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Should Google Decide What Is Legal?

UK Parliament has asked Google to come up with an algorithm that automatically pulls out information from its search results based on legality. But Google is saying that sort of decision is best left to humans. Do you agree or disagree?

I think I agree.

The problem is, what if Google’s algorithm returns a false positive – the name for when a software program flags a certain piece of data as meeting the standards of the program when it does not. In other words, let’s say a search result is removed based on legality and it turns out that it wasn’t illegal after all. For instance, a search result was flagged as containing private information on a specific individual when in fact it only listed the person’s name. That would be a false positive and it could open Google up to lawsuits.

Another danger, and one that is potentially more dangerous, is the false negative. What if a search result does include private information that should not be made public and Google’s algorithm misses it? Then, the company would certainly be open to a lawsuit.

The current system where individuals and businesses actually have a legitimate reason to have search results removed based on a legality actually have to contact Google and request removal is a much better system. This puts the responsibility for removal of the information on the individual where it rightly belongs and it also fits in with the way privacy information actually works in the real world. Humans offline are responsible for ensuring legal issues are met with; they should be responsible online as well. It should not be left to search engine optimisation tactics.

Why Content And SEO Go Together

Which came first, content or SEO? Chicken or the egg?

It’s an age old question, isn’t it? So what’s the answer? Was it the chicken? Or was it the egg? Content or SEO?

The answer is both. They arrived at about the same time. And the reason is because the two are inseparable. Content and SEO go together like spaghetti and meatballs, or hand and glove.

If your content isn’t search engine optimised, then it likely won’t be found by the people you want to find it. On the other hand, if you focus too heavily on SEO, then the search engines won’t index it and it won’t get found anyway. You’re stuck in a trap. And there’s only one way out.

The way to make your content shine is to optimize it according to the search engine guidelines. That is, make your content great by writing to your target audience and writing content that they would love to read whether it was search engine optimised or not. While you’re doing that, optimize it for search engine traffic by sprinkling it with the right keywords and building inbound links that help it. Oh, and promote it through the social media websites as well.

Great content IS great SEO, and vice-versa. It’s become impossible in this age to discuss the one without the other. Don’t even try it.

The next time someone asks you if you need your content optimised, ask them what’s the No. 1 rule of SEO content. If they can’t answer it, you’d be better off doing it yourself.

Does Local SEO Include Linking To Google Places?

Local businesses are strongly encouraged to claim their Google Places listing. But should you link to it? That’s one question asked of a search engine optimiser who specialises in local SEO.

I like the answer he gives, too. There is no reason you should expect your links to your Google Places page to increase your page’s search rankings. In fact, those links could hurt your local website.

Local SEO is a tricky business. On the one hand, Google Places can help your local search engine optimisation efforts. But only if you do it right. And sometimes linking to your Google Places page can benefit you. But most times not.

For instance, you could pull your Google Map into your website to show your prospects where you are located and how to find you. You could even go so far as to place a pin on the Google Places map to show your exact location. And if you have a good number of Google Places reviews, especially favorable reviews, then you could show your pride in those reviews by linking to your Google Places page.

Wait a minute, didn’t I just say don’t do that?

Actually, what I said is it won’t help your page rank any higher. It might be good marketing to showcase your positive reviews. But if you do that, use a no-follow link. You don’t want any link juice needed for your website’s internal pages escaping into the Webosphere.

Local SEO often includes Google Places, but it doesn’t generally include linking out to Google Places from your website.

The Truth About SEO

If you’ve been around long enough to follow the search engines from the very early primitive forms to where we stand now in the competition of Google vs. Bing, then you’ve likely learned something along the way. Hopefully, what you’ve learned is that long-term value is better than short-term SEO tweaks.

Sure, you can use “beating the algorithm” as a strategy – for awhile. But eventually, and Panda is a great example, you’ll lose and have to start all over again.

Why go through all of that? Create value from the start and you’ll never have to worry about starting over.

Great content is the real SEO. If you do it well over time, then your pages will rank eventually. What you really want to focus on is ranking for keywords that are important to your business. And to do that, you have to work hard.

Working hard where SEO is concerned means staying on top of what is important to the search engines. It doesn’t mean “trying to beat them.” It means working with them to help searchers find the best content for their search queries. And that’s hard work.

The best way to accomplish that goal is to ask yourself what questions people would ask in order to find your website. Answer that question and promote the web pages that do so and you’ll have a much better chance of getting the rankings you want. Promote your business as a business that cares about its customers. That’s the real SEO. Everything else is nonsense.

Keyword Research Step By Step

Keyword research is one of the most important steps to the SEO process. Get it wrong and you could spend thousands of hours targeting the wrong keywords and getting meager results. Do it right and it will make your Web business’s life cycle complete.

It’s relatively simple to do good keyword research and it doesn’t cost a lot of money. You could buy fancy and expensive tools, but you don’t need to. Google has a free keyword research tool that can get you started in the right direction.

I wouldn’t start with that tool, however. Follow these steps to good keyword research.

• First, sit down and think about what your business does. Write down as many 1-3 word phrases that would describe your business and its mission that you can think of. Just make a brainstorm list.
• Now, take your list and enter each phrase in the top line of Google’s keyword research tool. If your website is live, add the address to the second line. Choose a category for your business and click “Search.”
• For each keyword phrase you perform this search for, download the CSV Excel spreadsheet for that keyword.
• After you’ve downloaded all your spreadsheets, compile the list of keywords into one spreadsheet. Go through and delete duplicates and anything that doesn’t really relate to your business.
• You should have a pretty clean list of keywords. But look at these fields on your spreadsheet: Competition, Global Monthly Searches, Local Monthly Searches. You won’t pay any attention to Competition unless you plan to do some PPC advertising. Let’s focus on organic keyword research. If your business is local only, you’ll concern yourself with the Local Monthly Searches field. If you will be looking for clients from anywhere, then you’ll be concerned with the Global Monthly Searches field.
• Hide the fields you are not interested in so you can focus on what is important to your business.
• Go through each keyword and conduct a search on Google and Bing for that keyword. Be sure you are not logged in to your Google account. At the top of each search engine’s results page you’ll see the number of results your query returns. Add a field to your spreadsheet for each search engine labeled “Google” and “Bing.” Enter the number of search results for each of your keywords in the correct block corresponding with the keyword on your list and the search engine.
• Now, determine your Keyword Effectiveness Index by dividing the number of searches (Local or Global depending on what is important to your business) by the number of results for each keyword. You should have two KEIs – one for Bing and one for Google.
• Sort your spreadsheet by KEI for Google and then sort it by KEI by Bing. The higher the KEI the better your keyword is in terms of easy it will be to rank for that keyword.

Wrapping Up Your Keyword Research

Note that this exercise will only tell you which keywords are easier to rank for according to the level of competition versus how many current search engine results appear for that keyword. I would not make final decisions based on this information. Instead, go through the list and rank your keywords according to how important those phrases are to your actual business. In other words, which ones do you see potential customers using to conduct a search in each search engine based on what your business actually does.

If a potential customer was looking for your business, what would you expect them to search for? That’s the question you want to answer and there could be, probably are, several answers to the question. Every search query results page should turn up results that answer a specific question.

Now you should have enough information to go on for your SEO efforts. Look at the keyword phrases that you think would be most search for by people interested in doing business with you. Which of those phrases would be easier to go after according to your KEI numbers? Focus on those first.

If you do your keyword research correctly, you should have enough keyword phrases to keep you business for at least six months. But keep in mind that keyword research is an ongoing activity. You should do it and keep doing it for the life of your business.

Is Your Content Fresh Enough?

We’ve believed that fresh content was important for a while now. When many other SEOs were singing the praises of aged content with lots of links, we were noticing that Google was starting to favor fresher content. Fresher content generally doesn’t have a lot of links. But it can gain some links quickly if it is promoted well.

Here’s an article that talks about the QDF update.

Here what I think this is saying: If you have fresh content is that is gaining popularity through inbound links and social media promotion, then that content is going to do better than aged content that people have forgotten about. But if that aged content is still getting linked to and being promoted, then it’s going to do even better. Why? Because of the age factor.

This isn’t hard to understand. Fresh content is good. Fresh content receiving attention is even better. Aged content is OK, but if it’s getting promoted and receiving attention, then it’s even better than Fresh content getting a lot of attention.

Do you agree? Do you think age is a factor only if the content is popular?

SEO has changed a lot. It will change a lot more. But at the heart, the fundamentals are still the same.

Do You Need A Microsite?

For awhile, you heard a lot about microsites. Everyone was building them. Then, boom! Dead. No one’s talking bout microsites any more.

A part of the reason no one is talking about microsites any more is because Google Panda killed a lot of sites that had been built solely for SEO purposes. In essence, those SEOs who were using them for link building purposes were doing it the wrong way. They were building microsites to game the search engines, and they got caught.

There are times when a microsite can be beneficial.

For instance, let’s say you run a business with a broad scope. Let’s say you run your business on a national scale. You could target each market you serve with a microsite that specializes in the geotargeted keyword grouping for your niche. Just be sure when you establish your microsite that you don’t do it solely for SEO benefits – and don’t link back to your main site.

Each microsite should be a stand alone entity. That’s rule No. 1. Any website that can’t rank on its own shouldn’t exist.

Another way to build a microsite that works is to focus on a specific sub-niche of your business. Rather than geotargeting your microsite, just focus on a smaller niche within your niche. You’ll have a tighter SEO/keyword grouping and be able to rank for the right keywords related to that grouping.

Microsites are not really dead. They’re sleeping. Many SEOs only used them to begin with to drive traffic back to their main websites and to game the search engines. If you do it that way, you’ll fail. Instead, build a microsite that is ready for business.

Google Is Changing The Game – Again

The Google Blog has posted an introduction to something it’s calling Search plus Your World. At first glance, it looks like it could kill SEO. But will it?

There are three aspects of Search plus Your World that make it a total change from the way search engine marketing has been done in the past. Let’s tackle them one by one.

1. Personal Results - This is the part that will have a lot of SEOs crying. It will allow searchers the ability to search what is important to them within their own profiles and connections. From a searcher’s point of view, that’s not a bad thing.
2. Profiles in Search - Right now, this aspect of Google’s search product isn’t very attractive simply because not nearly as many people are using Google+ as are using Facebook. When and if that ever changes, it could become much more important.
3. People and Pages – The same problem exists here that exists for Profiles in Search. The usage for Google+ just isn’t there yet.

Note that searchers can turn the personal search off any time and search the Web just like they can now – without the personalized results. But will they? Probably not. And that could cause a problem for search engine optimisers.

But I don’t think it will. I think what will happen is Internet marketers will get better at promoting their content socially. The ones who don’t won’t survive.

There’s just one drawback: Content promoters will likely get pretty good at delivering social spam. If Google can kill that, then the Web will be a better place for all of us.

How Google+ Has An Advantage

SEOs and Internet marketers are starting to figure out that it has only taken months to achieve the rankings for their personal names on Google+ as opposed to years for other services like Facebook and Twitter. Why is that?

As pointed out by Cyrus Shepard at SEOmoz, Google+ has a distinct advantage over the other two social media services.

How has Google won so much real estate on their own search pages in such a short period of time? Do they cheat? No, not really – more on this later. Google wins by employing really smart Search Engine Optimization techniques – the same SEO practices available to any online business.

Being owned by a search engine gives you certain advantages. But Facebook and Twitter both have the age advantage going in their favor. Facebook has the traffic advantage. And the reputation/authority advantage. Still, the largest social network to date isn’t using all of its advantages to its own benefit.

The reason why Facebook will lose the SEO war is because it prevents Google from crawling its profile pages. Why?

I don’t think Facebook can hope to maintain its position as the largest social network if it continues that policy. If someone is searching for a friend, you would think that Facebook would want that friend’s profile to be the No. 1 ranking web page for the individual’s name. Currently, it won’t be. The Google+ profile will be.

Granted, not everyone has a Google+ profile. How long will it be, however, before they do?

Using Blogger As An Article Directory

Now that Google has killed off a lot of article directories as nothing more than spam farms, or link farms, and now that Google Knol is dead, where can small business website owners go to build inbound links?

There are still a number of places to go for building good inbound links. Have you considered Blogger?

Blogger is a Google-owned property that a recent Nielsen report calls the second highest trafficked social media website online. Of course, YouTube is left off of this list, but you should notice that Blogger is well ahead of Twitter. That makes it a pretty valuable property.

And since it is owned by Google, its link building and SEO potential is pretty doggone good.

There are two ways to use Blogger as an article directory. You can start a blog and use it to periodically upload your articles, linking them back to your own website. Or, you can start a new Blogger blog for every article you want to upload. Each blog will get its own subdomain so be sure to use your primary keyword as the subdomain for each article. And link them back to your website.

If you don’t overdo it, Blogger can be a good source of SEO links for any web property you own. Just don’t overdo it.