2012 SEO Tips & Strategies

As 2012 approaches, the SEO community will be looking for bigger and better ways to drive rankings in the search engine results pages (SERPs). 2011 brought algorithm updates that devalued some SEO strategies that had been relied upon for years, while stressing the importance of others that are still new to the industry. It will be important for all SEO professionals to recognize new trends as we move in to the new year. Here are some tips and strategies to get you started!

Link Building With Directories: Does it Still Work?

In the past, submitting your website to SEO friendly directories as a link building strategy was a great way to build your backlink profile and improve your rankings in the search engine results pages (SERPs). It didn't take a lot of time, effort, or critical thinking to get the job done. As a result, it was one of the most relied upon link building strategies for many years. And yet, as Google and other search engines improve their algorithms to better recognize quality backlinks and the value behind them, submitting to directories as a link building strategy has become less popular. This transition has a lot of people throughout the SEO community asking, "Does submitting to directories still work? Should directory submissions be a part of my building strategy?" Let's discuss what you need to know.

Duplicate Content Issues With Search Engines

Duplicate content has long been a problem for many websites, one that ultimately has prevented these sites from ranking well in different search engines' results pages. For this post, I want to focus primarily on Google, and how that search engine views sites that have duplicate content. One reason I want to narrow the focus to Google is the fact that their Panda algorithm update, which has been rolling out all year, was implemented to reward sites that had valuable, unique content, while pushing sites back in the search engine results pages (SERPs) for those that do not.

Optimizing Websites for Search Engines: Revisiting the Basics

I like to revisit the basic strategies one can utilize to optimize their website for search engines every few months or so. One of the reasons I like to do this is that things change, namely the search engines and what is factored in to their ranking algorithms, and it is necessary to account for those changes and make adjustments on the fly. With that in mind, there are also a number of basic on-site and off-site elements one needs to know as he or she attacks the problem of how best to optimize their site so it can rank well in the search engine results pages (SERPs). No matter how much things change, the basics remain constant, and ensuring that they are worked in to the process a must. Let's recap exactly what those basics are.

On-Page SEO Ranking Factors Update: A Fresh Take

Over the years, there have been a number of on-page SEO factors utilized to better optimize a web page for the search engine results pages (SERPs). Many of those on-page factors still play a prominent role in whether or not a page ranks well for the keywords that are being targeted. However, there has been a lot of debate as to which on-page factors are most important for ranking, how strong an influence each particular factor actually has on rankings, and what factors if any are no longer incorporated in to Google's ranking algorithm. My goal is to revisit these strategies, clear the air regarding which strategies are the most important, and make best-practice recommendations as to how each can be implemented.

Robots.txt or Meta NoIndex Tag?

For SEO professionals or webmasters that are managing their own online marketing campaigns, understanding what pages to greater emphasize to the search engine spiders is a key element in setting up a website to succeed in the search engine results pages (SERPs). Utilizing the robots.txt file and the meta noindex tag are two ways to do this, by indicating what pages should be blocked out from a search engine's index. Ultimately, the faster the search engine spiders are able to crawl and navigate a website the better. And a great way to do this is to send them to the most important pages of the site by indicating exactly where they don't need to be. The question becomes - what is a better way of doing this, blocking out pages by adding them to the robots.txt file or applying the meta noindex tag to the HTML coding of of the web pages?

Link Building Strategies: Improving Anchor Text for Better SERPs Rankings

It is well established in the SEO community that the number and quality of keyword rich anchor text backlinks that a website has is the number one determinate of ranking positions in the search engine results pages (SERPs). This is due to the fact that Google's algorithm is link based - meaning, their search engine robots crawl the web via links, and these robots arrive at websites by following these links.

The anchor text of those links (the link title that one clicks on) demonstrates to the robots what the page they are crawling to is all about. As such, when someone performs a search query, Google retrieves web pages from their index (that have been crawled by the robots) that may be relevant to what that individual is searching for. The anchor text directed towards a website allows the search engine to, generally speaking, assess the subject matter of the site's content, and how valuable it may be to online users (once they have actually crawled the site). While we know of many standard ways to go out and build links to a website, there are a couple of strategies that interestingly enough often elude webmasters and SEO professionals alike.

Hiring an SEO Company: What to Look For and the Questions to Ask

There are a number of important thing to consider prior to hiring an SEO company to manage your online campaign. As one would expect, digital marketing for most companies, small or large, has become essential in order to reach their target audiences. We no longer live in a world where consumers grab the Yellow Pages to look for a company, or grab their note pads and scribble down a business' information after listening to a radio ad. Why would they? People have become accustomed to the comfort of knowing that if they happen to forget a piece of information, a phone number, or an address, all they have to do is "Google it." For businesses, this means that ranking well in the search engine results pages (SERPs) for keyphrases that will generate valuable traffic and a steady revenue stream is absolutely vital. So what should these people be looking for in an SEO company to help them achieve those rankings?

Google Panda Update and SEO: A Fresh Take

The SEO community is pushing forward in the post Panda world that clearly attributes a greater value to unique and informative content online. It had been reported earlier this month that Google has rolled out Panda (and updated versions, most recently Panda 2.3) worldwide; prior to that, the seismic algorithm update was only relevant to English search queries. Businesses that primarily market online, primarily e-commerce sites, have been struggling to regain the loss in traffic and resulting sales as a consequence of the original Panda update. A lot of SEOs continue to question what it all means, while others want to identify effective strategies that can be implemented to optimize in this post Panda world, and what strategies should be eliminated altogether.

Using Google Analytics for Keyword Research

Back in May, I discussed the importance of conducting thorough keyword research as an integral part of any SEO campaign. Many rely on Google’s AdWords Keyword Tool to determine what keywords may be most beneficial to try and rank for based on search volume and competition. Others will supplement that initial work by researching what their competitors are trying to rank for. That is relatively easy, as all one has to do is analyze websites that are ranking well for the desired keywords and look for ideas.

But what if you have been running an effective SEO campaign for some time, and are ranking towards the top of Page 1 in the search engine results pages for your desired keywords? Where do you go from there if you feel like you have exhausted all of your resources? Assuming it is installed, Google Analytics may provide you with the additional keyword ideas that you may be looking for.

Google +1 Button and SEO Ramifications

It is widely accepted at this time that Facebook holds the reigns in the world of social media. Google, on the other hand, has monopolized search marketing but many feel the search engine mogul is inept when it comes to social media. In an attempt to catch up, earlier this year they rolled out the Google +1 button. Individuals in the world of search marketing and search engine optimization (SEO) have been debating what sort of impact Google +1 will have, and whether or not the signal will be incorporated in to Google's ranking algorithm.

The Importance of Keyword Research in Search Engine Optimization

I see it all too often - aesthetically appealing and well designed websites that are generating no traffic, and as a result, are not realistically serving any purpose. I agree that there are some companies that have chosen not to market online and as a result, their website serves as a reputation and legitimacy tool. For example, someone walks in to your store, you hand them your card (that has your URL on it) on the way out, and they return home to check out your site to make sure you are "legit." On the other hand, if you are attempting to use online marketing as a primary medium to reach potential customers, designing a beautiful website can be all for not unless that website can be found in the search engine results pages (SERPs). The first step to ensure that your site ranks for relevant search queries is conducting sound keyword research.

Anchor Text Links and SERPs Rankings

The key to ranking high in the search engine results pages (SERPs) is having a high quality backlink profile. The more websites that link to your website, the more of an authority Google's algorithm will perceive your site to be. The algorithm was constructed to solve a complex problem - how do we return the best possible information to an online user that is searching for something? Links are the exponential factor that help Google partially solve that problem.

Have Blog Commenting Links Lost Their Value?

Last week I discussed the process of purchasing links from blogs, what webmasters who are considering buying links need to look for, and what the risks are of buying links from websites that are entirely unrelated in content. Ideally, webmasters should be working hard to acquire non-paid, high quality links from other webmasters that maintain sites that are in the same niche or industry as their own. As Google's algorithm develops and becomes smarter, acquiring high quality unpaid links has inevitably become increasingly difficult. One tactic that most relied on, the acquisition of valued links through blog commenting, may not be as sound of an approach any more.

Buying Links from Blogs to Increase Rankings

There will always be two sides to the story of whether or not buying links is an effective strategy to increase your rankings in the search engine results pages (SERPs). All things being equal (quality of content, on-site optimization etc.), it is necessary to understand that a website that has a large number of high quality links will outrank a competitor that has a less impressive backlink profile. As a result, I don't necessarily think that whether or not you should buy links is the appropriate question to ask.

SMX West 2011: Takeaways for the SEO Industry

It was the search marketing event of the year. For two full days, people from the search engine marketing community gathered for SMX West in San Jose, CA to attend sixty sessions that featured more than one hundred speakers who discussed the latest trends in SEO. It was also an opportunity for many to try and come away with as much information as possible regarding the future landscape of the industry. As expected, Google's Matt Cutts was in attendance and was under siege with a multitude of questions surrounding the recently implemented farmer's algorithm change.

Google Farmer Algorithm Change - Who is Suffering?

Yesterday, I discussed the recent change to Google's algorithm that went live almost two weeks ago in an attempt to prevent content farms from appearing high up in the SERPs. There has been a lot of commotion since the update as many sites, including some that are not considered to be content farms, have seen a dramatic decrease in web traffic. Recently, Sistrix released statistics on a number of search queries that they maintained data for prior to and following the algorithm change to demonstrate who suffered the most from Google's most recent effort to improve their search results.

Google's Algorithm Attack on Content Farms

Only two months in to our new year, and the world of internet marketing and search engine optimization has undergone a fairly dramatic change. It was late January when Google first discussed that a major alteration would be made to their algorithm in an attempt to devalue content farms in the organic search engine result pages (SERPs). On February 24th, Google announced that the algorithm change had gone live. For those of you who may be unaware as to why Google would target content farms, it is necessary to know what these sites entail.

Google Penalizes JCPenney and Overstock.com Websites

Everyone in the world of SEO at this juncture is aware of the recent events involving JCPenney and Overstock.com and the penalties each company's website received from Google as a result of their actions. Essentially, Google determined that JCPenney and Overstock were using link-building tactics that violated their webmaster guidelines, thus dropping their rankings for queries that they had maintained listings on the first page of the organic search results for long periods of time.

Meta Description Tags: Are They Important?

As search engines continue to update and improve their algorithms, SEOs must continuously reassess what aspects of optimization remain important. The use of meta description tags, at one point in time, was an essential piece of the puzzle if a website was going to rank high for relevant search queries. And while I would suggest that they remain an important piece of that same puzzle, the impact that a well written meta description may have on rankings is not as significant as it once was.