Search engine optimization

2003-12-08T15:16:00.000+01:00

Is Google (Break) Dancing? & Search Engine Forums Spotlight

Google's monthly update is known as the Google Dance to those really into search engine optimization. The "Florida" update, the nickname for the most recent major changes to Google's search algorithm, has sparked an uproar among search marketers and web searchers alike.

Search Engine Watch editor Danny Sullivan has been tracking the changes and getting the full scoop on what they mean. In a special section of Search Engine Watch called Florida Google Dance Resources, you'll find answers to questions such as What Happened To My Site On Google? What Happened To My Searches On Google? What Are the Future Implications for Google?

You'll also find a number of Google dance case studies that illustrate the changes in detail, as well as an extensive collection of links to other sources of information on the web.

This is a work in process, with new material planned for the weekend and early next week. Keep an eye on the Florida Google Dance Resources link for the latest news and information as it is posted.

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2003-12-08T15:14:00.000+01:00

Google: New Algos or "SEO Filter"?

The recent changes to Google results have created a lot of buzz within the SEO community. Many theories have been discussed and debated. The "SEO Filter" discussion seems to be the one that holds water, or rather, has the fewest leaks. However, there are anomalies within the results that don't point to a single "theory" being totally true. My belief is that we are seeing newly acquired technology and PageRank modifications in play.

This article makes use of a number of opinions by people whom I personally regard highly as SEOs who do ongoing research and are members of a forum which I know to be pretty reliable. Foremost I'd like to thank all the IHY moderators especially Dan0 (Dan Thies), who pointed to the TSPR paper and the author's status with Google, Alan Perkins for a concise description of how TSPR seems to be used with a query and a special thanks to Bernard Ertl, whose knowledge of his competitors and research of a Florida SERP were very important in bringing Bob and me to the conclusions we have about the recent Google update. I'm not so sure Bob is in total agreement with our research but... we'll see, won't we grasshopper!

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2003-12-05T15:08:00.000+01:00

More on Properly Optimizing Framed Sites

For some reason, even today, there is still a lot of controversy in establishing whether or not to use frame technology when building a new website. This controversy is certainly well founded, since apparently there seems to be many site designers that still use it, even if that’s not a very good idea anymore. In this section, you will learn all you need to know to get any framed website properly listed and optimized for the major search engines.

To be fair, let's just say that a framed website can actually "sometimes" be of help in its necessary updating needs, and many web designers decide to use frame technology for this very reason. They can be even more useful for maintaining very large websites that have a lot of content spread over 500 or more pages, although I don't necessarily agree with that assumption.

However, and as you are about to find out, framed websites usually create many problems and complications for most major search engines in use today. This article will show you the pitfalls and the mistakes that some webmasters do in implementing their framed sites, in lieu of search engine friendly websites. It will also show you the right way to do it, if you still want to go ahead with this idea.

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2003-12-03T15:04:00.000+01:00

We're Always Trying to Improve the Index for the User

The problem with rampant speculation is that it's usually at least as damaging as the behind-the-scenes shenanigans you're trying to speculate on. Recent armchair attempts to explain the master plan behind Google's recent index update, mine included, are no exception.

So, lest I be accused of being the Oliver Stone of search, after talking with Peter Norvig, Google's Director of Quality, I'd like to clarify a few things.

I've always known and believed that there was no relationship between Google's advertising program and its index results, absolutely none. After working so closely with so many advertisers, it would have been pretty obvious if we'd been getting some sort of positive "spillover" effect. Many of us weren't suggesting this sort of relationship, but it *wasn't* out of line to make the point that a significant reshuffle at this time of year does make many non-advertisers aware of the fact that they might have become too dependent on free listings. Google doesn't have to foster or maintain a relationship between the right and left-hand sides of the search results page to benefit from the fact that both sides are in constant flux.

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2003-12-01T15:05:00.000+01:00

Google Dance Syndrome Strikes Again

There's been a new outbreak of Google Dance Syndrome, causing some web sites last month to lose top positions for some search terms. However, unlike previous outbreaks, a "cure" exists that makes it easy to compare results from "old" to "new" Google. These comparisons have some marketers convinced that recent changes at Google are designed to boost ad sales, a charge Google flatly denies.

For sites to lose rankings on Google -- or any search engine for that matter -- is nothing new. Search engines are constantly adding and removing pages, as well as altering the algorithms they use to rank pages. However, there's a great obsession with Google because of the large amounts of traffic it can deliver. Of the four most popular search engines -- Google, Yahoo, AOL and MSN Search -- Google's results are used at the first three.

Every so often, Google makes massive changes to how it ranks pages. When these happen, they are usually accompanied by complaints from some search engine marketers or webmasters that Google's ranking system has gotten worse. However, judging this is difficult. Often times, those injured by changes indeed point out examples of searches where Google fails in terms of relevancy. However, examples of where Google's new system succeeds can also be found.

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2003-11-26T12:54:00.000+01:00

Webmaster World announces Search Engine Marketing PubConference VI

The Webmaster World search engine discussion forum is arranging another pub conference, this time in Orlando, Florida, on February 26 to 28 2004.

And yes, a "pub conference" is in principle a conference taking place at a pub. The original idea was to abolish all speeches altogether and get down to the most important part of all conferences: networking. It is in good company over a pint of beer that you get all the juicy gossip and useful information.

Admittedly the pub conferences have become a little bit more organized lately, but the original idea remains: this is the place to meet old friends and make new ones in order to learn more about search engine and affiliate marketing and the search engine industry.

Previous pub conferences have been one days event, preceded by quite a few informal gatherings before the conference itself. This time the Webmaster World team has chosen to expand the concept into a three days conference at the Clarion Hotel and Conference Center in Orlando, Florida.

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2003-11-26T12:51:00.000+01:00

Been Gazumped by Google?

With the huge number of postings on all the various forums, concerning this update, most people don't know where to start looking for information about the recent Google update. The following is an attempt to put down rationally (I hope) most of the information that is known and the (unproven) theories behind the update algo.

Starting on the 16th of November, a major shift in results was seen on Google. Veterans recognised that Google appeared to be doing a major update, not seen for many months, as reported first on WebMasterWorld who named it "Florida", continuing the tradition of naming updates rather like hurricanes. In this case it was a hurricane! As was usual with many updates, there were moans and groans as people complained about their sites falling. Many people were unaffected (including us) but the symptoms of the sites being dropped were not usual. No penalties, such as PR0, seem to have been applied against pages that had fallen - yet none of the pages targeted at specific key phrases, particularly index/home pages, appeared in the top results for these search terms. Indeed some had dropped hundreds of places and, in some cases reported, off the scale. Yet these pages did appear for obscure phrases and were obviously still in the index.

It appeared to us and to several other respected names (though hotly disputed by others) that some sort of over-SEOd filter had been applied to check if overt SEO had been done for that particular phrase. It was as if Google were checking to see if external links to the site included the phrase, on-page optimisation was being done for the phrase and even if the domain included the phrase. If the density of the optimisation, both on and off the page, appeared too artificial, then a filter was tripped and down went the page - solely for that phrase.

Google had never looked favourably on abuse of their systems and many established SEOs looked upon this algo tweak as a way of Google getting rid of the abuses of links and stopping the scrambling for getting (and sometimes buying) links including your required anchor text from other high PR, but probably irrelevant to your subject, sites. It seemed to make sense.

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2003-11-25T14:29:00.000+01:00

Link Popularity and the Myth of the Guestbook Link

You have probably been to a site that had a section called a "Guestbook". Many sites ask you to "sign their guestbook", and many of these guestbooks also permit HTML code in the guestbook comments, meaning you or I or anyone can visit guestbooks on web sites all day long and systematically create links back to our sites from hundreds of other site's guestbooks.

Naturally, some web marketers (probably the ones that think exit pop-ups are useful) think that by signing guestbooks and adding links by the hundreds they will improve their link popularity scores at search engines. Before you get excited and do a Google search on the phrase "sign our guestbook" (1.9 million BTW) and head off like a link monkey, here's my take on whether guestbook links are valid, ignored, or penalized, and if they have any impact on the success of a web site's link popularity.

Guestbook links are really no different than FFA links, if you think about it. FFA (Free For All) pages are pages where a link can be obtained by anyone (even a script) without human intervention, meaning no person even looks to see if the requesting site has any decent content. Such link lists are obviously useless. Ask yourself when was the last time you went to a FFA link list to find a useful web site. How about never?

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2003-11-22T00:59:00.000+01:00

How to Improve Search Engine Placements with Content

Just how important is content to the search engines? We all know that well written content is paramount to maintaining repeat traffic to a web site but just what qualities peek the 'interest' of the major search engines? This can be a convoluted topic where the unique characteristics of each search engine are considered to create highly appealing content. In most cases, however, the general concepts are all that you will need to know to attain a positive search engine placement, especially when you are focusing on less competitive goals. After all, accuracy is not always required when your target is as big as a barn and you are only a few feet away.

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2003-11-21T10:50:00.000+01:00

Google Update

Google recently introduced a new keyword phrase filter during its most recent update. Some phrases were unchanged, but many highly optimized and highly competitive phrases were drastically altered. Some webmasters saw their sites drop from top listings to not being in the top 1,000 sites. Unlike other filters, this spam peanalty does not affect a page or sites overall perceived value. The end effect is lowered rankings for various specific searches for that page.

If you have a couple commonly paired words on your website such as 'search' and 'marketing', the new filter will check to see how the words are placed on your page (and possibly in incoming links). The new algorithm is looking for more naturally existing context to prevent search engine optimized websites from dominating search results. Essentially the goal of this filter is to get webmasters to adjust their content to be written for the users and not search engines. The problem with this logic is that good SEO typically falls in line with good site and page structure.

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2003-11-21T10:39:00.000+01:00

Common Search Engine Optimization Mistakes to Avoid

There are many common mistakes in search engine optimization (SEO) that both novices and the more experienced make. Often these mistakes are based on believing a person can “fool the search engines” and increase a site’s rankings using trickery. But these methods often backfire as search engines have become more sophisticated, and their methods of sleuthing out deceptive practices have improved.

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2003-11-18T12:16:00.000+01:00

Link Building for Top Search Engine Placement

For many, the idea of optimizing a website for top search engine placement means entering some META tags, maybe titling the page appropriately, and then you’re done. A long time ago, in an SEO galaxy far far away, this tactic worked. Unfortunately for those optimizing their websites, and fortunately for those using search engines to find information, this is no longer the case.

There are now some 80+ factors that are taken into consideration when determining the ranking of your website. Everything from titles and META’s to content and ALT tags are weighed and analyzed when your placement on the search engines is determined. In a recent article by Ross Dunn, CEO of StepForth Search Engine Placement, he addressed the fundamentals of optimizing your Web pages.

Link building part one
Link building part two

2003-11-17T12:01:00.000+01:00

Optimizing Content to Improve Search Engine Positioning

This is the latest article in the "Back to Basics" series. Previous articles include the importance of search engine marketing (SEM), effective keyword research, title tag formats, Meta tag use, as well as submissions. In this topic, we take a look at changes you can make to the content of your site to further improve search engine positioning.

Over the past few months, search engine optimization (SEO) has become more mainstream, with many companies considering this form of marketing for the first time. The amount of information on the topic of SEO has increased dramatically, with many new authors stepping forward to pen guides that explain how to optimize a website. Yet even with this increased awareness, it still amazes me the number of business owners that still believe tweaking titles or adding keywords to Meta tags is all that is needed to increase search engine visibility.

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2003-11-12T12:07:00.000+01:00

A 10 Minute Search Engine Optimization

Many small businesses simply do not have the resources to hire a search engine optimization (SEO) company to promote their web site. There are countless resources online for do-it-yourself (DIY) optimizers where professional SEO’s offer general recommendations and advice. This article is my opportunity to offer more of my SEO experience in the form of a 10-minute optimization process.

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2003-11-11T16:50:00.000+01:00

Rank Well in Search Engines and Convert the Traffic

Let's focus on the search engine factors you have the greatest control over: what's on the page. The goal is not to provide specifics on how to create top-ranked pages in every search engine but rather to outline the general principles of creating pages that rank well and convert search engine traffic into leads, subscriptions, or sales.

You want your pages to rank well, but not without meeting both the visitor's and your business objectives. Take advantage of the elements that make your pages relevant to search engines. They're the same elements that make pages relevant (and persuasive) to prospects.

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2003-11-11T16:45:00.000+01:00

Page Cloaking - To Cloak or Not to Cloak

Page cloaking can broadly be defined as a technique used to deliver different web pages under different circumstances. There are two primary reasons that people use page cloaking:

i) It allows them to create a separate optimized page for each search engine and another page which is aesthetically pleasing and designed for their human visitors. When a search engine spider visits a site, the page which has been optimized for that search engine is delivered to it. When a human visits a site, the page which was designed for the human visitors is shown. The primary benefit of doing this is that the human visitors don't need to be shown the pages which have been optimized for the search engines, because the pages which are meant for the search engines may not be aesthetically pleasing, and may contain an over-repetition of keywords.

ii) It allows them to hide the source code of the optimized pages that they have created, and hence prevents their competitors from being able to copy the source code.

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2003-11-11T14:26:00.000+01:00

Boost Your Linking Strategy with Some Good Old-Fashioned Public Relations

So what are journalists looking for?

Contrary to popular belief, the idea of a journalist scouring the streets for the latest stories is far from the truth. While a small number may have the luxury of chasing important ground-breaking stories, most have the more mundane pressure of filling space with interesting stories.

They work to tight deadlines and need a regular source of interesting news stories. And the source they use most often? it's incoming news releases and story pitches.

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2003-11-11T12:56:00.000+01:00

Key Word Optimization Secrets

Judging by the number of websites on the web today, it is becoming harder and harder to find key words for optimization that your competitors are not already using. But finding keywords that your competitors are missing might be easier than imagined. Here we shall have a look at both conventional and unconventional means to overcome the competition in search engine rankings by showing you some effective but often overlooked ways of beating the competition at the SEO race.

Viewing your competitor Source code. This is one of the easiest and most effective ways of learning more about your competition and their SEO strategy. It gives you the opportunity to have a look at some of their keywords, and better still you can get to see what keyword phrases they target in the search engines.

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