Archive for 'basic SEO'
Canonical Tags
There’s a lot of duplicate content out there, some generated for heinous purposes, and others not. One not so heinous form of duplicate content occurs when you have two different URLs pointing to the same page. For example, www.gajshost.com and gajshost.com. Matt Cutts initially lists the different ways you can solve this duplicate content problem:
- use a 301 redirect
- set preferences in Google Webmaster Tools
- set your content management system (e.g Wordpress, Joomla) to generate only the form of URL that you require
- submit a sitemap (Google takes the URLs listed as a clue about which ones to use)
The reason that Matt is talking so quietly in this video is that they’d only just got Amy off to sleep and they didn’t want to wake her.
However, these methods may not be available to some web publishers. In this video, Matt Cutts tells of an agreement between Google, Yahoo and Microsoft to support the use of a new page level tag. The new tag is placed by the webmaster on the duplicate page (i.e. the page that should be omitted from Google’s index) and it refers to the preferred (the canonical) version of the URL. Behind the scenes, the big 3 search engines treat the presence of this tag like they would a permanent 301 redirect. Therefore, all PR and SEO benefit from backlinks to the page with the tag get transferred to the page referred to in the tag.
Hijacking
Before you ask, no you can’t. This tag only works within your domain or subdomain. Matt is quick to point out that you can’t do any 301 hijacking.
How To Use The Canonical Tag
You can read it from the horse’s mouth. Or you can trust me. Add a link tag with the following format to the page that is a duplicate of your preferred one:
<link rel="canonical" href="http://www.yourdomain.com/your-preferred-url" />
The tag should be placed within the <head> section.
I was going to refer to the new tag as a directive earlier but it’s a good job I didn’t. Because it’s not. Google state that it’s more a hint that is honoured strongly.
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SEO In 2008
Okay, I’m a year late, but I only just started this site! I’ve got a backlog of videos to get through! In this Pub Con 2007 video Matt Cutts was asked what SEO’s should focus on in 2008. I think this is a weird question, but Matt answers it with typical grace.
MC advises us to focus on
Good High Quality Content
This should be the foundation that all sites are built upon. Why SEOs need to be reminded of this is beyond me. Oh, I remember – the low barrier to entry means that any idiot can proclaim themselves as SEOs and become entrepreneurs in Digitalpoint World.
Personalisation
Matt recommends that you make your site really targeted towards ultra specific demographic niches, by making your content appeal to just the user you’re interested in. Increased conversion rates – check. Also, you should be thinking about local search. You can put your business address (of all your branches, too) into Google’s Local Business Centre for free.
Mobile
How on earth did Matt get someone to ring him on his iPhone at the exact moment he wanted to talk about “mobile”?
Matt – tea ready at 6 – rabbit stew. Don’t forget to tell them about Mobile Web – Mum
That’s true professioanlism. Mobiles now afford you the luxury of being able to surf the web in places that don’t have an internet connection. If you have a website that’s well suited to running on mobile devices you’re really helping yourself, as more and more people access the web on their phones. Big dig a TechCrunch, whose site has masses of gadgets that gorge themselves so much on your CPU resources that it takes mucho tiempo to load on your mobile. Obviously, lean and sparse sites load faster. Note – loading times have no SEO implications. Within reason.
In Summary
In summary, start with good content, target it precisely towards the visitors you want and make it accessible to them.
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Include Your Keywords On The Page!
Nothing earth shattering here, but I liked this video anyway. Matt Cutts is the king of PR, and I don’t mean that in a nasty way. He is such an affable guy, he’s really good to watch. I think most people could learn something useful from watching the way he interacts with the interviewer.
In this video, USA Today’s Jefferson Graham asks Matt how to get his site to the top of Google. In return, MC gives him 5 basic, common sense SEO tips.
In summary, they are:
Use Keywords On The Page
Include the keywords you want to rank for on the page. I warned you that nothing earth shattering was revealed! You might laugh at the fact that Matt Cutts is taking the time to tell us something so ‘obvious’, but you would be surprised to learn the number of people who have asked why their pages aren’t ranking when they haven’t even included them on the page!
Put Keywords In Your Page Titles
The title is a good place to put keywords you are targeting. Some people maintain that this is the most important place for them.
Use The Meta Description
Use the meta description wisely. This does not mean overload it with keywords. The meta description is what often gets displayed in the search results, and can influence a visitor’s decision to click on your site. Discover other sources of the snippet.
How To Get Links
One of hardest tasks to accomplish is building links. One tip that Matt Cutts gives here is to participate in blog discussions. This is not to gain the actual comment link you leave (they are not usually worth much from a SEO point of view). This is to get your site in front of more interested eyeballs. If your site is related to the discussion, there is a good chance that readers will follow your link and they may even link to your site.
Do I really Have To Wait 6 Months Before I get Listed?
Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to wait 3 – 6 months for your site to start ranking. It may take longer to rank for competitive terms, but your site could be appearing in the search results in a matter of days. Matt reveals in this video that sites can be found by the Google crawler in a few days and that the entire index is refreshed within a month.
