|
|
Newsletter Archive
Lead Story
Is compliant code an SEO ranking factor?
Over the last year or so I’d had the conversation many times about SEO and valid mark-up. For the record I am of the mind-set it is more a factor of good webmastering than it is anything. Sure, if the site lags bad or even worse, doesn’t render, it certainly can have an SEO effect, but from a ranking perspective, no… not a signal…ain’t gonna happen.
Interestingly I was going to pen a post about it for the SEOBS blog (for me pal Edward), but now? No point… its been beaten to death last week. Witness;
And I’ve spoken to a Googler whom said;
“There are many good reasons to validate markup -- for instance, cleaner code might display better on mobile phones or be handled better by screen readers -- but ranking on Google isn't one of those reasons. There are currently too many pages with original and compelling content but poor markup for us to justify favoring well-validating pages. So nothing's changed since 2006 on this front.”
Hopefully we can leave this one alone for the moment. That being said, it really can’t hurt to take some of Edward’s thoughts to heart as it does still make good sense. It simply shouldn’t be considered a ‘ranking factor’.
A modest proposal for SEO standards – was so damned tempting as the lead story, I thought I’d give it a little extra space ( Owe it to ‘Edward’ to at least give the other a leg up). As long time readers and old horses would know, ‘standards’ has been a long running source of discussion and frustration in the SEO world. When someone I respect speaks about it (Michael, and Bill before that) I tend to take another look. Give the above post a read and consider writing about it or otherwise discussing it.
He followed that up with ‘A modest proposal for SEO training course standards’ and in talking with him over the weekend he also mentioned; Can we talk SEO? In one SEO lexicon? – that post is really a good starting point even. Will we ever nail it? I sure hope so.
|
Advice for a New Internet Marketer (or How to Spot Internet Marketing Snake Oil) – was a great post on a few levels. For starters I really enoyed the rant quality to it. Secondly, she separated link building from SEO… something a LOT of peeps don’t seem to grasp. Great stuff T!
|
Have Google Index Your AJAX, Here Is How – some good tips on a topic we’ve been hearing more and more of lately. Seems Google has a good grip on not only JS, but its super-powered kin, AJAX. Certainly worth reading if applicable to your situation.
|
3 Tricks on SEO & User Engagement – I was going to put this one into the ‘Weapons’ section, but I liked it so much, it was worth giving more attention to. While I am still in the process of testing the concepts, its some solid stuff regardless. I am curious if ‘Tip 3’ qualifies as cloaking, something to look into.
|
Website Redesign, SEO, & Video – Keys to E-Commerce Future – for the universal search geeks out there, this post once more shows the value of video. A quick tip for you; not many SEOs are good at video. M’kay? Thars gold in them ‘thar hills!
|
Picking Wise Search Projects – Lyndsay was getting into what I like to call ‘pre-qualifying clients’. It is a safe bet that one doesn’t want to take each and every client that rolls in… Some common sense tips here for grading yours.
|
Study: Searches Ignore Real-Time Search Results – wasn’t really a big surprise to most search geeks. Barry also has some links to convos and more to the story. While I won’t call it dead just yet, it’s current iteration leaves plenty of room for improvement.
|
4 Things That Are Getting Me Rankings, Right Now – ‘Dave Bait’ is alive and well this week, but have no worries, Glen is a kick ass kid! And his post teaches us once more, that SEO isn’t all about links as many would have you believe… Ya know? |
20 Things You Can Teach a HIPPO to Make Your Website Better – Speaking of bait, this post from Todd came up on the radar this week thanks to a mention of zee Dojo. But as always, entry does actually have a bar around here. Todd does a great job of
|
A Practical Guide To Information Architecture Changes – being a more ‘content centric’ SEO, information architecture is something I pay attention to. From CMS to architecture, this is a solid post worth reading. Even if you aren’t planning changes… good elements to remember. |
Migrating to a New Domain and URL Structure – speaking of IA and site changes, this post on SEJ was also solid in that regard. Between the two, you should have a good framework. |
71 Technical Factors For Backlink Analysis (From 30 Link Building Experts) – Part 2 – Garrett French is at it again with his mega-geek round ups. See how I don’t use the word ‘experts’ G? Hee hee. OK, nit picking. Some solid advice all-around. |
Google Responds To Privacy Concerns With Unsettlingly Specific Apology – and last, but certainly not least, a good laugh at Google’s expense (they can take it). I truly had a good search geeky guffaw with this one. Enjoy. |
Honourable Mentions;
|
|
|
Read more...
|
|
Lead Story
Something fishy from Google
It was interesting that a few weeks back there was a development over at Google that most of the blog-o-sphere seemed to miss out on. For a bit of background we’ve seen a concerted effort over at Google to speed things up including discovery. This includes elements such as RSS for any page, PubSubHubub, Buzz and more. Essentially there seems to be more and more ways that Google can find new information and connect the dots socially.
So hey…. Did you catch the new protocol from Google? Code named Salmon? I bet you didn’t – so read these;
Swimming Upstream: 'Salmon,' Google's Open Source Social Web Aggregator
You can catch the Google docs on it here, here and here….
This is an interesting component that ties in social into search once again. I shall be digging in deeper over the next week and post something on the Trail about it… This one really does seem to tie into more than a few efforts over there… beyond mere social (think QDF and discovery).
Anatomy of a Hands-on SEO Audit; Part 2 – Alan has post his second part of the mega list of doing SEO Site Audits ( a personal fav) and it’s a kick ass series that I’d advise any SEO to read (from beginner to advanced). Even I found a few new ideas.
|
Using WordPress ping lists – is from a new blog that came on my radar recently and this post comes with a serious ping list that you can add to your own WP install. I hope to see some more groovy posts from these guys. |
SMX West: Google's Personalized Search Revolution – I don’t generally post conference coverage, but I decided to make an exception this time as it is an area close to me heart. Enjoy. (also some good coverage on Bruce Clay here).
|
Google's SEO Report Card – in a humorous twist, the gang at Google did an SEO report card on themselves. Seems they failed. What is interesting is to see the actual use of the term, SEO. Something that Bing has been much better at (Google usually refers to us all as ‘webmasters’.
|
The Hit & Run Snakeoil Salesmen Are Back – over on the SEO Bullsh*t blog, Goosh dropped another post on the world of SEO Snake-oil. I do love busting this crap and I can only hope some day we can eradicate it from the space.
|
Calling for link spam reports – interesting to see that Matt Cutts and the gang at Google are actively looking for link spam… with help from us. Lol. The fun part? They can’t be anonymous as you have to be signed into yer Google account… hehe… Me? Don’t mind it at all as I don’t use crap hat link building methods.
|
Stars make search more personal – as part of the ever growing world of personalization, the Google-blog was reporting a new feature – stars. Funny thing that, replaces search wiki and is reminiscent of the SurfCanyon offering. (here’s a good analysis from the SEO Chicks)
|
Does SEM = SEO + CPC Still Add Up? – Danny was lamenting the fact that more and more people refer to SEM in the same breath as PPC….when in reality, it is PAID and ORGANIC that make up the SEM family. As always, a very in-depth look at how they all fit into the picture. Nice one fer sure! |
Learning SEO: It Can Get Noisy – when it comes to learning SEO, one of the few places I’d recommend is the SEO Book community… yup, I have my own community, but it tends to be for seasoned SEOs. So, when those guys talk about learning, ye’d definitely want to listen.
|
Link Building Master Class - is a fairly lengthy round up of link building resources from Angie, including a linkee to yers truly… yup, Dave-bait still works. This one is good for those that are still struggling with link building (which seems to be a lot of you according to a recent poll I held). |
Don’t be Afraid of Spiders: In Fact You Should Lure Them In – was a great post on Vertical Measures that deals with ways to ensuring optimum crawl-ability. |
|
|
Read more...
|
Lead Story
Universal Search Strategy
To lead things off this week I am not really going to highlight any major news. Instead I thought I’d spend a few moments to talk about something we (my SEO Dojo mates and I) have been talking about a lot lately. Content Strategy. More specifically, tailoring your efforts towards maximizing efficiency for Uni search.
We really do need to start back at the basics. The SERP. All to often SEOs get lost by the reams of data that tools and analytics spit back and forget about the basics; the actual search results. In the modern world of search one really needs to be intimate with the query space to understand when and were the universal results show up. This is paramount these days.
Once you have that… it is time to try and best ensure that you have content that will target these elements. If the space has video, news, images or local; know it well and build out content to maximize visibility… Believe it or not, you can actually get a page ranking in the Uni SERPs as well as media from the page. How about an indented listing AND a video? What is important to understand is that there are MANY oportunities that most SEOs aren't nailing...
Think about it
Bing in 2010 – a great post from Nichola Stott on Bas’ (formerly of SearchCowboys) new blog. She looks at where Bing is going and how they might some day cut into the market share of the mighty Goog.
|
Fortune 500 Companies Fail At SEO – is an interesting post that discusses some research on just how clueless some of the biggest companies in the world are at SEO. Uh.. I’ll be right back, I have some sales calls to make…heehee |
So you want to be an SEO? – Kay put out a fun little rant and well, we all know I love a good rant. If you’ve ever had to deal with the neophytes on SEO Forums, you’ll appreciate this one.
|
There is no such thing as magic wand SEO – I enjoyed this one as all to often (especially with patent peeps) folks are looking for the easy road or some magic potion. Simply enough, it doesn’t exist. Nice work Pete!
|
Grading Google's Marketing Practices Based On Google's Standards? - Slaven Radic dropped an interesting post on SEO Book about Google’s latest privacy screw up; Buzz.
|
Is Google Referrer Spamming Too Now? – one of my fav ranters, Michael VanDermar picked up on some interesting goof-ups from the Google gang. This one was a fun ride and even the Googlers responded apparently. Give it a read.
|
Comparing SEO Business Models – last week our SEO Dojo chat session was about the Business of SEO and this article was well timed. Certainly an area not discussed
|
Examining the behaviour of people who use different search engines – ooooo… if there’s one way to get my attention, it’s writing anything to do with behavioural. Patrick’s post was short, but interesting. |
The Key To Top Video Rankings On YouTube & Google – as long time readers of the newsletter might have noticed, we’re including more and more items on Video SEO. Content strategies that maximize the use of universal SERPs are becoming more and more important this year. Def one to get up on… this post is a great start.
|
Attention Prospective SEO’s: Please Know What You Are Applying For! – Since we were already on the topic of the Business side of things, a new fellow on our radar (Goosh) had a nice post on hiring SEO staffers. |
How We Got a Link from the New York Times – for the link stalkers out there the gang at WordStream outlined the process they used which netted them a nice link from the NYT. |
Are You "Google Pagerank Certification"? I Hope Not - Search Engine Roundtable was reporting some funny/interesting/troubling news… read it to believe it (or not). |
The liability of loathsome, link-level web spam (SEM 101) - the Bing blog was back on the spam trail this week. If yer a spammer or not, it’s always a good idea to know where the lines are. |
10 Questions to Learn Your Niche – was a good post from Julie Joyce that had a good post on some great starting points for any SEO program. Sure, not uber geeky, but def some solid advice. |
|
|
Read more...
|
Lead Story
Google gets social; AGAIN
It seems there is some paranormal activity going on with my blog. Late last year I was writing about how/if/why Google could be a social search engine and within 48hrs they announced the ‘Social Search’ experiment. It was timely, but odd.
Last week I was once more on about Google and social as it was now out of beta and I noticed some interesting additions. All in the post; Should SEOs care about Real Time Social Search?
What happens next? The very next day Google Buzz was announced and then the Aardvark acquisition. Jeez… what is up wid dat? I might start being a REAL gypsy and grab a crystal ball and some tarot cards.
Anyway, as search geeks I think it is important to understand the REAL implications of all of this. I’d also consider looking more into the Social Graph API as well. What’s the skinny? Is any of this a serious SEO consideration? Well, read the post to find out. Let’s just say that the sky is most certainly not falling. :0)
On with the show
Keyword Research-Factors to consider – I enjoyed this one and felt it worth highlighting this week as KW research truly is the core of any SEO campaign. This one is more of the conceptual overtechnical, but a good read from Virginia none-the-less.
|
SEO myths and crap; submitting to search engines - is one of last week's offerings from new blog 'SEO Bullsh*t' which hits one of the longer running crap hat services we all know and love. (by the way, also catch the Webcology appearance). |
Having Fun with -Onyms in Keyword Research – what can I say? It’s ALWAYS exciting when Bill leaves the world of patents and gives us a glimpse inside his head. Seriously, geek or not, this should be some mandatory reading!
|
Comparing Trust Metrics and Value Analysis to Understand Search Rankings – Richard is fast becoming one of my fav’ geeks. While I am often a little suspect of the analysis tool limitations (has a Moz tool addiction), he certainly thinks things out well. We need more fellows like him in the industry.
|
Anatomy of a Hands-on SEO Site Audit; Part 1 – my new friend and SEO Dojo mate Alan Bleiweiss, was covering one of my personal fav areas; Site Audits. If you aren’t doing them or don’t consider them important; think again. This post is a good start.
|
30 Link Builders Discuss Backlink Analysis For Campaign Design – Part 1 – Another great round up post with a TON of SEOs/Link builders. Yup, I’m not a huge fan of lists… unless they’re remarkable one’s such as this. Great Job!
|
The Ultimate Guide to Keyword Competition: Tips from 35 Experts on Analyzing Competitive Keywords – speaking of big ass lists, I was baited again into putting one in the newsletter. This time from the gang at WordStream; great job guys!
|
Organic Search Gap Management – Aaron does a great job of looking at some areas of the evolution of search and universal results/verticals in particular. |
The Key To Top Video Rankings On YouTube & Google – as long time readers of the newsletter might have noticed, we’re including more and more items on Video SEO. Content strategies that maximize the use of universal SERPs are becoming more and more important this year. Def one to get up on… this post is a great start.
|
Google Validates SEO Consulting – John Andrews takes us on a little history lesson and then highlights some posts that seem to indicate Google may offer SEO services on “a limited basis”. Interesting stuff. Search Engine Land also had a post on it with; SEO Industry Cries Foul Over Google SEO ‘Services’ |
Internal Links SEO: PageRank Sculpting Hurting More Sites – Michael is once more fighting the good fight of the confusion that is PageRank sculpting. For the record I often referred to it as a band-aid solution for crappy site architecture. It's a great post (as usual), so give it a read. |
What if link requests were honest? – Wiep had a fun and interesting post that deals within the fine lines of how sending link requests can cause grief. A good laugh and educational. |
|
|
Read more...
|
Lead Story
Help stop the madness!!
A few week’s ago some pals and I were joking via Twitter that there should be a dedicated place for ranting and otherwise going off. You see, I tend to keep a certain demeanour when writing this newsletter or even on my blog. Sure, ranting once in a while… but it’s not the same as losing it.
Just for sh*ts and giggle’s I poked around and noticed that SEObulls**t.com was available. The rest as you’ve likely figured out, is history.
Some of the first posts;
- Stop Offering SEO Services You Bloody Dimwits!
- SEO Toxin: Directory-like URI Structures
- Bullshit Prevails When Good SEOs Do Nothing
- Confusing acronyms create chaos
We’ve taken to calling it, ‘SEO Group Therapy’ in that it has become a place that is fostering discussions. An unexpected side effect. It is a (reasonably) open door policy for posters and I look forward to it’s continued growth. If you like your SEO stories with a bit of humour (and profanity at times), drop on by. Also be sure to follow us on Twitter and Grab the Badge!
And away…
My Many Words for Snow – speaking of profanity. The IR geeks are generally a more reserved bunch (or so I thought) until now. Seriously… it’s pretty funny. Read it. Takes 30 seconds.
|
Overcoming The SEO Challenges Of Huge Online Commerce Sites – ok sure, Eric said the dreaded ‘PR sculpting’ but at least it has a new spin (lol). All in all, still a worthy edition for those in ecom.
|
Relevance: Good for SEO, Good for YOU – Virginia has a nice little road map for relevance. I enjoyed this one as it was anti-geeky. Taking ‘relevance’ back to the thought level… Nice.
|
Google Fails 5th Grade Math Test – and hey, what’s a week without poking some fun at Googly? And who better than Michael VanDemar to take them to task?
|
A concise list of SEO black hat tactics – while Michael may not luv me no more, (something to do with the SEOBS blog hehe) I still do, so here’s his nearly weekly addition into the mix. For the record, I have mate in BH, just not a fan of it myself.
|
“Inkbait”: A Case Study In Linkability – Deb does some link bait deconstruction and (as always) gives us some good take-aways. Seriously, she’s more of a content strategists at times, not merely a link builder.
|
50 Ways To Lose Your Link – speaking of links, Julie had a list (yup, I hate ‘em, but this one ain’t too bad) of the many ways that outreach can go wrong.
|
Using the hReview Microformat for your Review Pages – did I metion microformats were important? Richard seems to be getting right into them over the last while… Bookmark this one as it is a’ coming! |
Why it’s time to take the SEO industry seriously – ok, sure, the content is a little light. But how often will we see a major (non SEO) website actually not crapping on our collective heads? Print it out. Frame it.
|
Master Baiters Taking The Bait – since we’re all sh*ts and giggles this week, I thought I’d add Milt’s post that asks the pertinent question. Why to SEO Baiters always find a hungry fish? |
The Benefits of a Targeted YouTube Distribution Strategy - a new addition to the newsletter are the guys at Reel SEO. Be sure to grab their feed and bookmark the site. We’ll be looking at VSEO more and more this year (part of a good universal search strategy right?). |
| Link Building Gems from User Behavior Patterns - and last but not least, was a great guest post on the Trail from Jennifer Van Iderstyne. She takes one of my fav topics (behavioural) and puts a link building spin on it. A fun ride. |
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
|
|
<< Start < Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next > End >>
|
|
Page 1 of 10 |
|
|
