May 19, 2012

The Google Penguin Update

Before it was Google Panda, now it is about Google Penguin. Haven you heard the latest about it? Well, the emphasis is on over optimization. It also covers web spam and empty content pages.

So whatever website you are managing or trying to optimize it is better to know what this Google Penguin update is all about to minimize impact. The first argument is about spam versus over optimization. This happens a lot on SEO websites alone compared to dating sites like Wokingham dating website. Money-making sites also have a tough competition in the first page. I’ve read in one forum, the Warrior Forum that the number one spot is actually an empty page – no posts. How did it happen? Hopefully, the most recent Google Penguin update can fix it and drop its ranking especially that it is of no significant value to users.

Since this is just a new update, it would be helpful if all of us can provide feedback about it.

Coping with Google Changes

With the continuous changes in Google algorithm, do you think your site can keep up with it? Will you able to improve your ranking? Just keep this in mind, not all of Google’s changes affect your rankings. But there are still important things to do to comply with the new set of rules and deal with some changes.

The first thing that you have to review is the anchor text. You have to make some necessary tweaking. Make use of different keywords to link your sites instead of using a single anchor text all through out. Overusing anchor text would send wrong signals to GoogleBot.

It is also important to know the right way of handling queries both for navigational and local intent. If you are trying to promote a local business, having it listed on Google Places will greatly help since it will increase its online visibility.

Google Places

You can also consider adding specific tags for the images used since Google have already improved the image search feature. And as for the content, always make sure that it is relevant to the overall them of your website. Quality content gets indexed better than gibberish ones.

Utilizing the social media will also help a lot. Installing plugins that can increase your site exposure on social network is highly recommended.

Stay Away from Risky SEO Methods

GoogleBot continues to become smarter and now those who are overly doing SEO are about to get penalized. Abused of keywords and the so-called over optimization will be looked closely to give ranking priority on quality sites. This means that everything should be done in moderation from now on.

Should you stop optimizing your sites or pages? No one is telling you to stop. But just be mindful of your actions since illegal strategies will definitely hurt your ranking. You should stay away from these methods that spell trouble:

  • automated link exchange program which source backlinks from thousands of websites
  • tools that create multiple profiles on forums with a link back to your sites
  • automated keyword tool that creates keyword-rich pages
  • paid links

Most automated strategies are tagged as spam by Google. So the best way to deal with these changes is to keep practicing safe SEO methods. White-had SEO can improve your ranking in a guilt-free manner. It also guarantees you that you can keep your ranking as long as you are not drifting away from good practices.

The SEO Benefits of Being Friends with Pinterest

When you are working towards driving traffic toward your business page, there are a lot of factors that you have to consider. You have to consider the social networking channels that you utilize that can potentially drive traffic, the content of your business page, the keywords that you optimize for your SEO campaign and many more. Though being able to utilize these channels can greatly increase the chances of generating traffic to your website, you need more channels that you can benefit from. At the same time, these channels should be as effective as the way you utilize them.

And this is where the two-year old social bookmarking website Pinterest comes in. As mentioned, it is a social bookmarking website which allows you to pin links as well as pictures that you find in the internet. Basically, you create an account and have a pin board where you can pin your items. These pins can be categorized as food, interior design, gadgets and many more. Through this, you can connect to people and at the same time, drive traffic through your website. The more you pin links, the more people will connect to you and the more people that do, the more traffic you can generate.

At the same time, these people can be potential clients since they will stumble upon your website after they click your pin. Furthermore, just like with twitter, you can also repin other people’s items. The great thing about Pinterest is that joining it is for free and you do not need to spend money when you pin something on your pin board.

In addition to these aforementioned benefits, utilizing Pinterest in your SEO campaign can be through, but not limited to, using Pin it Buttons, Backlink Building, Branding, and Keyword Strategy. Pin it buttons is a widget available in Pinterest that you can insert in your webpage. People who visit your business or blog page can then click on your web pin and pin it on their pin board. This makes Pinterest an even more effective way of marketing your business.

Since Pinterest is a big website, it continues to be indexed by search engines. Posting more pins means the more chance that you can generate traffic through your website thus you build more backlinks. You can also create a business Pinterest page which shows majority of your business’ products and services which in turn people can re-pin on their boards. Truly, Pinterest is a beneficial site for all webmasters alike.

Skills You Need to Develop in Your SEO Campaign

When you are working towards developing your search engine optimization strategies, there are a couple of skills that you need to have. One of the most common misconceptions of some people about SEO is that as long as you are diligent in searching keywords is that you can master it eventually. While it is partially true, it is but only the tip of the iceberg.

In order for you to advance towards your goal in increasing traffic to your website, you have to be knowledgeable about codes. Though being familiar with every page of your website and with every title tags, copy optimization and more is good, it is not enough. You have to learn more in-depth technical matters regarding SEO. This includes but is not limited to, server-side settings, sitemaps, server response and rewrites.

Another thing that you have to give importance to is the social media. As you are well aware of, social media plays a big role when it comes to driving traffic in your website. Even non-SEO practitioners have an idea how important social media’s role is to a business. Having great social media awareness is not limited to utilizing face book, twitter or any other social networking site. You should be able to develop a strategy to drive people from end to another. From one site to another site, getting people to follow you, and being able to optimize videos in YouTube.

Advertising your business or your website through these channels is not enough. You should be able to get people to sign up, be part of your business, and get to follow you like a loyal fan. Link building is also an important skill that you should be able to develop to strengthen your SEO campaign. Taking advantage of traditional directories, association sites, and websites with high PRs is a good way to build beneficial links.

Making sure that your website can easily be navigated is also important. You should also make it a point that people can easily read your website’s content. Having organized information architecture is the key here. Being organized in your website will make sure that people who visit your webpage are able to enjoy what they are reading or are able to easily find the information that they are looking for. But perhaps one of the most important things that you should not neglect when it comes to search engine optimization is developing your website’s content. Your website should have useful and relevant content. At the same time, you should be able to develop a method to distribute your website’s content through various channels. By developing these skills, you will eventually rise on top of the SEO market.

Easy 3-Way Link Exchange

3-way link exchange is way better than 2-way link exchange. It is because your site is being referenced by another website which is not present on your blog roll. While some people find 3-way link exchange to be challenging, it is quick and easy with BC Bloggers!

BC_BLOGGERS

Want to know how? Sign up here to get started.

Submission of links is open until December 15, 2011 so make sure you follow all the required steps. It is as simple as creating a short introductory/invite post, placing the badge on your side bar and submitting your websites on the BC Bloggers’ form.

The New Version of Google Analytics

Have you seen the redesigned interface of Google Analytics? Well, the new version is not just about that. Watch out for the significant new features!

Aside from easy exploration of site data, here are the top features of the new Google Analytics:

1. Google Analytics Real-Time
Get updated report through Real-Time reporting! With each pageview being refreshed every second, you’ll be able to see the actual traffic trends.

Google Analytics Real-Time

Google Analytics Real-Time

2. Multi-Channel Funnels
You’ll be able to see the most effective and efficient channels for your campaign. The conversions for each display advertising, organic search, referral, paid search or direct visit area also displayed.

Multi-Channel Funnels

Multi-Channel Funnels

3. Mobile Reporting
Track the interaction of your mobile visitors with your websites. You can also see which mobile devices are being used by your customers to browse the web. This means that you can optimize your content or entire website for this kind of device.

Mobile Reporting

Mobile Reporting

4. Flow Visualization
Do you want an easy-to-interpret data representation of your site statistics? This Flow Visualization feature will graphically show how visitors navigate through your sites.

Flow Visualization

Experience the goodness of redesigned navigation tools in your Google Analytics account!

*Images courtesy of Google Analytics newsletter

New SEO Challenge: Degree of Freshness

It’s official, Google’s new Freshness Update will affect the search results. The latest update in Google algorithm aims to yield a more relevant result through fresher content. The completion of Caffeine web indexing system will impact 35% of searches.

 

New Google Algorithm for “Fresh” Results

New Google Algorithm for “Fresh” Results

There’s no update yet about the methods of evaluating freshness but the search result is not solely dependent on it. The number of back links, site reputation and page rank still matter. Content freshness is just one of the determining factors in filtering web search result.

Now, what is the real deal? With the online competition, isn’t it obvious that your site must have fresh content? By regularly publishing new posts, you’ll have a competitive edge and gain more visitors. Your site is your own network. People notice what you keep on airing and you can build a good reputation out of it.

Google is so smart that you can no longer trick it with just link baits and scraped content. The moral of the story: Produce quality content. Quality means fresh, clear and informative content that can keep the readers engaged.

Understanding the Evolution of Search Engine Optimization

 

Search Engine Optimization: SEO Evolution

SEO Evolution

Just like any other process, search engine optimization also continuously evolves so marketing strategies need to be adjusted from time to time. There are lots of updates lately such as page rank, domain authority, website reputation and more. Social media also played a very important role in achieving SEO success.

To keep a competitive edge, it is important to ensure high rankings through the new techniques. Organic web strategies can greatly help in keeping a good position in search engine result pages. Factors such as content, local search and social search as just some of the few indicators that you have to consider.

Nowadays, online presence can be felt through social networking sites. Even people do some social search from time to time. With Facebook, Tumblr and other bookmarking sites, it is easy to promote products and services now. What more, to share the good things about a new or upcoming websites.

With Google Panda, link farms and web scrapers are being ranked down so it is your time to shine. Publish quality content for your webpages to be easily indexed by Google. This can boost traffic and convert your visitors into sales.

Other SEO practices that you must keep doing includes onsite optimization, blog commenting, social bookmarking, email marketing and article submission. Do everything in moderation and this can also improve site’s reputation. Your online marketing success does not solely depend on the SEO tools out there but also on your own execution.

Improve SERP through Proven SEO Techniques

Establishing a business nowadays has become more of a challenge especially that competition in the market is really tight. With the invention of internet technology, you have to find ways to use it to your advantage if you plan to be successful in your business and have staying power. In addition to online advertising, you should be able to utilize search engine optimization. Search Engine Optimization is basically the technique of being able to make it on the top five list of a search engine results page.

In order for you to be able to be on the first search results, you have to employ the keywords commonly used by people who utilize search engines. By inserting these keywords in your website, the chance that your page shows up whenever these prospective customers conduct a search increases. However, you also have to keep in mind that you cannot sacrifice the content of your page just to put keywords in your site. Your keywords should be relevant to your website or else you will risk having search engines like Google label your site as spam.

Blogging, writing articles, taking advantage of paid advertisements and leaving backlinks in forums and other trustworthy websites like government related websites or educational websites are but a few effective methods that you can employ to increase your rank in search engine results page. But perhaps the most important thing that you have to remember is that you are not the only implementing this system. Expect your competitors to do it too and by observing how they optimize the search engine can also be a big help in strategizing.