All the features, all the tools, it’s just brilliant. One of my favorite is the transcribing of voicemail. Google will transcribe the message and provide you the text version as well as the ability to listen of course. This is great and I use it all the time, if I can’t get to the call I can have the voicemail text sent to my cell as a text message.

And while it is very impressive and for the most part mostly accurate there are the occasional mis-translations. My wife in particular seems to not just confuse me but Google as well. Here is a screenshot of the message she left…

I was wearing a smile the whole time until I got to ’so poker’ and ‘i’m gonna give me a call’ and then I couldn’t contain the laughter.

However, there was a huge debate when Matt Cutts started talking about PR Sculpting…

Let’s take a step back and explain what PageRank sculpting is and how it’s used by many knowledgeable SEOs (myself included) on certain projects.

Every page on the web can be said to have an intrinsic ‘value’.  If said page has a link on it then that page is passing some of that value elsewhere funneled through that link.  If the page has 5 links then that value is shared ‘equally’ amongst all 5 links.  That’s how PageRank works at it’s most basic core.

However many of us never saw the importance of having certian pages rank well.  For example if you are a self storage facility how often are you looking to rank an about us page in the search results?  How does that page measurably fit into a sales funnel?  Sure it’s nice to have, but we don’t need it ranked.

Enter PageRank sculpting.  We are able with a number of avenues to sculpt the flow of that pages value to not include the about us.  So in the example of the page with 5 links, rather than including sharing the value with it’s about us page we simply sculpt the flow to divide amongst our 4 major pages and in a sense skip the about us page entirely.

The most popular method is nofollow.  By simply adding a chunk of code we can tell the search bot not to pass the juice onto that about us page which in theory makes our other pages stronger.  Remember, we’re only splitting the value 4 ways now and not 5.

Okay so that’s the history or reasoning behind it, now onto current events…

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At SMX Advanced 09 Matt Cutts, the Google quality control guru basically knocked us all off our seats when he said that PageRank  sculpting no longer helps in passing more link value or ‘link juice’  to the other pages; it simply dissipates.  Matt may use a different term but that’s what happens, it discounts the nofollow link however you are no longer passing more value to the others that are not being blocked by nofollow.

Every blog of note nofollows comment links in attempt to keep their link value insite and to help prevent spamming of the comments.

The frustrating thing is, we have other tools in our toolbelt (if you’re dealing with a worth while SEO) to still achieve this sculpting however it breaks that backwards compatability we’ve relied on.  It’s hard enough chasing the algorithm but to have to re-invent methodology that Matt Cutts even recommended at one point is asking a bit much:

My short answer is that the nofollow attribute on links is a pretty
general mechanism, and you’re welcome to use it how you like…

What are some appropriate ways to use the nofollow tag? One good
example is the home page of expedia.com. If you visit that page,
you’ll see that the “Sign in” link is nofollow’ed. That’s a great use
of the tag: Googlebot isn’t going to know how to sign into
expedia.com, so why waste that PageRank on a page that wouldn’t
benefit users or convert any new visitors? Likewise, the “My
itineraries” link on expedia.com is nofollow’ed as well. That’s
another page that wouldn’t really convert well or have any use except
for signed in users, so the nofollow on Expedia’s home page means that
Google won’t crawl those specific links….

Is a website designed with a CSS-based layout more SEO friendly than a table based layout?

I was expecting Matt to say, yes in fact there are reasons CSS+XHTML works better for SEO.  He did not.  He basically said, use whatever works best for you. WOW.  Okay here are the problems I have with that:

1.) Less code = quicker load –   That’s right, less code means the page will load faster for both users and searchbots.  Tables tend to be riddled with td=align and a host of other tags that add up rapidly and throw off the content:code ratio. That translates to a less-then-stellar experience for both users and search engines and in the case of the latter with more time spent on each page less time can be spent indexing the rest of the website.

The ‘whatever works best for you’ logic is dangerous.  SEO aside, it’s all about the user’s experience and what’s best for the user.  Last time I checked a shorter load time is definitely appreciated by the average surfer.

With all that extra code comes a greater percentage of error.  Not closing a tag or forgetting a quote can create some interesting visual and content anomalies not only for the user but for the search engines.

2.) Placement on the page  – CSS allows us to place the more important content at the top of the code regardless of where it is on the page.  We know that content closer to the top of the page gets higher priority so why not utilize that knowledge.  I’m not trying to suggest gaming the engines by manipulating the code, but if your content is on the right and navigation and ads are on the left shouldn’t you make sure your content is the first thing the search engines see?

3.)  Purpose and Intent -  Tables were created for 1 thing and 1 thing only: displaying tabular data.  Then one infamous day we realized we could ‘hide’ the table with border=0 and the rest is history.  Here is a great look at how bloated tables are inherently and how needless table positioned websites are.

Despite all of this, Google claims to treat table and CSS-p the same regardless.  My opinion is that the claim made by Matt is misleading – the intrinsic value CSS positioned sites have over table sites make it by default a better option for SEO.

I want to take the opportunity to talk about really examining, I mean spending a good 4-5 hours going deep into your PPC campaigns and weeding out the keywords or poor quality scores that could be driving up the cost per clicks for all your keywords.  These are all things we do on a monthly basis for my clients over at amplifyseo.com but if you’re running your own campaigns you may not.

Dragging Keywords

The first step I’d take a look at is how your keywords are performing.  Assuming you did your keyword research and have 500+ keywords in your campaign take a closer look at the ‘bottom dwellers.’  If a search phrase has not driven a single click or maybe it’s note even generated a single impression int he past 30 days mark it for potential removal.  Then take a look at a number of factors over time (average placement included) and if you see a poor performing tendency it’s time to let the phrase go.

Quality Score

I’m assuming that since you’re reading this blog you are not a complete beginner to PPC or SEO.  With that said, I’m still surprised at how few campaigns I take over for clients where they haven’t opted to display their quality score column.  You need to know what your quality score is as it directly impacts your CPCs (cost-per-clicks).  Enable this column on the ad group page by selecting ‘Customize Columns’ and then ‘Show Quality Score’.

We want to see 8s and above (what Google deems to be ‘Great’) however depending on how large your keyword portfolio is anything 7 or above will do.  Everything else (6 and below) you need to work on.  Read up on quality score factors and get those quality scores as high as possible.  Remember your QS effects not only your CPC for that phrase but all your phrases are effected.

These two really are a 1-2 punch for PPC and should be done continuously.  However, it’s spring so take this opportunity to do a bit of campaign clean up and if you do it correctly you’ll be very surprised and pleased at the end result.

Like the Hi Definition format wars, we have an undisputed winner in the to dash or to underscore question.  There is no reason to use an underscore unless a searcher will likely utilize the underscore in the search.  For example, if they were tech heads they might be inclined to search for a bit of code like ‘end_of_file’ for you C junkies out there.  Google will pick that phrase as a single keyword rather than 3 separate keywords in a phrase.

Google will take word1-word2 and read it as word1 and word2 as long as you utilize the dash.  It does not do the same for underscore, so word1_word2 does not read to the algorithm as word1 and word2 but simply word1_word2.

Using our example above a search for ‘page about bagels’ would, all other factors being equal, result in the url somesite.com/page-about-bagels.html ranking higher than the somesite.com/page_about_bagels.html simply because Google is reading the keywords in the former and not the latter.

SO unless you have a specific reason to believe your searcher will search using an underscore as in the ‘end_of_file’ example, stick to the dash.

It should be noted, this is an SEO blog so while I will try to be as neutral as possible my opinions certainly lead toward SEO.

Compelling content is the name of the game.
You need to speak with the consumer, relate to them on the level they are at.  If they’re looking for a replacement blender chances are they’re not going to search for “replacement blender” but “my blender broke, what’s a good replacement”.  Marketing firms state that loading keywords into the content will put off the consumer and you will see your conversion rates tank.

One topic that often comes up is that search engine marketers load keywords and use their ‘tricks’ to manipulate the search engines for their own profit.  They will say that if all things were equal the website with the best content should and would always win out.

Optimizing for search brings the customers to you.
Compelling content may be higher converting but if you convert 90% of your visitors but if your total visitors is 100 a month versus 50% of 1,000 a month surely a lower conversion rate for a higher share is better.  The bottom line should be total conversions not percentages right?

Seeking out new developing niche markets can allow you to rank for new phrases quickly with good on-page optimization and thus driving more leads to your website.  You need optimized content to drive that traffic, then you can worry about converting.

My thoughts/conclusion: meeting in the middle.
Sure it might be a cop out to say meet in the middle but the reality is good news: you don’t have to compromise the copy much to rank well.  Too often search engine optimizers will get nailed down to a set philosophy.  We live and breathe numbers; whether it’s keyword density or number of incoming links.  We think in literals: we’re either optimized or we’re not.  And it doesn’t have to be that way.  All you need to do is be a little better than the guy at the top, have a little better link portfolio, and you can easily rank for the up and coming niche markets without butchering the content.

Content is king, but if it’s not seen it doesn’t matter.  However, you don’t have to compromise that content.  Maybe give a list of keyword phrases to the marketers and see if they can naturally slip them in.  Don’t get bogged down by keyword density.  Marketers, you are not diluting your final product by trying to fit in a few keywords the optimizers give you.  Your business is compelling copy, you are blessed with a wide vocabulary, surely you can fit in a few keywords where you think they fit.

Let’s face it, the marketers are here to stay and guess what, so are the search engine optimizers, so let’s find a way to work together.  Understand that the marketers probably know things you as an optimizer do not and vice versa.

Top 3 Search Engine Optimization Mistakes to Avoid at all Costs….

Dynamic URLs that are not SEO friendly. The worst of these are URLs with session id’s assigned to them (if this is you oh how Google hates you!). If you have URLs with ?, &, and the rest of the random characters/letters combinations chances are you are running a poor content management system that was not built with SEO in mind. Keywords and easy to read URLs are a necessity not only for the viewers sake but for the search engines sake as keywords and readable text within the URL is a vital component in SEO. Make sure every effort is made from the start to produce URLs that are easily read and easy to index. That segues into #2 perfectly…

Search Engine Optimization after the fact. Despite what you might think you do not design the website first then optimize it. This ‘logic’ leads to a host of problems later when an SEO consultant comes on board and chances are a rework of the design will be needed. SEO needs to be in the forefront of your thinking from day 1. The layout of the site, the navigability of the site, the linking structure, all of these are not simply design elements but foundational to a good SEO plan.

Building your website in Flash. This has been harped on more times than I’d care to admit but this really is a no-no. It takes the whole idea of on-page and on-site optimization and throws it in the garbage. I’m not anti-flash, it’s just moderation is key. Despite the recent talks of Google and Adobe coming up with a Flash reader technology it’s still years from perfection. Use flash to compliment not as a design platform.

Alright, that will do it for my list. There are of course a thousand and one things to avoid but that’s what SEO specialists are for. They’ve been in the trenches and know what the stumbling blocks are, experience is the name of the game with SEO. Cheers everyone and I’ll get the rest of the list written out and articulated next month.

However there are a few tools we use just to save time and if you’re interested in Local Search Marketing this is one we use every day: City Concatenator.

What this tool does is allow you to set a few variables such as root keywords, zip code, and a square mile radius. This then outputs a host of variations in just seconds. Literally hundreds of keyword variations at your fingertips within 5-10 seconds.

This tools has allowed us to effectively ditch our Excel keyword generation spreadsheet and get better results within seconds.

Who has control over a .edu website?
The University’s faculty and staff.

Who makes changes to their website?
Nine times out of ten it’s the University’s staff however sometimes a student will be put in charge of making updates to a web page or series of web pages as part of the curriculum of a course. But even if that’s the case, those individuals are being monitored by the professor so even if you do get a link don’t count on it for long. And in a Google world where the age of a link is important that temporary benefit is just a drop in the bucket.

Where are the most valuable pages on a .edu website?
Sure the home page of the .edu might be the holy grail of link juice but consider this: the chances of the content of the home page being related to your subject is slim and the link placement is almost guaranteed to be in a sidebar or footer. Not ideal. No, the inner pages of a .edu site maybe 2 or 3 directories removed from the home page are the most likely to attract a link and that link is more likely to be both related to your content and going to be placed within the content section of the web page. This is where your maximum benefit will come from.

Where do .edu link acquisition firms place your link?
Do you think they’re making sizable donations to the University or paying the staff? Of course not, so what are the chances that you will get a quality link like in the scenario I just gave you? Nil. They pay poor college students for links on their personal pages which most often are disconnected from the University’s site. Rarely can you reach it via a link from the University website so zero link juice is being passed. Remember, just because it’s on the website does not mean it’s passing link juice from the domain. We could get into an argument about it passing TrustRank from the domain itself but that’s another argument for a much more in-depth analysis. Even still, recall that the student is poor. Getting $10/month from a link sounds great but getting $1000/month from 100 links sounds better. Divide the TrustRank among 100 links and the fact that the page is resembling a menagerie of unrelated websites how much trust do you think you will actually get?

Okay, whew. So we now know where we want to get our links, who controls those web pages, and who can’t get the link for you. So why is it that 3/4ths of the people I talk with still try to market their content for students? Don’t market for the student market for the staff!

The recipe is a simple one: create quality related content that the faculty will benefit from and will want to pass on as a resource. Then market it to the staff member in charge of that page.

Analyzing your current store of incoming links for both anchor text optimization as well as optimization of the page itself is key to maximizing your ROI. Too often a link looks like this:

Today I visited this fantastic wedding favors website. It was brilliant! They had everything from unity candles to bridal shoes. Even wedding favors just for fun! Check it out here.

Yes, you do have an incoming link that they are probably not going to no-follow and yes it is surrounded by relevant text, but there is so much more SEO to be mined. Wouldn’t this be brilliant:

Today I visited this fantastic wedding favors website. It was brilliant! They had everything from unity candles to bridal shoes. Even wedding favors just for fun!

Of course, that might be a bit of a stretch to request but it’s worth a shot. Think about it, it’s easier for the visitor of their site to see exactly what is being referred to. However, The following version, while not as perfect as the one just mentioned is still hands down a better option than the original:

Today I visited this fantastic wedding favors website. It was brilliant! They had everything from unity candles to bridal shoes. Even wedding favors just for fun! Check them out at My Wedding Favors.

You see the benefit in having keywords within the link, that’s a no-brainer. This however is where the finesse needs to comes in. You need to pay attention to a little thing called diversity. Keeping your anchor text varying is important.

Think diversity with your anchor text. Natural is the key.

For example what looks more natural? Having 400 out of 600 incoming links identical (My Wedding Favors) or 100 links that read ‘My Wedding Favors’, another 100 ‘ Wedding Favors Online’, another 50 ‘Unity Candles’, and so on and so forth? The answer is obvious, you must keep the phrase natural link building in mind all the time because 2/3rds of your incoming anchor text being identical is NOT natural.

Now that you know how to better make use of that link here comes the hard part: requesting the change of text. The best bet is to a.) catch the link early (as I’ve found people are more apt with making a change to recently posted content) and b.) practice your best manners. Remember there is no intrinsic benefit to the individual so keep that in mind.

Treat the request as a favor and maybe even trade. Use your knowledge of SEO to offer them some free advice. Give them a specific tip to help them, and remember as their website benefits your link value on that page increases: win-win.

And that segues perfectly into my next point: examine the on page optimization and off site promotion of the page that contains your incoming link. Now, some of you may be thinking why should I waste time doing optimization and promotion for a page I don’t own. The answer is simple: while you may not own the page you will benefit from the page. The more ‘link juice’ a page has the more it can pass on. Not many people consider that in their optimization strategy. Making the most out of a link doesn’t simply mean anchor text anchor text anchor text, you need to incorporate a little bit of promotion. And who knows, the owner may notice that page is doing well and offer you more links in exchange for more optimization or maybe you’ll earn a new SEO consultant contract out of it. And in all of this, your link gets more and more credability and passes more and more link juice. It’s win-win-win.