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WayneSmallman
Great advice, Ann!
"Secondly, the real algorithm is a mystery even for most advanced experts: you are never sure how much value can be passed through some link."
I don't think it's worth fretting too much over the mechanical minutia. For a lot businesses on the web, all that counts is: did someone follow a link, and 2. did they perform the desired action on arrival?
Even a nofollow counts for nothing if you're an ecommerce shop, so long as people are visiting from those links and buying something!
Of course, the long-term lack of link value will hurt in some respects, but there's a lot to be said about the transaction and timeliness of a link, too...
So instead of Google making their search product work the way we do, they instead shift the goal posts and expect everyone to play their game? I think these guys need to get their collective act together -- Google != Web
In round-about terms, the age of a domain name — much like most of the criteria assessed by any search engine — is often not much of an indicator of anything in isolation.
Such criteria often come into their own once they're cross reference with several other criteria...
As a rule, I usually place the keywords at the front of my titles. This isn't just for the search engines, it's also because people tend to scan-read, so the keywords help grab eye balls...
All in all, this is good news for web designers, developers and SEOs alike.
"If you prefer Google to ignore your less informative content, such as a "copyright" or "loading" message, consider replacing the text within an image, which will make it effectively invisible to us."
Not sure that's exactly future proof. Would be better for Google to come up with a special attribute, perhaps?
While this isn't new knowledge, for the benefit of those new to web design, I think it's always airing this stuff once in a while...
Strange this topic should come up, since it’s one of the no-no’s I mention in an article of mine from yesterday. Personally, I wouldn't link to someone else's images.
In fact, I'm thinking of setting up my .htaccess file to block people from doing it with my images.
As a discussion, it’s novelty value will diminish the very second Google decides hot-linking is “evil”, should they go that way…
Interesting how more & more disciplines are interconnected; brand management, SEO and Social Media are feed into 'blogging...
Yeah, this is something I wrote about recently, which I prosaically refer to as my 3 rules of Socia Media.
I'll only ever vote on something for three reasons:
1. The topic is of interest to me.
2. I agree with the majority of the article.
3. I think the article is good enough to share.
And I will read the article...
"2. Leverage your site's internal linking power."
I was waiting for this to be mentioned.
This is by far the single most neglected and possibly the simplest and effective SEO tactic around.
Some excellent points from Jeffrey...
Story: Image Optimization 101
Probably one of the better image optimization articles I've read. The kind of thing I'd be happy to offer a client as a suggested read...
Not the best looking of browser widgets, but it does exactly what is says it does.
A very simple but very effective tool...
Google Webmaster Tools is a fantastic set of tools, and the recent update now allows you to see top search queries by type and by country, offering up a great insight into Sitelinks, amongst things...
Story: Google Sitelinks explained
HiI I'm Wayne, the author of the article.
Search volume is important for the phrase that matches the domain name. As I mention, that's key to Sitelinks.
However, overall search volume isn't. Neither of my clients gets more than 300 visits a day.
I hope that clarifies things...
Story: Google Sitelinks explained
No, I didn't say all of their traffic comes from searches. That's not the case for either client.
I didn't perform a complete analysis of their back-link anchor text, though a good quarter of their back-links do consists of phrases that include their respective company names.
They both have links coming in from a variety of sources. But neither client has a large selection of back-links.
In the case of Kapitex, the vast majority of their organic search traffic comes from people searching for them by name...
Some sound advice for beginners.
The filter options really are a must. Although filtering out 2,000 desktop computers using a client's home page as the default web page in Internet Explorer can be a depressing experience for the client... :-p
Hey, glad you like!
BTW, just working on my Google Sitelink exposé for next week... ;-)
On the whole, this is a sound document.
Point 4-1, 4-2 are of fundamental importance. Like almost any aspect of marketing, it's a gamble, a test, a finger in the air — call it what you like, we're making educated guesses.
So no, you don't get your money back. And yes, we are learing as we go along. But aren't we all?
Here's the thing — SEO & SEM are complimentary, but they're not interchangeable. They're quite different in application, discipline, practice and purpose.
I'm still surprised when I see people perpetuating this misunderstanding.
It's up there with the "alt tag", which doesn't exist!
First of all, the issues raised here by Jeff are at the very heart of how we now need to bridge the gap between social media and SEO to get the very best out of our 'blogs.
"So, my question question for all of you is this; how can we best encourage this behaviour as it is in the best interest of all involved?"
Secondly, the answer to that question really does go back to Jennifer's points in the article that Jeff is highlighting — who is going to be the thought leader that others look to?
A fantastic subject, Jeff!
I knew what you meant. And thanks for the Sphinn and the StumbleUpon...
This is precisely the kind of thing I've been both hoping for and writing about for some time.
However, it could be that Yoople have a fight on their hands — Google Labs recently rolled out a project that’s sort of doing the same thing.
Admittedly, there are differences, but Google have the much greater footprint of the two.
Plus I imagine Google are eager to back-fill this void they left to StumbleUpon to fill while they busied themselves getting a collective clue about Social Media...
Looking at the brand recognition chart, I quickly followed up each 'brand' and all bar Sphinn have a Sitelink.
Sitelinks may be an inevitability for these guys, but that's not going to be the case in all industries.
In addition to brand recognition, might brand perception through Sitelinks play a part?
So in the grander scheme of things, having a Sitelink adds value, would it be worth factoring that into things?
Story: Backlink Research : Essential Checklist