Gadgets, Google, and SEO by: Matt Cutts

If you haven’t seen it, Newsweek discusses search engine optimization (SEO). I talked to Brad Stone for this article, and it was clear that he had done his homework to delve into the world of SEO. I was worried that the article might sensationalize SEO, but in my mind it was pretty even-handed. Here’s a few comments on the article from my perspective:

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Google's SEO Rules by: John Metzlertalks

One aspect of search engine optimization that is also affected in a roundabout way is link popularity development. After observing the effects of strictly relevant link exchanges on many of our client's sites recently, we've noticed incredibly fast #1 rankings on Google. It seems Google may be looking out for links pages designed for the sole purpose of raising link popularity and devalues the relevance of the site. After all, if a links page on a real estate site has 100 outgoing links to pharmacy sites, there has to be a lot of content on that page completely unrelated to real estate. Not until now has that been so detrimental to a site's overall relevance to search terms. It goes back to the old rule of thumb: Make your visitors the top priority. Create a resources page that actually contains useful links for your site users. If you need to do reciprocal linking then keep it relevant and work those sites in with other good resources.

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Get a top 10 ranking without paying a cent by: Glenn Murray

If there's one thing that Google loves, it's content. Done right, a content rich website is almost guaranteed to rank highly. But how to get that content? You can write it yourself, but that takes a lot of time. You can pay an SEO copywriter to write it for you, but that takes a lot of money. If only there was another option...

What if you could get your content for free? And not just a little bit of content; a lot! What if you could get an almost unlimited supply of keyword rich, expertly written content, specific to your subject matter, absolutely free of charge? Would you snap it up and upload to your site in an instant? Of course you would! Well here's the good news: you can! Read on to find out how you can get a top ten ranking in the search engines without paying a single cent...

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Get Better Search Engine Rankings with RSS by: Satyajeet Hattangadi

One thing I never anticipated would happen as a result of adding an RSS feed to my site was that the Googlebot visited my site almost daily. To the Googlebot, my page that had the RSS feed incorporated into it was as good as a page that was being updated daily, and in its judgement, was a page that was worth visiting daily. What this means to you, is that you will have your site being indexed more frequently by the Googlebot and so any new pages that you add to your site will be picked up much faster than your competitors.
How does this benefit you as a marketer?
Well, for example, let's says a top Internet Marketer comes out with a new product that you review and write up a little article on, and that your competitors do the same. Google generally tends to index pages at the start of the month and if you miss that update, you will probably need to wait till the next month to even see your entry in. But, since your site has RSS feeds, it now gets indexed more frequently. So the chances of getting your page indexed quickly are much higher. This gives you an advantage over the competition, as your review will show up sooner in the search results than theirs. Imagine what an entire month's advantage could do to your affiliate sales!

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Google Local Search and Search Engine Optimization by: Robert K. McCourty

Let's delve into the background of this new service and how the web site owner can take advantage of it. First of all, if your web site has not been optimized for the search engines, or more specifically in this case for Google, now is the time to bite the proverbial bullet and get it done. An optimized web site stands a much better chance of being found within Google's listings. Not having your web site optimized to its full potential is akin to pouring water into a bucket with a hole in the bottom of it. You'll keep trying to fill it up, but never raise the water level. Optimization can plug the hole for you and help your web site gain more visibility. This in turn, will help raise your profile within the search engines and gradually your web site's 'water level' will begin to rise.

There are hundreds of reputable SEO firms on the Internet and many resources on the topic of search engine optimization 1 (SEO). Spend some time familiarizing yourself with the process and you'll find that it truly will make a difference when it comes to your web site's ranking and visibility.

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Got a Small Business? Choose the Right Domain Name by: Blake Kritzberg

How will people find YOU?
It was recently reported that "direct navigation" web traffic has started to outnumber search engine traffic. In other words, more people visit sites by typing in the URL directly than they do by combing search engines for results. So more gurus are recommending "brandable" domains. But think about this. As a small business owner, how will people find you? Word of mouth? Billboards on I-95? "Corporate sponsorships" on hockey arenas? Probably not: they'll find you through search engines. They'll type in "cheap purple widgets," and as a smart marketer, you will offer them a website optimized for the keywords "cheap purple widgets."
Still, this doesn't imply you should automatically pick a keyword domain. There are pros and cons to both types.

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Got Spiders? by: Isaiah Hull

And then I waited...
I waited to see SOME response--any response--from all of this work I had done. I waited for the spiders to reach my pages and rank my page for everyone to see. I waited for my blown marketing funds to come back to me in profits...
But they never did. The spiders took weeks. The page rankings were dismal. I was ready to give up. And then I received this vital piece of information from a fellow marketer: the more links you have on bigger websites, the faster your page is spidered...
That's right: Since search engines rank higher-PR sites more often, they will find your page a lot faster if you get your link on a highly-trafficked website!
Not only will they find your site faster, but they will also return to it faster and rank it for FREE. This is all in addition to receiving a huge PR boost for having a link on a high-PR site.

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Google manipulates search results: A boost for small business? by: Glenn Murray

It all comes down to who can rank in the top ten for the most popular searches - like "computers", "cars", "doctor", "pets", etc. For anyone in these industries, a top ten ranking for these keywords is the holy grail. Unfortunately, these sorts of searches are presently dominated by big corporations with hefty search budgets. Most smaller businesses don't even try to compete. Instead of focusing on these hotly contested keywords, small businesses tend to focus on much more specific keyword phrases - like "computers boston", "second hand cars ohio", "female doctor new england", "discount pets for children", etc.

But Google's trial may change that. Remember, it's replacing results 6, 7 and 8 of a popular, broad search with results 1, 2 and 3 of a less popular, more specific search. If the trial becomes a standard feature, a search for "computers" might well include three 'intruder' results from a search such as "computers boston". As discussed above, results 6, 7 and 8 are likely to belong to big companies, whereas results 1, 2 and 3 of the more specific search are more likely to belong to smaller businesses. Therefore, when the switch occurs, it's out with the big and in with the small!

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