Cracking the Google Code… Under the GoogleScope
Google’s sweeping changes confirm the search giant has launched
a full out assault against artificial link inflation & declared
war against search engine spam in a continuing effort to provide
the best search service in the world… and if you thought you
cracked the Google Code and had Google all figured out … guess
again.
Google has raised the bar against search engine spam and
artificial link inflation to unrivaled heights with the filing
of a United States Patent Application 20050071741 on December
31, 2003. On March 31, 2005 is was available online for the
first time.
The filing unquestionable provides SEO’s with valuable insight
into Google’s tightly guarded search intelligence and confirms
that Google’s information retrieval is based on historical data.
What exactly do these changes mean to you? Your credibility and
reputation on-line are going under the Googlescope! Google has
defined their patent abstract as follows:
A system identifies a document and obtains one or more types of
history data associated with the document. The system may
generate a score for the document based, at least in part, on
the one or more types of history data.
Google’s patent specification reveals a significant amount of
information both old and new about the possible ways Google can
(and likely does) use your web page updates to determine the
ranking of your site in the SERPs.
Unfortunately, the patent filing does not prioritize or
conclusively confirm any specific method one way or the other.
Here’s how Google scores your web pages.
In addition to evaluating and scoring web page content, the
ranking of web pages are admittedly still influenced by the
frequency of page or site updates. What’s new and interesting is
what Google takes into account in determining the freshness of a
web page.
For example, if a stale page continues to procure incoming
links, it will still be considered fresh, even if the page
header (Last-Modified: tells when the file was most recently
modified) hasn’t changed and the content is not updated or
‘stale’.
According to their patent filing Google records and scores the
following web page changes to determine freshness.
·The frequency of all web page changes ·The actual amount of the
change itself… whether it is a substantial change redundant or
superfluous ·Changes in keyword distribution or density ·The
actual number of new web pages that link to a web page ·The
change or update of anchor text (the text that is used to link
to a web page) ·The numbers of new links to low trust web sites
(for example, a domain may be considered low trust for having
too many affiliate links on one web page).
Although there is no specific number of links indicated in the
patent it might be advisable to limit affiliate links on new web
pages. Caution should also be used in linking to pages with
multiple affiliate links.
Developing your web page augments for page freshness.
Now I’m not suggesting that it’s always beneficial or advisable
to change the content of your web pages regularly, but it is
very important to keep your pages fresh regularly and that may
not necessarily mean a content change.
Google states that decayed or stale results might be desirable
for information that doesn’t necessarily need updating, while
fresh content is good for results that require it.
How do you unravel that statement and differentiate between the
two types of content?
An excellent example of this methodology is the roller coaster
ride seasonal results might experience in Google’s SERPs based
on the actual season of the year.
A page related to winter clothing may rank higher in the winter
than the summer… and the geographical area the end user is
searching from will now likely be considered and factored into
the search results.
Likewise, specific vacation destinations might rank higher in
the SERPs in certain geographic regions during specific seasons
of the year. Google can monitor and score pages by recording
click through rate changes by season.
Google is no stranger to fighting Spam and is taking serious new
measures to crack down on offenders like never before.
Section 0128 of Googles patent filing claims that you shouldn’t
change the focus of multiple pages at once.
Here’s a quote from their rationale:
“A significant change over time in the set of topics associated
with a document may indicate that the document has changed
owners and previous document indicators, such as score, anchor
text, etc., are no longer reliable.
Similarly, a spike in the number of topics could indicate spam.
For example, if a particular document is associated with a set
of one or more topics over what may be considered a ‘stable’
period of time and then a (sudden) spike occurs in the number of
topics associated with the document, this may be an indication
that the document has been taken over as a ‘doorway’ document.
Another indication may include the sudden disappearance of the
original topics associated with the document. If one or more of
these situations are detected, then [Google] may reduce the
relative score of such documents and/or the links, anchor text,
or other data associated the document.”
Unfortunately, this means that Google’s sandbox phenomenon
and/or the aging delay may apply to your web site if you change
too many of your web pages at once.
From the case studies I’ve conducted it’s more likely the rule
and not the exception.
What does all this mean to you?
Keep your pages themed, relevant and most importantly
consistent. You have to establish reliability! The days of
spamming Google are drawing to an end.
If you require multi page content changes implement the changes
in segments over time. Continue to use your original keywords on
each page you change to maintain theme consistency.
You can easily make significant content changes by implementing
lateral keywords to support and reinforce your vertical
keyword(s) and phrases. This will also help eliminate keyword
stuffing.
Make sure you determine if the keywords you’re using require
static or fresh search results and update your web site content
accordingly. On this point RSS feeds may play a more valuable
and strategic role than ever before in keeping pages fresh and
at the top of the SERPs.
The bottom line here is webmasters must look ahead, plan and
mange their domains more tightly than ever before or risk
plummeting in the SERPs.
Does Google use your domain name to determine the ranking of
your site?
Google’s patent references specific types of ‘information
relating to how a document is hosted within a computer network’
that can directly influence the ranking of a specific web site.
This is Google’s way of determining the legitimacy of your
domain name.
Therefore, the credibility of your host has never been more
important to ranking well in Google’s SERP’s.
Google states they may check the information of a name server in
multiple ways.
Bad name servers might host known spam sites, adult and/or
doorway domains. If you’re hosted on a known bad name server
your rankings will undoubtedly suffer… if you’re not blacklisted
entirely.
What I found particularly interesting is the criteria that
Google may consider in determining the value of a domain or
identifying it as a spam domain; According to their patent,
Google may now record the following information:
·The length of the domain registration… is it greater than one
year or less than one year?
·The address of the web site owner. Possibly for returning
higher relevancy local search results and attaching
accountability to the domain. ·The admin and the technical
contact info. This info is often changed several times or
completely falsified on spam domains; again this check is for
consistency! ·The stability of your host and their IP range… is
your IP range associated with spam?
Google’s rationale for domain registration is based on the
premise that valuable domains are often secured many years in
advance while domains used for spam are rarely secured for more
than a year.
If in doubt about a host’s integrity I recommend checking their
mail server at www.dnsstuff.com to see if they’re in the spam
database. Watch for red flags!
If your mail server is listed you may have a problem ranking
well in Google!
Securing a reputable host can and will go a long way in
promoting your web site to Google.
The simplest strategy may be registering your domain several
years in advance with a reputable provider thereby demonstrating
longevity and accountability to Google. Google wants to see that
you’re serious about your site and not a flash in the pan spam
shop.
http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-1604302-10294265
Googles Aging Delay has teeth… and they’re taking a bite out of
spam!
It’s no big secret that Google relies heavily on links when it
comes to ranking web sites.
According to their patent filing, Google may record the
discovery date of a link and link changes over time.
In addition to volume, quality & the anchor text of links,
Google’s patent illustrates possible ways how Google might use
historical information to further determine the value of links.
For example, the life span of a link and the speed at which a
new web site gets links.
“Burst link growth may be a strong indicator of search engine
spam”.
This is the first concrete evidence that Google may penalize
sites for rapid link acquisition. Whether the “burst growth”
rule applies to high trust/authorative sites and directory
listings remains unknown. I personally haven’t experienced this
phenomenon. What’s clear for certain though is the inevitable
end to results orientated link farming.
I would point out here that regardless of whether burst link
growth will be tolerated for authorative sites or authorative
link acquisition, webmasters will have to get smarter and work
harder to secure authorative links as their counterparts become
reluctant to exchange links with low trust sites. Now Page Rank
really has value!
Relevant content swaps may be a nice alternative to the standard
link exchange and allow you some control of the link page
elements.
So what else does Google consider in determining the aging delay?
·The anchor text and the discovery date of links are recorded,
thus establishing the countdown period of the aging delay.
·Links with a long-term life span may be more valuable than
links with a short life span. ·The appearance and disappearance
of a links over time. ·Growth rates of links as well as the link
growth of independent peer pages. Again, this suggests that
rapid link acquisition and the quality of peer pages are
monitored ·Anchor text over a given period of time for keyword
consistency. ·Inbound links from fresh pages… might be
considered more important than links from stale pages. ·Google
doesn’t expect that new web sites have a large number of links
so purchasing large numbers of brokered links will likely hurt
you more than help you. Google indicates that it is better for
link growth to remain constant and naturally paced. In addition,
the anchor text should be varied as much as possible. ·New web
sites should not acquire too many new links; it’ll be tolerated
if the links are from trusted sites but it may be considered
spam.
So how do you build your link popularity / Page Rank and avoid
penalties?
When it comes to linking, you should clearly avoid the hocus
pocus or magic bullet linking schemes. If you participate in
quick fix link exchange scams, use automated link exchange
software or buy hundreds of links at once, chances are Google
will interpret your efforts as a spam attempt and act
accordingly.
Don’t get caught in this trap… the recovery period could be
substantial since your host and IP range are also considered!
When you exchange links with other web sites, do it slowly and
consistently.
Develop a link management and maintenance program. Schedule
regular times every week to build the links to your site and
vary the anchor text that points to your site.
Obviously, the links to your site should utilize your keywords.
To avoid repetition use lateral keywords and keyword phrases in
the anchor text since Google wants to see varied anchor text!
Your sites click through rate may now monitored through
bookmarks, cache, favorites, and temporary files.
It’s no big secret that Google has always been suspected of
rewarding sites with higher click through rates (very similar to
what Google does with their AdWords program) so it shouldn’t
come as a great surprise that Google still considers site
stickiness and CTR tracking in their criterion.
What’s interesting though is Google is interested in tracking
the behavior of web surfers through bookmarks, cache, favorites,
and temporary files (most likely with the Google toolbar and/or
the Google desktop search tool). Google’s Patent filing
indicates Google might track the following information: ·Click
through rates are monitored for changes in seasonality, fast
increases, or other spike traffic in addition to increase or
decrease trends. ·The volume of searches over time is recorded
and monitored for increases. ·The information regarding a web
page’s rankings are recorded and monitored for changes. ·Click
through rates are monitored to find out if stale or fresh web
pages are preferred for a search query. ·The traffic to a web
page is recorded and monitored for changes… like Alexa. ·User
behavior may be monitored through bookmarks, cache, favorites,
and temporary files. ·Bookmarks and favorites could be monitored
for both additions and deletions, and; ·The overall user
behavior for trends and changes.
Since Google is capable of tracking the click-through rates to
your web site, you should make sure that your web pages have
attractive titles and utilize calls to action so that web
surfers click on them in the search results.
It’s also important to keep your visitors there so make your web
pages interesting enough so that web surfers stay some time on
your web site. It might also help if your web site visitors
added your web site to their bookmarks.
As you can see, Google’s new ranking criterion has evolved far
beyond the reliance of criteria that can be readily or easily
manipulated. One thing is for certain with Google, whatever
direction search innovation is going; you can trust Google to be
pioneering the way and setting new standards
Lawrence Deon
http://www.articlesbase.com/seo-articles/cracking-the-google-code-under-the-googlescope-2391.html
Link Building Strategies for SEO Success
Every webmaster knows the importance of building quality backlinks to his/her site over time. However, this should be done with caution as building too many links in a relatively short period could cause your site to be completely ignore by the search engines.
What are Backlinks?
These are links on other websites directed back to your site. The importance and popularity of your site is usually determined by how many webmasters consider a link to your site viable. However, the quality of the backlinks you gather is what the search engines are really interested in.
What are Quality Backlinks?
These a backlinks from websites with similar content to yours. It’s all a game of relevancy and has a lot to do with the success of your website and marketing efforts.
Building backlinks to your site is top priority if you ever hope for a better PR or SERP. There are several legitimate ways of doing this without engaging the so called “black hat” techniques that’ll only get you banned from google and other quality search engines.
Write Articles and submit to Article Directories.
Writing articles and submitting them to article directories is a simple, but very powerful and effective way to create interest and generate traffic to your site. Best of all, it’s absolutely FREE.
Basically it works like this. You write interesting articles and submit them to article directories for webmasters & publishers to use freely on their sites, blogs & in their written works. However, they have to use the article as it is and are not allowed to change it. In the authors resource box within the article, you place a link back to your website so that any reader who likes your work would most likely click on your URL, visit your site and ultimately get you some targeted free traffic.
Your articles should be short, informative and straight to the point. A typical article word-count is usually btw 400-700 words.
Submit your site to Web Directories.
Submitting your website to quality directories online and deep linking within them will not only increase your link popularity but your website PR and SERP as well. Make a list of the top web directories online and manually submit your URL to them. Some would require a reciprocal link back to your site and some will charge a fee for inclusion. Which ever the case, submitting your URL for inclusion in these directorys will guarantee you have some quality backlinks to your website.
Participate in Forums.
You can find forums all over the internet focused on a diverse range of niches. But the “making money at home, internet marketing, webmaster & SEO” forums are by far the most popular. Register for an account with forums in the above niche market and post regularly to the board. Participate constructively in discussions and remember to leave your site URL in your signature so it appears in every post and thread that you participate in.
Be supportive and gradually become a source of good and clean information, become a valued community member. By doing this, you’ll build up reputation and create valuable credibility for yourself. This way, rest assured your site will always be visited by your forum community thus increasing your link popularity and quality backlinks.
There are more techniques that a webmaster can utilize to bulid links and improve SEO for his/her websites, but applying the above link building blueprints will certainly guarantee results, with a little hard work.
Donald Arinze
http://www.articlesbase.com/link-popularity-articles/link-building-strategies-for-seo-success-696758.html
Bad SEOs? What about Bad SEO Clients?
You hear all the time about bad SEOs. Bad SEOs are offering worthless services, failing to deliver on their internet marketing promises, polluting the search engine results—well, a lot of bad things. But how much ever gets said about bad SEOs’ spiritual counterparts: bad SEO clients?
As an SEO, I can see things from the other side of the table. You see, despite trying hard to make it clear I’m a good, ethical, results-oriented, smarter marketing, white-hat SEO, I have gotten no end of inquiries from bad prospective SEO clients. Sure, no one who gets cheated is ever entirely to blame, and some cheated businesses are entirely blameless. But the bad SEOs would have too small a market to stay in business if it weren’t for almost-as-bad clients.
Shades of Bad SEO Clients
First, let me make clear what I mean by “bad” SEOs. Bad SEOs are bad because they either do unethical things to get e-marketing results, or because they consistently fail to deliver results. A good SEO delivers results and does it without trampling over other people’s rights (like submitting automated comments to their websites or trying to get good sites de-indexed).
A bad SEO client, in turn, is someone who will only be satisfied (albeit temporarily) with a bad SEO. Because they refuse to consider ethical web consultants or smarter marketing strategies, they are creating markets for the e-marketing charlatans and black-hats. There are two basic types of bad SEO clients: crooks and fool–oops, I mean, ethically challenged and judgmentally-challenged.
Ethically-Challenged SEO Clients
I haven’t gotten so many inquiries asking for out-and-out unethical services. Still, I’ve been asked about blog-sp@mming software and other shady internet marketing tactics a couple times. A colleague shared this gem with me: “Have you thought about just scanning a book from the library and using it for web content? Or is that too high-risk?” (Seriously, someone asked him this.)
Of course, judging from the amount of comment sp@m and SEO-motivated hacking on the web, there is plenty of demand for this stuff.
Judgmentally-Challenged SEO Clients
A much larger group of bad SEO clients are simply those who insist on putting themselves in the way of fraud. Yes, that’s right: I’m blaming the victim. Someone who goes looking for a $5 gold watch can’t cry too long if the watch turns out to be fake or hot. With SEO, there are a few more nuances, but it’s the same essential idea.
The overwhelming majority of these judgmentally challenged souls are private individuals whose only business is the business-in-a-kit variety. Yet they are also sometimes representatives of actual successful companies. The real businesspeople tend to be quicker to let their misconceptions go (after all, they can afford the real SEO alternatives), but not always. Let’s look at some representative types of this group, straight out of my own inbox (note: these are inquiries from prospects, not actual clients).
1. Something-for-(Little More than)-Nothing Clients
Really, I tend to think these people should be in the ethically challenged group, but maybe that’s just the remnant of my work ethic making me be mean There are actually two kinds of these clients:
* The ambitious but cheap client: “I’d like to get to the top of Google for the keyword, ‘mortgage’ so I can turn over $100,000/month in revenue. I can spend up to $1,000.” * The Adsense-is-my-business-plan client: you wouldn’t believe the numbers of inquiries I get from people who only plan to make money off Adsense or other on-site advertising—they don’t even have a plan for getting repeat traffic, nor do they have content to synergize with the SEO effort. By buying promotional services, they would essentially be buying advertising in order to make money off advertising—you see where that could be a problem?
Another way of looking at it: why wouldn’t I just create a site myself and keep all the profit from my efforts? In fact, most SEOs do have their own project sites, which are often monetized by Adsense. The money we could otherwise get from Adsense is one very low baseline for pricing our services. Legitimate SEO clients are typically selling goods or services at a profit rate that works out to ten or more times what they could get from Adsense.
In addition to the greedy, I also see a few other kinds of less common, but still problematic prospective SEO clients:
2. SEO-Starry-Eyed Clients: “Search engine traffic is definitely the best way for me to get pet-sitting clients in my tiny Himalayan village.”3. The Little-Knowledge-Is-a-Dangerous-Thing Client: “Don’t tell me about keyword research, content, anchor text, or natural linking strategy, just get me the PageRank (or links, keyword density, or whatever the fad is).”4. Gullible-and-Not-Letting-Go Client: “I know of at least two services that will submit my site to thousands of search engines for $29.95. If you can’t do that, I’ll take my business elsewhere.”5. I-Will-Never-Trust-SEO-But-I’ll-Consider-It-Anyway Client: “No one can guarantee a good search engine ranking so this is all pointless—I’ll just go with that $29.95 search engine submission package someone just emailed me about. At least it’s cheap.”
In short, if you are going to find good SEO web consultants, you need: 1) realistic expectations; 2) a realistic budget; 3) solid information. Don’t expect something for nothing, do a little reading, and it’s much less likely you’ll fall victim to bad SEOs.
Lee Rummage
http://www.articlesbase.com/seo-articles/bad-seos-what-about-bad-seo-clients-16162.html
Search Engine Optimization in India is Hugely Profitable for your Business
Internet has made life simpler and things very easier for everyone. These days by the single click of a mouse one can get everything that they need. Search engine optimization is an online promotion technique that has helped many online businesses to reach the heights of popularity. And it is all because of search engine optimization that we know which online business will do efficient work for us. In search engine optimization, India has emerged as the hottest destination. There are several trained and highly qualified professionals who work for search engine optimization in India.
Search engine optimization has brought about a huge change in the fortunes of several large scale, small scale and large scale businesses. Online presence these days is one of the most vital elements for any business to be successful. The basic idea behind all these is to help companies and businesses stay one step ahead of their competitors and earn profit from their business. In India professional SEO companies will help you set up a site in exactly the way as search engine spiders like to view and receive websites. You must know that search engines see websites differently and based on this they give them rankings.
It needs a professional touch to set things straight and the best way for you to make your online site popular is to hire the services of a professional search engine optimization firm in India to work for you. The Professional SEO companies in India make and design a search engine friendly website, so that search engines receive those sites favorably. You must understand that each business is different and as a result has different needs. Professionals working for Search engine optimization India know this and do the work according to what your business needs.
So a search engine optimization strategy that has been hugely successful for your friend’s business may not at all work out for you. Though each business has different needs, there are certain basics that have to be implemented for almost all types of business to make the site popular. All SEO firms in India make use of these basics for all kinds of businesses. Writing optimized content is one great and simple methods of optimization that is needed for all business. Optimized content means writing text where appropriate use of the keywords has been made use of.
You will be paying money to get your search engine optimization work done in India, so it will be ideal if you can keep track of the type of work that is being done for the optimization of your online business site. Well, you must find out if the work that is being done is yielding results for your business or not. If you feel that the strategy is not working out for you, you can take back the work from the SEO Company and give it to another firm. There are several companies in India that do SEO for all types of business and you will not face any shortage for your business. Your business prospects are at stake and undoubtedly you will want the best for it.
Steve Waganer
http://www.articlesbase.com/seo-articles/search-engine-optimization-in-india-is-hugely-profitable-for-your-business-99414.html
Starting for Success: PPC Search Engine Marketing
PPC Search engine marketing is a method that is favored by internet marketers the world over. PPC search engine marketing is great because its business size agnostic. PPC search engine marketing is the real deal if youre looking for promoting your business in the brave new world of the internet.
Beginners and veterans alike will tell you that theyre feeling depressed or upset because they really cannot get an edge against those incredible internet veterans who barely sleep because theyre so busy following leads. It seems almost impossible to put in anywhere near as much effort as they do, but why would you bother? You do have an edge on them, PPC search engine marketing.
Dont stress yourself out! There are some really simple techniques and tactics you can use with PPC search engine marketing that will allow you to absolutely blitz the competition:
Test your Market: If youre new to this, dont let it bankrupt you. Start a small campaign at first to test the waters of your new market. This is great because if you choose a market that isnt as big as you thought, you wont lose anywhere near as much money. The big secret to really maximizing your business using PPC search engine marketing is to really nut out what your customers are looking for.
But how on earth can we figure out what theyre looking for? Even then how could we test what works and what doesnt? This is where the great services provided by Google come in. Google allows you to pay a really small fee for a few small ads so you can test what copy and what techniques work for you. Youll be able to see almost instant results on what is working and what isnt, and if youre onto a winner it may be a sign that PPC search engine marketing really is for you.
The most important thing about PPC search engine marketing is coming up with catchy copy that is direct and to the point. The smaller your headline, the better as youre trying to catch people searching for certain keywords, and theyre not interested in longwinded ads. As long as youve got an eye-catching headline and catchy copy, youll be practically fighting off leads.
The next most important step is figuring out what service or product youre going to offer to your customers. Google is great at helping you figure out key words and phrases that people are looking for so you can maximize your returns on PPC ads. Its really important that you hit the nail on the head when it comes to choosing your keywords correctly, as it will really help you pull in the leads.
Another great point is that you need to really figure out how much you want to invest into this plan. If you have a dedicated financial target, and you know how much youre going to be paying per click, you can plan properly for targeted traffic.
The secret to success in the internet business world really just comes down to intelligent PPC Search Engine Marketing, if youre aiming to be on top, test out some of these techniques and youll see how incredibly beneficial they are.
Gary Fumeaux
http://www.articlesbase.com/home-business-articles/starting-for-success-ppc-search-engine-marketing-494190.html
SEO – What is Seo?
SEO is the abbreviation of the term “Search Engine Optimization”. This is a technique by which a website owner can make his website more search engine friendly. This means that SEO is a process which enables a site owner to get better and more traffic on his site. Normally, a net surfer will log in to a site he sees first and will not search for more than one or two pages for one search.
The site that comes up first will get the most traffic. This makes it important for a website owner to get his site in the first few options of a search result. This is where the SEO can help us. SEO can help a site get better traffic by increasing its ranking on the search engines. SEO ranks a site on the basis of its relevance in connection to the popular keywords. It makes a website easy to read by the search engines as relevant to the search.
SEO also helps a website by targeting other types of searches engines also like industry specific, local and image search engines. In order to increase the market relevance of a site, SEO first analyzes the algorithms of searches and the common topics that people search for. A SEO operation involves everything that will make your site rank high in the search engines. This involves the presentation, coding, structure and troubleshooting of problems of the site. If not given attention, these things can stop the search engines index to spider a site completely.
But some sites also apply some not so good tactics like link farms and over-loading a site with irrelevant keywords in order to increase the rank of their website. This is called the Black hat SEO. This is a major problem for the search engines as it decreases their image by putting up spam or unnecessary sites on the primary pages of a search results. That is why search engines are always on the look out for such sites and ban them from their indices.
SEO as a term is also applied to the Search Engine Optimizers who are the professionals which carry out the search optimization projects for the companies. These are the professionals which work as an SEO consultant only or can also take part in the broader marketing program for the company. In order to perform a good search engine optimization operation for a site, a consultant may have to make some changes in the HTML code of the site. That is why, the SEO tactics are incorporated in the site at the time of its development and designing.
In today’s cut-throat competition, every site owner wants his site on the number one rank of every search engine. And this is where the SEO comes in to help them. But while doing the Search Engine Optimization on your site, you must remember to be careful about the content on your website also as it is very important to have good information on your site.
Grant Lee
http://www.articlesbase.com/web-design-articles/seo-what-is-seo-700808.html
