Update On Alexa Rank Change

"Alexa captures some activity, of some users, some of the time. Its results are therefore inherently flawed."

There is no doubt that folks see Alexa as a ranking system. I did, certainly not now.

Proper stats are a much better measurement of what is going on. The only problem with 'stats' is that we are the only ones that see them so the 'visitor ranking' only shows to us and not our visitors. So Alexa may not be correct but I am sure many think what they show to be fact.

Read more on this topic at my fav forum:

http://www.webproworld.com/search-engine-optimization-forum/68568-omg-what-happened-my-alexa-ranking.html

No More Supplemental Indexing - Sort Of

Over the holidays I was reading an article from WebProNews on the Supplemental Index. If you are unfamiliar with the term, let me explain.

Back in 2003 Google introduced the Supplemental Index. This was an index (database) where web sites, pages went when not up to standards (less important or less trusted) for Google's main index (database). Now this explanation is a 'brief' to say the least, but you get the idea.

Many business owners were quite upset, and rightfully so, by this because if someone typed in a search term / phrase and your site / pages were in the Supplemental Index your site would not come up IF others did show for the search in the main index. They would only show IF they search did not turn up results in the main index.

It's been reported by Google Search Quality Team that now when someone types in a search term / phrase both the main and supplemental index will be searched. This is indeed good news.

Read more about this here:
http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2007/12/ultimate-fate-of-supplemental-results.html

Happy New Year!

Jan

Page Rank Is A Changing

Unfortunately not for the good :(

I noticed yesterday that my page rank had dropped. The drop was not drastic, but since it took a lot of hard work to get it from a 5 to a 6 it was very depressing to see it back at a 5.

First thing I did was check out my fav forum Web Pro World. Seems I am not the only one that is seeing the change, though not are all bad.

Now some are of the opinion that Page Rank really doesn't matter as long as you are still getting the traffic. In some respects I agree with that, but if nothing else I see page rank as a positive or negative Google 'handshake'.

It appears the scoop is the drop is from 'inter-linking' and/or 'selling links'. Well I do have links to sites I have created. I think that is just part of business, these are websites my company has created - the portfolio. I certainly don't have paid links. Some are also saying it is the Big Players that have been "spanked". Well I would not put my company in the Big Player category, at least the definition it seems they are using.

So why the drop?

Since paid links is not an issue my next step is checking out what is going on in my stats programs. Google Analytics and Crafty Syntax - Live Help, which I can use to communicate with folks who visit my site and more.

If you want to read an article about what is being called "Pagerank Smackdown" Click here.
Certainly one concern I have is that the 'hack' I had awhile back is now coming back to haunt me. (You can read more about that here Surely Google would check this considering I even posted a remark to Matt Cutts (not that I heard anything back) and they are saying sites were viewed by humans and not just a script. This is a scary thought.

One thing to keep in mind when reading this is that Page Rank and search rank and two different things. I checked a couple of keyword phrase search terms for my site and I am still doing ok.

Jan

SEO - Kinda Black Hat?

There was a post on a forum I belong to that was asking if what they wanted to do was "kinda Black Hat". The question struck me because I am a firm believer that if you have to ask this type of question chances are it is getting into an area that you may not want to go. It also made me think that it was a good time to review all the "hats" for folks that are working on SEO or have someone doing SEO for them.

Read the article here: http://www.jbcr-virtualsolutions.com/tips-and-articles.html#White

I also offer a SEO ecourse for those that are just starting out and need to know that basics. You can read about it here: http://www.jbcr-virtualsolutions.com/SEO-ECourse.html

Just make sure your "hat" is always clean :)

Jan

Google Alerts

How many of you use Google Alerts? How many of you have heard of Google Alerts?

Ok, for those that haven't heard of it, this is Google's definition:

"Google Alerts are email updates of the latest relevant Google results (web, news, etc.) based on your choice of query or topic.

Some handy uses of Google Alerts include:

- monitoring a developing news story
- keeping current on a competitor or industry
- getting the latest on a celebrity or event
- keeping tabs on your favorite sports teams"

I signed up for Google Alerts a number of months ago to keep informed on new issues and stories in particular areas of interest for my business. I also signed up for a particular category to see if my site would show in the alert if I worked the site enough. A test to some degree, but very important when it comes to getting the word out about your business.

The particular category is Second Life and I started this site Second Life Snippets on May 18, 2007 in WordPress. Second Life is certainly newsworthy. When you type in Second Life in Google you get 599,000,000 results. So you can see competition is stiff.

Today I received my normal daily Google Alert summary for Second Life and there was a post and link to my site under "Google Blogs Alert for: Second Life. I am very happy with this achievement. It shows you can get noticed and get out there if you work at it.

Read more here: www.jbcr-virtualsolutions.com/tips-and-articles.html#Alerts

Jan

Don't Believe Everything That You Read

On a daily basis I am bonbarded by sales pitches. A good portion are not products, like ebooks or audios, they are 'systems' or 'software' that say they can have your site indexed in hours, in the top 10 of page 1 of the list in search engines (and so much more).

Some of these 'promos' I receive I have opted in to receive (usually a newsletter) and some not - more not. I know this is not unusual. Most of the time I just delete off these 'pitches' after reading a few lines because:

1. It must be an affiliate link since I have read the same line in numerous emails already.
2. I have to click a script to read it and will not do that.
3. The first few lines immediately tell me that this person may be selling something worthwhile but has no idea what the ramaifications are.
etc....

My point in this blog post is that if you receive something that make claims that you find hard to believe chances are you should not believe it.

Especially when it comes to do with anything related to SEO / SEM. Do a bit of reading that will save you money and pain in the long run. At least read Googles Webmaster Guidelines:

Google Webmaster Guidelines

Even this bit of knowledge will help.

Quality guidelines - specific guidelines

- Avoid hidden text or hidden links.
- Don't use cloaking or sneaky redirects.
- Don't send automated queries to Google.
- Don't load pages with irrelevant keywords.
- Don't create multiple pages, subdomains, or domains with substantially duplicate content.
- Don't create pages that install viruses, trojans, or other badware.
- Avoid "doorway" pages created just for search engines, or other "cookie cutter" approaches such as affiliate programs with little or no original content.
- If your site participates in an affiliate program, make sure that your site adds value. Provide unique and relevant content that gives users a reason to visit your site first.

A bit more reading would be even better.

I understand as busy business owner you may not manage your own web site, or do your own SEO or marketing, but if you are tempted to purchase products out there that are related to this - in any way - take time or make sure your or your web master / marketer / SEO team has at least read them.

It will save you money and what could be a very big headache.

Read more articles here: http://www.jbcr-virtualsolutions.com/tips-and-articles.html

Jan

Alt Tags

What is an alt tag, you may ask - well an alt tag is a text description for images.

There are two important reasons to use alt tags.

1. Accessibility for vision-imparied visitors. The software will be able to describe to the user what they can't see.

2. Search engines cannot see images but the can read the content that describes the image.
This is an example of how you would use it:

img alt="description of image and do use keywords if appropriate for the particular image" src=imagename.jpg" (Do make sure you put this inbetween < > If I try to do this it says the image is not valid :)

Having said that, don't keyword stuff your alt tag. That will hurt you more than help you. Just be reasonable and ensure the keyword(s) you use represent the image and the subject matter of the page.

Read more articles here: http://www.jbcr-virtualsolutions.com/tips-and-articles.html

Jan

Do You Depend On Google Searches?

The saying "don't put all your eggs in one basket" comes to mind IF you depend solely on Google searches. With constant changes in their algorithm you can be listed on the first page one day and the 1000 page a month later. No don't get discouraged, sometimes it is a shift that will be adjusted and you will see yourself back in that spot, other times it is website owners who are working their sites and it starts to pay off, or....

Work Your Site?

Yep! As much as it would be nice to just upload the site and wait for traffic that is just not going to happen.

First - focus. Take a broad key phrase and narrow it. As an example, as a web designer if I type in 'web site design' in Google I get 1,090,000,000 results . Being found for 'web site design' is so broad I would be lucky (to say the least) if I was in the top 10. But narrow it down to 'web designer Canada' I get 126,000,000 results. Yes of course still daunting, and this is not what I target for, but you can see what I am saying.

So yes absolutely work your site for search engine searches but don't rely on them completely. You need to work your website and that means starting a blog (or two), submit articles, social networking, etc.

Read more about this and other informative articles here:
http://www.jbcr-virtualsolutions.com/tips-and-articles.html

Jan

Block Bots By A Hosting Company - A Step Too Far!

On my daily reading today I went into WebProWorld and found a post about a hosting company and can it influence your search engine rank. In that post someone stated that this hosting company had decided to block search engine bots due to usage by particular sites. I was shocked.

In my research on this claim I found it was 'Dreamhost'. It seems that 'Dreamhost' has notified some sites of the need to block search engine crawlers but not other site owners. Also in my research I found a forum with postings from a rep from 'Dreamhost':

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
John system stability manager at DreamHost
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here is some snippets:

"The only cases where we would block googlebot are when the following conditions are met:

-the site in question is causing the server it is on to be unstable

-the site in question is causing erratic or abnormal behavior on the part of google’s crawler

We do not block googlebot on every busy customer site, only when it is demonstrated that it is causing artificial usage (a 10 page site does not require 5000 hits from googlebot to be indexed =) and when the alternative to blocking googlebot is disabling the entire domain. It is disingenuous to suggest that this refers to google simply indexing sites - I actually have been in direct with google engineers to help sort out the specific cases where by their their crawler was not performing as it should be."

His final comment

"I have already removed the blocks and contacted the customer to apologize - I also have trained the tech responsible and conveyed the proper situations in which such steps would be necessary to our entire company at large".

Read more here:
http://www.seopedia.org/internet-marketing-and-seo/dreamhost-asking-clients-to-block-googlebot/

Scary stuff when you think about it.

Jan

Google Analytics - My How You Have Changed!

Google Analytics has changed their appearance and features. If you haven't been in there for awhile you have to check it out. The new dashboard offers way more immediate information than previously offered. You can see visits, pages views, average time on site, etc., way more detailed than before. Traffic reports are better. You get 'direct traffic', 'referring traffic', 'search engines' and a report for each as well as the top keywords/key phrases. Besides the details it now provides.

I also love the fact that you can email reports. So when my clients want details I can email them details. Saves time!

If you don't know what Google Analytics is now is the time to sign-up. Watching your website stats is one of the best ways to know what you need to do with your website to increase traffic and increase sales.

Read more about the update here: http://www.google.com/analytics/

Jan