Google Warns Against Large-Scale Guest Posting, Advertorials & “Optimized Anchor Text” In Press Releases

Google has quietly updated the link schemes document under their Webmaster guidelines to add large-scale guest posting, advertorials and optimized anchor text in articles or press releases to the list of types of links that violate their guidelines.

The new guideline examples that were added to this document include:

·         Large-scale article marketing or guest posting campaigns with keyword-rich anchor text links

·         Advertorials or native advertising where payment is received for articles that include links that pass PageRank

·         Links with optimized anchor text in articles or press releases distributed on other sites.

Google also removed these guideline examples:

·         Linking to web spammers or unrelated sites with the intent to manipulate PageRank

·         Links that are inserted into articles with little coherence

Large-Scale Guest Posts

This should come as no surprise, it is a topic we covered earlier this month. If you are guest blogging with the intent to build links, and those blog posts are done large-scale with very little quality built into them, Google may take action against the links in those articles or guest blog posts.

You can do guest blog posts but if you are doing it with the intent to gain keyword-rich anchor text, then be warned.

Advertorials

Again, this should also come as no surprise. We had a detailed video from Google’s Matt Cutts on why advertorials with links need to be nofollwed. We even had major e-commerce sites getpenalized for using this technique to build links.

Optimized Anchor Text In Press Releases

This is one of the big changes that may have not been so clear for many webmasters. Google said, “links with optimized anchor text in articles or press releases distributed on other sites,” is an example of an unnatural link that violate their guidelines. The key are the examples given and the phrase “distributed on other sites.” If you are publishing a press release or an article on your site and distribute it through a wire or through an article site, you must make sure to nofollow the links if those links are “optimized anchor text.”

The example Google gives is:

There are many wedding rings on the market. If you want to have a wedding, you will have to pick the best ring. You will also need to buy flowers and a wedding dress.

Google Removed Some Examples Of Link Schemes:

Why did Google specifically remove those examples of link schemes? It is unclear and we hope to clarify. I do think that those examples are still covered in the overall theme of the link schemes document. In fact, I think the other examples, for the most part, cover the examples removed.

Panda Update: Google Confirms, "Softened Panda Update" is Rolling Out

Google has confirmed that a Panda Update has been rolled out.  As most of the sites were affected by the panda update last time, Google has formulated its algorithm in such a way to recover the ranking position of the affected websites. So this is said to be a softer update.

On the video released in May 13 by Matt Cutts, regarding “What should we expect in the next few months in terms of SEO for Google? ”

Matt Cutts answered that they are likely to soften the panda algorithm, to help webmasters, whose sites are in “grey area or border zone”.

Matt Cutts added that,

“If we can soften the affect a little bit, for those sites, that we believe have got some additional signals of quality, that will help sites that were previously affected - to some degree.”

Disavow links

Google’s link disavowal tool allows publishers to tell Google that they don’t want certain links from external sites to be considered as part of Google’s system of counting links to rank web sites. Some sites want to do this because they’ve purchased links, a violation of Google’s policies, and may suffer a penalty if they can’t get the links removed. Other sites may want to remove links gained from participating in bad link networks or for other reasons. The disavow links tool launched in October 2012, and more about it can be found in our coverage below.

Disavow back links

This is a two-step process. First, you’ll need to download a list of links to your site. Next, you’ll create a file containing only the links you want to disavow, and upload this to Google.

Step -1 Download links to your site

1. On the Webmaster Tools home page, click the site you want.
2. On the Dashboard, click Search Traffic, and then click Links to Your Site.
3. Under Who links the most, click More.
4. Click Download more sample links. If you click Download latest links, you'll see dates as well.

 

How to Upload and Optimize YouTube Videos for SEO

        We can upload videos and optimize then for search.After produced a video for business,the next step is to upload into branded You tube page.This is a relatively simple process, just  need to provide accompanying text to both describe the content and enable users to find the video.Approach uploading and describing a video just as you would in creating ads. You have to write a compelling headline and a "why to buy" and "how to buy" description. Then select the best keywords to get your video noticed in searches.
           This isn't a job to do at the last minute. We should be thinking of this text-based content while you're planning the video. Here are four steps to uploading video to YouTube and optimizing it for search:

1. Upload the video
           
         The easiest part of creating a video for YouTube is uploading it to the site. YouTube accepts videos in almost all video file formats, but double check that yours is among those that it approves. Also make sure that your video is less than 15 minutes long since YouTube generally won't accept longer videos.
      Then, log into your company's YouTube account and click the Upload button at the top of any page. On the following page, click Select Files to upload your video. You'll be notified when the process is complete and the video is ready for viewing.

2. Add a title and description

        While the video is being uploaded, you will be prompted to provide a title and short description. This is the information people see when they search for videos and view your video.
The title should be concise and catchy like an advertising headline. The description should provide enough information for people to decide whether they want to commit to viewing your video.
        The description is where you also include the details viewers will need to ask for more information or purchase what you're selling. That means such contact information as your website address, toll-free telephone number, email address and postal address.

3. Add keywords for search

     Next, enter one or more tags for the video, separating each tag by a space. A tag is just another name for a keyword and is as important as any keyword on your website or in your online advertising.A tag, which can be a single word or a phrase, should be keywords customers might use in search queries when they're looking for products or services like yours.
     Optimizing the tags you apply to your videos is just like search engine optimization for your website. You can use Google's keyword tool to find the most effective keyword or keyword phrase. When you figure out the keywords they'll most likely search for, you have the most effective tags for your video.
      You can use as many tags as necessary to capture all possible search words -- up to a total of 500 characters, that is. You should include tags for your company name and the topic of the video, along with other potential search terms. Enter first those tags that you think will drive the most traffic.
      You also should include your most important tags in your video's title and description. If someone is searching for a particular word or phrase, he or she will most likely want to see that word or phrase when that person is reading about the video. Make sure you incorporate keywords into your description so they seem natural.

4. Choose a thumbnail image

      Once your video is processed, you can choose a thumbnail image that viewers will see in YouTube's search results, on your channel page and anywhere else your video appears. YouTube automatically grabs three images from different points in the video, and you need to pick the one you believe will attract the most clicks.The best thumbnails are clear and have a dominant subject -- ideally a person's face or a close-up of the product you're selling. You also can stand out with a brightly colored or high contrast image.

       The goal for all these elements -- the title, description, tags and thumbnail image -- is to get our video noticed and viewed by the greatest number of potential customers.

Google Consumer Surveys Setup

A new feature has been introduced by google for webmasters, to calculate their Website Satisfaction, based on survey from customers.This free survey helps webmasters to understand what customers think of their website, with a simple feedback collected from the customers. It  is very simple . Sign into Google Consumer Surveys for website satisfaction to grab the snippet of code. Then set the website name and URL, length of the survey (in time) and the frequency it should repeat.

Users or the Customers who visit the website will be asked to answer a four-question survey. If the customer skip the survey, it will pop up again after certain number of page views, based on the survey frequency set by the webmaster. This survey will be running until google collects 500 such feedbacks(monthly).  These feedbacks will be immediately reported to the webmaster's email and once all these 500 responses or feedbacks has been received, google stops tracking feedbacks and with again 30 days of time span google again starts tracking the responses. Now this feature is limited to US English visitors on non-mobile devices.
A sample screen shot is below

How To Create the Perfect Post on Social Platforms

Posting on social media sites such as Facebook, Google + and others isn’t rocket science. Or is it? Could there be a method to the madness of posting and publishing content with so many social options available? There is if you want results! There is the dilemma of what type of content works best, how to properly format posts, whether to use images or not and if so, what kind of images to use, focusing energies on the most productive times of any given day and so much more.

It takes to create a great post across Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google+. For example, did you know that images on Pinterest that do not have faces get more repins than those that do? Or that you can tag brands and people in Google + in order to increase the possibility that they might engage with your post?

It’s all below in an easy to digest infographic.

[Source : http://www.searchenginejournal.com/how-to-create-the-perfect-post-on-social-platforms/64716/ ]

Google Analytics:

Top 10 features of the new Google Analytics:

Over the past eight months, Google has steadily released one revolutionary new feature after another. On March 17, the company announced a new version of Google Analytics.

1. Dashboard:

At a minimum, these four widgets would benefit the average user.

• Visits - Timeline (can also include Metric)
• Goal Completions and/or Transactions - Timeline
• Source/Medium - Table
• Bounce Rate - Timeline

2. Keyword Clouds:

Rather than viewing a long list of keywords to spot trends, users can now evaluate a keyword cloud. This cloud makes it easy to visualize top keywords based on different user-selected criteria, including visits, bounce rates and pages per visit. 

3. Real-Time Data:

For the first time, GA offers a real-time data solution. With its real-time reports, users can view the activity on the site as it happens, drilling into the top active pages, top referrals, keywords and geographic locations driving the traffic. In addition to monitoring current activity on the site, these reports can also be used to test campaign tracking prior to launching campaigns. 

4. Site Speed:

A slow site can have a negative effect on quality score for paid search, so visits can cost more to a slower site. Google has also indicated that site speed may be an important factor in organic search rankings. Additionally, a one-second delay can result in a 7% reduction in conversions. Use this report to monitor site speed and avoid these issues.

5. Search Simplifies Navigation:

The tool makes it easier for users to quickly navigate to the proper report. Google also created an account search that lets users directly access the correct profile, rather than scrolling through hundreds to locate the right one.  

6. Webmaster Tools:

The new integration incorporates Google Webmaster Tools data into Google Analytics. 

7. Social Engagement:

GA's new social reports break down how many of a site’s visitors is socially engaged with the site, itemizing which social source and action occurred. 

8. Visitor Flow & Goal Flow Visualization:

Flow Visualization consists of two reports: Visitors Flow and Goal Flow. The Visitors Flow report can be used to visualize the "flow" of visitors through the site, while the Goal Flow is an improvement on the original Funnel Visualization reports.  

9. Event Tracking:

For the first time, Events can be used as goals. Want to find out how many people downloaded a PDF?  Now users can easily track these events without affecting other metrics.

10. Multi-Channel Funnels:

The Multi-Channel Funnels are a series of reports intended to help provide attribution information. Google is constantly striving to correct these with future iterations of the platform.