Tag: SEO

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Where Did All My Links Go Google!

Just this past week Google gobbled up and spit out links in the Google Webmaster Control Panel. We’ve had clients go from 12,000 inbound links to under 3,000. What’s happening with Google now?

First, there has been chatter on the web as recently as Friday, February 8th that there was a glitch in recording link numbers in the Google Webmaster Control Panel, but does this account for such a big drop or are there other things at play?David Anderson in an article at SiteProNews thinks that there is a consistent erosion of Google honoring and giving you credit for inbound links that continues to impact website even post Penguin.

“Links remain important, but their overall value has diminished. Worse for SEO specialists, quality links have to be earned. Google stripped sites of many links they deemed forced, purchased or otherwise tainted and now makes it harder for sites to gain links. Content marketing and social media marketing are usurping SEO’s dominance in link-building as Google now rates links based on perceived value — a link from an article published in a high-authority magazine or shared on Twitter — gets more Google love than links from ezines and directories.” Read this interesting article in its entirety.

Note what David says is the new way inbound links are credited through high authority sites and social media – this is the essence of co-citation which appears to be the new way to garner search engine placement.

Add to changing link numbers and the difficulty in getting them to be high enough to make and difference and the growing impact of not being able to see the keywords that generate your website traffic in Google Analytics and you’re left wondering just how can a website owner get placement on Google with Google continuing to change it’s ranking formulas.

David Anderson doesn’t really answer that question (how to remediate Google placement) in his article just paints a fairly bleak picture for website owners and SEOs who are operating in this new environment. However, there is hope for savvy marketeers who are using content creation, social media, and Google+ to combat the new version of a Google smackdown that is impacting all websites

 

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Where Will SEO Be Going in 2013?

Talk to any SEO expert and you’ll get many different answers in regards to what they think will be important for search engine strategies for 2013, but there are a few things that everyone seems to agree on; the world of search engine optimization has changed.

As for me, I am watching and moving into several things in a very strategic way for key clients and my own business this year.

Here are a few things that I like and that others are talking about:

1. Mobile Search
My Google AdWords company rep. tells me that Google expects mobile search to eclipse regular search this year. If you have not already moved into to the mobile space with a mobile version website you should soon. If you aren’t testing AdWords advertising for mobile I would recommend considering doing so fairly quickly before your competition moves in.

2. Google+ Communities
I think this will be a new landscape with serious SEO benefits for those who strategically move into moderated communities. I am actively working towards this goal for my own business and several key clients.

3. Additional Emphasis on Personalized Search Results
We are already seeing this happen right in front of our eyes. If you are not on Google+ building your circles you are missing one of the biggest opportunities to be an advocate for your own business and to skew other’s search results to show what you like. Activity on Twitter, maybe Facebook for Bing but probably not Google, and social media interaction and sharing will impact the search results of others in your networks.

4. Excpect Organic Click Through Rates to Impact Search
I fully expect Google to start using organic search click through rates to impact the search engine results in the near future. If you’ve followed Google’s patent disclosures over the years this was in one over three years ago as was AuthorRank. We are just now seeing the some of these technology improvements impact search results this year. I expect to see more emphasis on these two areas AuthorRank and Click Through this next year.

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Footer and Link Use The Google Penalizes For

In the changing world of earning placement on Google.com, Google has been fairly forthright in regards to what it now does not like and will actually penalize a website for doing. What is important to understand is that what Google does not now like was a mainstream SEO and commonly used tactic.

When you see a site that has things like this in the footer:

lemon lawyer Columbus Ohio, lemon lawyer Cleveland Ohio, lemon lawyer Akron Ohio, lemon lawyer Dayton Ohio, lemon lawyer Dublin Ohio, lemon lawyer Wabash Ohio, lemon lawyer Siteville Ohio, lemon lawyer Cincinnati Ohio, lemon lawyer Hamilton Ohio, lemon lawyer Arlington Ohio

AND each one of those phrases is linked to a page on that topic which has very little unique content other than a city location change in the content. You should know that Google has specifically said they DO NOT LIKE content or links formatted or used in this way.

Here is a site to review that is using this type of tactic as an illustration of what not to do.

Google is not penalizing for navigational links in your footer that look like this:

Home | About Us | Web Visibility | Google AdWords Services | Blog Writing

Google understands that you may need to repeat your navigation at the bottom to aid readers to travel your site, but it is the repetitive use of keywords, locations and search phrases that Google is disavowing and penalizing websites for using.

Here are a few sites that I have found that are really bending the rules on Google and may already be receiving a penalty for over optimization:

Make sure to read this great article over at SiteProNews for other great examples of what NOT to do.

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Can You Still Place Organically on Google.com?

This is the million dollar question isn’t it? In today’s search arena can you and should you even work to improve organic placement or should you instead just concentrate on pay per click advertising. Personally, I think that the answer straddles both sides. This is what I recommend for organic placement and good website visibility.

Do Everything Right Consistently

  • That means improve the quality of your content on your website. Write with your reader in mind.
  • Make sure you are blogging under your own domain so you get the spider benefits.
  • Look to add new articles, white papers, and thoughtful insights regularly to your website pages.
  • Syndicate some of your content on article syndication sites.
  • Do a monthly e-newsletter and archive it back on your website.
  • Get going with social media and try to become an active part of a community.

Invest in Pay Per Click Advertising

  • Put money into Google AdWords. Don’t break the bank, but make sure you have a presence and are using it to your advantage.
  • Make sure you are using conversion tracking and have phone calling enabled with your programs.

You’ve just got to cover your bases in this changing world of search engines. You simply can’t go wrong with these approaches, they are simply sure to pay off in the long run in regards to organic placement, link building, and website visibility.