Jason Ciment's Blog on Secrets of the Innovative Mind

SEO Tactic to Avoid #4: Sister Site Link Farms And Rings

Carmichael — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:21:38 +0000

Today's tip: Don't become a victim of LINK FARMS!

Everyone knows that one of the top secrets to achieving the best SEO results: powerful, contextual, relates LINKS. Okay, maybe it's not such a secret anymore, but the right links are definitely the best way to gain the most popularity on the web. The SEO beginner may grab for any link he can get his inexperienced hands on, but you know better than that. You know that the beginner's lack of expertise could very well make him the ultimate candidate for any disreputable link farm. As a website constructed solely for the purpose of increasing the link popularity of other sites, a link farm is a threat to any credible website. Generally, the list of links on a link farm site are totally unrelated - posted simply for the purpose of being posted and increasing the number of incoming links to each individual site. Sure, sometimes these sites post links related to just one topic, but that doesn't make them any more legitimate.

Chances are, you know when you're looking at a link farm, but just in case you're apprehensive, it's very easy to tell. Look for mass links; we're talking pages and pages of links. Maybe they're related links, maybe they're not, but either way there will be plenty. Look for very little content. These link farms are definitely not interested in sharing valuable information. Poor maintenance of a site is also usually an indication of a link farm. To a link farm webmaster, the links are all that matter, so the organization of the site is of little importance. A low page rank on top of these other signs is another good indicator. As long as the site isn't brand new, it could already have been penalized by Google. If it hasn't been removed completely, then it could very well have a low page rank.

Considering the extensive knowledge of the search engines, it seems crazy to think that these link farms could possibly work. And that's right, they don't. Most link farms are hosted on the same C-block and registered to the same company or person. Since the search engines are also registrars, they know the hosting and registration details for every site. The search engines have no trouble tracing every one of these links, which will undoubtedly be traced back to the same owner. So what will they do to you? Not only will the search engines immediately remove the link farms, but you can bet that they'll penalize your site, too.Copyright © 2009 Carmichael. Visit the original article at http://www.jasonciment.com/seo-search-engine-optimization/sister-site-link-farms-and-rings/.

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SEO Tactic to Avoid #3: Buying And Selling Links

Carmichael — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:41:14 +0000

Today's tip warns against the dangers of buying and selling LINKS.

An obvious disregarding of the rules of the web, buying and selling links indiscriminately for search engine optimization purchases definitely deserves to be punished. Essentially, paying for links is paying to be popular, and no one likes a cheater. This kind of etiquette never worked in high school, and it certainly won't work on the internet. Think about why people use Google in the first place: to find the most relevant answers to their questions. Say Google allowed its site contributors to pay more money to be listed at a higher position on the results page. Eventually, the search engine would lose all of its credibility because it put price before relevance. Search engines are vital resources, and it's crucial that they be able to maintain their integrity. And this explains why Google's patent on its Adwords PPC ad-serving system is so valuable because advertisers are listed according to the relevance of their ad, not just a big price.

Even the search engines, the self-proclaimed police of the internet, have to play by the rules - just look at what happened to Google Japan. In February of 2009, Google, king of the internet, had to penalize one of its own, Google Japan, when it began paying bloggers to write articles about the "hot new keywords" function at the top of its homepage. It consisted of a list promoting the most searched terms typed on the search engine. When selected, these keywords linked to their respective Google searches. Problems arose when Google Japan hired an online marketing company to create buzz about their new tool, which was already available as a widget to webmasters through none other than the pay-per-post function. Although Google rules the web in many countries, Japan is not one of them. Facing heavy competition from Yahoo's search engine, Google Japan chose to disregard its own rules in order to increase its popularity. Without fail, the almighty Google came down hard on Google Japan. The campaign was stopped immediately, and the frantic apologies began. Clearly, Google Japan's remorseful email was not enough, and the search engine had to be punished. Google imposed a tough PageRank penalty upon the Japanese version of itself, bringing its rank down from a 9 to a 5.

If Google is willing to penalize one of its own, its fair to say that no one is safe. Who knows what havoc Google will wreak on your website if it finds out about any shady business? The search engine could drop your page rank, throw out your links, or ban your site from the index for any given phrase. No matter what Google does, you can bet that your site will feel its harmful effects. The best advice: be honest. Don't purchase shady links, and only link to sites that you've looked at to ensure their relevance and quality. If you're really nervous that a link might be seen as manipulative for the Google ranking system, you can request a rel="nofollow" attribute that keeps the link from passing any parameters. Avoid buying and selling bad links at all costs to allow your website to thrive with a clean conscience. Copyright © 2009 Carmichael. Visit the original article at http://www.jasonciment.com/seo-search-engine-optimization/buying-and-selling-links/.

SEO Tactic to Avoid #2: Faking URL Rewrites

Carmichael — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:45:48 +0000

Today's SEO tip is about the importance of using discretion in all of your URL writing.

Let's face it - even the most diligent SEO guru has a lazy moment or two. Spurred on by that devilish voice in your head, it takes all of your will power to deny taking the easy way out when it comes to handpicking keywords to put in your URL. What you want to do is throw a few directories in front of your previously existing URL; what you should do is take the time to rewrite the elements that actually propel the page's content. Although that tiny addition to your URL seems completely harmless, you have been warned! True, if the legacy URLs are redirected to the new keyword URL to maintain link popularity and de-index the legacy URLs, you'll probably see no consequences. Sure, your now much longer URL will probably get indexed and therefore be free of any impact, but beware! You would hate to be accused of the ultimate sin: keyword stuffing!

The best way to avoid keyword stuffing is to keep it simple. A URL of four or five words that sounds natural can be perfectly normal. I would warn against using a URL that looks like this: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2009/feb/23/honda-formula-one-bernie-ecclestone-richard-branson-jenson-button-bruno-senna-mercedes-benz, (yes, this is actually real). First off, it's just too long. No one would ever physically type a URL of that length if they saw it in print. Second, it looks spammy! A URL like that combined with this particular site, itself, is constantly losing credibility. Not only are almost all of The Guardian's URL's typically like this, but its articles are full of pointless and annoying links. Generally, it's very easy to associate these over-stuffed and obnoxious URLs with a lack of value. Is sacrificing quality really worth a few measly SEO points? Make sure to consider keyword proximity and density before writing your URLs to avoid sacrificing the integrity of your website. Stick with keywords and leave out the junk - adverbs, adjectives, pronouns - think about exactly what your target audience is looking for and what they would type into Google to find it.

Here are a few examples of search engine friendly linking, which is really easy to do when use a content management system that enables you to just type in the keywords you want to use in your URL, and it creates the links for you. (Btw, you would not believe how many ecommerce sites still use links with SKU numbers instead of model names). Copyright © 2009 Carmichael. Visit the original article at http://www.jasonciment.com/seo-search-engine-optimization/avoid-faking-url-rewrites/.

SEO Tactic to Avoid #1: Hiding Texts And Links

Carmichael — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 17:35:21 +0000

Today's tip for copywriting tactics related to search engine optimization goals will cover what to do with LINKS and how they appear on your site.

When worrying about how to conserve the polished simplicity of a clear-cut website, hiding texts and links can appear to be the obvious solution. Not only are you able to save the sleek style you worked so hard to create, but you can also achieve many of the traffic related advantages found through SEO actions. Even better, using this tactic doesn't seem to be cheating since it doesn't entail the distinction of user agent or bot detection that "cloaking" employs. But wait! Before you start hiding a million links, consider this: do you dare to underestimate the intellect of today's search engine? These engines can crawl CSS and JS files, leaving no stone unturned. Nope, not even your white-on-white text or the off-page positioning of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) are free from the engine's prying eye.

Cascading Style Sheets is a style sheet language that describes the look and formatting of a document written in a markup language, or a set of annotations to text that explains how it needs to be structured. CSS is primarily used to allow the content of the document to be separated from its presentation, including its colors, fonts, and layouts. If you plan on using CSS, it needs to be for legitimate reasons regarding either accessibility or usability. Generally, spiders can see that CSS is used responsibly when it is added sparingly and in short, small doses. However, it can look bad to have long sections of text hidden on your page. If it's invisible to the website visitor but seen by the engines, it's fair game for spam, so it's best to avoid using CSS altogether.

JavaScript, the scripting language of JS files, is most commonly used to add interactive features to webpages and perform dynamic tasks. In its most abused form, a JavaScript redirect will send website visitors to a different page, while search engines index only the code on the initial page. Because of this, the initial page can be full of keywords that only the search engine would be able to see. Sneaky? Yep. Spam? Absolutely. Abuse JavaScript in this way, and chances are, you're getting caught.

It recently came out that The Financial Times website contained hidden links in some of its articles. Using the very common tactic of writing the link in white on a white background, The Financial Times hid a link to Moneysupermarket.com multiple times. Because the online newspaper has such a credible reputation and a vast following, a hidden link would seriously boost the ranking of any site, bringing more visitors and more business. Obviously, even respected websites can use shady tactics, and if the hidden links are the result of the efforts of just Moneysupermarkets.com, The Financial Times website seriously needs to tighten its procedures. The bad links were removed almost immediately, but it is yet to be known whether or not Google will penalize The Financial Times.

On my own site at Magmall.com for example, where we sell magazine subscriptions, you can see that there is a clear linking hierarchy in terms of using color and size to set links apart using the ecommerce platform from Adrecom.Copyright © 2009 Carmichael. Visit the original article at http://www.jasonciment.com/seo-search-engine-optimization/seo-tactic-to-avoid-1-hiding-texts-and-links/.

Tip to Switch Email Accounts Safely [from HARO]

Carmichael — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 18:57:52 +0000

If you do search engine optimization like we do out of our Los Angeles office, it means you have a lot of email addresses for your clients that you are constantly adding and changing for your SEO activities. Remail.me is a simple service that does one difficult thing really well: it helps you switch email accounts safely, simply, and professionally. It does all six things you should do when you switch email addresses, but just don't have the time for. If you're still hanging on to an old email account because you can't risk losing clients or contacts, this service makes it completely painless to switch. Leave all the old junk behind, but make sure you don't risk losing anyone you care about -- or who cares about you. Best of all, the authors are active members of the HARO community so they're giving it to you for FREE through the July 4th weekend. Check it: http://bit.ly/14ITT6Copyright © 2009 Carmichael. Visit the original article at http://www.jasonciment.com/daily-tips/switchemailaddresses/.

Facebook Vanity URLs for SEO | The Stampede has Begun

Jason Ciment — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 16:47:04 +0000

So this morning i got an email from my CNET subscription about Facebook's recent announcement that you can set up a keyword rich Facebook vanity URL to be used instead of (or in addition to) your alphanumeric web address for Facebook. SEO companies are running faster than the angriest bulls in Pamplona to build portfolios of Facebook accounts with keyword rich URLs. Here's the post I got: Facebook's 200-plus million members can now customize the URLs to their profiles. This is a move that will help Facebook profiles get better traction in search engines, potentially upping traffic--and give people-search sites a run for their money in the process. For brands whose "fan pages" are a crucial part of Facebook's marketing and advertising strategy, it'll make their pages easier for people to access without needing to click around much. But there's fine print! "Think carefully about the user name you choose. Once it's been selected, you won't be able to change or transfer it," a blog post by Facebook's Blaise DiPersia read. Need help figuring out what to do? So i visited my Facebook account and lo and behold there was an invitation to add a vanity URL. So i chose www.facebook.com/jasonciment. Now though i run a web agency, where I offer through our Los Angeles office web site design, search engine optimization and web software services for a CMS and an ecommerce shopping cart software platform, PLUS I still have a magazine subscription service, i still chose to make my vanity name my personal name instead of a keyword rich vanity URL like www.facebook.com/magazinesubscriptions (which by now probably someone just snatched). here's my recommendation to Facebook. Stop the insanity. PROHIBIT keyword rich vanity URLs. Don't allow common names to be registered. Since when does someone's personal name sound like a noun. Next time I meet someone who says his name is web design, I'm checking my shot glass for some milky residue because I must be drinking something funny. Here's my second recommendation to Facebook. if you want to allow the registration of common nouns, then setup a separate directory just for "business" use and call it www.facebook.com/business and put all the common nouns in that directory. this way people will be able to distinguish a real PERSONAL facebook account from a company's account. Now since Fcebook is probably not going to follow these recommendations right now - though let it be recorded forever in the web sphere that i am the first one writing this idea on a Sunday morning in 2009 - if you are interested in taking advantage of the fantastic opportunity this presents for search engine optimization purposes, then find someone who has registrered their facebook accoutn befpre May 31st and have them give it to you so that you can get the keyword rich vanity name before it is taken. Hey! maybe Google, Yahoo and MSN will do the right thing and absolutely ignore the keywords in the URL's and really screw with the SEO companies who don't miss a beat (me included).

Copyright © 2009 Jason Ciment. Visit the original article at http://www.jasonciment.com/seo-search-engine-optimization/facebook-vanity-urls-seo/.

Google Unveils New Android Powered Cell Phone - ADVERTISEMANIA

InnovationGuru — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 07:23:21 +0000

I just found this free software related post related to Google Unveils New Android Powered Cell Phone - ADVERTISEMANIA.

Google, T-Mobile, and HTC unveiled the details of their new phone running the Google mobile OS Android. The new T-Mobile G1 phone looks to be a solid alternative to Apples iPhone, with more of a focus on openness. ...

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Matt Soreco’s Blog: Inconsistency, My Frustration with the G1 Phone

InnovationGuru — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 06:22:10 +0000

Here is a new resource for Matt Soreco's Blog: Inconsistency, My Frustration with the G1 Phone.

Inconsistency, My Frustration with the G1 Phone. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I log into forums, some people are having the same problem, some people aren't. Some people had the issue before Cupcake, other the issue started ...

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MEX Mobile User Experience Reveals Award Winning Phone Concepts Buddha in Saigon G1 Phone Android Application | Pro Freelance Projects WHAT COMPANY CAN I GET SERVICE WITH IPHONE? G1 Phone Android Application

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Important SEO/Adsense Question When You Use Apostrophes - Blog …

InnovationGuru — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 05:21:58 +0000

Today's tidbit features Important SEO/Adsense Question When You Use Apostrophes - Blog ....
. I found this post at http://www.bloggeries.com/forum/seo-search-engine-optimization/13491-important-search-engine-optimization-adsense-question-when-you-use-apostrophes.html.

Hopefully someone actually knows the answer to this question. For Adsense and SEO only when you use an apostrophe to make a sentence or title. ... Default Re: Important SEO/Adsense Question When You Use Apostrophes .... Computer Tech Links (Freeware/Online reviews, Blog Tips) MP3 Free Software Downloads (Free MP3 encoders, burners, video converters, editors...) Auckland Hotels (Reviews on NZ Auckland City Hotels). Digg this Post! Add Post to del.icio.us · Reddit! ...

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Seo-Marketing-Tips - As a Convention Excusatory How Does One Embed … PortSIP CE - VOIP Freeware for Windows Mobile | Download Pocket PC … Climb to the top of search engine ranks by use article marketing to generate links with no difficulty Selection of Mac Games are Up Plus New Releases Daily Links

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Beginner's Guide to SEO - Blog Forum - Bloggeries

InnovationGuru — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 04:22:17 +0000

Here is a new resource for Beginner's guide to SEO - Blog Forum - Bloggeries.

I have a post on one of my blogs that might be of use: A beginner's guide to search engine optimisation (SEO) : The Guide to Blogging. ... Default Re: Beginner's guide to SEO. Thanks. I changed some of my post titles to "How to..., ...

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