Like many of my peers (whom I am making a renewed effort to get to know since beginning to appreciate the wealth of cool people in the Search industry) my SEO/SEM inception began when I started a retail website. That first foray has long since gone the way of the Dodo, but I remember it fondly - as my resulting interest and education has kept me in cat food for the last 7 years. But how long will this all last? Here are a couple of snippets from my increasingly frequent self Q&As, which are starting to sound more and more like an exchange between Jack Torrance and Lloyd the bartender.

Should I get out of this racket because it’s becoming so flooded?
No - the deluge of half-cocked, irresponsibly guaranteeing, myna bird “SEOs” will actually make it easier for the people who relish it, have talent and stay at the forefront to stand out in a crowd. I might as well write you a <a href=”http://www.startupbusinessschool.com”>free business plan</a> while I’m at it. Use said deluge to your advantage, and as a daily motivating factor.

Has SEO really become ‘easy’ like so many people now claim?
No - There is no free tool that can take the place of experienced keyword and volume research. The creation of engaging original content takes patience and skill. Manual link-building never ceases to be monotonous. Social media is only relevant or applicable to some clients, and even then requires startling creativity in order to make any difference. Link baiting is second only to chaos theory in terms of unpredictability and luck.

I’ve had my doubts about the credibility and longevity of this career path I find myself on. And new questions pop up everyday when I’m doing my daily SEM blog reading. But my mind becomes settled quicker than an algorithm that’s realized it’s being manipulated when I remember where I can go if I don’t like it - back to the cubicle. This industry is undeniably exciting for a reason. It’s the wild, wild west out here, and I’m going to need another scotch.

“I’m the kinda guy… likes to know who’s buying his links, Lloyd.”

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If you’re focusing 100% of your SEO time on catering to Google’s royal highness - frankly no one is really going to blame you. But as Google, Yahoo and MSN compete aggressively for search market share, they also strive to differentiate themselves from eachother. One of the ways in which they do this is by having their algorithms interpret sites in alternate ways. So if you want an SEO strategy that is going to be truly comprehensive, you should be aware of what the red headed stepspiders are looking for when they visit your site, too.

So what do we know about the different ways the top 3 assign natural ranking? Nutshell:

• Google has many fancies but definitely loves incoming links.
• Yahoo loves keyword-dense content sites.
• MSN loves internal linking and inbound links.

That’s way oversimplified, I know. Spare me. Of the three MSN/Windows Live seems to be the least considered or talked about, so let’s dig a little deeper. I already mentioned internal linking structure, and that topic is worthy of its own future post. Quickly, it means that you link to pages within your own site using targeted keywords. Sort of like a mini sitemap on every page, but with very specific iteration choices in the link text (see what I just did there?).

And we all probably know what a one-way, incoming link is by now. So what else differentiates MSN from the competition? Some SEO companies will tell you that meta tag importance has gone the way of the DoDo. Others will tell you that meta optimization is part of any comprehensive SEO effort. The former is true if you only care about Google, as their algorithm largely ignores meta data. But MSN holds meta data in very high regard - so the latter is also true. MSN is a true meta search engine, so this area should not be overlooked or considered a throwback based on what Google’s algorithm happens to be doing.

Other MSN idiosyncrasies include a dislike of nested tables (another reason to start using CSS) and a more liberal stance on keyword density levels before they are considered spam. But the real point to take away from this article is that the meta tag is not dead. And remember - With Gates and Microsoft behind Windows Live, there is no such thing as a development or marketing ceiling for this product. They should be taken very seriously by internet marketers, as not even The Shadow knows what’s going to happen to market share percentages in the next couple of years. Because I think Microsoft just bought him.

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What is a redirect, and why are they a frequently employed facet of web navigation? Picture a bored traffic cop trying to manage a detour after a bridge has collapsed. Due to habit and training, said traffic will automatically try and cross the bridge - so to avoid disastrous, albeit probably humorous, consequences this traffic must be redirected to a safe, alternate route. The same is true after a website alteration. It may take months for search engines to reindex and reflect your new URL structure or domain name. So in the meantime, and likely permanently, a similar technical detour should be implemented to keep you from losing valuable traffic to the ether.

Redirects are the genesis of a lot of confusion in the wild, wide world of SEM - because if applied for the purposes of black hat SEO, they can get you penalized. It was common practice in the early days to set up groups of sneaky redirection pages that all targeted similar and related keywords or phrases. The only links on these pages are links to other pages in the same family creating a phony sense of related linking that once managed to trick algorithms. But the 301 redirect is completely safe and should not be feared.

For a practical example, if you have removed or renamed a page on your site, and want to avoid displaying a 404 error page, set up a 301 redirect to push traffic to your new page. The code 301 means “moved permanently” and it’s the easiest way to preserve your search engine rankings for that page. Redirects are implemented differently depending on the language your site has been written in. What works for PHP won’t work for .NET and so on. The common element of the 301 redirect is that they are always easy to implement. Have a look at these multi-platform instructions and don’t fear the redirect!

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Although PDFs shouldn’t take the place of HTML in terms of spider bait, you may have salespeople on the road or prospective clients who need quick access to your catalog by way of the Portable Document Format. So we don’t want to convert PDFs to HTML and then deep six them – they do not have to be mutually exclusive. Rather, we want to convert them to HTML and optimize the PDFs so they are organically searchable. If we want to keep them live for easy download, we may as well follow the simple steps that will render them indexable by Google while we’re at the squaredance.

So the million dollar question becomes how does one optimize a PDF for search? It’s actually quite simple - for every document you publish online, you should clearly define both the title and description in the document’s properties. To do this, right click on the PDF in question and select ‘Properties’ at the very bottom of the navigation menu. The following window should pop-up (These are two tabs of the properties window placed side-by-side to save space):

The top form allows you to change the document’s file name. I would recommend including keywords, separated by hyphens and not underscores. So, “online-catalog.pdf” could become “specific-discount-stuff-we-sell-catalog.pdf” or some variation. I have used a fictional camping store for the graphic example, in which case an ideal filename might be “discount-camping-equipment.pdf”. Don’t feed the bears, do feed the search engines.

The next step is to click on the ‘Summary’ tab. The possibilities here are pretty self explanatory - Titles, Subjects, Authors and even a selection of related keywords can be populated from this tab. Use this capability to its full potential and fill in your business or file-specific information. By default, this will be blank, so stuff it full of juicy data for the search engines. And voila, you’re just drastically increased the likelihood of your document showing up in natural search.

A few other notable points - Once Google has indexed your PDF relevantly thanks to your taking the time to fill out the properties information, it can index the text contained within. It may have already done this for some of your documents – but take the time to optimize the tags regardless. Titles, Subjects and Company Names will help intuitiveness when humans see at your PDF on search engine results pages. URLs in PDFs are often counted by spiders as precious backlinks – so proper hyperlinks should be included in all documents before they are converted to PDFs. Finally, Google also seems to hold PDFs in a positive light because they are completely impervious to comment spam. Read more from the horse’s mouth here.

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“If you build it, they will learn.” - A Squidoo mantra.

First things first - what the heck is a Squidoo? It isn’t a snowmobile that can drive on water. At it’s simplest, Squidoo has been called a sort of MySpace for adults. While that analogy is becoming popular, and is oh so clever, it couldn’t be less accurate.

The official word from the horse’s mouth is that Squidoo is an “… online platform that makes it easy for anyone to build lenses on topics they are passionate about. These lenses help you find a unique, human perspective on things that interest you… fast. Not only can Lensmasters spread their ideas, get recognized for their expertise, and send more traffic to their Web sites and blogs—they could also earn royalties.” Former luddites can become online authorities and the possibilities are astounding. Over 20,000 lenses and 8,000 lens masters currently make up the network, and there is no end in sight.

The private Squidoo beta launched in October, and already some of the earliest lenses have Google Page Rank and are pulling in signifigant search keyword referrals from major engines. Google’s affinity for Squidoo is especially noteworthy, and many search engine marketers and optimizers are taking notice. And it’s official: In a recent interview at SXSW, Squidoo’s Senior Director of Community Development - Heath Row - was quick to point out the rate at which new lenses have been getting indexed. Listen to the full interview here.

So a lens can be a lot more than a shortcut for searchers to subject matter on a focused topic. From an SEO standpoint, it can also serve as a shortcut to getting newer websites indexed by search engines who regularly crawl, and give creedence to, Squidoo’s growing network. Make lenses for your clients, your company, or anything you are passionate about. It’s the next big thing in so many ways.

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The SEO game has changed frequently and drastically during it’s short existence. Meta tags gave way to hidden text which gave way to Page Rank, incoming links - and the list will continue to grow each year. The big players, Google, Yahoo and MSN, strive to differentiate their directories by offering the most comprehensive and relevant results possible. This fact is great news for consumers and retailers alike - it keeps the playing field fierce, but level.

“Most search engines have developed comprehensive spam filters that weed out the spammers from the legitimate sites and penalize sites caught trying to cheat the system. Google in particular has led the charge for quality over quantity“. (site-reference.com)

Simply put, SEO is becoming a simpler practice. Not simpler as in “easier” - it’s as competitive as ever. But it is harkening back to the pre-spamming days when good content and a few basic search friendly ground rules were all you needed to ensure the majority your traffic.

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The number one goal for any search engine optimization professional is to achieve high rankings for their clients. The methods optimizers employ in an attempt to achieve this success do not fall in line with a roadmap or best practice plan. SEO is full of grey areas and guesswork – however there are identified tactics that have been proven to increase the risk of a site being penalized or banned from directories. As a result, web marketing professionals must be careful when making changes to a website and the importance of perceived ethics in search engine optimization has become immense.

It can be said that SEO professionals have two clients: the website owner and the search engines. While clients have to be comfortable with changes to their site, search engines also have to be considered – is the site optimized, and are said optimization efforts in danger of compromising rankings? Each major search engine has its own set of stated guidelines that webmasters are expected to follow as a condition of its use. Client requests have to be weighed alongside these rules or ethics to avoid penalization.

SEO professional Wayne Hurlbert has outlined three popular SEO ethics classifications, often referred to as “hats.” Professionals are classified as being either a “white hat,” “black hat” or “grey hat” SEO. A “white hat” SEO professional is one who follows generally accepted optimization techniques, and avoids anything that even slightly conflicts with Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. Any method that raises ethical questions is completely avoided. A “white hat” professional is one who upholds the highest ethical standards.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is the “black hat” SEO professional, who clearly violates all guidelines, stated by any search engine, and has no regard for generally accepted optimization techniques. Some “black hat” practices include cloaking, hidden text and link farms. A “grey hat” SEO professional is one who lies somewhere in the middle of the other two. Many disagree about what exactly is constitutes ‘grey’, but the utilization of certain linking tools and content generating software suites have been mentioned.

The exact definition and boundaries of the hat classifications are up for debate, but the concept serves as a barometer for ethical SEO practices. Professionals must figure out their individual boundaries and decide for themselves which SEO practices enable them to achieve rankings while maintaining standards that are in line with their personal values. Research is essential when it comes to deciding which SEM firm to outsource to, as below-the-belt tactics can prove devastating to a site’s organic visibility.

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To say that SEO has changed by leaps and bounds over the last 5 years would be the understatement… of the last 5 years. What was once a measure of a onsite meta tags and coding dilligence, has now become a larger measure of offsite influences. Algorithmic formulas have become more sophisticated as the big three (Google, Yahoo, MSN) try to differentiate themselves from one another. Objective SERP (Search Engine Ranking Page) relevance of a given keyword search will make or break a user’s confidence in a very short amount of time. If an individual has a hard time finding what they’re looking for when using Google, due to off-target or spammy results, they’ll try MSN - and so on.

Through a focused combination of attention to both your code and your surrounding landscape you can better the chances of your domain being interpreted positively by search engines and in turn reach your target market effectively.

The Pony’s 5 Golden Rules of SEO:

1. Fix Your TITLE Tags: Titles must be unique to each and every page, whenever possible. They should contain your top keywords, in a variety of iterations, throughout your site and be especially targeted to the content of the given page in question.
2. Utilize Your URL Structure: If you don’t need to have dynamic, alpha-numeric URLS, then don’t! Make your URLs SEO-Friendly by incorporating keywords, or automatically mimicking page titles via a mod-rewrite script.
3. External, Incoming Link Building: Currently one of the most effective ways in which to increase your rankings is by getting other sites to link back to yours. This can be done via superior original content, press releases, good old fashioned flesh-pressing and more. Think of every incoming link as a vote to your site - because the search engines will! Link building is not easy, takes time and is never truly finished. Hang in there.
4. Keyword Density and Placement: Your pages should contain an average of 3-500 words of ASCII text, with major keywords and iterations sprinkled healthily throughout. The best rule of thumb when walking the line between density and SPAM is to remember: If the copy reads poorly to you, there’s a good change it will sound funny to the spiders as well. Use keywords and phrases in moderation.
5. Don’t Panic: SEOs do just that - they optimize. Ultimately, webmasters have very little control over how their site is viewed by the major search engines. One can do everything right, follow all of the best practices and still be invisible for their most desired words and phrases. Algorithms fluctutate, and SERPs change - constantly. Just because you’re buried today, or have lost ground for yourself or a client, doesn’t mean that all can’t change in a few days. Stay dilligent with the offsite SEO and make sure you haven’t done anything for which you may be penalized.

Search Engine Optimization has many complex facets and is always evolving. However, there are effective means in which you can improve your visibility if you pay attention and stay slightly ahead of the crowd. Remember - Anything that search engine engineers can add to an algorithim to keep SEO companies and web masters from manipulating it’s organic SERP - they eventually will. All “proven” offsite SEO methods, and many onsite (hidden text and keyword stuffing for example) will eventually be discounted and even become cause for index expulsion. Stay current, be patient and build those links!

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If you’re an SEO/SEM firm, you likely have many clients who are obsessed with and focused on only 1 keyword (variable) and 1 search engine (Google). It can be a challenging feat explaining the value of having your top words and phrases do well in a variety of engines, as opposed to just the behemoth that is Google. It’s also how we SEOs validate our services and work and - more importantly - increase client comfort levels and their genuine belief in what you do for them month after month.

I tend to point to server log keyword and search engine referral data in this situation - but there is little substitute for a client not being able to go enter their perceived top word into Google and see it themselves sitting pretty on the first page. So always remember, for their benefit and yours, the dramatic way in which web portal loyalty dictates an individual’s start page and search engine. Let’s look at the tale of the tape:

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When it comes to the fleet of new Google-related tools, there are those who give them a try without a second thought, those who will wait for the bleeding-edgers to test the water before easing themselves in and finally those who will do everything in their power to avoid Google tools based on stubborn principle. Google Sitemaps was introduced about a year ago and was meant to help improve their index by allowing webmasters to assist with comprehensive spidering by their own efforts. Users could submit all of the individual pages on their website to Google Sitemaps, taking some of the strain off of Google’s crawling efforts. Soon thereafter many webmasters realized that they were being dealt the short stack, not receiving anything in return for submitting these intricate sitemaps.

After some negative feedback, the new and improved Google Sitemaps was introduced – it doesn’t promise to increase your ranking, but it does offer a few handy features that will aid in your quest for relevant SERP rankings. All those webmasters who abandoned it after round one should give it another chance. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain, as it can now be said that there are definite SEO benefits.

You may check your PageRank daily using Google Toolbar. If you have hundreds of pages within your site this is a lot of tedium to endure and there is definitely an easier and more accurate way to keep an eye on your site’s SEO advancements. Using Google Sitemaps you can learn much about your website that you might never have discovered. Statistics reports summarize useful details that will immediately signal to you whether or not you are on the right track and what you can do to reach your goals. The importance of PageRank has been widely debated, but remains a decent barometer of how Google views your site in terms of importance. And the more information that is gathered about your website, the more of a chance you have to gain an edge over your competitors.

Google Sitemaps creates tables of query stats, showing you which searches performed over the last three weeks returned pages from your website and what the highest average position was. It also sheds some light as to which top search queries resulted in click-throughs and which did not. Hopefully, the ones with the most click-throughs will parallel your stats on conversion rates. If you have many top search queries but hardly any click-throughs, then you should focus on increasing your rankings for those.

Google Sitemaps also provides the crawl status of your URLs and how many pages have a high, medium, or low PageRank. It displays which page on your website has had the highest PageRank for the last three months, and has a Common Words section which displays which words commonly appear on your website and which words are the most frequent in inbound, external links. If you’re seeing words in the Common Words list that are not the same as your target keywords, then you should consider rewriting some of your content.

As far as managing your sitemap goes, using Google allows you to change some key attributes. First of all, you can set the priority you want Google to place on particular pages in your site, 0 to 1 (only relative to your site). If you have certain pages within your site that are more important, by giving them high priority you will increase their importance in the eyes of Google. There is a “last modified” timestamp which allows spiders to avoid re-crawling pages that haven’t changed. Also, you can tell Google how often you change a particular page – this is important if you change it very frequently.

All in all, using Google Sitemaps is definitely a proactive move – you are informing them about your new pages rather than sitting around and waiting for spiders to crawl about and discover them on their own. It can be a great gateway for brand new pages that do not have many external links to them. The Internet is drowning in websites and the extra indexing effort is worth the while.

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