Search Engine Optimization

While this might not be something terribly new to some of you, to someone like me who’s not well versed in the ways of black/greyhat techniques, it was.

While surfing today, I came across this SEOmoz post titled “Has Google Given Up Trying to Police On-Page Ranking Factors?”. The article describes how some websites are using noscript tags stuffed with headings and anchor links in an attempt to boost their rankings within the search engines. Surprisingly enough, it seems to be working! The author correctly goes on to note how easy it is for search engines to spot such websites yet they have chosen not to do anything about it … yet!

This article also brought to mind another post at DigitalPoint. WordPress Uniquefier v3.0 claims to use javascript to alter posts helping you avoid the duplicate content penalty by Google.

From the horse’s mouth:

“It is a well known fact that search engines (for google has been proofed) can run and index non advanced JavaScript from your pages. This is why, by using a special technique we place the original articles under a JavaScript run. This way:

What the plugin does is change the article/post content to simple javascript which looks something like:

<script type=”text/javascript”>
document.write(String.fromCharCode(60,112,62,77,111,118,105,101,58,32,60,115,116,114,111,110,103,62,84,104,101,32,72,111,117,110,100,32,111,102,32,116,104,101,32,66,97,115,107,101,114,118,105,108,108,101,115,32,40,49,57,51,57,41,60,47,115,116,114,111,110,103,62,60,47,112,62,10,60,112,62,60,105,109,103,32,97,108,105,103,110,61,34,108,101,102,116,34,32,115,116,121,108,101,61,34,109,97,114,103,105,110,45,116,111,112,58,32,53,112,120,59,32,109,97,114,103,105,110,45,98,111,116,116,111,109,58,32,53,112,120,59,32,109,97,114,103,105,110,45,108,101,102,116,58,32,51,112,120,59,32,109,97,114,103,105,110,45,114,105,103,104,116,58,32,49,48,112,120,59,34,32,115,114,99,61,34,104,116,116,112,58,47,47,109,111,118,105,101,115,114,101,97,108,109,46,99,111,109,47,109,111,118,105,101,97,117,116,111,109,97,116,111,114,47,112,111,115,116,101,114,115,47,49,50,50,53,49,57,49,55,51,57,45,52,57,49,55,46,106,112,103,34,32,119,105,100,116,104,61,34,49,53,48,34,62,38,35,56,50,50,48,59,79,110,32,104,105,115,32,117,110,99,108,101,38,35,56,50,49,55,59,115,32,100,101,97,116,104,32,83,105,114,32,72,101,110,114,121,32,66,97,115,107,101,114,118,105,108,108,101,32,114,101,116,117,114,110,115,32,102,114,111,109,32,97,98,114,111,97,100,32,97,110,100,32,111,112,101,110,115,32,117,112,32,116,104,101,32,97,110,99,101,115,116,114,97,108,32,104,97,108,108,32,111,110,32,116,104,101,32,100,101,115,111,108,97,116,101,32,109,111,111,114,115,32,111,102,32,68,101,118,111,110,115,104,105,114,101,46,32,72,111,108,109,101,115,32,117,110,99,111,118,101,114,115,32,97,32,112,108,111,116,32,116,111,32,104,97,118,101,32,83,105,114,32,72,101,110,114,121,32,109,117,114,100,101,114,101,100,32,98,121,32,97,32,116,101,114,114,105,98,108,101,32,116,114,97,105,110,101,100,32,104,111,117,110,100,46,32,70,105,114,115,116,32,99,97,115,116,105,110,103,32,111,102,32,82,97,116,104,98,111,110,101,32,97,110,100,32,66,114,117,99,101,32,97,115,32,72,111,108,109,101,115,32,97,110,100,32,87,97,116,115,111,110,46,32,87,114,105,116,116,101,110,32,98,121,32,69,100,32,83,116,101,112,104,97,110,32,123,115,116,101,112,104,97,110,64,99,99,46,119,119,117,46,101,100,117,125,38,35,56,50,50,49,59,60,47,112,62,10,60,117,108,62,10,60,108,105,62,68,105,114,101,99,116,111,114,58,32,83,105,100,110,101,121,32,76,97,110,102,105,101,108,100,60,47,108,105,62,10,60,108,105,62,82,101,108,101,97,115,101,32,68,97,116,101,58,32,51,49,32,77,97,114,99,104,32,49,57,51,57,32,40,85,83,65,41,60,47,108,105,62,10,60,108,105,62,82,117,110,32,84,105,109,101,58,32,56,48,32,109,105,110,60,47,108,105,62,10,60,108,105,62,67,111,117,110,116,114,121,58,32,85,83,65,60,47,108,105,62,10,60,108,105,62,71,101,110,114,101,58,32,67,114,105,109,101,32,44,32,72,111,114,114,111,114,32,44,32,77,121,115,116,101,114,121,32,44,32,84,104,114,105,108,108,101,114,60,47,108,105,62,10,60,47,117,108,62,10,60,112,62,84,114,105,118,105,97,58,32,65,102,116,101,114,32,98,101,105,110,103,32,111,117,116,32,111,102,32,99,105,114,99,117,108,97,116,105,111,110,32,102,111,114,32,109,97,110,121,32,121,101,97,114,115,44,32,112,97,114,116,108,121,32,98,101,99,97,117,115,101,32,111,102,32,116,104,101,32,49,57,53,57,32,72,97,109,109,101,114,32,114,101,109,97,107,101,32,105,110,32,84,101,99,104,110,105,99,111,108,111,114,32,115,116,97,114,114,105,110,103,32,80,101,116,101,114,32,67,117,115,104,105,110,103,44,32,116,104,105,115,32,102,105,108,109,32,119,97,115,32,114,101,115,116,111,114,101,100,32,97,110,100,32,114,101,45,114,101,108,101,97,115,101,100,32,116,111,32,116,104,101,97,116,101,114,115,32,105,110,32,49,57,55,53,32,119,105,116,104,32,103,114,101,97,116,32,102,97,110,102,97,114,101,44,32,116,111,32,116,104,101,32,112,111,105,110,116,32,111,102,32,104,97,118,105,110,103,32,116,104,101,32,110,97,116,105,111,110,97,108,32,101,118,101,110,105,110,103,32,110,101,119,115,32,100,111,32,97,32,115,116,111,114,121,32,111,110,32,105,116,46,32,84,104,101,32,102,105,108,109,32,119,97,115,32,115,104,111,119,110,32,97,116,32,105,116,115,32,102,117,108,108,32,56,48,45,109,105,110,117,116,101,32,108,101,110,103,116,104,44,32,97,110,100,32,110,101,119,115,112,97,112,101,114,32,97,110,100,32,109,97,103,97,122,105,110,101,32,97,114,116,105,99,108,101,115,32,99,111,109,109,101,110,116,101,100,32,111,110,32,116,104,101,32,102,97,99,116,32,116,104,97,116,32,116,104,101,32,108,105,110,101,32,38,35,56,50,50,48,59,79,104,44,32,87,97,116,115,111,110,44,32,116,104,101,32,110,101,101,100,108,101,33,38,35,56,50,50,49,59,44,32,114,101,102,101,114,114,105,110,103,32,116,111,32,72,111,108,109,101,115,38,35,56,50,49,55,59,32,99,111,99,97,105,110,101,32,104,97,98,105,116,32,40,97,110,100,32,117,115,117,97,108,108,121,32,109,105,115,113,117,111,116,101,100,32,97,115,32,38,35,56,50,50,48,59,81,117,105,99,107,44,32,87,97,116,115,111,110,44,32,116,104,101,32,110,101,101,100,108,101,33,38,35,56,50,50,49,59,41,32,119,97,115,32,112,117,116,32,98,97,99,107,32,105,110,32,97,102,116,101,114,32,104,97,118,105,110,103,32,98,101,101,110,32,99,117,116,32,98,121,32,116,104,101,32,99,101,110,115,111,1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</script>

Apparently not only can GoogleBot read the content but it’s also included in the Google Index and since the Javascript changes the code significantly, neither Copyscape, nor GoogleBot can recognize the content as duplicate!

I’ve yet to try this product myself but quite a few people at DigitalPoint claim that it works as advertised. I wonder how soon before Google catches on!

Do share your thoughts on both techniques!

I’ve been working with a website for a few months now, and I noticed a peculiar thing. About half of the more prominent pages were missing from Google’s index while many of the obscure ones were making it. It didn’t make any sense.

But I just figured out why. The site owner was using a JavaScript menu system under his site-wide header. I thought it was nothing but HTML and style sheets. But when I checked the source, there I saw it.

In this case, it wasn’t that big a deal because the owner really only used the site in his store. But had he been more dependent on search engines, the results would have been disastrous. In most cases, Google cannot and will not follow links in JavaScript menus.

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use them. It means you had better have a damn good xml sitemap – because without one, every page that is only linked-to from your menu will not be in Google’s index and not be in any SERP. Not only is this bad for traffic, but Google also ranks sites higher that have more content – and if Google can’t see those pages, all that hard work writing that content goes down the toilet!

Link exchanging used to be one the single easiest and most cost effective method of seeing real results in your SERP rankings. It really didn’t even matter if the site you exchanged links with had anything to do with your topic. In those days, links were votes, and that’s all that mattered.

But times have changed.

If you still think you can get away with traditional link exchanging, think again. Google’s topic awareness algorithm is so advanced that it can (and already does!) categorize your website into one of thousands upon thousands of niches. And to go along with it, Google ranks how related those niches are to one another.

What this means is, if you exchange links with a site that really has nothing to do with your own site, you won’t get any credit at all. In fact, you’ll probably end up hurting your rankings. There’s not much evidence for this, but there IS evidence that Google is starting to crack down more and more on grey hat SEO techniques. And I can’t think of an easier grey hat technique to detect than exchanging links with a random website.

Do you know what your site’s bounce rate is? How about your average time on site or number of page views? Are you even taking these into account when it comes to your SEO efforts?

Google is relying more and more upon websites that engage active users. And Google quantifies user activity in terms of average time on site, average page views, and bounce rate – and the reason is simple. It’s the only truly reliable ‘put up or shut up’ method a search engine can judge a website’s worthiness. If people search for “web design tips” and end up on your site, but only stay for an average of just a few seconds, then that tells Google that either your site is not focused on “web design tips” or if it is, then it does a bad job talking about it. On the other hand, if your competitor’s website is attracting those same users, but keeping them on the site for upwards of 5 minutes, then Google knows that those users found what they were looking for.

So keep an eye on your user behavior metrics. Make sure the keywords you’re targeting are keeping users on your site. If they’re not, you’ve got some work to do!