We at SEO Blog because of the recent success and feed back of our interview of SA’s top SEO experts, decided to ask a few more experts on there views of the current situation in the SEO and online world. The catch this time was that they had to answer in Tweets ie 140 characters or less, thus putting them to the test to show what they know in the simpliest way. Below is what the experts had to say on 10 questions SEO Blog came up with.
The Experts:
Graeme Stiles:
Company: Quirk
Dewaldt Huysamen:
Company: iLead Online
Darren Vrede:
Company: R.O.I Media
Graeme Stiles:
For local SEO brand citations can aid rankings, however I don’t think unlinked mentions have a direct effect on rankings for general SEO.
Dewaldt Huysamen:
I do not believe there is such a distinct algorithm ranking factor, but Google should consider this if not implemented.
Darren Vrede:
URL’s definitively but unlinked brand mentions wont help with rankings other then in local search, too generic
Graeme Stiles:
Yes: Url shortners are seen as 301 redirects by search engines and as such pass on link value which can contribute to rankings.
Dewaldt Huysamen:
Yes they do because the shortener is a 301 redirect to the long link. So link juice is passed on to the long link.
Darren Vrede:
Yes they do, but as with other redirects don’t carry the same value as normal links
Graeme Stiles:
It would be to ensure a constant flow of unique keyword optimised new content on the website. Content remains the most important on-page factor
Dewaldt Huysamen:
Link out from your current content to relevant authoritative resources (websites).
Darren Vrede:
Addition of fresh keyword focussed content.
Graeme Stiles:
Yes I think links from the same IP have a lower value: It is always important to try and get links from as many unique c class IP’s as possible.
Dewaldt Huysamen:
I don’t believe they do as most people have dynamic IP addresses. In context though, they could track this to an extent.
Darren Vrede:
Yes they do, I assume they use it to determine link patterns and unnatural linking.
Graeme Stiles:
With the spamming of blog rolls and footer links certain links have less value. A link positioned in quality content would carry more weight than a generic footer link.
Dewaldt Huysamen:
Yes placement definitely does. Size, however, does not really count that much. Contextual links in the body above fold will count the most.
Darren Vrede:
Sure, bigger and more visible links will have a higher CTR which show’s more importance.
Graeme Stiles:
1. Remap old URL’s to new URL’s then 301 redirect.
2. Set up a 404 error page for lost pages : users and search engines will thank you.
Dewaldt Huysamen:
iLead uses the data to determine the best performing pages, improve them whilst removing the lower performing pages from Google’s index.
Darren Vrede:
Keep the URL structure the same if it’s well optimised and 301 redirect old urls to appropriate new pages
Graeme Stiles:
Usability serves two purposes: 1.Relevancy and 2.encouraging clicks to your site. It is vital for SEO that there is a positive UX focus.
Dewaldt Huysamen:
A lot as speed, readability and navigation helps to keep the person engaged for longer. In turn, this increases your rankings.
Darren Vrede:
It’s a big factor, because it will affect bounce rate, time on site, pages visit, etc all being used in the Google Algorithm.
Graeme Stiles:
While this one is hard to know for sure, I think CTR can be seen as a sign of relevance and as such may be used to decide rankings.
Dewaldt Huysamen:
Since Panda, definitely! Google themselves stated that focus should be on the CTR, Bounce rate and Conversion rate.
Darren Vrede:
Yes it does, it’s a sign of relevance – optimizing Title and Description meta tags will help with this
Graeme Stiles:
1.Duplicate content 2.Too many links too fast 3.Buying or selling links
Dewaldt Huysamen:
1. Hidden text or links; 2. cloaking or sneaky redirects; and 3. ‘doorway pages’ specifically created for the search engines.
Darren Vrede:
Paid links, Hidden text/links, site uptime
Graeme Stiles:
I prefer WordPress, mostly because I have worked with it the most and I feel it is a great platform from which to begin the SEO process.
Dewaldt Huysamen:
At iLead, it’s WordPress for sure! Also believe it to be Google’s choice, because they penalise you if it’s not updated to the latest version.
Darren Vrede:
Wordpress, when used with the right plugins the onsite is flawless
Graeme Stiles:
There can be a lot of value in paid links – if you don’t get caught…I would not advise clients to use them, there are other ways to get results.
Dewaldt Huysamen:
Steer clear from paid links. If someone reports this to Google or they pick it up, your website can and most probably will be sandboxed.
Darren Vrede:
Paid links definitely work. If you going to use them for your client you need to communicate all the risks. I would not advise my clients to use them.
In conclusion I would like to thank all the interviewees for sharing their valuable knowledge with us. Please feel free to leave your comments and share your own knowledge on all the questions above.
About the Author
Nice Nathan, I like the last question on Paid links brings a lot to light
SEO BLOG indeed, I have been reading you for a while now and I have to say that articles have been getting better and better
Everyone in the SEO industry sings the same song regarding paid links… Don’t do them, they are bad, Google will ban you, etc. But the funny thing is that in an anonymous poll, 70% of SEO’s admitted to using paid links. (The other 30% probably works on big brands so they don’t have to do them, they get natural links). What is a paid link? Surely the Yahoo directory that charges $299 is a paid link which Google advised people to submit to till a few years ago in their Guidelines. Good post otherwise, I do enjoy these interviews you guys are doing.