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Google, BackRub, Backlinking, and the Link Hunting Obsession that Takes Its Toll
Google is currently one of the dominant entities on the net period. The question is - is it really that omnipotent, is it really that advantageous. The question is ? IS IT REALLY "ALL THAT".
To understand role of Google in the modern net society we need to go deep into its roots. Google was born at hands of Larry Page (rich boy) and perfected by Sergey Brin (russian rich boy) at Stanford University. The idea was to rank internet pages based on number of other pages linking back. For Brin it was sort of academic approach to web page ranking where web page would model for academic paper and back links it receives would model for number of citations that academic paper accounts for. Very interesting model indeed and in a sense is very useful in the academics; bus is this model as useful in the world of internet information ranking? Does this formula objectively represent the way any given website or webpage should be ranked among other competitors? Let me be the first one to disagree.
The Google that we are all using now is a very different Google that it used to be. Thanks to brains of Brin it has evolved from simply counting backward links to an algorithm that is protected better than our troops on a foreign soil. However, the basic idea is still the same and ranking is given based on number of links your site receives from other relevant sources. So what is the problem, you might ask. Lets imagine that you have created a brand new website that centers on certain topic of interest. Lets imagine that you are an expert in that topic and you have created the best website ever on that particular topic: it covers more information than any other source on the net, it offers simplicity in navigation, it offers largest and well organized library of sources on that particular topic, it complies with w3 standards, and it even can be seen in any browser in the world including all the hand held devices. That perfect site which would be very useful to many individuals around the world would end up at the bottom of the Google ranking system unless you spend countless hours trying to get links from relevant sites, trying to pay for fraudulent looking link services, getting frustrated, and still ending up at the bottom of the Google ranking system because some of your competitors have figure out a way to create numerous doorway pages, link scams, and so on. Just because your perfect site does not account for a large number of backwards links will bring your ranking down and will bring down with it all your hard work and desire to share your expertise with others. Some day you Google up that perfect site's key word, that common sensed key word that should bring your perfect site at the top of the search results. You look at the results and you realize that there is nothing but bunch of irrelevant pages full of advertising and its all due to the fact that some geeks know how to beat the system. Now you tell me ? is that a fare way of ranking pages?
Google and its strategy brought plenty of hardship to ordinary website owners. Instead of updating and perfecting their sites owners have to hunt for links using all available means. Most of the time site owners are getting trapped into services that are questionable in nature. This environment creates numerous pitfalls for web surfers as well. Web surfers become victims of doorway pages with meaningless and countless key word links, smart redirect pages that throw you to places full of ads, and bad websites that managed to get gazillions links using their questionable techniques. All that commotion creates nothing but bad experience for anyone who is in search of information on the internet. Is that how the search engine should work, is that how omnipotent search engine should work, is that how billions making search engine should work?
Controversial Active Blogger http://www.theartofad.com
A Play In The Sandbox Is Necessary
There has been a good deal written about the Google 'sandbox' effect, as it's known. It has been taking up a lot of forum and article space over the last few months. I can't help wonder why most of the comment I've been seeing is negative or at least ambivalent about the concept (if of course, it really exists, as is the case with much about SEs that we don't truly know).
10 Basic Rules for Where to Place Your Keywords
First of all, Google and most other search engines do NOT look at the META keyword tag. Many people say not to bother with it, but I use the META keyword tag and I place my keyword phrases in it. Here's why. I use this tag to help me remember what keyword phrases I am optimizing the page for. You'll find this to be a big help later when you have a lot of pages and have forgotten what keyword phrases you were trying to optimize the page for in the first place.
Good Content: The Key To Search Engine Ranking
Good Content: The Key To Search Engine Ranking
Search Engine Visibility - The Mantra of Corporate Profitability
The corporate fundamentals are par excellence! The product is unsurpassable and the website is a web designer's dream in creativity and design ? but there is a vacuum ? of potential online customers! ? The website lacks the basic ingredient of success ? Search Engine Visibility! ? which is what search engine optimization is all about.
Googles Good-Writing Filter
I was recently struck by the fact that the top-ranking web pages on Google are consistently much better written than the vast majority of what one reads on the web. Yet traditional SEO wisdom has little to say about good writing. Does Google, the world's wealthiest media company, really rank web pages based primarily on arcane technical criteria such as keyword density, link text, or even PageRank?
Keyword Optimization - How To Achieve It
The most important thing you can do for your business and your website is develop relevant keywords that are not too competitive yet generate targeted traffic to your website.
What Size Body Section Ranks Highest?
This is another one of the controversial questions in many of the SEO (Search Engine Optimization) forums, yet it is very easy to answer for any particular search engine. While popular belief seems to be that pages should be very short (less than 10K) to rank well with the leading search engine, this article conclusively answers that question? with a completely different answer.
How To Get Number 1 Spot In Google, Every Time, Guaranteed
Woaah! Wait a minute. Before I exclusively reveal these insider secrets can I ask you question? Well, actually, I want to ask you a series of questions.
Easy Steps to Get Onto Google Top Search Pages
To get on Google's top pages can be accomplished by following a few simple steps. The following procedure works well for companies working within a local region i.e. Lowell Pizza, or business with unique keyword phrases, i.e. Kraton thermoplastic rubber. The steps below outline a simple method to do content optimization. By following the procedure on your home page, you can achieve a high Google ranking. I will be assuming you have a basic understanding of html code.
Everything You Wanted To Know About Google -- But Were Afraid To Search For!
(A Reflective look at the little search engine that soared!)
Dealing With Search Engine Stress In A Home-Based Business
As a member of several search engine optimization forums, I have recently noticed (especially since Yahoo recently decided to try their hand at competing with Google) that the stress level of many webmasters has gone way up. This applies not only to webmasters involved in Internet-based home businesses, but to webmasters in general.
How to Make Better Use of Web Site Page Titles and META Data
We got down to the basics with web site page titles and META data as part of a new study on how manufacturers use natural search engine optimization (SEO). Businesses of all types could benefit from the following case studies that show how poor titles and META data can be improved from an SEO perspective.
SEO #6: How TO GET Banned by Google!
Yesterday you should have read the fifth course out of 6 courses that will help you get a TOP rank in the search engines and get EXPLOSIVE LASER TARGETED TRAFFIC for Free. Today we move on to course #6 and study how to get banned by google! Please read today's course very carefully and take some time to test what I'm about to tell you on your own webpage. Alright let's start!
SEO Expert Guide - Search Engines Explained (part 1/10)
Before we explore the world of search engine optimization, it is vital that you know a little about how search engines work and their relative market shares. It will help you to prioritize your activities later!
Search Engine Spam
Running an online business relies to a greater or lesser extent on search engine traffic. Be this free search engine traffic or pay per click traffic your business still relies on the search engines to profit and survive.
What All Top Google Websites Have in Common
While it is okay to admire and envy all those sites enjoy top ranking with leading search engines like Google, it is much more important to study these sites closely. You will definitely end up learning a lot that will prove to be very useful in helping you take your own site to the top of Google rankings. Topping the search engines will mean huge volumes of traffic on a daily basis without you having to do anything. Healthy traffic, as you know almost automatically translates itself to healthy revenue for the site. And when you consider that over 75 per cent of the traffic that finds its' way to websites comes from search engines, you quickly realize how important and crucial top rankings in search engines are to any online business.
How Search Engines Work
Before anyone can start optimizing a web site, you must understand how search engines work.
Googles Next Big Move
November 2003 might go down in history as the month that Google shook a lot of smug webmasters and search engine optimization (SEO) specialists from the apple tree. But more than likely, it was just a precursor of the BIG shakeup to come.
Link Popularity Pitfalls
As we all know Google uses their PageRank technology to measure link popularity by counting the number of inbound links to your web pages, and it is one of the many factors influencing your ranking. Most website owners do not utilize properly what PageRank they already have. Their linking campaigns could be in vain if they let a large number of outbound links drain their existing PageRank. If their site were a bucket it would be full of holes, to illustrate this point, if you had a large number of outbound links, which are not reciprocated it would reduce your overall PageRank. Be diligent in identifying sites that are no longer linking back to you anymore. Also keep in mind putting more than 50 outbound links on any page is not advisable. Also be wary of sites that link to you from pages with more than 50 outbound links. Google's PagerRank is based on incoming links, but not only on the number of them. Instead PageRank is also based on the PageRank of the page on which your link is placed. For example a link to your site could be more valuable from a PR4 page with no other links than a link from a page with PR5 and 60 other links.
How to Avoid the Google Duplicate Content Filter?
More and more webmasters are building websites with publicly available content (data feeds, news feeds, articles). This results in websites with duplicate content on the Internet. In cases of websites build on news feeds or data feeds you can even find websites that match each other 100% (except for the design). Several copies of the same content in a search engine does not really do any good and so Google apparently decided to weed out some of this duplicate content to be able to deliver cleaner and better search results.