[Method] The Five Ingredients of Google Optimization

Awesome info !

Thanks.

Very well organized, with pictures too!

Exceptional thread!

Thank you.

goof info regarding holdback and alexa search keywords, will definitely use it

I definitely experienced the holdback, but I think it is a different formula, depending on the niches.

And I don't think that after 2 years there is any holdback. But all in all, this is pure speculation.

This is valuable stuff.

Honestly a very well laid out and informative article, I'm linking all my friends to this! Thanks!

Great post mate!

SEO is the framework of any webiste

nothing i didn't know but very nice nonetheless. rep given.

Nice post really help me

Excellent method! Bookmarked this page!

nicely written m8...thx alot

shithappens said:

I definitely experienced the holdback, but I think it is a different formula, depending on the niches.

And I don't think that after 2 years there is any holdback. But all in all, this is pure speculation.

Click to expand...

I just moved an insurance type keyword from nowhere to #22. The keyword has 5000 exact match searches and the site is just a little over a month old. Take it for what it's worth.

very useful info dude.. you rock..

I'm sorry, I can't keep my mouth shut here. I wanted to comment on a few of your recommendations in here and ad a couple insights that you may have overlooked.


Feel free to disagree with anything I say.. lord knows I don't keep my mouth shut.


Assuming that your SEO efforts are on-going, and they should be.. I have a couple things I would like to add.



Keyword research - hands down the most valuable keyword research, if available to you, is internal search data. I know everyone is paranoid about Google Analytics, but for the sake of argument, let's say you use it. You should have a prominent search box on your site, an empty white box with a big button that says SEARCH. Don't get clever with the button text, don't put light grey instructions in the white text box. Simple, and obvious.



Configure your analytics program to track internal search queries. Look at the landing pages, the exit %, and hopefully you have configured enough goals and events to really understand user engagement. If you want to know what Joe the plumber is REALLY searching for, internal search data is going to tell you more than any keyword tool or 3rd party application.
Page Titles

If you took any 101 writing courses in college, and I'm sure everyone here stayed awake through college. You know the difference between passive vs active mediums. In case you forgot:


Passive vs Active Mediums
[FONT=&quot]On the Web, users are engaged and want to go places and get things done. The Web is an active medium. While watching TV, viewers want to be entertained. They are in relaxation mode; they don't want to make choices. TV is a passive medium.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Traditional writing guidelines are clear on the use of passive voice:[/FONT]

• [FONT=&quot]Worst: The passive voice should be avoided.[/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]Bad: The passive voice should be avoided by writers.[/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]Better: Writers should avoid using passive voice.[/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]Best: Writers should use active voice.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]When structuring a sentence,[/FONT][FONT=&quot] active voice ("Actor does X to Object") is usually better than passive voice ("Object has X done to it by Actor") because it more directly represents the action. As a result, readers don't have to jump through as many cognitive hoops when trying to understand what's going on.[/FONT]


[FONT=&quot]What does this have to do with page titles? It presents a dilemma.If your title is important, than the first two words in the title are uber-important. Studies show that web users only read 20-28% of the words during an average visit. Eyetracking charts on search result pages prove this: the first two words are going to grab the user. [/FONT]


[FONT=&quot]I have been trying for years to get people away from the Keyword | Keyword | Company Name format for page titles. It's been a long battle. But with the soon-to-be shake up in Google (Again!), page titles are finally going to have to shift to well written sentences that not only incorporate your keywords but also explain whats on the page. A good sentence will trump the CTR of a title full of keywords any day. [/FONT]
Meta Information

Don't let anyone tell you that meta information is not important. It is, and when you see the difference between a well sculpted meta-desc. V.s. whatever the first 100 words on the page, has on CTR, you will understand. Take the time.
Meta keywords ARE still in fact used by some search engines.
Links

The whole linking thing is about to be put to bed. Once again, it's been abused and used to manipulate rankings. Most people in SEO know that Google is making several large changes to ranking factors and links. Some speculate its dropping nofollow, others including me, think that its de-valuing or dropping anchor text for keyword relevance.

Everyone knows that ‘real' links are: your sites name or url and link to your home page 99.999999999999% of the time. Unless you have a news site, or are on some sort of a shared community, if your site has a consistent theme, the home page will get the links and ‘valuable' body text links containing choice anchor text pointing to a page deep in your site were either made by you, or someone you paid.
URL Structure

Very, very, very little SEO impact. Its good for usability and navigation and therefor should not be ignored, but you're not going to move the needle by putting the keyword in the url.
Hold Back

I don't care what people say, I still don't buy into the sandbox or any other handicap that people should suspect. I've worked on so many freakin sites, many of them brand new, and we started seeing traffic right away, and even with the various algo changes and slaps, only once did I see a site trend down in organic traffic.

SEO is a fluid game, and every year someone loves to yell SEO is dead (probably more to just get a reaction), it's not. BUT, and this is just my opinion. SEO is up for one of the biggest shifts it's seen in a long time. While the BH stuff does still work, SEO is about to be rolled back (to a place I am quite comfortable with), content.


If someone came into my agency to interview for an SEO spot and they list out these ‘rules' from this article, I would give them a minute or two, and if they didn't mention copywriting to me, I would end the interview. Content, well written and original content is going to be what rules the day in the very near future. This past year saw the re-emergence of search engine spam. It was wild, almost like going back in time to 1999. But that seems to be just about over.


With Google losing Twitter and Facebook info, they are relying heavily on the tie-in of Google products to build profiles and gauge interest to tailor search results. Google + isn't going anywhere any time soon because it's an integral part of how they get this information.



Anyone who knows me, knows I hate social media (it's a Generation X thing), and I hate ‘social media experts' even more. But as much as I hate to admit it, social media has to be a major player in your search plan. This doesn't mean setting up profiles in SENuke and linking them back, this means legitimate social media and interaction. It's a hard thing to do, especially if you are spreading your time between multiple sites. But it has to happen.


I don't have the smarts or the tenacity to be a BH guy, I prefer the long money that comes with true organic SEO. It's true, some of the old methods still work, and some sites have cemented their places in the SERPs because of things they did years ago, but going forward, those methods are not going to work and SEO is going to be dominated by internet marketers that either took some journalism classes in college or hired some people who truly understand how to write engaging copy.



Links will still matter, but not in the way they did. You need to look at links as a source of traffic, not just as a source of link juice.


If you want to REALLY know whats going on in SEO. Buddy up to someone who has a membership to SEO Revolution (I think membership is closed). They do true testing of on-page and off-page elements and report their findings.


Oh and don't forget to establish yourself as the ‘author' for your content. The originator is going to become more and more important. Especially if the content is not clearly marked as syndicated news.


I have more to say, but unlike most of you, I make no money by hanging out on BHW so I must get back to work. Have a good day..

great tips for seo really

Solid basic tips that are easy to forget.

great info

BuzzKill

Thank you for taking your time and posting additional great tips on keywords research, meta structure, copy write and other good tips! Rep +

As far as copy write it is an absolute must have part of SEO because that is what is going to convert visitors into customers. As well as quality unique content that will help making people want to talk about and link to your content/website plus rank for long-tail keywords.

If any one would want more information on how to write quality web copy I posted a downloadable link to the one of the best books in my opinion that teaches how to write web copy in a very simple steps that's called:

Web Copy That Sells-The Revolutionary Formula for Creating Killer Copy Every Time

http://www.blackhatworld.com/blackh...s-best-book-ive-ever-read-about-web-copy.html

BuzzKill said:

I?m sorry, I can?t keep my mouth shut here. I wanted to comment on a few of your recommendations in here and ad a couple insights that you may have overlooked.


Feel free to disagree with anything I say.. lord knows I don?t keep my mouth shut.


Assuming that your SEO efforts are on-going, and they should be.. I have a couple things I would like to add.



Keyword research ? hands down the most valuable keyword research, if available to you, is internal search data. I know everyone is paranoid about Google Analytics, but for the sake of argument, let?s say you use it. You should have a prominent search box on your site, an empty white box with a big button that says SEARCH. Don?t get clever with the button text, don?t put light grey instructions in the white text box. Simple, and obvious.



Configure your analytics program to track internal search queries. Look at the landing pages, the exit %, and hopefully you have configured enough goals and events to really understand user engagement. If you want to know what Joe the plumber is REALLY searching for, internal search data is going to tell you more than any keyword tool or 3rd party application.

Click to expand...

a very good point and one thats well made. ive got to hold my hands up here and say that im not tracking internal search queries. i havent been doing that. thanks for the suggestion.

Page Titles

If you took any 101 writing courses in college, and I?m sure everyone here stayed awake through college. You know the difference between passive vs active mediums. In case you forgot:


Passive vs Active Mediums
[FONT=&quot]On the Web, users are engaged and want to go places and get things done. The Web is an active medium. While watching TV, viewers want to be entertained. They are in relaxation mode; they don't want to make choices. TV is a passive medium.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Traditional writing guidelines are clear on the use of passive voice:[/FONT]

• [FONT=&quot]Worst: The passive voice should be avoided.[/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]Bad: The passive voice should be avoided by writers.[/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]Better: Writers should avoid using passive voice.[/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]Best: Writers should use active voice.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]When structuring a sentence,[/FONT][FONT=&quot] active voice ("Actor does X to Object") is usually better than passive voice ("Object has X done to it by Actor") because it more directly represents the action. As a result, readers don't have to jump through as many cognitive hoops when trying to understand what's going on.[/FONT]


[FONT=&quot]What does this have to do with page titles? It presents a dilemma.If your title is important, than the first two words in the title are uber-important. Studies show that web users only read 20-28% of the words during an average visit. Eyetracking charts on search result pages prove this: the first two words are going to grab the user. [/FONT]


[FONT=&quot]I have been trying for years to get people away from the Keyword | Keyword | Company Name format for page titles. It?s been a long battle. But with the soon-to-be shake up in Google (Again!), page titles are finally going to have to shift to well written sentences that not only incorporate your keywords but also explain whats on the page. A good sentence will trump the CTR of a title full of keywords any day. [/FONT]

Click to expand...

hmmmm.....

hidden text within a forum post. how exciting!

*strums fingers on desk whilst wondering what this could signify*

Meta Information
Don?t let anyone tell you that meta information is not important. It is, and when you see the difference between a well sculpted meta-desc. V.s. whatever the first 100 words on the page, has on CTR, you will understand. Take the time.
Meta keywords ARE still in fact used by some search engines.

Links
The whole linking thing is about to be put to bed. Once again, it?s been abused and used to manipulate rankings. Most people in SEO know that Google is making several large changes to ranking factors and links. Some speculate its dropping nofollow, others including me, think that its de-valuing or dropping anchor text for keyword relevance.

Everyone knows that ?real? links are: your sites name or url and link to your home page 99.999999999999% of the time. Unless you have a news site, or are on some sort of a shared community, if your site has a consistent theme, the home page will get the links and ?valuable? body text links containing choice anchor text pointing to a page deep in your site were either made by you, or someone you paid.

URL Structure
Very, very, very little SEO impact. Its good for usability and navigation and therefor should not be ignored, but you?re not going to move the needle by putting the keyword in the url.

Hold Back
I don?t care what people say, I still don?t buy into the sandbox or any other handicap that people should suspect. I?ve worked on so many freakin sites, many of them brand new, and we started seeing traffic right away, and even with the various algo changes and slaps, only once did I see a site trend down in organic traffic.

SEO is a fluid game, and every year someone loves to yell SEO is dead (probably more to just get a reaction), it?s not. BUT, and this is just my opinion. SEO is up for one of the biggest shifts it?s seen in a long time. While the BH stuff does still work, SEO is about to be rolled back (to a place I am quite comfortable with), content.

Click to expand...

youre making a very strong argument for content is king and whilst you say this is just your opinion, youre by no means a lone voice crying in the night, but why now more than ever before? what do you see that we havent and in what way do you see anchor text backlinks being diluted in strength - is there any supporting reading material you could point us in the direction of, to explore this further?

i know i could google it, but that may not give me the same information thats influencing your thought processes on this and im impressed with what youve written, so id like your recommendations please.

If someone came into my agency to interview for an SEO spot and they list out these ?rules? from this article, I would give them a minute or two, and if they didn?t mention copywriting to me, I would end the interview. Content, well written and original content is going to be what rules the day in the very near future. This past year saw the re-emergence of search engine spam. It was wild, almost like going back in time to 1999. But that seems to be just about over.

With Google losing Twitter and Facebook info, they are relying heavily on the tie-in of Google products to build profiles and gauge interest to tailor search results. Google + isn?t going anywhere any time soon because it?s an integral part of how they get this information.

Anyone who knows me, knows I hate social media (it?s a Generation X thing), and I hate ?social media experts? even more. But as much as I hate to admit it, social media has to be a major player in your search plan. This doesn?t mean setting up profiles in SENuke and linking them back, this means legitimate social media and interaction. It?s a hard thing to do, especially if you are spreading your time between multiple sites. But it has to happen.

I don?t have the smarts or the tenacity to be a BH guy, I prefer the long money that comes with true organic SEO. It?s true, some of the old methods still work, and some sites have cemented their places in the SERPs because of things they did years ago, but going forward, those methods are not going to work and SEO is going to be dominated by internet marketers that either took some journalism classes in college or hired some people who truly understand how to write engaging copy.

Links will still matter, but not in the way they did. You need to look at links as a source of traffic, not just as a source of link juice.

If you want to REALLY know whats going on in SEO. Buddy up to someone who has a membership to SEO Revolution (I think membership is closed). They do true testing of on-page and off-page elements and report their findings.

Oh and don?t forget to establish yourself as the ?author? for your content. The originator is going to become more and more important. Especially if the content is not clearly marked as syndicated news.

I have more to say, but unlike most of you, I make no money by hanging out on BHW so I must get back to work. Have a good day..

Click to expand...

what a great post. rep'd you for taking the time to write down your considered thoughts and im interested in your assertion that future SEO significance will be awarded to content and the originator of a content piece.

i get the quality content thing. thats being hammered home more and more wherever i turn, but its what you wrote about author attribution that caught my attention. just so's im clear, are you saying that the individual writers name should be attributed to the content or that the websites name shoud be attributed, or arent you making any distinction just as long as ownership is claimed?