Search engine optimization is more than just a series of techniques. It is a concept of continuity, which is why linking out (to other sites) matters equally if not more than who links to your website.
For the sake of relevance and to create the right continuity, you’ll need to create the appropriate signals to search [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: “Don’t Forget to Link Out”, url: “http://www.seodesignsolutions.com/blog/seo/outbound-linking-website-authority-and-hub-status/” });
Posted by Darren Slatten
What’s up, YOUmoz! Ok, enough small talk. I’ll get right to the point.
I have a 2-page website that I created for the sole purpose of having something to link to from my SEOmoz profile page. My site doesn’t really do anything or provide any useful information, but I use it to experiment on sometimes. Over the past 3 months, I’ve written several YOUmoz posts that include links to my site with the anchor text World’s Greatest SEO. I chose this phrase because it amuses me… plus it has virtually zero search traffic, and therefore, zero competition. In other words, simply using that phrase in my home page’s title tag was enough to get into Google’s top 10. After a couple of my YOUmoz posts linked to it, I easily grabbed the #1 spot in Google.
As you might have guessed, my incoming traffic immediately exploded off the charts and set a new record for bandwidth consumption.
Times were good. But then I got greedy. I added the phrase [worlds greatest seo] to my SEOmoz profile page in an attempt to also conquer the #2 spot in Google.
Unfortunately, my plan backfired as my SEOmoz profile took over the #1 spot and bumped my site to #2. I tried to undo the damage by removing the phrase from my profile page, but it didn’t work. Google still ranked it as #1, claiming that some keywords only appeared in links pointing to the page. So basically, my profile page has enough PageRank to outrank my own site, despite the fact that it didn’t even contain that phrase in the content anymore. In other words, this is what I was looking at:
My Site
SEOmoz Profile
Now keep in mind that both these pages are mine and I love them both… but my SEOmoz profile is kinda like a stepchild to me, you know? I mean c’mon… I built my site from scratch, using nothing more than a text editor and Photoshop. And now my SEOmoz profile thinks it can just show up and take the #1 spot away from my baby? Ha… not on MY watch, you spoiled little brat!
Anyway… I did what any loving parent would do: I nurtured my own child’s success…by secretly beating my stepchild. How? By keyword-stuffing the living crap out of my SEOmoz profile! Everyone knows that stuffing a page with keywords is bad…so I decided I would TRY to get my profile page penalized for keyword stuffing so that my baby could rise to the top, where it belongs!
Well… the results are in, and I think they’re interesting. Basically, it didn’t work. My SEOmoz profile is still ranked #1, despite the fact that it has a ridiculously-high keyword density.
I’m not going to make any claims or assumptions about whether or not Google penalizes pages with unnatural keyword densities. My only point of writing this post is to share an interesting find. I’ll let everyone draw their own conclusions.
NewsCred, the news aggregator that ranks stories by the credibility of their source, has launched to the public. Instead of relying on popularity as many social news sites do, NewsCred instead allows users to rate each story, author, and publication’s credibility, which is then plugged into an algorithm to determine the site’s prominent headlines.
We [...]
It is no secret that nearly 70% of all estimated searches are conducted using Google, but what happens when everything changes and new systems are introduced that impact and alter the way we search?
With changes to organic search engine algorithms being rolled-out in record numbers, the way we surf and browse the web being influenced [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: “Are Personalized Results The Future of Search and Social Media?”, url: “http://www.seodesignsolutions.com/blog/social-media-optimization/are-personalized-results-the-future-of-search-and-social-media/” });
Sometimes another form of language and imagery is required in order to communicate vast ideas for common consumption. This is one of such instances where an array of algorithmic functions will be given a conceptual vehicle to map their role in the creation of a top 10 ranking.
Since the concept of the universe is a [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: “Search Engine Optimization Concepts”, url: “http://www.seodesignsolutions.com/blog/search-engine-optimization/search-engine-optimization-concepts/” });
The topic of long tail search engine optimization is elusive at best. The fact is, when considering keyword research and acquisition you have the choice of targeting the appropriate keywords that deliver relevant traffic that converts to your website.
The concept of the long tail was originally coined by Chris Anderson editor in chief of Wired [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: “Reviving The Long Tail of SEO”, url: “http://www.seodesignsolutions.com/blog/articles/reviving-the-long-tail-of-seo/” });
There’s been hundreds if not thousands of articles written about link bait. I’d hazard a guess that there’s probably even more articles about how to write the bait than there is paid up pieces of link bait for clients.
credit: .martin
But with this post I’m going two try and write about something slightly different. With
link [...]