Category: Search Engine Optimization

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Google Aggressively Takes on Website Optimization as Web Spam Part II

Continued from Monday.

3. Lists of locations containing city or county names with keywords at the bottom of a web page used as a tactic for location specific placement has not been disavowed by Google as recently as the middle of October.  Google specifically addresses this tactic as keyword stuffing. Read more on this from Google.

4. Google is asking you to turn other sites in that are spamming their network or not playing by their guidelines. Here’s the reporting link: https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/spamreportform?hl=en. Considering many SEO tactics that would not be considered black hat at the time to now be grey hat, keyword stuffing or even web spam.

What I have found so very interesting with the recent changes and updates is that Google is now actively soliciting your help in turning in offending websites. By using an online form you can bring Google’s eyes onto your competitor’s website that has been practicing newly disavowed techniques to garner better placement. Although Google does not state that they will “smack down” a site you report, I surely would not want to be in their sites, would you?

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Google Aggressively Takes on Website Optimization as Web Spam Part I

In the last thirty to sixty days Google has been changing and tweaking their algorithm and has also quietly been updating and changing its webmaster guidelines.  Here are just a few things that you should know just in case you missed them.

  1. New disavow link tool – not to be used lightly, this tool is to be used only after you have tried other removal protocols first, but using this tool will tell Google you do not want them to consider a particular site that is linking to you in their algorithm. More information from Google on this topic. Google continues to work to categorize inbound links weighting some heavier than others and penalizing website for certain types of links.
  2. Update to the webmaster guideline about links and other optimization tactics. Read the information from Google. What may be a concern to some is the use of CSS and possibly some uses of Spry widgets where some webmasters may have been hiding keyword dense text specifically for improved placement.

Come back on Wednesday to read the rest of the points in this article.

 

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Google and the Disavow Link Tool Best Practices

This is an excellent video that really reveals what links Google is really rewarding and which links Google is actually penalizing your website in their index for.

First, it is important to hear in Matt Cutts’ (top Google Web Spam Engineer) own words in the lead-in to the video what links Google is now considering as spam. The Panda and Penguin updates were all about web spam, so his thoughts are very important to take to heart.

Web Spam Links from Google’s Perspective

1. Paid Links
2. Blog Spam
3. Comment Spam
4. Forum Spam
5. Guest Blog Spam
6. Low Quality Articles Widely Syndicated that Are Keyword Dense
7. Links with the Same Anchor Text from Link Spam Schemes
8. Fast, Unnatural Link Building

The disavow link tool is not to be used lightly. Matt says that you should contact webmasters and websites first personally to ask to have links deleted from their websites first and then and only after as a last recourse should you use the disavow link tool to let Google know to not consider that specific link in your placement.

The bottom line is that when links are built too quickly, scamming is done to generate a large number of links quickly from low quality sites, and inexpensive, low quality, keyword dense content is widely disseminated on the web pointing to your site – Google will damage your organic placement for these efforts. Unfortunately, this was part and parcel the typical SEO strategy in the last three years. This has never been our strategy, but the SEO industry’s strategy overall. Many websites have been negatively impacted with the Panda and Penguin updates by heavily using what is now consider link spam tactics.

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Confidence Equals Sales

Sure you’ve seen sites like this on the web; ones that have no phone number, no address, and just a contact form, but they want you to buy! Do you? I don’t! Especially if I am comparison shopping. In fact, I’ll pay more to know that I am dealing with a legitimate firm, do you?

In my business, confidence equates sales. It is just simple, if you are not willing to share your phone number, email address, and location address on your own website, you communicate that you will be hard to reach if there is a problem. Not sharing these important items can become a big problem that does really impact sales.

In online sales, it is all about confidence. Are you who you say you are? If I have a problem will I get help? Will I be able to talk to a “real person”? These are the items that all website should have prominently placed to communicate legitimacy and thereby build confidence with potential customers.

  1. Phone Number
  2. Email Address
  3. Location Address – no P.O. Boxes – a real office location!
  4. Hours of Service – for phone contact
  5. Time Zone – for customer planning

Don’t  have these on your website because you think that you may be spammed? Think again! You do not communicate your willingness to trade with potential buyers by hiding your contact information. Take a look at your website and make sure that you aren’t communicating improperly your desire to serve and sell. You may just find that your sales significantly improve when you are confident enough to put your own information on your website.