SEO Report Card: Optimization According to Google. Earlier this week, Google offered a free download of its own SEO Report Card, an open and honest document that grades around 100 of Google’s own “products” (think Youtube, Maps, Adwords, Reader, Blogger etc).
While it may satisfy your curiosity on how well the Big G does at SEO itself (seasoned search pros may snicker that only 10% are using the title tag properly), it can also help you audit your own website. Topics covered include search result presentation, URLs and redirects and on-page optimization. Here’s an example regarding canonical URLs and duplicate content: Directory form, www.google.com/product(/) www.google.com/product (canonical), try version: www.google.com/product/ with: suboptimal behavior when trailing slash added * includes product main pages in directory form without a trailing slash 200 status code given when slash added to Google Products’ canonical URL, Sept. 2009: Avoid multiple URLs that serve the same content.
Prevent 404s. Cutting Off Bad Sitelinks. Ever noticed those sub-links under search results when you Google name brands?
They’re called sitelinks (according to Google), and they only appear for certain websites triggered by certain keywords. For the privileged sites that receive them, they give the search listing more prominence in search results and expose a bit more of what the site has to offer. But not every site earns sitelinks. According to Google: “If the structure of your site doesn’t allow our algorithms to find good sitelinks, or we don’t think that the sitelinks for your site are relevant for the user’s query, we won’t show them.” The sitelinks that appear represent what Google thinks is important on your site.
But Google doesn’t always get it right, and may show links to pages you don’t want anyone to land on. The bad news for VS is that link probably gets high click through, and many have stumbled upon it already. To block a sitelink, first ensure that you have verified ownership of the site. Search Engine Optimization in 2010: What You Need to Know Now. Editor’s Note: is a contributor to Practical eCommerce and the owner of BillHartzer.com, a Dallas-based online marketing firm.
Hartzer wrote the article, below, which first appeared in that company’s blog. If you want to use search engine optimization best practices, or want to get updated on the latest search engine optimization techniques, there are a lot of good SEO resources to keep you up-to-date. If you’re confused already about search engine optimization, here are my expert thoughts about search engine optimization in 2010, based on my experience. First off, before I go any further, I need to explain what I mean when I say “search engine optimization” (SEO). It means getting your website noticed in the search engines, in the “free” or “organic,” natural search results, not pay-per-click (PPC), which is “search engine marketing,” where you have to pay to be listed. On-page Factors. How Social Search Will Transform the SEO Industry. Joe Devine is the Chief Executive Officer of The Search Engine Guys, LLC (TSEG), a full-service web marketing company based in Austin, Texas.
Facebook and Bing announced last week an agreement that would allow Microsoft’s search engine to return results based on the Facebook “Likes” of the searcher’s friends. Additionally, Google recently began including Twitter updates in its search returns. It’s a natural innovation that fits into the business models of both companies and takes the trend of individualized search results to its next logical level: results tailored to the searcher’s existing social footprint.
SEO insiders have wondered whether this new search innovation would affect placement strategies. And the simple answer is: yes. Changing the Method, Not the Mission But to think that this development is rocking the SEO world is to misunderstand the realities of the industry. Of course, as with any complex question about a dynamically evolving industry, there is a caveat.