backlinks

Twitter, SEO and China

21
Sep
Google search for twitter seochina

If used appropriately Twitter can generate some seriously good traffic to your website, there are tons of posts about how to do this on the web. Have you tried searching for site:twitter.com in Google recently? You get 137 million search results.

Let's see the case of our favorite company, them.pro. In a Google search, our twitter account, twitter.com/seochina (search it), almost every tweet appears, and in the search: "SEO China" it gets the 14th position. We are getting backlinks not only to our website but to our tweets! Bottom line, "tweeting" works.

Google search for seo china

It is a cheap and easy way to generate traffic from anywhere in the world… but how about China? Just like Facebook and Youtube, Twitter is blocked in the whole country. Before it was blocked, Twitter was becoming a popular service in China and many Chinese were using it on daily basis. Now, similar (clone) services like jiwai.de and t.sina.com.cn are there to fill up the space Twitter left.

So can we still use Twitter? Of course! It is still possible to tweet in China without much hassle… we use ping.fm and our followers are still subscribing from in and out of China. The effort is not lost, our advice is, even in China, tweet, tweet, tweet…

Backlink Strategies : Choose yours

29
Jul
backlinks are gold mines

what is your backlink strategy? Popularizing a website is not always easy, but as long as search engines are using link or backlink based ranking techniques, the popularity and its metric (the backlinks) will remain a determining factor for the visibility of a website.

That's why as seo experts, building backlinks is a major domain to be skilled in the use. Let's have a quick state of the art.

What are the backlink strategies?

We can distinguish 3 different types of strategies:

  • Ninja link
  • Link baiting
  • Social Media Optimization

 

Ninja Link

 

Historically, the ninja link is the oldest netlinking strategy. The work of a ninja is long, accurate and laborious. This kind of backlink building consist of self deploy links. To do this, you should know where it is possible to get backlinks, have your own network of sites but also contact other webmasters and negotiate establishment of links.

You may also spend time to promote your website within "user-generated content" spaces like comments, wikis or forums (especially that we definitely know now that "nofollow" instructions are not taken in consideration by google bots any more). But it is an irksome work with no guaranteed result. Because of moderation policy, your links could be deleted. Put your putting your backlink with original and relevant remark increases your chances.

Also be careful not to apply this technique too often, otherwise you could be marked as spam linking by search engines.

Let's see what are the benefits of this strategy:

  • You may obtain links to old pages
  • These are links to the page of your choice even deep pages
  • Possibility to choose the anchor links
  • You completely control the selection of sites and pages where the backlinks are set

A ninja is able to act on different criterias affecting the quality of a backlink. These advantages make this backlink strategy the most powerful.

However, the cost may be very important and the deployment is quite long.

 

Link Baiting

 

The Link Baiting is the technique recommended by Google for acquiring popularity. Since it is long and difficult to get backlinks, it is better to let others do it for you : bait them ! If you're wondering how, know that it is here the complexity of this technique. In fact, you have to inspire people to talk about your site on their own websites.

The basic principle is to offer original and high quality content.

Here are some ideas for attracting people :

  • Establish rankings (this kind of blog posts can generate many links and traffic)
  • Write original articles
  • Offering a unique and innovative service
  • Post a photo or video that you made yourself
  • Organize a game or competition
  • Write polemics articles
  • Write humour articles
  • Synthesize a content: lists are often very popular, internet users talk about on their blog and easily bookmark synthesis (think that bookmark tools are more and more often online, so again it creates backlinks)
  • Translate reference articles

etc...

Social Media Optimization

 

Social media are increasingly taking part of our daily lives, how many times you go on Facebook a week ? (before facebook was blocked in china i mean!)

Traffic through a campaign of Social Media Optimization is becoming increasingly significant. In addition, such a campaign can generate traffic as well as backlinks.  The result for such a strategy can be incredible, both in the us and china.

  • The first step is to have at least one account on most platforms: social bookmark services, video, photo, powerpoint, resume.
  • The second step is to develop your network and make connections. You can count on your "friends" to support your buzz.
  • The third step is to share and make noise. Learning to use the various services that can provide visibility ( RSS feeds, social news buttons, blogging, comments, ratings ...)

 

here we go, with the backlink strategies, now, what is yours?

Google and javascript, new honeymoon

10
Jun
javascript seo

Yes, google can understand some of the javascript links, and will soon be able to understand more. They just said so at the googe I/O gathering.

 

What does it mean?

It means that for years, we seo experts, were telling you “NO, DON’T, Please take out that ugly javascript link that google doesn’t understand”

Now we will tell you “no, don’t, please take out that ugly javascript link that still many search engines don’t understand, even if google understand it now”.

 

 

Baidu doesn’t, yahoo doesn’t, and we don’t know yet about bing (the new Microsoft search engine), but there are big chances that it doesn’t. So, yes, continue not to use javascript links whenever you can, and always prefer the old html link tag <a href=”” title=””> </a>

 

What are the javascript links google can understand?

google can understand these javascript links :

  1. <div onclick="document.location.href='http://gotothispage.com/'">
  2. <div onclick="myfunctionname('gotothispage.html')"><a href="#" onclick="myfunctionname()">that's a cool page dude</a>
  3. <a href="javascript:void(0)" onclick="window.open ('youcometothispage.html')">please open this page</a>

 

so yes you can use them, but please, avoid them when not necessary...

 

 

 

 

5 Ways Google Knows your Backlinks are Bullshit

15
Apr
backlinks

 Let’s think as a search engine.

First, the more backlinks you have, the more google considers your website as important.  BUT, what if the backlinks come from the same webmaster?
 
The meaning is just that he’s linking his own websites, and not that his content is outstanding. So, these backlinks are less important in the point of view of the search engines, their “grade” should be lower. Your SEO won't work (or work less)
 
How can google know that it’s the same webmaster behind several websites :
  

1)      Do you use analytics on all your websites with the same google account? Then google knows all these sites are more or less yours.

 
2)      Do you buy all these domains with the same registrar account? Then google knows it through a whois query.
 
3)      Do you host all these websites on the same server? Then google knows the IP, and is likely to consider that it’s the same webmaster behind.
 
4)      Do you use the same google adwords account on these websites? Then google knows it’s the same person who is taking profit from them… aka same owner.
 
5)      Do you use gmail account settings to use different emails with different domains? Then google knows that you are linked to these domains, so you’re probably one of the owners / employees / webmasters.
 
This list can probably be bigger, but here are some big things google can know about you and your websites, and therefore lower the “weight” they give to a backlink from one of your sites to another.
 
Truth is, they would do good by applying these rules, since this would make their search engine more efficient and more accurate…BUT, this is also a way to scare webmasters, and to make them NOT use gmail / analytics / adwords and go for the competition instead… which is a bad signal.
 
In your opinion, what is the policy google is following?