Aug
Formulaic SEO and the Google Cops
Jill Whalen, a 12-year SEO veteran and author of the site HighRankings.com, warned in her recent newsletter that going through one’s site and optimizing it according to current SEO wisdom could get you the reverse result.
Rather than your site’s rising higher in the SERPs, Jill muses that a by-the-book SEOization can actually set off a "red flag" at Google and result in lower, not higher, listings and Page Rank.
I think she’s on to something, for I’ve heard of many a site’s losing a notch or two on its Page Rank after a complete SEO once-over.
What is a complete SEO makeover?
Basically, that’s the process of identifying one or a few (three at most maybe) key phrases that you can then saturate on your home page (and throughout), starting with the domain name, title tag, H1s and text and then wrapping up with file names, alt tags, internal links and so on.
Jill’s article is so good that I may request reprint rights and post it here, but for now suffice it to get at the kernel of what she’s saying:
A site that is completely optimized for one or so key phrases will look that way in the eyes of the spiders visiting it, and it would be an easy step for Google to then punish you for trying to game the system.
Anyway, the best method for gaining Google’s and visitors’ favor is by providing unique content that others will link to, which in turn will help your site rise in the SERPs.
Easier said than done, of course, but the content-is-king approach is the only one that will remain a positive as Google and the other search companies continue to tweak their algorithms to neutralize and, yes, even punish professional SEOers.
Tags: Jill Whalen
