We’re all familiar with names like Fire”Fox” ( the non-profit, open source browser), Leopard, Kodiak, Cheetah, Puma, and other assorted large cat names from Apples line up of operating systems.
The more important names we should all be aware of and many aren’t are “Old Possum”, Porky, Daffie (as in the duck), Penguin and most recently “Panda”, these are all code names of google updates, the latest being Penguin and Panda. While these monikers may bring to mind images of cute, and harmless creatures, they are names that can easily make or break your online business so be aware!
Googles Panda update aimed to lower the rank of “low-quality sites” or “thin sites”, and return higher-quality sites near the top of the search results.
While the Penguin update was aimed at decreasing search engine rankings of websites that violate Google’s Webmaster Guidelines by using now declared black-hat SEO techniques, such as keyword stuffing, cloaking, participating in link schemes, deliberate creation of duplicate content, and others.
Content has always been king in the eyes of google and for good reason, but now more than ever this is something to pay attention to. These latest updates shuffled up the SERP’s quite a bit and had many website owners scrambling to get back into the rankings.
This is where “content marketing” and “copy-writing” services may come in handy, if you don’t have the time, energy, or talent to generate your own relevant and compelling content, consider contacting Web Design of Palm Beach today to get more information on these services.
As part of my design services all sites created have organic google indexing in mind, without using black-hat tactics, which will ultimately get your site penalized..
In a nutshell here are some of the “do’s and don’t” to be on your way to getting your site indexed. ( keep in mind this is an ever changing landscape and only small portions of the over scope of SEO.)
Do:
- create compelling relevant content.
- commit to continue adding new content via pages or blog posts.
- Think like a potential searcher, what words or keyphrases are they likely to search for?? Use them.
- Keep pages or posts focused on one area and show yourself an the expert in that area.
- Stay clear of anything non- conventional or under-handed
- Refer to Google’s webmaster tools as a guide
- Use spider/crawler friendly navigation, such as text links to inner pages.
Don’t:
- keyword stuff- the practice of loading a webpage with keywords or numbers in an attempt to manipulate a site’s ranking in Google search results. Often these keywords appear in a list or group, or out of context (not as natural prose). Filling pages with keywords or numbers results in a negative user experience, and can harm your site’s ranking.
- Lists of phone numbers without substantial added value
- Blocks of text listing cities and states a webpage is trying to rank for
- Repeating the same words or phrases so often that it sounds unnatural, for example:
We sell custom cigar humidors. Our custom cigar humidors are handmade. If you’re thinking of buying a custom cigar humidor, please contact our custom cigar humidor specialists at custom.cigar.humidors@example.com.
- create duplicate content - In some cases, content is deliberately duplicated across domains in an attempt to manipulate search engine rankings or win more traffic. Deceptive practices like this can result in a poor user experience, when a visitor sees substantially the same content repeated within a set of search results.
- create cloaking pages - Cloaking refers to the practice of presenting different content or URLs to human users and search engines. Cloaking is considered a violation of Google’s Webmaster Guidelines because it provides our users with different results than they expected.
Source: Google Webmaster Tools
steer clear of “link farms” and other link schemes- Your site’s ranking in Google search results is partly based on analysis of those sites that link to you. The quantity, quality, and relevance of links influences your ranking. The sites that link to you can provide context about the subject matter of your site, and can indicate its quality and popularity.Any links intended to manipulate a site’s ranking in Google search results may be considered part of a link scheme.Source: Google Webmaster Tools
Google Sends Hundreds Of Thousands Of Webmaster Notifications Each Month & 90% Are Black Hat Related
- 90% of those messages are black hat related
- 4% are notifications of content that have little or no value add
- 3% are hacking notifications
- 2% are about link buying
- 1% are about link selling
Look for our upcoming post: “Choosing a Search Engine Optimzation Company”