Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Link Building Tips 2014: Matt Cutts Says “How Many Links On a Page Should We Have?”

Google has been published most important link building factors video regarding webmaster help and how many links you should have on a page.
In a short language, Google advised to us, our websites not to have more than a hundred links on a page. But now we can get by with more than that. According to Cutts there’s no real limit, though there might be. Just don’t have too many. But don’t worry about it too much.
Confused? That’s because there’s no genuine answer at this time. The necessary gist is just: be logical. Of course that’s subjective, but here’s what Cutts says:
He says, “It used to be the case that Googlebot and our indexing system would truncate at 100 or 101K, and anything beyond that wouldn’t get indexed, and what we did, was we said, ‘Okay, if the page is 101K, 100K, then, you know, it’s reasonable to expect roughly one link per kilobyte, and therefore, something like 100 links on a page.’ So that was in our technical guidelines, and we said, you know, ‘This is what we recommend,’ and a lot of people assumed that if they had 102 links or something like that then we would view it as spam, and take action, but that was just kind of a rough guideline.”
“Nonetheless, the web changes,” he continues. “It evolves. In particular, webpages have gotten a lot bigger. There’s more rich media, and so it’s not all that uncommon to have aggregators or various things that might have a lot more links, so we removed that guideline, and we basically just now say, ‘Keep it to a reasonable number,’ which I think is pretty good guidance. There may be a limit on the file size that we have now, but it’s much larger, and at the same time, the number of links that we can process on a page is much larger.”
“A couple factors to bear in mind,” he notes. “When you have PageRank, the amount of PageRank that flows through the outlinks is divided by the number of total outlinks, so if you have, you know, 100 links, you’ll divide your PageRank by 100. If you have 1,000 links, you’ll divide your PageRank by 1,000. So if you have a huge amount of links, the amount of PageRank that’s flowing out on each individual link can become very, very small. So the other thing is it can start to annoy users, or it can start to look spammy if you have tons and tons and tons of links, so we arewilling to take action on the webspam side if we see so many links that it looks really, really spammy.”
If you’re concerned about having too many links on a page, Cutts suggests getting a “regular user,” and testing it out with them to see if they think it has too many links.
So, in the end, just ask a friend, “Hey man, do you think this page has too many links?”

Problem solved.

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Matt Cutts: All Pages Needs To Have a Unique Meta Description

In Search Engine Optimization (SEO) world, website keywords rank is getting hard in Google search engine. Google needs to require all things are unique and informative to users.

Now we are discussing about Meta description. Google’s head of search spam Matt Cutts asking to us regarding Meta description in his recent video where a human writes in to ask.

Is it required for each single page in website to have a unique Meta tag description?

Matt Cutts says there are only two options for Meta tag description.

  • You can make a unique Meta tag description.    
  • You never elect to put a same Meta tag description At all. Definitely don’t have duplicate Meta tag     descriptions.

If you want to find duplicate content on your website, It is very simple to find and avoiding duplicate meta tag description by registering and verifying your website with the free Google Webmaster Tools console. Google will crawl your website and tell you if they find duplicate Meta tag descriptions.

Generally speaking, Matt says it’s probably not worth your time to write a unique Meta tag description for every single page on your website. Matt doesn’t even bother to do that on his own blog.

Matt recommends doing this only on pages that really matter. Such as your home page or pages that have high ROI. If you notice that some of your pages have really bad auto-generated snippets, you should consider writing a unique Meta tag description for those as well.

To sum everything up, you should avoid having duplicate Meta tag descriptions on all pages. Instead, write unique descriptions for some pages and just let Google auto-generate the rest.

What do you reflect about Matt Cutts’ newest video? Do you write unique Meta tag descriptions for all pages? Let me know in the comments section!

You can see the full video below: 


Tuesday, November 19, 2013

SEO Tips: Matt Cutts Says More Indexed Pages Doesn’t Always Equal Better Rank

In the latest Webmaster Help video from Matt Cutts, he received a question from Leah in New York, if wanted to know that more indexed pages will automatically equal better ranking on search queries on Google.

As Matt goes on to explain, while more pages that all contain great content as certainly a good thing, webmasters shouldn’t simply create more pages that aren’t useful in order to hopefully increase the index rate and the overall page rank for the website.

While Matt Cutts does assert that having indexed pages that have applicable keywords that users are searching for make them more likely to have a better pagerank, he goes on to further assert that this doesn’t guarantee better page rankings for your entire website.
This latest video is another reminder that when it comes to website page content, quality over quantity is an important guideline.

Monday, November 18, 2013

Matt Cutts Opinion about Blog Comments, Links & Spam: Use Only Name Not Keywords

Nowadays we are moving on 80% on-page activities for good keywords ranking in Google by SEO and also forgot to some most important factors about link building like forum posting, directory submission and blog commenting etc.

Recent days, Matt Cutts share to us his opinion regarding blog commenting. Which factors we have to follow get strong back links threw out blog commenting.

If you've ever wondered whether those links from comments on blogs would hurt or help your SEO strategy, Matt Cutts is tackling this scenario in his latest webmaster help video from Google.

Google's Webmaster Guidelines discourage forum signature links but what about links from comments? Is link building by commenting against Google Webmaster Guidelines? What if it's a topically relevant site and the comment is meaningful?

Matt Cutts

Cutts said this is the kind of thing he does all the time. He often posts comments on blogs, that are topically relevant, and he links to his own personal blog rather than the Google webmaster help blog or website.

I leave topically relevant comments on topically relevant sites all the time. So somebody posts an SEO conspiracy theory and I'm like, "No, that's not right," I'll show up and a leave a comment that says, "Here is the pointer that shows this is not correct," or, "Here's the official word," or something like that. And I'll just leave a comment with my name, and often even point to my blog rather than Google's webmaster blog, because I'm just representing myself. So lots of people do that all the time and it is completely fine.

He does caution that how you represent yourself in a link can make the difference. He suggested users use the person only rather than the company name or keyword-rich "name" to avoid any problems.

The sorts of things that I would start to worry about is it's better to often leave your name so someone knows who they are dealing with, rather than "cheap study tutorials" or "fake driver's license", or whatever the name of your business is, often that will get a chillier reception than if you show up with your name.

He also warns that blog comments should not be the main part of your link building strategy. Having a large portion of those backlinks coming from blog comments, it can raise red flags with Google.

If you’re primary link building strategy is to leave comments all over the web, to the degree that you have a huge fraction of your link portfolio comments, and no real people linking to you, then at some point that can be considered a link scheme. At a very high level we reserve the right to take action on any sort of deceptive or manipulative link schemes that we consider to be distorting or rankings.

But he does reiterate that as you go about your day shouldn't be a concern.

But if you just doing regular organic comments and not doing it as an "OK, I have to leave this many comments a day every single day because that's what I'm doing to build links to my sites," you should be completely fine and it's not the sort of thing you should be worried about it all.

As long as you aren't actively using blog comments as a way to increase your backlink profile significantly, you are posting on topically relevant blogs, and you aren't using the a spammy keyword heavy name, but are using your real name instead, you should be fine and not get penalized.



Thursday, May 10, 2012

How to Use Customer Personalities to Write Effective SEO Content

In my last post I discussed using personas to create content that targets your potential customer. In that post

I defined the differences between personalities and persons:

Persona = motivation (what the visitor needs, why they are on your site)

Personality = temperament (how they navigate, what they need to see or read to find what they want)

Using both personalities and persons is important when writing great content that is both user- and search-engine friendly.

Use personalities to give your visitors the content the need

Despite what we believe about some people, every person has a personality. That personality determines how searchers seek out website promotion information that interests them. It effects keywords, sites they click on, how they navigate and what their expectations are.

There are four basic personality types, and every person usually has one that is dominant over the others, while maintaining some attributes of them all. Understanding these personality types helps you create a site that provides visitors the information they need to make the best decision for them and for you.
The four personality types:
  • Competitive (aka Choleric or Lion)
  • Spontaneous (aka Phlegmatic or Golden Retriever)
  • Humanistic (aka Sanguine or Otter)
  • Methodical (aka Melancholy or Beaver)

Competitive

Mal is a competitive personality. He wants to see options before making a decision. Not just some of them; all of them. He will often look at every nuance possible to determine which iteration of a particular product or service is the best one. Because of this, Mal can become frustrated when he can’t find the “perfect” option.
Mal is driven and thrives on challenges, sometimes even volunteering when others avoid. Everything is measured in goals and achieving those goals. Leisurely (non-goal oriented) activity is difficult for Mal as he measures his self worth through success. Mal does not like inefficiency and constantly seeks ways to improve things. When looking for a product, the one and only concern is – will it help him achieve his goals. As such, he is also hard to sell to, as he isn’t easily swayed by fluffy marketing language.
Traits:
  • Spontaneous buyers – no time to “shop around”
  • Curiosity driven – try to peak their interest
  • Goal oriented – they are there for a purpose
  • Appreciates honesty – no BS!
  • Loyal customer – earn their business, they’ll be back
  • Hard to sell – forget all the emotional fluff
  • Dislikes inefficiency and disorganization – make your site EASY to use
  • Impatient – tell them and tell them quick!
  • Abandons page and sale easily – if they can’t find it they’re out
To sell to Mal, you must start with being upfront and honest. Creditability is important and you can establish that by saying what most people won’t–point out your own negatives along with your positives. Never make claims that cannot be substantiated and proven true. Do what you can to demonstrate the true value of your product without over-hyping it. Make sure all necessary information is readily available so they don’t have to dig just to find what they need. Use links and calls to action to get them to take the next step in the conversion process.

Spontaneous

Kaylee is a follower of whatever happens to be the latest trends and places a high value on others opinions. For her, it’s not so much about finding the value herself, but seeing what other trusted sources have to say. This gives her assurance she is making the right purchasing decision. She also fears missing out on a good thing, which can cause her to buy based on the excitement factor alone. Immediate gratification is a primary motivation, so great customer service before and after the sale helps provide the comfort and justification needed to help her feel like she made a good decision.
Traits:
  • Follows trends – fads are a good thing
  • Feeds on positive opinion – get testimonials and reviews
  • Opinion-based buying – facts don’t matter so much
  • Sold by word of mouth – social media is key
  • Turned away by negative opinions – good products rule
  • May suffer from buyer’s remorse – after-the-sale reinforcement is needed to get them back
To sell to Kaylee, your site must go beyond the bland corporate mumbo-jumbo. Content must be captivating and speak to her on an emotional level. Kaylee wants a lot of information but will likely skim until she finds what she needs. Be sure to clearly show your unique value proposition and that of your products and/or services. Provided they are good, having ready access to customer reviews and testimonials will be the final push for her purchasing decision.

Humanistic

Zoe wants to see your testimonials, but for a different reason. She is looking for anything that confirms that you are able to meet her needs, and the testimonials will either back that up or send up the red flags. Zoe looks at the bigger picture when making decisions and will often put the needs of others before herself. She wants to choose something that has broad acceptance, fearing any decision that may leave her hung out to dry on a planet full of Reavers. She doesn’t like getting “locked in,” so providing options for cancellation or returns can give her a sense of freedom to change her mind.
Traits:
  • Motivated by security – display guarantees, return and cancellation policies
  • Repeat buyer – once comfortable, they’ll come back
  • Scared of commitment – make buying (and changing mind) easy
  • Needs constant reassurance – hold their hand through the sales process
  • Relies too heavily on others’ opinions – build up positive reviews and testimonials
To reach Zoe, be sure to have ample links to the pages that reinforce your trust, commitment and quality. About us and testimonial pages are frequently visited so make sure yours is robust. Provide reassurances via guarantees, links to policy pages and iterate your site security. Be sure your content maintains a personal tone and often speaks of the bigger picture, as to Zoe, it’s not always about her.

Methodical

Simon Tam will be the most likely to read every word on your page. In fact, he’s likely to read every page on your site. He’s not an impulse buyers but reviews and weighs all the evidence in order to make an informed decision. Dr. Tam is a logical person with an eye for detail. He is likely on your site looking to solve a problem of some kind. Before making a decision, he weighs everything to make sure it is a responsible decision in the end.
Traits:
  • Feature oriented – benefits are not warranted here
  • Does not like fluff – be straight and honest
  • Factual based buyer – back up your claims
  • Engaged in content – more info is good info
  • Skeptical – convincing may be tough
  • Needs specific, detailed information – provide as much as you can
To reach Simon you need to present hard evidence in an organized fashion. He doesn’t care about a personal touch, but rather wants an authoritative voice. Simon likes graphs and tables, specs and any other detailed “proof” you can provide. State your facts with little fluff as that only raises the skeptical hairs on his head. Don’t say anything that sounds too good to be true, because it likely is and Simon will walk away.
Using information about these basic personalities helps SEOs and content writers to structure a website with the most appropriate content available on each page. Used in conjunction with established persons, the site content can be created to meet the specific needs of different individuals with different temperaments, different desires and different goals… but ultimately driving them to the final goal: the sale.
Addressing the right persona with the right temperament in the right place can be tricky. But these considerations are an important part of creating a website that will drive the most conversions possible

Source : http://www.searchenginejournal.com/how-to-use-customer-personalities-to-write-effective-seo-content/43345/

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Unique Content for Search Engine Optimization

Nothing is more important than fresh and unique content. If you have lifeless writing, then the dry and non-engaging content will drive readers away very fast. Also, if readers see a website that has a lot of boring, old, stuffy content, they will probably think it is some old outdated site and leave immediately. Or, they will find it unbearable and you will lose all credibility fast. That is why you want to make sure that your content is great, because search engines love unique and interesting content. It is that that comes up first and procures the most hits as a result.

As times change, peoples’ interests change and your content really needs to reflect that and make sure that it addresses those changing views and interests. Keep your writing new and up to date and this will benefit you and your business, as readers will want to stay on your page and want to even return. If your page has relevant content, it will get a lot more hits, too.
One way you can ensure that your writing is great is to have a team of good writers that can compose great, original, and fresh content for you. If writers are working busily to create this writing, you can focus more on other aspects and you will be able to manage your overall website better. Writers who know how to manage syntax and devices of persuasion can even make the content more convincing and persuasive and get your message out in ways that you could not before.

Keep in mind that your website might be judged based on the content and therefore, if you have any grammatical errors then your credibility might just be shattered to pieces. Your viewer might think it is some kind of spam site or something very unprofessional and you will lose their interest and attention in a heartbeat. People like professionalism and websites that seem to be genuine and high class. This means that the content needs to be free of all spelling and punctuation errors and having a team of good writers can ensure you of that.

Tell your team of writers all that you stand for and all that you wish to convey to the world and once they understand your mission, then you can give allow your ideas to be expressed to the world in just the way that you want it to be. You have a mission and you have something that you want expressed, but saying it in just the right way is extremely important. If you say things in a unique and never before said way, then it will come up faster and will improve your search engine optimization.

You can get your ideas out there and you can improve your business if you have great content that draws people in and keeps their attention. This means that you might have to work hard to keep your content fresh and engaging and to make it a priority to fill your website with the things that people want to know about.