US eBusiness Solutions

Google Penguin Update – More support that SEO is about hard work

Google released a new update to its search algorithm codenamed Peguin (also an associated Panda update). All geared to clean out non-value added sites. What I mean is if you are just using cookie cutter content and/or engaging in any of a number of somewhat dubious manipulations, Google has made a change that makes most of those efforts irrelevant overnight.

Google tells you exactly what not to do.

There are 8 “specific guidelines”. They are (verbatim):

1. Avoid hidden text or hidden links.

2. Don’t use cloaking or sneaky redirects.

3. Don’t send automated queries to Google.

4. Don’t load pages with irrelevant keywords.

5. Don’t create multiple pages, subdomains, or domains with substantially duplicate content.

6. Don’t create pages with malicious behavior, such as phishing or installing viruses, trojans, or other badware.

7. Avoid “doorway” pages created just for search engines, or other “cookie cutter” approaches such as affiliate programs with little or no original content.

8. If your site participates in an affiliate program, make sure that your site adds value. Provide unique and relevant content that gives users a reason to visit your site first.

Beyond the specific guidelines, Google also lists 4 “basic principles”. These are:

1. Make pages primarily for users, not for search engines. Don’t deceive your users or present different content to search engines than you display to users, which is commonly referred to as “cloaking.”

2. Avoid tricks intended to improve search engine rankings. A good rule of thumb is whether you’d feel comfortable explaining what you’ve done to a website that competes with you. Another useful test is to ask, “Does this help my users? Would I do this if search engines didn’t exist?”

3. Don’t participate in link schemes designed to increase your site’s ranking or PageRank. In particular, avoid links to web spammers or “bad neighborhoods” on the web, as your own ranking may be affected adversely by those links.

4. Don’t use unauthorized computer programs to submit pages, check rankings, etc. Such programs consume computing resources and violate our Terms of Service. Google does not recommend the use of products such as WebPosition Gold™ that send automatic or programmatic queries to Google.

Bottom line, you still need a custom SEO solution developed around YOUR business using YOUR content and information. None of the canned programs that exist out there will provide any lasting effects.

A good use of the Facebook Timeline for Pages

A few months ago we registered EffinghamHistory.org to catalog the rich history of the county. While we are trying to organize the website by people, places, and events. But it may be more difficult to get a nice timeline order of events in the website. But Facebook has created the timeline for pages, which will allow for an easy way to track the information in chronological order. So follow our attempt here.