Check Your Backlinks for Penalties

Some see today’s search results as tumultuous and uncertain. New sites can break out of the sandbox or completely avoid it altogether and be listed with the big boys without the site age and backlinks. Page rank is being beaten out by content siloed websites with great internal link structure.

For some it is like a wave that the surfer waits for to ride only to be dumped into the sea. For the many that do everything right and then get slammed in the SERPS, there is a reason. These machines that index the web are running on particular algorithms and even though the SERPS may seem like a result of random placement, they are not like 52 card pick-up at all.

The recent trend of big search has been commented upon often on this website. It seems that all that we knew is in a continuous shake-up, but this is not the case because the big search players are moving to perfect the art of delivering truly organic results. Currently great content and internal linking strategy is being rewarded and old spammy schemes are being penalized.

On one hand you have rewards for good and on the other you have penalties for being linked to a site that has bad marks against it. New site owners that have true professionals working the SEO of their sites are enjoying fantastic results. Some websites however, are experiencing penalties by association. Even with established, aged sites we are seeing them being dumped off the first page and sometimes even far lower.

What is it? What is going on is just what I predicted in big search’s strive for organic results. Backlinks, whether contained in news articles, press releases, or raw incoming links need to be checked. Right now, a new link with anchor text placed on a penalized website will tank your site on any search for that keyword or keyword phrase in the given anchor text. New potential links have to be checked and a page rank check is hardly enough.

It seems page rank is an item that is setting idle for now and while it is a factor in the SERP placement, its value is stagnant. A page with high page rank can be penalized to death and you would never know it. Google and Yahoo are very similar in their algo’s regarding the penalty placement in the SERPS. The bar graphs on tracking software shows parallel movement in these two search engines. Bing is another story and we are still trying to figure them out as they seem more stable but a bit also harder to see movement.

So folks, it is your links! If you track your backlinks, you can begin to undo some damage. Visit the Seopenalty.com site and try out their service. You will be surprised at the sites that are penalized heavily for spam and related tactics that have been allowed on the sites. Focus on Anchor Text both within and outside your site. Remember: If it is too easy to develop a link = RED FLAG. As always, develop quality content and keep it fresh. Use the social networks to prop up your links and pages.

Have fun because without challenge there can be no great achievement. Ride the waves and stay on top with a successful strategy.

Artificial Intelligence being employed to index pages: Feb. 16, 2010

Google, Bing and Yahoo are all using a form of indexing, the impetus of which is to weed out the hijacking of the SERPS by Black Hat SEO’s.  Google in particular and because it is the biggest in search, brings with its results a higher percentage of leaches that wish to derive income from manipulating its efforts to deliver organic results.  Even though Google is regarded as the best, it is the most unstable of the major search engines when the technicians endeavor to shake off the parasites. The SERPS are not always as relevant in the Google search as they are in Yahoo or Bing.  A comparative search analysis of the three big purveyors of free search will yield different results.  As of this writing, the SERPS are in a state of flux.

Of late we have recognized obvious changes in Google’s algorithms, Bing’s contention to be the “decision search,” engine and Yahoo’s changes in its results pages, it is obvious that the SERPS have begun to evolve beyond the paradigms that were accepted and general practice in the SEO community.    No longer can content be repetitive in the same keywords.  Related terms are indexed and simple writing styles are clearly grouped together with like pages for keywords and related keywords. Some form of tweaking is going on over at Google. This is for sure as we are noticing a narrowing of results in the SERPS on certain search strings.   Pagerank, or page-rank was the all-important achievement for a site owner for so long, but now we are questioning the importance of it.  It has always been a concept that was embraced by the SEO community.  Copywriters, or those that encouraged content over backlinking strategies always stressed content and “in page’ elements over the drive for pagerank mentality. “The importance of content seems to be moving to the fore in search.” The importance of content seems to be moving to the fore in search.   This certainly does not mean that linking is dead, but it is a welcome move toward organic, non-manipulated SERPS.  What we are seeing has to be a result of a change in the way big search is operating.  This is all due to the Black Hats and the manipulators that are the enemies of organic results.   Left unchecked, Google would be no more and sink into the garbage of manipulated search.  So in the SEO community, the purveyors of backlink strategies will ultimately diminish in viability. The use of an artificial intelligence has been evident at least as far back as ’07 but with comments regarding it from SEO’s as far back as ’04.  It is evident of late that some change is in the air regarding the results in the SERPS.  Content within the page is ranking higher in the SERPS on many search strings than pagerank.  Pagerank is not as important as content in the SERPS in many cases.  Something akin to Latent Semantic Indexing or LSI for short is being employed.  Some type of related technology has been used for some time with the results being weighed against the pagerank for placement in the SERPS.  Now however, we are seeing something different with pages of high quality content emerging above many of the higher PR sites of similar industries and logistics.   This phenomenon is occurring without any SEO efforts being employed “in page” or in linking. The major search engines have not forsaken the tried and true systems that weighed anchor text against keywords and site structure.  Big search however is in a constant battle with Black Hats and change is mandatory for the search algorithm.  This is a trend we are seeing but to describe the phenomena is difficult.  Understanding the trends in the SERPS is more important than dissecting the method used to arrive at the SERP results.  One apparently successful method to position your site highly in the SERPS and keep it there is to develope a perceived “authoritative site.” “Weaving sentences into content that are reversed in delivery will confuse the system…” Weaving sentences into content that are reversed in delivery will confuse the system and your site, if carefully written among other things, will be ranked higher. An authoritative site will contain many pages and quality backlinks are important also.  The amount of good and original content is very important.  Information on other websites pull information from authoritative sites, but the complexity of your writing skills will prevail in a given category to raise your site to the top of the SERPS. It is easy to see that simple sentence structure is being rated by big search as amateur.  There is a rating process that enables big search to ascertain the authoritative level of the content and the intended readership.  A machine cannot discern actual meaning, but in the categorizing of pages, it can use several criteria to arrive at the SERPS.  The machines can however discriminate based upon the order of the words.  When comparing sites and keyword counts are the same, but one page has more related wording and the sentences are more complex, the SERP ranking will be higher for the more “in depth” page, than for simplisticly written ametuer pages.  “In page” elements are clearly ranking higher in the SERPS. It is proven that sites that contain good and original content will stand in the SERPS while the sites that rank from solely manipulative efforts will eventually falter in the SERPS.  A quick analysis of what the Black Hats are doing will yield an obvious presence of a hunger for content.  This is proof positive of the trends we are experiencing.  Backlinks are still of importance but the immediate manipulation of the SERPS for a new site is nearly impossible. Since some form of artificial intelligence has been employed for some time, what has changed?  We can only theorize as insider information is hard to attain.  Big search keeps a tight lid on the methods used in its indexing practices.  A theory that is being floated is that  Google, for instance is using the same algorithm, but the results are taken and refined again to arrive at the SERPS.  The current state of the SERPS is in flux as the process is perfected.  It is theorized that pages in an index that are related are stripped of relative keywords and links are ruled out. Then the index is checked for related or “semantic” phrase relevance with an additional layer of LSI or related technology.  This makes sense as the SERPS are reflecting more pages of phrases related to the raw keyword contained in the user’s search string.   The old practice of keyword stuffing is most certainly dead as this would eliminate it in the SERPS. “…if your SEO is astute and keeping up with the times, your site will remain in the SERPS.” Pagerank would be the next item to be thoroughly policed by Google.  Make no mistake, competition is forcing the issue.  Search will improve and if your SEO is astute and keeping up with the times, your site will remain in the SERPS. In looking back for baselines and researching for answers, pages with content always seemed to be anchored in the SERPS.  The sites that possess marginal content and rely mainly upon linking seem to be suffering from Google updates.  This phenomenon is probably just another speed bump in Google’s road to returning to organic results.  We cannot proclaim that linking is dead because it will probably never be discounted entirely.  Sites with good content and higher pagerank are zooming to the top of the SERPS.  Content, nonetheless is taking on a role of even more importance. Is your SEO keeping up with the times?

Spammers are to organic search results what rust is to iron.

Spam Has Reached the Tipping Point

“When was the last time you searched for something only to be sent to a worthless site…….”

Google is the most successful search engine in the business.  It came to its position high above the rest because it delivered what is known as organic results better than anyone else.

It is like going on a nature walk and digging up a real and tangible morsel of nature to bring home.  You visited an organic playground.  All this while your neighbor went trolling for tuna down skid row and brought home some junk from the old city dump to pollute his driveway.  You plant your organic flowers while your neighbor clangs around with his unsightly mess.  Organic vs. in-organic.  Your organic flower is smelling nice and looking good in your organic garden.  Your

neighbor, well he is a spam sniffer and the aura of his frustration is exuded from his noisy driveway.

The best way to describe organic search results is by describing what they are not.   When was the last time you searched for something only to be sent to a worthless site devoid of original content and full of links to similar sites?  The ending cyber squirrel cage of worthless junk is just what the search engines are fighting against every day.

Organic results are the most valid matches for your search query.  Search engines would strive for the best organic results possible, but for balancing of advertisements that fuel the effort.  Google has dominated search with its Adsense and Adwords programs, but the misuse of the programs has contributed to a problem that if left unchecked, would mean the demise of the giant.  This will hopefully not happen because Google will police unsavory SEO and the misuse of its products.

Organic results deliver what the end user desires with efficiency.  Google was founded on organic results.  Google’s popularity was derived from the most organic results in the industry. Organic is currently competing with manufactured results by spammers. Google is not the only player in the game, but it is the biggest and advertising is the source of the big funding behind the behemoth.  Fully automated, the programs are slow to be policed and organic results are affected immensely by fake links, Adwords schemes and worthless websites trying to cash in on the Adsense and Adwords programs.

Advertisers will turn away once they realize that something is not working.  Google is suffering from some pullback as of this writing.  Organic results have been injured by pay-per-click advertising. The search giant knows that pay-per-click can also be abused by competitors that click away on advertisers links in order to raise the costs for their enemies. The real, brick and mortar companies that watch their budgets closely will pull back from Adwords.  This will leave the tricksters trying to trick each other.

The main drive for any real SEO campaign should be for honest and lasting organic results.  This can only be achieved by delivering original content along with SEO techniques that complement the endeavors of the search engines toward organic results.  The weeding out of the leaches on the internet will continue because the very survival of search, as we know it, will depend upon organic results.

SEO tricks will fade and what will be left is real and original content that will propel search to provide a better experience for the end user.  SEO will follow with the embellishment of the real and tangible assets of each site so as to afford the search engines the ease of delivery of organic results.

Organic results will be the target for the SERPS if search is to remain free. Organic is real an non-manipulated search. The SERPS will never be 100% organic, but they have to do better than they are currently as the SERPS are miserably missing the organic results that made the internet great.