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Never Worry About an Algorithm Update Again, a History |
Never Worry About an Algorithm Update Again, a History Posted: 18 Jan 2012 12:54 PM PST Posted by wilreynolds A few months ago at a keynote I asked people to embrace the HARD work of building a business [video]. We all fall in love with the concept of the four hour work week, don’t we...how can I make money and work less, right? Who wouldn't. It’s natural. The hard part is that almost every SEO I know who has a natural focus on scale has burned a more than their fair share of sites or clients in their career. There is just a mentality that comes along with the "scalable SEO", and it brings risks and baggage to many projects. I want to start getting people to think differently. If you can check out Bob Rains’ presentation from Distilled’s Search Love conference - (yes you have to pay, it's worth it) on why he’s turning white hat, you’ll get it. Scalable SEO is becoming HARDER work than you think and he's turning from Blackhat to White-ish. :) Embracing the hard work, the time consuming, foundational building blocks needed to build almost any sustainable business (notice I am not saying a sustainable SEO strategy, I am talking about a sustainable business) is the key to long-term success. So copy this, print it out and tack this up in your cube... There is no algorithmic update coming to correct rankings for tactics that are "doing hard work & connecting with customers". Algorithmic updates are often targeted at those large-scale low quality SEO strategies, so lets just stop doing them. Let’s start with a historical view… PHASE I - It starts with cloaking...Anyone around doing SEO pre-2000 did this, and especially scalable SEOs loved cloaking because they could create some page full of garbage text, and just insert keywords to hit a target keyword density, and boom page 1 of Excite, Lycos, or whatever. Then came PageRank - Google realized that their search engine would be most successful if people had to "EARN it" by getting links from quality sources that had anchor text in those links. Google realized that too much money was at stake to just "trust" people to not keyword stuff, use white text on white backgrounds, and cloak (and they were right). PHASE II - Scalable SEOs turned to reciprocal linkingReciprocal linking sites sprung up quick to provide relief for the scalable SEOs hit by cloaking that was becoming less and less effective. Reciprocal linking sites were not about finding sites to reciprocate with, who were quality, the strategy was all about scale...there were tools & scripts that were built PURELY to run reciprocal link exchanges. There is no added value or hard work associated with a script that lets anyone post a link to your "links page" and constantly checks to see if they have their link up to you still. Scalable SEO's loved it... run the script, get rankings. No real hard work required. Cash the checks. Eventually Google updated the algorithm to hit sites who got most of their links in this scalable pattern. Leading to our next scalable exploitation... directory links. PHASE III - Directory linking on a tragic scaleIt wasn't long before scalable SEO's came in again this time with one-way links in the form of directories. Awesome, now people are getting links in directories for rankings, but many of those directories don't really quality control the links either, pay to play. Remember, there are 230 quality directories for the taking. As if that wasn't bad enough another cottage industry sprung up, you know the kinds of companies that will submit you to hundreds or thousands of directories for a very low cost. This allows the 4 hour workweek loving SEOs to just pay some company to do all of their directory linking, sure clients might be at risk the day it stops working, but the scalable SEO doesn't worry about that, they'll just find the next exploit. I believe that anchor text is going to be on the way out, maybe not in 2012, but soon I hope. When that does happen, expect several sites to take hits because they have their eggs in too much of one basket, if directories are working for you now, start balancing you link portfolio. PHASE IV - One-way bought linksOnce directory links started working somewhat less (I believe they still work more than they should) next up were link networks. You know the ones that created the golden brick road for SEO's. Pay us, we put your one way, non directory links up on pretty quality sites. Instead of making legitimate relationships with bloggers, authors, site owners and journalists or doing things that are newsworthy, creating awards, badges, etc to get your links, you could just pay. So the scalable SEO once again rubs her hands together in utter joy...because creating relationships with bloggers is hard work, buying links on those blogs through a link broker is so much easier, all I have to do is charge enough, and get back to my 4 hour work week. PHASE V - Panda smackdown, did you wake up??I LOVE the fact that none of our existing clients were hit by panda, we (like many of you) picked up new clients, and we learned a ton in the process. You know what we learned more than anything? People who made tons of money mashing up databases of info into extremely low quality pages got a major hit. Well let's think, again, that scalable strategy worked for a while, but eventually caused a lot of (much deserved) pain to a bunch of web sites, who saw major drops in traffic. Most SEOs who embraced the hard work of adding value, saw no hits. Let me give you a peek into what caused a consulting client to get hit by panda. We had a client that we were training, in an emerging international market, the company has hundreds of properties and millions of web pages. It’s a HUGE task to manage this. As we interviewed different members of their team, you could just sense in your gut that the goal was drop everything into a database and create pages from the database. This is not always a red flag, obviously large sites run this way. The issue was that there was no focus on making these pages quality, I mean NONE. When we would ask why does this page exist, how does it help the user...we were told not to worry about it, we pushed back, but ultimately the client didn't take the advice. That was almost 2 years ago, but at that time we knew that without any bloggers, no outreach, no unique content, nothing, just making pages from databases and aggressive interlinking was going to be a recipe for disaster. We knew that deep down Google & Bing don’t want this in their index. One day they got hit, why? Because they fell in love with what was easy and didn't invest in the hard work of adding value. Scalable SEO's - Zappos is going to eat your lunchAre you in the clothing / retail business? Here's an example: Zappos is producing 60-100 videos a day according to this video! There is no way to scale that, it’s just hard work. Building studios and making the investment, and their rankings will convert better than your rankings due to that hard work!! They have proof of the conversion increases when videos are on product pages. Eventually video could become a barrier to entry / ranking signal to the search engines, and if they do, you are WAY behind. So are you waiting for that to be the case to start the investment or are you doing it NOW? I have been working more and more on evaluating real connections my clients have in social media, and in real life, looking at top forum posters, evaluating their top community members, or heck even looking at their LinkedIn connections as ways to build links. Final thoughtsMany years have passed since our beloved first search engines have gotten acquired or went out of business, you know Excite, AltaVista, Lycos - even though they never became Google, they all worked towards the same goal Google and Bing do every day...reward the websites who create real businesses, good content, connect with the community and earn links with high rankings. Unlike my buddy Eric Ward, I am not 100% sold that 2012 is the year when all of this comes together, but even if it is 2013 or 2014, he is right in the fact that its coming. It’s been coming since the inception of the first search engine, I've been watching it for 13 of those years...search engines will figure it out. The question is do you want to always stay just one step ahead and have that stress or do you want to start adding value? Disclaimer: Every SEO (including us at SEER) has to seek out efficiencies and opportunities that scale to some extent, so I am obviously all for that. But you know when you meet someone if the core of their view of the world is more about scale and less about embracing the hard work. That is when I get worried. Sign up for The Moz Top 10, a semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips, and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of stuff you don't have time to hunt down but want to read! |
Everyone in Web Marketing Should Be Against SOPA Posted: 18 Jan 2012 05:40 AM PST Posted by randfish If you've visited the Internet today, you know that SOPA and PIPA are being protested by companies like Google, Craigslist, Reddit and thousands of others. To them, we at Moz (and all of us in the web marketing world) say, "Thank You." It's not often that the web's interests align so clearly with the principles of economic and political freedom, and we appreciate those who are recognizing it today, along with those who'll continue the fight in the future. If you're unfamilar with SOPA, please take a few minutes to watch this video:
PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.
We'd also strongly recommend that everyone concerned about this take heed of Joe Brockmeier's wise words on the topic (via RWW): I'm glad that all of these organizations are taking a stand. But invoking what some call the "nuclear option" is only going to be so effective. Even if SOPA/PIPA are stopped this year, they'll be back under new names next year. The entertainment industry can afford to keep at it, knowing that the public's attention span is extremely short. The lobbyists who work on things like SOPA are paid to press these things through Congress. They can focus on them year after year, while the voting public has to make a conscious effort to keep tabs on their representatives. Informing people about SOPA and asking that they call their representatives is all well and good, but it doesn't go nearly far enough. What the SOPA protesters should say is that even if SOPA goes down in flames, it's not over. It's never over. Further, the public can not rely on mainstream media to warn them of this sort of legislation. This is doubly true when the legislation is supported by the same organizations that own the media. Sure, call your representative and senators today. Protest SOPA and PIPA. But beyond that, keep paying attention to what your elected officials are doing. Spend a little more time paying attention to your government, even if it means spending a little less time on entertainment activities. Today's events are a great step in helping to raise public awareness, but there is real danger in the long term, and advocates must take action more than just today. That said, I've personally signed the petition at American Censorship, and if your beliefs align, I'd encourage you to consider it. SOPA + PIPA are real threats to Internet freedom, commerce, content and the marketing profession not just in the US, but worldwide (another troubling and terrifying issue that Moz isn't really the place to discuss). We support all those helping to keep the web the amazing place it's become and will put our names, our votes and our dollars to use stopping those who'd legislate against web freedom to help the wallets of self-interested non-innovators. p.s. SEOmoz had originally planned to make some changes to our site today in support of the SOPA/PIPA blackout protest, but we've been having some release management challenges - for that we apologize. Please don't construe this as a lack of support. Sign up for The Moz Top 10, a semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips, and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of stuff you don't have time to hunt down but want to read! |
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Ron Paul only GOP candidate to publicly denounce SOPA; What is SOPA and Why Won't it Work? Posted: 18 Jan 2012 08:06 PM PST Yahoo! News reports Ron Paul only GOP Candidate to Publicly Denounce SOPA GOP presidential candidate and Texas Rep. Ron Paul came out Wednesday in support of the "blackout" efforts taking place across the Web protesting pending anti-piracy legislation many have decried as an Internet censorship effort.What is SOPA and Why Won't it Work? SOPA is the Stop Online Piracy Act. The name may sound nice, but here are some choice comments from Wikipedia. Impact on Online Freedom of SpeechNever-Ending Witch Hunt In short, SOPA is nothing but an never-ending witch hunt proposal that would allow the shutting down of websites, including mine, Zero Hedge, Max Keiser, Town Hall, ML-Implode, Calculated Risk, Naked Capitalism, Patrick, the Big Picture, and other alternative news sites on the most flimsy of reasons without doing anything to curb online piracy. In the title to this post, I used the phrase "won't work" rather loosely. By "won't work" I meant the bill will not achieve the stated goal of stopping piracy. It may indeed "work" in the sense it would allow government to shut down sites for political reasons on trumped-up charges. Close analysis shows the bill is really nothing but more "big brother" legislation and another attack on freedom of speech. Ron Paul is on the right side of this issue. Once again, he is the only one. Mike "Mish" Shedlock http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List Mike "Mish" Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com/account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific. |
Greek Bond Talks Edge Toward 68% Haircut Deal; Will the Deal Be Accepted? Posted: 18 Jan 2012 11:40 AM PST Former ECB president Jean Claude Trichet said there would be no haircuts. There were. The first Greek haircut was 21% and it was insufficient. The second Greek haircut deal was 50% and that too was insufficient. On each failed attempt, the ECB and EMU poured more money into Greece. There is now about €200bn of Greek debt held by banks, hedge funds and other investors up from about €50bn a couple years ago. A third renegotiation is now underway, rumored to be a 68% haircut. Clearly there would have been far fewer ramification on banks if Greece would have defaulted long ago. Such is the stubborn arrogance of ECB, and EMU officials. Unless another haircut is approved Greece, and still more money is poured into Greece, it will default on March 20 when a €14.5 billion bond repayment is due. The Financial Times reports Greek bond talks edge closer to deal Talks broke down last week with holders of close to €200bn of Greek debt after some eurozone officials called for a sharply lower coupon, or interest payment, on new bonds.Banks will be happy with a 68% loss? I rather doubt it. Will the Deal Be Accepted? Peter Tchir at TF Market Advisors had some interesting comments on the likelihood of the "success" of the PSI (private sector initiative) in his post Greek PSI - Headlines And Reality The Greek PSI is once again (still) hitting the headlines. Here is what I think the most likely scenario is (80% likelihood).The key to understanding the negotiation mess is private investors (hedge funds) who bought bonds at a steep discount and at the same time bought credit default swaps for protection have everything to gain by forcing a credit event. Tchir suggests they will be bought out. Certainly they will have to be bought out or the deal will collapse. If they are bought out, everyone who does hold out is far better off than those who accept the deal straight up. This is what all the tension is about. Greek deal disrupted by bondholders gambling on default It is often hard to tell which article is more current when reading conflicting opinions, but please consider Greek deal disrupted by bondholders gambling on default "Significant numbers" of Greek bonds may have migrated from financial institutions participating in the voluntary Private Sector Initiative (PSI) to others betting that the country will default, throwing the negotiations into peril, a senior economist has warned EurActiv.Will the Third Haircut be Sufficient? Whether the deal is accepted or not I side with that "Greece is insolvent so it will default". But did Fitch mean a "credit event" default or a "voluntary" non-credit event default? Here is the deal. The Greek economy is absolutely dead. Austerity measures are going to impart still more pain. Capital flight is underway. Few of the reforms Greece has agreed to have even been implemented. The idea that Greece will reduce its deficit under these circumstances seems silly. Moreover Greek elections are coming up, possibly "sometime in April", according to the prime minister. Thus, whatever is agreed to now in terms of austerity measures, reforms, asset sales, privatizations etc. by this caretaker government will all have to be fought over yet another time. Eventually, some politician or set of politicians will have had enough of this process. Mike "Mish" Shedlock http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List Mike "Mish" Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com/account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific. |
Posted: 18 Jan 2012 08:39 AM PST Inquiring minds are reading several recent articles on the EU Observer. ECB Considers Alternatives to Bond-Buy Program Please consider ECB mulling alternatives to bond-buy plan The European Central Bank is exploring alternatives to its controversial bond-purchase programme but has yet to decide on any replacement policy tool, ECB Governing Council member Ewald Nowotny told a German website in comments published on Tuesday.Alternatives? There are No Alternatives The ECB has a choice. Buy bonds or don't buy bonds. If the ECB continues to buy bonds, more and more of the risk will be put on the back of Germany. However, if the ECB stops buying bonds, interest rates will soar. This ponzi scheme will blow up sooner rather than later and that is precisely why the euro end-game is at hand. For details please see Time to Prepare for a Meeting of "Monetary Cardinals". Finnish Foreign Minister Pours Cold Water on Merkozy Treaty Please consider Finnish minister pours cold water on fiscal treaty Criticising the EU for its "terrible hurry" to sign and adopt the new rules and for circumventing "all the normal parliamentary procedures," Tuomioja wrote in his blog on Monday (16 January) that the treaty will overlap with existing EU laws on economic discipline - the so-called 'six-pack.'The article points out that Tuomioja is a "junior member in Finland's ruling coalition and his views do not reflect the position of the whole government". However, I point out that should the proposal be put to a voter referndum, it would fail. Politicians, acing in their own best interests are likely to ratify the treaty. 4th Treaty Draft Underway, Numerous Questions Remain Please consider Handful of questions remain on EU fiscal treaty A fourth draft of the slim document - meant to copperfasten budgetary prudence in the EU - is to be circulated on Thursday (19 January), but most of the outstanding issues have been left for finance ministers to sort out in the hope the pact will be ready in time for an end-of-the-month EU summit.Unresolvable Questions Excuse me for pointing out the obvious but that is one hell of a lot of issues to be decided at the last minute. One has to laugh if not loudly mock the idea that Eurobonds under a new name of "stability bonds" are going anywhere given Germany's stance. As for the number of nations it takes to ratify the treaty, pray tell why isn't the number 17, the exact number of nations in the Eurozone. Can someone point out a ratified agreement that "majority rule" dictates such matters? If not, then why does not every nation have to agree to such a change? Would such a treaty change pass in a German referendum? I think not because it would open the door for majority rule eurobonds. By the way, the above discussion explains why Merkel wants a high number as opposed to a simple majority. Even still, there is no guarantee every other country would not someday vote against Germany, just as 26 nations voted against the UK in a recent proposed change to the EU treaty. Merkel is bright enough to understand this. However, like all politicians she does not really care about governance. She is more concerned about her legacy. She does not want the Eurozone to collapse under her watch. Understand that and you can easily understand the horrendous compromises with French President Nicolas Sarkozy that she has made, as well as her pathetic agreement to a proposal that risk's selling Germany down the river later via a majority rule construct. Mike "Mish" Shedlock http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List Mike "Mish" Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com/account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific. |
IMF Proposes Trillion Dollar Lending Expansion Posted: 18 Jan 2012 03:14 AM PST Here's a dead on arrival proposal: IMF Proposes Trillion Dollar Lending Expansion Most European stocks rose, erasing earlier losses, as the International Monetary Fund was said to propose a $1 trillion expansion of its lending resources. Asian shares and U.S. index futures advanced.China Rejected Bailout Request Already For starters, China already rejected bailout requests by Europe. China's vice foreign minister has ruled out using the country's vast foreign exchange reserves to bail out Europe, as the debt-laden continent tries to stave off the risk of a massive default.Moreover, Brazil, Russia, India, and Japan have their own problems. The US is not going to contribute more and was not even asked. Nonetheless S&P futures spiked about seven fast points overnight on the news. That the IMF feels the need to make such a request should not be anything to cheer about. Indeed, there has been so much orchestrated "good news" that I can't help wondering if the bottom is about to fall out of the market. Mike "Mish" Shedlock http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List Mike "Mish" Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com/account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific. |
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Posted: 18 Jan 2012 02:17 PM PST Millions of Americans oppose SOPA and PIPA because these bills would censor the Internet and slow economic growth in the U.S. Two bills before Congress, known as the Protect IP Act (PIPA) in the Senate and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House, would censor the Web and impose harmful regulations on American business. Millions of Internet users and entrepreneurs already oppose SOPA and PIPA. The Senate will begin voting on January 24th. Please let them know how you feel. Sign this petition urging Congress to vote NO on PIPA and SOPA before it is too late. Click on Image to Enlarge. Source: google |
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