Convergence of Google events – an update alignment?

Several events are converging that may signal a looming Google update.

• First, the Google IPO quiet period ended Tuesday. While most are speculating on what Google will say about its financial status, I wonder if they will break their silence regarding some of the latest updates (or lack thereof).
• Second, the fourth quarter of the year begins tomorrow. If Google has indeed decided to only update PR on a quarterly basis, now would be the time to do so. (Googleguy hinted at the possibility many months ago).
• Third, a new googlebot has been frantically indexing pages. Many have speculated as to why the new googlebot is so voracious, and it may mean nothing at all, but combined with the timing of the previous two events mentioned, it may mean a move towards some kind of SEO-shattering update with a completely new index.

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Nice list of directories for link submission

Check out www.directoryarchives.com. The webmaster has done a good job of presenting information about worthwhile directories that you can submit your sites to. It includes information such as if the submissions are free or paid, and lists many I was previously unaware of. Good place to go if you want to spend a day link building.

Before you ask why is this site number one…

How many forum threads have you seen start with the question…Why is this site number one? Before you ask that question, at least do some rudimentary analysis. When analyzing the competition, I always head first to the Mcdar Keyword Analysis tool at http://www.mcdar.net/KeywordTool/keywordtool.asp. Enter your url and keyword phrase. The top 10 results for your keyword phrase will be listed with a lot of useful information. Quite often, just a simple glance at the returned results will be enough to tell you why your competition is doing so well. (Hint: it is usually a matter of more backlinks). By looking at this data, you can usually spot where your weaknesses lie. This tool is not the be-all, end-all of competitive SERPs analysis, but it is a great place to start – before asking the question – Why?

New googlebot user agent

Many people have noticed a new googlebot user agent in their log files recently. This new entry in the log will look like Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Googlebot/2.1; +http://www.google.com/bot.html). Way back in March, googleguy over at webmasterworld forum mentioned that they were testing this new user agent and would roll it out when they believed it make a smooth transition. Apparently, six months later, that time has come.

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Make it easy for webmasters to link to you

Not all webmasters are proficient at HTML, and not all webmasters who wish to link to your site would use the anchor text that would be most beneficial to you. Make it easy for webmasters to link to you. Provide code on your site that they can simply copy and paste into their page to link to you. You may want to give several different choices, with varying keyword phrases, for them to choose from. In any case, you have just a bit more control this way. Not all webmasters will choose to use the code you give them, but you stand a much better chance of getting links that help you in the SERPs if you make it easy for them.

Add content by soliciting testimonials

In a previous post, I mentioned a creative way of adding backlinks to a site by offering to write testimonials for another site if they agreed to post a link back to your site. You can find that post at http://www.seo-scoop.com/direct_link.cfm?thepost=88. However, adding testimonials for your product or service on your website can be a great way to add content to your site. Of course, it also helps reassure potential customers that your product or service is worth purchasing.

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Have you checked your web logs recently?

The log files from your web site traffic can be an important aspect of your SEO research. You can find an amazing amount of information embedded within the logs. For example, today I noticed seven search terms that are doing very well in Yahoo that I was unaware of. These are terms I had not thought of and had not optimized for, but people are flowing into the site using those terms. In addition, Yahoo is outranking Google in terms of traffic for the site I am talking about. Make time to check your log files at least once a week to see what information pops up that can help you determine your next SEO strategy.

Yahoo! hiring – Search engine specialists needed

Yahoo! is actively seeking dozens of engineers and scientists for its search engine technology team. Yahoo! claims they are focused on taking the state of the art in search engines to the next level. If you think you have the right stuff, check out the post on the Yahoo! blog at http://www.ysearchblog.com/archives/000025.html.

Someone copied your site – what now?

I have mentioned before that you can find out if anyone is copying your content by using the Copyscape tool. However, I have just noticed that this same site also has a nice article outlining what to do if the tool indicates that some nefarious webmaster has copied your content. Go to http://www.copyscape.com/protect.php to view the steps you should take to prevent infringement of your site content.

SEO table tricks

SEOs have long used the “table trick” to push the most important body text content to the top of the code, before the navigation information. This trick has long been documented at sites such as http://www.wordsinarow.com/tabletrick.html. I have found a few other pages that expand upon the table trick to accomodate different situations and thought I would pass them along. Check out http://www.seo-guide.com/tabletrick.html and http://www.larryswanson.com/SEO-table-trick.htm for a few advanced tips to expand upon the old table trick. I have long since switched to CSS, but for those of you who prefer to use tables for design and layout, you should definitely take a look at this.

Personalized search – how does it affect SEO?

The wave of search engines concentrating on personalized search has had me a bit concerned about the effect that will have on search engine optimization. But I suppose it depends upon what the definition of personalization is. The original definition, as I understood it, was to have different results displayed for each user, depending upon that users profile. This would make an SEOs job very difficult. Where does your site rank? Well, it all depends upon which user is searching. Your site might have a million different rankings. It would be impossible to track.

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Adding content using RSS feeds

Any good SEO will tell you that you need to have good content. One way to add more content to your site is to make use of RSS feeds. RSS feeds are plentiful these days, and they are a good way to add relevant content to your site. However, the actual process of parsing an RSS feed for display on your site can be a daunting task if you have never done it before. It involves installing scripts on your server as well, and that may not be an option your hosting company allows. However, there is a much simpler way to add a feed to your site, that is even customizable using CSS stylesheets. Several sites will convert a feed of your choice into a simple javascript code that you place anywhere you want the feed to appear on your site. My favorite is http://www.amerivault.com/news/syndication/amvrss.php but another good choice is http://jade.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/feed/.

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SEO Reminder: That time of year for a SERPs shakeup

Brett Tabke, over at WebmasterWorld, has reminded everyone today that Google has a history of doing major shake-up algorithm changes in the last quarter of the year. Update Florida occurred on 11/15/2003 and Update Dallas occurred on 9/28/2002. Apparently, there was also an Update Irvine in 2001, but I do not have an actual date to assign to it, but Brett claims it was during a similar time period. Of course, Google has had many updates over the years, but in keeping with the theme of naming updates in the same fashion as hurricanes are named, these particular updates were more of the catastrophic, category 4 types. Another analogy I like to use is that such major updates are similar to a Wall Street crash. Webmasters (like investors) can suddenly see their fortunes disappear overnight, and everyone scrambles to figure out what happened.

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