Category: Google

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How to Know Which Search Terms Are Driving Your Website Traffic

Watch Alexi Douvas from Google explain how to know which search terms are driving traffic to your website in this video.

The first step is to make sure your website is verified in the Google Webmaster Tools control panel. Google gives some easy to follow instructions there, but you will need access to your source code and/or access via FTP to your server.

Once verified in the query section, you can actually see and sort data that shows how many times your website was shown for specific search queries, how many times readers clicked into your website and where on Google.com your site appears in the search rankings.

A high click through rate but low number of impressions is not a good thing. You’ll want to review your meta titles and content to try to boost exposure. By reviewing your search query list you can also evaluate how well your website is doing in regards to reaching a broad base of potential prospects. If all you see if your name or phrases that really don’t match your service offerings, now’s the time to carefully review your content’s focus.

What Google shows in the query list is based on historical data. If you see keywords that have a gambling or adult content focus and your site does not provide or sell these services, your website has most likely been hacked and needs a very careful review.

 

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Matt Cutts of Google Talks About Content and Keyword Density

I found an article recently that included an interview with Matt Cutts on the changes that Google wants to see in website content. The article is excellent reading but the author plugs his approach a wee bit heavy handed. The full article can be read here and it is worth reading, but the key points are detailed for you below along with my comments.

  1. Heavy keyword density on a page may actually now be considered spammy by Google. Google is now looking for natural looking and natural reading content. Cater to the reader not Google.
  2. Google does not need the phrase you would like to place on in the same order over and over on a page. Use the phrase you like once or twice and then you can mix up the way the words show in the phrase.
  3. Google can now identify synonyms and the meaning of your content with its technology. It does not need for you to control content in an unnatural way to place on certain phrases.
  4. If you overuse keywords phrases in a page, Google may consider your page spammy and not reward organic placement.

Matt Cutts of Google says “Never sacrifice the quality of your copy for the sake of the search engines. It’s just not necessary. The next time you write a new page of copy, test this approach to writing for the engines and see if you get as good (or better) results than before. I’m betting you’ll be pleasantly surprised.”

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Google on Duplicate and Scraped Content

This is an interesting video and deals with the issue of duplicate and scraped content. Google says clearly that content you grab from other sites that you do not add additional information to and scraped content do not add value for your users. In plain speak this means “we won’t rank you for those pages and may penalize your domain if you do this!”. Watch the video and then make sure to read my added value 🙂 comments below.

Here are my nuggets to consider:

  • Duplicating other people’s content damages your organic placement. There is no value to doing this!
  • If you are doing an affiliate program, make sure you have unique content and added value. Don’t just be another cookie that has been cut with the same cutter.
  • e-Commerce site that have simply picked up manufacturer product information for their store that matches lots of other sites on the web without providing additional valuable content will be penalized in organic rankings.
  • Doorway sites that work to drive traffic to one website using a strong use of keywords or black hat optimization will effectively drop the rank of the receiving site. Don’t use blogs, mini sites, or lenses to drive traffic to your parent website.
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Google on Website Spam

Watch this video from Google to see what Google specifically acknowledges is spam and may affect your organic placement.

Nuggets from this video:

  • Blog and forum comment spam can impact your placement on Google.
  • Keep an eye on your comments look for small comments with links and links in a signature block.
  • I recommend on your blog only allowing comments to be posted that you approve.
  • It is not unusual for a blog to get over 1,000 spam comments a month. If you are set to auto approve all comments this could negatively impact your placement on Google.