Līve Ambitions

There is a lot of discussion in various webmaster forums about whether “nofollow” links are good or not.  Generally speaking, “nofollow” links do not provide any SEO value, but digging a little deeper, they may be more valuable than you initially think.

Here’s a few reasons why “nofollow” links maybe be beneficial:

• To diversify your link portfolio.  I think it’s important to mix up your backlinks so Google doesn’t see it as a red flag.  Building your links using a single source is like putting all your eggs in one basket – not a good idea.
• If the link is placed on a high-traffic website, you may be able to receive a fair amount of direct traffic.
• Although “nofollow” links do not pass PR or link juice, Google does still follow the link, which means the destination URL may get indexed as a result.

So, the bottom line is: diversify your SEO strategy.  Experiment with different marketing opportunities because you never know how effective something will be until you try it out.

My friend, Daniel Scocco, of Daily Blog Tips has officially launched OnlineProfits.com.  You can think of Online Profits as an exclusive all-in-one learning center for SEOs and Internet Marketers.  Online Profits is limited to the first 300 people, so once it’s gone, it’s gone.  The program offers training material and resources for both beginners and professionals, so there is something to learn at each level.  The price is reasonable – 4 payments of $98, which comes out to $392 total.

As a member, you’ll get lifetime access to:

• Training material
• Tools section
• Resources section
• Content library
• Social clubs
• Private forum

I’m personally most interested in the social clubs and private forum, as I think it’ll be a good way to network with people who share the same interests as you.

Sign up today before it’s sold out: OnlineProfits.com

If you’re a SEO (Search Engine Optimizer), you’re either going to love this idea or hate it.  Google has decided to show personalized results for everyone, regardless of whether someone is logged in or not.  For well-established sites, it may be easier to rank since you already have a good presence in the search engines.  However, if your website is new and has no existing traffic, then it will mostlikely be competing against more established websites.

This decision may have a drastic effect on the current SEO industry.  Since all searches are now personalized regardless of whether a user is logged in or not, the results will be heavily influenced by user search activity.  According to Google, search activity is tracked by an anonymous cookie set in your browser for 180 days.  So, if you visit a particular website frequently, it may show up in your search results most of the time, of course based on the search terms.

While I understand Google’s intent to offer more “personalized” results, it gives an unfair advantage to already-established websites.  This will mean that new websites will have to work harder than older websites to get the same results, even if the new website has better content.  This also means that online mom-and-pop shops may not get discovered simply because they are new and have to compete against the big boys on the block.

I can see arguments from the advocacy side saying users will have a better experience from “personalized” results.  However, I’d rebuttal by saying that users may “miss out” on new websites or opporunities because it’s not being shown in the 1st page.

Personalized search not only affects SEO, but also PPC.  Here’s my logic.  Since new websites won’t get much exposure through organic traffic, they’ll mostlikely have to resort to PPC marketing in order to get any type of search traffic.  I guess if there is an increase in PPC marketing, it can only mean more money for Google and Internet Marketing firms. 

So, I’m a little torn on this subject being that I’m both a SEO and Internet Marketer.

What’s your opinion?

In today’s economy, it’s not easy for small businesses to find a good SEO or Internet Marketer.  There are many hurdles to overcome when choosing to outsource some of your work.  Here are some of them:

• finding a provider within your budget
• finding a provider who is skilled enough
• finding a provider who is meticulous
• finding a provider who cares about quality
• avoiding SEO scams and rip-offs

The SEO market is so saturated, it’s gotten to be quite difficult to find the right one for the job.  You see the resumes and service offerings at nearly every job employment site, freelance job site, classified ads site, forums and even blogs.  So, from all these options, what is a small business owner to do with the little to no hiring experience they have?

Well, unfortunately there is no easy answer.  It comes down to how much time/effort you’re willing to put into the search, and also how much you’re willing to fork out.  I’m not saying you always get what you pay for, but pricing does play a role in the level of service you receive.

Here are some effective ways to find a good provider:

• Employment/Job sites are good for finding highly-qualified job seekers.  However for contract-type positions, you may be better off using a freelance job site.  Employment sites like Monster and Careerbuilder are better suited for businesses seeking a permanent, in-house employee.  And, you’ll mostlikely pay a premium if you hire someone from one of these sites.
• Freelance job sites like oDesk and eLance are ideal places for finding freelance or contract workers.  For some business owners, they like the ability to scan through provider reviews and ratings, portfolios, and being able to see the provider rates up-front.  Because so many service providers are from less developed countries, you can often find bargains.  However, for many others, the process of using a freelance site (middle man) can be quite daunting.  There is usually a learning curve before you can effectively use their system.
• Classified ads sites like Craigslist and Backpage are also good for finding local SEOs and Internet Marketers.  You’ll get a ton of responses, however you may spend a lot of time weeding through emails before you come across potential candidates.  With classified ad sites, you really need to watch out for scams and rip-offs.
• Forums like DP and Sitepoint are great places to find affordable labor.  Start by checking out their marketplace sections, since this is where most freelancers hang out.  Then, try to find a SEO or Internet Marketer who is a regular and trusted by other members.  Many forums have a ratings feature for its members, so you can see how they conduct business and if they’re trustworthy.
• Some popular blogs actually provide a section in their blog where they offer job listings.  The quality of providers is pretty good, but their rates may be on the higher end.

So, the bottom line is you can find legitimate help at most of the job/freelancing sources out there.  The hard part is avoiding scams and screening for the right person.

According to a recent WebProNews interview with Matt Cutts, a Google software engineer, page load speeds may become a factor of Google search rankings. 

In Matt Cutts’ own words:

Historically, we haven’t had to use it in our search rankings, but a lot of people within Google think that the web should be fast.  It should be a good experience, and so it’s sort of fair to say that if you’re a fast site, maybe you should get a little bit of a bonus.  If you really have an awfully slow site, then maybe users don’t want that as much.

While it hasn’t been confirmed that Google will implement this new factor into their algorithm, it does seem plausible.  Afterall, Google currently uses speed as a factor in the Adwords algorithm.

There are 2 primary arguments against this proposed SEO factor.

Certain web pages run scripts which may slow down load times. 

It’s true, but there are ways to optimize the speed of your website even with certain codes running.  Google offers tools and tips to help you speed up your website: Let’s make the web faster

Users are concerned with content, not speed.

Not always true.  Loading times often affect user behavior, such as leaving websites before they finish loading.  Also, slow load times can be a frustrating experience for the user.  SEO is not just about content anymore.  Experience is also a big factor.

Many people have the misperception that all links are the same.  As a SEO, one of the most important things to know are the different types of links out there.  Knowing the difference is critical because it can mean the difference between a success SEO campaign versus one that does not produce any results.

Link discussions can get technical, but since I’m not a programmer, I’ll explain it in layman’s terms.

Static Links

• can be linked from a text or image.
• static links can either be DoFollow or NoFollow.
• DoFollow static links pass PR/link juice.

        Example of a DoFollow static link:

<a href=”http://www.link.com”>Link</a>

• NoFollow static links do not pass PR/link juice.

        Example of a NoFollow static link:

<a href=”http://www.link.com” rel=”nofollow”>Link</a>

Dynamic Links

• can be linked from a text or image.
• dynamic links may or may not pass PR/link juice depending on how the search engines handle the specific link.
• in affiliate links, used to track actions or sales.

        Example of an affiliate link:

http://www.link.com/?affiliateid=123&sid=101

• used in dynamic websites which has not done Apache URL mod rewrites.

        Example of a dynamic link:

http://www.link.com/article/bin/answer.look?language=en&answer=3&sid=98971591358906&query=URL

• Dynamic links are often converted to static links for the purpose of SEO. The .htaccess file is used to perform this task.

        Example of a link conversion:

http://www.link.com/article/bin/answer.look?language=en&answer=3&sid=98971591358906&query=URL

        to

http://www.example.com/article/bin/answer/en/3/98971591358906/URL

As you can see, the dynamic link is not as “pretty” as the static link. Also, the dynamic link is lengthier and contains certain symbols (?,&,=) which make it more difficult for search engines to crawl and index.

Google has officially jumped on the Twitter bandwagon.  According to their press release last week, Google has agreed to include Tweets in their search results.  I really hope Google does this in a way that isn’t obtrusive with the current search interface and layout.  Hopefully, the extent of Tweet results will be limited to Google’s search options.  It would be a bad mistake to include Tweets within the “normal” search results.

What do you think of this deal?

In the past, it was common to see websites without logo links.  Websites used to have a simple menu with a “Home” link in a prominent location.  Websites of today have become more advanced in design and some conventions have even changed, although the concept of simple browsing has not.  Nowadays, it’s more common to see websites using their logo as the primary link to their homepage.  As websites advanced, Internet users have adapted, and it seems to be the convention to use the logo as the homepage link.

So, the question is: Should you link your logo to your homepage?  Well, there is no right or wrong answer to this.  However, you should think about the useability and navigation of your website before answering this question.  Is the “Home” link in a prominent location within your menu and is it simple to navigate your website?  If so, a logo link may not be necessary, although it probably won’t hurt to use it.  However, if your website does not have a “Home” link anywhere in the menu, then you should definitely consider utilizing your logo as a homepage link. 

I’ve seen many “old school” websites that miss this simple functionality.  The homepage link serves a greater purpose than a simple browsing tool for your visitors.  It also allows search engines to better crawl your website.

Just make sure you’re not over-linking to your homepage.  Two links to your homepage from any given page should be sufficient.  One from the logo or menu, and another from the footer area.

I believe companies like PayPerPost and Text-Link-Ads are killing the SEO industry.  Why do I think this?  Because they openly advertise their services to the world. 

Google has always been opposed to paid links.  But now, with these paid linking services out in the mainstream, it would only be natural for search engines to react with stricter guidelines on passing link juice.

I’m sure these companies could care less about what they are doing to the SEO industry.  Why would they?  They’re making money by exploiting the system.

SEO is still important and effective, but companies like PayPerPost and Text-Link-Ads only add fuel to the fire.  Can you imagine what would happen if one day Google decided to remove backlinks as an algorithmic criteria for ranking websites?  It would pretty much kill the SEO industry as we know it, and all the link building that has been done in the past would be worthless.  Yes, there other factors of SEO besides link building, but it’s undeniable that link building is the biggest service market in SEO.

One should keep in mind that Google can easily cut off the link juice from any website or blog.  This means that you’re taking a greater risk when you buy links from a ”known” link seller.  PayPerPost and Text-Link-Ads exposes these “known” link sellers.

From what I can see, Google has penalized Text-Link-Ads.  When you run a search for “text link ads,” they are no where to be found.  But why isn’t PayPerPost.com penalized yet?  Their business model is based on the same concept as Text-Link-Ads.  I guess PayPerPost has a bigger problem to worry about.  The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has made it mandatory for bloggers to disclose when they are getting paid for posts.  This means that everyone will know exactly who is selling blog posts.  Those who do not disclose payment information risk getting fined by the FTC.

Remember the days when it was common to see a PR5 or PR6 site?  Prior to the BigDaddy update in early 2006, Google was more generous about giving out PageRank.  Nowadays, you’d be lucky to get a PR4.  Even authority websites have a tough time reaching PR5 or PR6.

Google has changed the landscape of the SEO industry.  Shortly after the BigDaddy update, link buying slowed down because so many websites, blogs and directories lost their PageRanks.  Then, webmasters realized that most websites were affected by the PR update, and began to adapt to the trend.  The game has changed.  Today, webmasters are still buying links, but with less regard for PR.  PR3′s and PR4′s are the PR5′s and PR6′s of the pre-BigDaddy days.  I believe the prices of links have adapted to the change as well.

There’s another hurdle for the SEO industry.

Google has become more savvy about detecting paid links.  Buying links for SEO seems to be a hit and miss situation.  Some links count towards PR juice, while others don’t.  It’s no secret that Google has had the capability of discounting certain blocks of links from any website.  Here’s what Matt Cutts had to say regarding backlinks: “Do not assume just because you see a backlink that it’s carrying weight.”

The traditional way of checking for backlinks in Google was to run a search query like this: link:www.domain.com

Unfortunately, the traditional way won’t give you an accurate measure of your backlinks because most of the results are filtered out.  Based on speculations, Google supposedly only shows PR3 links and above using their link query.

Google does, however, offer a more accurate backlink tool via their Webmaster Tools section.  You will need a Google account, and you are limited to websites you own or have access to.

If you check Yahoo’s index tool using Site Explorer, you’ll see some drastic differences in the number of backlinks.  Unfortunately, Site Explorer counts some internal links as backlinks too. 

No backlink tool is 100% perfect.

By keeping SEOs in the dark, Google hopes to deter link buying as much as possible.  We must admit, it has worked to some degree.  There are webmasters who have stopped selling links from their website due to fear of getting penalized or banned by Google.  While others have adopted the “nofollow” tag policy for all paid links.