High Rankings Advisor
|
The High Rankings Advisor has been in existence since 2002! Anything and everything you ever wanted to know about search marketing and SEO has probably been covered at some point. Search or browse through our past SEO articles here.
Filter by Year
It's time once again for my SEO Q&A Bonanza issue of the High Rankings Advisor.
| |
Same-Page Anchor Links - I know that incoming links are important in search engine rankings, but do the search engines consider anchors the same way as an incoming link?
|
| ODP/DMOZ Advice - I am hoping you can help me navigate the confusing ODP site where I submitted my website to let me know how I can find the editor of the topic I submitted to so I can contact him or her.
|
| | Irrelevant Backlinks - Is there any way to block irrelevant backlinks pointing to my site?
|
| Redirecting a Domain Via Network Solutions - From an SEO standpoint, can I use Network Solution's "forwarding service" to redirect my extra domain name without negative impact?
|
| | Can I Rank for Competitive Keywords? - Most of the keywords I've found that are most applicable to the services my company provides are highly competitive. Is there a way our website can still rank for those highly competitive keywords?
|
| Do We Need an .edu Domain? - Is it true that, in general, .edu domains get ranked higher than .com?
|
| | Do Blog Post Links Count? - Does link popularity take into account blog postings with your link and product information? What kind of weight does that hold?
|
| Does Google Analytics Count Bots as Visitors? - If I am looking at Google Analytics and it says we received, say, 15 unique visitors on a particular day, does that mean real live people or does that also include Google bots?
|
| | Title Tag Question - We were wondering which types Title tags would potentially rank higher in the search engines.
|
| High Rankings Question of the Week - What's your recommended Title tag length?
|
| | Stuff You Might Like - Save $1000 when you get a new Drupal website from Ventures Interactive!
|
| Advanced SEO Forum Thread of the Week - Can someone use another company's name to draw traffic?
|
| | HRA 321: Wrap-up - That's all for today!
|
| |
Today's article came from a question I received yesterday, asking what questions I ask new SEO customers and why. While it was an easy one for me to write, it's got a lot of valuable information for anyone who is fairly new to the SEO business.
| |
10 Questions for New SEO Clients - If you could only ask 10 general (non-industry-specific) questions of your new SEO customers, what would they be and why would their answers help you help them?
|
| High Rankings Question of the Week - What questions do you ask a new SEO client, and why?
|
| | Stuff You Might Like - High Rankings Houston SEO Seminar in January 2012.
|
| Advanced SEO Forum Thread of the Week - Is a 301 From an Old Domain to a Brand-New Domain Bad for SEO?
|
| | HRA 320: Wrap-up - That's all for today!
|
| |
Today's article is a complete rewrite of my Meta description article from 2004. It should help everyone understand how the Meta description tag is used today and why it's important to use it.
| |
The Meta Description Tag - The keywords and phrases you use in your Meta description tag may not affect your page's ranking in the search engines, but this tag can still come in handy in your overall SEO and social media marketing campaigns.
|
| High Rankings Question of the Week - What's your formula for writing Meta description tags?
|
| | Advanced SEO Forum Thread of the Week - 2 Google AdWords Ads Within an Ad Group With Totally Different Numbers
|
| HRA 319: Wrap-up - That's all for today!
|
| |
Many people and businesses are confused by what to do with social media. Today's article was written to put an end to some of that confusion.
| |
Ending Social Media Marketing Confusion - You know you're supposed to get on Twitter to somehow promote your website. So you start randomly tweeting out links to a product or service page on your website. But who is going to care?
|
| High Rankings Question of the Week - What cool website content have you created or recommended that goes above & beyond product & service offerings?
|
| | Advanced SEO Forum Thread of the Week - Should Blog Reviews Use NoFollow Links?
|
| HRA 318: Wrap-up - That's all for today!
|
| |
Today's article is one giant comparison between a health and exercise regimen and an SEO program. If you can't imagine how I could manage to make such an analogy, then you simply MUST read on :D
| |
Why Both Weight Loss and Google Rankings Are Limited Goals - Similar to weight loss being a poor main goal for your health and fitness regime, where your pages rank for specific keyword phrases is also a poor main goal.
|
| High Rankings Question of the Week - How do you measure the success of your SEO work?
|
| | |
| HRA 317: Wrap-up - That's all for today!
|
| |
Welcome to this SEO Q&A Bonanza issue of the High Rankings Advisor!
| |
Go Live With Incomplete New Site or Wait? - Once my site is ready, I'll be approaching owners within the niche. So I really don't want people to find me for the first few months. My thought was that I would not add my new keyword-rich titles, headings, links, etc., until after a month or so, to keep people from finding me too soon...
|
| Microsite or Main Domain? - I was wondering if you had any advice about which option is better SEO wise…buying a domain for a microsite or adding the information to your website as additional content?
|
| | Is This Website Grader Info Correct? - I ran my website through a website grader type of tool and it provided me with some recommendations which I'm wondering about...
|
| Can I Remove Omniture Code and Install Google Analytics? - Is there any harm in going in adding a Google Analytics account ID and getting rid of the Omniture info in the code?
|
| | Two Different Target Markets - Can I use a splash page to direct two different target markets to the appropriate sections of my website?
|
| Is pageid= in the URL Harmful to Website SEO? - Recently I had a conversation with an SEO expert who claimed that the most important thing we need to do for SEO on our website is URL rewriting. Our old CMS system still uses parameters in the URL ("?pageid=").
|
| | High Rankings Question of the Week - Do you change URLs for SEO purposes if they're not currently using keywords but are being indexed fine?
|
| Advanced SEO Forum Thread of the Week - Can I Safely Show Content Based on Search Query Referrer?
|
| | HRA 315: Wrap-up - That's all for today!
|
| |
Hey everyone! I've had to deal with earthquakes and hurricanes since the last newsletter, but nothing will stop me from getting you your HRA Newsletter! (Since today's issue deals with honesty, I have to tell you that I didn't actually feel the earthquake, nor did I lose even a minute of electricity from "Irene" – but it sounded good :)
| |
Deceptive Marketing: A Necessary Evil for Search Marketers? - When building links or doing other search marketing tasks, it necessary to lie? Isn't that sort of thing exactly what gives marketers in general (not just search marketers) a bad reputation?
|
| High Rankings Question of the Week - Are dishonesty, stretching the truth, or white lies necessary to be a good marketer?
|
| | Advanced SEO Forum Thread of the Week - Does Faster Spidering = More Indexing?
|
| HRA 314: Wrap-up - That's all for today!
|
| |
I've got a guest article for you today from my good friend, Karon Thackston. She's got some tips and tricks for you on how to optimize your web copy when you can't (for whatever reason) use keywords.
| |
How to Optimize Copy When You Can't Use Keywords - What's the first thing you think of when writing with keywords? Probably one of the first is that keywords and phrases are descriptive of the products and/or services you're writing about. But what happens in those circumstances where you can't (or don't really want to) use your chosen keyphrases descriptively?
|
| Twitter Question of the Week - What's your 1 tip for naturally working keywords into content?
|
| | |
| HRA 313: Wrap-up - That's all for today!
|
| |
If you've been wondering how to make more website conversions, I think you'll like today's article.
| |
Converting Your Website Visitors One Small Step at a Time - Adding value to your website through free articles, blog posts, videos, and any other type of content that may be helpful to those at the not-ready-to-buy-yet stage, is a great way to gain extra traffic. The problem (if you want to call it that) with all this "value-added" content is that it brings those very people who will rarely convert into a lead or a sale.
|
| Twitter Question of the Week - How many different conversions do you measure on a typical website?
|
| | Advanced SEO Forum Thread of the Week - Does Having More Pages Mean More Traffic?
|
| HRA 312: Wrap-up - That's all for today!
|
| |
Remember when you first heard about SEO and were trying to figure out how to apply it to your site? Or perhaps you're still at that stage. Either way, I hope you like today's article, which is in response to a business owner in just that predicament.
| |
Many SEO Questions - I have many questions about SEO. Any help you can give me will be greatly appreciated!
|
| Twitter Question of the Week - What are your quick words of wisdom for a business owner just starting out with SEO for their site?
|
| | Stuff You Might Like - AdWords Audit from Group Twenty Seven
|
| |
| | HRA 311: Wrap-up - That's all for today!
|
| |
Hey everyone! I got off easy this week as I tricked my friend Dianna Huff into writing this week's search marketing article. Okay, I didn't really trick her. In fact, she volunteered willingly.
| |
Help People Find Your Blog Content with Categories and Tags - Today's feature article is a guest post from my friend and B2B marketing consultant Dianna Huff. If you're a B2B company in need of online content writing and marketing, you'll be in good hands with Dianna! In addition, she’s also hosting local, low cost, lunch time web marketing seminars in the MA-NH Merrimack Valley area.
|
| Twitter Question of the Week - What's your best use of blog categories and tags?
|
| | Stuff You Might Like - Limited-Time AdWords Audit Offer for HRA Readers
|
| |
| | HRA 310: Wrap-up - That's all for today!
|
| |
This back to basics article is a follow-up to the research keyword piece I wrote at the end of last year, and provides 14 steps on how to choose your SEO keyword phrases.
| |
Back to SEO Basics: Choosing Keyword Phrases - As you try to choose the best keyword phrases for each page, you will have to work them into the content of that page. They absolutely must be highly relevant so that you don't drive your copywriter crazy when s/he sits down to do the writing.
|
| Twitter Question of the Week - Any tips for choosing keyword phrases?
|
| | |
| HRA 309: Wrap-up - If you live in the U.S., enjoy your long weekend.
|
| |
After two recent SEO questions that made me want to scream, I decided to have a little rant today.
| |
Who Keeps Spreading Silly SEO Stupidity, and Why? - Not a week goes by where a reader or a client doesn't ask me a question based on some bad SEO advice they heard or read somewhere. In this article, I try to figure out where it's coming from and why it gets spread.
|
| Twitter Question of the Week - What Bad SEO Advice Have You Heard Lately?
|
| | |
| HRA 308: Wrap-up - That's all for today!
|
| |
I've answered a lot of search marketing questions by email over the past few weeks, so I thought it was time for another Q&A email bonanza issue of the HRA newsletter.
| |
Top AdWords Positions With Top Organic Positions - We have top organic rankings for the most important keywords, so should we really go for the expensive PPC positions above the organic results?
|
| URLs With Hashtags - Do you think the hashtag in a URL affects the site's SEO or link building in any way?
|
| | Content Being Copied - One of our connections came across a horrible website that copied our homepage and used it for their "About Us" page. What can we do about it?
|
| Optimized for Mobile - Do you "optimize" for search engines regardless of whether it's from a computer or a mobile device?
|
| | Rankings Disappear - I have noticed for a long time that we have many keywords that we will rank fine for, but then one week they are not ranked at all and the following week they will be back to around the original ranking.
|
| Bidding on Competitors' Brand Words in Paid Search - What is the protocol on using competitors' brand terms to drive traffic to our site for related services?
|
| | Twitter Question of the Week - Do you recommend bidding on competitors' brand keywords in your paid search campaigns?
|
| Advanced SEO Forum Thread of the Week - Registrations From PPC Campaign Stopped
|
| | HRA 307: Wrap-up - That's all for today!
|
| |
Many people believe they've got a good start with SEO. It's worrisome when they explain to me how they've implemented a number of SEO tactics on their sites, but when I start to review them I see no evidence of it! Unfortunately, this is the plague of our industry, with many charlatans touting and teaching outdated and simply out-and-out wrong SEO strategies.
| |
16 SEO Tactics That Will NOT Bring Targeted Google Visitors - In an effort to keep you from spending your precious time on supposed SEO tactics that will have absolutely no effect on your rankings, search engine visitors, conversions or sales, I present you with 16 SEO tactics that you can remove from your personal knowledge base and/or SEO toolbox as being in any way related to SEO.
|
| Twitter Question of the Week - Name a common SEO tactic that doesn't actually move the needle in terms of rankings or traffic.
|
| | Advanced SEO Forum Thread of the Week - How Much Info Do You Give Up Front To A Client?
|
| HRA 303: Wrap-up - That's all for today!
|
| |
The purpose of today's article is to provide some initial insights into the changes made by Google via the "Farmer Update."
| |
Some Farm Aid for the Afflicted: Google Farmer Update - By now you've surely heard of the recent Google algorithm changes dubbed the "Farmer Update." This article highlights some of the interesting things I noticed that made me go hmmm...with the small set of sites I've looked at so far.
|
| Twitter Question of the Week - What're 1 or 2 main factors you feel caused massive drops in traffic to some sites w/Farmer update?
|
| | Advanced SEO Forum Thread of the Week - Do Search Engines Consider a Blog in a SubDirectory as Part of the Main Site?
|
| HRA 301: Wrap-up - That's all for today!
|
| |
|
|
