:: Anything Goes Blog ::

1) Register your domains for 2-5 Years
This is something that has never really been cleared up by the Search Engine’s on the fact of whether it makes any difference or not, people state they can ‘tell why it would be an effect’, in order to make it look like you aren’t going anywhere. If the length of the registration for your domain really is a ranking factor then its a very minimal one at that and not something you should be majorly worried about

2) Avoid buying domains with multiple dashes
Although I personally don’t class this as a ‘Top SEO Tip’ it makes sense not to if your only reason is for SEO. Sites with multiple dashes appear spammy, are hard to brand and are harder to remember, which is much more important to take into consideration instead of some slight ‘SEO boost’.

3) Begin to obtain relevant links from high authority pages as soon as possible
This is one I found a little ‘interesting’. Of course its not all that difficult to find out which sites the Search Engines may consider as an authority in your niche, however its certainly not going to be easy to obtain links from these high authority sites without purchasing them (although that is an option). Emailing authorative sites rarely results in a reading never mind getting them to link to your site for nothing in return.

4) Beware who you link out too
I agree that this is an important Tip, Search Engines are unlikely to penalize you or your website for the sites that link too you (unless extreme cases) but are going to penalize you for sites you link too such as linking to link farms or sites in ‘bad neighborhoods’ (love that phrase hehe)

5) Regularly update site content and shuffle featured content
For the second part of that statement I’m not sure how much added spider activity shuffling featured content makes, unless its completely new featured content and not re-ordered content on the page. Regularly updating content will increase spider activity on your site and will result in faster updates. Faster Updates in my opinion are normally only beneficial for sites that can rank well for even things such as a blog post as otherwise you aren’t missing much traffic if the Search Engines haven’t updated your content recently.

6) Use Yahoo Site explorer to monitor your site and your competition
Yep, you knew something to do with Yahoo had to come in eventually, but who can blame them. I’m actually a big fan of the Yahoo Site Explorer and only wish Google had something similar in place.

7) Write quality articles and submit them to article directories
Top SEO Tip? I suppose you can gain a fair share of backlinks via this method and also some traffic if you’re lucky. I do submit articles but I only use one site to do it (ArticleSender) as it has both free and paid options depending on the reach you require. The author of EJ doesn’t tend to agree with submitting articles but admits it’s each to their own

8.) Do use Press Releases
I would first like to comment that only use a Press Release if it actually has some decent information and its going to be a benefit rather than a drawback. I’ve seen many companies face drawbacks or Press Releases due to poorly written content or little or no information in the actual press release. If you do in-fact have something to say then they may be perfect for you. Free Press Releases (at least on PRWeb) don’t allow you to add links so I assume the SEO side of this is other people linking to you virally via the news source

9) Don’t buy site wide links if you want to rank well on Google
This is another one I found interesting, but I also liked the thoughts from the author at EJ:

Just recently I had two people tell me that they believe - in fact are almost certain - that due to recent changes at Google their site rankings were penalized because they purchased ROS links from a text brokering service. Alborz Fallah, a mate of mine in Brisbane, noted that after informing Google that he had removed site wide purchased links that were pointing to his car blog, the penalty affecting his site was removed. You can read his story for more details.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Google found site-wide links on another site to be ‘fishy’ so maybe it is good advice if that you are buying links to only buy them one one page of a site?

10) Build your links gradually, mix up the anchor text
Definitely agree with this one in terms of mixing up anchor text. The only time you have control over this of course is if you are submitting links to directories and such, so when you get the chance try not to keep the anchor text or ‘title’ of the links the same.

11) Standard on page SEO is enough
Mentioned are things such as Title Tags, h1 headings, static URL’s and proper link structure. If none of this makes much sense then check out this link . I agree you shouldn’t have to go over the top with on-page SEO as backlinks tend to be the most important thing these days as long with general quality content.

12) Avoid Search Engine Forums and areas where kids and beginners with no experience spread bogus rumors
I have to agree with this one a lot and I can definitely relate to it. I see some people on DigitalPoint forums give the craziest advice and just because they have 3-4 figure post counts people will tend to believe them which is a shame, there aren’t enough hours in the day to correct people so always take advice with a pinch of salt and test it yourself if possible or get advice from more credible sources.

13) Read Matt Cutt’s Blog, Threadwatch, SEW and SEL
It’s important to stay on top of information in the Search Engine Optimization industry and I agree these sources are some of the best places to keep up-to-date. I only recently started participating in Threadwatch but its quickly becoming one of my favorite resources due to the type of people who hang out there and the levels
of experience they each share

14) Invest in professional tools for SEO and avoid spam tools
I don’t feel there is a need for people to invest in ‘professional tools’ and here’s why:

• You need to know about SEO before something can speed up your process
• You learn more by doing things on your own
• ‘Don’t run before you can walk’

Of course, once you know more about Tools or information products such as Aaron Wall’s SEO Book then by all means go ahead and check them out but until you feel you will benefit don’t waste your money

15) Avoid auto-page generators at all costs
I guess this point is really saying keep your content unique and original and you will be just fine, nobody is really certain how Google’s or any other search engine for that matters ‘duplicate content’ flags work so its best to keep yourself in the clear

16) Do have a long term SEO and Content plan
It’s important to remember that SEO does take time; we all know its frustrating when you feel you have a better website and content then your competition yet they are getting all the search engine traffic. If you plan to release new unique content over a long period of time and build trust with your website visitors then links will happen naturally. It’s not worth trying ‘blackhat tricks’ or something some guy on some forum told you to beat the sandbox affect. Measures are in place for a reason.

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16 SEO Tips from Yahoo