10 Controversial Search Engine Optimization Techniques

Ten controversial search engine optimization techniques that should be used with caution, or even avoided altogether.

1. Duplicate Pages

In general, search engines ignore duplicate pages. In extreme cases, they may ban a site.

2. Invisible Text

Search engines consider the use of text that is the same color as the background color as spam. So stay clear of using invisible text.

3. Keywords In Comment Tags

Hardly any, if any, of the major search engines index comment tags, so don’t waste time adding them for optimization purposes.

4. Keywords In Hidden Value Tags

Keywords in hidden value tags are considered spam by all of the major search engines, so don’t waste time with this practice.

5. Keywords In Style Tags

Very few search engines index the content of <style%26gt; tags, so do not waste anytime on this technique.

6. Link Farms And Link Exchange Programs

Search engines consider link farms and link exchange programs as spam, as they have only one purpose – to artificially inflate a site’s link popularity, by exchanging links with other participants.

Do not confuse link farms and link exchange programs with reciprocal linking. Reciprocal linking is the exchange of links with individual sites, and certainly an accepted technique for improving your site’s link popularity.

7. Links Only Pages

I recommend adding text descriptions to link pages and site maps. Some search engines have been known to kick out links only pages.

8. Meta Refresh Tags

In general, meta refresh tags set for under 30 seconds are considered as spam by search engines. As such, most search engine optimizers 301 search engine friendly redirect methods to redirect a URL.

9. Small Font Size Keywords Text

Many of the major search engines consider tiny text (i.e. font size 1) as spam. Some use of tiny text is fine. Search engines don’t like web pages that use a lot of tiny text. The reason is because some webmasters have used it to fool search engines by “hiding” dozens of keywords in a web page.

10. Cloaking

Cloaking is the practice of serving search engine optimized pages to search engine spiders, while at the same time serving un-optimized pages to site visitors.

Cloaking is one of the most controversial strategies in search engine optimization. Major search engines publicly state that they consider all cloaking to be spam. However, many professional search engine optimizers have been using cloaking for years, with much success.

Until there is conclusive proof that search engines do indeed ban sites that use cloaking, I suggest you take care if you decide to use cloaking.

Conclusion

There are many controversial search engine optimization techniques. There are people who despise the use of certain techniques, such as cloaking. But the fact of the matter is that there are no right or wrong ways to optimize a web page.

What might be considered as spam by one search engine may be accepted by another. What works today may be banned tomorrow.

The art and science of marketing is about testing to see what works and what doesn’t. I recommend taking the same approach with search engine optimization. After all, it is just another form of marketing.

Call 877-627-2492 to discuss your marketing plan today.

Author: Michael Wong is the editor of GoDefy.com – the world’s first internet marketing comparison shopping search engine and Mike’s Marketing Tools. Michael is also the author of the leading SEO book and numerous marketing tips. Visit his web sites at http://www.goDefy.com & http://www.Mikes-Marketing-Tools.com

Finding Link Exchange Partner Sites To Improve Your Link Popularity

Link popularity is considered by most search engines to be one of, if not, the most important factor that determines a site’s ranking in the search engines.

Let’s say we have two identical sites. One has thousands of targeted sites linking to it. The other only has a few incoming links. It’s virtually guaranteed that the site with thousands of incoming links will rank higher than the other site.

So how do you find reciprocal link partners?

First, you need to work out what type of web sites would link to your site. Here are some examples of sites and the types of sites that would link to them.

So how do you find these sites?

In the following examples, we’ll use “pet lovers'” sites as the type of sites we’re looking for.

1. Find targeted sites in the web directories, such as Yahoo.com or Dmoz.org.

Go to a directory’s home page and search with the keywords, “pet lover.” Then click on the category the top listings belong to. The sites listed in these and related categories are the types of sites you need to contact.

If the category has a resources or directories sub-category, then try the sites in those categories first. Resources typically offer links to sites on the same subject.

2. Use search engines to find sites that link to your competitors’ web sites.

Using the search engines is probably a more efficient method of find reciprocal link partners, than searching the directories.

Now make a list of the sites. Then create a links or resources page and carefully craft your pitch to solicit your link to be included on each one of those sites.

Some sites, such as web directories, will not require a reciprocal link. So simply submit your link.

Only exchange links with targeted sites.  Linking to poor-quality or spam sites may affect and typically will affect your search engine rankings.

WARNING

Under no circumstances should you link to, or add links from, link farms. Link farms are considered as spam sites in the eyes of the search engines.

Call 877-627-2492 to discuss your marketing plan today.

Selecting The Best Category When Submitting To Web Directories

Selecting the best categories when submitting to a web directory, to give your site every chance of achieving top rankings for the keywords you want to target.

Selecting the right category when submitting to a web directory can mean the difference between achieving top rankings and being lost in oblivion.

Don’t think that by paying for your submission, it guarantees top rankings. It doesn’t! The only guarantee you will get is for a review within a certain time limit. If you don’t select the right category, you might as well just be throwing your money out the window.

Here’s how you should find the best category to submit to, in order to give your site every chance of achieving top rankings for the keywords you want to target.

Go to the web directory’s home page and enter in the exact keyword phrase you’re targeting in the search box.

Let’s use the Yahoo! directory as an example. A search for, “cheap Web hosting” returns this page of results:

http://search.yahoo.com/bin/search?p=cheap+web+hosting

Take a look at the category link directly underneath the #1 listing, where it says:

“More sites about: Web Site Hosting > Directories”

The majority of the top listings are placed under this category. This tells you that Yahoo! considers this particular category as the most relevant for the keyword phrase we searched for.

Click on the “Web Site Hosting > Directories” category link. This will take you to the sub-category in the Yahoo! directory.

On the next page, take a look at the border at the top of the page that stretches across the screen, directly underneath the banner. It’s in yellow. This indicates that the category is classified as commercial. Non-commercial categories are in blue.

You will also find the listing that you clicked on located somewhere down the page.

There you have it. That’s how you select the best category when submitting to a web directory. You can use a similar technique when submitting to other web directories.

The Importance of First Page Rankings

This article summarizes findings of two Penn State University researchers, who analyzed more than 450,000 Web queries submitted search engines in a 24-hour period, reviewing users’ actions in chronological order.

They studied the length of sessions, number of pages visited, and relevance of search results. Their findings were presented in a paper titled “An Analysis of Web Documents Retrieved and Viewed” at the 2003 International Conference on Internet Computing in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Here is a summary of their findings:

• Half of all users entered only one search query.
• 54 percent viewed just one page of search results per visit to the search engine.
• Searchers typically visit only the top three search results.
• About 55 percent of users checked out one result only.
• Only 19 percent went on to the second page.
• Fewer than 10 percent bothered with the third page of results.
• More than 80 percent stopped after looking at three results.
• Eight out of 10 times, the abstract dissuades searchers from going to a site.
• Upon clicking through to a site, one in five searchers stay 60 seconds or less.
• One out of every two search results isn’t relevant to what the searcher was looking for.

Conclusion

Getting your web pages indexed by the search engines is clearly not enough. They must be listed within the first 3 pages of search results, otherwise eight out of ten searchers will never find it. Ideally, you should strive for a first page listing. For best results, a top 3 ranking is needed.  Obviously, any 1st page listing is ideal for your target keywords, any farther down the list the clicks will be minimal.

To enhance your chances of getting your listing clicked, improve your site’s search result abstract by making it more enticing and relevant to the searcher. Many search engines, such as Google, use the contents of your website pages, social media accounts, YouTube videos, and additional META information to rank your website.  So take another look at what you can do on your own to increase your first page keyword rankings.

The findings of this study reiterate the importance of optimizing your web pages for top search engine rankings. Ignore it at your peril.

Call 877-627-2492 to discuss your marketing plan today.