Archive for January, 2005
Tuesday, January 18th, 2005
Duplicate Content Penalties
By: James Peggie and Dylan Downhill
Originally Published: Jan 18, 2005
Updated: Jan 30, 2005
Fact: Google penalizes page rank when it determines that content is duplicated by other sites.
If your rankings have slipped then it’s possible that your page contents have been duplicated causing a duplicate content penalty. Google doesn’t want multiple copies of the same content cluttering their results pages so they will devalue all but one of the copies of the content based on the age of the page.
Don’t Let Other People Benefit From Your Hard Work
Writing good quality content for your site is hard work! If someone has not paid you for your work (either with money or with a reciprocal link or other agreed payment) it is stolen!
Checking For Duplicate Content
It is a chore to check for duplicated content but luckily someone has come to the rescue - www.copyscape.com. Just by entering the URL of the page you want to check, Copyscape will return a list of pages in the Google index that contain text also present on your site, or for more detail you can subscribe to their Copysentry service.
No one knows how much duplication can result in a penalty, if it’s 10 words, 20, a paragraph or a whole page. You will need to make a decision on whether you believe you have a problem. A lot of time your marketing text will appear as a description for a link to your site - this probably won’t be counted as duplicate content. If your site’s position in the search engines has recently plummeted then duplicate content might be the cause or if a competitor is found for text or an article you wrote then you may also have an issue.
What To Do With Duplicate Content?
If you are hosting someone else’s content and you’re seeing duplicate content put a ‘robots’ meta tag in the head section to stop the search engine spiders indexing that page. If you’re tempted to modify the content then you will need to get the original author’s permission. A much better option would be to take the central idea of the article and write a completely new article using your own text.
If you’re concerned that someone has duplicated your content, write to the website owner who has published your content requesting they remove the offending text, you can mention that you will report the matter to Google under their DMCA guidelines.
If the email does not elicit a response or your content is still visible then report the duplicate content issue to Google under the DMCA guidelines they provide at http://www.google.com/dmca.html
If all else fails, change your copy of the duplicated text. Keeping your copy fresh is essential so make the best of a bad situation and write even better copy.
Tips To Ensure You Avoid Duplicated Content
- Put a copyright notice on the bottom of the page and warn that you check for duplicated content.
- If you have multiple domains that point to the same site content take advantage of permanent redirection. (301 status report) This informs the spider of the redirection so they understand you are not putting up duplicate content.
- When you have an article to get republished on other sites send them in a text format. (Articles are a great way to quality incoming links by the way!) This ensures that when the article is republished it will be reformatted and viewed by the search spiders as original.
Posted in Search Engine Optimization | No Comments »
Tuesday, January 18th, 2005
by Karon Thackston © 2004 - 2005, All Rights Reserved
http://www.copywritingcourse.com/keyword
The Rewrite
My first thought with the rewrite was to stop making “trust and urgency” the undertones and instead make them the obvious focal points of the copy. As usual, I started with the headline. The previous headline was:
When every second counts, turn to Top Security, Inc. who has been securing Orlando / Central Florida homes and businesses for 689,453,910 seconds.
I wanted something more direct so I changed the headline to:
Top Security, Inc. of Orlando - Security Systems From a Trusted Neighbor
This included one of their keyphrases and also made it perfectly clear this company was local and trustworthy.
For the introductory paragraph, I wanted to get the visitor’s attention and hold it long enough to make a point: That security is something you need to think about now, not later. I opened with the following:
“If only I’d called you sooner.” “I never thought this could happen to me.” These are just a few of the many comments we have heard from our customers in Orlando. Security systems suddenly became a top priority for them, but not until after they’d experienced a frightening break-in or a devastating fire. After these disasters, our Orlando neighbors were convinced that burglar alarm and security issues should be a forethought, not an afterthought.
The copy does not beat the visitors over the head with the fact that they could be hurt, face losses, or experience some other frightening situation. It simply plants a seed of “what if” and moves on.
This section of the copy also lends support to the keyphrases Top Security wanted to rank highly for. Because “Orlando Security Systems” can be an awkward phrase to repeat, I split it up in several instances to help the flow of the copy stay natural.
The remainder of the page speaks to the facts that Top Security is local, has longevity in the community, is right around the corner, and offers several other benefits national security companies simply can’t (or won’t). Benefit after benefit is listed and explained in order to drive home the fact that a local company can - and will - provide exceptional service. You can see the current version here: http://www.copywritingcourse.com/topsecurity-current.pdf.
All throughout these sections of the copy, keyphrases are reinforced in the copy. When applicable, keyphrases are used in bold phrases or others that include special formatting. However, I never forced keyphrases some place they didn’t fit just for the sake of doing it. Keyphrase placement has to meld with the copy, not overpower it.
The call-to-action for the home page was simple. It asked three questions dealing with the biggest complaints about home security that users or potential users have regarding dependability, false alarms, and price.
The Results
The high rankings Top Security had prior to the SEO copywriting makeover were retained for most terms and even increased for a few others. While that’s great, what’s more important is that lead generations from the site increased, which gave Top Security, Inc. a broader customer base and the potential to make more sales they previously would not have been able to make.
It just goes to show that, even if your site has high positioning, copywriting can play an incredibly important role in bringing growth to your business. After all, what’s the point of having good rankings if you have no sales?
Karon Thackston is a veteran copywriting pro who specializes in SEO copy. If your copy isn’t getting results, let Karon teach you how to write SEO copy that impresses the engines and your visitors at
http://www.copywritingcourse.com. Be sure to check out Karon’s latest ebook “How To Increase Keyword Saturation (Without Destroying the Flow of Your Copy)” at
http://www.copywritingcourse.com/keyword.
Posted in Copywriting | No Comments »
Sunday, January 16th, 2005
By James Peggie
Originally Published: Jan 16, 2005
We have many enquiries from companies that have had a bad search engine optimization (SEO) experience in the past and are looking for a reputable search marketing company to work with. Often these clients have been banned from search engines because the companies that they have hired to improve their search rankings use quick fix, unethical SEO techniques.
What can you do to ensure that this does not happen to your business? Or if you have had problems in the past how can you be sure that these experiences will never happen again?
It is essential that you take care in choosing who you work with as this company will be responsible for representing you and your business. Would you hire a new employee, a lawyer or an accountant without doing any research? There is a lot at stake here so it is essential that you do the groundwork and be as informed as possible.
These companies may be representing you - but it will still be your site and your business. It is your responsibility to know what the SEO company is doing and if it is using unethical techniques. It is your site so you should be aware of the techniques being used to promote your business and that search engine guidelines are being followed.
Often these unscrupulous companies offer a guaranteed meteoric rise in ranking and the lure of quick profits. Remember if it seems to be too good to be true then it usually is. Avoid companies that email you their services - or even worse - the ones that send out a fake invoice for their services. If they are presenting their services in this manner you probably have a good insight into their general business principles.
Evaluating Search Engine Optimization Companies
What should you do when evaluating a search engine optimization company?
- Determine your business goals and your goals for search marketing. Find out what your SEO expectations are. Are you in a competitive marketplace? What is your search marketing budget?
- You should ask around. Which companies are people you know recommending? A successful SEO will get a high percentage of their clients from referrals.
- Do they communicate clearly with you? Are they interested in your business? Are they trying to inform you about the industry and not just selling?
- Where is their site in the search engine results? If the company is good at SEO then their site should be ranked well, if their site is not listed in the rankings you need to wonder why.
- Ask for step by step information on what they will do to promote your site. If there is any area which your gut tells doesn’t sound right do your research. There is plenty of information available for you to research. Type “ethical SEO” and ’search engine spam” into Google and you will find lots of data to compare.
- What is their Page Rank? A PR of 3 is relatively easy to get with a small site, while a PR of 6 is harder, and above that is extremely difficult. If you’re approached by a SEO company (or any marketing company for that matter) with a PR of 0 or an unranked site ask why.
- What is their customer support like? When you first approached them did you receive a form email in reply? Did they even look at your website? Did you receive a detailed proposal along with testimonials and other backup material? Ask for references and follow up on them.
- Do they know SEO or is it just a sideline to their main business (web design, web hosting, advertising agency). If you speak to anyone in this industry you will find out that keeping up to date on the latest SEO information is a full time job.
- How much experience do they have? Are they new to the industry in which case do you want them experimenting on your site?
- Has the company ever turned down a site because it could not be successfully optimized? e.g. sites built with frames or flash sites. Or turned them down because they were involved in unethical business practices e.g. link farms.
- Make comparisons with other companies. Some SEO companies rely on one aspect of SEO (e.g. linking campaigns), others offer a complete package. Remember to compare like with like. There is no point in comparing a proposal which is just going to cover meta tags and keywords to a proposal which is a full service SEO package including optimization, content creation, and a links campaign.
- Does the company provide ongoing maintenance to maintain your rankings? Search engines change their algorithms constantly and without regular monitoring and maintenance rankings will eventually slip. What is good today may not be good tomorrow.
There are a growing number of excellent and ethical search engine optimization companies out there. Do your research and find out who they are. Also develop an understanding of what is involved in developing a search marketing program. Take an assertive stance and become informed. Also, use your common sense. Developing a search marketing plan should be as involved as developing a traditional marketing plan. It requires hard work and dedication. Find out the costs involved and put together a search marketing budget. Shop around and be aware of other business factors being offered by the SEO company such as customer service and payment terms.
If you look upon the process of choosing an SEO company as you would in choosing a business partner then you are headed in the right direction. It could be that a large part of the success of your business is reliant on search marketing - so you should do the groundwork and find out what is involved. Then you can make an informed decision and feel confidant that you have chosen a quality business partner who is dedicated towards helping your business grow.
Posted in Search Engine Marketing (SEM) | No Comments »