Search Engine Optimisation - The Latest and the Greatest

SEO – The Latest and Greatest News

As we have noted in our article and on many occasions when speaking about SEO, it is not always about the latest and greatest. Real results from SEO come from diligent work by someone with knowledge and expertise. Following the most current trends, tricks and techniques can lead to trouble down the road.

With so many questions out there about SEO, you need to remember to focus on what matters. A solid site foundation and aggressive, ethical optimization methods.
We know the questions are out there, so here are the answers you are looking for….

How Important is Content?

Content is King. This has never been more true. Focus on solid content that is keyword rich and has a strong marketing messages for your site visitors. Make your site the source for information in your industry.

Who has a bigger Index, Yahoo or Google?

The truth is, it doesn’t really matter. It isn’t about size, it is about relevance. The engine that can deliver the most relevant results to a search query is truly the winning engine. So, it’s not the size of the index that matters, it is what they do with the information in the index and how it is delivered. The real question behind this question is: “which engine should I use when I do my searches and which engine should I focus on in my marketing”. The answer to those questions are; use the engine that you feel delivers the best results. Don’t buy into the hype stating which engine people think is best. Use many engines and then find the one you like the best. You never know, a new leader may emerge. The more people try engines and demand better results from them, the more the industry as a whole benefits. As far as marketing goes, you can’t afford to focus on just one. Your goal is to get exposure and traffic. Why limit it? Focus on all of the top engines and achieve maximum exposure for your site.

Can Google Follow Links in Flash?

While Google can read and index Flash, it cannot follow links in Flash. Make sure all links are plain text.

Is PageRank Still Important?

Yes - PageRank has always been important to Google. Google still uses the algorithm to help determine rankings.

Do You Need to Use the Google Sitemap Tool?

If your site is already getting crawled by Google and pages are being added to their index, you do not need to use the Google sitemap submission tool. The sitemap submission tool was created to provide a way for sites which normally do not get crawled to gain the attention of Google and be crawled and indexed.

Is it Really Important to Remove Javascript, Define CSS Off-page And Keep my Code Clean?

Yes. By placing your CSS and javascript in external files you remove excess code from the page, which makes it easier and faster for the spiders to find your wonderful keyword rich content.

Minimizing the use of tables also helps reduce the HTML to text ratio, making the text stand out to the engines.

Clean, error-free code is also essential. It ensures the engines won’t get stuck or lost – they can simply and easily spider through your site and eat up your content.

Your keyword rich text should appear as close to the top of your code as possible. Sometimes this is difficult, when top or side (left) navigation appear first in the code. You can always try a different page layout or even consider using CSS to reposition the text for the engines.

Do Too Many Keywords in the Domain Name Harm You?

Too many keywords in a domain, all separated by dashes is a red alert for the spiders.

How Many Links Should You Have on Your Sitemap?

Google recommends 100 links per page.

Are Dynamic Urls Bad?

Google says that a dynamic URL with 2 parameters "should" get indexed.

Hot off the press bonus section to your Whitepaper...

“The Bourbon Update…RSS Feeds….Blogging…Pinging…the Google Patent…Google Site Maps and more…”

“How am I supposed to keep up with all of this and run a business? Can’t someone explain it all?”

Absolutely – we can! We have the bottom line on the latest search engine news and how it

impacts YOU.

Many people saw sweeping changes after the Bourbon Update. People lost rankings, they watched their PageRank decrease and they sat back helplessly watching their hard earned traffic slipping away.

Then, as if it were an apology from Google itself, they changed the rules and opened the doors to let us in! With Google Site Map Beta, we can now control how Google indexes pages, and we can guide Google to pick up the pages quicker than ever before – in most cases in about 4 hours!

The tremendous opportunity created by Google Site Map, as well as blogging, pinging and various other techniques (all 100% ethical) make this an exciting time to get involved in the SEO game and claim the customers that should be yours! Whether you lost them in an update or never had them to begin with – NOW is the best time to act and stake your share of the claim.

A bit of an older update, but important none the less…Yahoo has its own results… Google has its own results… Now MSN has its own results!

After Yahoo released their ground-breaking search engine technology independent of industry leader Google, the landscape of SEO changed, and continues to change. This is obvious to anyone who uses both Google and Yahoo for queries on a regular basis. While major queries provide similar results from the two engines, the results become vastly different once you move away from more common search criteria.

Beyond that, MSN recently released a beta version of their own search algorithm for user testing. MSN removed the beta after a short period of testing, but accompanied the removal with an apology and a promise: they’ll be back. And they did come back! So it looks like the company is positioning itself to become a powerhouse in the SEO game.

For those whose business and life centers around the leads generated by high search engine placement, these developments can be a little bit frightening at first glance. Which search engine deserves your attention? Which is being used by more people? What are we supposed to do now that we focused on Google and Yahoo is taking their market share? How are you supposed to handle all of the different requirements and criteria?

Don’t worry, we can help! First of all, the top focus of any online company should be to stay informed. Get a daily dose of SEO news and make sure you’re well aware of new developments in the industry. Second, take action. This is prime time for online businesses! Yahoo and Google may be the primary competitors, but the winners in this shakedown are those seeking listings. Because the algorithms on each engine differ so much, you now have two sets of top 20 listings – that’s 40 spots of premium real estate available to your sites. MSN’s release will add another 20 to the mix.

Remember, attention means activity. The more news stories this competition generates, the more users both Yahoo and Google will gain, which means more people searching for what you have to offer. It’s still a little frightening, but we’re here to help every step of the way, from staying informed to creating fully optimized sites for your company. Check back on a regular basis for more updates on the SEO game as we know it! Until then, keep reading for a step-by-step plan to optimizing and maintaining your sites for nearly every possible scenario.

.................LD Sharma