Latest Articles

Top 5 Link Building Myths

October 26, 2010 By Webposition SEO Team

Link building is essential to any successful SEO strategy because it’s a proven, reliable method of drawing targeted web traffic.  But there are some misconceptions about what makes it effective.  So, let’s clear the air and debunk some of the most common link building myths.

Myth #1: Link Building is a Quick Fix
Brace yourself – link building alone cannot boost your site’s search ranking.  To truly be effective, especially in the long term, link building must be part of a comprehensive SEO strategy that includes giving others a good reason to link to your site in the first place.

Myth #2: It Takes X Number of Links to Get a Top Ranking
Numerous factors including link quality, page score, competition for keywords and so on determine your search engine ranking.  Your site’s number of links is only part of the equation, and there is no magical number that will earn it a spot in the top search results.  Focus more on quality, not just quantity.

Myth #3: Reciprocal Links Will Always be Penalized
Not if they’re spontaneous and done above board.  For example, if another site links to yours and you decide that it’s a good-quality site with relevant content, linking back to that site can actually be more valuable than a one-way link.

Myth #4: High Page Rank is Everything
Including high PR sites in your link building plan is a good idea, but a link from one of their obscure, low-traffic, archived pages may be less valuable than you think.  And, a diverse mix of links that includes medium and low PR sites contributes to a healthy natural link profile, which could be rewarded.

Myth #5: There’s a Finish Line
Like the rest of your SEO efforts, effective link building is an ongoing process.  Links become broken, pages move and websites close, which makes their links worthless and offers your site’s ranking no benefits.  Keeping an eye out for new websites and pages means more opportunity to generate links.

Do your research and incorporate link building as part of a well thought-out SEO strategy.  It’s a time-tested method that’s proven itself successful when done correctly.

Partial Keywords: To Optimize or not to Optimize

October 18, 2010 By Sue Spiker

We’ve discussed expanding your SEO keyword list to optimize for Google Instant’s predictive search results.  But you may still wonder whether or not to optimize for its partial keywords – especially for your Google Ad campaigns.  After all, just as search results change to match what users enter, so do the paid advertisements that display.

In answer, Alden DeSoto, member of the Google Analytics team, states that optimizing for partial keywords “is not a productive strategy” because “ads are triggered based on the ‘predicted query’ and not the stem that the users type in.”

Let’s put it in some context.  If you enter “sof”, you’ll likely get results (and ads) for “softball”.  Keep typing and depending on your next letters, you may get “software”, “sofa”, “sofrito recipes”, etc.  But according to Google, search terms will only be tracked and impressions will only be counted when you press Enter, click “Search”, select a predictive search term or stop typing for at least three seconds.

Basically, you still have to take an action that tells Google it offered up what you’re looking for before it will attribute a search term to the query.  And unless your website specifically specializes in “sof”, there’s no point in optimizing for it because it isn’t going to be counted as a search term.

However, as users keep using Google Instant, their interactions with paid advertisements will still likely change, for better or worse.  According to Dan Friedman of the Inside AdWords team:

“It’s possible that this feature may increase or decrease your overall impression levels.  However, Google Instant may ultimately improve the quality of your clicks since it helps users type queries that more directly connect them with the answers they need.”

So while you don’t need to optimize for partial keywords, you still need to monitor changes in your AdWords campaigns.  And be ready to adapt accordingly.

Twitter announces its new Promoted Accounts

October 15, 2010 By Sue Spiker

Recently, Twitter announced the launch of its Promoted Accounts, a new advertising strategy that targets ads to users who might be more inclined to ‘follow’ specific brands.  In short, Twitter will suggest companies to ‘follow’ next to its “Who to Follow” suggestions, both of which will use the same algorithm to determine relevancy for the user.  So for a fee, companies and brands can insert ad links to garner more Twitter followers.

According to Twitter’s Official Blog:

“Promoted Accounts are suggested based on a user’s public list of whom they follow. When an advertiser promotes an account, Twitter’s algorithm looks at that account’s followers and determines other accounts that those users tend to follow. If a user follows some of those accounts, but not the advertiser’s account, then Twitter may recommend the advertiser’s Promoted Account to that user.”

Not everyone will see the new feature at first because Twitter is testing it with only a handful of companies to start.  But despite the smaller introduction, Twitter already has more than 30 customers, including Starbucks, Coca Cola, Bravo, Wall Street Journal and Virgin America to name a few.

And, Twitter executives say that the service has already exceeded expectations.  In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Chief Executive Officer Dick Costolo states “…that on average 5% of Twitter users who saw an ad on the service interacted with it.”  A rate far greater than for most online ad campaigns.

Twitter has also announced two more ad products on the way, Promoted Tweets and Promoted Trends, both scheduled to launch sometime in April.  What’s clear is that Twitter’s finally answering the question that’s hung in the air for a while – how it can make money.

Googletestad: The Word. The Myth. The Reality.

October 11, 2010 By Scott Penrose

Several years ago, the keyword googletestad was rumored to be some sort of “SEO Gold” that everyone needed to replicate due to the volume of search activity it was seeing.  And in 2006, WordTracker reported that the term was one of its most searched terms.

But let’s put the myth to rest.  The term “googletestad” is simply a test term that Google and its partners use to verify feed availability and various other monitoring processes.  Nothing more.  Nothing less.  An automated means sends the query “googletestad” through X number of times per hour, which is why the volume appears so high if you’re tracking it.

If you check out Dogpile SearchSpy, a live streaming feed of what users are looking for on Dogpile.com, you can still see the term every so often.  If you enter “googletestad” in Google.com, you get a results page with a test ad (which is Google verifying its own ad system up time) and some organic listings about the “googletestad hoax”.

Consider this…“googletestad” is really just “Google Test Ad” without spaces in between the words, or capitalization.  And sadly, although it sounds like one, “googletestad” isn’t a beer either.

The Right Keyword Research Tools for the Job

October 4, 2010 By Webposition SEO Team

No pressure, but your keyword list is at the heart of your SEO efforts. Without it, search engines have a hard time matching your webpages with their users’ queries and as a result, users may never see your website.

But developing your list is a hefty task made heftier without the right keyword research tools. So, what should you use to choose the best keywords?

We’ve put together a list of popular keyword research tools that can help you develop your list and keep it up-to-date with the latest trends.

Don’t see your favorite on the list?
Leave a comment and tell us about it.