ABAKUS ist SEO Consultants Mitglied

Issue #5
12-05-2004

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ABAKUS Internet Marketing - Newsletter – Issue #5

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Editor: Alan Webb

mailto:nl[at]abakus-internet-marketing.de

Welcome to the fifth edition of my SEM newsletter. Its free, it's hopefully informative, so please feel free to pass it on to friends and colleagues.

In this issue:

Editor Foreword
1. Search Engine Marketing News
2. Search Engine Optimization To The Limit [article]
3. New Google algo checklist / todos [article]
4. Newsletter information and press info

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Editor Foreword

My apologies for the delay between this newsletter and the last one. Business has rocketed and I simply haven’t had the time to publish more often. To go some way into making up for it I have a long version this time with two full articles instead of the usual one.

On the May 21st, ABAKUS will be holding its own pub conference here in Hanover, Germany. Details are not in English on my site, but if you are in the area or fancy networking with over 60 German webmasters and seos, then this is the place to be. If you would like further details or are interested then by all means send me an email (webb [at] abakus-internet-marketing.de).

1. Search Engine Marketing News
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Google Blog
=========

The Google Blog http://www.google.com/googleblog/ started on Monday with the first post from Evan Williams, co founder of Pyra.

“We’re going to post stuff here - regular bloggy things: What Larry had for breakfast. What Sergey thinks of that Hellboy movie. Which Dawson’s Creek character reminds us most of Eric. And perhaps, news about Google, and our thoughts on whatever random events cross our horizon.”

I’ve always wondered what Larry had for breakfast as I’m sure you all have as well ;-)

Proogle: Google results with pagerank
============================

A great new tool has been launched which notonly shows the SEPS but also their respective pagerank. This tool is especially useful for finding high pr potential link partners as it also provides the pr on backward links.

Tip: link:www.competitor-domain.com
URL: http://www.webmasterbrain.com/proogle/

Enjoy it while you can, as I don’t think Google will put up with it for long. Check out the footer notice on the bottom of the page for a laugh.


Google goes public
==============

In the filing, Google said that it generated revenues of $961.9 million in 2003 and reported a net profit of $106.5 million. Sales rose 177 percent from a year ago although earnings increased by just 6 percent. Google also revealed that has been profitable since 2001.

For the first quarter of 2004, Google reported sales of $389.6 million, an increase of 118 percent from a year ago. Net income was $64 million, up 148 percent from the first quarter of 2003.
Source: money.cnn.com/2004/04/29/technology/google/
For a lot more on the ipo check out…

http://www.google-ipo.com/

Some Bloggers allowed Gmail account
============================

Googles GMAIL is currently being offered to selected people on the Blogger service. Initial feedback is positive, although there are some concerns about privacy and the adwords that will appearing. Details from google can be found at http://gmail.google.com/gmail/help/about.html

GMAIL is facing strong legal opposition from a Californian Senator (Liz Figueroa) quoting it as an invasion of privacy. The EU commission is also looking at the privacy policy closely. I wonder how much the lawyers are going to make from that load of fun and games.

SEO Competition - nigritude ultramarine
=============================

Darkblue and Searchguild.com are sponsoring an SEO challenge. The keyword phrase to go for is “nigritude ultramarine”. I didn’t know what it meant either, until it was pointed out to me that it is a play on the name dark blue. There is an Ipod and 17 inch flatscreen monitor to be won for those at the top of the rankings on July 7th. If only I had the time for such competitions. Anyway, for full details and lengthy discussion check out the searchguild.com thread (where yours truly also moderates) here…http://www.searchguild.com/tpage10157-0.html

Amazon launches search engine (A9)
============================

http://www.a9.com/

The data comes from Google and there are elements of Alexa information thrown in as well. Not sure if there is a need for what is effectively a Google clone. I buy books from Amazon and would never contemplate searching there. I’m sure they know what they are doing though.

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2. Search Engine Optimization To The Limit [article]
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Most professional search engine optimizers know how to obtain high rankings in Google using tricks that break Google's inclusion guidelines… http://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html.

Testing methods is important and ‘throwaway’ domains are often used for testing purposes. If a professional search engine optimizer does not know how far he/she can go before incurring a penalty, they are not going to be able to optimize a website to the maximum possible. There are terms like ‘black hat seo’ that you see being referred to on various forums and articles which describe search engine spamming methodology. It is not however a clear black and white (hat) issue. I personally don’t like the term black or white hat, as often the definitions are not clear cut or even agreed upon amongst the SEO community. There are many legitimate uses for much of the SEO methodology listed as ‘no-nos’ within the Google guidelines. This is probably why Google calls them guidelines and not conditions for inclusion. There are many so-called "gray" methods of optimization which many webmasters, having read the Google guidelines, automatically discount for fear of penalization. Of course, most bending and out-and-out breaking of the Google guidelines are carried out with the sole purpose to manipulate Google, often in a crass manner such as literally thousands of doorway pages that automatically redirect or hide text through one of many different methods.

There are some forms of "cloaking" (providing the Google spider with different highly optimized content than a human with a browser would see) that Google would otherwise encourage, if they weren't so open to abuse. Other methods involve manipulation of HTML tags with css, javascript redirection, url rewriting, creating near identical pages, using css layers etc. I have used most of the above on MY OWN website and do not fear penalization. Why am I not worried I might be penalized by Google? The reason is because my content is exactly the same for a human visitor as it would be for a search engine spider and no attempt to dupe Google through hidden content or redirection takes place, though there may be legitimate design reasons for doing so. For example, I actually HELP Google by providing new pages for indexing and make my own (and clients) sites much more spiderable/indexable.

One search engines optimizer's advanced technique is another’s spam. There is unlikely to ever be a full consensus on what is or is not an acceptable search engine optimization technique. What you need to do is simply to ask yourself, am I trying to dupe Google here? If a competitor reported my page for spamming could I sleep at night in the knowledge that the site would not be penalized? The important part is intent. Are you helping the search engines or manipulating them?

Below are some examples which would make some webmasters cringe yet are, at least in my opinion and research, perfectly acceptable.

1. Removing session Id’s from online shops / forums (in my own case) and other dynamic websites. This could be considered a form of cloaking as it often involves a referrer check (user_agent/IP). If it is Googlebot, drop the session id. If it is a human with a browser, generate a session id. Session ids are a definite way to make your site invisible on the search engine results pages. Word still hasn’t yet gotten around to webmasters at some major corporation about the real damage session ids can do to a ranking. “We need to know the full click paths of our visitors”, is a common statement. “You aren’t going to get many visitors if you don’t do something about the session ids”, is my usual reply. A little programming could solve the majority of problems online shops have at getting deep crawled and indexed. Google has officially said it regards the removal of session ids as valid search engine optimization.

2. URL rewriting through php/asp programming can also be used in the removal of session ids or flattening urls (removing multiple parameters form a url ‘?’, ‘&’ etc.). With php you can rewrite the url to hide a session id. This, you could say, provides Google with a url which is not the real one. They will be happy though if you have a quality site which now makes it possible for their spider to crawl and index it!

3. Re-definition of heading tags (<H1> etc) through the use of CSS. The H1-H3 tags are commonly either too big or just do not fit in with your design or look and feel. It is perfectly acceptable to redefine the size of these tags from their default through CSS. It is known that heading tags (h1-h3) can help strengthen a pages relevance in the eyes of a search engine and therefore help its ranking. Not as much as a few months ago arguably, but still a good thing to have. An h1 tag in its default state is an eye-sore. With css you can make it fit your sites look and feel and resize it, colour it, underline it etc. What you most definitely do not want to do is make it invisible, use it where you wouldn’t normally use a heading or make it tiny, for example. An example code for a redefined H1 tag may look something like…

H1 {

FONT-WEIGHT: FONT-SIZE: medium; COLOR: #990000; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif }

4. There are also legitimate uses for JavaScript redirection. One example is calling framesets for framed pages that end up being a landing page due to a click on a search engine result. Without the framesets they often lack navigation and are of course not seen as they should be in the context of other frames. A simple JavaScript redirection can solve the problem of framed pages becoming landing pages without a frameset. An example of a very basic redirection script which solves this problem is:

<SCRIPT language=Javascript>
<!--
if(top.frames.length <= 0)
top.location = "http://www.your-frameset-page.com";
//-->
</SCRIPT>

The above code on all framed pages solves the problem of pages being loaded without their framesets. The above is the quick and dirty way to do it. Of course, the best solution is to drop framesets altogether but that’s not for this article. There are several ways to skin this particular cat though. Netmechanic.com has some good info on more advanced ways to do the above. http://www.netmechanic.com/news/vol5/javascript_no7.htm

5. Sometimes for technical reasons, or more commonly, a webmaster lacks the programming know-how, dynamic pages cannot be spidered by search engine robots. Therefore there needs to be a way to get these dynamic content pages spidered and indexed. Multiple doorway pages that automatically redirect is a way many would go about solving this problem. Many a website has flown out of Google because of just this practice! Do not be tempted.

So what can you do that provides a legitimate reason to create static indexable content that is very similar to your dynamic (non-indexable) pages? How about creating a ‘printer version’ of your pages? Some dynamic forums such as vBulletin do this automatically through archiving threads. There is also software that can create static html pages from dynamic ones, but it can be costly. One way is simply to save your most important pages using save-as in your browser (not the whole website, just the page.) Make the page printer friendly by say removing colourful backgrounds and changing to printer friendly fonts and graphics. There should be no issues of content duplication as of course the dynamic pages for whatever reason couldn’t be indexed. This method is clearly open to abuse. You should never have automatic redirection and the technique should be used only if your dynamic pages are completely unable to be spidered or indexed. It goes without saying that the content should be the same as the dynamic page.

6. The use of the apache mod_rewrite module, or for Windows servers, ISAPI filters to cut down the number of parameters on dynamic urls (Google has problems with more than 3 parameters). Deepcrawling with long urls full of parameters (‘?’ and ‘&’) is not cloaking and is perfectly acceptable. I mention this as many think flattening out urls through server-side technology must be some form of spam. I use it on my own forum and it works very well. The user sees the same url as a search engine spider and therefore it is not a form of cloaking. All I am doing is helping Google index my pages.

7. Text links in the footer area (at the bottom of visible pages), as alternative navigation to traditional top left or top horizontal navigation, not only help spiders find internal pages but are also an excellent workaround for main navigation which uses imagemaps, java or javascript menus, the links of which would not otherwise be spiderable. It is also good design practice to have navigation below as well as above the ‘fold’. Don’t feel you are spamming just because you add additional text links at the footer of your page.

The above represents seven forms of legitimate optimization which work and do not involve spamming the search engines. They should be used in moderation. Whatever you do, do not hide content or attempt to dupe the search engines through redirection where there exists no valid reason to do so. Some of the above methods can also be used to spam search engines. Believe me, it is not worth the risk. If you overdo any of the above and your site gets removed, do not point the finger at this article or myself. I use the above techniques to help the search engines, not to abuse them! If you are unsure whether what you are doing is over the top or not, the likelihood is that it is. Always err on the side of caution but also don’t be afraid to use the tips I've described in moderation. Common sense is really is really the best way to evaluate whether or not you are abusing or helping a search engine.

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3. New Google algo checklist/todos [article]
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The following is based on my and others observations of the algorithm since Florida and how to become an authority. Below a 6 point checklist which be warned, in most cases is going to require a lot of work, in no particular order below...

1. Have you increased your total site size?

Check the top 5 rankings for your target main keyword/phrase with the 'site:' search function on Google. For example site:www.competitor-domain.com

This provides how many pages they have indexed. nine times out of 10 they will have more than your own which if you have been hit by florida/austin/brandy will very likely be a lower number of indexed pages. If not read the next point. Solution: Start thinking more content. Glossary, fAQ, more product details, articles, forum...

Size matters! Thats why amazon, major portals, hubs and professional dwp spam are ranking so highly. They are commonly huge in site with thousands of indexed pages. Get your website to around about the same number of indexed pages as those ranking top 10 (average). The less competitive the term the most likely you will not need too much new content.

2. Have you made a big effort since Update Florida to obtain more incoming links with ideal link text?

Those sites coming up top are seen to have either a whole lot of indexed pages (point 1) or, a whole lot of thematic and unthematic inbound links. Most at the very top have both. Thematic links to your site are crucial. get to the directories and get working on link exchange. Remember it doesnt have to be exactly reciprocal, suggest you will link to another of their domains so the links arent exactly reciprocated (if they have another domain.) see my article here on effective link pop building. Try and get on a par or naturally more links than those ranking currently at or near the top.

3. If you have a budget, buy text links. Even the best sites out there need to compete with those with budgets even though they will get more natural links through excellent content. Those in competitive areas certainly need to consider a monthly link purchase budget. As much as I'd like to be able to say that quality content will suffice for link popularity, the fact is, currently to compete you may need to purchase links. Some themes just simply require that you purchase links to have a chance. Sad, but true.

4. Special effort to be made on finding directory/hub links. ODP link for sure and a link from yahoo!, even at $299, may be worth considering as the link will be thematic and does count. Also be on the look out for small themed directories. Do a google search using keywords such as:

mainkeyword +add url
mainkeyword +submit url
mainkeyword +directory
mainkeyword +resource
mainkeyword +links
mainkeyword +surf tips

...

This will help you find the smaller little known directories that are specific to your theme and many are free inclusion. I found 7 of these for a client last week for a major travel keyword which will help a lot as it is a new site.

5. Check existing link partners to see that..

a. They are still linking to you.
b. If there is perhaps a more appropriate thematic page that they could link to you from (homepage not always the best). c. That the link text is ideal and not the common error of just company name (assuming no keyword in company name).

6. Dont worry about trading links with competitors! Consider an "Other resources" page somewhere on your site. If you explain to your competitor that it is now of mutual benefit to do so due to the new google algorithm putting increased weight on thematic incoming links, they will be more open to do so.

7. Internal linkage should be thorough. I am no longer concerned about pagerank drain as pagerank has nowhere near the ranking significance it used to have. I've increased the number of internal footer links on each and every page I have and have made sure my sitemap is up to date. If you dont have a sitemap, get one, and get some footer links as an alternative navagation or better to link some pages not covere din your main navigation. Don't worry about pagerank, worry about getting as many internal links to each and every page as you can. Clearly for large product sites footer links should only go to say main categories. Also consider multiple sitemaps, one for each category. This I know flys in the face of some SEO thinking on just linking to main pages due to pr drainage, things change quickly though.

The top two points are vital to becoming an authority and ranking well. Note, I haven't said anything about on page optimization. That is secondary to site size + lots of internal linkage) and link popularity right now. When you are an authority, is when on page optimization really counts. This is where the over optimization theory is flawed imo. Those sites that got booted were not imo due to over optimization, but because they arent an authority for their term yet, hence they dropped in ranking with all the other non-authority domains. My own site has more h1s and h2 than you can shake a stick it at, but for my german market, I'm still right up there for the terms im targetting. You HAVE to be an authority first though.

In a nutshell, size and link pop is crucial and should come before on page optimization.

If this advice/checklist gets you back up top, or gets your new site up top. Send me a cheque in duplicate for $20,000. Or alternatively, thank me with a link to my homepage ?

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4. Newsletter information / Press

You can pass on this newsletter, publish it in part or in its entirety under the one condition that full accreditation is given (Name, Company, and home page link). Any online incoming links must contain as link text “ABAKUS Internet Marketing” or “Search Engine Marketing”.

Members of the IT or internet press can receive full details about ABAKUS and Alan Webb upon request. Alan Webb is experienced in writing on search engine marketing and would welcome any press interest with a view for exclusive articles.

This newsletter is free. Please pass it on to your friends and colleagues if you found it of use.

I will be archiving my newsletters online as html files. I shall announce in my forum (http://www.abakus-internet-marketing.de/en/forum/) the newsletter url.

Alan Webb
http://www.abakus-internet-marketing.de/en/

Copyright (c) ABAKUS Internet Marketing

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