What should be post penguin off-page SEO practices

We are very much concerned about the post penguin SEO process. According to my knowledge the ever lasting SEO formula is (INFORMATION - PROMOTION) = SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION.

"What to do" points based on above mentioned formula.

1. Number of anchor text utilization type must be changed by replacing the company, business or owner name. This is much applicable in good quality business directories, but it should be followed in different SEO practices.
2. Value of an informative content will always remain on top. We've to stop writing content less than 400 words. Because when we compress a topic (based on keyword) in less word count it becomes direct promotional naturally. 
3. Content must contain a presentation. Besides relevant images we've to furnish the content with proper statistics, graphs, flowcharts etc.
4. A presentation (SlideShare) link from the content is a good option. Presentation must be very simple to make it understandable to target customers/visitors, not the SEO gurus.
5. Content marketing options must be very selective that we can maintain the uniqueness. And utilization of social media is very important.

I think SEO practices like link building, directory listing, guest posting, blog commenting, business listing, social bookmarking, social media marketing, content marketing etc can't be changed over night. And no one can provide fresh alternative immidiately. So just follow the above mentioned 5 points.

Google's Algorithm Update to Penalize Over-Optimized Sites

Last week during a SXSW panel, Matt Cutts, head of Google's search spam team, announced that Google has been working on a new tweak to its algorithm that will punish sites that are too optimized for SEO -- what he called "over-optimized" or "overly SEO'd," according to the recording of the announcement posted on Search Engine Land. Here's what you need to know about the new Google algorithm update, which has not been released yet but will go live in the next few weeks, according to Cutts' announcement.

What Cutts Revealed About the New Algorithm Update

Cutts hadn't planned on mentioning the algorithm update, but was given the perfect opportunity when an attendee asked the following question:

"With so many SEO companies showing up claiming to do SEO, a lot of markets are getting saturated with optimized content...What are you doing to prevent, for example, if you're looking for something, and the first page is just optimized content, and it's not what you're actually looking for? Are you pretty much out of luck if you're not optimizing your site but it has relevant content? If I'm a mom or pop and I'm trying to optimize a site by myself, I'm going to get beat by people paying thousands of dollars."

This algorithm update is working to level the playing field for sites without as many resources to dedicate to SEO. Matt explained the changes as "trying to make the algorithm more adaptive," or being more understanding of sites that have good content even if it isn't search engine optimizedlike many marketers have learned to do. The sites that will be penalized are those that "throw too many keywords on the page, exchange way too many links, whatever they're doing to go beyond what a normal person would expect."

What Google's Algorithm Update Means Practically for Marketers

If your content is driven by topics, you shouldn't expect to be penalized when the new algorithm update rolls out, even if you do take the time to search engine optimize that content with keywords and relevant links. If your writing is driven by keywords, however, we predict it's more likely you'll suffer some search ranking slips.

What's the difference between a keyword-driven content strategy and a topic-driven content strategy? A content strategy driven by what readers want, not what search engines want, is the direction that Google has been actively working toward rewarding even since last year's Panda updatesrolled out. So if you're selecting topics based on what your audience would find helpful, you're doing content strategy right. If you're choosing what to write about based on the keywords you want to be found for, you don't have the reader top of mind; and Google is doing everything they can in its algorithm not to reward such sites in the SERPs.

Said Cutts on the panel, "Make a compelling site. Make a site that's useful. Make a site that's interesting. Make a site that's relevant to people's interests...We're always trying to best approximate if a user lands on a page if they are going to be annoyed...All of the changes we make are designed to approximate, if a user lands on your page, just how happy they are going to be with what they're going to get."

Marketers, business owners, and SEOs could also take a cue from Bing's Duane Forrester, who was also on the panel and addressed the attendee's question after Matt Cutts' initial response. He highlighted the importance of social sharing as a signal others actually like your content -- one of the key indicators of relevancy for search engines. "Does the rest of the world think you have a great product?" Forrester asked. "If they do, they will amplify this. If you're not engaged socially, you're missing the boat because the conversation is happening socially about you and about your content. Those are really important signals for us. Whether you're involved or not is your choice, but those signals still exist whether you're in the conversation or not."

Thankfully, Danny Sullivan asked the burning question we all had (or still have) on our minds -- whether Google is going to release an algorithm update that's designed to hurt the kinds of SEO activities that have been recommended to marketers to help their search rankings. In short, no; this algorithm update won't do that. Cutts clarified by saying, "SEO can often be very helpful. It can make a site more crawlable; it can make a site more accessible; it can think about the words users are going to type whenever they come to a search engine to make sure those words are on a page. The same things you do to optimize your return on investment and make sure things spread virally or socially are often the same things that work from a search engine perspective...but there are some people who take it too far. If you're white hat or doing very little SEO, you're not going to be affected by this change."

So marketers, it sounds like the same rules still apply. Create great content with readers in mind first, search engines in mind second. Then make sure your site is easily crawlable so bots can actually read and index that content. As more information is released, we'll keep you updated on whether this algorithm update will affect the way you approach your content or search engine optimization strategy. 

[Source: hubspot.com]

What does Semantic Search mean for SEO?

What Is Semantic Search?

Semantic search uses artificial intelligence in order to understand the searcher’s intent and the meaning of the query rather than parsing through keywords like a dictionary. When you search now, Google gives you results based solely on the text and the keywords that you put in that search. Essentially, Google gives you its best guess.

When you use semantic search, Google will dive into the relationship between those words, how they work together, and attempt to understand what those words mean. Google will understand that “their” and “they’re” has two different meanings and when “New” and “York” are placed together, it changes the meaning.

Semantic search isn’t a new concept. As early as 2008, search engines were popping up that focus on natural language over keywords. But we’re really only taking notice now because of Google. And Google is really only taking notice because of Siri and Google’s response to Siri, Google Assistant, which will be out on Android devices later this year.

Semantic Search for SEO

Keywords are easy to manipulate; intent, not so much. In order to rank well in semantic search, you don’t just have to put your keywords in the right places, you have to figure out the actual meaning behind those keywords and create content around that specifically. That puts more emphasis on your keyword research.

When people search, they aim to answer a question. They just search in the truncated version of that question. Keyword research is largely data-driven around the popularity of the terms in their question. Keyword research in semantic search will have to focus on what that person actually means when searching for that keyword.

For example: Physiotherapy. What could people mean they search “Physiotherapy?”

§                     What is physiotherapy?

§                     The different procedure of physiotherapy

§                     How to handle different physiotherapy cases

§                     Physiotherapy learning videos and guidelines.

The possibilities are endless. When you’re framing your content in a semantic search world, it has to be around answering the specific questions people have as it relates to that keyword. With every sentence you write, ask yourself: How does this answer the searcher’s question? You will have to focus on the natural language even if those users are still focusing on keywords.

[Source: mashable.com]

New Google search algorithm prefers quality link building

After the internet search giant Google announced the Panda update in February this year, thousands of sites in the US were seriously impacted.

The improved algorithm digs in deeper into the low-quality websites to yield high-quality results for the user. However, Google claims that the Panda algorithm should affect only about 2% of the websites in the US while the original update impacted over 12% of the US search queries.

Panda update was developed to weed out content farms, thereby removing low quality or offending sites that did not adhere to Google’s quality parameters. In all, the new version aims to target low quality and spammy/scraper sites.

Microsoft-owned ciao.co.uk was seriously hit, facing 94% decline in traffic. The online-shopping portal had been in the frontline of a EU competition case against Google.

As a result, Google has been accused of deliberately reducing the notoriety of some websites. Responding back, a Google spokesperson refused claims- new algorithm targets specific websites while reducing their visibility.

The new Content Farm Panda update will boost the rankings of all high-quality websites with original information and content such as in-depth research reports and thoughtful analysis.

With this Panda update reaching many English language countries abroad, websites managed through “black-hat” SEO strategy will need to employ a proper strategy in place to reposition their website on ethical standards. (source: www.itpro.in)

Google Changes New Panda Algorithm – SEO Viewpoint

Google made an update to their algorithm late February 2011 that has greatly affected many sites and caused a decrease in traffic. The update was called the “Panda” update (aka the “Farmer” update). Google normally does major updates to their algorithm once every 1-2 years. The Panda update is a major update. This is all in an effort for Google to produce the best search results and foil black hat SEO techniques. In general Google always has the searcher in mind and they change their algorithm so as to ensure black hat SEO techniques are not effecting the relevance and high quality of the results on their search engine.

So how do you know if the Panda update effected your website? Quickly check your website analytics from January 2011 until today. Check if you see a sudden decrease in traffic from the end of February until now. Also check on Google Webmaster Tools what words you are currently ranking for and compare that to the keywords you were ranking for before.

Who did the Panda update effect? Generally if you are a website that has high quality content and it is not duplicated elsewhere, Panda would not affect you. Google’s algorithm is notorious for focusing on off page factors like in-links, but this update actually focused on on-page factors.

How do you ensure your website is not negatively affected? Make sure you are not using any black hat techniques on-page like keyword repetition too many times (keywords should be repeated below 5% of total words on page to be safe). Make sure keywords are not repeated next to each other and the copy of the page and meta tags are not ‘spammy’. Also check if there are sites out there that are copying your content like article sites, other industry blogs etc. If they are, ensure your duplicated content is removed post haste. Content should be 100% unique on each of your websites and within the website.

If you play by these rules you will find that this latest Google update actually helps your website rank higher and drops your competitors websites off the first page results as a penalty for using spammy SEO techniques. I have discovered the majority of our websites going up since the algorithm update are due to:

1.    Having a respected and historically ‘clean’ domain,

2.    Having relevant on-page content,

3.    The website is built in a standard and clean way (no extra flash or java to slow it down)

4.    No black hat SEO techniques were employed on-page or off-page

(source: www.searchengineoptimizations.co) DUKNDNQTZVTU