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@ aimClear - Biased against AdTracker or Google?
Thank you for finding this gem!
How beautiful, someone realizing that traffic (not rankings) is important. Building a network can be more important than rankings. If the algo changes, chances are that all of your network will still be stable. In the investment arena they call it diversification. Awesome!
Taking advantage of an opportunity like the "blog storm" is a tricky endeavor, Andy has some great tips and tools to help you direct the attention effectively.
It is unfortunate that there aren't enough resources on the Internet that can be regarded as authoritative, oh wait, there are. Aviva, I feel that they are enforcing the same thing that you think they are banning.
The biggest problem with Wikipedia is that it is used as a resource crutch. Believe it or not, when I was in grade school and had to write a research paper, I was not allowed to use the Encyclopedia Britannica. I know that this sounds very similar (actually it is), but the most important thing it taught me was to verify my sources not limit myself to only one.
Wikipedia offers links out to their references and so it can still be used as a valuable tool without using it directly. This is what research is about, knowing your topic, not finding the first available and building a theory around it.
If I believed everything I read about SEO...
Story: Why Digg is Blocked
Bandwidth theft? They are visitors, why not make it a member only website and make everyone sign in before continuing? Why don't they go to digg and ask to disallow any diggs from their URL or build a crappier website that will entice users to leave it for a Google AdSense ad?
I must say that I am amazed at the diverse responses... No doubt there are many applications in the social arena, however, it appears (from my perspective) that there is not one fluid approach!
Social aspects of the Internet are becoming increasingly significant, the aspects of ROI calculations was, to say the least, profound.
Wait, I got accepted and I wrote that it was a MLM idea for traffic... I even pulled the widget after viewing a link to a "suggestive" image blog. I replaced the javascript with a picture of their widget. Who is at the wheel here?
http://www.seopittfall.com/?p=345
Why would there be a reason for this, really?
Google sells links, it's called AdWords, however, they don't discount themselves for this practice... "don't be evil" has a political tone to me now, more than ever!
I contend that a link, paid, exchanged or whatever is good if it is for bringing targeted traffic to your website then do it. Why would Google penalize websites that are doing the same thing as Google, they are looking to provide their users with what they consider as relevant! Limit the value of the link, go ahead, but the link is there for a specific reason, targeted traffic. Limit the message to those that land on the page, don't silence the messenger.
I don't discount a sports team because they have a sponsor listed on their jersey, car or scoreboard. I may chalk this up and discount the company... but I wouldn't think any less of the team. Get really.
Google needs to realize that they are not the only gig in town and make believe that others don't exist because they are doing the same thing!
Danny,
This still doesn't address that they are penalizing a website for having outbound links. I mean, really, why don't they just stop valuing links altogether?
Halfdeck, so what you are saying is that if a link is not JavaScript based then it should be considered as earned? Link juice is a Google generated concept... He who giveth taketh more away?
Really, links that are bought are not always to rank higher, I know, what a novel concept, a link for traffic, other than search crawlers? I would reccomend this to anyone, it just makes natural sense!
My blog is about SEO and Internet marketing related information, so if I link to a website that is not related, is that a paid link? What about if I link to SEL, is that a paid link?
Should there be any value passed to the unrelated website? Not really.
Should the link to Search Engine Land have value passed, as a related website? Sure, right?
It was Google that passed the value in the first place! What does it matter if one is paid and the other is not?
We will not be able to combat those who look at us like a MLM unless we start! Outsiders look to resources like Wired Magazine, and even they don't understand us as seen here.
The only way to not be looked at like a bunch of politicians is to hold ourselves and our industry to a higher standard.
Qwerty, just because we are new, doesn't mean that we shouldn't address this issue. How much do we add to our employer's bottom lines?
If we are looked at as professionals, we will have to start acting like professionals. This includes giving realistic expectations to our clients and then following through with it and being held accountable.
Great point. I have fought a long uphill battle within the organization that I am employed as an SEO in evangelizing the reason and the benefit of SEO.
I know a great number of SEOs that are the mercenaries of the Internet marketing society. They focus on short to intermediate goals and claim the results. However, I have experienced the difficulties in recovering from negative techniques to "game" the engines. I like a challenge, but cannot stand the idea of starting in the hole.
I really wish that website owners would really consider the long term affects and play a greater role in the monitoring of their SEO campaigns. This starts with realistic, measurable goals from the SEO consultant or company that can be maintained, rather than attained.
Well, from my point of view you can disagree with anyone and you have a right to voice this opinion. However, the point that Rand made is that there are valuable resources/directories that you should be looking at, if anything he was providing a resourceful opinion, based upon specific indications of fact.
Rand did not (in my opinion) go to any search engine and request that they devalue a directory, however, he is providing information that is relevant, even if it is opinionated. Michael, unfortunately, did not take the high road in his tone or demeanor regarding the opinion that he formed after reading a SEOmoz post authored by Rand.
Michael, your opinion is valid, in my opinion, you were not professional or considerate.
SEO is about perspective, not your or mine, rather the engines that provide users to my/your websites. SEO is not about gaming the system, rather understanding it (based upon opinionated research) to provide what is necessary to deserve rankings for specific topic or keywords. Once you loose sight of this, you have done nothing but a disservice to yourself and the websites you represent.
As SEM and SEOs, why does PageRank matter? Really, if you a high PageRank on a page does that equal traffic?
Question, if a PageRank 10 page never gets traffic does it make it more relevant? Of course not. Get beyond the "who's is bigger" debate and work on targeted traffic. Wait. No, keep watching that little green bar as your competition pass you in the SERPs.
"PageRank is like gas in your car. If you have enough, don't worry about it. Your driving skill is way more important than how much gas you have. But you can't go anywhere with an empty tank."
Keep working on building PR, I'll work on relevant traffic. I get paid on results not a little green bar from a traffic source. I do think that PR is relevant, but it is not the end all be all for SEO. Would you agree that you can have index penetration, high PR and no traffic?
I didn't score as low as I thought I would on the the SEO politics quiz, but it was never a true test, just another Rand inspired linkbait. Call it what it is!
Lee,
Great rant and not just a soap box article, but a valuable lesson. (I will apologize for my comment on the original post hit the filter) doh!
Regular programing... this is a marketers community!
Oh the drama, the intrigue, and mine is bigger than yours.
It really is an unfortunate thing for MSN. I have been an advertiser on MSN AdCenter for a year now, however, I focus my time and energy on Google and Yahoo because MSN has an unstable platform that I don't want to make changes to for fear of bringing attention to my account and having to resubmit to get my ads showing again. I have even experienced three periods of more than a week when my ads were not present.
My AdCenter ads and keywords perform better than Google and Yahoo, but the lack of traffic and inconsistencies with their platform really turn me off.
I know what TheRealTerry is talking about because I have had many ads on travel to Las Vegas get repeatedly flagged because keywords and landing page content is related to gambling.
It is a real shame.
Story: 15 Traits of an SEO Nerd
I think you missed a few...
What about the long-tail, analytics and SERPs?
And I'm with imnotadoctor, I like dork much better!
Great analogy (at least that is what my friends are saying).
It's almost like having a piggy bank, sure the bits of change have value, but you still can't buy much until you save 'em up!
I like it pronounced "sfin" because it doesn't relate to anything previously... I think a new perspective is always welcome.
Danny, I think a good tagline could be:
"Sphinn - Search Marketers are Sphecial!"
but, you will have to add "sphinn" to the check spelling dictionary...
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Story: Google Admits Paid Link Stupidity: A Blogger’s Sarcastic Fantasy Scenario