Search Engine Optimisation

Yesterday it emerged that UK giant GoCompare, have been banished from the top rankings of Google! With the belief that other search engines will follow suit. GoCompare is a price comparision website, with it main business being from Car Insurance. 

What most people who have comment on this so far (which isn’t many) have failed to note is that GoCompare has previously had a penalty from Google just last year. 

There isn’t one result in the top 50 (of any search we’ve tried) that shows the official GoCompare website. Even Searching “GoCompare” you would have to scroll to 51st result! Also “Car Insurance” is ranked on the 6th page.

Last year GoComapre and KwikFit were both penalised (in march). They were told off for getting paid links and reviews. At the time the Google Vice President Commented: “Kwik Fit had been up on the second page on Google for the term ‘car insurance’ and occasionally on the first page and has achieved this by using Payperpost [a paid blogging service] on a large scale.“ 

Last year GoCompare reported its drop in rankings from number 1 caused a 87% decrease in Google Traffic. So from this I would have thought they would learn a lesson, and not want to get hurt again. However some evidence has come to light (though I’d summise this is only speculation) which further leads me to the belief this is a harsh penalty, yet again. 

Some Advice

Link buying, buying reviews and generally being naughty with immoral links is AGAINST Google TOS, and most other search engines … if not ALL.

I have noted one further event. Yesterday, when we first found out about GoCompares little trip to the sixth page (after a few hours being fully banned) everything related was also stopped. This included AdWords. However, having just checked… AdWords are back… search rank remains penalised.

So then my question is when (if ever) will Google allow GoCompare back up the rankings?  Also will google prevent GoCompare ever getting to the top of the rankings again?

PageRank is something which I have avoided talking about for most of my work in SEO. The reason for this is quite easy to explain. Every website owner (unless in the know) believes PR is the be all and end all of search ranking, and that it is EVERYTHING Google considers! … Well I’ve news… You are Wrong!

I asked Matt Cutts (“head of webspam” at Google) - My Tweet to @mattcutts
And his response:  ”not at all” – Matts Tweet

So with this myth dispelled where does this leave the people asking “how do I increase my PageRank?” and saying “I want to increase my PageRank”.

Wikipedia defines PageRank as:
PageRank is a link analysis algorithm used by the Google Internet search engine that assigns a numerical weighting to each element of a hyperlinked set of documents, such as the World Wide Web, with the purpose of “measuring” its relative importance within the set. The algorithm may be applied to any collection of entities with reciprocal quotations and references.

Considering this definition PageRank is a ranking given to websites based upon linking relevance of other sites to your site, not the number of links. Getting links from higher PageRanked sites (of relevance) means your rank will increase more than if you get hundreds of lower PageRanked sites. … So that’s how you increase PageRank….

However, the real question is why would you want to dedicate all of your efforts on PageRank? There isn’t a good enough reason to do this from what I see, unless your amongst the majority of people who follow the myth i’ve dispelled. PageRank should NOT be considered your search rank, for ANY search engine! Proof of this is searching the same terms in Google and other search engines (even something as simple as “cheese” will yield different results!).

In concluding, you should really be able to ignore PageRank (the word page refers to the creator larry page! not web page!). You should be considering search ranking improvements through SEO, Here are my Top 25 Tips for SEO Success.

Hidden text and links is a primary reason a site maybe seen as “untrustworthy” and is likely to suffer from a low search ranking. The reason is simple, the information you give a search engine is different to that which you are giving to your “real users”.

Common ways to hide text include:

• using the same colour text as background
• putting text behind an image
• placing text (using css) off the page, i.e out of view
• using a font-size zero (0)
• using image alt-text incorrectly

Further to the above being used to hide links you can also:

• make the link image 1px wide and tall
• make the link a single character

If your site is perceived as being deceptive and untrustworthy you maybe removed from a search engines index for any period of time. If you have a developer whom is external to your business you may want to take a look to see if they have falsely helped rankings (in a black hat manner such as this) by viewing your site using a text-only browser such as LYNX.

Not considered to be hidden content from users are 3rd party scripts such as: Flash, Silverlight and JavaScript. However such scripts and applications are not index-able via search engines  (although google and yahoo can index part of flash files). To ensure maximum indexing of a page you should consider cutting down the number of 3rd party scripts, using attributes supplied for alternative text and if you have a video on your site supply a text description.

Finally, if you find your site has been removed from indexes due to the above and you’ve fixed the problem contact the search engines in question and tell them you are sorry and ask for reinclusion into the engine. If you are having problems removing the text and links contact me at hello[at]andykinsey[dot]com or purchase our DIY Service (Removing Black Hat SEO).

Last week it came to light that Google and Microsoft once again were doing battle over a large amount of internet territory. Except this time it wasn’t Verizon Wireless (Verizon are a huge american ISP), but rather who would become the search partner for Twitter!

Now we (in the Internet business) have long known Twitter has to find a way of making money and so far it hasn’t found a way, because any appearance of banners (it is felt) would could users to switch off! There has been attempts for users to make money, mainly through “be-a-magpie” . In theory magpie is fantastic! tweets are made based upon your own tweets and the themes of them… this is based on a similar technology to that used by both Google (powered by Yahoo!) and Microsoft. The only issue is its simply not popular enough!

From this we find the battle of Google and Microsoft for the ability to be Twitters “Search Partner” (aka deliver the search engine adverts).

So with these two snakes in the grass battling I ask “What effect will a take over by Google or Microsoft of Twitter have on SEO?”

Microsoft Takes Over Twitter!

If Microsoft occupy the search advertising of twitter, my guess is that we will find Google starts to decrease the value of twitter in its search rankings. Of course Microsoft will increase the rankings it has. But as Google are the largest and most used search engine I believe this would cause a decrease in traffic from Google/Twitter… Now I can hear you asking “links from Twitter make a difference to Google?” 

Well yes they do, search a link such as the BBC or ITV and you will find somewhere in the top few pages a tweet with the URL! search for “andykinsey.com” and its up there on the first page! So yes tweets do matter to Google. Do the same on MSN Live search and you aren’t likely to see a tweet in the top 10 pages of rankings if at all.

Will the decrease in search value for Google of Tweets make a differnce to your business? 
In short, yes and no! your hits from google may sink if you rely on twitter for business, however if you are using twitter alone to generate business then I doubt it would cause that much damage to your business.

Google in a Twitter Take Over!

So Google have now taken over Twitter! Instantly hits from Google for Twitter business people are up! Not long after we begin to notice adsense for twitter users and adwords swiftly follows for advertisers of a general nature (naturally big businesses will get first claim!). 

In the long term hits from Google go up, and individuals get a real (meaningful) search ranking from Google. This means that maybe the more popular a person (more followers) the higher the rankings… but hang on. There is a problem in this… it means more fake users, millions of them causing false results for Google… this will need to be sorted asap (before google take over!).

OK so being serious now. It means in general a higher ranking for links on twitter, it means a higher ranking in general for people linked on twitter (just as it does to some extent from digg.it), But more than this it will mean Google get an even bigger control over the market they already have a monopoly over! It means Google will be in much more of a controlling position of the Internet technology world.

However…

Regardless of who takes over (be this Google, Microsoft or some other party) and becomes the “search partner”, aka becomes the twitter advertising service. My belief is that Twitter will quickly loose its value for business people. Less will take up using twitter, less people will use the search feature and less business people will see it as a worthwhile venture during work hours. So … 

How do you think a take over will effect you (and your business) on twitter?
Leave a comment and let us know!

Today I was asked what should be avoided to obtain a good or great search ranking. I pointed out my “how to destroy SEO” article from a few months ago. Then i read over the post and decided to simplify it …quite a bit, and explore some ground I didn’t cover in this post.

So without to much more chatter:

1. Avoid Hidden Text & Links
2. Avoid Cloaking & Hidden (JS) redirects
3. Avoid loading the page with keywords (don’t keyword stuff!)
4. Avoid Creating multiple copies of the same content
   on seperate pages or domains
5. Avoid using Doorway Pages
6. Avoid wasting time submitting to major search engines
   they will find you if your worth it, do submit to smaller engines
7. Avoid using the same Meta Tags on each page
8. Avoid writing copy for search engines
   Writing naturally is better for everyone
9. Avoid obsessing over Google PageRank
   Even Google admit its only part of a search rank
10. Avoid checking your ranking daily
    it does your health no good and won’t change that much 

Dear All,

Our company mission is to constantly Improve Our Customer Service. 

As part of this we’ve  updated our design on a regular basis and answered many of your questions.

We’ve now updated our Services. We’ve made everything easier to find… if you do your own SEO then visit our Do-It-Yourself section. If you are looking for our monthly subscriptions, take a look at our packages area! 

Oh I almost forgot! We’ve lowered out prices!

Further to this we have now moved our checkout from PayPal, completely to Google Checkout.
This raises a question: Why Use Google Checkout ?

If you have used Checkout before, you can make convenient, secure purchases from us simply by entering your Checkout username and password. If you are using Checkout for the first time, you only need to fill out one page of information to complete your purchase. And you can shop with confidence knowing that Google will protect you from unauthorised purchases should they ever occur.

Finally, In the near future we will be revamping our Client Areas.

If you have any questions or comments please feel free to email me: hello@andykinsey.com

-

Kindest Regards

Andy

The world of facebook for business is one of a questionable nature for many. So with this in mind here are my top ten tips for making facebook work for your business ventures.

1. Facebook should be seen in the same manner as offline sales.
   Soft sales techniques should be used.
2. Don’t blatently sell! Facebook is about brand awareness.
3. Ask for people to share your links.
4. Post your blogs in your notes.
   Syndicatation of your blog can be done automatically.
5. Ask for opinions and comments on topics which relate to your market.
6. Update your status on a regular basis (use twitter where possible).
7. Have a public profile (full opening your profile makes it indexable).
8. If possible use facebook adds to get to your target deomgraphic.
9. Build your network, add people in your niche.
10. Add Relevant Apps to your profile (do this carefully).

So you will have heard of the craze that is twitter and how it can effect the success of your business. But people fall down on success through twitter for the most trivial issues, such as not selling in 140 characters.

So Heres 10 rules for exploiting twitter:

1. Connection – twitter is about networking, reply to your followers questions, as questions and generally just communicate.
2. ReTweet interesting tweets from people you follow.
3. ReTweet links of interest.
4. Expand your following to include reputable persons in your market niche.
5. Listen to others & give helpful tips if possible.
6. Don’t sell until you are credible (aka have a nice following).
7. Do not contastly sell, interact with the network you have created.
8. Be cheeky and as for a ReTweet (RT) if your post is good!
9. Relax, tweets are your friends and here to help.
10. Finally and most importantly… remain active. Tweet Often.

Ok over the past few weeks I’ve been chatting to a few people about the make-up of a URL. From use of top-level domains to use of special characters in a domain. From these chats I’ve come up with my “top 10 rules for designing urls” list.

1. Make Them Clean
2. Do NOT use special characters, except for hypens
3. Make URLs simple
4. Use a URL only once per page, have a URL per page
5. Use slashes “/” as real directories only
6. All URLs must be both human and machine readable
7. Numbers should be used sparingly
8. Unless pages are likely to have the same domain, do NOT use dates
9. Once you have set a domain structure (DS) keep it this way
10. If you do change DS use 301 (moved permanently) redirects from old URLs DS

As well as this list it is important to remember:

• Not to put a Session ID in a URL! – Search Engines don’t track them
• Multiple domains .com .com/index.php can be removed via the canonical tag
• Limit the parameters in a domain
• Use keywords not numbers
• Do Not Keyword Stuff
• Finally, Keep It Simple Dummy!

Because today i’ve been annoyed by the Fail Whale so much and there is talk of Google buying Twitter I’ve created this.

And as proof it can work

So 
FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER

Images by andykinsey.com

Also posted on http://twitpic.com/photos/andykinsey