Search
algorithms are looking more closely at natural language
text and usage of additional related words that should
accompany the targeted keywords. Optimization is no
longer about keyword density or the number of times your
keyword falls on the page, it's about building and
organizing page content to be utilized in proper context
with the targeted keyword phrases. That's important so
I'll repeat it: Optimization is about building and
organizing page content to be utilized in proper context
with the targeted keyword phrases.
Got
that? Good.
Does
this mean that you just need to hire a good writer--no
more need to hire someone to perform SEO on your site?
Absolutely not! In fact, the content is so important
that you need both a writer and an SEO working together
to ensure both search engines and visitors get what they
need.
The
best SEOs will have a professional writer on the
payroll, and I certainly would not consider hiring an
SEO that doesn't. But the actual writing is only half
the battle. SEOs should have intimate knowledge of the
search engines and how the algorithms function. Writers
generally have to be guided by the SEO to ensure the
page is properly optimized for top rankings for the
targeted phrases.
Notice
here I say writers should be 'guided', not 'directed' by
the SEO. When in conflict on word usage, natural
language trumps. But the SEO should know that already.
Website
links, the primary off-the-page factor in optimization,
has been subject to a considerable amount of spam.
Before Google, spam consisted mostly of keyword stuffing
and doorway pages. One of the most common forms of spam
today is link spam. Recently Google seems to have
tightened the reins on what they consider a true and
valid link.
Deciphering this can be quite difficult. What is a good
link? What is a bad link? As link spamming became more
and more common, Google and other engines looked for
better ways to value a link. It used to be that any link
was a good link, didn't matter the source. Then it
evolved into seeking out high PR links (links from high
PageRank sites and pages). A good link today is a link
from a site that is considered relevant to you.
Linking
sites that are not related by industry or common value
to the user may still work, but the time on that is
running short.
Link
aging is also now a major factor in the Google
algorithm. By looking at how long a link has been in
place a search engine can assign weight and relevance
based on time. A new link has little or no value while a
link that has been in place for several months has some
value, and a link that has been in place for a year may
have the most significant value.
What
does link aging accomplish? It fights link spam. Many
link spammers try to achieve top rankings for their
sites by getting hundreds, if not thousands, of links
for a site virtually overnight, or by purchasing "ads"
on high PR sites for the purpose of getting the link
value, where the ad itself is of little or no
consideration.
These
are methods used simply to make a site be considered
"important" in the eyes of the search engine. Link aging
essentially makes these linking methods less valuable
and less cost effective. Mass link purchasing is less
attractive if the link must stay in place for months
before any value can be attributed, which can often cost
a significant lump of change, especially considering
that the moment you stop paying for the ad you lose all
the value in that link. Search engines are also getting
better at detecting links from paid ads as well.
Experienced SEOs are finding that many sites can take
six months or more just to see any kind of ranking
improvement. This makes it increasingly difficult to
differentiate from those who can improve your rankings
and those only say they can. My recommendation: get a
list of references from the SEO and check their results.
If they can't demonstrate enough current top rankings
for fairly competitive keywords, you might want to keep
looking.
About the Author
Stoney deGeyter is
president of
Pole
Position Marketing, a search optimization marketing
firm providing SEO and website marketing services since
1998. He contributes daily to the
E-Marketing Performance marketing blog. (ga)
