SEO posts

In the last post, we took an in-depth look at Google’s Panda and Penguin updates and how they have impacted on search rankings for businesses. Whilst we established that using black hat SEO techniques is likely to result in a site becoming penalized, we didn’t look at what’s known as gray hat SEO.

Gray hat SEO is, as the name suggests, somewhere in the middle of black hat and white hat. This means that whilst the practices may be perceived by some as being OK, for the most part they still break search engine rules and may result in losing rankings, or worse.

However,...

SEO has always been a tricky business, not only do experts have to spend time on researching keywords and following the best practices, they have to be prepared for the changes which search engines inevitably put into place.

Last year saw search giant Google make two major algorithm updates — Panda and Penguin — that saw many a site plummet down the rankings, as they were penalized by the new rules.

This was because the changes were implemented in order to rank poor quality sites, such as content mills and link farms, down and give more weight to sites that produce quality content.

This is carried out by making changes to how Google’s...

With the explosive expansion in the use of tablet computers and smartphones for web searches, why are so many SEO experts unable to look beyond desktop development? Is it because developers do not feel the need to duplicate their efforts, or does the answer lie in the clients’ and employers’ unwillingness to swallow the extra expense?

If more users are searching for businesses while on the go (e.g. local restaurants,...

With at least 13 updates to its algorithms since April’s Penguin update targeted sites that violate Google’s webmaster guidelines, it’s clear the search engine giant means business when it comes to promoting quality sites while demoting those relying on black hat SEO techniques.

And while those changes have had many webmasters fuming, it’s really a case of Google finally putting its algorithms where its mouth is and enforcing guidelines it has long asked everyone to follow.

Here then is the new old face of SEO, the essentials Google itself says will help it best find, index, and rank your site along with...

Since the advent of the first web search engines, designers and developers have struggled with issues of how to increase their placement on a search engine results page.

With the major search engines (Google, Bing, etc.) unwilling to reveal their ranking algorithms — protecting them from “black hat” search engine optimizers attempting to game the system — “white hat” search engine experts must play a constant guessing game to determine which tactics will be most effective.

The continuing development of technologies, from HTML...

Since the launch of Google’s Penguin update in April, sites that rely on black-hat link building including purchased links and link exchanges, have had their page ranking penalized.

The question has been, exactly how is Google deciding if you’re using black-hat techniques. The answer, based on past experience, is that they’re making an educated guess.

There have been plenty of horror stories circulating since Penguin was pushed live, ranging from sites penalized because an employee linked to their day job, to spammers suing over spam-links they inserted themselves. Most of these...

If there is an issue more likely than the fold, to cause web designers to draw battle lines and pick sides, we’re yet to hear of it.

The fold is a concept derived from print design, specifically broadsheet newspaper design. Newspapers have a literal fold in the page; above the fold is the masthead, a couple of major headlines and probably an eye catching image; below the fold are minor stories, infographics and a byline or two.

Naturally there is no literal fold in a screen (at least not one that still works) and many web designers feel that the fold does not exist in web design.

Creep up behind the nearest SEO specialist and whisper “Penguin!” in their ear. Now watch as they cough, splutter and start to turn grey.

Why? Well, like a horror film villain, Google’s Penguin has refused to die; it’s back and this time it’s starting to feel personal.

On Friday, the third Penguin update was pushed out by Google. The largest since April’s and between 0.3 and 0.4% of search terms are expected...

Do you know why your clients’ websites have been losing traffic over the last few months?

It most likely has nothing to do with your design skills, or how people are responding to the website.

On April 24 2012, website owners all over the globe woke up to plummeting traffic levels that sent their businesses into a tailspin.

The long-awaited Google update (aka Penguin) hit the internet on April 24th and as a result, the web and SEO will never be the same.

When it comes to designing a new web site, most beginning and unaware designers only care about how amazing the site will be.

Often times as designers, we can take off with a crazy idea for a site design and it ends up jam packed with design on top of design on top of design. Unfortunately, some of us don’t always consider one of the most important purposes of the site: to be found so that it can deliver content.

I mean, let’s be honest. How many people are putting up web sites just for the sake of...

SEO can be a very daunting task.  With the help of plug-ins, this daunting task becomes a piece of cake.  As we all know search engine optimization is extremely important for any website or blog in order to be found on search engines like Google, Yahoo and others.

In order to ensure that we meet our SEO goals, we must make sure that we do it properly. Performing search engine optimization tasks improperly can put you even farther behind than where you started.

With this list of 10 SEO plug-ins, I’m going to show you how to easily exploit search engine optimization...