In Today's Issue
Search Engine Marketing
---> Rat Out Your Competitor
---> Stirring Up SEO Trouble
High Rankings Happenings
---> Need Google AdWords Help?
---> Want an SEO Website Review?
Twitter Question of the Week
---> Is it too late to save SEO and its reputation?
Advanced SEO Forum Thread of the Week
---> Google Cache Shows Wrong Website
Stuff You Might Like
---> Free Link-Building Seminar Pass
Advisor Wrap-up
---> SMX West and Honolulu in March Introduction
Hey everyone!
Guess what? This is the 300th issue of the High Rankings Advisor Newsletter! The very first issue was nearly 9 years ago, on March 6, 2002 . The main article was "Inktomi's Search Submit Pay for Inclusion." ROFL...we've come a long way, baby!
In more up-to-date news, did you see the NYT article on webspam?
They did what I didn't dare to do -- they called out JC Penney by name for their blatant spamming tactics to rank highly for nearly any keyword phrase they tried for. Now that the mainstream media have named names, I can tell you that it was a page on the JC Penney website that I was talking about in my article "Google (and Bing) Love Anchor Text Link Spam." That was the brand that was ranking #1 for "baby furniture" in Google.
What I didn't notice when doing my quick check of why they might be ranking so highly was that they were not only anchor-text link spamming, they were doing a whole lot of on-page spamming as well. Which surely helped make it an easy decision for Google to nuke them into oblivion!
I'm happy that Google is trying to do something about this type of spam, but less happy that it took the New York Times to clearly spell out the problem before they would, apparently, react. We all know that spam is way too prevalent in the search engines – we see every day how sites are rising to the top. We can't wait for the mass media to publicize webspam.
With that in mind, I have created a small website where you can report the webspam you've seen in your online travels, called Rat Out Your Competitor. The name is a bit tongue-in-cheek, but don't let that scare you away. You're welcome to report your spammy competitors or any other sites you see getting to the top through webspam. Your information goes straight to me, but I have been in touch with Matt Cutts from Google, who is interested in passing it along to the right people at Google who might be able to do something about it.
My plan is to first review whatever gets submitted, to make sure it's really the spammy tactics that seem to be helping the site rank, and then to pass on the bad stuff to Matt. Even if you've sent spam reports directly to Google in the past and seen nothing happen, you might want to try sending it to me. I might be able to provide you with some feedback as to why Google may not have felt it was spam. If nothing else, I'm doing this as an experiment to see if Google will or even *can* take action when they get good information. So gather up your facts and send 'em on over!
Okay, 'nuff said about webspam today. Let's get to the good stuff! – Jill
Search Engine Marketing Issues
++Stirring Up SEO Trouble++
By Jill Whalen
Hi, my name is Jill, and I’m a %#@$ stirrer!
When you've been in any industry as long as I've been in the search marketing industry  (going on 16 years now), it's easy to get bored occasionally. At those times I find myself stirring up the sh… stuff on Twitter or in comments on others' blogs, forums, etc. You'd think at my age (I'll be 50 this summer) I'd know better. And yet, I continue to do it. I'm not sure if it's a conscious choice, or just a crazy compunction, but no matter the reason, I've been on a roll the last few weeks.
As part of my stirring, I often write what appear to be outrageous tweets and comments on a subject near and dear to SEO hearts (a few still do have hearts, you know ;). The funny part is how quickly people will jump on a comment that seems a little "off" to them. I imagine it's partly their own boredom or perhaps they're trying to find the next interesting thing to blog about. Others surely just enjoy saying, "Jill Whalen has finally lost her marbles!" ;)
It's Hard to Argue With Logic
But I love it when they challenge me on my little points of outrageousness because every seemingly nutty comment I write is backed up by a well-reasoned, logical message for which I've spent ages preparing -- usually in the form of an article I've written in the past. While they can challenge the kooky sound byte by using it out of context or saying it's so stupid or how it's finally time to lock me up in a mental institution, they can rarely refute my actual reasoning – if and when they read it. It's much more fun to trash what they *think* I mean.
This week's bit of fun came when someone mentioned "doing SEO for long-tail traffic" in a blog comment and I corrected them by saying, "Optimizing for the long-tail isn't SEO." BAM, take that!
Of course, long-tail keywords are very near and dear to every SEO's heart because they make up (in aggregate) a huge percentage of website traffic, so my comment was taken with amazement by some of those reading the blog.
Let's face it, you can rarely convey everything you mean in a single comment or tweet. Even though I further explained my reasoning when asked, it didn't matter at that point. The original sentence was set in stone, with my meaning left to be interpreted by others however they wanted.
And interpret they did.
The chance to call me out was too great for many to resist, especially since I've been tearing into certain SEOs through my recent rants on link spam. Some Twitter comments were truly golden, such as, "Comment o' the day to disagree with 'Longtail traffic isn’t SEO' uttered by @jillwhalen." And "Jill, you can't seriously mean that long-tail keywords can't bring more than a few visits/month?"
Even more amusing was the flurry of articles saying things like "Jill Whalen has clearly lost touch with reality. SEO is all about the long tail."
While I may have lost touch with reality (that happened after my first child was born!), anyone -- other than a company such as Demand Media -- who believes SEO is "ALL about the long tail" is either an incompetent SEO or hasn't been in the industry long enough to know what SEO for a business website is all about.
Instead of embarrassing themselves, they could have read my article from October, "The Great Misconception of Long-tail Keywords," which explains what long tail is and isn't, as well as the value it brings to most websites. But where's the fun in that?
A Question of Semantics
The irony of this whole situation is that, aside from the snide remarks, I agree with much of what was written about the long tail by others. My main beef is with how some people were defining long-tail keywords.
Because there is no formal training in SEO, we often have different definitions for the same industry terms. But using search marketing terms correctly has been a pet peeve of mine for a while, because not doing so has many consequences. This is why I try to use the original definitions of words -- those that haven't been bastardized by others who never quite grasped the original meaning. For instance, in the case of the term "long tail," I use Chris Anderson's interpretation of it because he's the one who originally coined the term.
Because I can't seem to come up with a clever ending to this article, let me leave you with the following takeaways:
- SEOs get bored easily.
- SEOs love to call other SEOs out.
- SEOs need some standardized industry definitions, but it's likely to be an impossible task.
- I'm a nut job who doesn't know anything about SEO ;)
Catch you next time from the funny farm!
Jill
Jill Whalen is the CEO of High Rankings, an SEO Consulting company in the Boston, MA area since 1995. Follow her on Twitter @JillWhalen
Share your comments and thoughts here.
P.S. If anyone would like to republish the above article, please email me your request and where it will reside, and I'll send you a short bio you can use with it for your site.
Twitter Question of the WeekThis week I asked my Twitter followers:
++Is it too late to save SEO and its reputation from those who have made SEO = spam? I.E., should I just STFU about it?++
Here's how they responded:
micahgodbolt: Nope, keep going. Gives me ammo when dealing with customers looking for magic SEO pills for their web projects.
mikehalvorsen: No way! The ethical SEOs are some of the best to point out the unethical SEOs. If we don't do it, who will?
semdave: SEO is likely permanently smudged by those that follow bad practices, and the media that likes to promote that reputation.
jameszol: I don't think SEO = spam...but I do believe your definition of spam is not exactly what mine is. Similar, but not identical.:)
kevinjgallagher: No, Jill. We need to clean up the perception of #seo and reinvigorate trust in the industry.
StedeTroisi: Yes, it is too late, and no, you shouldn't STFU about it.
t_jones: If it's your passion you can't help but feel somewhat responsible for YOUR industry. "Mighty oaks from little acorns grow."
ETeare: Lawyers get a bad rap, yet there are many do-gooder lawyers. SEO is similar! Do good work, ignore the jerks.
SEONickLeRoy: I think SEO will always require people to do research before writing a firm a check. Spam will always be associated with SEO.
terryvanhorne: Jill, yell it from mountain tops - you earned the right.
Emma_Lee1: And let the spammers win? Just because those for whom SEO=Spam shout doesn't mean no one's listening to the rest of us.
dsm_llc: Not too late because there are still many people out there to whom SEO is still a mystery and need help.
Macgenie: Might be too late to save the acronym SEO being equated with spam & dirty tricks. Finding a new term might be worthwhile. I hope you never STFU about it, though!
Want to participate in the Twitter Question of the Week?
Follow @jillwhalen on Twitter
Share your comments and thoughts here.
Stuff You Might Like ++Free Pass to Distilled Link Building Seminar++
If you're interested in learning about link building, the folks at Distilled are holding a seminar on this topic in New Orleans on March 25th, and they've generously offered a free pass to one lucky HRA subscriber!
If you'd like a crack at attending this seminar free of charge (travel and lodging not included), please send your email address, name, company, and why you would like to attend to: pass@highrankings.com. (Please note that the folks at Distilled will also be receiving your email.)
I'll be randomly choosing one person to receive the free pass on Feb. 23rd.
Advanced Forum Thread of the Week ++Google Cache Shows Wrong Website++
Forum member "andruha" has a crazy problem with Google's cache showing the wrong site. It's not fixed yet, so if anyone has seen this happen before and knows the cause, share your comments here.
Advisor Wrap-up
That's all for today!
It's been an interesting past few weeks in search marketing, and no doubt the next few will be the same. Nonetheless, I'm looking forward to SMX West in early March where I'll be speaking on the Ask the SEOs panel as well as the SEO Myths panel. After the conference, my daughter Jamie and I are heading to Honolulu to visit family. It will sure be nice to get out of all this snow!
Catch you in 2 weeks! – Jill
 Today's issue is also available online in the newsletter archives. If you prefer RSS/XML please feel free to use our newsfeed here. Feel free to forward this email in its entirety to anyone you feel might be interested in it. Paid sponsor ads are clearly marked as advertisements and neither High Rankings nor Jill Whalen take any responsibility for the claims made within these ads, nor the websites they point to. Paid ads do not constitute an endorsement for the products, services or companies advertising in the newsletter. Please visit our sponsors and use your own due diligence for any purchases you make on the Internet.
|
KASUR PRAKTIS Kasur praktis,Kasur angin atau Kasur udara , merupakan kasur yang memberikan solusi bagi anda yang ingin tidur...
