Google has taken yet another step to integrate its technology in to everyday life. Google +, the latest social networking platform from the internet giant went live on the 28th of June. At the moment, those who want to experience the latest social networking platform will have to wait for an invite from someone who already has a profile. If you are not eighteen years old yet, then you will also have to wait until you are an adult. With the insane amount of hype over the platform and its all new features, the SEO community has started asking whether their techniques will be affected.
One of the features in Google + allows users to recommend websites to those who are in their network. Just like Facebook and all other social networking platforms, a lot of personal information will be shared among members. From birthdates, working place information all the way to interests and preferences, Google + will also store this information in a user’s profile. In addition, there is a feature called Google Sparks on the platform. This is where all the information about a particular individual’s interest will be kept.
Remember Facebook’s targeted advertising campaigns that took a huge chunk out of Google’s Adsense revenue? Well, apparently, Google is fighting back.The Google Circles and the Google Sparks concepts will allow users to be categorized. This means that a person’s interests, history, activities, friends and the websites that they like will be a part of the equation to deliver them advertisements and direct them to websites that they are more likely to visit.
According to one blogger, the web links posted on Google + will act as a vote for a particular website. The more ‘votes’ a website may have, the higher the rank will be raised. However, just to make things extra difficult to us, SEO Companies, Google has decided to monitor a user’s credibility to cast votes on a particular website. This means that when a particular user has added things like Fashion, LOL cats and Baking casts a vote on a website that deals with Business Communication and Networking, the vote will not be counted as a credible. Google will make an assumption about a person’s ability to vote on a certain website by taking their interests in to account.
The verdict? Google + will definitely have an impact on Search Engine Optimization. Although the effects may not be immediate, they will definitely start to show as the platform takes root.
Whenever word comes out about a Panda update or an upgrade to Google search, the SEO community and website owners start twitching and panicking. Why? Most web owners and SEO specialists are on an endless, losing battle with Google. Instead, it’s time to start considering Google as a friend and to try and understand it rather than covering your ears and backing down in to a corner whenever an update strikes.
The first step of understand that Google is not at war with website owners. It is a search engine and the job of a search engine is to offer relevant results for search terms entered by web surfers. Since some websites are trying to sneak their way in to the rankings by mentioning these search terms, or keywords, without the creation of coherent content that someone can make sense of. So, the first step of making sure that the next Panda Update doesn’t kick you out of the rankings is to make your content valuable and useful.
But on-page content is not the only thing Google is keeping a close watch on. Websites cannot beat the massive competition for the top spots solely with the aid of on page content. Inbound links from external sources also generate a sizeable portion of the traffic generated by a website. One of the most effective ways of generating inbound links is by posting articles on article directories. As directed by the latest Panda update, certain article directories have been labelled with the undesirable ‘content farm’ title and were dishonoured. The reason for this is the fact that most of these directories are a breeding ground for poorly written articles stuffed with keywords and uploaded with the sole purpose of exploiting the directories’ popularity. In the end, the blacklisting of these popular article directories affects the rankings of those who have posted the sub-standard articles.
Of the quality of your content is not an issue, you may think that algorithm updates are irrelevant. In reality, it is important to keep updated and adjust when the need presents itself during a major change. However, the wisest choice is to continue researching, reading and testing to find effective and legitimate methods to boost your rankings as time goes by. Bear in mind that Google is evolving with time and is thinking of providing a satisfactory web searching experience for its users. To be truly successful as an SEO services provider or a website owner, you need to think beyond climbing the ranking lists.
The name itself sounds a bit dangerous (and oddly reminiscent of pirate ships and holy water), however, this is something important when it comes to Search Engine Optimization. Canonicalization occurs when a particular website is able to be accessed with two addresses.
Canonicalization is a process where a search engine picks up the best URL when there are several options floating about cyber space. This could result in the popularity of a web page to go down. Since the incoming traffic that is supposed to go to a single URL now gets split up between two URLs. While sometimes, this might be nothing more complicated than one web page loading with the “www.” And the other loading without it, other, more extreme cases could result in more serious errors where two identical copies of your website ranks on two far apart pages on the search engine.
It is a complicated issue, but when it comes to SEO, you can’t really afford to have identical copies of your website on different rungs on the rankings ladder. So, in order to prevent search engines from making odd decisions about your website, you need to employ a few precautions to make sure that viewers are headed the right way. A ‘301 redirection’ is the most effective method to let the search engine know what your preferred URL to be directed is. This involves in the setting up of a .htaccess file in your domain root file to permanently redirect visitors to your preferred version of the URL.
Depending on the particular environment of your web, you can employ one of the many methods available to set up a 301 redirection. You will have the ability to set up the redirection using PHP, classic ASP, ColdFusion, ASP.NET or Perl. If your website has been subjected to canonicalization, it’s not the end of the world, simply employ a viable redirecting mechanism and you will be up and running in next to no time.
However, although there are other methods of redirecting to your favoured URL, they are to be avoided like the plague. The reason for me to say this is the fact that, methods such as Javascript and META refresh have been in use to obscure and disguise malicious redirection for quite a while. It is best to stick to legitimate methods rather than to experiment with fishy techniques (which could result in your website getting kicked out of the ranking lists for good. Believe me, it has happened.)
Link baiting is a great SEO method. The principle of link baiting is similar to that of fishing. But instead of worms, bits of shrimp and artificial lures, this method employs bits of interesting viral content. The idea is to get people to share the content through all sorts of internet platforms. But, it is important to keep one simple thing in mind: the content has to make people ‘want’ to share it.
Rule no. 1
For a piece of content to be considered as effective ‘link bait’ material it has to be original, out-of-the-box and on top of it all, interesting. In other words, the content has to be extraordinary.
Rule no. 2
Articles posted on blogs are a great way to start. If the topic is interesting and the writing style is engaging, you may have a winner on your hands. Articles on controversial topics and articles featuring tips and tutorials are also great sellers. As for lists, people love lists: they are instantly attracted to anything that starts with “top #…” If the title doesn’t seem to be working, you might be violating rule no. 1.
Rule no. 3
Apart from gifts, people also love free stuff. Gifts, giveaways and freebies always have a strange sort of power over the wayward internet user. But try to be genuine and actually deliver what you preach. Or you will be plastered with the undesirable ‘scammer’ status.
Rule no. 4
Providing entertainment always works. Whether it comes in the form of a funny video, funny article or even an out of the box infographic, people will share it if it entertains them.
Rule no. 5
Create interaction opportunities. You could also create polls and surveys based on the most current news to tempt net goers to interact. If they find the topic interesting and worth their time, they will definitely share it with their friends, thus generating traffic for you.
Rule no. 6
If you can’t come up with something original in any of these categories, why not try posting news? News is freely available all over the internet, posting your opinion on one of the latest news stories is oftentimes enough to create considerable traffic. Being the first to cover a certain news item will definitely be an effective method of link baiting.
Like I said before, link building is like fishing. But only better, as the fish you bait on the internet, will bring in a swarm of their friends along with them.
Increasing traffic to your website can be done in many ways. If word of mouth, email marketing and keeping your fingers crossed hasn’t worked yet, then it is high time that you do some real SEO to make sure that your site is noticed by those who matter.
One of the most popular SEO techniques is the strategic utilization of keywords. If you glance at the top of any website that seems to be doing well on the internet, you may have noticed keywords related to the content of the site. This is definitely a do, as title tags with keywords help search engines to index websites and to bring more visitors in as a result. Placing the relevant keywords within the site content is also a good idea. But, make sure to keep the keyword below three percent to avoid looking like spam and a victim of the dreaded ‘keyword stuffing’ which will only harm the reputation of your site.
The next thing is to make sure that your content is relevant to your website. If you are not gifted with the ability of writing something out of nothing, look for a copywriter with experience in SEO techniques and keyword placement to do the job for you. Well written content that is relevant to the main purpose of your site and the product or service you are marketing will increase visitors and make sure that they leave happy. But, make sure that the content is not copied or plagiarized as you will get flagged for stealing another’s work. Investing on the services of a copywriter is not as extravagantly expensive as you think and it will make your site more valuable to a visitor.
Ever heard of fashion dos and don’ts? Some styles look great on mannequins and on runway models but just seem too flashy to take up on everyday wear. Well, it is pretty much the same with the appearance of a website. Flash animation and interactive artwork is very pleasing to the eye but not so pleasing to slow internet connections and search engines. If you are investing on flash animation, make sure to keep it to a minimum as it will not do much to index your site as search engine software does not read the flash in your site.
The bottom line is, keeping your website simple classy and to the point will ensure indexing on search engines and keep your visitors coming back for more.
