Google Thoughts

1. 37

   charliegrumplesposted 13 years ago

   I've been reading posts both here and elsewhere about various ways and means of getting good google rankings. However, no one seems to be sure beyond guesswork what works and what doesn't.
   
   From my own observations and thoughts, I have a feeling that a lot of what worked before will be of much less relevance than before.
   
   Content: I think this is going to be the most important thing to consider. Apparently google likes lengthy copy so may well penalise shorter articles. Personally I don't think this makes sense as people don't read lengthy articles online. However, it does make spun articles more easy to detect and also means that people will have to put more effort into their articles.
   
   Backlinks: I honestly think that these are going to be devalued significantly by google. There are now too many ways that marketers can pay for backlinks which is not the reason that google used to like them. If you think about it, unless you are a big site, you probably wouldn't get any natural links for a few months. I've noticed when I've linked to a site,I've dropped back a page or two.
   
   So, tired of all the techniques, I've decided to really focus on quality and length for my next 5 - 10 hubs and see if that brings about any improvement - I'll let you know.

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2. 74

   David 470posted 13 years ago

   I am just going to throw this straight out, it's my opinion, but it worked for me.
   
   (1) Write on low competition topics, you will get ranked higher easier. Note, these may have lower revenue potential such as lower CPM.
   
   (2) Writing for higher competition topics like real estate, losing weight, etc.. will mean more revenue potential, but it will be VERY hard to rank higher. Backlinks are very important in this case, while they are less, or not needed for lower competition keywords.
   
   I was able to hit a record 10,000+ views last week, on mostly low competition keywords/topics. Now, if it was not for the sub domains, HP ad program, and whatever Google did, this would not of happen so suddenly.
   
   But I can assure, my higher competitive keywords did not get a big break. The traffic on them barely went up. Why? I did no backlinking for them

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   1. 37

      charliegrumplesposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks David .. I do generally go for low competition keywords and for some sites I've done and a few recent hubs, I've tended to be on the second page which isn't bad but that one extra page makes a big difference to the number of visits and therefore clicks.  I'm increasingly uncertain if backlinks are the way to go to improve the ranking .. let's be honest, anyone can now get backlinks if they throw a bit of money at it so that doesn't really give it extra credibility.
      
      If Google are true to their word that it is quality they are looking for then I think a good quantity of text without keyword stuffing and copy that makes sense when read is going to be the key thing .. how they do that I don't know, but most other things they try, people have found a way around them .. so I may well be wrong but my instinct says that if we choose low competition keywords and write well and a decent amount, we may well find we do better ... this isn't scientific and I may waste a lot of time on my next hubs trying to write some really goods ones rather than 'targetting' the keyword but I think it's worth a shot and see what happens.

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      1. 74

         David 470posted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Yes, people and companies can buy backlinks, but I believe Google will penalize anyone who is getting a massive amount of them in a short period of time..
         
         I actually though about buying backlinks for a hub to see if I could get it to rank.
         
         Some hubbers abide by getting backlinks, and some even buy them, but do not overuse them all at one time.

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         1. 37

            charliegrumplesposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            I'm honestly not sure David if they are good or bad but I have noticed hubs dropping soon after adding a link though that could be part of the google dance. Also I'm surprised how many pages get a ton ten ranking with zero backlinks so I think for the purposes of experimentation that I won't aim for any with the nexxt ten hubs including the one I;ve just posted with 800 words .. a record for me :-)

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      2. 71

         Singular Investorposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         I'm still not convinced by the quality argument. Can computers assess quality ? For example "investing in the stock market is not something you should approach lightly" compared to "lightly investing in the approach stock is not something you should market"  - woudl a Google computer know the difference ?

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         1. 37

            charliegrumplesposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            Well you can depend that google has some pretty powerful software sorting through this so it probably would pick that up and I'm sure they will head more and more in that direction. You can also bet that the big boys have been complaining that their sites are on page 4 or wherever when page one is full of SEO dross. But like I say, I'm no expert .. I'm trying this policy out for ten hubs to see how they fare. To be honest, though it's a pain writing longer hubs, I;d rather do that than have to fiddle about with tricks and tips to get ranked .. But we'll see .. I could be seriously wrong here

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