Matt Cutts and Link Building

I ran across this link and thought I would share.  Matt Cutts heads up Google’s Spam team which if I was running Google, I would immediately fire him as much spam is actually in their results.  But, many in the SEO biz seem to worship the guy so enjoy the babble. 

 

Long Lasting SEO

I’ve had a few conversations with other people in the SEO business lately and they all have one thing in common…they don’t agree with me on seo timelines.  They are looking at SEO as a race to the top instead of building the company brand so that it stays at the top.  This is a key difference in SEO strategy that can actually ruin a company.

For instance, let’s say SEO company A focuses solely on getting a clients website (let’s call them Speedy)ranked as high and as fast as possible.  Sounds great, huh?  Well, it can be great for a few months or a few weeks.  There are a few things you can do to make this happen (and no i’m not going to give that info away for free) but the effects are not sustainable.  You will fall and you will fall a lot.  Now, some say that it doesn’t matter because you will make so much money during that time that it will make up for the fall.  In theory yes.  But in actuality it’s not going to happen that way.  Let’s say the Speedy company has increased sales 500% as a direct result of being ranked at the top of the search engines but this is only going to last for 2 months. 

Now Speedy doesn’t know this is not sustainable, the SEO company probably knows this but won’t tell them because they want to look great and justify their fees.  So what if Speedy decides to expand their business based on these new sales numbers and then 3 months later sales are down 40%.  What do you think happens to the Speedy company?  They tank. 

Don’t be fooled by the “I guarantee you top 10 rankings” people.  Ask them how long that ranking will last?  If you ask that specific question then most of them will move on to the next sucker.   They know the only way to make it last is to do it right which takes a long time and a lot of work.  Not something any sane person does for free.

Don’t believe the SEO hype

I get a lot of questions from readers who want “free advice” on seo.  I rarely give any out and there’s a few reasons.  First, I can’t tell people everything I know about SEO because then the value of my work will decrease.  It’s just not a smart business decision.  A pointer here and there is no big deal but I’m not going to give out exact instructions on how to do SEO. 

I’ve had some people tell me that this isn’t smart because the information is being offered out there by someone else so why not be the one to offer the advice.  Well, let me tell all of you out there one thing…”Do not believe the SEO hype that you read”.  Most of it is wrong and is written to mislead you away from the things that really matter in getting rankings.  Yes, I know that no one is else is saying this but those of us who do SEO everyday in a variety of industries know exactly what works and what is just hype.  And my experience has told me that most of the things out there on SEO are just misleading.  They are designed to steer you away from the important factors in SEO. 

And I will just leave it at that. 

SEO: Image Alt Tag Keyword Stuffing

Gotta love image alt tag stuffing.  How did this ever sound like a good idea to these cheaters?

And if you take the time to read some of the text, they not only stuff every sentence with keywords but it’s impossible to read through without taking a knife to your wrist.  How can you put up crap like that and be happy?  I hope these guys are raking in the dough because that’s the only way you could possibly justify crap like that.

Tell Google what you think of them.

SEO Cheater of the Day

Yes, it’s been awhile since my last cheater…had an associate send me a cheater today.    Note, that Google is not able to detect this cheating…again and again we find this to be true.   There will come a time where the public will demand better results from Google but where is Google’s motivation without competition?

Hidden text across the top of the page and note the bottom section.  The bottom section is borderline cheating and only there for the search engines.  Do us all a favor and Report the bastards. 

Report an SEO Cheater to Google
http://www.google.com/search?q=web+site+design+san+diego&hl=en&start=40&sa=N

Having an SEO Business

or something to that effect.  I’ve talked to a few other people who do SEO and I have to say some people in this industry just don’t get it.  If you are good at SEO and are only making say…30K a year…then you need to shake up what you are doing. 

Your Own Projects:

If you can design websites and get them ranked high…then you should be putting up websites and making money off of Google Adsense or other online marketing.  Also, why not take advantage of some affiliate programs?  You won’t become rich off these ideas but you will be able to supplement your income very nicely. 

Another untapped market is direct sales.  Yes, you will have to buy some sort of membership package but the commission is much higher than normal affiliate sales.  Sometimes it can be 40% off each product you sell.  Well, why not sign up and develop a website to sell those products? 

Selling Your Rates:

What to do when someone says you are “too expensive”?  Explain to them the value of your services.  You are putting customers in their online storefront.  That should be worth a lot to them and if it isn’t…don’t waste your time.  Move on.  Go to their competitor’s and offer your services and don’t be afraid to play them off one another.  One of them will see the value. 

Ask them how much they make off of an average deal?  Take a look at the traffic numbers and you will be able to guess at how many deals you can bring in someone by increasing their rankings.  This number will give you the “real worth” of your services.  Then try comparing that number with what you are charging and the customer will clearly see they are getting a deal. 

Profit Sharing:

Don’t be afraid to take some gambles here.  I know everyone wants to get paid the big bucks up front but if you are struggling then maybe you should go for these types of deals.  Agree to do SEO in exchange for 5% or whatever number seems fair.  It’s not always going to work out because you are at the mercy of that business.  The success of the business will not be solely in your hands.  You wil just be bringing the customers in the store.  The quality of the products and services…well that’s out of your hands.

It goes back to the old “diversification”.  Don’t be afraid to branch out from the SEO norm.  And do not hesitate getting advice from other small business owners and reading up on various business models. 

Google won’t Act

I’ve grown very frustrated with Google over a website that has the #1 ranking on a search phrase that I’m going after for another company.  The website that is sitting at #1 is using hidden text and using repeated words…for example they would be hiding “repeated words repeated words repeated words” 

not even trying to make it look like that text is there for any other reason.  I am not posting the link because I don’t want to help them out anymore.  It’s been four months and I’ve reported them to Google…but they do nothing.  It’s just really frustrating.  Additionally, the site is broken and plainly reads “Server Error in ‘/’ Application.”

I don’t have an answer here…just wanted to vent my frustrations and see if anyone has had a similar experience with Google.  A little competition for Google would do wonders for their product.

I’ve already posted them as cheaters in a previous post. 

Is Simple Better

A relative of mine wanted me to look at their bail bonds website to see if they needed a new website.  At first, I reeled off a list of things for them to change and suggested an entire new website but then after talking to them I realized that probably isn’t the best way to go.

You see, when someone needs a bail bond they are usually in a big hurry. It was explained to me that people want the phone number, location and really that’s about it.  They don’t care about much else.  The target market for this particular bond company is smaller bonds where people are in a hurry. 

So for all you web designers out there, remember to find out who your audience is.

SEO Cheaters…these bastards

Sometimes I come across websites that just blatantly cheat and today I found one.  These seo cheaters tried to be clever but it’s easy to find by viewing the source. 

Here’s what you are looking for:

<div id=”Layer12″ style=”position: absolute; left: -825px; top: -865px;

Then they try to hide it even further by adding this:

width: 610px; height: 511px; z-index: 12; visibility: visible”

 Sure it’s visible.  Just show me where?  So report these bastards to Google and get them banned.

Search query is san diego real estate and the resulting page is http://www.google.com/search?q=san+diego+real+estate&hl=en&start=10&sa=N

Once again Google has rewarded these cheaters with a nice ranking considering the competitive nature of their biz.

SEO Cheater of the Day

 These guys almost got away with it.   They just have a little hidden text on the top of their website.  Someone might say “it’s only 3 words.”  But, it’s the principle…you are cheating on purpose and now all my readers and Google know as well. 

As always, report these cheaters to Google.

search phrase is boston real estate and the search page is:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=boston+real+estate

unfortunately, google has these cheaters at #3 in the results.  let’s all applaud Google for a job well done.