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Different search engines show us different results and thes is also something which causes a lot of confusion amongst clients, so hopefully the following information explains…

Google, Yahoo, and Bing have their own algorithms that place emphasis on different factors.

Yahoo tends to focus more on quantity of inbound bound links, Bing tends to focus more on keyword rich domain names and also quantity of inbound links.

Google, however, places more emphasis on the types of inbound links a website has, along with relevant website content. And as Google generates the lion’s share of internet search traffic this is why we tailor our SEO towards Google’s algorithms.

As the previous post explains that SEO takes time, the first year of any campaign is all about laying the foundations to create a successful website within the eyes of the search engines.

Many clients think that they only have to build a few links, add a bit of on page content and bobs your Uncle – you reach position 1…and stay there.

Nope – you have to keep reviewing, and implementing new stuff to keep ahead of the game. The Search engine can change algorithms so what worked one year may change over time. Competitors are constantly adding to their site too so its about wearing the best running shoes and winning the race!

This is something that I probably say on a daily basis to at least one of my clients – sometimes the same client over and over again.

The campaign is outlined to them in the first few weeks when they come on board. How we implement the on page work and then how the off page is scheduled etc. and when results are expected to be seen.

Why by month 4 or 5 are they expecting to see their traffic to the site increased by 100% and their profits to have risen. I can see it from the clients point of view – they’ve spent money and want to see instant results but it’s all explained to them very clearly at the start…

…SEO is a marathon not a sprint!!

Google have been making various changes again to help portray a more accurate search volume for all phrases used. You will already know there has been a change in the search volume displayed on the Google AdWords Keyword Tool.

The main difference is that…

“the previous version of the Keyword Tool provides search statistics based on Google.com search traffic and traffic from search partners, while the updated version of the Keyword Tool provides search statistics based on Google.com traffic only”

So many people that have set up businesses assuming that their goods and services have been highly searched for – and then its turned out they actually haven’t and the figure were incorrect and the business has gone down the pan – can now be reassured that as the tested volumes are now lower its a truer reflection of the actual searched numbers.

Last Thursday there was an exciting change in the world of Google which hit the news headlins and left all SEO company’s wondering if they were going to be affected.

Google Instant is a new search engine experience where Google complete your keyword search by predicting what your trying to search for. As a user types more letters into the search box the search results change. This only occurs if you are already logged into a Google account though so not everyone will see it.

As it was in the new headlines the previous night as Account Manager we prepared ourselves to be inundated with calls from clients in a panic about how this was going to affect their SEO campaigns etc…. Not one call in relation to this!

There are some possible affect sit may have specifically for big brands and reinforcing top positions. But for now we can relax a little as it’ll probably change how a user searches rather than how a website is engineered to appear within the SERPS. Time will tell I suppose

Is it true that links from social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Google Buzz and the many hundred other ones count as quality backlinks to a website? No, this isn’t true.

The main reason why this is not true is because if it did matter, then each and every user of these social media would spam the heck out of these sites and start to link like crazy back to their hundred’s and thousands of sites a million times!

Yes, crazy as it may sound but it’s true.

Exception. If the backlink on Twitter comes from a very reputable user, then this may have positive effect on rankings!

Link building is one of those activities which is usually frowned upon by Google, to varying degrees. Typically if you are paying for links, Google doesn’t like it much. If you are building links through active means but without payment, then usually that is OK. Google’s own guidelines follow the “if you build it, they will link it” rule – meaning that you should concentrate on making good content, a usable site and inevitably you will see more links coming your way.

All of this is easier than it sounds, though. Making a site linkworthy is an elusive art, but there are a few tips to help you on your way:

1. Don’t fill your site with ads. You may want to make money, but users are no more receptive to being bombarded with ads on the internet than they are in the street. If you’re the kind of person who thinks that at least 50% of the visible portion of a page should be used for adverts, you’re barking up the wrong tree.
2. Post content regularly, or at the least evenly. By this I mean don’t write 10 blog posts and have them all come out over 10 days in sequence. Spread them out for your more busy periods when you won’t be posting content. This will keep people coming back as they will come to expect this regularity from your site. This will help build links, too.
3. Don’t just copy another article and shift a few words around. Write original content for your site even if it is about a topic being talked about across a huge variety of sites. Take the Apple iPad for instance – there will be thousands of blog posts about it by now but the ones which stand out are the original ones, and standing out will get you links.

I will be talking about this more in the future, but I think it is something important for website owners to pay attention to. The days of gaming the system are now starting to fade, meaning you will have to work hard to get your site to the top.

Linkscape, the SEOmoz link spider, has found a new lease of life it would seem. Already an invaluable tool to SEO specialists and link builders worldwide, the announcement of the Open Site Explorer shows their intent to take this vast data resource to the next level.

Essentially, the tool makes it incredibly simple to deal with the data Linkscape offers. Information relating to the key measures most website owners would be interested in is now even easier to access, along with an amazing set of tools to help you filter through the masses of links that Linkscape has spidered relating to your site.

SEOmoz are showing themselves to be very committed to this project, and with the possible lack of Yahoo’s Site Explorer soon due to the Bing deal, they could well end up at the forefront of the analytics market outside of Google (if they aren’t there already!)

So what are you waiting for? Check it out!

I think it is time to go over a simple concept which still seems to be one that a lot of site owners haven’t really got an understanding of – link quality.

Quality of links is a hard thing to measure. Generally you want links from a site which is in a similar area of relevance to your own. Links from a site about body building to your online pet store probably won’t help much, but links from a blog about pet ownership would be very useful. Search engines and users are discerning and will only be interested in a link if it is relevant.

In this way, you could say that 100 irrelevant links could be worth 1 relevant one from a good site. In the end the cost might be the same – weigh it up in your head!

However, nothing beats natural links. Paying will get you so far but the real benefit comes from the snowball effect of good content people want to share. Social networks such as Twitter and Facebook can be especially good for this kind of thing.

I haven’t gone into much detail as there is a hell of a lot of information out there about links and their usefulness, but I just wanted to get the concept of “quality beats quantity” into people’s heads once more.

Well it is it is Christmas Day again and while for most of us, it is predominantly a time of excess and gluttony, we must remember that it is also a religious time of year. That made me think. What SEO  problems would Jesus’ website face?

• Keywords: Jesus, Religion, Christianity, Crucifixion, Carpentry, Fish.
• Set all pages to robots, follow.
• Change the parables because of hidden content.
• 301 redirect the Jesus-is-dead-page to the he-has-risen.htm
• Duplicate content: Father the Son and the Holly Ghost (only on the Catholic website.)
• Create a  blog on a sub-domain called, “Loaves and Fishes” and direct it to the main site.
• Each page would be a PR-10 because it had a link from God.

Merry Christmas and best wishes for the New-Year.