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 The what and why of SEO.

 

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6 Reasons Google Might Not Love your Site

Image via CrunchBase

Have you heard the Dr. Phil and Oprah line,"If you love yourself others will love you."

There are many websites out there that are self loathing.

Well Google will love your site only when you love your site. How does Google know you love your site? When you take care of it.

Here are 6 markers that prove to Google that you take care of your site.

Google May not love your site if:

1. You are not using updated and valid html code.
2. If you are using html from 2005 You have not updated your sites content since Bush was in office.
3. You have failed to place social markers on your site. (Facebook Likes buttons, Google +1, Twitter etc)
4. Your site is on valium instead of caffeine.
5. You site gets little traffic. Ye the rich get richer.

 

25 Ways To Get A Site To Link To You

1. Because you paid them for a listing in a directory.
2. Because you are a member of a trade organization.
3. Because people are discussing your products or services (Set up Google Alerts on your brand names. This is good reputation amnagement practices anyway).
4. Because you are a member of a local group or organization.
5. Because you create a terrific case study.Also take place in surveys and offer your own opinions.
6. Becasue you are joined to a specific demographic group. Join with like minded community.
7. Because you submit a tip or how to information.
8. Because you comment on a breaking news story.
9. Because you compile a resource list (linkbait).
10. Because you offer a discount.
11. Because you make a donation to a charity online that links back to you.
12. Because you support your local industry and they might link back to you.
13. Because you have a unique or unusual business or business practice. People love crazy ideas.
14. Because you are interviewed.
15. Because you offer an internship or job.
16. Because you attend an exibition. Make sure the organizers know you exist.
17. Because you buck a trend or ride a wave.
18. Because you publish a video on your site.
19. Because you publish videos on Youtube
20. Because your products or online information makes great gifts.
21. Because your help your audience make or save money.
22. Because your products or services are healthy.
23. Because you support a local College(EDU links are believed to be very helpful for SERPS)
24. Because you seek help and ask a sensible question.
25. Because of reviews of your products or services (Google Places, Yelp, etc)

This linking list was provided by wordtracker my favorite keyword research tool.

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Google Releases Their Own Social Noise Maker: +1 Button

Google has released their own social noise maker called plus one. OR +1. This is Google's answer to Facebook's like button. And as I have said before that likes are the new links as Google, and Bing embrace the social authority of ones social graph. Neglect to use these at your own sites demise. Twitter just released their Follow button whereby you can follow an individual or company on Twitter.

Social Media by Proxy

Image via CrunchBase

 Yahoo Research has found that just 20,000 people are responsible for tweeting half of all tweets on Twitter. That is less than one percent. The sample size was 260,000. Nevertheless, this is social media.

Right now stop what you are doing and go count how many of your "friend" on any social network has posted anything.  Now go and see when they actually interacted.

The numbers are far less than the hype would indicate. (this story reminds me of the story of the Mall employee part time Realtor who was brought onto speak at NAR about the gold mine called Twitter. Check credentials before buying into the Koolaid)

Is this reason to not socialize?  Let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater. HOWEVER......

SEO'ing in a Social World

SEO is dead sang the "Social Evangelist". Um Yah riiiiiiigt.

SEO is as important than ever. Here is the reason. Social media is tied to Google, Bing and Yahoo. How?

Bing serves results for Yahoo. Bing pulls much of their data from Facebook. In fact, it is believed that results are influenced by some of the data that Facebook provides to Bing. Like "Likes". I suppose this is a good time to do the gratuitous:

 

Likes are the New Links

Although Google does not supposedly get as much data as Bing gets, they too track likes and also your links in Twitter. Never mind no follow tags in Twitter.  The social evangelistas will claim it has something to do with so called "social authority". That's just propaganda called links. Its always about links. 

There is another item that just might be effecting your sites reputation in the SERPS. But I will save that for another day.

Plus One: Likes are the new links Since posting Google added their own twist to social search. Called +1. It is their version of the Like button. I have yet to see it in the SERPS. Lets see what happens. More commentary later. Meanwhile here is the "official +1 Trailer"

 

Keyword SEO for Realtors and Locality Based Businesses

Local Businesses can start with their marketing campaigns by doing keyword research in a number of places.

• Google Keyword tool-Based off of Adwords data so it is not exactly the same as organic.
• Wordtracker-My favorite. I still like this tool for deep keyword intel.
• SEMRush and Spyfu-I like these two for checking out what the competitor is doing. You can discover what other websites are paying for their Adwords. If someone is paying good money month after month for a keyword. It might be something worth investigating. The Adword tool will do it for free. But I like these two better for its display and readability.

However, when you really want to explore your world. It really is worth getting into all the key word permutations available.

Brain Storming Keyword Combinations

In other words type into Google, Real Estate in City , is going to get you unique search engine results than City real estate. So by playing with various combinations we can really develop out a nice keyword list that can help us in more research in the above tools. As well as page building, content building and even blogging.

And good old fashioned SEO will bring all of those pages to life.

Here are links to the above tools:

• http://www.google.com/sktool
• WordTracker: Find the Best Keywords for Your Business and Drive More Traffic to Your Website!
• http://www.spyfu.com

Join the Back Room and you will see how I take a few phrases and turn them into several hundred in a manner of minutes through three easy to copy methods.

News or a Publicity Stunt? Charlie Sheen & Google Exposed

Image by HOY! SUSHI via Flickr

I find content often boring and frankly misleading. Often dis-informing. The fun is discovering the process. Jumping into a marketers  campaign can be fun and often more useful that the "how to" product they are selling.

In our world today what is, is not so real as what the underlying process is. To quote and ex-President, "It all depends on what the meaning of is, is".

We all follow content. All of the below news topics are meant to focus attention somewhere. I want to know the answer to where? and why?:

• Google vows to clean up spam from their SERPS and thus penalizes J.C Penny, and Overstock. 
• Facebook has 500,000 users.
• Charlie Sheen is Bi Polar.
• Lady Gaga Arrives in an Egg to the Grammys.
• Kim Kardashian dates another athlete. Reggie is pissed!

In the political arena, often what is going on behind the scenes reveal the agenda.

• The President will not defend the Marriage Act.
• In the 1990's President Clinton was being investigated about the Monica Lewinski scandal. In the middle of the investigation he gave a speech very similar to the one GW Bush gave a few years later on the dangers of Iraq. He then bombed an aspirin factory.

Now, if any of these invoked an emotion in you - negative or positive-then you can instantly recognize the potency of their ability to get the masses attention. Advertising 101. Attention Interest Desire Action (AIDA).

Let's tackle these one at a time.

Fear Spreads Memes

Google: I call the process they are invoking Googleganda. You will recall that they first accused Bing of scraping their results. (God forbid a scraper which is what a search engine does, actually scrapes). Then they penalized JC Penny and Overstock. Both stories went out through the proper PR channels and then through the final spokesman for Google talk, Matt Cutts.

Now that was the short version of the content. In reality this is a familiar story that has repeated itself over the years. Punish a big known site like Mercedes Benz of a few years ago.  Then magically their results returned about a month or two later. I imagine a few lawyers were involved.

This was most likely done not by their algo, but by hand. Otherwise, how do they or we know it was those two sites? That just so happen to be well known name brands?

Sure their is something going on. But the target is really Facebook. Google has managed to steal away a months worth of internet talk focused on Google.

The result is fear behavior. Which often leads to irrational behavior.

From an email that is similar to many other emails I have received from vendors looking to piggy back the headlines to induce fear not just for Google. But also that they know the way to doing it right. 

 Google has just shaken up the U.S. with what may be the BIGGEST update in the past ever. ..Some of the most popular sites have lost 35% of their traffic literally in 48 hours.  ....it's way deeper than that as my investigation reveals."

Man I gotta read it! And then the author goes onto reveal the same stuff he would have said a year ago. Folks good SEO is good SEO.

And the truth gets lost in the details because we remember the headlines. And the truth gets sullied as it spreads much like a story gets changed in the child's game "whisper down the lane".

Google says 12% of their SERPS have changed

 Of course the implication of this headline is whatever you want it to mean. And that is the point.  12% of what? 12% of the crappy sites? Good sites? Will you define a crappy site? The answer is no they won't and theirein is the reason this game can continue. Sort of like a good conspiracy theory.

The Government will always keep most of the 9/11 disaster a secret. Leaving the theorists to come up with any cockamamy answer to the story they want.

 Any good search engine optimizer worth her salt knows that if serps have changed to not panic. And wait it out a bit to systematically implement needed changes. So hang in there if you have seen a shift. Never throw the baby out with the bath water. What happened may not be because of a Google change but a change you made at some point near the shift.

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Facebook's Shot Heard Round the World

Image via CrunchBase

 The recent uprising in Egypt came from a single Facebook post.

There is another battle.

The fight between Google, Bing, Yahoo, and Facebook.

Yahoo has kind of succumbed to Bing. As Bing provides data to Yahoo.

Bing is also in bed with Facebook and has access to all those like buttons.

Therefore, these three engines are in an alliance to take on Google.

The War was recently declared.

The fight will be bloody and many will lose their shirts.

However, the scraps will be plenty for those who know how to benefit from this World War III.

Our most recent installment is SEO is DEAD.

Don't wait to find out about these changes. Get ahead of the trend so you can benefit from this online battle. 

 

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Did SEO Just Die?

Image via Wikipedia

 A War Has erupted online between the major three engines and Facebook.

Interestingly Google fires CEO Eric Schmidt and then founder Larry Page (of Page Rank fame) takes over the helm. And immediately the search giant took a massive shot at Bing's (Microsoft's search engine) reputation.

Through an elaborate "sting" operation, Google supposedly caught Bing scraping their results. (Of course that is how Google gets its own results. Scrape, crawl.But I digress). Google then accused Bing as "copy catters" through a well organized campaign to besmirch Bing's reputation.

Google Tells Facebook and Bing: "It's On!"

This is nothing short of a shot across the search industry bow. Thus, making the new era of search wars official.  This is all covered in the report. This whole act would have been  below Google's better nature a year ago. Yah "do no evil". Whatever. The fight is starting to get real folks.

This war will leave a trail of blood. But it will also leave some real winners if they understand what is really going on.

I have already loaded the House Blogger Exclusive section a Social Media Post and a revealing introspection into the Facebook Phenomenon.

We explore Google's Weaknesses and its strengths. Soon to have another revealing report Is SEO Dead?

 

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