting, as if you break the rules of a particular group you run the risk of
being banned. Using newsgroups as a marketing tool is much the same as using a web forum

33
Marketing Through Search Optimization

Figure 3.2 A search engine optimization forum

(Figure 3.2), so you can take these lessons and use them elsewhere. The main aim is to attract
more visitors to your site, and in turn more places that link to your site. The overall aim of this
type of guerrilla marketing is to increase your site’s link factor.

The first rule to remember when using newsgroups as a marketing tool is that you should never
post ‘in your face’ postings or adverts, or any kind of classified sales adverts. You will almost
certainly get ‘flamed’ for this, i.e. other users of the newsgroup will abuse you through posting.
It may even get you banned. The way to approach newsgroup marketing is to get involved in
the discussions, and gradually to become seen as an informative contributor. You should offer
advice and tips on problems to the other contributors and become an accepted member of the
group. If you offer well thought-out advice, then people will naturally want to find out more
about you – which will involve visiting your website. Many newsgroups allow you to have a
signature, which is usually a small graphic or message that you attach to the bottom of your posts;
make sure you include your web address in here, as any time you post people will see the link
and some of them may follow it.

Here are a few tips on conducting yourself in newsgroups and discussion forums:

• Before you post to a newsgroup, spend a bit of time reading others’ posts so you can become
comfortable with the posting style of the group.
• Read the rules before you begin to post.
• Never post ‘in your face’ postings or adverts, or any kind of classified sales adverts.

34
 Chapter 3: Linking strategies and free listings

• Don’t post the same message to multiple newsgroups; this will probably be noticed by
somebody.
• Make sure you use a signature file if you are given the opportunity, and keep it short and to
the point.
• Don’t post messages that have nothing to do with the topic of the message.

Content that can increase your link factor

Here are a few ideas regarding basic site content that can increase your link factor. These are all
free ways to promote your site, requiring only the time it takes to implement and integrate them.

1 Email to a friend link. Make it easy for people to send pages of your site to their friends. You
need to make your site easily accessible by all, and you can do this by putting a link at the
bottom of a page to recommend the page to a friend. You can take this one step further by
having e-cards that are related to your product or website, which site users can send to a friend
with a personalized message. You can also collect users’ email addresses using this technique,
and these can then be used to send out targeted ezines.
2 Offer free tools. You can try offering to your users a free trial version of your product if you
are a software company, or perhaps free games or useful software for download. Make sure
that whatever you offer is useful to your audience, and that it has links to your website
contained within the software. You could perhaps create a high quality screensaver, featuring
your company or products, for download. This has the extra benefit of advertising your site
on the computer screen of whoever installs the screensaver.
3 Newsletter/ezine. Newsletters and ezines are great tools when used effectively. You need to
offer an incentive for site users to subscribe, such as exclusive promotions and special offers,
or the chance to be kept fully up to date with the latest site developments – make them
think they will be the first to know. Your newsletter should be delivered to a subscribers’
inbox regularly, and should always carry relevant, useful content. Make sure you provide
a number of special offers and promotions relating to your products that the user cannot
find anywhere else. To take part in the special offers from your ezine a user should have to
visit a page on your website; this will increase hits to your site and essentially increase the
number of links you have pointing to you. At Sprite we have integrated successful ezines
into a number of our clients’ sites, and use them to promote our range of mobile software
(Figure 3.3).
4 Fresh content. This is one of the most important considerations. Make sure that your site always
offers relevant and fresh content, as this will encourage users to return to it. If the content
you are offering is topical or exclusive news that they might not find anywhere else, such as
breaking industry news, then this will encourage them further.
5 Link page. Create a page on your site that showcases or recommends your favourite websites,
and offer reciprocal links to other webmasters from this page. It seems simple, but having a
clear links page will make people far more likely to approach you for links, and in turn link to
your site.

35
Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
kehoittaa sinua muuhun, kuin minkä itse tiedät oikeaksi.

"Mutta sellaista neuvoa et sinä halua", lisäsi hän kotvasen kuluttua

toisen seisoessa ääneti.

"En voi tehdä niin." Olavin kasvot valahtivat kalpeiksi ja aivan kuin
jäykistyivät. "Täytyyhän minun toki ajatella Ingunnia — enemmän
kuin itseäni. Enhän voi jättää häntä olemaan yksin köyhänä ja
kivulloisena ja ilottomana, salamurhaajan ja konnan leskenä."

Arnvid vastasi epävarmasti:

"Eihän ole varma — aivan varma, eikö piispa keksisi jotakin keinoa
— koska siitä on niin pitkä aika — ja koska kukaan ei ole joutunut
kärsimään asiasta — ja koska kuollut oli rikkonut pahasti sinua
vastaan ja koska taistelitte rehellisesti. Ehkä piispa keksisi jonkin
keinon, jolla hän sovittaisi sinut Kristuksen kanssa ja voisi antaa
sinulle synninpäästön vaatimatta, että sinun on puhdistauduttava
murhastasi ihmistenkin edessä."

"Lieneekö se luultavaa?"

"En tiedä", sanoi Arnvid hiljaa.

"En tohdi luottaa siihen. Se koskee liian läheltä niitä, joita olen
velvollinen suojelemaan. Yhtä hyvin olisi silloin voinut jäädä
tekemättä kaikki, mitä olen tehnyt pelastaakseni hänen kunniansa.
Etkö luule minun tietäneen, että jos olisin ilmiantanut tekoni silloin,
ei se olisi ollut kuin pikkuasia — miehestä ei olisi ollut väliä, elipä hän
tai kuoli, ja te olisitte voineet olla minun puolellani ja todistaa naisen,
jonka hän vietteli, olleen minun vaimoni. Mutta Ingunn ei olisi
kestänyt sitä — hän on aina kestänyt niin vähän — ja nyt saisi joka
ainoa ihminen tällä seudulla tietää totuuden — nyt kun hän on
muutenkin nääntynyt."

Kesti vähän aikaa ennen kuin Arnvid osasi vastata.

"Mahtaako hän kestää paremmin tämän. Jos hänen käy nyt kuten
ennenkin, — että hän menettää lapsensa —."

Olavin kasvot värähtelivät.

"Olkoon kuinka tahansa — mutta monta kertaa hän ei jaksa enää

kulkea sitä taivalta."

"Älä sano niin", kuiskasi Olav.

"Ja sitten on Eirik", jatkoi hän hetken kuluttua. "Olen luvannut

Jumalalle, että Eirik on saava periä minun asemani, kuten oma
poikani."

"Luuletko sitten", kysyi Arnvid, "että hyödyttää luvata Jumalalle

yhtä ja toista — kaikenlaista, mitä hän ei ole pyytänyt sinulta — kun
kuitenkin kiellät häneltä sen ainoan, mitä tiedät hänen vaativan?"

"Sen ainoan — se on kaikki, Arnvid — kunniani. Ehkä myös

elämäni. Jumala tietää, etten muuten ole kovin arka siitä — mutta
menettää se pahantekijänä."

"Ja kuitenkaan sinulla ei ole mitään, mitä et olisi saanut Häneltä.

Ja Hän otti itse kärsiäkseen pahantekijän kuoleman sovittaakseen
kaikki meidän syntimme."

Olav sulki silmänsä.

"Mutta en voi sittenkään —", sanoi hän melkein kuulumattomasti.

 Arnvid ryhtyi puhumaan:

"Mainitsit Eirikin. Etkö tiedä, Olav — ettet voi oikeuden mukaan

tehdä niin — luvata perintöäsi vieraalle — kun samalla riistät sen
omaisiltasi."

Olav rypisti vihaisesti kulmiaan:

"Nuo Tveitin miehet — en ole nähnyt heitä koskaan, eivätkä he

kohdelleet minua sukulaisena silloin kun olin nuori ja olisin kaivannut
kipeästi heidän apuun tuloaan."

"He tulivat apuun sitten, kun sinä olit lähtenyt Ruotsiin."

"He olisivat yhtä hyvin voineet jäädä sinne, missä olivat, niin
vähän hyötyä minulla oli heistä. Suon Hestvikenin mieluummin
Ingunnin pojalle."

"Väärä ei tule oikeaksi siitä, Olav. — Ettekä te tiedä

kumpainenkaan, onko pojalle oleva onneksi se lahja, jonka tahdotte
antaa hänelle, mutta johon hänellä ei ole oikeutta."

"No niin. Voin arvata Ingunnin puhuneen jo sinulle luulostaan, että

muka vihaan hänen lastansa ja suon sille pahaa. Se ei ole totta. En
ole milloinkaan tarkoittanut muuta kuin Eirikin parasta — itse hän
saa aikaan sen, että poika menee piloille, sillä hän opettaa hänet
pelkäämään minua, valehtelemaan ja kätkeytymään silmiltäni —."

Olav näki Arnvidin kasvojen ilmeen ja jatkoi päätään pudistaen:

"En syytä häntä siitä — Ingunn ei ymmärrä muuta, raukka. En
minäkään ole muuttanut mieltäni, Arnvid. Muistatko, miten kerran
lupasin sinulle, etten milloinkaan pettäisi sukulaisnaistasi? Enkä ole
katunut sitä — olkoonpa viimeinen hetkeni minkälainen hyvänsä, niin
olen kiittävä Jumalaa siitä, että hän pidätti kättäni silloin, kun minun
teki mieli tehdä hänelle pahaa — osoitti minulle ennen kuin oli liian
myöhäistä, että minun oli suojeltava ja tuettava häntä niin hyvin kuin
voin. Vaikka olisin tavannut hänet jälleen spitaalin saastuttamana, en
olisi voinut muistaa muuta kuin että hän oli kallein ystäväni — ainoa
ystäväni kautta koko lapsuuteni vieraiden parissa."

Arnvid sanoi levollisesti:

"Jos luulet, Olav, että sinun olisi helpompi tietää, mitä sinun on
tehtävä päästäksesi jälleen sovintoon Jumalan kanssa — ja jos voisit
olla huoleti omistasi, niin lupaan olla Ingunnille veljen sijassa,
hänelle ja pojalle. Otan heidät luokseni jos tarvitaan."

"Sinähän olet luovuttanut Miklebøn Maunulle. Ja itse aiot mennä

luostariin." Olav sanoi tämän hiukan pilkallisesti.

"Mutta en ole silti luovuttanut kaikkea omaisuuttani. Ja minä olen

jaksanut elää maailmassa niin kauan, että jaksan elää siinä
kuolemanpäivääni asti, jos lähisukulaiseni tarvitsevat minua
luonansa."

"Ei, ei", sanoi Olav kuten ennen. "En tahdo, että sinä ajattelet
sellaista uhrausta minun puolestani —, tai kenenkään toisen
puolesta, josta minut on pantu huolehtimaan."

Arnvid istui katsellen sammuvaan hiillokseen — ja tunsi ystävän

hahmon hämärässä lähellään. Mahtaakohan hän itse tietää, ettei se
taakka, jonka hän on tänä yönä vierittänyt niskaani, ole pienempi
tätä, ajatteli hän.
 Olav veti jalallaan luokseen jakkaran, kävi istumaan lieden ääreen,
kasvot ystävään päin.

"Olen nyt sanonut sinulle yhtä ja toista, mutta en sitä, minkä aioin
sanoa. Olen sanonut sinulle ikävöiväni päivät ja yöt sovintoon
Kristuksen, Herramme kanssa — olen sanonut sinulle, ettei
Vapahtajamme ole mielestäni milloinkaan ollut niin kuvaamattoman
suloinen kuin silloin, kun huomasin hänen painaneen minuun Kainin
merkin. Mutta itseäni ihmetyttää, että ikävöin niin, sillä en ole nähnyt
hänen olleen näin kova ketään muuta ihmistä kohtaan. Minä olen
tehnyt tämän ainoan tihutyön — ja olin silloin niin — kiihtynyt —
etten edes muista itse, mitä ajattelin muuta kuin että käsitin
Ingunnin käyvän vielä onnettomammin, ellen tehnyt niin — suojellut
hänen viimeisiä kunnian rippeitään, vaikka minun olisi ollut tehtävä
murha. Ja kaikki sujui niin helposti, aivan kuin se olisi ollut sallittu:
hän pyysi päästä mukaani, eikä kukaan nähnyt meidän lähtevän yhtä
matkaa. Mutta jos Jumala tai suojeluspyhimykseni tai Neitsyt Maaria
olisi johtanut tuona iltana kulkumme ihmisasunnolle eikä autioon
karjamajaan Luraasenille — niin olisi käynyt toisin."

"Olitko rukoillut Jumalaa ja pyhimyksiä suojelemaan retkeäsi,

ennen kuin lähdit sille —?"

"En tiedä varmaan, enkö liene — ei; rukoillut en ollut juuri silloin.
Mutta koko sinä pääsiäisenä en ollut tehnyt muuta kuin rukoillut —
ja olin koko ajan haluton tappamaan häntä. Mutta oli kuin kaikki olisi
mukautunut siten, että minun täytyi tappaa hänet ja kehoittanut
minua salaamaan tekoni perästäpäin. Ja Jumala, joka näkee kaiken,
tiesi myös minne se johtaisi, paremmin kuin minä itse — eikö hän
siis olisi voinut estää minua, rukoilemattani —?"
 "Niin sanomme kaikki, Olav, kun olemme antaneet vallan omalle
tahdollemme ja kun huomaamme jälkeenpäin, että olisi ollut
parempi toisin. Mutta sitä ennen kai ajattelit, kuten ajattelemme
jokainen, itse ymmärtäväsi parhaiten, mikä sinulle on hyväksi."

"Niin aivan. Mutta kaikessa muussa, paitsi siinä, mitä tuo teko on
tuonut muassaan, olen tehnyt oikeutta ja kohtuutta jokaiselle kykyni
mukaan. Minulla ei ole vääryydellä hankittua tavaraa, sen tiedän, en
ole puhunut pahaa lähimmäisistäni, miehistä tai naisista, vaan
antanut pahojen puheiden painua unhoon niiden tullessa ovelleni,
vaikka olisin tiennyt niiden olevan totta eikä valhetta. Ja minä olen
ollut uskollinen vaimolleni, eikä ole totta, etten soisi hyvää hänen
pojalleen — olen ollut yhtä hyvä Eirikille kuin useimmat miehet ovat
omille pojilleen. — Sano nyt sinä, Arnvid, joka ymmärrät sellaisia
asioita paremmin kuin minä ja olet elämän ikäsi ollut hurskas ja
armelias mies — enkö ole oikeassa, kun sanon Jumalan olleen
ankaramman minua kuin muita kohtaan? — Olen nähnyt enemmän
maailmaa kuin sinä" — Arnvid istui niin, ettei Olav voinut nähdä
hänen hymyilevän hänen tätä sanoessaan — "niinä vuosina, jolloin
olin maanpaossa enoni luona ja sitten kun kuuluin jaarlin väkeen.
Olen nähnyt miehiä, joita painoivat kaikki maailman seitsemän
syntiä, jotka harjoittivat julmuuksia, jollaisiin minä en olisi ryhtynyt
pikkusormellani, vaikka olisin tiennyt varmasti Jumalan jo hylänneen
minut ja tuominneen minut helvettiin. Eivät he pelänneet Jumalaa,
enkä minä huomannut heidän kaipaavan tai rakastavan Häntä silti tai
haluavan sovintoa hänen kanssaan — vaan he elivät iloisin ja
tyytyväisin mielin ja saivat autuaallisen lopun, monikin heistä; sen
olen itse nähnyt.

"Miksi emme siis me, Ingunn ja minä, voi saada rauhaa? On kuin
Jumala vainoaisi minua kaikkialla, eikä soisi minulle lepoa, vaan
vaatisi minulta mahdottomuuksia, sellaista, mitä en ole nähnyt
Hänen vaativan keneltäkään muulta?"

"Kuinka minä voisin vastata tuollaiseen, minä, joka olen maallikko.

— Olav, etkö voi lähteä kanssani kaupunkiin, puhumaan veli
Vegardin kanssa —."

"Ehkä teen niin", sanoi Olav hiljaa. "Mutta sano sinä ensin —
ymmärrätkö, miksi minun osani on oleva niin paljon kovempi kuin
muiden?"

"Ethän sinä voi tietää, mitä kaikkea nuo toisetkin ovat kokeneet.
Mutta ymmärräthän sen, että kun tunnet Jumalan seuraavan sinua,
tapahtuu se siksi, ettei hän tahdo kadottaa sinua."

"Mutta Hän on saattanut asiani sille kannalle, etten voi kääntyä

takaisin."

"Jumalako ne on saattanut sille kannalle?"

"En ole tehnyt sitä itsekään — minun täytyi mielestäni tehdä kuten
tein; minun huostaani oli uskottu Ingunnnin elämä ja hyvinvointi.
Mutta kaiken alku oli se, Arnvid, että Steinfinninpojat tahtoivat
varastaa minulta naimakaupan, johon isäni oli saanut suostumuksen
— oliko minun tyydyttävä siihen, taivuttava sellaiseen vääryyteen?
Minulle on opetettu Jumalan tahtovan, että kristityn tulee taistella
vääryyttä ja lainrikkomusta vastaan. Olin lapsi iältäni, lakia
tuntematon — en tiennyt muuta keinoa oikeuteni suojaamiseksi,
kuin otin itse morsiameni, ennen kuin hänet ehdittiin naittaa
toiselle."

Arnvid sanoi nyt ahdistuneesta:

 "Näin vastasit minulle silloin, kun puhuin sinun menettelystäsi
sukulaisnaistani kohtaan. Muistatko vielä, Olav, ettet sinä — ettet
sinä puhunut totta silloin?"

Olav kohotti päänsä hätkähtäen, ällistyneenä. Hän viivytti vähän

vastaustaan:

"En. — Ja luulen", sanoi hän rauhallisesti, "että useimmat miehet

olisivat tehneet samoin minun sijassani."

"Niinpä kai."

"Tarkoitatko", kysyi Olav pilkallisesti, "Jumalan käden lyöneen

minua — ja Ingunnia — niin kovasti siksi, että — että valehtelin
silloin?

"Sitä en voi tietää."

Olav nakkasi kärsimättömästi niskojaan:

"En voi uskoa sen olleen niin suuren synnin. Olen kuullut monen
miehen valehtelevan pahemminkin — syyttä suotta, enkä ole
huomannut Jumalan ojentavan sormeaan rangaistakseen heitä. Ja
siksi en ymmärrä Hänen oikeamielisyyttään, joka tahtoo rangaista
minua näin julmasti!"

Arnvid kuiskasi:

"Kylläpä sinun ajatuksesi Jumalasta ovat pienet, jos odotat hänen

oikeamielisyytensä olevan samanlaisen kuin ihmisten. Hän ei ole
luonut kahta samanlaista ihmistä Eevan ajoista alkaen — kuinka Hän
siis vaatisi samaa kaikilta luoduiltansa, joille Hän on suonut niin
erilaiset lahjat. — Kun tulin tuntemaan sinut nuoruudessamme,
uskoin sinua totuudellisimmaksi, oikeamielisimmäksi ja jaloimmaksi
mieheksi, mitä tunsin; sinussa ei voinut olla julmuutta ja petosta,
vaan Jumala oli suonut sinun periä uskollisten, uljaiden isiesi
luonteen."

Olav nousi paikaltaan ja jäi seisomaan kiihtyneenä:

"Ja entä, jos olisi ollut niin? Jos on, kuten sanot — jos on totta,
että minä pelkäsin usein tehdä niinkuin muut miehet tekevät joka
päivä huolettomin mielin, vähemmällä syyllä —. Entä jos tuo, mitä
sinä kutsut Jumalan lahjaksi, olisikin ollut sietämätön taakka, jonka
Hän oli sitonut selkääni syntyessäni!"

Arnvidkin oli ponnahtanut paikaltaan. Hän oli tullut toisen luo ja

seisoi hänen edessään miltei uhkaavana:

"Niin moni voi sanoa samaa luojansa antimista; ellei hänellä ole
kallionlujaa uskoa Vapahtajaansa, saattaisi hän luulla syntyneensä
pahimmaksi turmanlinnuksi."

Hän nosti jalkansa lieden reunalle ja seisoi siinä pää käsien

varassa, eteenpäin kumartuneena, tuijottaen hiiliin:

"Sinä ihmettelit usein, että minä kaipasin pois maailmasta — minä,

jolla oli rikkautta — ja valtaa enemmän kuin viitsin käyttää — ja
arvoasemakin tavallaan —. Sanoit minua hurskaaksi ja armeliaaksi —
Jumala tietää, etkö luullut minun olleen sellaisen siksi, että rakastin
lähimmäisiäni!"

"Luulin sinun auttaneen jokaista, joka turvasi apuusi, siksi että olit
— lempeäsydäminen — ja säälit kaikkia, jotka olivat — hädässä."
 "Säälin — kyllä. Usein mieleni olisi tehnyt syyttää luojaani siitä,
että Hän oli luonut minut sellaiseksi, ette voinut muuta kuin sääliä
kaikkia, vaikka en voinut pitää kenestäkään."

"Luulin", sanoi Olav hyvin hiljaa, "että sinä — autoit — minua ja

Ingunnia neuvoilla ja töillä siksi, että olit ystävämme. Jumalan
tähdenkö siis ainoastaan ojensit meille kätesi?"

Arnvid pudisti päätään:

"Ei. Olin pitänyt sinusta nuoruudestamme asti, ja Ingunn on ollut

minulle rakas pikkutytöstä asti. Ja kuitenkin olin monesti tuiki
kyllästynyt kaikkeen — toisinaan saatoin tuskissani toivoa, että
pääsisin kerran rauhaan koko teidän asiastanne."

"Tuon olisit voinut sanoa aikaisemmin, niin olisin vaivannut sinua

vähemmän", sanoi Olav jäykästi.

Jälleen Arnvid pudisti päätään.

"Ei, ei, älähän. Sinä ja Ingunn olette olleet parhaat ystäväni. Mutta
minä en ole hurskas enkä hyvä. Ja usein olin väsynyt kaikkeen —
toivoin, että olisin voinut muuttaa itseni kovaksi mieheksi, kun en
voinut olla lempeä ja antaa Jumalan tuomita. Ranskassa oli kerran
pyhä mies, erakko; hän oli alkanut harjoittaa sellaista
laupeudentyötä Jumalan tähden, että antoi majassaan suojaa niille,
jotka kulkivat metsän läpi, missä hän asui. Eräänä iltana tuli sitten
kerjäläinen hänen ovelleen pyytäen yösijaa — erakon nimi oli
muistaakseni Julian. Vieras oli spitaalin saastuttama ja kamalan
näköinen ja kaiken lisäksi ilkeä ja ruokoton suustaan — hän moitti
kaikkea, mitä erakko teki hänen hyväkseen. Silloin Julian riisuu
hänen vaatteensa, pesee ja hoitaa hänen haavansa, suutelee niitä ja
panee hänet vuoteeseen — mutta kerjäläinen valittaa, että hänen on
kylmä, ja käskee Julianin laskeutumaan viereensä lämmittämään
häntä. Julian tekee niin. Mutta silloin vieraalta putosi aivan kuin
vaippana kaikki saasta ja riena ja paha puhe — ja Julian näki
syleilleensä Kristusta.

"Mutta minä kuvittelin, kun en luullut enää jaksavani auttaa

kaikkia noita, jotka tulivat luokseni, valehtelivat ja laskivat huolensa
hartioilleni, pyysivät neuvoa ja tekivät oman mielensä mukaan,
mutta syyttivät minua, kun heille kävi huonosti, vihaisina ja
kateellisina kaikille, joille he väittävät käyneen paremmin — niin
kuvittelin heidän olevan valhepuvussa, jonka alta kerran näkisin
rakkaan Vapahtajani ja ystäväni. Ja taisihan se olla oikeinkin
tavallaan — koska Hän on sanonut, että kaikki, mitä te teette yhdelle
noista pienimmistä —. Mutta Herrani ei tahtonut riisua yltänsä
valhepukuaan ja näyttäytyä minulle heidän hahmossaan."

Olav oli jälleen istuutunut jakkaralle; hän oli kätkenyt päänsä

käsiinsä. Ja Arnvid sanoi vielä hiljaisemmalla äänellä:

"Muistatko, Olav, mitä Einar Kolbeininpoika sanoi silloin kerran —

joka kiihdytti minut niin, että tartuin aseeseen häntä vastaan?"

Olav nyökkäsi.

"Olit niin nuori silloin — en tiennyt, ymmärsitkö sinä niitä sanoja."

"Ymmärsin ne myöhemmin."

"Entä Ingunnista ja minusta levitettyjä huhuja —?"

"Hallvard puhui jotain semmoista — kun kävin poikaa hakemassa."

 Arnvid hengähti syvään pari kertaa.

"En ole niin hurskas, ettei se olisi koskenut minuun kovasti, niin
toinen kuin toinenkin juttu. Ja minusta tuntui usein, että Jumala olisi
voinut suoda minulle sen ainoan, mitä häneltä pyysin — luvan
palvella häntä siinä muodossa — siinä asussa — jossa olisin voinut
harjoittaa armeliaisuutta heikon voimani mukaan, ilman että
ihmisten tarvitsi kuiskia selkäni takana, häväistä minua tai kutsua
minua tyhmeliiniksi, tai uskoa minusta pahinta siksi, etten ottanut
toista vaimoa enkä jalkavaimoa Tordiksen kuoltua."

Hän puristi kätensä nyrkkiin ja antoi sen pudota läimähtäen toista

vasten.

"Ja usein minun teki mieli tarttua kirveeseen ja tehdä loppu

kaikesta!"

*****

Tämän jälkeen ystävykset kulkivat Hestvikenissä ne kaksi päivää,

jotka Arnvid vielä viipyi talossa, harvasanaisina ja arkoina. Molempia
kiusasi se, että he olivat tulleet puhuneeksi liikoja tuona iltana; nyt
heistä tuntui, kuin he eivät voisi puhua enää vapaasti
vähäpätöisimmistäkään seikoista.

Olav ratsasti Arnvidin mukana kappaleen matkaa vuonon vartta,

mutta heidän saavuttuaan puolimatkaan hän sanoi, että nyt hänen
oli käännyttävä. Hän veti esiin jotain helmuksestaan —
liinavaatteeseen käärityn, kovan esineen. Arnvid tunsi, että se oli
varmaan sama hopeinen, jalallinen malja, jota Olav oli näyttänyt
edellisenä päivänä. Olav pyysi, että Arnvid veisi sen Hamarin
luostarille.
 "Noin suuri lahja sinun pitäisi itse viedä veli Vegardin käteen",
tuumi
Arnvid.

Olav vastasi, että hänen täytyi joutua kotiin illaksi — "mutta voi
olla mahdollista, että tulen Osloon toiste tervehtimään häntä."

Arnvid vastasi:

"Kai sinä ymmärrät, Olav, että sinun on turha koettaa ostaa

itsellesi sovintoa lahjoilla niin kauan kuin et muuta elämääsi."

"Tiedän sen — ei tämä ole siksi. Mutta minun tekee mieleni antaa
jotakin teidän kirkollenne — minulla on ollut monta hyvää hetkeä
vanhassa Olavinkirkossa."

Sitten he sanoivat toisilleen hyvästit ja ratsastivat kukin

suunnalleen.

*****

Olav ei mennyt Osloon. Arnvid puhui siitä veli Vegardille — sanoi,

ettei tämä kai uskaltanut lähteä, kun Ingunn ei kyennyt tulemaan
mukaan. Tämä oli surrut kovin, kun ei saanut nähdä nuoruutensa
oppi-isää tämän ollessa niin lähimailla. Arnvid ehdotti, että munkki
lainaisi reen ja kävisi Hestvikenissä. Veli Vegardia olisi haluttanut
lähteä, mutta hän oli ollut huonovointinen ja raihnas koko Oslossa
oloajan. Pietarinmessun aikoihin tuli kovat pakkaset. Heti sen jälkeen
sairastui tuo vanhus äkkiä keuhkotulehdukseen ja kuoli kolmantena
yönä. Sen jälkeen täytyi Arnvidin hommata yksin kivenhakkaajat, ja
hänellä oli täysi työ siihen asti, kun hän laittautui paluumatkalle
pohjoiseen.
 Olav sai Ingunnin pysymään sängyssä päivisin, kun ilmat olivat
niin kylmät. Hän jaksoi tuskin liikkua enää pitkälle edistyneessä
raskaudentilassa, ja oli lisäksi palelluttanut jalkansa, niin että niissä
oli isot, avonaiset reiät. Olav hoiti niitä itse, voidellen revonrasvaa ja
siansappea haavoihin. Arnvidin lähdöstä asti hän oli ollut lempeä ja
huolehtiva vaimoaan kohtaan; tylystä, ynseästä käytöksestä, jota
hän oli osoittanut syksyllä ja talvella, hän oli luopunut kokonaan.

Ingunn makasi käppyrässä peitteiden alla, kuiskaten pienen,

nöyrän kiitoksen joka kerran, kun Olav teki jotakin hänen hyväkseen.
Hän oli kyyristynyt Olavin vastenmielisyyden ja töykeiden sanojen
alle ääneti ja alistuvana — ja nyt hän otti vastaan hänen hellän
huolenpitonsa melkein yhtä sanattomasti. Olav piti häntä salaa
silmällä, kun hän makasi tuntikaudet liikahtamatta ja tuijotti eteensä
melkein silmää rävähtämättä. Entinen hurja sydämentuska leimahti
hänessä jälleen yhtä polttavana kuin ennen — sama se, vaikkei
hänellä ollutkaan hyötyä eikä iloa Ingunnista; hän ei voinut olla
ilman tätä.

Ingunn iloitsi saadessaan täten pysytellä peitossa. Hän oli tullut

sellaiseksi, että häntä painoi kuin sietämätön häpeä jokainen uusi
raskaus. Jo ennen kuin hän sai kaksi ensimmäistä lastaan, oli hän
ollut kiusaantunut ja arka siksi, että hän oli niin ruma — Dallan
herjaukset olivat raadelleet hänen mieltään niin, ettei hän voinut
voittaa tuota tunnetta enää milloinkaan. Hän aivan kuin kipristyi
kokoon, kun hänen täytyi astua Olavin silmien eteen — ja kun tämä
oli poissa hänen luotaan, tuntui hänestä, kuin hän ei jaksaisi pysyä
pystyssä saamatta tuntea lähellään tämän terveyttä ja imeä sitä
itseensä.
 Mutta sitä mukaa kuin ilmeni, ettei hän voinut saattaa eloon
ainoatakaan noista olennoista, jotka alkoivat elää hänessä toinen
toisensa jälkeen, alkoi hän tuntea pelkoa omaa ruumistaan kohtaan.
Hänen täytyi olla kirottu jollakin salaperäisellä tavalla, jollakin, joka
oli yhtä kauhea kuin spitaali — koska hän tartutti syntymättömiin
lapsiinsa kuoleman. Hänen verensä ja ytimensä juoksi hukkaan,
hänen nuoruutensa ja sulonsa oli riutunut loppuun jo kauan sitten
noiden kaameiden vieraiden hyväksi, jotka elivät jonkin aikaa
kätkettyä elämäänsä hänen sydämensä alla, kunnes sammuivat.
Kunnes hän tunsi ensimmäiset ennustavat poltot aivan kuin kynnen
raapaisuina selässään ja hänen täytyi antaa vieraiden naisten
taluttaa itsensä pieneen pihan itäpäässä olevaan tupaan, antautua
heidän käsiinsä hiiskumatta sanaakaan ahdistavasta pelosta, joka
täytti hänen sydämensä. Ja kun kaikki oli kestetty, makasi hän
sijallaan yksin, verta vuodattaneena, kaikkea vailla lapsi oli kuin
nielaistu yöhön, otettu takaisin pimeään, missä sillä ei ollut nimeä
eikä muistoa. Viimeisiä keskosia evät apuvaimot edes olleet
tahtoneet näyttää hänelle.

Ja välistä hänestä tuntui, että Audunin tuottama kohtalo oli

vieläkin kovempi. — Kun hänen oli täytynyt kadottaa tuo vuoden
vanha lapsi, joka jo oli osannut monella tapaa ilmaista tuntevansa
äitinsä ja joka ei tahtonut olla kenenkään muiden luona kuin hänen
ja joka piti niin paljon äidistään. Vaikka piti hän vieläkin. Enkelien
laulaessa litaniaa: Omnes sancti Innocentes, orate pro nobis, oli
Audun yksi niistä. Kiirastulessa ollessaan hän oli tietävä Audunin
olevan yhden autuaista, jotka rukoilivat hänen puolestaan. Ja kun
hänen armonhetkensä löi, oli kenties Vapahtaja itse taikka Hänen
pyhä Äitinsä sanova Audunille: juokse äitiäsi vastaan —.

Miten tällä kertaa oli käyvä, sitä hän koetti olla ajattelematta.
 *****

Mutta kun miehet tulivat sisään ruoka-aikoina, Olav ja Eirik

yhdessä, ilmestyi sairaan suuriin, raukeisiin silmiin heti syvä, levoton
jännitys. Olav huomasi, miten valppaasti tämä vartioi hänen jokaista
elettään, jokaista sanaansa, kun hän oli yhdessä pojan kanssa. Ja
hän piti silmällä itseään eikä ilmaissut pienimmälläkään tavalla
suuttumustaan tai kärsimättömyyttään Eirikiä kohtaan.

Poika olikin aika lailla vaivaksi; Olav piti hänestä vähänpuoleisesti

nyt, kun tämä oli tullut niin isoksi, että hänen oikea luonteensa alkoi
ilmetä. Aina hän telmi, kerskui ja lörpötteli — laverteli kuin akkaväki;
ei edes miesten istuessa ruoalla työstä väsyneinä hän malttanut
pitää suutaan kiinni. Heillä oli tuo Arnketil eli Anki, joksi häntä
kutsuttiin. Olav oli pitänyt häntä leivässään seitsemän vuotta, ja
nuorukainen oli nyt jo lähellä kahtakymmentä, mutta oli
vähälahjainen, jopa miltei puolihöperö, vaikka olikin taitava monessa
työssä. Hän oli aina ollut Eirikin paras ystävä. He riitelivät — puoleksi
leikillä — kunnes tulivat meluaviksi, ja Eirik kurkkasi penkillään
istuvan Ankin kimppuun, töykki ja kiskoi tätä, kunnes sai pojan
mukaansa leikkiin: he tuuppivat toisiaan sinne tänne, kierivät lattialla
nauraen ja huutaen ja mekastaen, ajattelematta ollenkaan, että
sisällä istuvat miehet tarvitsivat lepoa. Hän oli myös kerrassaan
tottelematon — sillä opettipa isä hänelle mitä tahansa, tai kielsipä
häntä vaikka kuinka — hän unohti sen paikalla.

Ja Olavia harmitti se, ettei Eirik osoittanut äitiään kohtaan

suurempaa rakkautta. Hän tunsi itse, että tuossa oli jotakin
luonnotonta: ennen hän oli tuntenut umpeaa katkeruutta tietäessään
äidin ja pojan kietoutuvan toisiinsa hänen selkänsä takana, mutta
nyt häntä suututti, kun poika juoksenteli ulkona miesten joukossa
kaiket päivät, eikä milloinkaan käynyt sisällä katsomassa sairasta
äitiään. — Olav oli itse opettanut pojan rukoilemaan joku vuosi sitten
— kun hän näki, ettei Ingunn huomannut ajan olevan käsissä. Poika
lateli rukoukset isän seisoessa vieressä — ja jo viimeistä Avea
lukiessaan, päästyään In nomine'hen asti, hän kipusi sänkyyn
ristinmerkin huitaisten ja sukelsi päistikkaa taljan alle pohjoiseen
sänkyyn, missä hän tällä kertaa nukkui isän kanssa. Samassa hän oli
unessa, ja kun Olav oli saanut voidelluksi Ingunnin jalat ja meni
makaamaan, oli Eirik kuin kerä keskellä sänkyä, ja Olavin täytyi
vetää hänet suoraksi ja työntää hänet seinän viereen, saadakseen
tilaa itselleen.

*****

Toisinaan Olav tunsi aivan kuin kipeän piston Eirikin tullessa

lörpöttelynhaluisena hänen luokseen kehuen pieniä, taitamattomia
yrityksiään, joilla hän oli muka koettanut auttaa miehiä. Kunpa tuo
poika olisi sellainen, että minä voisin pitää hänestä, hän ajatteli.
Tyhmänä ja viattomana Eirik ei näkynyt käsittävän, ettei isä ollut
yhtä ihastunut hänen seuraansa kuin hän oli isään. Mutta Olav oli
tehnyt päätöksensä: hän oli ottanut omakseen tuon pojan ja
nostanut tasalleen pannakseen tämän istumaan isännän paikalle
itsensä jälkeen Hestvikenissä — vaikka Luoja tiesi, ettei Eirik ollut
sopiva suurtilalliseksi ja suurten yritysten johtomieheksi: hän näytti
olevan hölläsuinen lavertelija, valheellinen, kerskaileva ja
pelkurimainen nulikka, jolla ei ollut käyttäytymisen tajuakaan. Mutta
Olavin oli tehtävä voitavansa opettaakseen Eirikille hyviä tapoja ynnä
kitkeäkseen hänestä huonot tavat — joskin hänen nyt oli jätettävä
kuritus siksi, kun Ingunn vahvistuisi — että poika oppisi esiintymään
kuten Eirik Olavinpojan, Hestvikenin isännän, sopi.
 Joku vuosi sitten oli seudulle kulkeutunut hirvilaumoja länsipuolelle
Foldenin, ja Olavin maallakin oli niitä aika runsaasti — ne liikkuivat
Kverndalenin seuduilla, Härän selänteellä ja Olavin tammimetsässä
laakson puoleisella rinteellä lähellä kirkonkylää. Edellisenä kesänä oli
Hestvikenissä saatu niin runsaasti rehua, että osa siitä oli jäänyt ulos
heinäsuoville ja saatoille lehtikerppujen kera. Nyt kevättalvella tulivat
hirvet talon läheisyyteen asti syömään ulkona olevia rehuja. Pihalla
olevan hirsikasan takaa Olav ampui eräänä aamuna kauniin, nuoren
hirvikoiraksen, jolla oli yhdeksänhaaraiset sarvet. Eirik innostui nyt
niin, että pyrki väkisin mukaan — hänkin tahtoi kaataa hirven.

Olav hymyili hiukan pojan puheille. Lähipäivinä tuuli mereltä päin,

ja hän käski Ankin asettua ulos aamulla, niin että eläimet
vainuaisivat ihmisen lähellä olon ja pysyisivät poissa heinien luota, ja
Eirik sai tulla mukaan. Poika makasi maassa palellen — kaari ja
keihäs kädessään — mutta sisään tullessaan hän kertoi nähneensä ja
kuulleensa hirvien liikettä.

Eräänä yönä Olav sitten heräsi ja nousi ulko-ovelle katsomaan,

mikä aika oli. Oli kaksi tuntia auringonnousuun, räiskyvä pakkanen ja
aivan tyyni — ilmassa tuntui vain pieni viima Kverndalenista käsin.
Koitteen aikaan hirvet tulisivat varmaan perimään kymmenyksiään
oljista. Olav pukeutui pimeässä, mutta etsiessään sopivia nuolia
hänen täytyi sytyttää päre. Silloin Eirik heräsi — ja asia päättyi
siihen, että isän täytyi päästää hänet mukaan, vaikka ilman aseita.

Tuskin he olivat ehtineet hiipiä piilopaikkaan hirsien taa, kun

Olavilla oli täysi työ saada poika pysymään ääneti. Tämä unohti
kiellot vähän väliä ja tahtoi kuiskailla. Sitten hän nukkui. Hän oli
saanut päälleen isän raskaan nahkaturkin; Olav kietoi sen hyvin
pojan ympäri, ettei hän paleltuisi — oli ankara pakkanen juuri ennen
auringonnousua — ja hän oli iloinen, ettei Eirik nyt pilaisi asiaa.

Olav sai odottaa kauan. Taivas alkoi jo kellertää idässä metsän

takana, kun hän näki eläinten tulevan esiin vesakosta. Neljä tummaa
täplää liikkui ruskeanharmaata kenttää vasten. Ne pysähtyivät välillä,
nuuskivat ja vainusivat — ja nyt Olav erotti joukosta yhden
koirashirven, kaksi naarasta ja vasikan.

Jännitys ja ilo juoksivat lämpöisenä virtana hänen kohmettuneen

ruumiinsa läpi, kun hän kohosi toiselle polvelleen, asetti jousen
asentoon ja nuolen paikalleen. Sitten hän pidätti henkeä. Koirashirvi
astui esiin uljaana ja komeana — nyt se näkyi kinosta vasten. Se
nousi vanhan pientareen laidalle ja jäi seisomaan siihen sorkat
yhdessä; kaula ja sarvekas pää erottuivat selvästi keltaisessa
aamuvalossa. Olav veti äänettömästi henkeä ilosta — tuota äijää hän
ei ollut tavannut ennen: sillä oli mahtava ruho, voimakas niska ja
komea viisi- tai kuusitoistahaarainen sarvikko. Väijyen se käänteli
päätään joka suunnalle. Tähystysväli oli pitkänlainen, mutta eläin
seisoi niin sopivassa ampuma-asennossa: Olav tähtäsi ja hänen
sydämensä sykki riemusta. Hän ehti tajuta vielä pojan olevan
heräämäisillään.

Eirik kavahti pystyyn huudahtaen — hänkin oli nähnyt nuo ihanat

sarvet taivasta vasten. Olav ampui nuolen pakenevan eläimen
jälkeen, osui sivuittain lapaan ja näki eläimen ponnahtavan korkealle
ilmaan — sitten se juoksi eteenpäin pitkin harppauksin ja hävisi
toiset eläimet perässään metsään.

Eirik sai pari opettavaa nyrkin iskua korvilleen — ja hän otti ne

vastaan pari kertaa haukkoen, mutta ei huutanut; sen verran älyä
hänellä oli, että ymmärsi hävetä tekoaan ja olla valittamatta; sitä
paitsi paksu nahkalakki luultavasti laimensi iskuja.

"Älä nyt anna äitisi tietää tätä", sanoi Olav astuessaan takaisin
taloja kohti. "Hänen ei tarvitse tietää, että sinä käyttäydyt kuin
ymmärtämätön penikka, vaikka olet noin iso."

Päivemmällä Olav lähti seuraamaan haavoittuneen eläimen

jättämiä verijälkiä koiran kera, kaatoi eläimen ja tappoi sen tunturin
rinteellä laakson toisessa päässä. Ja kun saalis oli tuotu kotiin illalla,
kulki Eirik ympäri kerskuen, että hän oli ilmoittanut isälle, koska tuo
iso koirashirvi oli tullut ampumamatkan päähän. Olav ei viitsinyt
sanoa sanaakaan pojalle — hän pelkäsi muuten suuttuvansa liiaksi.

*****

Vuonohylje alkoi nyt nousta parvissa sisämaahan talven

kallistuessa kevääseen, ja laakson miehet veivät veneensä jään
reunaan ja lähtivät hylkeenpyynnille etelään. Olav päästi Eirikin
mukaan, mutta katui sitä heti; poika tuli aivan kuin villiksi
joukkoteurastuksesta ja elämästä, joka vallitsi hylkeenpyytäjien
keskuudessa. Oli aivan mahdoton ymmärtää, miten tuolla pojalla ei
ollut enemmän käsitystä siitä, miten oli oltava ihmisten parissa.
Mutta kotiin tultua tällä taas riitti kertomista loppumattomiin. Olavin
ei ollut helppo kuunnella hänen puhettaan malttia menettämättä.

Pyhä Yrjö toi ilmanmuutoksen, etelätuulen ja sadetta — ja se oli

hyvän vuoden merkki niin maalla kuin merellä.

Ingunn makasi yksin tuvassa seuraavana päivänä puoleen

päivään. Sisällä oli melkein pimeä, sillä räppänä oli suljettu kalvolla
ja luukku vedetty puoleksi eteen; ulkona satoi.
 Olav tuli sisään. Hän istahti penkille, veti saappaat jalastaan, heitti
yltään työnutun ynnä paidan ja aukaisi vaatearkkunsa, alkaen etsiä
vaatteita.

"Nukutko sinä, Ingunn?" kysyi hän selin tähän. "Miten on laitasi",

lisäsi hän, kun Ingunn vastasi kuiskaten, ettei hän nukkunut.

"Siinähän se menee. Lähdetkö sinä jonnekin?"

Olav vastasi lähtevänsä, sillä Vidanesin käräjät olivat tänään. Hän

tuli sängyn luo vyötäisiin asti alastomana ja asetti toisen jalkansa
sängyn porraspuulle. "Pitääköhän minun vaihtaa sääryksiä —?"

Ingunn käänsi vaistomaisesti syrjään päänsä:

"Eiköhän — ne haisevat niin pahalta."

"Tuskin muidenkaan sinne tulijoiden säärykset haisevat sen

paremmilta — me olemme olleet merellä ampumassa yöt päivät
viime aikoina joka mies."

"Mutta kun joudut tapaamaan vierasseutulaisia —", tuumi Ingunn.

"Miten tahdot." Olav veti päältään housut ja säärykset ja seisoi

siinä alastomana, venytteli vähän ja haukotteli.

Hänen virheettömän, kauniin ruumiinsa näkeminen teki pahaa

Ingunnille. Hänestä tuntui niin toivottomalta, että hän itse oli kulunut
ja surkean näköinen. Siitä oli niin iankaikkisen pitkä aika, kun hän
itse oli ollut nuori ja suloinen ja he olivat olleet komea pariskunta —
ja nyt oli Olav vielä nuori mies, terve ja kaunis. Hän oli kyllä tullut
kyhmyisemmäksi jänteiltään, etenkin olkapäitten takaa, lapaluitten
kohdalta ja käsivarsistaan, mutta lihakset jännittyivät kauniisti ja
vaivattomasti heleän ihon alla, kun hän oikoi itseään, kohotti hiukan
käsivarsiaan ja antoi niiden taas vaipua. Hänen pintansa oli yhä vielä
maidonvalkea.

Olav tuli takaisin vaimonsa luo vedettyään päälleen punaisen

villapaitansa, pitkät, mustat nahkaiset säärykset ja aivinahousut.

"Sitten minun kai pitää ottaa sininen mekkokin — koska tahdot,

että minun on oltava niin komea?" sanoi hän hymyillen.

"Olav —?" Tämän kumartuessa Ingunnin puoleen kietaisi vaimo

äkkiä laihat käsivartensa hänen kaulaansa ja painoi kasvonsa hänen
poskeaan vasten. Olav tunsi hänen vapisevan.

"Mitä nyt?" kuiskasi hän. Toinen vain puristautui häneen

vastaamatta mitään.

"Joko tulee aika?" Hän irrotti Ingunnin kädet niskastaan; oli niin
hankalaa olla kaksinkerroin. "Tahdotko, että jään kotiin tänään? Voin
itse ratsastaa Rynjuliin hakemaan Unaa tänne — ja pyytää samalla
Torgrimia hoitamaan asiaani Vidanesissa."

"Ei, ei." Toinen puristi hänen kättään lujasti omassaan. "Ei — en

luule tilani muuttuvan ennen kuin kevätpäiväntasauksen jälkeen. —
Mutta jää minun luokseni hetkiseksi" — sanat tulivat kuin hiljaisena
valitushuutona. "Istu tässä vähän aikaa, jos joudat."

"Tietysti minä joudan." Olav piteli hänen kättään ja silitti hänen

käsivarttaan. "Mikä sinun on, Ingunn? Pelkäätkö niin —?" kysyi hän
hiljaa.

"En. Taikka pelkään. Vaikka en tiedä, pelkäänkö niin kovin, mutta

—." Olav sysäsi portaan tieltään, istuutui sängynlaidalle ja taputti
Ingunnin kuoppaista poskea kerran toisensa jälkeen.

"Näin unta", sanoi tämä hiljaa. "Juuri ennen kuin tulit sisään."

"Oliko se paha uni?"

Kyyneleet alkoivat virrata Ingunnin poskia pitkin, mutta hän itki

hiljaa, äänen muuttuessa vain hiukan verhotummaksi ja
särähtelevämmäksi.

"Se ei tuntunut minusta pahalta silloin, kun näin sen — silloin se ei

ollut paha. Minä näin sinun menevän polkua metsään; olit iloisen
näköinen ja olit ikään kuin nuoremman näköinen kuin mitä olet nyt,
ja sinä laulelit astellessasi. Sitten näin sinut täällä Hestvikenissäkin,
ulkona pihamaalla, ja olit taas yhtä iloisen ja terveen näköinen. Näin
tuon kaiken, mutta itse en ikään kuin ollut täällä, vaan tiesin olevani
kuollut. — Lapsia en nähnyt täällä — en yhtään."

"Ingunn, Ingunn, ei sinun pidä ajatella semmoisia." Olav painui

polvilleen, niin että sai pujotetuksi kätensä vaimonsa kaulan ympäri.
"Eipä minulle jäisi suurta iloa tässä talossa, jos menettäisin sinut,
oma Ingunnini."

"Ei minusta ole milloinkaan ollut sinulle iloa."

"Sinähän olet ainoa ystäväni." Olav suuteli häntä ja kumartui

syvempään vaimonsa yli, niin että tämän kasvot peittyivät kokonaan
hänen rintaansa vasten.

"Jos nyt on niin, kuten Signe ja Una sanovat", kuiskasi hän

vitkaan, "että sinä tällä kertaa saat tytön — tätä ennenhän ne ovat
olleet poikia — pienen tytön, niin ehkä Jumala antaa meidän pitää
sen."
 Sairas huokasi: "Olen niin väsynyt —."

"Etkö ole milloinkaan ajatellut, Ingunn — että minä olen ehkä

antanut
Eirikille enemmän kuin — tapporahat hänen isästään?"

Kun hän ei saanut vastausta, kysyi hän, voimatta pysyttää ääntään

aivan tyynenä:

"Etkö ole milloinkaan ihmetellyt, minne — tuo Teit katosi?"

Ingunn tarttui häneen lujemmin.

"En ole koskaan uskonut sinun tehneen sitä."

Mies tunsi itsensä kumman järkyttyneeksi — kuin hän äkkiä olisi

tullut valoon ja erottanut asiat selvästi. — Ingunn oli tiennyt sen
koko ajan. Mutta mitä se merkitsi — oliko hän ymmärtänyt, mikä
häntä painoi — vai oliko hän pelännyt Olavin verisiä käsiä —.

Ingunn käänsi kasvonsa häntä kohti, tarttui hänen niskaansa ja

veti hänen päänsä alas luokseen. Hän suuteli Olavia suulle imien ja
hurjasti.

"Minä tiesin sen. Minä tiesin sen. — Mutta sittenkin pelkäsin aika
ajoin — kun minun kävi kaikista pahimmin ja olin eniten allapäin —
silloin en voinut olla ajattelematta kauhulla, että mitähän, jos hän oli
elossa ja tulisi kostamaan minulle. Mutta uskoin sinun tehneen sen,
niin että saatoin olla huoleti!"

Olav muuttui niin kummalliseksi — aivan kuin kohmettuneeksi.

Sitäkö
Ingunn oli ajatellut — niinpä kai. Hän ei kai ymmärtänyt parempaa.
Olav suuteli häntä kerran lempeästi ja ohimennen. Sitten hän
naurahti
hämillään:

"Sinun täytyy päästää minut nyt, Ingunn — kohta katkaiset minun

kylkiluuni sängynlaitaa vasten."

Hän nousi seisaalleen, taputti vielä kerran Ingunnin poskea ja

astui tuvan poikki arkulleen, alkaen penkoa vaatteita. Sitten hän
kysyi jälleen:

"Oletko varma ajastasi, Ingunn — etkö halua mieluummin, että

jään kotiin tänään?"

"En, en, Olav, en tahdo sitoa sinua."

Olav kiinnitti kannukset jalkaansa, otti miekkansa ja heitti ylleen

paksusta, vanutetusta sarasta valmistetun sadevaippansa. Hän oli jo
ovella, kun hän kääntyi takaisin ja tuli Ingunnin sängyn viereen.

Ingunn tajusi hänen muuttuneen vieraaksi, toisenlaiseksi kuin mitä

hän oli nähnyt häntä pitkiin, pitkiin aikoihin — hänen kasvonsa olivat
kuin kivestä, huulet kalpeat ja silmät verhotut, näkemättömät. Ja
hän puhui kuin unessa:

"Lupaa minulle jotakin. Jos niin kävisi, kuten — kuten sanoit —

että tällä kertaa olisi kysymyksessä henkesi, — lupaa, että tulet
takaisin luokseni."

Nyt hän katsoi Ingunniin, kumartui hänen ylitseen:

"Sinun täytyy luvata, Ingunn — että jos kuolleiden on sallittu

palata elävien luo, — niin tulet luokseni!"
 "Minä lupaan sen."

Mies kumartui nyt nopeasti alas ja kosketti otsallaan Ingunnin

povea.

"Sinä olet ollut minun ainoa ystäväni", kuiskasi hän nopeasti ja

arasti.

*****

Olav tuli ratsastaen kotiin illalla — niin märkänä ja kohmeisena,

että hänen jalkansa olivat aivan kuin puutuneet jalustamissa.
Hevonen hölkkäsi väsyneesti, räiskyttäen lumisohjoa hänen päälleen
joka askeleella.

Ilma oli pilvinen ja usvainen, ja maa huokui märkyyttä — ilta oli

kumman huuruinen ja sakea, metsä ja pellot erottuivat tummina
lumipöperön keskeltä. Vuono laski kumean äänensä kuuluville
hitaasti lainehtien, aivan kuin raukean suonen lyönnit, mutta
Kverndalenin joki kuohui vesirikkaana. Metsästä kuului huokauksia,
ja lumet putoilivat oksilta, ja vesi lirisi ja lorisi ja murmatteli joka
puolella hämärässä — ja pelloilta ja mereltä uhoava kylmyys oli kuin
kevään ja touon ajan ensimmäistä aavistusta.

Ylhäällä mäellä, riihen luona, tuli häntä vastaan tumma olento —

huppuviittaan verhoutunut nainen.

"Tervetuloa kotiin, Olav." Tulija oli Signe Arnentytär; hän riensi

Olavia vastaan tämän ehdittyä lähemmäs.

"Nyt Ingunn on kestänyt vaivansa tällä kertaa — ja hän voi paljon

paremmin kuin luulimmekaan." Olav pysähdytti hevosensa, ja Signe
taputti sen turpaa hyväillen; "— ja lapsi on suuri ja kaunis — kukaan
meistä ei ole nähnyt niin suurta ja kaunista vastasyntynyttä. Mutta
sinun täytyy tyytyä siihen, ettei se ole poika!"

Olav kiitti häntä hyvästä uutisesta ja tunsi, että jos hän olisi ollut
samanlainen kuin nuoruudessaan, olisi hän kai hypännyt alas
hevosen selästä ja sulkenut sukulaisen syliinsä sekä suudellut häntä.
Hän oli keventynyt ja oli iloinen, mutta ei tuntenut sitä vielä oikein.
Niinpä hän siis kiitti Signeä uudestaan siitä, että hän ollut nytkin
Ingunnin apuna.

Synnytys oli tullut niin äkkiä, sanoi Signe, etteivät he olleet

ehtineet viedä häntä edes naisten tupaan. Olavin täytyi tyytyä
makaamaan kamarissa Ingunnin ja toisten ollessa tuvassa.

Mutta heti nähtyään Ingunnin hän huomasi, että tämä oli

lumivalkea kasvoiltaan ja makasi syrjällään toinen kellanruskea letti
posken alla. Una oli polvillaan hänen takanaan sängyssä ja palmikoi
toista paksua hiusköyttä. Ennen, kun Olav oli nähnyt hänet tässä
tilassa, oli hän ollut ruma, pöhöttynyt ja täplikäs kasvoiltaan, mutta
nyt hän oli aivan erilainen kuin tavallisesti, ihmeellisen kaunis; oli
aivan kuin ylimaallinen valo olisi laskeutunut noille kalpeille,
kärsineille kasvoille. Hänen suuret, sinimustat silmänsä välkkyivät
kuin tähdet, jotka kuvastuvat lähteessä. Ja Olavista tuntui, että tässä
oli tapahtunut ihme.

Signe tuli kantaen pientä myttyä — valkoisia kapaloita oli kääritty

ristiin rastiin lehdenvihreän villavaipan ympäri. Hän laski lapsen
Olavin käsivarsille sanoen: "Eikö ole suloinen tyttö, Olav?"

Ja jälleen hänestä tuntui, kuin hän olisi kokenut uskomattomia —

siinä oli häntä vastassa käsittämättömän pienet lapsenkasvot, mutta
ne olivat aivan täysimuotoiset ja mitä kauneimmat! Vastasyntynyt, ja
tämän näköinen! Sen silmät olivat auki, ne olivat pohjattoman
tummat — ja iho sillä oli valkoinen ja punainen kuin metsäruusun
kukka ja sillä oli ihmisen nenä ja suu; mutta kaikki oli niin pientä,
ettei sitä tahtonut voida ymmärtää.

Signe työnsi päähineen taapäin, että isä näkisi, miten kaunis

tukkakin sillä oli. Olav pisti kätensä tuon pehmeän, pyöreän
takaraivon alle; se ei ollut omenaa isompi hänen kämmenessään,
mutta niin pehmeä ja suloinen.

Olav ei malttanut antaa lasta pois — se oli lahja, lahja. Hänen

mielensä suli kokonaan — hän ei ollut elämässään ollut näin
suunnattoman kiitollinen. Hän painoi kasvonsa kapalolapsen rinnalle
— sen kasvot olivat niin hennot ja punervat, ettei hän uskaltanut
lähestyä niitä.

Una hyppäsi lattialle, käänsi lapsivuoteessa olijan selälleen ja

järjesti palmikot rintaa pitkin. Sitten Olavilta otettiin lapsi, ja hän
istuutui sängyn laidalle vaimonsa viereen. Hän piti tämän kättä
omassaan tuokion ajan ja kohotti hiukan toista palmikkoa;
kumpikaan ei virkkanut mitään.

Sitten joku toi ruokaa ja juomaa hänelle, ja sen jälkeen hänen

käskettiin mennä kamariin nukkumaan — Ingunnin täytyi päästä
uneen. Silloin tämä kutsui häntä hiljaa:

"Olav", kuiskasi hän, "tahtoisin pyytää sinulta jotakin, mieheni" —

näin hän ei ollut nimittänyt Olavia koskaan — "lupaatko, mitä minä
pyydän?"

"Lupaan kaikki, mitä tahdot." Hän hymyili aivan kuin tuskassa, niin
onnellinen hän oli.
 "Lupaa, ettei häntä kasteta äitini kaimaksi. Tahtoisin, että hänen
nimekseen tulisi Cecilia."

Olav nyökkäsi.

*****

Hän makasi valveilla — pimeässä — Eirik nukkui kuin kivi seinän

puolella. Oviaukosta hän näki lieden hohteen häilyvän seinällä,
nousevan ja laskevan. Ja vihitty kynttilä, jota poltettiin äidin ja
lapsen vieressä, levitti heikkoa, kultaista, lempeää valoa.

Valvovat naiset kuiskivat ja hääräilivät, liikuttelivat vesiastiaa ja

helisyttivät padan pantaa. Kerran hyrähti vastasyntynyt itkuun — ja
tuo itku tuntui Olavin sydämessä; hän kuunteli sitä, ja hänen
mielensä lämpeni ja ilostui. Naiset alkoivat hääriä tuvassa; kätkyt
pantiin liikkeeseen, ja Signe lauloi hiljaa hyräillen.

Olav makasi tässä Ingunnin oven edessä ja hänestä tuntui

luonnolliselta kuin uni, että hänen oli maattava siinä kuunnellen
toisten valvovan Ingunnin unta. Ingunn nukkui rauhallisesti; hän oli
synnyttänyt lapsen, ja nyt hän sai levätä, tulla terveeksi ja nuoreksi
ja iloiseksi taas. Hänen talossaan oli syntynyt lapsi, esikoinen. —
Kaikki, mikä oli ollut tätä ennen, oli ollut kuin yhtä ainoata
luonnotonta sairautta — kauheata hävitystä, jonka uhriksi tuo
onneton vaimo oli joutunut. Pienet elottomat oliot, joita naiset olivat
kantaneet hänen nähtäväkseen, vaikkei hän olisi tahtonut, olivat
täyttäneet hänet äärettömällä vastenmielisyydellä — ja tuo pieni
epäsikiö, joka oli elänyt lyhyttä, kärsivää elämäänsä, kunnes Jumala
oli armossaan ottanut sen pois — häntä ei Olav ollut sydämessään
tuntenut lapsekseen — hänen ja Ingunnin elämän hedelmäksi.
 Hän ei ollut milloinkaan tiennyt, miltä tuntui tulla isäksi — olla isä,
ennen kuin nyt, kun hänellä oli tytär, tuollainen pieni, pikkarainen
kalleus — Cecilia.