Over Optimization on the SEO Horizon

March 30th, 2012

Matt Cutts recently said that Google was going to start penalizing for over optimization. It was somewhat abnormal for this to be said because Google doesn’t pre-announce what its plans are. Plus to boot, this was the opposite of the information he had previously released.

But again, as we struggle to figure out what Google’s next penalty is, it sometimes helps to stop and take a step back and think it through. When I think of an over optimization penalty I think there has always been one, its called spam.

Keyword stuffing would be one of the things that come to mind, and of course that should be penalized. Repeating the same keyword over and over has never been acceptable. Google over time has been lowering that number, but they never really penalized those old pages.  Those pages by 2012 standards would be over optimized.

Anchor text is another one. I often teach SEO and I talk about making links with anchor text and give ideas on how to do this in a way that is not “spammy”. Inevitably I get the guy that goes home and puts 70 links at the bottom of his page all with the same keyword in it.  This too was acceptable for a while but has changed, and now we alter how we make links.

There seems to be noise about the over use of anchor texts, so my assumption is that a penalty for over utilization is already in place or is in the process of being considered in a roll out.

Cutts cited these two examples calling them spam, but said in the same breath that there was not an over optimization penalty, but pages that don’t meet the proper criteria don’t rank well. Is that a penalty?

But here’s the thing I wonder, are they going to go back and get all the old pages. They talk about leveling the playing field, but in reality many who don’t know how to optimize over-optimize.  I guess my thought is as we move to needing fresh, new content on a website, are they looking at this to penalize the old stuff.

I keep coming to the same conclusion. It is all about good, fresh quality content. As long you are doing that, you won’t be penalized.

Panda 3.3 What is the change to how Google Evaluates Links?

March 17th, 2012

Okay, so we all have theories, right? Well I have a new one, based on the new decoder ring info Google put out saying it changed how it evaluates links. Google often says very little about what it does and gives very few clues other than to provide quality, engaging content.

Well, this one seemed to say they had now come up with a way to evaluate the link and it got me thinking.  Exactly what are they saying? They also gave a historical context, so I started to look back at what we were teaching 2 years ago, let’s say about links and how they worked and some of the changes that have been made.

Previously, if I wrote an article on motorcycle mufflers, I would make my links on the bottom in the author’s box to relate to the article. I would use motorcycle parts and motorcycle mufflers. So I had an article about mufflers and links about mufflers pointing to pages about mufflers. All pretty standard, normal stuff, I would say.

But then it seemed that I could write my muffler article and make links to the mufflers, gloves and helmets and it was no longer this nice little neat ball. After all, a website might sell helmets, gloves and mufflers, but I was not sure I saw the value in adding anchor text links for what were seemingly different products, even though they lived on the same website.

Further analyzing their statements, it seems to me that they also were saying that they cleaned this up to help make everything less bloated, and this seems to fit. Links that that are thematically similar to the page they appear on, as well as to the page they are linking would reduce the number of links a website receives.

In the end, I’m sure Google probably hates the link concept because people have tried to exploit it. I’ve seen repeatedly the idea that links are going away. But, are they going away, or are they changing? I think this is just one of the many changes we will see as they move towards a more predominant use of social signals.

What is Google Panda…Really

March 16th, 2012

Google’s Panda has been something that we SEO experts have been trying to keep up with for a little more than year now. So as I sat down to write my SEO class for this month. I wanted to put all the Google Panda updates in one place. I started to compile its history so that I could teach the class what they needed to be aware of in 2012 in order to have an effective website.

A few things jumped out at me. As we look at each update in a segmented manner, we are often reacting to what each micro update is, but what I have found in looking at this with a historical eye is that Panda is nothing more than trying to improve the quality of the internet. If you understand the basic concept that Google is there to rank quality sites that in nature are not self-promotional, then it makes perfect sense.

It’s not some 800 lb. gorilla in the SEO room, although I think it’s something that we can say as an industry, we treated as such.  We have been lucky because for the most part our customers were not caught in the Panda update. But I believe that’s because we always have worked from the idea that content is king. Sure there was the occasional customer that decided that content and product pages were the same thing, but over all we have always taught that the job of a website that wants to rank, is to provide quality content about a particular subject.

If you look at each of the Panda updates, they have all been aimed at reducing the noise on the Internet and delivering the best possible content. If you are a realtor, write on the city you live in, not the properties. If you are a carpet cleaner, write about how people can get wine stains out of carpet. The more you provide solutions to problems, the greater the chance is that your site will be found, bookmarked, shared and liked across the internet.

Internet Marketing For An Online Business

March 8th, 2012

More and more companies around the world are turning to professionals to help them with internet marketing for their online business.  To keep up with the fast paced world of today, people are finding out that they need to hop on the online interstate.  They need to have a company website that customers can use from the comfort of their own home.  It is a growing market.  It greatly increases customer satisfaction and profits for the company.  Having a website, though, is not enough anymore.  There are numerous experts that specialize in internet marketing for any online business.

Some may say that they can handle things on their own, but they are just deceiving themselves.  This is a very complex and specific field that people train very hard to become exceptionally proficient at.  Even if someone could pull it off alone, the quality of work would not be near to that of a professional doing the job.

The sole purpose of this service is to generate more money from customers that are interested in their client’s website.  When a person does a search, a very long list of matches, or results, comes up on their screen.  That person will, more than likely, never see past the first page or two of the list.  That is why this service is so vital to companies.  In order to enjoy internet marketing for an online business, they will need to make it as high up on that list as they possibly can.

Internet marketing for any online business is an essential tool that companies need in order to effectively compete with everyone else in this arena.

The Service An Internet Marketing Consultant Provides

March 8th, 2012

An internet marketing consultant can make a key difference in the success of an advertising push on the web.  A business is wise to hire an internet marketing consultant to maximize the number of satisfied customers that will result from a promotional campaign.

The first of the pieces to this project is to get the attention of potential customers.  An internet marketing consultant works with a company to devise a plan for the advertising campaign.  After the target audience is identified, a strategy is worked out for attracting customers through social networks, banner advertising, and other devices used to evaluate people’s likes and preferences for merchandise.

Along with this, the company’s website must be updated to attract the attention of the search engines when an inquiry is made.  Once the website is evaluated by the inquiry systems as worthy of a top ranking, the traffic will come.  Upon entering the website, a customer must be able to easily navigate through the information.  The checkout process must also be convenient.  If it is, the potential for repeat business is high.  The professional hired to help make this process a success will be able to advise the company on many points in this part of the campaign.  If a new site is needed altogether, the expert will be able to accommodate this necessity.

Many details go into creating a successful advertising campaign on the Web.  For the two major components of the operation, under which these details fall, hiring an internet marketing consultant is vital.

What An Internet Marketing Guru Does

March 8th, 2012

Finding an internet marketing guru is not as difficult as it sounds. The World Wide Web is a hotbed of information, news, and services, which allows anyone to find what is needed when it is needed the most. Indeed, online is the perfect place to look for a specialist who is capable of advertising a website with the success only a master can provided.

What can an internet marketing guru do for a website?

By increasing the ranking of a website, a master provides potential customers. Of course, a website is often created to make money, and without potential customers, there is no money to be had. An internet marketing guru knows how to best design a website or redesign a website to provide the best results.

An internet marketing guru will also excel at teaching the website owner how to get those results. Most professionals will keep the website owner updated on what is being done and what it will potentially do for the website owner. A master teaches as well as designs.

Finally, an advertising expert knows how to stay on top of all of the changes that search engines implement at random intervals. In an attempt to stay a few steps ahead of scammers and bad practices, search engines have an algorithm that changes. However, a master will never be worried about those changes, because only legitimate practices are followed.

Knowing how an internet marketing guru can help a website is not always easy. However, it may be easier to think that a true master acts on a website’s behalf to increase visitors that will potentially bring in more revenue.

Consider Using Search Engine Optimization Companies

March 1st, 2012

The best way to describe what search engine optimization companies do is to explain it using an example, as in realizing that a business has the best coffee that anyone has ever consumed.  This coffee is raved about by everyone who has the chance to drink a cup.  However, once the local customers have all been found, the growth of the business becomes stagnant.  There are no new customers because there is no way to let other people know how great this product is.  This is what happens to websites that do not utilize search engine optimization companies.  They simply are not in a position to direct more traffic to their websites without professional guidance and help.

There are sites that people turn to when they are trying to find a product or a service.  They type in certain words and they are given results in return.  Sometimes these results can be hundreds, if not thousands, of possible websites.  Sometimes, the numbers can be even greater than this.  It is easy to get lost in a sea of results.  Search engine optimization companies can help businesses climb up through the rankings to get a coveted spot that is closer to the top of the results pages.

These professionals also know what needs to be done to make a great website and keep making it greater over time in order to increase traffic and gain a higher ranking on the query pages.  Search engine optimization companies realize that this is a slow and steady process that must be continuous and competent.  They are experts at making a business more visible and successful on the web.

Get The Best Results With Internet Marketing And Advertising

March 1st, 2012

Choosing the best internet marketing and advertising campaign for a website takes dedication, patience, and knowledge. There are numerous popular methods for getting the best SEO or SEM today, but all of those campaigns must follow similar rules set forth by the numerous popular search engines that lead the way in getting revenue to those website owners selling products or services.

What are some popular internet marketing and advertising techniques available today?

Article management – Fresh and unique content is a vital part of ranking highly with search engines. Search engines are looking for exciting stuff to bring to the masses, and stale content is not very exciting. Articles are designed to offer fresh content. Cheap articles do not work. These articles must have real information, be written in English, have correct grammar, and be formatted correctly. Spun content is not going to get the desired results.

Link building – Link building campaigns are often the bread and butter of internet marketing and advertising. Whether the website is going for internal or external links, link building is vital to a successful campaign. Of course, how folks go about getting those links is going to determine the success of the campaign.

Social media websites – Internet marketing and advertising professionals can utilize social media websites with amazing results. There is a lot more to Facebook and Twitter than what is evident upon the first visit.

Is that internet marketing and advertising guru the right one? Sometimes, it takes time to know if the connection between client and guru is working. Personalities may clash, but a true professional knows how to communicate with amazing results for the client.

About Hiring Internet Marketing Agencies

March 1st, 2012

It is advisable to hire internet marketing agencies to do a number of different tasks when preparing to launch a website.  These professionals know everything that needs to be done to design a successful website for an online business, or to give more visibility to a brick and mortar business.  They are highly trained in the various components that need to go into making the website look professional when presented to the online community of potential customers.

Many people may be able to set up a simple website, but after they have chosen a name and added a few pictures, they may find themselves overwhelmed.  There is much more that needs to go into a website in order for it to be successful.  This is where internet marketing agencies can help.  They can help a business develop the right type of content for the website that will not only lure in prospective customers, but also let them know that this is the best place to find the goods or services that they are seeking.

Once the website is designed, the content is added, and the site is made available online, there is still more that needs to be done to make it a viable candidate for the search engines.  Internet marketing agencies are well aware of the variety of things that have to take place in order for a business’s website to climb up the search engine’s rankings and be closer to the first page of results.

Because the web is used by the entire world, the competition is fierce, to say the least.  This is why a business needs the expertise that internet marketing agencies can provide them in order to find the highest level of success possible on the web.

Using Cheap Search Engine Optimization

March 1st, 2012

When it comes to online searches, cheap search engine optimization is a priority for many business owners who know just how important it is to have their website ranked well. Keywords will be a big focus, but the basics are really all the owner needs to know when he is willing to look to the professionals to do the work. He does not need to concern himself with the smaller details or the requirements for the ranking, because he will have done his research when picking a company for cheap search engine optimization.

This means that he will not need to know whether the keywords need to be used once or a dozen times throughout the web content, nor does he need to bother to learn all of the other ins and outs of the SEO process. Rather, he can focus his attention on improving the website’s look or the company’s customer service, and can leave the cheap search engine optimization to the professionals. He should also research the best companies to work with to be sure that he is getting the best value for his money. Not all companies are created equal. He will want to take care to find a trustworthy company offering cheap search engine optimization, and not just jump at the lowest price he can possibly find. Sometimes paying just a little bit more can be a lot wiser use of the money. Soon enough, the work should start showing an effect, and he should start to see an increase in traffic to the website.