Pages

Thursday, October 28, 2010

SEO FACTORS










Note -

Patent

Claim

#




Factor

#




POSITIVE

ON-Page SEO Factors

Brief
Note




50




-




KEYWORDS

Google patent - Topic extraction

For keyword selection,

try Google
Ad Words
- Google
Trends

HOT




1

Keyword in URL

First word is best, second is second best, etc.

HOT




2

Keyword in Domain
name

Same as in page-name-with-hyphens

-

Keywords -
Header

HOT




3

Keyword in Title tag

Keyword in Title tag - close to beginning

Title tag 10 - 60 characters, no special characters.

-




4

Keyword in Description meta tag

Shows theme - less than 200 chars.

Google no longer "relies" upon this tag, but will often use
it.

-




5

Keyword in Keyword metatag

Shows theme - less than 10 words.

Every word in this tag MUST appear somewhere in the body
text. If not, it can be penalized for irrelevance.

No single word should appear more than twice.

If not, it may be considered spam. Google purportedly no
longer uses this tag, but others do.

-

Keywords -
Body

-




6

Keyword density in body text

5 - 20% - (all keywords/ total words)

Some report topic sensitivity - the keyword spamming
threshold % varies with the topic.

-




7

Individual keyword density

1 - 6% - (each keyword/ total words)

HOT




8

Keyword in H1, H2 and H3

Use Hx font style tags appropriately

-




9

Keyword font size

"Strong is treated the same as bold, italic is treated
the same as emphasis" . . . Matt Cutts July 2006

-




10

Keyword proximity (for 2+ keywords)

Directly adjacent is best

-




11

Keyword phrase order

Does word order in the page match word order in the
query?

Try to anticipate query, and match word order.

-




12

Keyword prominence (how early in
page/tag)

Can be important at top of page, in bold, in large font

-

Keywords -
Other

-




13

Keyword in alt text

Should describe graphic - Do NOT fill with spam

(Was part of Google Florida OOP - tripped a threshold - may
still be in effect to some degree as a red flag, when summed
with all other on-page optimization - total page
optimization score - TPOS).

-




14

Keyword in links to site pages (anchor text)

Links out anchor text use keyword?

-

NAVIGATION
- INTERNAL LINKS

SITE




15

To internal pages- keywords?

Link should contain keywords.

The filename "linked to" should contain the keywords.

Use hyphenated filenames, but not long ones - two or three
hyphens only.

SITE




16

All Internal links valid?

Validate all links to all pages on site.

Use a free link
checker
. I like this one.

SITE




17

Efficient - tree-like structure

TRY FOR two clicks to any page - no page deeper than 4
clicks

SITE




18

Intra-site linking

Appropriate links between lower-level pages




54




-

NAVIGATION - OUTGOING
LINKS




55

19

To external pages- keywords?

Google patent - Link only to good sites. Do not
link to link farms. CAREFUL - Links can and do go bad,
resulting in site demotion. Unfortunately, you must devote
the time necessary to police your outgoing links - they are
your responsibility.




56

20

Outgoing link Anchor Text

Google patent - Should be on topic, descriptive




61, 62

21

Link stability over time

Google patent - Avoid "Link Churn"

-




22

All External links valid?

Validate all links periodically.

-




23

Less than 100 links out total

Google says limit
to 100
,

but readily accepts 2-3 times that
number. ref 2k

-

121

(added)

Linking to Authority

Some say this gives a boost -

Others say that is absurd. However, it certainly is the
opposite of linking to trash, which WILL hurt you.

-

OTHER
ON-Page Factors

-




24

Domain Name Extension

Top Level Domain - TLD

.gov sites seem to be the highest status

.edu sites seem to be given a high status

.org sites seem to be given a high status

.com sites excel in encompassing all the spam/ crud sites,
resulting in the need for the highest scrutiny/ action by
Google.

Perhaps one would do well with the new .info domain
class.<update> - Nope. Spammers jumped all
over it - no safe haven there.
Not so much, now -
.info sites can rank highly.

-




25

File Size

Try not to exceed 100K page size (however, some subject
matter, such as this page, requires larger file sizes).

Smaller files are preferred <40K (lots of them).

-




26

Hyphens in URL

Preferred method for indicating a space, where there can
be no actual space

One or two= excellent for separating keywords (i.e.,
pet-smart, pets-mart)

Four or more= BAD, starts to look spammy

Ten = Spammer for sure, demotion probable?




6, 7

12, 13

27

Freshness of Pages

Google patent - Changes over time

Newer the better - if news, retail or auction!

Google likes fresh pages. So do I.




8, 9

28

Freshness - Amount of Content Change

New pages - Ratio of old pages to new pages




27

29

Freshness of Links

Google patent - May be good or bad

Excellent for high-trust sites

May not be so good for newer, low-trust sites

-




30

Frequency of Updates

Frequent updates = frequent spidering = newer cache

-




31

Page
Theming

Page exhibit theme? General consistency?

-




32


Stem, stems, stemmed, stemmer,

stemming, stemmist, stemification

-




33


Synonyms, CIRCA
white paper

-




34

LSI

Latent
Semantic Indexing
- Speculation, no proof

-




35

URL length

Keep it minimized - use somewhat less than the 2,000
characters allowed by IE - less than 100 is good, less is
even better

-

OTHER
ON-
SITE
Factors




5

36

Site Size - Google likes big sites

Larger sites are presumed to be better funded,
better organized, better constructed, and therefore better
sites. Google likes LARGE sites, for various reasons, not
all positive. This has resulted in the advent of
machine-generated 10,000-page spam sites - size for the sake
of size.
Google has caught on and dumped millions
of pages, or made them supplemental.




4

37

Site Age

Google patent - Old is best. Old is Golden.




3

38

Age of page vs. age of site

Age of page vs. age of other pages on site

Newer pages on an older site will get faster recognition.

-

Note: For ALL the POSITIVE
On-Page factors listed above,

PAGE RANK can
OVERRIDE
them all. So can
Google-Bombing.






2.
Alleged
Negative
ON-Page SEO Google Ranking Factors (24)





Note




Factor

#




NEGATIVE

ON-Page SEO Factors

Brief
Note




BAD




39

Text presented in graphics form only

No ACTUAL body text on the page

Text represented graphically is invisible to search
engines.




BAD




40

Affiliate site?

The Florida update went after affiliates with a vengeance
- flower and travel affiliates were hit hard - cookie-cutter
sites with massive inter-linking, but little unique content.
Subsequent updates have also targeted affiliates.




BAD




41

Over
optimization penalty
(OOP)

Penalty for over-compliance with well-established,
accepted web optimization practices. Too high keyword
repetition (keyword stuffing) may get you the OOP. Overuse
of H1 tags has been mentioned. Meta-tag stuffing.




BAD




42

Link to a bad neighborhood

Don't link to link
farms, FFAs (Free For All's)


Also, don't forget to check the Google status of
EVERYONE you link to periodically. A site may go "bad", and
you can end up being penalized, even though you did nothing.
For instance, some failed real estate sites have been
switched to p0rn by unscrupulous webmasters, for the
traffic. This is not good for you, if you are linking to the
originally legitimate URL.




BAD




43

Redirect thru refresh metatags

Don't immediately send your visitor to another
page other than the one he/ she clicked on, using meta
refresh.




BAD




44

Vile language - ethnic slur

Including the George
Carlin 7 bad words
you can't say on TV, plus the 150 or
so that followed. Don't shoot yourself right straight in the
foot. Also, avoid combinations of normal words, which when
used together, become something else entirely - such as the
word juice, and the word l0ve. See why I wrote that zero? I
don't even want to get a proximity penalty, either.
Paranoia, or caution? You decide. I always want to try to
put my "best foot forward".




BAD




45

Poison
words

The word "Links" in a title tag has been suggested to be
a bad idea. Here is my list of Poison
Words for Adsense
. This penalty has been loosened - many
of these words now appear in normal context, with no
problems. But watch your step.




BAD




46

Excessive
cross-linking

- within the same C block (IP=xxx.xxx.CCC.xxx)

If you have many sites (>10, author's guess) with the
same web host, prolific cross-linking can indicate more of a
single entity, and less of democratic web voting. Easy to
spot, easy to penalize.

"This does not apply to a small number of sites" .. (this
author guesses the number 10, JAWG) . . . "hosted on a local
server". . Matt Cutts July 2006




BAD




47

Stealing images/ text blocks from another domain

Copyright violation - Google responds strongly

if you are reported. ref egol

File Google
DMCA




BAD




48

Keyword
stuffing
threshold

In body, meta tags, alt text, etc. = demotion




??




49

Keyword dilution

Targeting too many unrelated keywords on a page, which
would detract from theming, and reduce the importance of
your REALLY important keywords.




??

50

Page edit - can reduce consistency

Google patent -

Google is now switching between a "newer" cache, and
several "older" caches, frequently drawing from BOTH at the
same time.

This was possibly implemented to frustrate SERP
manipulators. Did your last edit substantially alter your
keywords, or theme? Expect noticeable SERP bouncing.




6 - 7

51

Frequency of Content Change

Google patent - Too frequent = bad




32, 33

52

Freshness of Anchor Text

Google patent - Too frequent = bad




??




53

Dynamic Pages

Problematic - know pitfalls - shorten URLs, reduce
variables (". . no more than 2 or 3", M.Cutts July 2006),
lose the session IDs




??




54

Excessive
Javascript

Don't use for redirects, or hiding links




??




55

Flash page - NOT

Most (all-?) SE spiders can't read Flash content

Provide an HTML alternative, or experience lower SERP
positioning.




??




56

Use of Frames

Spidering Problems
with Frames
- STILL

-




57

Robot exclusion "no index" tag

Intentional self-exclusion

-




58

Single pixel links

A red flag - one reason only - a sneaky link.

-




59

Invisible text

OK - No penalty -
Google
advises against this
.

All over the place - but nothing is ever
done
. (The text is the same color as the
background, and hence cannot be seen by the viewer, but can
be visible to the search engine spiders.) I believe Google
does penalize for hidden text, since it is an attempt to
manipulate rank. Although they don't catch everyone.

-




60

Gateway, doorway page



(I see changes here - not only does the doorway page
disappear, but the main page gets pushed down, as well -
this is a welcome fix.)

OK - No penalty - Google
advises against this
.

Google used to reward these pages.

Multiple entrance pages in the top ten SERPs - I see
it daily. There they are at #2, with their twin at #5 - 6
months now. Reported numerous times.

-




61

Duplicate content (YOUR'S)

Duplicate content (THEIR'S) below
(Highjack)

OK - No penalty - Google
advises against this
.

Google picks one (usually the oldest), and shoves it to
the top, and pushes the second choice down. This has been a
big issue with stolen content - the thief usurps your former
position with YOUR OWN content.

-




62

HTML code violations

(The big G does not even use DOCTYPE
declarations, required for
W3C
validation.)

Doesn't matter - Google
advises against this
.

Unless of course, the page is totally FUBAR.

Simple HTML verification is NOT required (but advised, since
it could contribute to your page quality factor - PQF).


-

-

Since the above 4 items are so controversial, I would
like to add this comment:

There are many things that Google would LIKE to have
webmasters do, but that they simply cannot control, due to
logistical considerations. Their only alternative is to
foment fear and doubt by implying that any violation of
their "suggestions" will result in swift and fierce
demotion.

(This is somewhat dated - G is fixing
these things.)

IN GENERAL, this works pretty well to keep webmasters in
line. The fallacy of this is that attentive webmasters can
readily observe continuing, blatant exceptions to these
official pronouncements.



There are many anecdotes about Goggle "taking care" of a
problem. Google states that they do not provide hand-tweaked
"boosts", but are silent about hand-tweaked demotions. They
occur, for sure. To believe otherwise is naive. Wouldn't YOU
swat the most obnoxious flies? I would.



It is becoming easier to determine the best thing to do. Try
to avoid any Google penalties or demotions.


-




119





Phrase-based
ranking
, filters, penalties

Feb. 2007 - Google patent granted. Do not use phrases
that have been associated and correlated with known spamming
techniques, or you will be penalized. What phrases? Ahh, you
tell me.












3.
Alleged
POSITIVE
OFF-Page SEO Google Ranking Factors (43)





Note




Factor

#




POSITIVE

OFF-Page SEO Factors

Brief
Note

-

INCOMING LINKS :

HOT




63

Page Rank

Based on the Number and Quality of links to you

Google link reporting continues to display just a SMALL
fraction of your actual backlinks, and they are NOT just
greater than PR4 - they are mixed.

-




64

Total incoming links ("backlinks")

Historically, FAST counted best (www.alltheweb.com).

No more - Yahoo (parent) broke it.



In Yahoo search, type in:

linksite:www.domain-name.com

linkdomain:www.domainname.com



Try MSN -

http://beta.search.msn.com

Use link:www.domainname.com



Current TYPICAL Backlink Reporting Ratios -

Google - 30 links

MSN - 1,000 links

Yahoo - 3,000 links

-




65

Incoming links from high-ranking pages

In 2004, Google used to count (report) the links from all
PR4+ pages that linked to you. In 2005-2006, Google reported
only a small fraction of the links, in what seemed like an
almost random manner. In Feb. 2007, Google markedly upgraded
(increased) the number of links that they report.

-

66

Acceleration of link popularity

(". . . used to be a good thing" ... Martha)

Google patent

Link acquisition speed boost - speculative

Too fast = artificial? Cause of -30 penalty?

Sandbox penalty imposed if new site?

-

FOR EACH INCOMING LINK
:

-




67

Page rank of the referring page

Based on the quality of links to you


HOT




68

Anchor
text
of

inbound link to you

Contains keyword, key phrase?

#1 result in SERP does NOT EVEN need to have the keyword(s)
on the page, ANYWHERE!!! What does that tell you? (Enables
Google-bombing
- search for "miserable failure")

-

69

Age of link

Google patent - Old = Good.

-

70

Frequency of change of anchor text

Google patent - Not good. Why would you do that?

-




71

Popularity of referring page

Popularity = desirability, respect

-




72

# of outgoing links on referrer page

Fewer is better - makes yours more important

-




73

Position of link on referrer page

Early in HTML is best

-




74

Keyword density on referring page

For search keyword(s)

-




75

HTML title of referrer page

Same subject/ theme?




28

76

Link from
"Expert" site?

Google patent - Big time boost (Hilltop
Algorithm
)

Recently reported to give a big boost
!

-




77

Referrer page - Same theme

From the same or related theme? BETTER

-




78

Referrer page - Different theme

From different or unrelated theme? WORSE

-




79

Image map link?

Problematic?

-




80

Javascript link?

Problematic- attempt to hide link?

-

DIRECTORIES :

-




81

Site listed in DMOZ
Directory
?

The "Secret Hand" DMOZ Issues

1. Legitimate
sites CAN'T GET IN


2. No
Accountability


3. Corrupt
Editors


4. Competitive
Sites Barred


5. Dirty
Tricks Employed


6. Rude
dmoz editors




Flawed concept - communism doesn't work

Free editing? Nothing is free.

DMOZ
Sucks Discussions


DMOZ
Problems Discussions




The Google Directory is produced by an unknown, ungoverned,
unpoliced, ill-intentioned, retaliatory, monopoly
enterprise, consisting of profiteering power-ego editors
feathering their own nests - the ODP. AOL is making
millions, and needs to police it's run-amok entity. Enough
already!


This is a tough one.

Google's directory comes STRAIGHT from the DMOZ
directory. You should try to get into dmoz.

But you can't.

Be careful whom you approach with the old spondulix -

Formal
DMOZ Bribe Instructions
.

It is almost impossible to get into DMOZ. This
site cannot get in, after waiting over 2 YEARS (33 months).
Not even in the lowest, most insignificant category,
"Personal
Pages".

I guess I just don't "measure
up" to the other 20,000+ sites in the personal
category.


I'm not the suck-up type - I kissed them off long ago. What
a waste of time!



UPDATE:
This page (not site) finally got indexed in June 2007,
thanks to a legitimate editor. No money was paid.




Google needs to DO SOMETHING
about populating its own directory with the skewed,
incomplete, poorly determined results from the dysfunctional
Open Directory Project - the ODP!

Absolute Power Corrupts
Absolutely

-




82

DMOZ category?

Theme fit category?

General or geographic category? Both are possible, and
acceptable.




HOT




83

Site listed in Yahoo
Directory
?

Big boost - You can get in by paying
$299 each year
.

Many swear it is worth it - many swear it isn't.

-




84

Site listed in LookSmart
Directory
?

Boost? Another great vote for your site.

-




85

Site listed in inktomi?

Inktomi has been absorbed internally by Yahoo.

-




86

Site listed in other directories (About,
BOTW, etc.)

Directory listing boost (If other RESPECTED directories
link to you, this must be positive.)

-




87

Expert site? (Hilltop
or Condensed
Hilltop
)

Large-sized site, quality incoming links

HOT

88

Site Age - Old shows
stability

Google patent

Boost for long-established sites, new pages indexed
easily

The opposite of the sand box.

-




89

Site Age - Very New Boost

Temporary boost for very new sites - I estimate that this
boost lasts from 1 week to 3 weeks - Yahoo does it too.

-




90

Site Directory - Tree Structure

Influences SERPs - logical, consistent, conventional

-




91

Site
Map
and more
site map

Complete - keywords in anchor text

-




92

Site Size

Previously, many pages preferred - conferred authority
upon site, thus page. Bigger sites = better SERPs

Now, fewer pages preferred, due to proliferation of
computer-generated pages. Google has been dropping pages
like crazy.

-




93

Site
Theming

Site exhibit theme? Use many related terms?

Have you used a keyword suggestion tool?

A thesaurus?

-

PAGE METRICS - USER
BEHAVIOR:

Currently implemented through the Google
tool bar?




34, 35

94


Google patent - # of visitors, trend




15,16,21

95

Page Selection Rate - CTR

Google patent - How often is a page clicked on?




36, 37

96

Time spent on page

Google patent - Relatively long time = indicates
relevance hit




45, 46

97

Did user Bookmark page?

Google patent - Bookmark = Good




47

98

Bookmark add/ removal frequency

Google patent - Recent = Good?

-




99

How they left, where they went

Back button, link clicked, etc.

-

SITE METRICS - USER BEHAVIOR
:

Currently implemented through the Google
tool bar?




34, 35

100


Google patent - # of visitors, increasing trend =
good

-




101

Referrer

Authoritative referrer?

-




102

Keyword

Keyword searches used to find you

-




103

Time spent on domain

Relatively long time = indicates relevance hit

Add brownie points.




38




-

DOMAIN OWNER BEHAVIOR
:




40

104

Domain Registration Time

Google patent - Domain Expiration Date

Register for 5 years, Google knows you are serious.

Register for 1 year, is it a throw-away domain?




39

105

Are associated sites legitimate?

Google patent - No spam, ownership,
etc.

4.
Alleged
NEGATIVE
OFF-Page SEO Google Ranking Factors (13)





Note




Factor

#




NEGATIVE

OFF-Page SEO Factors

Brief
Note

-

120

(added)

Traffic Buying

Have you paid a company for web traffic? It is probably
low quality traffic, with a zero conversion rate. Some
providers of traffic for traffic's sake may be considered
"bad neighborhoods". Can Google discount your traffic (for
true popularity), because they know it's mostly phony?

Have you read about Traffic
Power
?




22-29

106

Temporal
Link Analysis

In a nut shell, old links are valued, new links are
not.

This is intended to thwart rapid incoming link accumulation,
accomplished through the tactic of link buying.

Just one of the sandbox factors.




18

107

Change of Meanings

Query meaning changes over time, due to current events




BAD




108

Zero links to you

You MUST have at least 1 (one) incoming link (back link)
from some website somewhere, that Google is aware of, to
REMAIN in the index.




BAD

109

Link-buying


(Very good
IF you don't
get caught,

but don't do it -

when caught, the penalty isn't worth it.)

Google patent - Google hates link-buying, because
it corrupts their PR model in the worst way possible.

1. Does your page have links it really doesn't merit?

2. Did you get tons of links in a short time
period
?

3. Do you have links from high-PR, unrelated sites?




41, 42

110

Prior Site Ranking

Google patent - High = Good




BAD




111

Cloaking

Google promises
to Ban
! (Presenting one webpage to the search engine
spider, and another webpage to everybody else.)




??




112

Links from bad neighborhoods, affiliates

Google says that incoming links from bad sites can't hurt
you, because you can't control them. Ideally, this would be
true.

However, some speculate otherwise, esp., when other
associated factors are thrown into the mix, such as web
rings.




BAD




113

Penalties - resulting from

Domain Hijacking

(work with Google to fix)

Should result in IMPRISONMENT, forthwith!

Grand Theft, mandatory minimum sentence.

The criminal COPIES your entire website, and HOSTS it
elsewhere, with . . . a few changes.

-




114

Penalty - Google TOS violation

WMG is the worst offender - gobbles up tons of Google
server time by nervous Nellie webmasters. Google even
mentions
them by name
. I think that Google will spank you when
you cross the threshold, of say, 100 queries per day for the
same term, from the same IP. Google can block your IP. Get a
Google API.




??




115

Server Reliability - S/B >99.9%

What is your uptime? Ever notice a daily time when your
server is unavailable, like about 1:30 AM? How diligent must
Googlebot be? This is the worst reason to get dropped - you
just aren't there! An ISP maintenance interruption can cause
delisting..

-




116

No more room

Pages being dropped from large sites

The 232 problem - Google has hit the
4.3
Gigabyte address space wall
.
Bull! Google now has over 8 Gigs of indexed pages.

Thousands of pages are disappearing from various huge
websites, but I think that it is G just cleaning house, by
dumping computer-generated pages.







117

Rank Manipulation by

Competitor Attack



(1. Content theft causing you to get a
duplicate content penalty, even though your content is the
original - Google has problems tracking original
authorship
. People are still stealing my content,
but nobody trumps me (in Google) with my own content - hats
off to Google.)

Examples -

Site-Wide
Link Attack


and

302
Redirect Attack


and

Hijacker
Attack



Impossible by Google definition (except for a few nasty
tricks, like making your competition appear to be link
spammers)

Ideally, there SHOULD be nothing that your competition can
do to directly hurt your rankings.


However, an astute observer noticed that Google changed
their website to read :

Old verbiage = "There is nothing a competitor can do to harm
your ranking ..."

New verbiage = "There is ALMOST
nothing
a competitor can do ..."

An obvious concession that Google thinks that at least some
dirty tricks work!



Of course, there will always be new ones!

-




118

Bouncing Ball Algorithm














At least 2, and often 3 identifiable Google
Search Algos are currently in use, alternating
pseudo-randomly through the data centers.


G has moved to a daily dance.
Multiple changing factors are applied daily. GOOD LUCK NOW
on trying to figure things out!




IN ADDITION, some the above factors are being "tweaked"
daily. Not only are the "weights" of the factors changed,
but the formula itself changes. Change is the only
constant.



An algo change can boost or demote your site. I put this in
the negative factors section, because your position is never
secure, unless of course, you are huge (PR=7 or greater). If
you simply cannot achieve top position, your only
alternative to first page SERP exposure may be Google
Ad Words
(you pay for exposure).



Today, I searched for an
extremely competitive "2-word term", and I found that NOT
ONE of the top ten Google SERPs had even one of the words on
the page.

YOWSA!

Today's theory - when it doesn't matter, anybody can get #1
in a second, if they know the on-page rules. BUT, after a
certain "commercial competitive level", the "semantic
analysis" algo kicks in, and less becomes more. The keyword
density rules are flipped upon their noggins. I think that
we are witnessing the evolution of search engine anti-seo
sophistication, right before our very eyes. Fun
stuff.




Recent Updates -



2007

Daily ranking.

-30 penalty noticed, -350 penalty noticed, -950 penalty
noticed



2006

Nov.

Unnatural links are anathema to Google SEO - minus 30 SERP
positions penalty


Aug.

Everflux is the rule of the day - many small updates.

Sandbox (aging delay) alive and well

July 27th update

Big Daddy



2005 -

Novem. 5 - Jagger 3 Update


Nov.10 all done -
settling out.




October 26 - Jagger 2
Update


More SERPs churning - OLD is highly valued.



October 17 -
Jagger 1 Update

Recent Links, Recent Sites =
SERP Turmoil


Google has declared war on phony (low-grade) links

Devaluation of reciprocal from unrelated-subject pages

Devaluation of links from "link houses"

Devaluation of purchased links

Big allinanchor changes

Large companies thrust to the top of the SERPs

Sandbox update

Lowering of sandbox threshold - re-sandboxing

Too fast link accumulation - links acquired too quickly

Deeper sandbox (longer - over 6 months)

Some suggest that one's site really had to be online before
January 2004,

in order to avoid all ramifications of the sandbox.







Brief Google
Algorithm Update List -


2006 - July - July 27 update, plus quality landing page
update

2006 - Feb. - Big Daddy update



2005 - Sept. - the "False" Update
(Sep.22
- Big update, many changes)

2005 - May - Bourbon Update

2005 - Febr.- Allegra Update - Feb.17, 2005, Some
sites released from the sandbox, but many remain.



2004 - Feb.- Brandy Update

2004 - Jan.- Austin Update



2003 - Nov.- Florida Update

2003 - June - Esmeralda Update

2003 - May - Dominic Update

2003 - Apr. - Cassandra Update

2003 - Mar. - Boston
Update








The Google Sandbox
- The Single-Biggest SEO Ranking Factor for New
Sites


Google is clearly
fighting spam by sacrificing SERP newness for higher SERP
quality.



March 2004

Edited August
2006




THE GOOGLE SANDBOX

The sandbox is alive and
well.


In March 2004, Google
implemented a new filter, now referred to as "The Sandbox".
This new "effect" took months to notice and quantify.



The sandbox is also referred to as an "aging delay". Two
aging delays have been suggested - one for link weight, and
one for competitive term ranking.



The sand box only applies to highly COMPETITIVE terms,
revolving around money, such as the words attorney, loans,
viagra, real estate, etc. The more lucrative the keyword,
the longer the wait.



Yahoo has a sandbox, as well. Opinion seems to indicate that
the Yahoo aging delay is not quite as long as the Google
Aging Delay.

Yahoo does seem to provide an initial boost, that will
disappear after about 4 weeks.



MSN appears to have no sandbox. New sites with new pages,
targeting competitive terms, can rank well very quickly
(weeks) for those terms.





HOW IT WORKS

If you subscribe to the spam
reduction theory, Google's thinking was, NO NEW SITES get
good ranking, until they prove themselves.

Spammers generate thousands of new pages daily, along with
millions of new links to go with them. This penalty is
new-site based. Long-standing sites have no trouble ranking
new pages.




Link Weight Aging
Delay


Google WITHHOLDS "link juice"
on new sites, by deprecating the new links, for 2-8 months.
If the domain and backlinks have existed for a certain
length of time (6 months?), then maybe you are OK, and
escape from the sandbox.

Over time, the newly generated links are given weight, and
eventually the sandbox effect is
lifted.




Competitive Term
Aging Delay


Google WITHHOLDS high ranking
ability on new sites, for highly commercial keywords, such
as loans, real estate, viagra, etc.

Eventually, the new site will rank well for the competitive
keywords, and the sandbox effect is lifted. Six months is
mentioned most frequently.





SOLUTIONS


Two methods are currently being
used to get around the Sandbox penalty for new sites.



One method is to join the Google Ad Words or Adsense
program, in which case your pages get spidered in MINUTES.
Your site will be checked initially with an algo or human
"smell test". If you smell good, you're in. Good rankings
will follow (provided of course, that you have good on-page
SEO, and a few good backlinks).



I speculate that if you are a Google partner ("approved"),
then you are not going to be penalized, unless you
subsequently "go bad".



The second method is to buy an old domain, just for it's
longevity, and old backlinks. Many have bought up old domain
names for this purpose. This may work right now, but the
rules will soon change again. They always do.

Good luck!




.

Notes to the Above 120
Google Ranking Factors :

1

I have tried to summarize the best opinions of many
webmaster forum posters.

2

There are no published rules - this is my continuously
changing compilation of SEO chatter
. This is my
semi-annual, one-way technical Google ranking blog, if you
will.

3

If your keywords are Rare and Unique, then Page Rank
doesn't matter.

4

If your keywords are very Competitive, then Page Rank
becomes very important.

5

The fewer incoming links that you have, the more
important on-page factors are, for noncompetitive terms.

6

There are a million ifs, ors, buts . . . I am attempting
a concise summary.

Exceptions to EACH of the POSITIVE ON-Page factors
are frequent and many.

However, I feel that it is important to score highly on as
many factors as possible, since factor weight and even
factor consideration are changing constantly
- CYA. Not
to mention the other SEs.

7

A few words about the LANGUAGE used on the Google site
-

in a phrase - "soft spoken". We see it everywhere these
days.

I am referring to understatement, sometimes even to the
point of confusion.

"significant", "may", etc.

For example, when Google states that maybe it might not be a
good idea to do a particular thing, what they SOMETIMES
really mean is "If you do it, you are history".

Some Google suggestions are actually commands (STRONG HINTS)
in disguise.

At some point, you begin to realize this.

Google just can't tell us everything, literally. Sooooooo,
take the hints.


8

Become religious. Seek the light. It's there, but you
gotta look.

LISTEN UP! Read the rules. Read between the lines.
Carefully.

Differentiate. Project. Carefully analyze your own
situation.


Webmaster Guidelines

http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=35769



How does Google rank pages?

http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=34432






Sources

"These optimization
opinions are too strong -

Too much speculation - I wanna see your SEO data! ". . . OK.
Here it is -


Google
Search Engine Optimization
Forums

Disclaimer


This is NOT A
Google, Inc. Site

In no way, did this data come directly from
Google, Inc.

This page consists of a compilation of public information,
commonly available on the Internet, at multiple sites, as
well as public webmaster forums, and found by performing
simple manual tests, using an Internet browser.

The opinions stated above are merely the often misguided
personal opinions of the author.

I am not privy to any inside information.

This information is continually changing, and may not be
relevant when you read it.

Although the author makes every effort to verify the
information on this page, no information on this page is
guaranteed to be correct, and any data contained herein may
be erroneous.








.

Google-Related
Webmaster Information

-

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