Google Crusher: Private Blog Networks

Hi guys. It's been a while I've just been so busy lately. So, what's new in SEO these days? Well, at this point in time what's working is something called private blog networks. Some of you may be familiar with this concept already, but there are nuances to it that you may not have heard of.

The guys over at Source Wave have done a great video showing some of the tips and tricks as it relates to blog networks and how to set them up cheaply. You can see the video below. Make sure to take it all in as this video does in fact highlight some of the considerations one needs to make when using PBN's. Hope you guys enjoy it!

Duplicate Content and Google: Matt Cutts Discusses what you need to know

We've all heard of the duplicate content penalty, but what is it really? In this interesting video from Google's head of webspam Matt Cutts, he explains some of the nuances regarding duplicate content. One interesting point to note,is that he acknowledges that about 25-30 percent of information on the web is actually duplicate content. He also talks about clustering as a solution to some duplicate content issues. Check out the video below and don't forget to let everyone know what you think in the comment section as well.

Guest Post: Creating Content that Drives Traffic to your Mobile Site

With Google’s new algorithm Hummingbird having been introduced recently, the way we now approach SEO has changed a little. It doesn’t mean that things have completely changed and all that hard work pre-Hummingbird is going to waste, it just means that mobile is no longer simply a channel of your SEO strategy. Mobile has become a central focus of SEO strategy, making website owners and operators ask whether their site is up to scratch in terms of quality of content, design and the overall usability of the site. If you currently manage your own website and social networking profile, perhaps now is the time to consult an online marketing company like Optimising to help you navigate these new changes and developments in the world of Google and SEO.

We talk about mobile sites because this mode of viewing content is becoming more and more common for people’s media consumption. Over half of Americans own a smart phone, meaning their access to media is almost always through that little screen or even tablet. A well-designed website says to Google that you are a legitimate business. To achieve your full potential on mobile, you need to offer your customers full features in a limited space. The best way to do this is to concentrate on how you organise your content. There are various design considerations that need to be taken into account to produce a high functioning mobile site, like the length of posts, white space, use of visuals and the ability to share on social media.

The debate around the kind of content continues over each change of Google’s algorithms. Longer content is obviously great for SEO but it isn’t exactly what customers want. They want specific and succinct answers to their questions that are answered in around a paragraph or more. Seeing as how the modern trend is writing posts around 1000 words long, this doesn’t satisfy the taste of those looking for a quick response, especially on mobile. An alternative is to create short introductions to your articles that are placed at the start of your long form articles, but only use the extended, descriptive introduction on your mobile sites where users are more likely to only want that information.

One of the most important pieces of information not to forget is the importance of engaging in social media with your customer and client base. If you are sharing your content and other things through a social networking platform, be prepared to engage with those who engage with you. Don’t just put it out there and wait for the likes to roll in. Respond to questions and give the people what they want!

Ivy Delfin works in online marketing, specialising in enhancing mobile internet sites. You can find her on her google plus page here.

Next Google Pagerank Update

Many people are wondering when the next Google pagerank update will be. While we can't say for sure the exact date, we can say that it usually occurs within a timeframe of 3 months apart. Therefore, since the first pagerank update of 2013 was on February 4th, the second update should have been in May. Unfortunately for those of us who were eagerly anticipating this, it still has not yet arrived.
As of today, June 19th, it is now expected that the pagerank will be updated by July 15th. I'm certainly keeping my fingers crossed that this date will prove to be true. Now, it must be noted that pagerank in and of itself is not a determining factor for Serp positioning or for any traffic to your website at all. Many bloggers tend to get carried away with achieving a high pagerank only to be very disappointed when the expected flood of traffic does not arrive. In fact, I've seen PR2/3 websites outrank PR6/7 websites for competing keyword terms!
Hence, for great Serp positioning it is far more important to have great content and backlinks from authority sites in your niche. Social media backlinks are also proving to be worth your while, as it not only shows Google that your website has social signals but you can get a great deal of traffic from these sites as well.
So, in summation, it would be nice to have the pagerank update by mid July, but if this does not occur one should not be too disturbed. As a blogger in the post Panda and Penguin period, content is really and truly king.

Top 5 SEO Points for Webmasters

Confused when it comes to search engine optimization? If you are a webmaster and in to SEO(you really should be), then you know the insane volume of information there is out there about search engine optimization. The discussion as regards to linkbuilding alone can make you feel like you're in college again. Therefore, it is advisable to narrow your area of focus as it relates to SEO and concentrate on the most important core points. The question then arises, what are these core points? Check out the video below with Google's Matt Cutts explaining some of the more important areas to focus on when it comes to SEO. Obviously, he is speaking with reference to Google but the points mentioned are important for any search engine. Bing users have no need to worry though, as I will be discussing Bing on this site in a later post. Hope you guys enjoy it.