Article Writing & Dental Self-Extraction
For most of us, writing an article is as much fun as a trip to the dentist, and each word extracted from our pen is as painful as pulling our teeth out one by one… I’ve just been reviewing a client’s article marketing strategy and am depressed at the fundamental shortcomings in both the approach and execution… Often, my depressions are a spur to a story – the painstaking explanation of the error of the client’s ways providing a foundation for an article of my own.
Article Content
Reputable article distribution directories specifically do not permit advertising. Nor will they approve excessive but utterly pointless keyword use in the content. The only thing in the content that matters is that you provide an interesting, authoritative, original, informative and non-commercial article on the specific topic. In this case study, what was required was more along the lines of a travel article, discussing aspects relating respectively to Holiday Homes in New Zealand, Luxury Lodges in New Zealand and Luxury Accommodation in New Zealand. What we had was 3 articles, keyword-stuffed with multiple iterations of both the business name and the targeted keywords
The goal is to get it published – therefore, you need a catchy title, and interesting, topical and/or timely information. You do not need to add multiple iterations of the targeted keywords anywhere in the article itself. In most article repositories, the article body usually won’t generate a direct benefit to your website per se. What you need is an 800 word story that captures people’s interest and makes them want to include it, with attribution (author’s credits) on their website… You should therefore focus on getting the primary keyword phrase/s you want to target in the (maximum of 2) links in the Author’s Bio… Unfortunately, the first of three articles I previewed from this client had;
- 387 words in total
- 11 iterations of the business name
- 7 iterations of the primary keyword phrase (5 complete / 2 partial)
- 5 iterations of the secondary keyword phrase
- no Authors Bio
Article Links
Most article distribution directories do not permit links in the content body, only in the Author’s Bio section. The only link in these articles was in the body of the article. Articles provide you with the absolute best opportunity to generate DEEP LINKS. In this client example, the sole link was;
- in the body text – the wrong place
- to the Home page instead of a relevant internal page (deep link)
- a total waste of the link potential, due to using the Domain Name as the Anchor Text
The goals for an article are usually;
- First of all, to get it accepted for inclusion in the article repository.
- If an editor approves it, then you get a maximum of 2 (deep) links back to your site using your primary keyword phrase as the Anchor Text (link title).
- Secondly, for it to be useful, original and usable enough that other website owners will copy and publish it with attribution of source
- Publication means you get an additional 2 (deep) links back to your site, using your primary keyword phrase as the Anchor Text (link title).
- To establish trust and credibility as an author
- To get people to read your articles, and to come on your website looking for more information
- To build an information resource that expands your own website content
A good article can potentially generate 100’s of keyword-rich links to your site. An exceptionally good article may generate 1000′s of links. Either way, articles can substantially increase the total deep link count and the extent of keywords Google et al will associate with your website. This increases the number of phrases that your website is relevant to, and potentially increases your position in Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) as well as increasing overall qualified traffic.
Searching for the Title of the clients article on Google, using an exact-match search, there were 8 links from two domains, both of which were bottom-of-the-barrel Press Release sites.
Obviously, his strategy needs a rethink and refocus because the current approach means the articles will never be approved and accepted by authoritative article distribution directories, let alone picked up by other site owners for inclusion in their content… The really depressing aspect is that the client was paying an SEO company for the article copy-writing and distribution service, partially rewriting the poorly written articles himself, and then expecting them to deliver miracles! So, by and large he has pretty much been wasting time and money on article link-building efforts thus far…
Website Idiosyncrasies & Content Duplication Idiocies
The laziest amongst us, those with an allergy to original thought, and those who hate writing the most are almost always adamant that unique content is over-rated, unnecessary or even pointless.
One of the website content frustrations I frequently endure is the failure, on the part of others, to comprehend the value of accuracy and uniqueness. There is intransigence in that respect, particularly on the part of some designers of e-commerce and content management systems. It is indicative of 3 parts of ignorance, arrogance and stupidity, in almost equal measure…
I personally believe that it’s important that every page expresses its reason for existence clearly. If you cannot achieve that simple task, how on earth could anyone who wants what you have, be expected to find your content?
Example 1: Online Gift Shop
This site’s top level pages were beautifully rendered in elegant verbiage, all embedded in delicate, pastel-coloured images… Yes, in its entirety, on all Category pages and the Home page! Not a single word of explanatory, descriptive text! Text embedded in images is such a fundamental error of judgement, I am amazed that the client’s website designers did not vehemently urge it not be done thus… Incredible!
And of course, many pages shared global meta-data… At least the Category pages were possessed of editable titles and meta-tags…The “informational” pages, on the other hand, were bereft of any meta-tag editing facility, as the designer was not of the opinion that this was relevant in the age of Web 2.0! He was eventually disabused of that notion and, after weeks of prompting, finally deigned to add this most basic but fundamental facility.
Example 2: Prominent City Law Firm.
This site languished below the Google radar, despite their website designers having an “SEO expert” onboard – a Microsoft and Google certified one, allegedly. I built links to expand the keywords associated with the site, and hand-edited 30 of the main pages, out of 100+ pages. That helped a lot at Yahoo and MSN, but it did not get the site out of the doldrums at Google.
The designers were adamant that the site must have been black-listed in some way, and wanted me to identify the problem and tell them how to resolve it. I explained at the outset that duplicated content was an issue but the designers were emphatic that it must be something far more sinister; a legacy of the previous incumbents who had transgressed in some indiscernible, arcane, black-hat clad manner…
So, I instructed the office manager that she’d have to over-ride the objections of the designers and compel them to ensure that every single page had accurate Titles, Descriptions and Keywords. Basically, they had too high a percentage of “cookie-cutter” pages that all shared global meta-tags. In most cases the meta-tags contradicted the on-page content. As soon as that was sorted out, the handbrake went off at Google HQ, and the site popped up into page 1 SERPs for almost all relevant search phrases…
Conclusion
Duplicated content in all forms is (and always has been) a sin as far as search engines are concerned. Every page ought to be accurately described using the meta-data elements provided expressly for that purpose. Each page must contain accessible and unique content in both on-page and off-page elements…
This surely should not be such a hard concept to grasp? If you can’t accurately describe what your site is all about, in your own words, and place accurate information into all the areas Google et al look for clues as to content and purpose, how can you reasonably expect to prosper online?
- If your website software does not allow you to thoroughly and accurately describe your product and services, you should be concerned, fearful even…
- If your website designer does not think that search engines are at all relevant in the 21st century, you should be very, very afraid…
Of course, you should also bear in mind that nothing in the virtual world is set in concrete… Never, ever be afraid to start again… There are good designers out there, ethical men and women with great website software. They approach their task with intelligence, diligence, and an open-minded awareness of the possibilities. You always have the freedom to make an informed choice… so don’t settle for being 2nd best!
Case Study: Website Rebuild and Search Engine Rankings
Fasteners Direct is an Auckland-based company specialising in supply of fasteners & hardware to the construction, building & engineering industries. Their old website was static HTML pages originally done in MS Frontpage, but which basically contained a lot of picture and not much text. We were asked to carry out an SEO Review on 24th Feb 2009, and as part of that, pointed out that the old site really would benefit from need updating.
Managing director Andrew Benton agreed and gave us the go-ahead to rebuild the website in a WordPress CMS so they could easily add / edit content as required. The additional ability to use the blog aspects of WordPress to create news, DIY articles, product reviews and distribute newsletters etc is also a consideration…
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- We also needed to address the following issues;
- Lack of incoming links / lack of keywords in Anchor Text
- No robots.txt file
- No custom 404 Error Page
- No sitemap.xml
- Duplicate Titles, Descriptions, Keywords
- Etc etc..
Case Study: Extreme Website Makeover with SEO
A few weeks ago, I was contacted by the nice folks at Flexiscreens® in Tasmania. The site had been live for years and had previously been generating good business. However, things were in a downward spiral, not helped by the global economic downturn. They needed help;
- their HTML website was looking old and tired
- other people had stolen their content and were getting better rankings
- their site’s visibility had slowly diminished
Flexiscreens - the tired old website
- Lack of incoming links
- No relevant keywords / phrases in link anchor Text
- Dduplication of Titles, Descriptions, Keywords
- No use of H1, H2 in page headings, and poor keyword targeting
- 1st paragraphs not targeting specific keywords
- Overly long pages
- Text hidden in DIV’s containing blatant keyword spam
- No sitemaps / robots.txt / 404 Error page handling
- Etc!
The plan put forward included keyword research, link building submissions, rebuild into a WordPress CMS, full Search Engine Optimisation on all pages, and attention to all the serious issues noted in the review.
Does Search Engine Optimisation Work? SEO Case Studies
There is a lot of talk about Search Engine Optimisation, or SEO, and its importance in the overall viability – even survival – of a web-based business. In my view it is absolutely crucial to any internet enterprise, because a well-executed SEO campaign addresses numerous potentially fatal issues.
SEO Case Study – BabyStuff
In a SEO recent project, we reviewed a PHP-based E-Commerce store called http://www.babystuff.co.nz/ which, oddly enough, sells a range of baby accessories etc. I say “oddly” because of the bizarre propensity for web site owners to choose Domain Names which offer no clues to the site’s purpose. That could of course be likened to cutting off one leg immediately prior to participating in a butt-kicking competition!
The site has a nice visual appeal, soft colours, good graphics – all in all, it was nicely designed and in keeping with its contents.
However, it does not matter how good it looks – its how it performs that counts! The old adage that “Form Follows Function” is particularly true of web sites. First, construct it to generate traffic! Then, and only then, think about making it pretty!
Site Shortcomings Assessed
However, on the downside, the site had;
- Deeply-nested Product Categories which placed actual product content very deep – 4, 5 or 6 levels down from the Home page!
- The site exhibited a serious lack of text content on all pages – Home, category, subcategory and product pages!
- Worse, it had generic Titles, Description and Keywords meta-tags!
- Worst of all, it had ZERO incoming links!
All of this conspires to render the pages to a level where they appear – at best – as poorly constructed doorway pages, and at worse as duplicated pages. Certainly, going to Google and searching for site:www.BabyStuff.co.nz delivered a string of identical results.
With no “identifiers” in key on-page and off page areas, any page that appeared in the search engine results would offer few clues to its actual content – meaning no “qualified traffic” from people who come to the site because it clearly offers exactly what they wanted.
Links Are Crucial
Lack of quality links is now the major issue in addressing search engine indexing and ranking shortcomings. Basically, if no one links to you, then the search engines – quite rightly – assess your site as not being worthy of inclusion in their index. Each “good” link is like a vote of confidence. In contrast, a “bad” link is virtually worthless.
Worse, the SE’s examine link titles and take note of the keywords – or lack thereof – and the keywords found there are what the search engines will “associate” your site with. In that respect, a title that consists of a business name devoid of specific keywords is of minimal value!
The best links are those from “trusted” sites. A common denominator of a trusted site is that it will be mature, classed as either a hub or an authority within its theme, and will have an above average page rank. Examples include The Open Directory, Yahoo Directory, government and educational sites, regional and local directories, and sites which are related to your theme such as your competitors or suppliers.
BabyStuff Links
To address the shortcomings here;
- We first examined the categories and products, and divided them into 5 main groups.
- This was followed by some keyword research to determine the exact keyword phrases searchers are using to find those products.
- Using that information, we wrote 5 sets of Titles and Descriptions containing a broad spread of high-use search phrases.
- We then selected a group of 500 web directories which had relevant categories, and submitted the site for inclusion in their indexes.
Because these directories are “human edited” they have higher trust value, and the links that are achieved contain specific keyword phrases in the link Titles. By submitting to precisely the right category, we achieve very high acceptance rates, usually above 70%. In the case of BabyStuff, we commenced 500+ submissions approx 10th November 2006, spread over a 4 week period. On Yahoo, the 1-Way Back Links have grown from 0 to 386 over a 4 month period. Google Page Rank has gone from PR0 to PR3. (See further details on Advanced Page Rank / Link Building)
Site Optimisation
As part of the implementation of our Intermediate SEO Package, we wrote up a list of recommended changes for 10 main pages, including Home page and primary categories. This included modifications to both on-page and off-page elements, writing new meta-tags, headings and 1st paragraphs. In addition we provided a range of recommendation for the site owner to continue on with, the goal being a progressive process of content expansion, particularly on pages devoid of relevant body text! (See further details on Intermediate SEO)
Like many small business operations, the site owner does a lot of the maintenance, and product additions etc. Small businesses have modest budgets, and we like to provide the necessary guidance and support to facilitate self-sufficiency where possible.
Search Engine Ranking Results
Google rankings are the key indicator of success! From zero, we’ve grown to 49 Top 30 listings on Google.co.nz! Across all the search engines surveyed, the site now has;
This has been achieved in a 4 month period, and is a strong testimony to the value of investing in Search Engine Optimisation. Those benefits will be sustained over the long term, and will deliver a demonstrable return on investment. Further SEO Case Studies
Yet Another Insightful SEO Article by;
Ben Kemp, aka The SEO Guy (Co. Ltd)
Web: http://www.comauth.co.nz/ – http://www.theseoguy.co.uk/ – http://www.theseoguy.us/
Email: SEO
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