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\n\n\nThe YouMoz Blog<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\nDon\u2019t Let Google Huff and Puff and Blow You Away<\/h2>\n
July 5th, 2012 \u2013 Posted by\u00a0Dan Deceuster<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0Search Engine Trends<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n20<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n12<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nThis entry was written by one of our members and submitted to our\u00a0YouMoz<\/a>\u00a0section. The author\u2019s views below are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of SEOmoz, Inc.<\/div>\n\nWe\u2019re all familiar with the story of the three little pigs. One builds his house out of straw, another builds his house out of sticks and the other builds his house out of bricks. Along comes the big bad wolf who huffs and puffs and blows down the straw house. The house of sticks meets the same fate. But in spite of his huffing and puffing, the big bad wolf is unable to collapse the house made of bricks.<\/p>\n
But a lesser known tale is that of the three little webmasters. The first little webmaster built his website with stuffed keywords, duplicate articles, spun text and a host of other on-site mischief. But along came the big bad panda who huffed and puffed and blew that website right out of Google\u2019s search results.<\/p>\n
So the second little webmaster built his website with original content and went out and created thousands of bookmarks, submitted his site to thousands of free SEO directories, spun thousands of articles and made a resource page with a link exchange program. But along came the big bad penguin who huffed and puffed and blew that website right out of Google\u2019s search results.<\/p>\n
The third little webmaster, seeing the fate of his comrades, decided he needed to make his website immune to the huffing and puffing of any rogue pandas, penguins or other black and white trouble makers that might be lurking about. How did he do it? He followed the advice of the zookeeper who let those foul creatures into the public in the first place.<\/p>\n
Webmaster Guidelines<\/h2>\n
Unless you started learning SEO yesterday, you\u2019ve probably read and reread\u00a0Google\u2019s Webmaster Guidelines<\/a>. I don\u2019t think I need to go in depth on these guidelines. If you don\u2019t know them, stop reading right now and go read them. It will contribute a lot more to your SEO knowledge than silly pig analogies.<\/p>\n
Now as SEO practitioners, we tend to focus on the obvious things in the guidelines, like including a sitemap, checking page load times, using a robots.txt file and all of that good stuff. But in my recent rereading of the guidelines, I found something that others have touched on in the past but that I consider to be profound. Under the quality guidelines section, Google asks this question:<\/p>\n
\u201cWould I do this if search engines didn\u2019t exist?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n
I can tell you this much- if search engines didn\u2019t exist, neither would about 80% of the Internet. Now ask yourself this question: if search engines didn\u2019t exist, would 80% of your links? Would 80% of your content?<\/p>\n
This might sound a little crazy, but the best SEO you can do right now is no SEO. Yes, follow the guidelines previously mentioned. I would consider this search engine compliance more than I would search engine optimization. But don\u2019t go around the Internet looking for any and every opportunity to do something that is going to increase your search engine rankings.<\/p>\n
Get Traffic Like Search Engines Don\u2019t Exist<\/h2>\n
This is something Rand has talked about for quite some time. This is why he started\u00a0Inbound.org<\/a>\u00a0and shares information about inbound marketing\u00a0like this<\/a>. I can\u2019t stress enough how important this information is. By focusing on other traffic sources and ignoring search engines, you\u2019ll find search engines won\u2019t be able to ignore you.<\/p>\n
With that in mind, I\u2019d like to share a few things I have done as if search engines didn\u2019t exist. Hopefully these real life examples can be beneficial to you.<\/p>\n
Wikipedia<\/strong><\/p>\n
Anyone can become a\u00a0Wikipedia<\/a>\u00a0editor. I\u2019ll admit, learning their editing software is very, very tricky. But it can be done, and it is well worth it. You\u2019ve probably noticed while reading articles in Wikipedia that some will have this little guy:<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
What this is really saying is, \u201cI am a golden opportunity!\u201d Here\u2019s what you do. Go to Google and perform this search:<\/p>\n
site:en.wikipedia.org \u201cthis section requires expansion\u201d + keyword<\/p>\n
Your keyword can be treadmill, bicycle, shoes, whatever. You will then see every Wikipedia entry with that word that has a section requiring expansion. You then see what it is they need more info about. Go over to your website and put together a comprehensive article covering that topic.<\/p>\n
Now become a Wikipedia editor and edit the entry that needed help. Fill it out with your new knowledge you just acquired from creating an article and cite your article as a source. I\u2019ve gotten at least 2 visitors each day from that citation link. You can too.<\/p>\n
Blog Comments<\/strong><\/p>\n
No, your name is not \u201ccash advance payday loan 24 hours\u201d and you\u2019re not commenting on blogs no one reads. Here\u2019s what you do. Find a blog related to your niche that people actually read. Find the most recent post you can that doesn\u2019t have very many comments yet.<\/p>\n
If your site is www.ExampleName.com then the name you use should be Example Name. Your email should be ExampleName@gmail.com or admin@examplename.com. You should attach a gravatar to this email that is either a picture of you or your website\u2019s logo. Leave your homepage in the website field.<\/p>\n
Now leave a real comment. Not something stupid like \u201cyour blog is pretty!\u201d Leave a real, genuine comment. Ask a question or two. Once you\u2019ve done this, make a spreadsheet. Keep note of the URL of the blog post you just commented on. Each day, go through those URL\u2019s and see if your comment is live. Once it is live, keep checking back to see if the admin or someone else has replied to you. If they have, reply back. Start a conversation.<\/p>\n
I can\u2019t tell you how many referrals I get to my websites just from links in my blog comments. If you have something good to say, people will check you out. Including the blog owner, which can have many extra benefits.<\/p>\n
SEX!<\/h2>\n
Got your attention, didn\u2019t I? The last point is do something to get attention. A few months ago I heard aboutcash mobs<\/a>\u00a0for the first time. I loved the idea and there wasn\u2019t already a cash mob where I live. So I figured I would start one.<\/p>\n
I made a\u00a0website<\/a>\u00a0for my new cash mob and set up a page on Facebook and an account on Twitter. In no time at all I had 100 likes, had been interviewed on the local radio station as well as a state-wide radio program and at our first event I was interviewed for the biggest news channel in my state. That interview aired during the Sunday night news.<\/p>\n
That kind of attention and exposure is what drives traffic. I tripled my Facebook likes, added Twitter followers and saw a big spike in my website traffic after that. I can\u2019t tell you how to get attention in your niche, but stop being like everybody else! Do something different and unique and you\u2019ll get attention.<\/p>\n
A House Of Bricks<\/h2>\n
Remember that third little pig? He survived because he built a house of bricks. And if anyone has ever laid brick before, you know you do it one brick at a time. Building an entire house of bricks takes time. Your panda-proof or penguin-proof website won\u2019t happen overnight. But if you just comply with Google\u2019s guidelines and then get traffic like Google doesn\u2019t exist, you\u2019ll find that all the huffing and puffing of any assortment of wild creatures won\u2019t blow you away.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
About Dan Deceuster<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 Dan Deceuster has been doing web marketing since 2008. He loves sports and fitness and enjoys helping out his friend at\u00a0http:\/\/www.treadmillreviewguru.com<\/a>.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\nDo you like this post?<\/div>\n20<\/strong>\u00a0Thumbs Up,\u00a012<\/strong>\u00a0Thumbs Down<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nGet your social on<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n25 Comments<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n
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- \n\n<\/div>\nMark-N<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>|\u00a0July 5th, 2012<\/p>\n\n
Hi Dan, while I completely agree with the sentiment of this article 100%, there\u2019s one glaring factor \u2013 it simply doesn\u2019t apply whatsoever to affiliates and smaller content sites. On a related note, Google is hardcore bigoted against affiliate marketers these days, and all of the good guidelines & best industry practices on earth won\u2019t help you get your eBay Partner Network, CJ or Amazon Associates-driven product site back on page one after being de-indexed thanks to Panda & Penguin. As usual, especially on Google, it\u2019s all about backlinks, and Penguin seems to have done nothing to stop all of the garbage MFA\u2019s and keyword-stuffed 5 page .info\/.name\/.ws blogs with eBay links from being on page 1. This is making life miserable on webmasters who are doing the right thing, and making it be all about the content, ease of finding REAL & helpful information, and usability. Just yesterday I was cross referencing a bunch of page 1 results from some competitive keywords for coupon codes. All of page 1 was dominated by poorly written fluff text sites that had a million and one backlinks from free directories, interlinked through multiple other sites\/domains that the webmaster owned with re-spun content linking to the original content. Seriously, Google?!?! Why even bother being a white hatter anymore?<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
A creative firm I\u2019m consulting for is working on a project within an industry that is heavily and notoriously dominated by black hat backlink tactics. I\u2019m guessing this is known over at Google Inc. But, once again, what is being done about it? Just after doing a sample search, I saw exactly what this firm meant \u2013 as usual, all of page 1 was dominated by squeeze pages, keyword stuffed content, poorly designed pages, etc.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s only half of the battle \u2013 thanks to Google\u2019s new algorithmic updates, big companies with big AdWords budgets are now dominating keywords like there\u2019s no tomorrow. For instance, I\u2019m in an industrial category where most competitors are running 15 year old websites that have un-friendly URLs, bad scripts, and look like they were untouched since Clinton was president. They\u2019re top of Google page 1 now. Why? Why do they deserve it? They do no social networking, they don\u2019t update their website, their site is nearly unusable or\u00a0navigable, most of their backlinks are from their own sister sites, so why does my brand new, daily updated, socially networked, white-hatted site get bumped back 7 pages, and theirs hits page 1 #2? Just because I properly promote 3rd party eBay-listed products instead of being a classified ad site, or Amazon products rather than shipping them out from a warehouse, yet still provide a better user experience with a better variety, tutorials and information?<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The big point of the matter is that Google is putting all of these measures in place to knock scum sites out of their results, and it\u2019s not working. In many cases, it is hitting honest people and screwing their livelihood \u2013 SEObook does a good job of explaining this in detail. In other events, it is becoming nearly impossible to even get a brand new site listed for any decent keyword these days, unless you are buying & materializing hardcore backlinks (after all, backlinks are king, they always were and continue to be) or have a gigantic,\u00a0inexhaustible\u00a0daily budget for AdWords or other expensive methods to initiate a campaign aimed at targeting mass amounts of people. All of the great, compelling and wonderful content on earth won\u2019t change that.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Just wait until Google implements paid organic (inevitable, in my opinion \u2013 especially after their recent change of heart on the topic) \u2013 we\u2019ll see this industry get turned on its head.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
It seems like the only way to have a prayer at ranking is on Bing, a much less enigmatic algorithm where doing the right thing seems to still get the rankings. Unfortunately, Bing traffic is few and between, and converts poorly \u2013 at least in my industry.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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- \n\n<\/div>\nNutcrackerDesign<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>|\u00a0July 6th, 2012<\/p>\n\n
I completely agree with you pixelrage. \u00a0It is so frustrating when you try to do everything by the book, and then your rankings start to drop, and when you look into the backlinks from your competitors, you can see that links have blatantly been bought, articles have been spun to death and show no relevance to the company. \u00a0What are we supposed to do? report every webpage?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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- \n\n<\/div>\nPeter Mead<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>|\u00a0July 6th, 2012<\/p>\n\n
Hi NutcrackerDesign,
\nYeah I agree SEO is frustration, just look up the dictionary, it\u2019s there.<\/p>\nAnyways, it\u2019s becoming more like marketing now. It is a good thing I suppose because behind every computer screen is a real person sitting there and they do want good content that will enhance their life somehow, rather than just getting served up with what some SEOers like us want them to have for lunch\u2026<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Thanks,
\nPeter Mead IT Web Consultant
\n<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\nEdited by KeriMorgret on July 6th, 2012 at 9:25 am<\/div>\n\n1<\/strong><\/h6>\n
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\n<\/div>\nrussvirante<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>|\u00a0July 5th, 2012<\/p>\n\nSorry, I just disagree with so much of this post\u2026<\/p>\n
1. Complying by Google\u2019s Guidelines will not guarantee you SEO traffic in any way shape or form. It help protect you from penalties, but it won\u2019t necessarily secure you top rankings either. The overwhelming majority of websites comply with Google\u2019s guidelines and don\u2019t see a drop of traffic outside of their brand names.<\/p>\n
2. If you \u201cget traffic like Google doesn\u2019t exist\u201d doesn\u2019t quite work either. First, the recentGoogle Chrome penalty<\/a>\u00a0raises some really scary questions where sites can get penalized for advertising in ways that create unsolicited links. In this case, Google ran pay-for-placement video ads and the publishers decided, without incentive or request, to link to the Chrome browser page. Google penalized Chrome for this. More importantly, the majority of social media opportunities, including Wikipedia, are nofollowed.<\/p>\n
I guess what I am saying is this. SEO is not a fairy tale. If you want to rank, especially in competitive niches, you better be willing to play hardball.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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- \n\n<\/div>\nmoosahemani<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>|\u00a0July 6th, 2012<\/p>\n\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
I do agree with the overall concept of this post that, from the day one you have to build your website and linking strategy in such a way that no Google animal can kill it, which is true to a higher extent.<\/p>\n
But saying that Google guidelines are going to help you push your rankings higher in search results (especially from the competitive key phrases) then this might not be true in my opinion. Guidelines may help you stay away from penalty but EPIC win from guidelines only are fairly not possible.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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\n<\/div>\nPeter Mead<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>|\u00a0July 6th, 2012<\/p>\n\nYah it is hard work. And it takes a lot of Mojo for competitive niche for sure.<\/p>\n
Oh, you and the algo might change just when you hit the sweet spot\u2026
![\":)\"](\"http:\/\/www.empowernetwork.com\/thebestoftexas2\/wp-includes\/images\/smilies\/icon_smile.gif\")
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\n<\/div>\nlethal0r<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>|\u00a0July 5th, 2012<\/p>\n\nI think dan\u2019s article is excellent advice for those who run a site which truly offers something different.but if you are just running a site solely to make money then you wouldn\u2019t get away with adding it to a wikipedia page \u2013 I have tried!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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- \n\n<\/div>\nJason Jackson<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>|\u00a0July 6th, 2012<\/p>\n\n
You definitely can get a page added to Wikipedia.\u00a0 You first have to build a profile up before you start linking to yourself.\u00a0 Or get in touch with an already established editor and get them to post your updates.<\/p>\n
Hope this helps!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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