Absolute or Relative URLs in Google
JohnMU clarifies the benefits of using absolute and relative URLs.
Absolute URLs:
+ help keep the links pointing to your content if someone were to copy
it (*)
+ help keep the links pointing to your domain name if you cannot
select a canonical (can’t do 301 redirects)
+ help make sure that you’re pointing to the right URL even if [...]
Google resets expired domains
Why does Google reset links for expired domains? What is a reboot of link equity?
Matt Cutts sums it up with good humor:
By the way, I’d argue that some expired domains are closer to a bank at one location that goes out of business and becomes a coffee shop. That coffee shop can build up its [...]
Ranking for a few days in Google
Why did my new site rank for a few days for keywords and phrases then drop out of sight in Google?
If you launched a new site recently you might have felt the excitement of being found right away for some keywords and phrases in Google. This almost always (in competitive areas) leads to frustration (out [...]
Seasonal SEO
On a whim my son and I once did some seasonal SEO that had a big payoff in the form of internet traffic from Google Image Search.
For the longest time the image was #1 for the phrase halloween background. Lots of people used it on their websites which was fine but the image can no [...]
Keyword Stuffing and Hidden Text
Steve asks about how long it takes to be reconsidered when you are busted for keyword stuffing and hidden text.
“I was checking my webmaster tools yesterday and saw that my domain www.colebrothers.com had been removed from the google index for violations concerning hidden keywords in some pages. The keywords were on some pages that [...]
Google indexes your comments
Google indexes your comments
Read More..>>How to get out of supplementals
Now that I am over my negative feelings about Google’s more stealthy supplemental trash bin I have spent much time meditating (yes, I meditate) about how to get out of supplementals.
Before we understand how to get out of supplementals let us get our facts straight.
Pagerank is finite - That is right, websites with low pagerank [...]
Read More..>>Discoverable Crawlable and Relevant
For those of you who do not know who Vanessa Fox is I suggest that you start reading her blog because she used to work for Google and is highly relevant (and a nice person). Vanessa offers the best three part series (from BlogHer) on good basic SEO that I have seen. This is the [...]
Read More..>>Deleting Supplemental Pages
For those of us who got carried away making too many pages that went supplemental (from lack of pagerank) what happens if we delete those pages?
If Google judges content not worthy, is it trash or is it simply not getting enough pagerank to remain in the main index? Well, that question has already been answered, [...]
When Google loses interest in your content
To have search engines like Google continue to pay attention to your website you need two basic things, content and links, write poor content and you fail to get any human interest, fail to get human interest and you get no links. Links (though greatly misunderstood) still play a big part in pagerank algorithms.
In my [...]
SEO isn’t dead but it is dying
Will there ever be such a thing as search engine compliant SEO?
You know, where all it takes it 1, 2 and 3 to get a website ranked in search engines using only basic optimization in the form of crawlibility and buzz marketing?
Or will there always be weaknesses in algorithms giving the unfair advantage to those [...]
Writing Webmastering and SEO
What are the three most important skills for website success?
Writing - Writing is the most valuable skill for any website owner. If you are interested in selling a product or service online it is the written word that will make the final sale every time. If you don’t write I suggest you start today, get [...]
Say no to link building
I said no to link building a year or more ago and have been trusting in incoming earned organic links. It is not easy to drop an old strategy but when the technique is no longer getting the same results, it is time to get real. Notice how Matt Cutts from Google suggests “attracting” incoming [...]
Read More..>>Using multiple domains to own a niche
Janeth from geeksonsteroids.com and I got into an interesting debate on Webproworld about using multiple domains to own a niche. I can build a website in 5 minutes and (with a few pots of coffee) could even make enough content to use it to promote another website that I also own. Is this good search [...]
Read More..>>Get To Know Personalization Proof SEO
After reading the latest Matt Cutts interview I have been doing hours of thinking about personalization proof SEO. Below is an example of an example.
Matt Cutts admits that he stinks at gaming so why would he make a post about speed runs? That’s right, I believe that Matt lays out an occasional thread as [...]
Offering free SEO advice
I like this new trend of offering free SEO advice, it is kind of what I want my blog to do. The fees people pay for consulting advice are just too much and most novice webmasters are only looking for a few bits of advice to turn them in the right direction. The problem I [...]
Read More..>>How to remove content from Google
I have to admit not taking the time to really get to know Googlebot so now that Webmaster Central is introducing him/her/it, I am looking into how to remove content from Google.
Did you know that robots only do what you tell them?
Search engine robots, including our very own Googlebot, are incredibly polite.
Google offers several ways [...]
Google site:command usage
Google sums up how searchers, webmasters and SEOs use the site:command.
Vanessa Fox:
The site: command enables you to search through a particular site. For instance, a searcher could look for references to [Buffy] in this blog by doing the following search:
site:googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com buffy
Webmasters sometimes use this command to see a list of indexed pages for a site, [...]
Weak SEO and the quick fix
Some have noticed that I occasionally remove posts that link to places I do not care to have my synapses reach anymore. I promised myself I would never do this again but with much thought it makes perfect sense. Like for instance, I am what people consider a “white hat SEO” in that I believe [...]
Read More..>>What is a canonical URL?
If you already know you would be surprised at how few webmasters have ever heard of a canonical URL. If you also spend time in Google Groups you will find people scratching their heads and not getting a clear answer as to how to troubleshoot and resolve this troublesome issue in Google.
Here is a previous [...]
Fixing The Nofollow Bug in Blogspot
Nathania like many others I have been finding have the nofollow tag enabled sitewide in their blogspot templates which says to Google, “Do not follow any links on my blog”, so you can imagine what this bug does to their rankings.
Looks like Nathania fixed it with a little help from her new friends:
Ok, was able [...]
Do blogroll links bleed pagerank?
I believe that blogrolls do not bleed pagerank, this is why I am not afraid to offer sitewide links to those who comment on my blog if they follow a few basic rules. Remember how back in the day before blogs search engine optimizers would fill their footers with text links to cross promote all [...]
Read More..>>Does Google Follow the Nofollow?
Ever wonder how Google treats the nofollow tag or heard conflicting views on the subject?
In the following image you see (in pink) a nofollow tagged link to Webmaster Central Blog that I made in a post titled “When was the last time you checked your links?”
If you go to the post I linked to on [...]
Read More..>>Is pagerank finite?
Is pagerank finite?
Is pagerank diluted as you add more content to your website?
Is pagerank diluted as Google adds more filetypes to the index?
Can issues with numerical accuracy result in “chaotic” pagerank
fluctuations?
The more questions one asks the more questions one has, all ideas are welcome.
Why to set your preferred domain
Going supplemental and poor pagerank distribution have been around for along time. In fact, flaky results in Google and being dropped out of the main index for my “keyword” (that sells 90% of my product via Google) is what forced me to get into SEO.
In 2003 I asked the following (notice how nobody answered, there [...]
How do I report a problem to Google?
Someone has a website that has been de-indexed. They are not an SEO and have no idea how to report a problem to Google. In my experience when Google gets it wrong they are very interested in looking at the data to improve their search engine algorithm. Many do not know that there is a [...]
Read More..>>Why to not noindex your feed
I notice people talking about reasons to noindex your feed and thought I would chime in with my disagreement. If you are an index junky like myself you might have noticed that your RSS feed sometimes appears in Google instead of the actual page or post (as you see in the following image below):
An RSS [...]
Read More..>>Understanding PageRank Distribution
I am getting interested in better understanding pagerank distribution. An index page that has the most links pointing at it rightfully should have the highest PR but my categories that are now linked on the lower right hand side of this site have varying pagerank (from PR3 to 5), why? Until recently I didn’t have [...]
Read More..>>What are supplemental results?
Website owners with low PageRank sometimes notice that their pages are in the supplemental results. The reason they go supplemental can easily be explained if a site has many pages but low Pagerank. This is when more incoming links are required to increase PR to get the entire website crawled and indexed in the regular [...]
Read More..>>Nofollow Nofollow Nofollow
The nofollow debate is in it’s last stages and “paid posts” (this includes text-link-ads) will be of the same value as reciprocal links or worse in the near future.
Matt Cutts from Google says:
- Yet another “pay-for-blogging” (PFB) business launched, this time by Text Link Brokers. It should be clear from Google’s stance on paid text [...]
Loss of the ability to pass pagerank
Here are the 3 things that will cause the loss of the ability to pass pagerank in Google.
Selling Text Links - Links that use the nofollow are fine.
Paid Reviews - As in PayPerPost and ReviewMe, if you are doing “paid” reviews use the nofollow tag and clearly state that it is a paid post.
SEO Contests [...]
Validating a feed
Does your blogs feed validate? Check it here.
Does your Feedburner feed validate? Mine didn’t. Check that here.
I had neglected to see the value of “feeds” but recently noticed a positive trend.
Most popular bloggers have 8000 or more subscribers which is kind of impressive, it looks like time to play around in this area.
I have [...]
Blog evangelism doesn’t convert
Blog evangelism doesn’t convert and let me point you to a single comment from Threadwatch.org that sums up the reason why.
IncrediBill said:
We all know AdSense works best when people are actively looking to purchase goods and services, which doesn’t tend to happen reading sites like Guy Kawasaki’s which really isn’t selling anything except Guy [...]
Duplicate Content and Google
Adam Lasnik offers information on Duplicate Content and Google.
One thing that was new to me was something called “boilerplate repetition”:
Minimize boilerplate repetition: For instance, instead of including lengthy copyright text on the bottom of every page, include a very brief summary and then link to a page with more details.
One thing that calmed my nerves [...]
Earned Organic Links
You want to do well in Google from earned organic links?
Here are the rules:
Google refined its link-weighting algorithms to reward natural organic links.
Undermining the PageRank algorithm is likely to result in the loss of the ability of link-selling sites to pass on reputation.
If you want to risk your reputation linkbaiting people be sure that you [...]
Read More..>>Better Usage of Images in Google
I felt a little guilty for railing Venessa Fox at Google for not covering images and search as she had mentioned she would at SES, she kind of just sat back and let everyone else do the talking (said rustybrick). Well just as always Venessa comes through and offers advice on how to optimize images.
Have [...]
Blogging Frequency
One thing that is often spewed from the spammy mouths of blog evangelists in their lame “Top ten ways to…” posts is this belief that you need to post to a blog at a steady rate in order to rank well in search engines. This blogging frequency superstition shows a lack of understanding of how [...]
Read More..>>Repair your reputation
I don’t expect anyone to understand exactly what I am talking about here because regular people do not have time to dig deep into things like I do. I have some good news about Google, it has proven itself to be a very forgiving engine and you can repair your reputation. After doing some SEO [...]
Read More..>>The Art of the Linkbait
Want to learn about linkbaiting? Where would you go and who would you ask? An SEO?
Not at all, learn from master Christopher Hitchens by reading “Why Women are Not Funny”
And remember, the power of the written word will outweigh search engine optimization every time.
How blog comments influence search engine rankings
The phrase shown in the following image was not from my hand but from a conversation that went on in the comments field of my an old deleted post from this blog. The words had a negative influence on my search engine rankings. It appeared in my stats today showing that someone had searched Google [...]
Read More..>>What Matt Cutts Says
What Matt Cutts says is important to me because he works for Google to improve search quality, so if you want success in Google, you study his every word. Let’s look at just one website review from his post on the site review panel that he attended at Pubcon Vegas.
First Review:
Once again, I sat on [...]
Paid Posts Require the Nofollow Tag
While I am waiting for Andy Hagans to get a few moments to answer my questions about Reviewme.com one has already been answered here by Matt Cutts from Google. As I had thought, paying for people to blog about your product, service or self will require a nofollow tag if you are concerned about ranking [...]
Read More..>>An Alternate Viral Path
I am not one who creates buzzwords or “top ten” educational posts to get digg attention but the phrase SEO Tunnel Vision has a nice ring to it. Warning SEO’s to not be so focused on traffic from search engines is actually not new, I think is was Matt Cutts from Google who spoke of [...]
Read More..>>Good SEO is no SEO
I was going to title this post “Be scared, be VERY scared” but thought that might be a bit over the top.
Last year at this time I decided to combine something I did in real life with a correctly worded blog post. The above image is from my home and garden blog, it’s a background [...]
Read More..>>