SEOs Who Party Like It's 1999
By Kalena Jordan of Web Rank Ltd
Search engine optimization has come full circle in the
last couple of years.
Back in the mid 1990s it was easy to achieve high
search engine rankings. Just tweak your META tags and
site copy with keywords and submit. Then, as more and
more webmasters started to catch on to META Tags, it
became more difficult to beat the competition. Many
companies turned to spam tactics such as hidden text
(the same colour as the background of the page),
hidden links (using 1 x 1 pixel gifs to hide them),
doorway pages stuffed with keywords and cloaked
content, all designed to be seen by search engine
robots and not humans in an attempt to trick the
search engines into giving the site a higher ranking.
Thankfully, over the past few years, achieving high
search rankings has become fairer and more straight-
forward. The search engines have given less weighting
to META tags and more relevancy weighting to sites
that are popular, of high quality and contain unique,
relevant information. Most search engines have
developed comprehensive spam filters that weed out
the spammers from the legitimate sites and penalize
sites caught trying to cheat the system.
Google in particular has led the charge for quality over
quantity.
Fortunately, the web site aspects that most search
engines prefer are also those that visitors prefer. Build
a quality site with plenty of text, up-to-date, relevant
content that other sites link to, a solid navigation
system, submit it by hand to popular directories and
search engines and you will be on your way to high
rankings in no time. It's not difficult, it's not tricky and
it certainly doesn't involve any black magic.
That's why I find it difficult to understand search
engine optimizers who party like it's 1999 - using
invisible text and hidden links in some pathetic,
misguided attempt to trick the search engines into
believing their site content is the most relevant. I
mean, what are they thinking? I've heard excuses
like "the search engine guidelines are unclear so we
have no choice but to push the envelope". Give me
a break. The search engine guidelines are quite obvious
to those who are actually good at SEO and understand
what is necessary to achieve results for their clients.
Many search engines even publish their guidelines clear
as day on their sites. Unfortunately, it seems this
industry is full of lazy non-performers who prefer to rely
on outdated cheat sheets that haven't worked for
years.
I am so sick of all the cowboy SEO firms who clog up
the search engine indices with meaningless keyword-
stuffed pages, in a vain attempt to dominate the
search rankings with their client's sites. Don't they do
any research? Don't they read the search engine
guidelines? Don't they understand these tactics are
fruitless and ineffective? Don't they know these
techniques haven't worked for years and are
regarded as spamming? Don't they realize they are
putting their client's sites at risk of ranking penalties or
outright banning? Don't they care about the long term
effects and the future of their client's web sites?
To see an example of these blatant spamming
techniques, visit Google.com and type in a search
for "new zealand power companies". Visit the
first site in the results (a doorway page), right click the
page with your mouse and choose "select all". Run your
mouse over the darkened area at the bottom left of the
page. See all the hidden links? All leading to yet more
doorway pages.
This second example is trickier to find because it
appears that Google has already penalized it. Go to
Google.com and type in a search for "shopping new
zealand must involve a visit". Check out the first
page in the results (another dooway) and have a close
look at the little arrows in near invisible font at the
bottom of the page next to "more". Each one of those
arrows leads to another doorway page stuffed with
more keywords. I've even seen examples of companies
hiding thousands of keywords in CSS tags or tables
that are coded to an extreme left or right position so
they don't actually appear on the visible page.
What is the point of these tactics? Even if they go
unreported, Google will eventually locate the spam and
degrade or ban the pages. It makes no sense to me
why SEO firms would take such risks with their client's
sites when it is so much easier to get good results
using the methods recommended by the search engines.
But as bad as spammy SEO firms are, there are worse
offenders. These are the spammy SEO firms who like to
propagate myth and legend by publishing articles that
are misleading, deceptive and often downright false. No
wonder webmasters are confused when it comes to
search engines and no wonder there are more cowboy
SEO spammers springing up every day. With the amount
of incorrect information floating around out there, it is
extremely difficult for newcomers to sort out fact from
fiction.
The sad thing is that many of these spam propagators
justify their rubbish with endorsements from big name
marketers or influential web marketing firms who allow
them to speak at conferences and seminars and spread
their misinformation. Some of these spam propagators
have even set up their own training schools to educate
people in deceptive SEO tactics.
It really rankles me when I see faulty advice such as
the following being circulated to unsuspecting
webmasters:
"...you could place content inside of the noframes
tag, even though the site isn't in frames...it's also not
something that's likely to get you in trouble with Google
as long as the content is relevant to your page."
Creating content designed to be hidden from viewers
and shown only to search engines by misleading use of
a tag meant for a frames-based page? I am almost
certain Google would have a problem with that. What
type of example are these people trying to set? To
think they are actually teaching these tactics to future
webmasters is beyond comprehension.
So what can you do to fight back the spam
propagators? For starters:
1) Study the search engine guidelines such as
those outlined at Google,
Lycos and
Ask Jeeves
2) Circulate articles like this one to other
webmasters
3) Spend time in knowledgeable webmaster
forums such
as the
ihelpyou services forums
4) Make sure you report any cases of search
engine spamming to Google and the other search engines as soon as
you spot them.
When we cut spammers off at the source, we can stop
the spread of misinformation and all benefit from the
results.
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Dear Reader,
Not sure what the weather's like in your part of the
world, but here in New Zealand it's turning out to be a
very cold Winter. As I look outside, there is sleet hitting
my office window and any minute now I am expecting it
to turn to snow. It's times like these I wish I could ski!
Speaking of icy conditions, in this month's feature
article I give search engine spammers the cold
shoulder. I am so sick and tired of seeing false
information being circulated about search engine
optimization and hearing stories of woe from ill-informed
webmasters who have had their sites banned after
following poor advice or letting cowboy SEO
firms "optimize" their sites.
I felt it was time to stand up to the SEO spammers and
speak out about their unethical tactics that taint the
search results for everybody else. I also have a go at
those SEO firms that spread their spammy methodology
like gospel to unsuspecting webmasters. Such
misinformation spreads like a malignant cancer in this
industry and it's time for us to put a stop to it.
As you can see, I get pretty fired up about this subject!
On a brighter note, we are finally ready to launch our
Special Report - Search Engine Compatibility and
the Top 100 New Zealand Companies - which
reveals just how invisible the web sites of New
Zealand's top companies are to the average searcher.
At this stage I can reveal that 100 percent of the Top
100 sites had compatibility issues. Incredible! Watch
this space for Report highlights, our press release and
details on where you can get your copy.
Enjoy this issue and remember to visit our daily
Search Engine News Blog for the latest industry
news and gossip.
Till next time - wishing you high
rankings...
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| Google Improves and Expands AdWords | | |
 In response to advertiser feedback, Google has
developed a series of improvements to their
AdWords pay-per-click advertising service.
Changes include:
* Faster loading campaign
details
* Easier campaign editing and
management
* Campaign search of Ad Group, keyword list,
ad text, or entire account
* Customized report generation and storage in
a new Reports section
* Sorting and viewing of tables, reports and
graphs of performance history
The changes will be implemented over the next few
weeks. Along with the improvements, Google has
expanded the reach of their global ad network.
AdWords ads targeted to the UK will now appear on Ask
Jeeves UK and DealTime UK. In addition, AdWords ads
will now appear on more content pages, including:* Lycos Europe
* Mac Publishing (includes JavaWorld,
LinuxWorld, MacCentral, and Macworld.com)
* New York Post Online
Edition
* Reed Business Information (includes
Variety.com and Manufacturing.net)
* U.S.News & World Report
online Full Story... | | |
| Overture Sells AltaVista Enterprise Search to FAST | | |
FAST Search & Transfer of Norway confirmed last
month that it had bought AltaVista's Enterprise
Search unit from Overture.
The deal was done entirely in cash for an undisclosed
sum and includes accounts for over 200 customers. A
spokesman for FAST said it will not be
integrating AltaVista enterprise search
technology into its own search systems, but will
encourage AltaVista's enterprise customers to
migrate to FAST's data search technologies.The sale follows a bizarre chain of search engine
buyouts, fast becoming typical for the unpredictable
search industry. Full Story... | | |
| FindWhat and ESpotting to Merge | | |
 The board of pay-per-click provider FindWhat.com
last month agreed to merge with privately-owned rival
ESpotting Media
Inc.
The announcement is sure to shake up the paid search
industry, particularly for market leader Overture
as two of their major competitors team up. The U.S.-
based FindWhat and the European-based
ESpotting each have
considerable market share in their own right, but
combined, they form a formidable global rival in the paid
listings sector, considered to be the fastest growing
segment of Internet advertising.It is estimated the combined company would service
approximately 40,000 advertisers and is expected to
generate combined revenues of over $140 million in
2003. Full Story... | | |
| Your Ad Here! | | |
 The Search Light is looking for sponsors. Have a
product or service related to search engines or online
marketing? Want to reach a very targeted audience on
a tight budget?Then sponsor one or more issues of The Search
Light newsletter. Click Here to email
us for more information and pricing. | | |
| Google Launches Toolbar v2.0 | | |
 Google has introduced v2.0 BETA of their
groovy Toolbar. New features include a pop-up
blocker (hooray!), auto fill for online forms and, for
users of Blogger.com, the ability to create an instant
blog post pointing to the site you are currently viewing.Click Here for more info... | | |
| Overture Introduces Content Matching | | |
 Overture has introduced
Content Match, a new source of
contextually targeted ads.
Content Match works in a similar way to Google
AdWords content-targeted advertising, by
displaying paid search listings from Overture
when Internet users are viewing related content on the
pages of Overture partner sites.
Unlike AdWords though, only the top bids for a
given keyword on Overture will be displayed in
Content Match listings. Therefore advertisers need to
bid high enough to achieve Overture Premium
Listings (positions 1, 2 or 3) in order to receive the
additional traffic offered by Content Match.
Full Story... Click here for a full text/print version of this newsletter... | | |
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