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If you have a website, you?ve no doubt heard of SEO. If you haven?t, you might want to read a few of my earlier articles before continuing with this one. If you?ve done any reading on the topic, you?ve probably noticed that people seem to constantly contradict each other. This is exactly why SEO is the favorite part of my job; it?s never boring!
I have to confess, I lied to you in the title. If you?re looking for a how-to blueprint to get the top rank in Google or Yahoo you won?t find it here, or anywhere for that matter. There is no formula. There is no way to manipulate Google, if there were they?d be out of business.
Why does Google constantly change their algorithm? To prevent us from finding a formula for high rankings. Think about it. If there was an easy way to get top 5 rankings in Google, would you still need your Adwords account? Most of Google?s revenue comes from paid search, and you can bet they?re going to do everything in their power to keep paid search profitable. (and judging by my Google stock, it definitely is)
While there may not be a guaranteed formula, there are a few solid SEO rules that, if followed, will help your site out perform the competition.
Rule #1: Correlation is not causation. I can?t stress this enough. Just because two things are related, doesn?t mean that one caused the other.
Before I talk about correlation and causation however, let me say this plain and simple: Your site rankings will fluctuate, regardless of what changes you make. Why? The web is constantly evolving. New sites are being added, and old sites are being modified.
As an example, let’s compare the average global tempature to the number of active pirates on the high seas:
As you can see by the graph, the temperature has gone up as the number of pirates has decreased over the years. Does this mean that pirates somehow control the global temperature? Obvioulsy not; while there seems to be a strong correlation between pirates and temperature, there is absolutely no correlation.
Ok so where are you going with this? I wanted to make sure we?re on the same page, because now I?m about to deliver the shocker: PageRank isn?t as important as you think it is. While it?s true that higher ranking sites often have higher PageRanks, neither one is a direct cause of the other.
To help you better understand, let?s discuss how PageRank works. PageRank is based off of what we computer scientists call the wandering drunk algorithm, but I?ll try to use a more appropriate example.
Suppose you?re given a computer with a random website. From there you click 1 link at random. From there, you click another link at random, and so on. Do this for about a month straight, clicking a different link every 5 seconds.
Now count how many times you actually visited each site. If you found widgets.com 10 times and sprockets.com 4 times, widgets.com would have a higher PageRank than sprockets.com
This is the basic principle of PageRank. In fact, it?s what Google Co-Founder Larry Page did with his program. He pointed it at Stanford?s home page and let it go.
Now, the actual PageRank formula has changed significantly, but the basic underlying theory is still the same. What causes a higher PageRank? Links! Not just how many links, but the PageRank of the linking site is also taken into account.
The important concept to remember is this: PageRank does not determine your position in Google, links and content do.
This brings me to my 2nd rule: There are no bad links. I?m sure you?ve heard people talk about link farms, reciprocal links, and off topic links, and you may have even declined a reciprocal link request or two. Don?t. Many of you are probably cursing under your breath about link farms and getting banned from Google, but let?s look at it rationally.
Site owners have no control over who links them and where they?re linked. If I know this, Google knows this. If a link could hurt a site?s ranking, it would be very easy for me to sabotage all of my competitors by linking them from ?bad sites?. The ranking system could be manipulated, and Google would lose.
Link building is important, and this is where your SEO company can help you develop a strategy.
This brings me to my 3rd and final rule. As this is a long article, you may want to pause here and visit the restroom or grab some more coffee before continuing(anything other than getting back to work right?).
If you only remember one thing from this article, remember this: your site visitors come first. No exceptions. Your pages should make sense to a reader.
Make your text flow, in fact I recommend hiring a professional copywriter to write it for you. You hire one for magazine and print ads, and they reach less people than your website.
While keyword-rich content is the meat and potatoes of SEO, it does NOT mean placing keywords in every possible place. People may find your site, but if it sounds like it was written by a 5th grader taking English as a second language, you can bet they won?t buy anything.
If an SEO company makes a suggestion that compromises a user experience, you should re-evaluate the company. Sure, there may be minor trade offs like using text instead of images for links, or stripping out flash content, but if an SEO technique breaks up the flow of a website, confuses a user, or makes the site visually unpleasant, it shouldn?t be implemented.
Remember, your site is designed for customers, not search engine spiders. Util the web is served up in XML format only and interpreted differently by each user, your site needs to be aesthetically pleasing, and more importantly it needs to flow.
And that?s it! Follow those 3 rules, and your site will be fine. You may not be top 5 in Google for all your desired terms, but you won?t do bad for those that are actually related to your website.
Is that all there is to it? No, there are many other factors like coding style, layout, keyword selection, linking campaigns, and content management that can all affect rankings, but most of them will follow as a result of my 3 rules.
If I had to give a 4th rule, I?d say don?t concentrate all your efforts on SEO. Search is just one way potential customers can find your site. Paid search, advertising on high traffic sites, direct mail, email, and print are all other effective methods that all too often get overlooked. Seriously, does it really make sense to spend 80% of your time on a medium that only 40% of your customers use to find you?
About the Author:
Ryan Jones is a University of Michigan graduate who is currently working as a web developer. He runs several popular websites (including his Internet Slang Translator [ http://www.noslang.com ], and has authored articles for many more. You can learn more about Ryan, his websites, and interests at http://www.thehockeygod.com
( If you would like to reprint this article, please inform me of where it will reside, and leave the bio intact. )
March 5th, 2006
I’m sure you’re all heard about the new Captian Copyrightsuperhero underwear fairy right? The one created by some media corporations to teach kids about copyrights and file sharing and intellectual property? The one who rarely mentions fair use or personal backups…
If you get a chance, read their Terms of Service .. It’s quite amusing.
I especially liked these gems:
…You are not permitted to copy or cut from any page or its HTML source code to the Windows [TM] clipboard…
and this one:
…permission to link is explicitly withheld from any website the contents of which may, in the opinion of the Access Copyright, be damaging or cause harm to the reputation of, Access Copyright…
Honestly, who are they kidding? This brings back memories of DECSS. Can they really enforce that?
Crap.. looks like I broke both of those..
February 6th, 2006
Whoever keeps breaking into my Jeep, please stop.
As you saw the first 2 times, there was nothing valuable in there. The first time you made off with an antenna ball, and $3 in change.
The next time, it was about $1 in change, AND you decided to make a mess of the car.
Today, you got away with exactly 76 cents. (I know because it was 1 day’s worth of change from dinner) Was that really worth unzipping my windows, unlocking the door, and rumaging through the car a whole 6 feet from my bedroom window?
I’ve asked police to step up patrol in what I thought used to be a safe area of the city. I do have some advice for you though.
Look harder next time, as this morning while seeing what you stole, I found $0.61 underneath the passenger seat. I’ll leave it in the driveway for you right underneath the new CCTV security system I’m going to purchase, as you obviously need my pocket change more than I do.
December 12th, 2005
The internet is not a direct marketing medium. Now that I hve got that out of the way, it IS a great place to practice direct marketing. No, I?m not going crazy but before I can explain what I mean, we all need to get you thinking like a direct marketer (ok so maybe just a little bit crazy). For more on good marketing projects, findmore info here.
Here?s a largely accepted fact you probably already know: Most people don?t read direct mail.
Here?s another fact that you probably aren?t aware of: Most people don?t read your website either. It?s not that you don?t have anything interesting to say, you just don?t know how to say it properly.
You may be the best writer in the word; prose just flows out of your pen. Scrap it. People don?t want lengthy stuff on the net. They want to be able to skim. Just look how choppy this article is. It?s not very poetic, but you are still reading it right?
The internet consumer is a different kind of consumer. They don’t do things in order. Think of how you do a mailer; you put your offer in the letter, on the form, and on the reply envelope. Your offer is in short little burst everywhere right? Why It’s mail, you don’t know what they will pull out of your envelope first.
The internet is the same way. Just because text is there doesn’t mean anybody is going to read it. People will skip around. They want action, something to click and something to do.
Give them clear precise actions to take, and call them to those actions with small bits of powerful text. You’ll notice a difference.
3D animation is an effective way to show how a product works, which can explain its function in an easy-to-understand way. So why not give product animation a try in your product marketing strategy? You may be surprised at the results! Visit https://www.fuseanimation.com/why-3d-animation-is-the-alternative/ to learn more.
December 8th, 2005
Just a quick note to say that Kansas currently Ranks Last in educational science standards.
I’m no expert, but it might have something to do with the fact that they teach intelligent design in schools there.
Whether it’s how the world was created or not, intelligent design is not a science. There is no scientific method involved whatsoever.
In fact, the most common argument I hear for it is “you can’t prove evolution, and the bible says intelligent design so it must be true”.
I’m sorry, but “because the bible says so” is not the least bit scientific.
You don’t see people running around saying “this is what happened because L Ron Hubbard said so” … oh wait, I guess people really do believe anything.
Regardless of what you believe though, if you didn’t arrive at it through the scientific method, please leave it out of your science class.
December 8th, 2005
Remember the southern lady smoking a cigarette and worried about the effects of a jackhammer on her unborn baby?
If you thought she was stupid, check out these Rednecks and their version of a “roller coaster”.
Reading about 3 redneck pancakes on fark.com in 3….2….
December 7th, 2005
You know how they say a picture is worth 1000 words? In this case, I think 997 of them are “Ha”.
The sheer stupidity of some people never ceases to amaze me eh?
December 7th, 2005
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
That’s the 4th ammendment. Not many Americans know that.
I read a poll recently that says 63% of americans support the NSA tapping their phones in an effort to combat terrorism.
I contend that 63% of Americans hate America.
Anybody who will allow the govt to go against the constitution can NOT be a patriot. A patriot defends the very principles the country was built on. A patriot is NOT one who blindly follows their govt. It’s time we get our definitions right.
Americans don’t want freedom. Americans want the “freedom” to do what the government tells us to do. We want common sense to be legislated. Morals legislated. We even want to be told how to spend our money and what to spend it on (anti gambling laws etc).
We want to to be told how to have sex, and with whom. What to do in our own houses. Who to call. What information of ours is private and public (phone calls, searches, etc)
We want to swim into the net with the rest of the fish, because it’s a big lonely ocean out there by ourselves.
Remember America, we have to swim in the pond where we shit.
December 6th, 2005
God creates dinosaurs
God destroys dinosaurs
God creates man
Man destroys God
Man creates dinosaurs
Dinosaurs eat man.
Man destroys dinosaurs.
Man creates 2 sequels.
Drexler warns of grey goo.
Man creates grey goo.
Grey goo destroys man?
December 5th, 2005
I watched it.
However, I am not outraged. I do not feel that Nick Berg’s death warrants the retaliation that others, including our leader, may think.
At the same time, I do not agree with Al Queda’s decision to publish this execution.
My only sentiments are the same as they have always been.
If the United States wants the killing to stop– we must back up our bags and get the Hell out of Dodge–er, Iraq– whatever.
The killing of Berg hits home because he was a civilian, it’s been highly publicized (by our own media as well as Al Queda) and because the manner of his death highly parallels that of Daniel Pearl.
Bergs death serves as a double-edge sword of propaganda for both our government and theirs.
I don’t think very many people now can say they haven’t seen Nick Berg being beheaded, and I genuinely feel for his family.
This suburban man whatever had been caught up in some kind of seemingly twisted plot — the FBI warnings, and his own detention — for those who don’t know, the victim was supposed to be home on March 30.
After watching the video the only thing that I can say of it is that it seemed ironically Biblical to me.
The sounds in the background. Though I can’t understand what it is that they were saying, the fact that the act was done out of revenge is clearly evident.
The way they pushed him down and sliced him like a cow proved to me that Nick Berg was an animal to them. He had been dehumanized. Psychologically, they had to mentally dehumanize their victim in order to have been able to do what they’ve done. It is all evident in the footage. It wasn’t one sweeping stroke, or done with any passionate sentiment at all, but cold carving.
While tales of the video haunt news sites and shows across the nation and the world, the most drastic thing that seems to hit home besides the beheading itself are accounts of the victim’s screaming.
I can’t say if Berg felt any pain during his execution. I’ve heard accounts where shark attack victims don’t realize that an arm or leg has been bitten off because their brain wouldn’t register the pain. I’ve also heard of instances where a person had been shot and the brain did not register pain.
On the other hand, the reason that the French invented the guillotine was to provide “humane” or “painless” executions. One sweeping stroke.
So on that subject, I don’t know. What I do know, however, is that when an animal dies, the lungs release air. When this happens, the animal makes a “screaming” or “crying” sound. It does not feel anything at this time. It is dead.
And so I think in the circumstances of Nick Berg. I think he was dead possibly seconds before the screaming began.
The execution was done very quickly. To Al Queda, Nick Berg was nothing more than a piece of meat.
They presented his head at the end–showing it up to the camera for everyone to see.. then placed it on what looked like cloth or his back to prove that the deed had been done.
The only thought that I really have on the issue are my sentiments to the family. He was a boy..man… three years older than myself. In that sense, and after reading accounts of his family, that really hits home.
However, regardless of the so-called warnings he received (I do not believe for a minute that he was warned at all, but O.K.) The responsibility of his death does not rest in the arms of Osama Bin Laden.
Ultimately, the person responsible for his death is George Bush, for his leading this country to this quagmire in Iraq and failing to keep his promise to find Bin Laden “dead or alive.”
Anyone who wants to argue my point, can. However, with the limited knowledge that I have on the proper procedure of chain of command until I can’t think otherwise.
I think it’s time the president owns up.
And he DOES owe. To all of us.
December 4th, 2005
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