Archive for the ‘Google Me Series’ Category

Anchor-text Strategies

Exact Match VS Match Variants

For many years the strategy for anchor-text linking has been to create an exact match for the desired keyword phrase to rank well in the search engines. This exact keyword phrase would then be used over and over again within all areas of SEO, both on-page SEO as well as off-page SEO, for backlinking hypertext and anchor-text links.

Over time, these methods had to be tweaked here and there to keep up with the changing of the search engine algorithms. However, little change was made regarding anchor-text links.

In 2011 Google introduced the highly intelligent Panda algorithm, with an ever- increasing content evaluation IQ. The goal of this algorithm is pretty simple: to deliver the best user-friendly search engine experience while obtaining the most relevant as well as beneficial results.

There has been a lot of speculation and rumor about how to rank well in the search engines during these changes. However, if we want to know how Google’s new Panda thinks, the best way to figure things out is to go directly to the source.

Matt Cutts – Anchor-Text Variant Strategy

Matt Cutts is one of Google’s representatives who assists webmasters in understanding what they need to do in order to make Google’s new Panda algorithm happy. I was reading one of his blog posts today about how to write useful articles and within this article I found a wonderful gem of information.

Pay attention to his little bit of advice regarding keyword anchor-text links:

“I’d recommend thinking more about words and variants (the “long-tail”) and thinking less about keyword density or repeating phrases.” Matt Cutts, Writing Useful Articles that Users Will Love.

This helps us understand where our thinking should be when it comes to creating SEO content, anchor-text links, and on-page SEO. Exact keyword phrases repeated over and over again are not what this new Panda algorithm has been trained to look for. Rather than stuffing our SEO content with the exact keyword phrase that we are trying to rank, according to Matt, we should be using partial phrase matches along with keyword variants.

For instance, we might write an article with the title “Organic Gardening Tips for Newbie’s.” In the article we can use a variation of that keyword phrase, such as; gardening without chemicals, organic gardening secrets, tips for gardeners, etc…

Each of those keyword phrases is a variant on the targeted keyword phrase that we want to rank. The overall content of the article as well as the title can help the search engine understand that our site is all about organic gardening.

When writing articles, your keyword anchor-text no longer needs to be an exact match. Instead, the combination of your keyword variants along with your on-page SEO will help your site rank well for a wide variety of keyword phrases, including your targeted keyword phrase.

If we really think about what Matt said in that one little comment, we will come to understand that we no longer need or want to be focused on exact phrase matches or any type of keyword phrase stuffing. Rather, our focus should be on consistent variants of the keywords that we want Google to give a high-ranking position.

Comparing the Old Exact Match with MC Recommended Anchor-Text Variants

Back in the Day, Exact Match:

Organic gardening in the title tag, organic gardening in the h1, h2, and h3 tags, organic gardening in the alt image tag, organic gardening mentioned 2% to 4% throughout the content, and organic gardening anchor-text links in the side-bar, footer, and header.

And Today, the Panda Way:

Organic gardening in the title tag, gardening tips in the URL, h1 – gardening without chemicals, h2 – organic mulch tips, h3 – simple tricks for a healthy garden, alt image tag – best organic practices, and so forth.

As you can see, this new way of thinking about anchor-text linking is quite liberating. When someone types the keyword phrase, “Mom blue jacket”, with the old-school thinking we’d have to toss out using correct grammar in order to get that specific keyword into the article.

Today, we can easily add in that phrase by a simple variation, “My mom needs a blue jacket.”

I am sure that using the exact phrase match in some of our anchor-texts will still have a positive impact on our rankings. However, if we are not developing our SEO strategies so as to include well rounded variants of the keywords that we want to rank well, in time, it could possibly do more harm than good.

And if we are true forward thinkers, we’ll understand that the great Panda is learning to think more and more like a human being. And the more we conform to the new wave of SEO, the better our sites will fair with each and every Google Panda update.

FaceBook VS Google Plus

Remember those silly commercials by Yahoo? Do you YAHOOooooOOO??

Well, there was a time when Yahoo owned the search engine market. Up to 60% at one point in time. Then this amazing thing happened. Almost over night Google was THE search engine. It seemed like whenever a search was conducted in a movie, on a TV series, in the news… they “Googled” it.

WHAM! Yahoo was smacked out of this market in one clean sweep. Every since Google snagged the lions share of the search engine market, there has been no other contender.

Yah, Bing gave it a whirl, even making an appearance in the entertainment media here and there, but it was David trying to take on Goliath without his handy bag full of stones. Bing walked into that fight totally unprepared to take on the mighty Google.

The next step for Google was to dominate the video market. They bout Youtube last year in 2010 for a whopping six billion plus dollars!

Next they went after Groupon, but Groupon wouldn’t have it. They continued to turn down the SIX BILLION dollar offer to buy them out. Perhaps you are wondering what Groupon is. It’s a Deal of the Day website. So, taking over Groupon would be like snagging up a huge piece of the Ebay and Craigslist market share.

The rumor is that Groupon is perhaps holding out for a bigger offer based on the possible up to $2 billion in yearly sales.

What’s next?

Introducing Google+. Working it’s members up to 40 million within 4 months time.

Like Facebook but with some improvements.

Group video chats – it’s a chat room via everyone using video to be face to face.

Google allows it’s users to connect it’s Blogger personal blogs to their Google+ social networking accounts.

Facebook VS Google – Why Should YOU Care?

Social networking is a big part of making money online. Used correctly you can drive a huge amount of traffic to your website without worrying about SEO. And you can boost your SEO efforts using social networking. They go hand-in-hand.

If I was looking for a new product to create, this is what I’d be looking at now:

How to USE Google PLUS and Blogger to …

Drive traffic and Boost Your SEO

THAT I am SURE is going to be a new step by step video offer soon. Or maybe it’s already being done. I dunno. I just know that it’s worth keeping track of this new Google + social network.

Will Google make a quick snack of Facebook?

What do you think?

Post your thoughts below.

If you liked this post, please give it a Tweet.

UPDATE:

Google spent 500 million on um… their sneaky plot to rule the Internet.

Facebook Denied – Matt Cutts removes his FB page – why you ask? Well…. he “claims” its because they are not providing the proper education on privacy for their new addons.

Rumor – He’s in Kahoots with Google Plus to take over FB’s 750 million users.

To continue in the discussion about the Panda SEO Update, I wanted to share with you a little different POV.

(Read Part 1 – SEO Panda Update)

Google’s POV.

You see, making money online is a sweet deal when we accomplish it. For me personally, it is the only way I could make good money because of my physical limitations.

I say good because I have a little side business offline. I pet sit for people. This brings in about $2,000 to $5,000 per year. Not much, but I love animals and it’s more of a vacation to me than a job.

Okay, so… back to Google’s POV.

Google rules the world of searches. In fact, in case you haven’t noticed, Google actually owns a huge piece of the Internet pie. In addition to well, Google, they own Youtube. They purchased the big YouTuber for $6+ billion dollars. Yes, I said SIX B I L L I O N dollars!

You don’t get to be King of the Hill by walking lightly. I know, I’ve played a lot of Halo KOTH games online and it’s a killer vs killer game. Fun, but ruthless.

Okay, so Google’s changes have created a bit of a dent in my profit line. And while it was a dent for me, it was a tremendous financial blow to many others. So big in fact that some are scraping to find a way to pay the bills. And really kicking and screaming about how Google ruined their lively-hood.

But what does this mean for us? Is it the end of SEO?

Certainly not. What it does mean is that we have to work harder to to please – who? Ourselves? No, not us, but them, um, YOU, the reader. Okay, this is getting confusing.

We need to please those people who come to our blogs or websites and buy things, click on sponsor ads, give us Tweets and Facebook Likes, and share the love by telling others about our sites so we reap more traffic.

Wait?

What did I just say?

Did you notice something there? Yep, I didn’t mention Google’s search engine in that senerio. And that my Netwoozy friends is what thinking outside of the Panda box is all about.

Yes, Google is a wonderful way to reap lots of traffic when our site ranks well. But, it is not the ONLY way to skin this traffic-producing cat.

You know this year I’ve been incredibly stressed out. There were times when I just wanted to pull out my hair, hit my head against the wall, and crawl back into bed and wait for another day to spring up.

If there is one thing that bothers me it’s the inability to deliver what I promise. You know last year and the year before that when I started my SEO business I was able to rank people on the first page in Google for some very difficult keyword phrases within a few weeks. Within a months time I could rank that keyword phrase to number 1.

Success was something that helped me feel good inside. And it came with a great paycheck to boot.

Then this year I noticed things getting harder. I did my best to keep up by buying good software programs as well as subscribing to other programs that could automate my SEO efforts. I read about the updates, I researched and scrambled to understand how I could continue to rank my clients keywords high in Google’s search engine.

I personally trained people to use these tools and in fact, most of the time I could spend about 4 hours a week doing the SEO work I needed to do, and reap about 75 % of the profits. Pretty good right? Yah, it was good while it lasted.

By the way, I think all of us have noticed that the Internet never stays the same and technology is driving the Internet faster than most of us can keep up. Sooo, why do we continue to expect the way we make money online continue to reap if we don’t keep up with progress, regardless of the type of progress involved, we still need to keep up with it?

I invested $500.00 on a software program that was outdated by the time I installed it on my desktop PC and learned to use it.

What’s the Answer to this SEO Delemah?

Do we scramble to learn new SEO techniques? Is it time to update our software programs?

Personally, I think there is room for updates in the software department but there is also caution in thinking it’s the BE all END all to SEO. For this reason I’m taking a totally different POV here.

My goal now is to A. provide high quality content. I want YOU to enjoy coming to Netwoozy. I want to WOW you. I am going to dig up and research my way into your minds and hearts. If I take care of you, I know you’ll take care of me.

That’s how it works.

That’s how it suppose to work really. It’s not all about ME. It’s all about US. You and me together. Together we, the bloggers and website owners, can provide top quality content to our readers. And they, our readers, (you) will reward us by talking about us, commenting on our blogs, Tweeting and Retweeting, and sharing with others the great content we offer.

Now then…

It is time we stop relying on Google to send us traffic. Sure, we still would love to reap traffic from Google, but you know what? When we think about our visitors first, and we provide excellent top notch content, Google will notice.

Really?

Yes, really really.

We still need to understand SEO. If you watched the video on the previous article you have a better understanding of what Google wants. And if you stay tuned into Netwoozy, I’ll do the research for you and help you understand it as well.

So, was it Google’s Fault that the Panda updates shook our financial world?

I’ll leave that for you to decide.

This past week – while on VACATION (shish) I’ve been researching all over the net on how to become a guest blogger. This is a great way to drive traffic to your websites and blogs.

You can add me to Twitter or Facebook and I’ll Tweet and post to Facebook whenever I add a new post.

Did you miss part 1? Read Part 1 – SEO Panda Update

Is Google to Blame for the Sudden Losses Due to Rankings Dropping??

First I will share with you my own personal story of what happend to me due to the Panda SEO update. I’ve had one client for about a year. Each month I’ve been getting a nice check for doing specific SEO work. When the Panda started to shake up the rankings in Google’s search engine, to many, it was like getting hit by a Tsunami.  And it hit some of my clients websites as well. Their rankings dropped and I got a lot of panicy emails and angry phone calls.

Having a page 1 ranking can deliver traffic that reaps profits. Having a number 1 ranking on page one can deliver so much traffic that the profits are outstanding. Many people became totally reliant on Google’s search engine traffic. Some were relying on easy SEO methods to create those high rankings as well.

The results for both sides of the coin was serious. Some people lose their incomes over night. Some have still not recovered. While I personally suffered a few losses, I still have several other income streams that do not rely on Google.

Yet, I admit, I’ve been hating on the Panda SEO Update too.

That is until today. Today I took some time to think about the other side of the coin. I was thinking about Google’s point of view. And while I still have an issue with the fact that Google ranks in billions upon billions by using our websites as their means of obtaining profits, it is a win-win situation when people are able to find our websites should they not have any other clue how to get what they want by using other tools or search engine directories. Whoo… that was a long sentence.

This years updates have created serious issues for webmasters and SEO specialists. Some people who have been trying to learn SEO in order to make a living online have suddenly found themselves wondering if all the time and energy they have put into learning SEO has gone to waist because of the Panda SEO Update.

Others are saying that Google is to blame for their sudden loss in income. Either due to losing their SEO jobs or the loss of their rankings in Googles search engine. But let’s get down to basics here and think about the purpose of a search engine.

The Goal of the Panda SEO Update

Well, first off, Google must contend with a massive issue that sits right smack dab in the search engine optimization department. That is scrapper content, poor content, and content that has only one purpose, the goal of leaving backlinks in order to rank another website. Nothing that delivers any type of benefit to the readers. So the Panda SEO update was necessary in order to reach or continue reaching for this goal.

What is the purpose of the New Panda SEO anyway?

The purpose of SEO is to help Google understand what is on every page, why it’s on the page, how it can help people looking for what is on the page, and if that information on that page is worthy of sharing.  Now that is a lot of information for a mathematical algorithm to sort out. There is no way to analyze every page online manually so it’s up to the mathematical geniuses to figure it out.

There are black hat and white hat search engine optimization methods. And while black hat methods can be difficult for the Panda to toss out into search engine oblivion, white hat methods do not always deliver the best results either.

If you want to know the difference between SEO and SPAM, give a little listen to what Matt Cutts says in the video below.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BS75vhGO-kk[/youtube]

Okay, so now you understand a little bit about what Google thinks about SEO. So where do we go from here?

Tomorrow I’m going to talk about why we need to think outside the Panda box. And how we can do just that.

Before I close this post, I want to address the question again.

Is the Panda SEO Update to blame for the profit losses?

What do you think? I’ll tell you my thoughts tomorrow.

Stay tuned.

If you enjoyed this post, please click the Tweet button at the top of the article.

I’d also love to hear your stories on how the Panda SEO update effected your business as well.

Hi Everyone,

This year I’ve been doing my best to keep up with the great Panda. That’s the new algorithm that Google created to keep the garbage information out of their search engine rankings.

Here’s some things that I have “heard” and “read” and they are what Google has “told” us is true. Well, ehem… they don’t tell us everything.

Did you know that Google made 500 or so changes in their algorithm?! Wait… did you know that they actually do this every year? Well, I didn’t know that.

Their goal? To serve the best results for each user. Yep, they want to deliver the “goods”. The ranking enineers goal is to figure out why some searches spit out really poor results. There are triggers that do this and they try to figure out what those triggers are and why they failed to deliver the right goods to the searcher.

They go through a lot of rigorous scientific testing. Um… ok, well, I got this call from a Google employee the other day who wanted to update my website in their Google listing. Sweets! You know what I heard in the background? A lot of hooting and hollering. Those guys are having a lot of fun down there so I’m not convinced they are working all that hard ><

Google employes a lot of people who just sit around and compare website rankings. “Yep, that site looks good”, “Na… that’s a bad one”. … They actually DO manually look at a lot of websites every day.

Plus, they have people who are not employed going over the searches that provide more related search data for them to analyze.

One of the big changes that Google makes is based on what WORKS for USERS.

What does this mean for US? I think it means that the more WE focus on the benefits that our readers will gain by stopping by and reading our blogs or website content, the more our sites will “trigger” Google love.

That is in theory. I personally think that hackers and spammers and backlink junkies will still find a way to get to the top without deserving it. Plus, I also believe there are many websites worthy of top rankings that will never get there because they have not yet been discovered.

So, what’s the answer? Was there a question?

What can we do with SEO?

Honestly, my goal is to create a high quality website. I have two websites I will be focusing on in 2012. Netwoozy and my other site, which I won’t name here.

Every day Google gets closer and closer to filtering out garbage content. So, if you really want to make money online in SEO, I’m thinking you’re going to have to work very hard at delivering quality content rather than focusing on backlinking like crazy.

I’m not saying backlinking is out. I’m just saying quality is IN.