What would Google look like if it relied exclusively on the nofollow link graph? It would be a sort of Bizzaro Google. We’ll call it Elgoog. In this search engine Matt Cutts would help ensure every SERP contained at least one result for Viagra. Sounds like the stuff of comic books. Yet, I think the [...]
Stop writing for people. Start writing for search engines. I’ll wait while you run to get your pitchforks and light your torches. I know it sounds like heresy but I ask you to hold your judgment. Search Engines Emulate Human Evaluation The goal of search engine algorithms is to emulate the human evaluation of a [...]
It’s a new year and like millions of others I’ve taken stock and made some resolutions. The Dark Passenger Perhaps it was in this state of mind that I caught myself turning Quora into a competition. It’s not (or shouldn’t be) and my initial motivations for answering were more altruistic than self-serving. But like some [...]
Infographics can be a great way to generate backlinks. But the prevalence of infographic spam threatens this link building technique. Infographic Spam You’ve undoubtedly seen infographic spam. The hallmarks of infographic spam are a mediocre graphic from multiple data sources with a link back to a tenuously related website. This TSA infographic is linked to [...]
I recently warned you not to ignore the pay-per-click opportunities on Facebook. Yet, the bigger long-term opportunity is Facebook SEO. This has absolutely nothing to do with Facebook Pages. Take a peek into the future and the quickly evolving world of Facebook search. Facebook SEO In the past, Facebook was about optimizing a ‘fan’ page [...]
Google has a Heisenberg problem. In fact, all search engine algorithms likely have this problem. The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle What is the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle? The scientific version goes something like this. The act of measuring one magnitude of a particle, be it its mass, its velocity, or its position, causes the other magnitudes to [...]
I ask good questions. Really good questions. Even Matt Cutts says so. Best Question at SMX Advanced The You&A with Matt Cutts at this year’s SMX Advanced covered two main topics: Caffeine and May Day. After a humorous back-and-forth between Danny and Matt the public Q&A period started. Danny asks about Caffeine update and HTML5. [...]
There’s a new unlinking meme going around that contextual links are a bad thing for web content. That they’re a distraction and take away from the prose of the journalist or blogger. It’s amazing that so many smart people actually believe the myth that people are reading their content word for word. They’re not. People [...]
As we begin 2010, it’s time for me to go on the record with some predictions. A review of my 2009 predictions shows a few hits, a couple of half-credits and a few more misses. Then again, many of my predictions were pretty bold. This year is no different. The Link Bubble Pops At some [...]
The real estate bubble popped. Will the link bubble be next? The real estate bubble was the product of greed, low interest rates, loose lending policies and derivatives. Nearly anyone could get a house and people bought into the idea that real estate would always be a good investment. The result of this irrational exuberance? [...]
