Bing Serving Yahoo Search Results to Finalize

Posted by JR in Internet Marketing, Search Engine Optimization

It looks like the merge between Yahoo and Bing is upon us. This month and through September Bing will begin serving all Yahoo search results, as previously discussed at Bing Teams up with Yahoo. Once this is completely finalized, then Bing is estimated to power about 30% of search queries worldwide, and that’s nothing to sneeze at.

It’s a good time to check your rankings in Bing and Yahoo and see where you stand. Usually, for my sites anyway, it is much easier to rank with Yahoo and Bing than Google, yet this is not a rule. One thing I know for sure is that Bing loves content, so add more to your thin sites, learn more at how to create and rank inner website pages. For on-site SEO, if you are optimizing for Google, then your fine with Bing as well.

Aaron Wall of SEO Book says:

Even though usage is lower, the user demographic for Bing is different to that of Google. Ask search marketers and you’ll get anecdotal evidence that Bing/Yahoo users don’t tend to be as web savvy as Google users, use the web less often, are more likely to click on ads, and are more likely to be involved in online shopping, whilst Google appeals more to researchers, webheads and geeks. If you’re engaged in web commerce, you need to be thinking about Bing.

Bing Webmaster Help Document Says:

Because of this new way of thinking about search, some webmasters might initially be concerned that the shortened primary organic listing in the new Bing SERP might render their SEO efforts as less effective. Instead, Bing makes it easier to compete for broad terms because it surfaces more categories automatically, increasing the number of results on the page and generating more relevant content.

Ranking in Bing – Key Points

Overall, the same elements that help with ranking in Google, will take of care of Bing as well.

1. On Site SEO
Title tags, descriptive and well targeted meta descriptions, image alt tags and unique, relevant and fresh content that is related to the site’s topics are all important for ranking in Bing.

2. Aged Domains
Bing seems to favor age of domain as a sign of authority.

3. Link Building
In my experience Bing counts a lot more links than Google, but they also favor links from relevant topic pages, not overall site themes, but the actual page the link is sitting on and how much it relates to the site it’s linking to.

Make sure to sign up and submit your sites to Bing Webmaster Tools as with Google Webmaster Tools you can see any issues that Bing has with your sites, and also I find that when I submit my websites to them they get indexed faster than letting their bots find it on their own.

And, be sure to check out Bing Webmaster Center Blog, there are lots of tips and posts about ranking in Bing. Also, check out Bing Webmaster Help – lots of information there too.

Learn More:

Forum discussions about this at WebmasterWorld & Search Engine Roundtable Forums.

18 Comments

Does Blog Post Frequency Affect Google Rankings?

Posted by JR in Blog Promotion, Blogging, Search Engine Optimization

Ever wonder how the frequency with which you post to your blogs affects your rankings in Google?

This has been discussed all over the web with two differing opinions -

1. Bloggers need to post consistently and frequently or else you have a dead blog that will fall in rankings. This basically comes from the notion that blogs are dynamic and are expected to be constantly updated, versus static sites which do not carry the same expectation.

2. A blogger should not post just to post, and quality of content always wins over the quantity of it.

I for one have always believed in #2, and it was proven to me with this blog.

As most of my faithful readers know, I do not post everyday nor even every week. I do not believe in posting for posting sakes or because I am in some race to have a thousand posts a month. I take the time to do proper research and make sure that I am providing the most value I can for my readers, which for me takes time and thought and if it means only 3 posts per month so be it and my rankings are great, many of my posts are on page 1 for various keywords.

What About Readers?

Now the two opinions above are usually discussed just in relation to rankings and not so much in relation to readers and visitors (especially returning ones and subscribers).

When it comes to readers and subscribers a solid argument can be made that adding content on a higher frequency brings that freshness factor and brings them to the blog more often. I agree with that. But I also do not think it should be forced.

I read several blogs that update on a daily or every other day basis, and I have to say that the quality of content is not so great and sometimes it is quite transparent that posts are being rushed and are therefore not very useful or thoughtful.

In general, if you have something of value to post then post it, but do not post mediocre or crappy content just for the sake of posting or being bent on meeting some deadline of 1,000 posts in one month, whether for rankings or for readers.

In a nutshell, for me quality always wins over quantity, if you want to establish authority in your niche then quality, useful and spectacular content should always be your first concern.

But of course, if you can have both, quality and quantity that’s even better!!!!!!!!!

Matt Cutts Clarifies Frequency of Posting and Ranking

In the following video Matt Cutts clarifies this issue of post frequency affecting Google rankings, it’s a good watch. This video came from Google Webmaster Help on YouTube, where Matt posts videos regularly answering a variety of questions submitted by webmasters from Matt’s grab bag. It’s a good idea to subscribe as there are a variety of issues being answered all the time.

What do you guys think? Are you going for quantity, quality or both and why?

62 Comments

Google Mayday Update, Caffeine and Tanked SERP Ranks

Posted by JR in Google, Internet Marketing, Search Engine Optimization

Well looks like Google is at it again, making changes to their algorithm, shaking things up and causing webmasters to pull their hair out. Two things have happened in the last few weeks, Google launched the Caffeine update which they have been working on for some time and also there is what is being called the Mayday update. (By the way, this is a typical action on the part of Google, they usually make major tweaks in the summer time, around May and June). These are two very distinct actions on the part of Google.

Caffeine
Caffeine has nothing to do with ranking, it is just the method in which data is being stored, retrieved from keyword searches and then displayed in SERPS.

Mayday
Mayday IS about ranking and is a search quality algorithm change, ( not manual) launched by the Google Search Quality team and impacts long tail traffic referrals that DOES change how sites are ranked in SERPS.

Basically if your long tail traffic referrals fell heavily in the SERPS, Google is telling you your site sucks….Thanks Google, we love you too!

Last week at Google I/O, Matt Cutts said – ”this is an algorithmic change in Google, looking for higher quality sites to surface for long tail queries. It went through vigorous testing and isn’t going to be rolled back.”

Check out the video regarding Mayday by Matt Cutts

MAYDAY and GETTING SENT TO THE GOOGLE BLACK HOLE

Mayday has significantly impacted long tail keyword searches and therefore, inner pages as opposed to having a widespread affect on home pages and many have lost their precious rankings for these queries in SERPS.

There has also been a lot of buzz about the especially negative affects of Mayday on e-commerce sites ( that link offers some real useable insight into the e-commerce issues with Mayday, thanks to Link Builder) losing rankings and SERP placements that have significantly impacted their earnings and bottom line.

Mayday Impacts

1. Pages in long tail keyword searches that do not have healthy link profiles and so do not hold enough “authority” in the eyes of Google

2. Thin pages, like product pages without any other significant added value

3. Pages that are several clicks away from the home page, hence ineffective heirarchy and overall site navigation

4. New and much stricter guidelines have been set by Google as to what qualifies as an “authority” and “useful” site for a particular search query and only those sites that do will now rank for those terms.

5. Likely most thin affiliate sites pages went down hard.

6. Evidently the long tail pages that got hit were ones without significant amounts of written original content, hence the product pages of ecommerce sites, that only had product listings.

7. The long tail search referrals were tweaked to impact sites lacking authority in Google’s eyes.

8. This is not a manual penalty – purely algorithmic

9. Metrics measuring the “quality” and “authority” of sites has been tweaked, tested and launched and this is a permanent change.

10. Has nothing to do with Caffeine

Now What?

Likely many of you have been impacted by this, and if you haven’t yet done so, I suggest you go and check your sites rankings and see what’s going on.

At this point it is imperative to think quality and get creative.

Analyze everything about your sites and evaluate if your content really measures up to getting better links.

Look at your navigation – all inner pages need to be 2 or less clicks away from the home page.

Check your site structure – hierarchy always matters, make sure it’s clear and well balanced.

Bounce Rate – While Google denies this is a deciding factor – I’m not sure, if your site has a high bounce rate then that is a problem, and Google aside, you want to improve your user’s experience so they stay longer.

Check your website speed and fix any issues – See Complete Guide To Website Speed

Most Important

Take a look at those site that ARE ranking for the search queries you lost, use Link Diagnosis and take a look at their links. Their site structure, their content. What are they doing that you’re not?

Healthy link profiles to ALL pages of the site, not just home page, are significant for ranking.

Build authority – most important – authority is still gaged by a healthy link profile, I don’ t believe that has changed. Quality, natural, diverse links going to all pages of your site establish authority, when your site has high overall authority, inner pages will usually rank and rank quickly for most any search terms. If your long tail search traffic is suffering, get better links to those pages.

Don’t give up – like anything else in the world of Internet Marketing, this is a learning experience, and another opportunity to push your business and skill level to another level. Do the requisite research and then take action!

I have a lot of sites, and a few were affected by Mayday, which of course means loss of traffic, and therefore money. For me, I see one common denominator, the sites that suffered were not authority sites in the eyes of Google, which I already knew but it has never been a problem before. And, good quality links to those sites were few and far between.

LEARN MORE WITH PART 2 - How To Create and Rank Inner Website Pages Post Mayday

More Useful Stuff on Mayday

Mayday Thread at Webmaster World Forum – Good discussion going on here with all the techies and veteran webmasters who have lived through many Google shake ups.

Search Engine Land on Mayday

Why Google is Costing Some Sites

Was the Google Update a Complete Failure?

SEO Moz – Google Mayday Update and What it Means For You

How did you guys do? Anyone lost rankings? What are you doing about it?

40 Comments

Website Speed Now A Definite Factor in Google Rankings and 12 Tools to Check Site Speed

Posted by JR in Google, Internet Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Website Tools

Google announced on Friday that they have officially incorporated site speed into their algorithm as a factor in rankings, see their blog post about it at Google Rankings and Site Speed, Matt Cutts elaborates more on this issue here.

All in all, site speed should always be our concern since slow loading pages drive visitors away, but now that it is definitely going to affect rankings we really need to check and monitor our site speed to be sure that they are at their optimal speed. While Google does confirm that site speed is not as important as the relevance of a page or other factors for rankings and that all in all they surmise that less than 1% of rankings will be affected by this you still ought to check your sites to make sure that they are loading quickly, again mainly for the traffic that comes through.

It’s a fact that website speed can have a big impact on conversions and overall site ROI, all other factors being equal simply because you keep visitors longer on your site. Most Internet users are instant gratification junkies, they want to zip through pages, and not wait around while your site is trying to load. And statistics show that visitors tend to stay on a site longer when it loads quickly and overall provides them with optimal performance.

Tools To Check Website Speed

Page Speed – I have talked about this one before, and it’s a very effective Firefox/Firebug add-on that evaluates the speed of web pages and provides suggestions for improvement.
YSlow – This is a free Yahoo tool that offers suggestions to improve speed, also uses a Firefox add on.

If you don’t use Firefox and other tools

Use your Google Webmaster Tools account – Go to Labs then Site Performance and see a graph of your site’s speed performance.
AOL Page Test – Free tool to measure and analyze website performance.
BrowserMob – Alerts and monitoring of website pages.
IntroSpectrum – Online tool that actually simulates your traffic’s experiences on your sites via their web browsers.
Microsoft VRTA – This one provides visualizations of web site loading and provides suggestions for improvements.
MySpace Performance Tracker – This tool is for Internet Explorer browsers and displays possible issues and problems that will affect load times and performance.
WebPagetest – This one is pretty neat and offers a waterfall of your page load time and performance along with a comparison against an optimization checklist.

More In Depth Tools for Site Speed and General Site Performance

Pylot – Free and runs HTTP load tests, verifies server responses, and generates reports with metrics.
Wbox – Performs a variety of tests, including, site speed, server and web application stress testing. Also verifies the proper configuration of domains configuration, HTTP compression, and redirects.
mon.itor.us – This tool offers a personalized and customized Ajax dashboard that checks server performance and availability, tracks all traffic, generates up time reports, checks CPU, memory as well as various other systems resources, and offers alerts whenever problems are detected.

Improved Page Speed for WordPress Blogs

If you are like me and other bloggers and those of us that use WordPress to build money sites or any kind of small niche sites then please check out WP Super Cache plugin. Often times blogs get over loaded with all those cool plugins, badges, and social bookmark and Twitter submission buttons we love to use and they can really affect WordPress blog speed and load times. WP Super Cache works great to improve the speed of blogs no matter how many frills you have.

16 Comments

March-April 2010 Google Page Rank Update

Posted by JR in Google, Internet Marketing, Search Engine Optimization

Looks like Google has done another page rank update, so check all your sites. Looks like this PR update is pretty accurate at least for my sites. Most of my new ones went from 0 to 1 and a couple from 2 to 3. This blog still remains a 0, since it went from PR3 to 0 several months ago, not sure why, but as long as it still ranks for many keywords and is getting new subscribers I don’t much care.

Though there had been rumors that Google will be doing away with Page Rank all together, and Google has said that PR matters very little in the grand scheme of things, looks like it is still active and being updated, usually at 3 month intervals.

Again, as always I am not too concerned with PR as ranking is more important and many times you will see PR0 sites outrank PR1+ sites. For those who want to sell advertising on their sites PR is still a factor as advertisers look for that as one indicator of quality and so a higher PR can yield higher prices for ad space.

So, how did you guys do in this PR update?

39 Comments

Hi, My Name is Dick and I’m Addicted to SERP Analysis

Posted by JR in Internet Marketing, Motivation & Success, Odds and Ends, Search Engine Optimization

I was perusing a forum the other day and someone wrote a really long post about how he is perplexed with the Google dance going on with his website in SERPS. He went on to describe in excruciating (and quite painful to any reader) detail how he is perplexed as to how his site keeps jumping 1 or two spots on an almost hourly basis, and yes he provided the forum members with a blow by blow of his day of checking minute by minute, and his frustration with these developments as his site was dropping a little bit at a time.

Ummmmmmmmmmmmm….Can You Say SERP Addicts Anonymous?……………….Yeah!

About 1/4 of the way through I stopped reading of course, and I wondered if he realizes that if this is how he spends his day, then his SERP positions will just continue to drop because he is not focusing on nor doing anything to enable better SERP positions and checking them minute by minute will certainly not make that happen

Getting obsessed and addicted to these types of things can often happen and especially with newbies to the business. In reality becoming fixated on those stats, as well as other aspects of Internet marketing and online business that people get caught up with, like checking commissions every 10 minutes is really self defeating. These are not productive activities as they only take valuable time from doing the array of important tasks for Internet marketing. There are regular fluctuations that occur naturally in SERPS and especially Google, and constantly checking these can be a source of great stress, which inevitably affect your work performance.

As an alternative spend some time…

Commenting on dofollow blogs, Gail from Growmap has a really useful resource to find some at Dofollow Blogs. How about some website promotion, link building, writing some good website content, networking for guest posts and article marketing.

You can also…

Work on boosting online conversion rates, commenting on some great blogs that have Comment Luv, testing ad placements, researching hot keywords for new or existing website pages, maybe you have been lacking in your search engine marketing efforts, or any number of other millions of tasks and duties that are on our plates, like social media marketing.

SERP analysis is important, don’t get me wrong, but there are limits, the Google dance is constant and it’s better to spend valuable time securing our positions rather than checking on them.

SERP analysis is important but they are the end all, in the grand scheme of things, falling some spots in Google will not crush you. The SERPS change all the time, and it’s much better to spend time focusing on the tasks that promote those SERP positions than obsessing over them and getting some good links that will ultimately aid those positions.

When you do need to check the SERPS, try this neat little checker, Instant SERP Rankings Checker that offers a simple interface for SERP analysis.

If you should find yourself checking the SERPS all the time, then please stop. Don’t let such distractions take over your online business and Internet marketing success!

What do you guys think?

46 Comments

Community to Give and Get Guest Posts on Blogs for all Niches

Posted by JR in Blog Promotion, Blogging, Internet Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Web Site Traffic, Website Promotion

Okay, a quick post here to refer you to a new site that is all about networking with bloggers for guest posts. Guest posting on other blogs and allowing them to post on yours is a fantastic way to build authority, and get precious backlinks and to alleviate some of your own workload by getting fresh, unique content that is NOT written by you, whew!

The site is My Blog Guest and it really is the perfect solution to finding blogs to post on and getting fresh content for your sites. There are lots of members all ready and they just launched recently and new members joining all the time.

Highly recommended by the authority SEO site, Search Engine Journal, My Blog Guest is a sure winner.

Features of My Guest Blog for Guest Posts

1. All niches included.

2. The site uses a rating system (blog power) to rate members sites, based on PR, subscriber numbers, Twitter followers, Facebook fans and age of the site.

3. Also has a rating system to rate members social media power, based on various social media site activity for the individual.

4. Shows how many guests posts members have done.

5. Search for blogs to post on by keywords and categories.

6. Add all or one of your sites to accept guest posts on

My Blog Guest is really a great place to network and build up your sites.

Also, if you are looking specifically for SEO niche sites that accept guests posts then check out: 10 SEO Blogs accepting guest posts.

You also get the chance to guest post on Blogussion, a high traffic, quality blog.

If you really want to learn about guest posting and get a super opportunity to guest post, Ramit Sethi, best selling author of I Will Teach You To Be Rich not only accepts guest posts, but has the most comprehensive, helpful guide I have ever seen on how to write effective posts, and how to get published by big name bloggers, check it out: Write Guest Post on I will Teach You To Be Rich, really a must read!

32 Comments

Crucial Making Money Online, Internet Marketing and Affiliate Marketing Lessons Learned in 2009

Posted by JR in Internet Marketing, Motivation & Success, Search Engine Optimization, Webmaster/Website Optimization

Here are some of the most important lessons I learned in 2009 for making money online, Internet marketing and affiliate marketing. These come from all hands-on trial and error learning, which I believe is the best teacher of all!

1. Keyword Research is important, but hot products will always sell – Keyword research is crucial for affiliate marketing, blogging and making money online, but if you have a hot product in mind and it happens to have very low, or even non-existent search volume in keyword tools that does not mean it has no potential. The fact is hot products, promoted correctly will always make you money.

2. Write Great Content And The Links Come Naturally – This is something you hear over and over and something I always thought was a myth, however, this blog proves it.

Every single link that gives me page 1 SERP placement for tons of my posts as well as the home page are all natural. This fact of natural links is harder to achieve for some niches, as the Internet Marketing and MMO niche is more prone to natural links since it’s so big, but you should still have great original content for any niche as it will attract at least some natural links and establish you as an authority within your topic.

3. Volume of Content is Key - The more well monetized content (inner pages) you have the more traffic potential grows and that leads to more money, it’s that simple. Those inner pages flood the SERPS of search engines and bring traffic to your site. So either build more sites or expand the ones that you have.

4. Social Traffic is a Money Making Bust – With the exception of a very few select niche and social site combinations, social traffic doesn’t buy, this has been proven time and again. If you are a flagship blogger and looking for fame then social traffic should be your main focus, but if you want to make money online, then it’s a total bust, always focus on organic search traffic that is where the buyers are !

5. Diversify Your Link Profile – Getting links to home pages only is not wise, it looks unnatural and it is much better to get about a 50/50 split between home page and inner pages for you backlinks.

On the same note inner page links can be as effective if not more effective than home page backlinks, as Google will come to view you as an authority on your topic and that is what gives you high SERP placement.

6. There Are No Failed Campaigns – While some of my sites make a lot more money than others, there are no failures. For example, I have a few sites that make me about $25 a month, times those by 3 and that’s $75, times it by 10 and it’s $250, you get the idea.

Also, every thing you do for your online business is a teaching experience and an opportunity to learn something new. Even if that site only makes $1 for the whole year you can bet that I will learn something from it and it will help me to grow as an Internet Marketer.

7. Testing Is A Great Teacher – Whether it’s ads, money making venues, niche sites, or blog campaigns testing out different avenues online is the best way to learn what works and what doesn’t. What works for one marketer may not work for another, so if you have an idea go for it, test it out and see how it works for you. Try new things, test tried and true venues, just test test test!

8. Spend Your Precious Time Wisely – Time management is crucial for working at home in the online business since there is little of it and tons of tasks that most of us need to do.

Do tough and more mind draining stuff early when the mind is fresh.
Take note of activities that are not supporting success and don’t waste time on them.
Set goals for the day, write them down and get them done, don’t stray!

9. The More Sites You Have The More Money You Can Make – Once you know the biz and know what to do to make one website or blog succeed, then go for more and as many campaigns as your schedule will allow. It is a fact that unless your Amazon.com (which none of us lone marketers will ever be) then you need to grow in your business.

Launch new sites often and keep adding them, your money and experience will grow!

10. Information Is Good, But Action Delivers – Don’t become an information junkie, where you spend all your time reading the how-to’s and the guides but then do nothing in the end. Take action, it’s the only way to succeed in affiliate marketing, Internet marketing and to make money online!

What did you guys learn in your marketing, blogging and online business efforts in 2009?

22 Comments

Search Hot Keywords with Comprehensive Info with Free Toolbar

Posted by JR in Blogging, Internet Marketing, Keywords and Niches, Search Engine Optimization, Website Tools

I found a great FREE keyword toolbar for Firefox Browser that really offers some comprehensive information and provides a great resource in your search for hot keywords. It has tons of options for providing the most comprehensive information for a particular keyword and niche research that I’ve ever seen.

Cash Keywords offer all the features listed below with 1 click access plus numerous other optional user set features for personal use, such as desktop features, 1 click access to Windows Media Player and a whole lot more.

Cash Keywords Toolbar Offers Valuable Keyword Research Features:

1. This feature is my favorite, as it makes finding affiliate products and services very easy and accessible. 1 click access to keyword related affiliate programs from several popular affiliate networks, including Clickbank, Affiliate Scout, Amazon, and others, very useful!

2. Keyword search results with 1 click in popular keyword tools, including, Google Keyword Tool, Wordtracker and Adwords Keyword Popularity tool.

3. Keyword popularity and results in groups like Google Trends, Blog Pulse, Yahoo Buzz and several others.

4. Keyword trends in popular news sites like, Yahoo News, Google News, Topix and others.

5. Keyword related results in popular answer sites like, Yahoo Answers, Google Groups, Askville and others.

6. Provides any sandbox information related to the particular keyword.

7. Keyword results in the most popular article sites like Ezine, Article Dashboard, GoArticles, Article Base, Article Factory and others.

8. Keyword results in all the best video sites like, YouTube, Vimeo and others.

9. Keyword results in all the popular photo sites like, Flicker, Photo Bucket and others.

10. Results for Google Insights, Alexa, Compete and more.

11. Plus, Wikipedia results, US Government, Creative Commons and lots more great features that make this keyword toolbar highly useful and comprehensive for keyword research.

12. It is also very easy to customize for individual user needs and settings, so you can pick and choose which options and features you want to include or not.

This tool is really useful and offers just about everything you ever wanted or needed to know about the keywords your are interested in.

Cash Keywords is truly a gem and it’s FREE, so I highly suggest you all download it and try it out for yourselves.

19 Comments

SERP Ranking Factors That Matter Most

Posted by JR in Search Engine Optimization

There is a great report compiled from some very comprehensive data over at SEOMoz, that highlights the most important factors in ranking high in the SERPS.

The 2009 report, is a compilation of data from over 72 successful SEO’s. While there were not too many surprises, it’s definitely worth a look, check it out at: SEOMoz 2009 Ranking Factors.

The Top 5 ranking factors that are listed are pretty much in line with what most of us know, and of course #1 SERP ranking factor is still Keyword Anchor backlinks to the site.

#3 on the list is diversity of link source, which we sometimes over look and should be a focus since links from a variety of domains, IP’s and sources is important and will count much more for ranking. They also list the 5 top negative ranking factors, most of which are black hat strategies. Overall, it’s really a great read.

Also, make sure to check out their Link Building guidelines which is mentioned in the post, lots of great information there where they breakdown the effectiveness of link building from a variety of sources and methods, as well as, factors affecting the values of external backlinks. Great stuff, check it out!

Overall SEO Moz, provides some solid SEO info on their blog, so subscribe to their updates.