Not really... I do listen to his opinions.
Being in traffic generation/SEO niche, it’s always good to keep tabs on what’s going on with Google, right?
Realistically speaking though, who has the time?
So I thought I’d put together a post on a few Q&A sessions that Matt Cutts does regularly on YouTube.
This is what I found of interest from some of his latest videos:
Question: If you were an SEO of a large company, what would you include in your 2011 strategy?
Find the video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLp9Qf99DCI
Summary:
1. Website Optimization
Page loading time is a factor in Google rankings.
Even though is not a huge factor on a scale of things, studies show that it does have a tremendous influence as far as your visitor/customer behavior.
The faster the site, the more likely visitors will stay and BUY.
More on how to optimize your site for speed:
Decrease your speed = increase your ROI.
2. Internal linking
Use relevant and natural anchor text for internal linking and be consistent with it.
Make sure “you are not dropping the links off the cliff” (quote) with 404 errors.
More on internal linking:
3. Social Media Marketing
What does it have with SEO?
Spreading your content across various social media networks will bring visitors, who in turn might right a post, an article or otherwise link to you from their blogs.
Obviously, that creates high quality in-content link building opportunities.
Question: How important is it to have keywords in a domain name?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAWFv43qubI&feature=relmfu
Do you make your domain more brand-oriented, something catchy or do you go for a keyword-oriented domain name?
Brand names are easier to remember and come back to.
Brands like Google, Twitter, Facebook, etc. have absolutely no keywords in them, but everybody knows them.
Plus, with some new Google updates, it seems like less weight will be given to keyword domains vs domains that are not keyword heavy.
Ana’s rebuttal: you and I are not Twitter, and chances are will never be.
I named my blog “Traffic Generation Cafe” because in my opinion it accomplishes both goals: it’s a brandable and memorable name, yet it tells my visitors immediately what my site is all about and, in my opinion, brings in even more readers because the name easily identifies my niche and their need of information in that niche vs some brand no one ever heard of.
Let me know what you think about it in comments.
Question: Does Google still recommend 100 links or fewer per page?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6g5hoBYlf0&feature=relmfu
Yes, there used to be a time when Google recommended that you have 100 or less links per page due to their limited indexing capabilities.
Basically, if you had more than 100 links per page, Google would’ve never gotten to the end of the page to index all content.
By the way, if you are using SEO Doctor to make sure your pages stay “healthy” like I do, now you can ignore the whole “warning, you have more than 100 links on this page.”
However, make sure there’s a balance between having a lot of links that enhances user experience vs coming off as a link farm.
Also keep in mind, that your PageRank will be divided among all the links on a particular page; so the more outgoing links you have, the more rank you’ll leak from that page.
Marketing Takeaway
Google says, we do, right?
However, it’s good to have a head of your own sometimes and do what makes sense and what serves our readers vs SEO.
Have an opinion? Comment to show me that you’re alive!
I’m a big proponent for internal linking, it increases your visitors time onsite and is considered good seo, thanks for all the value you bring to this blog, it’s much appreciated.
Thanks, Mark. Be patient, soon you’ll reach it. 🙂
Tim
Very nice summary and some great SEO info. I have always been a fan of keyword domains and less so on the brandables.
What are your thoughts on domain extensions, should you always register a .com or appropriate cctld? Do you think the ICANN meeting this month where they are suppose to approve the guidebook will strengthen or weaken keyword domains? Since it is projected that there will be many more extensions out there where you can register your keywordrichdomain.newextension?
I don’t see how the importance of using a keyword-rich .com domain would be discounted by any new extensions, Tim.
This new dilution of numerous extensions won’t take away from the fact that our readers are more used to typing up .com and that’s what I am sticking with - until history shows otherwise that is.
Zachary Smith
I had never heard of SEO Doctor prior to this post. I already use Firefox so I downloaded it and began using it this week. And as you indicated, since Google is penalizing sites for slow load time, I also added Yslow which is an add on to Firebug for Firefox top help me improve my site load times. My site was loading so slowly that I received an F on the Yslow report card! While I did make some changes to WP Super Cache and added WP Minify plugin to expire headers and to consolidate and compress scripts, there were other recommendations to speed up the site Yslow could not be easily addressed manually.
However there is an automated solution I just implemented that solved the slow load problem with my plugins and the outgoing link problem. It is easy to forget to use “no follow” links as they frequently have to be added manually in WordPress. I started working through all the links on my site manually but decided to just upgrade to Pretty Link Pro from the “Lite” version so it would automatically no follow all my links, I could replaces 11 plugins with just this one, and it provides other powerful features including short URLs based on the name of your website for branding and link tracking. So now I’ve mostly stopped passing my Pagerank through my links and I dramatically sped up the load times of my site. I already improved to a C! Now I just have to add cdn and I should get to an A!
I want to thank you for the great advice that spurred me to action!
Best,
Zach
Hey Tzarina,
Not sure if I told you already or not - but your blog redesign looks amazing! Not that the previous one wasn’t great - but I do prefer this look on ya :).
I don’t have much to offer when it comes to link building and SEO - actually I don’t have squat to offer and that’s probably why I’m here a lot lol. Well that and I think everything you put out there has so much value. I only wish I was better at taking all your advice and putting it to action as you clearly know what you’re talking about! Heck, “you’re my Matt Cutts”!
I’ve been hearing more and more how site speed/page loading affects rankings - and I need to work on that a lot. I think I have way too many plugins and I’m sure many aren’t necessary.
As for choosing the right domain name - when I chose nittyGriddy, I was clueless about blogging and all that it entailed. Really - NADA! So I chose a name that was ME. It’s a play on words on nitty-gritty and as you know my nickname is Griddy. I don’t regret it though as it it’s really a part of my brand/identity but of course there are no key words there.
Anyhow - thanks for writing another goodies-packed post!
Hope you have a great weekend.
Cheers
I think in your case it actually works, Ingrid.
Since you are not big on SEO, most of your traffic comes from networking, which you are absolutely fabulous at. So a memorable name is definitely very appropriate for your blog!
//Signed// Mrs. Cutts
Thanks for the optimization links. My blog always says it loads slow. Trying to work on that one 🙂
Thanks again, Ana!
Staci
You are welcome, Staci.
Could be your computer too…
I recently heard the saying: “every time Google sneezes, we are catching a cold.” Google says, we do!
I still believe a domain name needs to be keyword-rich, not only for SEO purposes but to let your visitors know what your site is all about, without making them think hard.
Thanks for sharing these tips from the horse’s mouth, Ana 🙂
All the best,
Mavis
You are so very welcome, Mavis.
Of course, Matt has a tendency to not tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so common sense should still be at work.
For instance, keyword-rich domain names - still makes sense whatever Matt says.
Oh, Ana. I love your site (and great new look, btw), but I always feel like an imposter. I don’t have anything to contribute to SEO, other than I make a list of mid-range popularity key words after I choose my blog topic, and try not to appear like I’m writing for the search engines, too obviously;).
I do have to say, that I’ve learned a ton since coming to Traffic Generation Cafe, and my Alexa numbers have increased, so I must be absorbing something, right?
P.S Love your reader’s comments:)
I absolutely love it when you make it over to my blog, Linda!
Just judging by what you said and from what I see on your blog, you’ve definitely crossed the “SEO beginner” line long time ago.
Ana:
1st…. your blog looks fantastic ~~~~ great job 🙂
@nd..I’ll take you as my “guru” thanks. I play along with Google the best I can, but when I need the info that gets me where I need to be,,,,I’ll keep coming here!
Cheers!
Lisa
So good to have you back, Lisa - and thank you!
Ana,
When I first started learning about buying good domain names, I was taught to use keywords in your domain name. One example was a site that was on WordPress, the domain name was a hot keyword, the site has absolutely no content on it and it is at the top of Google. Seeing that change would be really nice.
The possibility of being big like Twitter for most of us is not very real. For some yes. So I think his advice of using both a brand domain, like your name and a keyword domain was a good suggestion.
Thanks for the links back to your posts for speeding up your blog I need to go back and read them again.
Hi, Sheila - I remember Google mentioning during their Panda update that keyword-oriented domains will not have as much value any longer, as in automatically getting higher ranking simple because of the domain.
So they said.
I am yet to see it in action.
Let me know if you have any questions about speeding up your blog.
Hi Ana,
I’m glad to say that I think I have the three main points you made in this post pretty well covered. I know there are things I could do to make it faster, and as I have time, I will implement them. The references you made to some of your previous posts really get into the fine points. I like your new look. It’s very distinctive and easy for us old folks to read without eyestrain. Thanks again for all your help.
Lou
I am glad to hear I am nourishing your eyesight, Lou. 🙂
It’s nice to know what we need to focus our efforts this year; nothing new, just a motivation to do more of it or do it better.
Always love having you around!
Choosing the right domain name for any new service or company has become one of the most daunting task of a modern entrepreneur, especially because you really have to come up with either original, meaningful concepts, or weird names no one has already registered, or some geographic domain stunt.
I really wish services like GoDaddy didn’t allow people to arbitrarily register tons of domains just for the sake of it, keeping them parked and waiting.
I am with you, Gabriele - I am just glad I don’t have many websites to worry about.
I suppose business is business and if you and I thought of buying out domains years ago, we’d be sitting on a pot of gold now. 🙂
Hey Ana, That’s pretty cool set of tips you’ve put down..
I never knew that matt cutts releases a set of videos .. will be on the lookout in future..
100 outgoing links in a page, never really knew about that..
I’m going right now to check out seo doctor..
You are so very welcome, Sandeep - let me know how you like SEO Doctor.
you cheeky thing!
Very clever to take the videos and points I made in my PR update post and create a post specific to these issues, along with extra links to video and stuff
Smart Girl 🙂
(could have given me some link love though - sheeeesh 😉 )
What are you talking about, sunshine - I didn’t base any of this on any of your posts, especially the ones I’ve never read. 🙂
Watched some videos, wrote a post…
Nice one Ana, lots of useful nuggets as always.
Just working on site speed everyday, but I am putting in a lot of stuff that increases loading time and then at the end of the day trying to fix them. So amateurish! Shame on me ;). Well I am working on speed now. Let’s see.
Jane.
I think it’s normal, Jane.
I keep adding plugins that I think add functionality to my blog, and then go back to see which ones to get rid of to speed things up.
Merry-go-round, anyone? 🙂
No question, Google says, we definitely do 🙂 or at least pay a lot of attention.
Actually, and since I do talk a bit about SEO myself, I have seen Matt Cutts video already although, if you notice, he says a lot but has always something in there where he really does not tell you the “whole” deal. Just tid bits of it but enough to get the point.
Anyway, I am in favor of a “keyword rich” domain names and I can not stress enough the importance of it, specially since there are “other” search engines and Google in particular does pay attention to it. As an example, I have a website who ranks in the first page of Google with virtually no articles at all, no SPAM links, etc.. Why? Really don’t know but it is “keyword” rich. Just type in the term “keyword plugin” on Google and see 🙂
You are so right, Francisco - Matt never really spills it all, does he?
That’s why I listen to him and then do what makes sense.
Like keyword domains - whatever he says, I still think that’s the way to go.
Thanks for coming by!
Hi Ana,
It’s very influential post and certainly clears more if’s and but’s about Google working and influence in search engine.
Thanks, Riya, and always a pleasure to see you around.
Ana
First, I didn’t know about this 100 link thing. ??? Great one more thing I need to worry about, lol.
Second, I don’t get the statement: “Also keep in mind, that your PageRank will be divided among all the links on a particular page; so the more outgoing links you have, the more rank you’ll leak from that page.”
I read it 6 times. Either I’m having a brain fart or really just don’t get it. How is your PR divided among all your links? And how is more outgoing links better if they are divided that would stretch them out thinly. Am I putting too much math into this?
Got the SEO Doctor. I love it, I actually do better than I thought but that is because I have been taking your advice. 🙂 And a few other SEO gurus, so you can’t take all the credit, LOL!
SEO Doctor is definitely a great tool.
And you are absolutely right about the correlation between PR and links.
Say a page is PR 4. People try to build links from that page by say commenting on it, thinking that PR 4 will rub off on their site. 🙂
Well, that PR 4 is only as good as the link that are on that page, including inpost, sidebar, footer, comments, etc. Every single one of those links carries a little bit of that PR 4 to wherever they are pointing to.
So PR 4 is divided by the number of links and the resulting number is what each link gets.
That’s why bloggers use nofollow to prevent PR leakage (yes, that’s the actual term for it).
Hope this shed some light as opposed to confusing you more. 🙂
If your blog is dofollow, that’s something you need to be aware of.
Ana,
Some great tips from the lips of Googlemiester Matt Cutts himself. What more could a man ask for? All of these “little” bonuses like site speed and internal linking end up adding up to the big difference between a page 1 SERP and a Page 2 SERP. Quite an important difference, even if it is only a “little” one.
I agree, Steve.
I don’t know why bloggers still argue about how big or how small of a factor something is, when it’s not that difficult to just do it.
Thanks for coming by!
Frankly nothing too surprising here Ana. Once Google made the agreement with Twitter and Twitter profiles started showing up in search results for names, it was only a matter of time before social shares started to count. That and many on-site factors like navigation, time on site, etc. help people stay. If someone clicks on a SERP, goes to a site, then bounces, it’s a potential indication of low-quality or simply not finding the right information. So these are ultimately most of the factors I’ve been focusing on for quite some time as part of the larger SEO strategy.
Now try telling most people out there that and they’ll talk about keywords and such. I know a number of high ranking sites that don’t even have the keywords tag, but they have enough links and shares of their content to rank #1 for certain phrases.
You are right, Robert - probably nothing new to you and me.
However, most people come here to learn and it’s good to know what Matt thinks we should focus our efforts on in the new year. Why not?
As far as the last 2 questions, those were news to me.
Domain names: always wanted to have keyword domains over AnaHoffman.com.
And 100 links? That’s the reason I cut down on my sidebar widgets. That and clutter. It’s good to know that I can have as many links as I want to and still be fully crawled.
Did you know that?
Very true - I will keep in mind the level of information that various people have been exposed to thus far. I didn’t mean to sound insulting to the great folks here, just putting my opinion on it. As for the 100 links, frankly I didn’t every consider it as I don’t think I’ve ever had even close to that many on a single page even with navigation, ads, etc.
Actually, you’d be surprised how quickly those links add up.
I used to have close to 300 links on my home page before I redesigned the blog - when you think about all the popular posts, recent posts, categories, commentators, etc, it adds up pretty quickly.
Page load time + seo + keyword in domain name + blah..blah. these things work a lot but still you need to work on link building and keyword research.
One more thing i like to ask why always we talk about Google Search, there are many other search engines also?
Well, someone got off the wrong side of the bed today, Vivek. 🙂
No one said those things are not important; of course they are. I just choose not to write about everything and every post.
Since Google brings about 90% of SE traffic, why wouldn’t we talk about it?
A slow site will turn people around, so you must fix that if you may..
“Black Seo Guy “Signing Off”
Not that difficult to do, so why not?