Search
Engine Optimisation Web Log (BLOG)
This News Blog is dedicated to bringing news, information
and innovations targeting the Search Engine Optimisation industry. |
Editor: Matt Paines
 blog@xseo.com
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PR and Backlinks, Google
Update.
The
last couple of days have been interesting to say the least (speaking as a Search
Geek). The dataservers have been all over the place, results have been fluctuating
almost by the minute, PageRank is showing one thing one minute then another the
next. However I'm pleased to say that all appears to have settled down now, there
is degree of stability in the index.
View the PageRank Update history
12hrs in Google
Limbo.
BigMouth
have had a reprieve, 12hrs later they are back in Google, PR has returned and
their pages have been cached. You can just imagine the meetings this morning when
everything despaired.
In a way I'm glad to see them back, because it
emphasises a problem with Google penalising sites that have too many links from
single domains (site wides). How easy would it have been for an unscrupulous webmaster
to remotely affect a competitors site just by buying a few site wide links? It
would be far better for the links to be ignored than actually cause a de-listing.
Another SEO in Trouble with Google.
Following
on from the report last week that Traffic-Power.com and all their clients had
been given a penalty in Google's natural search listings, this morning there are
reports in the forums of a UK SEO Agency possibly picking up a similar penalty.
BigmouthMedia have disappeared from their top slot in Google for "Search
Engine Optimisation", and their site has no PageRank.
Of
course this might be a temporary glitch, and they may come rocketing back anytime,
but speculation is rife. Information gathered from a post in a Google forum highlights
some of the possible reasons for exclusion.
If Google are definitely clamping down on tactics that are outside of their
suggested practice, by taking aim at the large players it is certainly the way
to get the industry to tow the line. I'm sure next weeks New York SES Conference
is going to be full of it.
Backlink
Update expected.
Over the last 24-48hrs
the has been significant Google DataCentre activity, this activity culminated
in this morning a "pseudo" BackLink update. But wait, before you all
run off looking at your backlinks I said "pseudo". For several weeks
now, Googles toolbar has been providing strange results. Different machines with
the same ISP, on the same network, with the same toolbar release and same settings
have been showing different PageRank, well as of this morning they are showing
different BackLinks as well. There appears to be little explanation other than
different toolbars using different Datacentres, so it's safe to say Google is
in a state of flux.
Googles
bad list.
For a while now Google has mentioned
a few names of "optimisation" software that it suggests aren't used,
such as WebpositionGold. However today Matt Cutts in his official capacity as
head of webspam at Google made the unprecedented announcement that due to techniques
that do not comply with Googles guidelines, domains using the SEO Traffic-Power.com
would attract a penalty. Usually Google does not confirm or deny if a domain has
been removed from the index, but in this instance they have broken with protocol
and released the information. This is a warning to everyone- Avoid Blackhat
techniques, SEO needs to be done properly and responsibly, beware you can be held
accountable for those you hire.
MSN
in a PR corner.
During the Search Champs Event last week,
a special session was organised to cover the recent issues surrounding the recent
media coverage regarding MSN's compliance, and Google's refusal, to give up user
data when faced with a US government subpoena.
The whole thing appears
to be a bit of a PR disaster, however Microsoft are taking privacy seriously,
the data they provided did not identify to IP addresses, only the search terms
and the frequency they were used.
Search
share.
Nielsen/NetRatings have just released their November
2005 search share figures. They report Google accounting for 46%, Yahoo with 23%,
MSN Search at 11% and AOL at 7%. The big four still hold close to 90% of the market.
An
Interesting Day.
Funny isn't it as a full time SEO it get to speak with
a lot of people. Many of them just want to get free advice. A colleague
highlighted one such conversation to me the other day. To tell the truth
I'd love to say "I remember it well" but I don't, it was July
last year. Which is sad really because this "mystery shopper"
was a blogger, and more importantly was really complementary. 
...thanks
guys.
MSN
Search Champs V4.
Microsoft's renowned Search Champs meets
again in a little over a weeks time at Redmond, Seattle. It is unclear how many
have been invited this time round, that said I'm pleased to find myself on the
list once again. Attendees
BackLink Update.
Over
the weekend Google has just slipped a small back link update. We have had reports
that the difference in results appears minor Googles
backlink updates.
Value
of a $38,100 link !
Young entrepreneur Alex Tew is well on
his way to being a dot com millionaire. Not because he has found some incredible
source of some wonder drug, or gambling expertise, no he decided to sell pixels
on a web site for $1 on Ebay!!! However the last pixel was sold at a staggering
$38,100.
I've got to say that Alex has managed to sell sand to the Arabs
very successfully, and get away with it. But an Internet page with 1000x1000 links
on it from a commercial point of view to the pixel owner is useless. read
more
Link Scam.
How
many link requests do you get a day? If you are anything like us, our spam box
is littered with the things. However from time to time we get the odd one that
is different from the normal machine generated drivel that people think works.
The request that caught my eye was not especially complex - but it did
look like it come from a human. What amazed me was that the page the link was
offered had the code "rel="nofollow" in the link. read
more
Another Top SEO Accolade for XSEO.
Stephen
Orr from Web4Marketing has for some time been an impartial spectator to the Search
Engine Optimisation community. This years list of the top performing SEO's shows
XSEO in the top three. Performance has been measured using the three main UK search
engines (Google, Yahoo and MSN) for the most competitive search terms for SEO's.
Read
the Article.
Happy New Year!
BackLink
Update.
Google has a Christmas gift for all of you backlink
watchers, over the last few hours it has updated it's backlinks.
SEO, after Jagger.
Last
week was the first gathering of the SEO Community since Google's Jagger Update.
You might think that it would have been a perfect opportunity for some clarification
on what Jagger was about, and how to stay clear of its clutches. SEO,
after Jagger...
Yahoo
update.
Yahoo!s
update at the end off last week has been widely condemned. Many searches are allegedly
resulting in distorted results. We are witnessing a degree of recovery, I'm sure
it's just Yahoos answer to Jagger, and all will be put right soon.
