March 19, 2024

Can A Small Business Survive Panda and Penguin?

SEO - Google PandaCan A Small Business Survive Panda and Penguin?

To me the big factor with Panda was a major attempt by Google to define authoritative content.

Penguin was clearly a major attempt by Google to refine it algorithm as it relates to in-coming links to a website.

Can a small business properly deal with this heavy scrutiny?

Let me discuss Panda. The entire issue is related to the quality of your on-site materials. If you have “thin” content or duplicate content then you may be affected negatively by Panda. It is natural for Google to want to present the most authoritative content to its searching audience. If your content is thin and of little value or depth then you run the risk of being penalized. If your content is not original and Google can detect the original source then your page (or site) can be negatively impacted. If you have duplicate (but non-original) content then your page is clearly not the authority.

The lesson is to create (and to continue to create) high-quality web content that delights your website visitors. Google wants to present websites that delight. If you are a small business then you have the ability to delight and you should make every effort to do so.

In my next few posts I will explain more of what Google is doing with the Penguin and how to not get penalized.

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Is There Platonic Website Copy?

Web Copy - Platonic Web CopyIs There Platonic Website Copy? 

Pluto, a great philosopher, has a following of contemporary philosophers that construe “Platonism” to mean the proposition that universals exist independently of particulars.

What does this mean for website copy? Is there universal web copy? I strongly argue that the answer is no. Universal web copy does not exist. If you are writing website copy then you need to consider some important particulars to make your web copy effective. 

Here are some particulars:

  • Specifics  of product or service
  • Specific of target audience
  • Timing
  • Keywords as they relate to both the specifics of the product or service as well as the target audience.

Therefore, there is no universal copy where one page of copy for a given product or service works effectively for all. There is no “universal”. Do not fall into the trap of trying to write perfect universal copy. It will never happen. Write great copy and be willing to experiment and measure results. Also, consider A/B testing of key website pages to help you to decide upon more effective copy versus less effective web copy.

Your willingness to experiment, measure and modify is a fundament factor to your success.

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Your Best Communication Tool – Your Website

Web Content - SEO - Web CopyYour Best Communication Tool – Your Website —

Are you a tech-savvy business owner? Do you use your website as a high-performance communication tool? Your website can be your best communication tool. You only have to learn how to use it and then do it. What high-value materials can you add to your website that is designed to help and create high value for your target audience? If you think about ways to help your target audience with great problem-solving materials then you have a great mindset to be a top communicator using your website (or blog).

Also, add web copy materials to your website that are optimized for search. Good content is search engine optimized. Optimize your materials for search to give your content the best chance it has to be found by your target audience. Properly search engine optimized web content is good for the searcher and good for you. Everyone wins.

Learn the technology you need to learn to be a top communicator. Use your website to capture and hold the attention of your target audience with search engine optimized high value content.

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Create Valuable Content That Delights Your Visitors

Web Content - Web SEOWeb Content – Create Valuable Content That Delights Your Visitors — The best way to get other sites to create relevant links to yours is to create unique, relevant content that can quickly gain popularity in the Internet community. The more valuable your web content, the greater the chances someone else will find that content valuable to their readers and link to it.

Before making any single decision about your content, you should ask yourself the question: Is this going to be beneficial for visitors to my website. Always think of ways to add web content that adds value and the will delight your target audience.

The number of links you have pointing to your site really matters when it comes to search position. The quality and relevance of those links also matters. Creating good content pays off by helping your website to gain in-coming links. Links can be thought of as editorial votes, given by choice and after a review by a human. The better your content the more links you will gain and the higher your site will move up in search position.

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Don’t Freak Out When Your Search Position Drops

Search Engine Position – Dont’ Freak Out! —

Search Engine Position - FreakOutIf you go onto any internet marketing forum you will see this every time. People freak out when they see their search engine position drop. There is no need to panic but rather there is every need to think about the situation and map out a plan. There are many factors that cause a site to move in search position. There are algorithms changes. There is the new site “honeymoon” period where their websites rank very well at the beginning, but after a couple of weeks they settle in the search results… usually at a much lower ranking, again, this is natural.

Also, never underestimate your competition. They may have taken some search engine position building action. To move up in search position means that you must dislodge someone else. They may not simply throw in the towels and give up.

If your website have age and have dropped in rankings, you may need to work harder to get your position back. You may need to update your content more often, you may need to build more backlinks or you may need to re-evaluate your SEO strategy. Google’s algorithm is changing frequently these days so it’s important to find out what they want, and go give it to them.

Search Engine Position – Have a Plan and Implement It!

With a good plan and then the implementation of that plan you can achieve good search engine position and maintain it.

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Create Great Content – Do So Regularly

Web Content - Update OftenWeb Design – Create Great Content – Do So Regularly —

The more high quality backlinks pointing to your content, the higher your search engine rankings will be. You will then get lots of free traffic. While this is the basic approach that everybody uses to gain position in search. However, there is another effective way.

Google loves websites that update often. I have worked on website content creation projects where we have defined a specific content creation plan. This plan called for more content on a regular basis. We did no focus on in-coming links but I will admit that because the content was the focus and we created good content that we did gain some links anyway.

The site did very nicely in search and the reason for this is because there were frequent updates to the content.

Many website owners spend a great deal of time building backlinks to their websites. This is important of course, but if they also spent an hour each day writing a new post for their website, they would also generate good position in search. This approach works

With all the Panda’s and Penguins about these days, it is a good idea to create great content and to add this great content to your site on a regular and frequent basis. It helps!

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Proper Keyword Density for Good SEO

Keyword Density - SEOProper Keyword Density for Good SEO —

If you produce copy for your website then you may have some ideas on how to write the content so that it will attract the search engines. It is wise to keep this in mind but the ultimate objective should be to write valuable content for your human website visitors. If you have any doubt about how to phrase something then decide upon this by considering your human visitors.

This is one of the biggest mistakes I see being made day in and day out. People (or perhaps their webmasters) write terrible content that is keyword stuffed for the search engine bots. It is important to have a certain keyword structure within your content so that the search engines know what your content is about. However, it is very important that you write for your the human visitors first and foremost. A good rule of thumb is to include your important keyword phrase 1 or 2 times for every 100 words. If you create a 500 word page then your target keyword will be presented from 5 to 10 times. This will result in a proper keyword density that will sound nice and help your search engine position.

You can read your page out loud before publishing it. Ask yourself; does it sound natural? Do not overdo it with the insertion of your important keyword phrase – this is not good SEO.

It has also been reported by many SEO experts that Google is clamping down really hard on over optimized websites. Your basic position for SEO on your website is to always write with your target human visitor in mind.

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Content Updates and SEO Value

SEO - Google PenguinContent Updates and SEO Value —

Google loves websites that update often. I know of many websites that do not have many backlinks pointing to them. However, they still achieve good search engine position on niche-phrase because they update their content relative to their niche target markets. Google and the other major search engines love high-quality fresh web content.

Building backlinks consistently is important of course however do not neglect the SEO value and importance of great and fresh content. Write a new post for your website. This will help to get position and traffic. This works!

Content is still king when it comes to attracting search engines. It has worked in the past and it works now.

With all the Panda’s and Penguins about these days, you will find that your website can gain higher search rankings, simply by creating high-quality fresh content. Perhaps you do no want to write everyday but schedule an hour to write something every week. Your site will be rewarded with improved search position and your visitors will also like the new content and the value it provides.

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