Well, the dust seems to have settled after the Google Jagger
update and enough experts are checking in with the same
information that I feel comfortable writing about how to work
with Google today.
First, let me complain a bit;
Google is working towards 'King-content' over anything else [of
course], but the way they have gone about it has hurt many
businesses this holiday season... just like last year. Their
pre-holiday updates cause many sites to drop dramatically, if
not disappear altogether from their search results pages. This
drives those whose rankings have dropped to either bite the
bullet and wait it out, or bite the harder bullet and buy into
the Google AdWords program. Thus Google makes more money in big
gulps during and after each update.
Don't get me wrong, making money is the whole point of being in
business and Google is no different. It's just their timing that
bugs me. How can they, in good concience, cause so much chaos
and economic hardship during the holiday season? Do they have no
heart at all?
OK - enough Google bashing - now for the meat of this article...
how to get back into good position within Google's search
results.
Inbound Links [IBLs] are still good, but where they come from
and what the test of your link says has become more important
than ever. Where your links come from is important now because
Google's new algorithm seems to place more emphasis on
'authority' pages with links than just any page with links.
What is an authority page? Simple. A page that carries solid
information about the focus of your website. In other words, any
article that talks about your industry, offering good consumer
information alongside a link back to your site is considered an
authority page. The best place to have these authority pages is
at a site with a Google page rank of 5 or higher.
How do you get these IBLs from authority pages? Again, the
answer is simple... write articles. Write them about different
aspects of your industry. Write articles with 400 - 500 words.
Be sure to include your keywords embedded in the copy and don't
forget that all-important link back to your site.
Once you have an article written there are many places you can
place them online where they will be picked up by online content
publishers, thus spreading your article around the net, along
with that link back to your site. A well written article,
properly placed online, can garner 200 - 300 links back to your
site! Here is a list of good content hubs to place your
articles;
http://www.GoArticles.com
http://www.ISnare.com
http://www.SubmitYourArticle.com
http://www.ArticleCity.com
http://www.ExchangeNet.com
http://www.Article-Directory.net
http://www.FreeZineSite.com
It also seems like reciprocal links are on the 'out' with
Google. In fact, reciprocal links may be seen as a negative and
hurt your rankings rather than help them. My recomendation is to
forget about them for now and concentrate on writing good,
keyword laden articles you can place at these content hubs,
bringing IBLs without the requirement to link back.
Happy Holidays everyone... now get writing!
Gary K. Foote, Editor
The eMarketing Digest
http://www.theemarketin
gdigest.com
About the author:
Editor of The eMarketing Digest since it's inception in
1994 Gary K. Foote has also created other successful e-zines,
including the prestigious e-Tailer's Digest, now edited by
George Matejewicz.
