Tag: Google

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Google Tag Manager – Changing the Way You Add Code to Your Website

You may have missed this in the last several months and so I wanted to bring the Google Tag Manager to your attention. Tag Manager is a revolutionary way to add code to your own or clients’ websites. With so many improvements and changes happening at Google, for some websites and particularly larger sites implementing code to track activity or conversions can sometimes be problematic and time consuming. Tag Manager solves these problems.

With the Google Tag Manager you simply install, just after the <body> tag in your code, one snippet of JavaScript code. Once in place you will be able to control what code is shown (in this external script file) from within the Google Tag Manager control panel.

Want to add Google Analytics? No problem! Want to add AdWords conversion tracking to two pages on your website? No problem. You can do it all not from the website but rather from the Tag Manager control panel.

With advanced rules and controls you can select what code shows on what pages all from within one location. With new AdWords remarketing features planned for 2013 now’s the time to get Tag Manager code in place on your website and migrate your account IDs into a new interface. I think you’ll find management easier and implementation of future code a snap!

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Google’s Matt Cutts on Guest Blogging and Link Building Clarification

Google’s spam engineer Matt Cutts takes time in this video to clarify further how Google feels about guest blogging and answers if you use guest blog posts will your website be penalized for placement. This is an excellent video and well worth the minute or two to watch.

Here is the synopsis of the video in a nutshell.

1. If you allow just anyone without review to post to your blog or you accept blog posts that have been posted widely on the Web already, your own site’s reputation can be impugned by this tactic and placement may drop based on Google’s new filters.

2. If you are allowing articles that have been spun (meaning multiple versions created automatically with software changing the word order in an effort to provide seemingly “unique” content for each site you send to) to be used on your website or blog, you will most likely have your site penalized in Google for these activities.

3. Matt says point blank that if you are doing many guest blog posts or allowing many guest blog posts that may be of questionable syndication on your own website, that this is a “pretty good indicator of bad quality”. “If your website links to or receives links from sites like this, this can lower your own site’s reputation.” “Yes, Google is willing to take action against sites that are doing low quality or spammy guest blogging.”

My recommendation to you is that if you accept guest blog pieces, they should be written uniquely for your website. I would recommend you use a service like Copyscape Premium to test if a piece sent to you is unique. I would not post articles that appear in many locations on your own website. Better yet get your own blog writer. I invite you to review our blog writing service program.

If you do guest blog posts for others sites, I would be very selective of the sites you choose to write for and consider limiting your content to only one or two really high quality sites. Make the inbound links to your website be meaningful and not hurtful to your overall placement strategy.

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Coming Soon Custom Vanity URLs on Google+

The current URL of your Google+ page is long and ugly, but the Google+ team does say that they are working to re mediate this issue.  at Google writes in one of his Google+ status updates that Google is currently trying out new vanity URLs on select brands at this present time.

Google+ vanity URLs will be in this format Google.com/+NancyMcCord (this URL does not exist yet, but you can connect with me on Google+ for now on this ugly URL: https://plus.google.com/104147012849953819334#104147012849953819334/posts.

You can read Saurabh Sharma’s full announcement online. Make sure to read the comment thread as it is interesting.

The first step in the process is to request Google+ verification. Here is the link to start.

So stay tuned when custom vanity URLs are available on Google+ I’ll make sure to let you know.

 

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Placement on Google is All About Web Authority Not SEO Tactics

Since 2005 I have been focused on building web authority website as I felt that this was the best way to truly place on Google and insulate myself and my clients from search engine algorithm changes. I named my blog the Web Authority just for that reason. Authority websites communicate transparency and confidence to the potential client. Now it seems that my focus on organic placement is finally being embraced by mainstream SEO gurus.

In this last year if your website placement dropped because of the Panda and Penguin Google updates your only way to re mediate traffic is to move into Google AdWords and drive traffic to your poorly placed site or spend time and money and rework your content while changing your online marketing strategy.

I have recently read an interesting article written by Jill Whalen on SiteProNews that speaks to the same focus that I have taken in regards to authority building strategies. She very succinctly spells out what works now and what does not. The article is certainly worth a careful review.

This is the bottom line from my own view point of what you should do to get organic placement on Google

1. Re mediate your problems first. If you have duplicate content, duplicate websites, poorly written or thin content; get rid of it now!

2. Create a content building plan. Invest in creating rich informational content and share your expertise on your website through a regular plan of content building. Share your expertise, share your view point with white papers, blog posts, and new pages on your website, cross link where appropriate.

3. Work your social media plan. The key is to connect not just to vomit out updates on social media. Interaction and creating a rich network is key. I like Google+ and Twitter for my own uses one as Google spiders these and adds updates to their index. I see more of my updates from Google+ in the Google index and so I make sure to try to connect there. Additionally as Google+’s personal pages are where the real action is and your AuthorRank is tied to it as well as the fact Google allows no automation to Google+ personal pages your voice there is legitimate and Google knows this and rewards it as such. Keep your follower to following ratios in check. Make sure you have a difference with more followers than following. Google will reward your efforts with a higher SocialRank.

Authority sites do not get built in one week, one month or even in several months. It takes time to create and build and tweak content that gets rewarded for placement. As an example of an authority website, I invite you to visit my own and review the depth of informational content and writing style for transparency. The same tactic I have taken for my own business can work for yours. Just ask me how!