How to Overcome Google's Over Optimization Filter

Few weeks ago, Matt Cutts, The head of Google's anti-spam team, announced that Google is working on a penalty for over optimized or best termed overly SEO'ed websites. Hmmmmm, So now what does this announcement actually mean and how it will affect your website and how should you overcome this Google ranking filter?

Well Here's what Matt Cutts said in detail:

"We don’t normally pre-announce changes but there is something we are working in the last few months and hope to release it in the next months or few weeks. We are trying to level the playing field a bit.
All those people doing, for lack of a better word, over-optimization or overly SEO – versus those making great content and great site. We are trying to make GoogleBot smarter, make our relevance better, and we are also looking for those who abuse it, like too many keywords on a page, or exchange way too many links or go well beyond what you normally expect. We have several engineers on my team working on this right now."

WOW! - Now that's a new challenge for all spammers out there

Does this mean that you shouldn't optimize your website anymore? - No! not at all.

This announcement is meant for people who are trying to go beyond the limits. Of course, it is perfectly okay to add your keywords on your webpage and it is also perfectly okay to exchange links with other websites. Actually, all of these methods can have a very positive influence on the Google rankings of your website. 

But But But! The problem starts when these elements are overused. Yeah that's right. This usually happens when you use fully automated tools and services to promote your website. Now when I say fully automated tools, you know what tools I am talking about! 

For example, it is likely that the following SEO methods (Grey Hat/Black Hat) will get your website in trouble:

• automated link exchange networks that add your link to hundreds on other websites. Means - Affiliate networks who post your links to their affiliate networks using tools may be considered spam!
• tools that automatically create fake forum accounts and comments with a link to your site. Means - You know what it says. Forum links, profiles links, blog comment links created using semi or full automated tools.
• tools that automatically create keyword rich web pages for you on your website. Means - No installation of tools or plugins which extract content based on provide keywords and put it on your webpage.
• participating in paid link schemes. Means - No links from page or a portion of a page which says "Paid links" "Sponsored Links" etc.... Remember Google hates paid links.

Fully or Semi automated solutions always mean spam when it comes to SEO

Google loves to show high quality web pages with unique content in the search results. Web pages created automatically DO NOT have the quality as a web page created by a human. 

Believe me fully or semi automated solutions or whatever you call leads to low quality links and content that is not at all useful to the most of the web surfers. Firms that "optimized" their websites with such methods are the ones who will getting filtered by the new Google ranking filter. 

If you come across the words "fully automated" or "hundreds" or "thousands" back Links or content in one page then you can be sure that the advertised product or service is spamming and your website will get in trouble if you promote it with these methods.

Don't panic and create a symbiotic relationship with search engines

If you haven't used the spam methods described above to promote your website, then your website and your Google rankings won't be in trouble.

Optimizing your web pages is always very important because you have to show Google and other search engines that your website is relevant to a particular targeted keyword and that your website has a high quality content.The key is to focus on the user and not search engines.

Secure your Google rankings by following white hat SEO methods or hire an SEO Outsourcing Company which follows search engine guidelines.

All ways try to optimizing your web pages in a better way but don't forget to play by the rules. If you optimize it correctly, then your Search Engine rankings will last long resulting in more customer and more sales.

If you're pushing the limits too far and trying to play tricks, your website will get in trouble sooner or later. If you want to get long lasting search engine results then only use white hat SEO methods.

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7 characteristics of how Google evaluates backlinks

What exactly did Google announce?

Google announced several changes of the ranking algorithm. The most important change was the change of the backlink analysis:

"Link evaluation. We often use characteristics of links to help us figure out the topic of a linked page. We have changed the way in which we evaluate links; in particular, we are turning off a method of link analysis that we used for several years. We often rearchitect or turn off parts of our scoring in order to keep our system maintainable, clean and understandable."

What does this mean for your web page rankings?

Unfortunately, Google doesn't go into detail. As mentioned in Google's statement, Google uses "characteristics of links" to figure out the topic of a linked page.

We'll take a look at the characteristics below. Then we'll try to find out which element could have been changed.

Characteristic 1: the text of the link

The anchor text of a link has been the most important factor for a long time. If many sites link to a page with the anchor text "green apple" then the page will get high rankings for the term "green apple".

Characteristic 2: the link power of the linking page

Links from pages with many inbound links have a higher influence than links from pages with few backlinks.

Characteristic 3: content and page proximity

If you sell shoes on your website then the link to your website will have a bigger impact if the text that surrounds the link to your page is about shoes. If the link to your website is surrounded by totally unrelated text then the link won't count as much.

Characteristic 4: link attributes such as nofollow and title

Links that use the rel=nofollow attribute don't affect the position of your web pages on Google. Some webmasters think that using title attributes can have a positive effect if these contain the targeted keywords. Others think that this could trigger a spam filters.

Characteristic 5: redirects and shortened URLs

Redirects and shortened URLs such as http://bit.ly/a4X4th are URLs that redirect to another URL. Should these URLs carry full weight when it comes to calculate the position of a website?

Characteristic 6: the age of a website

The older a link is, the more Google tends to trust that link. Links that remain for a long time seem to have a bigger impact than links that come and go.

Characteristic 7: the affiliation of the linking sites

Links from websites that have the same owner and links from affiliates may have a different influence on the rankings of a web page than links from websites that are not affiliated with the page.

Of course, we can only speculate what Google has changed. It is likely that Google now only considers the anchor text of a link if that link is placed in the right context (page and content proximity). Another possibility is that affiliate links (redirected or with page variables) will have less influence on the rankings of a page.

Just continue to get good backlinks and optimize the content of your pages. We provide Professional SEO Services for all kind off large, medium and Small Business SEO requirements.

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Which Factor Did Google Turn Off For Link Evaluation?

As part of some of the 40 Google changes announced last night, Google said they made a change to how they evaluate links.

Google wrote:
Link evaluation. We often use characteristics of links to help us figure out the topic of a linked page. We have changed the way in which we evaluate links; in particular, we are turning off a method of link analysis that we used for several years. We often rearchitect or turn off parts of our scoring in order to keep our system maintainable, clean and understandable.

As you can read, Google decided to turn off one of the many analysis methods they use for their link evaluation. It was a method or factor they used for "several years" and decided to turn it off in the past 30 days.

A WebmasterWorld thread is asking, which method do you think they turned off?

WebmasterWorld link building moderator gave his ideas:

Title Tag
The title tag is a signal of what a web page is generally about. The title tag has been used to help identify the meaning of a linked page from the general theme of the page linking to it. The title tag is a signal of the general theme of a web page. The topic of a link can vary from a side topic to a more granular or a completely off topic meaning.

Surrounding Text
This establishes the context of a link, thus helping to define what the linked web page is about. This also helps identify if a link is paid for or is associated with a donation.

Position of a link
Where a link is located is an important signal. A link in the footer is presumed to be less important than a link within the body of a web page. Navigational links are presumed to be depreciated according to a set amount, perhaps more than outbound links but just a fraction of a normal non-depreciated link.

HTML signals
These include Heading Tags [w3.org], bold, italics, capitalization and font size [webmasterworld.com]. Font size is an interesting candidate for deprecation.

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Google Announcement: Algorithm Update

Google announced 40 changes in the ranking algorithm. The most important changes were another Panda update and changes in the way Google evaluates links. How do these changes affect the rankings of your web pages?



Google's Panda 3.3 update

Google announced the following:

"Panda update. This launch refreshes data in the Panda system, making it more accurate and more sensitive to recent changes on the web."

This sounds similar to the Panda update that Google released in January. That update was described as a 'data refresh'. That means that Google probably didn't add new ranking signals.

New backlink evaluation

Google's announcement about the new backlink evaluation leaves much room for speculation:

"Link evaluation. We often use characteristics of links to help us figure out the topic of a linked page. We have changed the way in which we evaluate links; in particular, we are turning off a method of link analysis that we used for several years. We often rearchitect or turn off parts of our scoring in order to keep our system maintainable, clean and understandable."

Google does not go into more detail and it's hard to tell what the exact method of link analysis that they used for several years is. It's likely that they probably turned off a method that is abused by many spammers.

Many more changes

In addition to the changes above, Google announced many more changes: more coverage for related searches, a tweak to the categorizer for expanded sitelinks, less duplication in expanded sitelinks, more accurate detection of official pages, improved local results and more.

What does this mean to the rankings of your web pages?

Google is working hard on eliminating spam from the result pages. If you use spammy techniques to promote your website, chances are that your rankings will drop.

The backlink evaluation change indicates that Google found a way to deal with manipulated backlinks. If you participate in automated linking schemes, your website might get into trouble.

If you want to get lasting results on Google, you have to use ethical search engine optimization methods that play by the rules. Do not use automated link building systems but try to get high quality backlinks to your website.

Different SEO strategies based on keyword Competition

Keywords with little competition require different tactics than keywords with high competition. If you want to get the best possible results for your website, you must use the right tactics with the right keyword.

1. Different keywords require different SEO tactics
Keywords with little competition require different tactics than keywords with high competition. If you want to get the best possible results for your website, you must use the right tactics with the right keyword.

1. On-page optimization has a higher impact for long keywords

The relative value of on-page web page optimization is very high if you target very long keywords with little competition:

Here's an example: say you want to be listed for the search term "buy blue nike 'the overplay' basketball shoe in Atlanta" then it is enough to optimize one of your web pages for that search term because the competition for that search term is not high. You don't need many inbound links to get high rankings for that keyphrase.

If you target more competitive keywords, you need more backlinks to get high rankings in the search results.

2. Even if you target competitive keywords, it is important to optimize your web page content

The chart above might create the impression that web page optimization is not important to get high rankings for very competitive keywords. That is not the case. Optimizing the contents of a web page is the essential basis for high search engine rankings.

By optimizing a web page for a keyphrase, you tell search engines that the web page is relevant to that keyphrase. If more than one web page has been optimized for that keyphrase (which is usually the case) then the web page with the best inbound links will get the highest position in the search results.

For example, the website www.cnn.com has 46,600 inbound links according to Google. Although CNN.com has so many inbound links, they do not rank for the keyword "buy blue nike 'the overplay' basketball shoe in Atlanta" because the website has not been optimized for that keyphrase.

3. Optimize your web page content, then work on the backlinks

If you want to get high rankings for a keyword, the first step is to optimize one of your web pages for that keyword. Then work on the links that point to the optimized web page to outrank other websites that have been optimized for the same keyword.

4. The more pages you optimize the better

When you optimize your website, optimize different pages of your website for different keyphrases. Start with longer keyword phrases that don't have much competition and then proceed with more competitive keywords.

For example, start with the keywords "buy sneakers in atlanta", "buy cowboy boots in atlanta", "buy pumps in atlanta", "shoe shop atlanta", etc. When you have managed to get high rankings for many of these keyphrases, Google will know that your website is relevant to the topic "shoes".

As soon as Google knows that your website is relevant to the topic, it will be much easier to get high rankings for more competitive keywords such as "buy shoes" or even "shoes".

The more pages of your website you optimize for different but related keywords, the better.

5. It's not necessary to have more links than your competitors

It's not always necessary that you have more links than your competitors. You need better links.

Try to get links to your website that use the targeted keyphrase as the link text (also called anchor text) and that point to the web page on your website that has been optimized for that keyphrase.

Don't focus on quantity, focus on quality. Getting hundreds of links from a link farm won't help your website as much as a few dozen links from relevant web pages with authority.

If your website has both optimized web pages and good inbound links then it will be easy to outrank web pages that only have one factor.

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Google Friendly Page Layout Algorithm & Penalty

Google announced a new algorithm change that looks at your page layout and if the ads above the fold are excessive, your site can be penalized and downgraded in the search results. This comes with no surprise to me and others, because 10 weeks ago, Matt Cutts announced that this is something Google is working towards. Google wrote: We've heard complaints from users that if they click on a result and it's difficult to find the actual content, they aren't happy with the experience. Rather than scrolling down the page past a slew of ads, users want to see content right away. So sites that don't have much content "above-the-fold" can be affected by this change. If you click on a website and the part of the website you see first either doesn't have a lot of visible content above-the-fold or dedicates a large fraction of the site’s initial screen real estate to ads, that’s not a very good user experience. Such sites may not rank as highly going forward. Google released a special tool at browsersize.googlelabs.com to help you visualize if your site may or was impacted by this. Here is how this site looks:

We seem to be okay, but what about Google's own search results. Well, Google won't let you plug in their own URLs into the tool, so it is hard to tell but I doubt they would pass the test.

Danny Sullivan, as well as many others, go through the hypocrisy with this new penalty and how Google is doing the exact opposite. Not only that, they recommend to their AdSense customers to place ads top heavy so users click on them. Here is their ad map:

That being said, the algorithm is out, if you were hit, you would probably know by now. To fix it, remove some of those ads, and wait and wait until Google pushes out an update. It can takes weeks. If you decide to update your page layout, the page layout algorithm will automatically reflect the changes as we re-crawl and process enough pages from your site to assess the changes. How long that takes will depend on several factors, including the number of pages on your site and how efficiently Googlebot can crawl the content. On a typical website, it can take several weeks for Googlebot to crawl and process enough pages to reflect layout changes on the site. Who is affected? Google said 1 in every 100 searches are. If you read the forums, almost every thread talks about how Google is doing one thing and saying the other. Get your website designed in a best Google friendly layout by our Affordable Website Design Services India. Source

SEO Mistakes to avoid!

Most of the times your SEO agencies make some silly mistakes and your SEO campaign smash. Find below the reasons why your SEO Campaign didn’t worked or isn't working and how to fix it and make work for you:

1. Sometimes SEO’s make a mistake of aiming too high competitive keyword rather than aiming for a moderately competitive keyword with has decent amount of search traffic.

2. Understand your niche and requirement properly and utilize your resources across three key areas: keyword research, on-page content development and link building.

3. When targeting particular keyword, don’t just try to rank for one, two or three terms but keep the variations in mind and target groups. These variations will rank fast and will drive in more traffic.

4. Don’t keep jumping from plan A to B to C and then back to plan A, instead make a solid plan based on current market research and stick to it in order to succeed with your SEO campaign. Stay focused!

5. Most Important - Make sure that you have on-page content development strategy all set as content is still the KING!

6. Focus on quality link building and don’t just drop links on any page using any anchor text. Make sure you're targeting the right selection of “exact” terms – as these are the terms that you can realistically rank for.

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New Google patent

Last week, a new patent application was published that shows how Google might evaluate references on the Internet. The more Google trusts a source, the higher the influence of the reference. You might want to take another look at your links and Google's +1 button.

What is a reference?

There are two main ways in which people can reference other people's websites:

• links from one site to the other
• clicks on buttons such as Facebook's "Like" button or Google's "+1" button.

Google uses these references to calculate the relevance of a website for the search results. The more and the better the references are, the higher your website will be listed in Google's search results.

Not all references are equal

The patent application explains it as follows:

"Not all references, however, are necessarily of equal significance. For example, a reference by another agent with a high reputational score is of greater significance than a reference by another agent with a low reputational score.

Thus, the reputation of a particular agent, and therefore the reputational score assigned to the particular agent, should depend not just on the number of references to the content signed by the particular agent, but on the importance of the referring documents and other agents.

This implies a recursive definition: the reputation of a particular agent is a function of the reputation of the content and agents which refer to it."

For example, someone who shares high quality information on a regular basis might become a "trusted agent". References of that person will have a higher influence on the referenced page than references from other people.

What does this mean to your website?

The Google patent indicates that it does not make sense to buy links or +1 clicks in bulk. Low quality backlinks and +1 clicks from people who will click the +1 button on any website won't help your search engine rankings.

If you want to get higher rankings on Google, you need backlinks from high quality websites and you must make sure that only people who like your website click the +1 buttons on your site (click here for instructions on how to add Google's +1 button to your site).

Quality is much more important than quantity. Don't fall for quick-fix SEO solutions that promise hundreds of backlinks in a short time with no work. These backlinks won't help your website and it is likely that Google might consider them spam.

Source - Axandra Search Engine Facts

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