Anchor Text Algorithm Change?

Working for a search engine optimization company allows for me to stay on top of the changes in Google’s algorithm. Recently we noticed a huge transition of websites ranking results and began to analyze why the change was occurring.  Please leave a comment if you have noticed similar changes with your website.

As stated quite a few of the websites that we track have had altered SERP rankings quite recently and we knew that it wasn’t as a result of being banned from the results but simply a change in the algorithm. The commonality between all the sites? Anchor text links for the given keyword. The websites in question were part of a trial SEO activity that relied heavily on ‘anchor text’ incoming links. Especially for competitive search terms.

Anchor Text Google Flaw?

Was anchor text significance a flaw in Google’s algorithm? Well in short, somewhat. Google is king of natural results, what I mean by that is that they want to present the most relevant and natural website results as possible. As such they don’t want variables that will create spam techniques to create results for a given search term. Let’s take a look at the term ‘insurance’ or ‘loans’. Obviously if a website has thousands or millions of incoming links with the term ‘insurance’ it doesn’t mean that the given website is a credible source for that information. It just means that they have a very large budget for purchasing incoming links for that given term. That is obviously completely un-natural and against the general Google philosophy. A normal incoming link would simply have the given company name, or possible the company name and the word loan. Although how many people would simply link the term ‘loan’ to a given website? Not very many.

Staying Ahead of Google

Obviously everyones goal is to stay ahead of the Google algorithm. Changing constantly to mesh with the given algorithm and have outstanding SERPs results. A little trick is changing up the given anchor text that you are achieving for. Don’t have all incoming links with a keyword of ‘loans’, rather change it up where possible. If you are paying for links create your anchor text for your main keyword 60% of the time and change up the remaining 40%. For example 60% of your incoming links could have your main keyword ‘loans’ and the remaining 40% could be distributed with ‘company name loans’ or just your ‘company name’, or the type of loan you can provide such as ‘mortgage loans’ or even the area that you are trying to target. The point is to make things appear natural, and by having over 90% of your incoming links with a single given anchor text you can bet that it wasn’t a natural way of achieving links.

[tags]anchor text link help, anchor text changes algorithm, google algorithm changes anchor text[/tags]

Matt Cutts on Paid Link’s: What does Google Think?

As we all know search engines, Google especially, wants to keep their results as clean and accurate as possible. Bringing the searchers the most relevant and best suited information to them. Over the past year we have watched as paid link websites have been removed from Google’s search engines and websites being removed for partaking in such an activity. So it comes to no surprise that Matt Cutts released a post discussing paid links and how Google approaches such activity.

I absolutely love search engines, and watching how the algorithms have changed over time. I remember when META tags were one of the most important aspects and then how incoming links were analyzed and added to the mix. It was all about incoming links at one time, regardless of where or how they came in. As such directories, and link exchange programs sprang up to help give some the edge over others. I mean just think about everything that was needed to do in the past to rank well in the SERPs. From contextual advertising, to three way link exchanges, banner advertising with DoFollow and other techniques.

Over time we have been wondering what exactly Google was doing. Watching sites get completely removed, then re added to the search results. It’s like watching a huge pest control company trying to eliminate the pests only for another batch to replace those that they already ‘squashed’. Websites like text link ads (TLA) and TNX getting removed and some websites getting punished for partaking in such link buying activities. After the last PR update you should have seen the message boards with people reporting drops of PR 6 to PR 1! After analysis the conclusion came down to selling links on their site, and or purchasing links for their site. So what did Matt Cutts say about it?

Do paid links violate Google’s quality guidelines?

Not necessarily. Cutts says the only paid links he cares about are ones designed to game search engines. He cites an example of a Linux site with a group of sponsored links for casinos, drugs, and gifts. Aside from apparent spamminess, the links are presented in image format, which Matt thinks is to avoid detection.

“I’m sure,” he writes, “some people will happily defend links like these, but in my experience people who search on Google don’t want links like these to affect Google’s search results.”

“Google is not interested in reports on affiliate links or directories, just spammy gaming attempts like the example mentioned.”

Well it appears that Google is only going after the ‘spammy’ websites. Although its tough to say what exactly dictates a spammy website or an overly zealous webmaster looking for backlinks. I’ve seen many websites simply get banned because the webmaster didn’t know better on his incoming link building strategy. Matt also stated that paid link report data is not being used currently (this has to be dated because of the drops in PR from the last update for people) and that nothing is really getting applied to the current algorithm. Maybe it comes down to a human interaction that decides given websites and if they should be removed? It’s tough to say although what about competition sabotage? How does Google tackle ‘blackhat’ techniques of trying to remove your competitor by sabotaging them?

“We’ve always tried very hard to prevent site A from hurting site B. That’s why these reports aren’t being fed directly into algorithms, and are being used as the starting point rather than being used directly. You might also want to review the policy mentioned in my 2005 post (individual links can be discounted and sellers can lose their ability to pass on PageRank/anchortext/etc., which doesn’t allow site A to hurt site B).”

So it appears that the game has begun to change as we know it. I personally believe that it has begun and it is here as of the last PR update. As search engines algorithms continue to become more and more complex with one single variable in mind, content relevance, we are going to see huge transitions. I think that we are beginning to see that now!

[tags]google paid link, paid link google’s idea, what google thinks of paid links, search engine results[/tags]

How to Obtain Free .EDU Backlinks

If you don’t know already, Google and other search engines rank .EDU, .GOV incoming links over normal .COM links. This is because of the credibility and high trust associated with the sites hosted on those TLDs. Not to mention that most edu sites have quality incoming links, have been around forever, and are obviously a credible source of information to the internet. It is even said that a single incoming EDU link is worth 4 PR 3 links! This is why obtaining free EDU links is HUGE! Read more

Creative Link Building Techniques

As we all know, it is necessary to create a beautiful and elaborate backlink structure in order to rank well among SERPs, specifically Google’s. Remember I said beautiful, not black hat and other techniques that will end up getting you banned from Google. You are probably shocked that I’m giving away this type of information for free, but I feel that by giving away such useful information that I will generate some backlinks for myself. Content is king! Enough with the talking, here is the information.

1. Analyze Competitors Backlink Structure – Where are you competitors getting backlinks from? Are you able to also place your link on those resources? Remember not to spam if its a blog or something like that or your posting will get deleted.
2. Forums, Blogs, and Other Similar Sources – Be sure to check that the links are DoFollow rather then NoFollow. That way you can get credit for the link, I have a list of some of these on my Link Building section.
3. Search Digg.com for related Keywords – I guarantee that you will be able to find some places to add your link to when you search for your related term. Such as blogs, or forums as listed above.
4. Contests – Run a contest if possible, this will build incoming links for sure! If the contest is good enough I guarantee you will notice an influx of traffic and one way links (natural)!
5. Offer Your Services – If possible offer your services to high PR websites in exchange for a link. Can you do SEO? Can you write? Find out a service that you can donate to for a quality incoming link.
6. Review Blogs – Review blogs are a great asset to you and to other people, create a community based review blog where people can communicate and give feedback for products. You will build a great resource and a high PR website.
7. Expiring Domains – This is a very unique idea and I was hesitant to give it out. Keep an eye out on expiring domains. This will allow you to purchase an old and dated domain which is great for PageRank and other reasons!
8. Upload your pictures from your site to Flickr, making sure to add a link (deep link) in the description area of the flickr.
9. Reciprocal Linking – Link to others and others will typically link back. You’d be suprised how people will do that.
10. Yahoo Answers – I did an experiment with an unused domain, I created some simple articles and created a search engine friendly website and simply answered Yahoo Answers questions with my link supplied after the very informative answer relating to the topic. I generated a PR of 4 within the first PR update and the site was no more than 1 month old on that update. This is really a very nice tip and you can generate some great results, DON’T SPAM THOUGH! Your comment will be deleted and typically so will your account.
11. First Comment – Be the first to comment on blog posts, why? Because those responses will be on the first ‘page’ of the blog and will rank well if that particular post begins to build PR. Remember substance people, don’t add a bunch of crap.
12. Wikipedia – This is another secret that I didn’t want to share, but try to get your link on to Wikipedia. Remember that you will need to build up your Wikipedia account first so that you can add credibility to it. After that edit an article and add your website if possible. I know that Wikipedia is a no follow but alot of websites scrap info / links from it and are DoFollow links. Be creative and this can be the best backlinking strategy you have seen yet.

[tags]Creative Link Building Techniques, back link building, backlink helps, backlink techniques, building backlinks [/tags]

List and Directories of Dofollow Blogs

Here is a great comprehensive list of Dofollow Blogs. I will be adding to these as time goes on, so check back often and frequently. This will save you alot of time and resources, so you can thank me later.

1. BrownSista
2. Foolswisdom
3. Randaclay
4. BillHartzer
5. Howtosplitanatom
6. Andybeard.eu
7. Engineering Cat Blog
8. David Dairey
9. Fast Lane Transport
10. Life Learning Today
11. Pixel Head Online
12. Logon.ie
13. How To Wake Up Early
14. Joe Bartender
15. Jakeldaily
16. TallFreak
17. Achille
18. Layercake
19. Roadlesstravelled
20. 5xmom
21. Dereksemmler
22. Linguisticszone
23. Smart Wealthy Rich
24. Lillieammann
25. TheArticleWriter
26. Bloggingtips
27. Thedivinedivas
28. JHSiess
29. Comedy Plus
30. Community Spark
31. Ecommtips
32. Endangeredspaces
33. Titaniastarlight
34. Fuzzyfuture
35. Jonlee.ca
36. Thedietdiary
37. LifeCruiser
38. Veganmomma

[tags]dofollow blogs, dofollow blog, no nofollow blog, dofollow blog list, no nofollow blog list[/tags]

Press Release Submission Sites

Here is a list of Press Release Submission sites that I came across. They are listed from highest PR to lowest, I may add some more in the future so come back to find some more. Yes means it is free, no means that they charge a fee. Read more

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