Digg Promotion for your Google rankings and traffic
Digg is the most popular content sharing website at the moment. And if you are the online marketer, it may become very useful tool for getting traffic (I mean the targetted traffic!) and also increase your Google rankings.
So what we need to get profit from Digg? Everything is simple – we need to rank on the first page of Digg for your particular website subject (Is it science, gaming or smth else). Seemingly everything is very simple: we should just obtain as more Diggs as we can and wait for good rankings. But here you must understand that the number of Diggs is not the single factor which Digg is considering when ranking your submissions. It also considers the traffic levels of the story category, user history and user reports. By the way Digg is very skilled with the spam struggle.
Thus if you try to promote your submissions using spam methods, you are very unlikely to get good results. Try to PLAY following Digg rules and you will succeed.
Above I listed several factors, which Digg considers in rankings: Diggs number, category traffic level, user history and user reports. The second factor couldn`t be influenced (you just need to be careful when selecting the category for your submission). The user abuse reports are also smth uncontrolled, but you will have no problem with them if you will not spam and be gentle in communication.
What we can directly control is the submission Diggs number and user history. Firstly you should never Digg your own news. For getting as much Diggs as possible you must offer people really interesting and valuable information (the examples could be found at Digg tops).
To provide yourself with a good user history, you must be very active within Digg. Write comments, Digg news, submit Diggs. BUT you shouldn`t submit just your own websites pages, because it is very unnatural and in this case Digg will mark you as spammer.
So now I hope you`ve got enough information to start your Digg campaign and make it really effective.
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SEO Blog
Why Not All Shopping Search Engines Have Lost in the UK Google Panda/Quality Update
Everybody is talking about content farms as if they were the only type of sites hit by the latest large Google update. That’s a very limited viewpoint.
One of the most striking effects of the UK version of Google’s quality update dubbed Panda has been the huge losses by shopping search engines and review sites that focus on price comparison. Not all such services have lost though.
Among the losers were international heavyweights like:
- Ciao.co.uk
- Shopping.com
- Bizrate.com
- Idealo.co.uk
- Kelkoo.co.uk
- Shopzilla.co.uk
They have felt the negative impact of the Panda update in the UK by losing at least half or in many cases most of their Google rankings. The press has been covering only Ciao.co.uk because it’s a Microsoft site which filed a complaint against Google prior to the update.
There is one obvious exception though, and nobody covers it. Pricerunner.co.uk hasn’t lost. Why? Just visit the site and then one or more of the others. Can you see it? You don’t have to be an SEO expert to find out what the difference is. I want to describe it anyway for those who don’t have the time to review the sites themselves in depth.
There are several quite obvious factors why Pricerunner has been spared as the only real price comparison site. They might be obvious to me but difficult to discern for you, so I will share my analysis of the positive aspects of Pricerunner that have made it stand out among the downranked shopping search industry:
Clean modern web design
It’s obvious that Pricerunner has a clean web design (diseño web), with lots of white space and a clear focus. It has a central feature article on top of the homepage, whereas most other price comparison sites just overwhelm the user with a portal-like link list nobody can overlook easily.
Proper usability and readability
It’s not just the positive first impression you get from looking at the Pricerunner site. You won’t bounce after visiting the homepage, but then you will stay even longer due to well-structured site architecture and readable structure.
Valuable editorial content
Unlike the other classic shopping search engines, which only display auto-fed content from the shops they work with, you’ll find really valuable editorial content on Pricerunner. I’ve tested the price comparison sites by looking for vacuum cleaners. I’m by no means an expert on them (who is?), so I was glad to find some additional in-depth info, aka “buying advice“, on what to look for. Otherwise only brands, reviews and prices would remain there to judge. That’s OK if you already know what you are looking for, but otherwise you don’t even know whether the reviews are trustworthy or the products worth their money.
Healthy backlink profile
I’ve compared the backlink profiles of both losers and the winner, and guess what I found right on top of my Open Site Explorer query? Both Ciao.co.uk and Idealo.co.uk, two sites out of those with the biggest losses during the quality update, had spammy links, guess where, on Google.com itself! They were placed on autogenerated Google Notebook pages (they have been removed now it seems). Apart from that they had barely any quality links. Ciao had several from Techcrunch because they have sued Google but that’s almost all. Pricerunner has the likes of Opera, DMOZ, Mashable and Search Engine Watch linking to it in highly relevant contexts.
Now just look at the main generic keywords Pricerunner is currently ranking for in the UK:
- price – #2
- price comparison – #1
- compare prices – #1
- shopping – #5
Whoever is responsible for Pricerunner’s content and SEO strategy deserves a raise of at least 50%. For all the others: copy this strategy now.
© SEOptimise – Download our free business guide to blogging whitepaper and sign-up for the SEOptimise monthly newsletter. Why Not All Shopping Search Engines Have Lost in the UK Google Panda/Quality Update
Related posts:
- 30+ Google Quality/Panda Update Resources for Content Farmers and SEO Practitioners
- 30 Quick & Clean Conversion Optimization Techniques for Buttons, Forms, Copy, Shopping Carts etc.
- Is Your Content Great, Big or Just Long? Quality vs Size
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SEOptimise » Blog
Google Grapples Groupon
Just a few short months ago, Google offered approximately 6 billion dollars in a buy-out offer for the deal-of-the-day online coupon giant Groupon. Groupon declined the unprecedented offer and stated that they would be conducting an IPO soon afterwards.
Groupon stated that they could raise as much as $ 1 billion in the IPO, which could come in the second half of 2011, although the exact size had not yet been determined. Groupon is likely to pick Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to lead a second-half IPO that could value the fast-growing daily deals site at $ 15 billion to $ 20 billion. Considering the size of the buy-out offer, it was clear that Google had plans to launch into the deal-a-day enterprise with or without Groupon.
Google announced that they will be launching their new Google Offers service. The online coupon site is still in Beta form and is currently only offering deals in Portland, Oregon but will be releasing the service next in New York and to the San Francisco Bay Areas.
At this point in time, Google has no plans of launching the service outside of the US. Clearly Google is waiting to see how much of the market they can pull away from Groupon before expanding too quickly.
It will certainly be an interesting battle as Groupon and Google faceoff to see who will end up dominating the online coupon market. Considering the value of the companies and amount of revenue involved, it looks to be quite entertaining. One thing is for certain. Google does not like competition…There can be only one.
If you are a business in the Portland area, you can sign up for this service here: https://services.google.com/fb/forms/googleofferscontact/ Drop us line with your comments regarding the service. We would love to hear about your experience with the new Google Offers.
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Beanstalk’s SEO News Blog
Overcoming The Google Panda Effect
The Google Panda Update
Google recently did a major algorithm update to their search engines. This update is called the Google Panda Update. It consisted of removing all low quality websites, farm links, duplicate content websites, etc from their index. For example, EzineArticles saw its traffic decrease by almost 75% because people would post low quality content and articles just to get backlinks to their website.
If your website is of good quality and follows all of the Google guidelines, then you shouldn’t worry about the Google Panda Update, it will not affect you. However, if your website does follow all the guidelines and you still got penalized, then it is most probably because you had a lot of inbound links coming from those low quality websites and link farms, and since they got removed from the index, the links have no more value.
In this article, I will be giving you tips on how you could overcome the Google Panda Update if you got affected by it.
Valuable Content
Your website should always contain valuable content that keeps the user thrilled and excited to read more. Your content should be very clear and explanatory about your business or whatever it is your sell or promote. If your website is filled with content but it is very poor content (not unique or of interest to readers), nobody will read it and you won’t get any real benefit from it. It is very important that you write fresh and valuable content. I would suggest to write 2 to 3 new unique articles per week. Make sure that your content is free of typos and grammatical errors.
Usable Content
Even if your website is filled of valuable content but people have trouble understanding the information, then that content doesn’t have much significance. Users tend to like having raw information shown to them and straight to the point content. Always keep the user interested in what you have to say later in your article or future articles.
Unique Content
Make sure that your content is always your own and unique, as in not copied off other sources. One of the biggest issues the internet is facing right now is duplicate content. People tend to use online content and articles to increase amount of content on their website. This is definitely wrong to do as you will not get any benefit from it and possibly even get banned. As long as you create your own unique content, you’re safe from the Panda update.
Backlinks
You must focus your link building (posicionamiento web) on getting high quality backlinks to your website from known and relevant websites. As you know, the Panda Update removed all low quality websites from its index. So if you had backlinks coming from low quality websites those links have no more weight. This is also a reason why your website might have dropped in rankings. If you had a lot of inbound links coming for low quality websites and since they got removed from the index, they are worth nothing. Always keep in mind that quality is far more important than quantity, whether for link building (posicionamiento web) or content creation.
Black Hat
Last but not least, make sure that your website follows all of Google’s guidelines. Black Hat SEO techniques will never be tolerated by Google and since the update, Google has put an even bigger emphasis on this matter. Check your website for any Black Hat techniques that you may have used and rectify them.
Overcoming The Google Panda Effect by MetaSEO
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MetaSEO
Strange Titles on Google
Image: Google search for social media traffic
Last week I was reading an article at Search Engine Roundtable about Google pulling website titles from Google maps and according to a comment on the post Googler, John Mueller has said this:
“We may choose to replace titles which are repeated on a number of pages or which otherwise appear to be suboptimal”
So is this the reason why I am seeing the phrase Social Media Traffic – at the start of my page title tag when I search Google for that particular phrase? I am not too sure.
My actual meta page title tag for the page coming up is this:
“Just How Much Traffic Can You Get From Social Media Websites?”
Google are currently showing this:
“Social Media Traffic – Just How Much Traffic Can You Get From Social Media Websites?
You check the Google cache for the page here and there is no mention of the extra phrase at the start of the page title tag.
Pretty strange right? My thoughts are, if it gets me a higher CTR then I am all for it.
Posted in Search Engine News By David Eaves a UK search engine optimisation specialist.
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SEOCO Blog
The Google +1 Button – long overdue
Google announced the Google + 1 Button on their blog, today, which I think will likely have a positive impact on SEO.
Users of the first Google Toolbar will possibly remember the like and dislike voting buttons on it. They were available beside the PageRank Meter but you had to enable them manually. (I don’t have a screenshot). I used to like them but they were quickly disabled as they were too open to abuse. But Google has returned, Facebook-esque, with the Google +1 Button. I think this is brilliant and much overdue.
A lot will be made of it being a Facebook copy-cat but that’s overrated. Much of Facebook isn’t original and Google has tried this in the past. It’s also not social networking – Google is an aggregator of data and their star rating system, like/dislike voting buttons and PageRank systems are relative dinosaurs compared to Facebook and the like button.
Here’s why I think its so important and where it will have some positive effects for SEO.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder
Users liking sites brings back appreciation for design, UI and UX. If design is really bad and the User Experience is awful, this will could have a negative effect on a website. Of course, design is impossible for search engines to take into account and its pretty hard for humans given its subjective nature.
This to me is great news for people who value strong design and user experiences and is a big shot in the arm for web design (diseño web)ers. But it’s how the design affects you, not how you feel about the design (note for site owners) – and so “graphics-free” sites like Craigslist will probably garner many likes.
Up until now, design and UIX was taken into account by indirectly valuing the CTR and link back stats that Google collects.
Can the spam
A massive benefit could be reduced spam counts. Rubbish and empty blogs, posts, press releases, content farms and other spam mass generated by ruthless and shameful blackhat-SEO companies and their careless clients should be hit again by giving a direct vote to users
Bringing Balance to the Force
By giving users a vote on pages – it essentially starts to move to balance out the guesswork by the algorithm. For example, if users keep picking the first few sites that rank but they get less likes than other sites – it makes sense for Google to shake up the mix a bit.
Execution
Its unlikely that this will be a heavy weight factor at the start. Because internet representation is still anonymous (and Privacy Campaigners keen to see it that way), the system is open to some abuse, so some form of balance of power to limit it.
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SEO Blog
Google places premium on quality content
It is interesting to see how Google is constantly on the mission to improve it’s search results. At the same time, there are people who are adept at gaming the system or manipulating their way to top rankings on Google.
Google’s Panda update has adversely affected the rankings of sites which have been stuffing keywords or copying content to achieve high search engine rankings. However it has given a boost to those SEO companies and their clients who put emphasis on content as part of the SEO strategy. No wonder, 97% of our clients have found significant improvement in rankings following the update.
For those of you, who want to boost your SEO & learn how to create quality content, you may like to contact us and request for a free consultation on the same.
Here is wishing you all a lovely easter break!
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Arrow Internet Marketing SEO Blog
40 Google +1 SEO Resources
By now I’m quite weary of the manifold failed attempts by Google to enter the social media arena. We had:
- Google Answers
- Google Bookmarks
- Google SearchWiki
- Google SideWiki
- Jaiku
- Google Wave
- Google Buzz
to name just the most known failed or abandoned Google social media services. As with most of the previous offerings, last week’s Google +1 started in a clumsy beta or rather alpha version. I didn’t even want to test it at first, but then all the search and SEO publications frantically reported about it so I felt compelled to give it a try.
I encountered many difficulties, and it took me two hours just to “get it”.
Google +1 is way too complicated right now and it was quite buggy when I tried it over recent days. The Google +1 page itself redirected me to 404 pages in German (I’m in Germany) despite browser and Google preferences.
When Google +1 finally worked for me, I tried to use it extensively but to no avail. Nobody has noticed my +1s it seems, and I barely see any by others.
Still, everybody is writing about it and the list of resources is already huge. Furthermore, there are high profile people in the SEO industry who actually suggest we jump into it. So to provide a more objective resource, I decided to compile the links and to enable you to make your own choices.
Google +1 on and by Google itself
- Official Google Webmaster Central Blog: Introducing the +1 button
- Google +1 Button
- Google Experimental Search
- About the +1 button : +1s – Profiles Help
- Google +1 Privacy Policy – Google Privacy Center
- +1 your website – Google
- +1 on non-Google sites : +1s – Profiles Help
How to use Google +1
- How To Turn On Google +1
- Enable Google +1 for your account right now
- How To Get Google +1 Buttons For Your Website
Analysis and overview
- Google +1 – What You Need to Know
- Meet +1: Google’s Answer To The Facebook Like Button
- What Site Owners Need to Know About Google +1
- Google +1 Analysis: A War for Social Data and Your Attention
- » Google +1, what is it really?
- Everything You Need to Know About Google’s +1
- Google+1 Button (Slideshare presentation)
Opinion (pros and cons)
- Google +1 And The Rise of Social SEO
- Google +1: What normal person would ever use it?
- +1 Is The Loneliest Number
- Google + 1 = Fail | Why Google +1 will Fail
- Google +1 is Missing a Social Carrot
- Sure, I Could Join a Google-Based Social Network — But Why?
- Google +1: The New SearchWiki?
- Have Google really misunderstood social communities?
Google +1 SEO resources
- Google +1, will it succeed? The experts don’t agree
- Discussion: Impact of Google +1?
- The new Google +1 button and the Effects on SEO
- Google’s +1 A Potential Boon To Paid Search Marketers
- To Like or not to Like Google +1? That is the clichéd SEO question.
- Google +1: Not Really Social
- +1 – Google’s fusion of paid search and social
- 10+ Points about Google +1
- Google +1: the pieces of the social puzzle are coming together
- How Google Will Likely Handle +1 Scammers
- Thoughts on what the Google +1 button means for SEO
- What Google’s +1 Means for Facebook
- Is Google’s +1 Search Results Feature Useful for Marketers?
- Google Plus 1 – Social Sentiment as an SEO Factor
Miscellaneous resources
- Google’s +1 Button (links)
- Press Coverage: Google’s +1 underwhelms agencies
- Google +1 is a scheme. (humorous/paranoid take on +1)
So I guess you can’t ignore Google +1; but equally, you don’t have to hurry up and amass +1 votes even though Google announced that they will count as a ranking factor (in contrast to Google SearchWiki, for example).
One year from now will see whether Google +1 is still around, and even if it is, whether it’s actually alive and not used only by bots.
The Facebook Like button depends on the biggest social network there is. There is no Google social network and there is no such thing as a search network; even Blekko relies on Facebook Likes to socialise search results.
So the +1 button must offer something of real value to succeed at all. Only significant traffic and Google ranking improvements will motivate webmasters to introduce it along with the Facebook and Twitter buttons.
© SEOptimise – Download our free business guide to blogging whitepaper and sign-up for the SEOptimise monthly newsletter. 40 Google +1 SEO Resources
Related posts:
- 40 Google Instant SEO, SEM & Analytics Resources
- 30+ Google Quality/Panda Update Resources for Content Farmers and SEO Practitioners
- 36 Must-Read Local SEO/Google Places Resources from 2010/2011
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SEOptimise » Blog
New Google Analytics Released
On Wednesday, Google released a new and improved version of Google Analytics to all current users.
If you are currently an Analytics user you can access the new version by clicking on the new version link in the top right of your account, as shown below.
The new version comes with a lot of new features that have long been lacking in the older versions. Not only is the performance and reporting faster but the functionality is brand new, and I must say much improved.
A few of the main features are:
- Users can create up to 20 different dashboards to focus on important metrics
- New goal tracking features that can report downloads and video engagement
- The ability to compare and graph any two metrics over time to gauge trends
Obviously this is just a few of the new features that have been integrated in the new Google Analytics version. For the time being, users can toggle back and forth between both the new and older versions. However, because they just released it Google is asking for feedback on any improvements or bugs they may not have noticed.
So the question to ask yourself is will you be switching to the newer version of Google Analytics or will you wait for the testing and bugs to be fixed before switching?
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HigherVisibility