Thanks for the optimization links. My blog …

by Ana | Traffic Generation on March 16, 2011 · 49 comments

Comment posted on Matt Cutts on All Things SEO: Speed, Link Buildling, Domain Names and More by Staci Gauny

Thanks for the optimization links. My blog always says it loads slow. Trying to work on that one

Thanks again, Ana!

Staci

Article by Ana Hoffman

Ana is the founder of Traffic Generation Cafe and wants you to know that Thesis + Scribe = SEO Made Simple.

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Comments Closed

{ 48 comments }

Ingrid Abboud March 19, 2011 at 8:50 am

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
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Dennis Edell@ Direct Sales Marketing March 19, 2011 at 7:50 am

I agree with your last bit more then anything else, which is why I will NEVER worry on a Google update. Just do what’s right, and you needn’t worry.

I have finally started outsourcing my SEO to someone I trust, so I don’t even think about it anymore.
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Staci Gauny March 18, 2011 at 10:17 pm

Thanks for the optimization links. My blog always says it loads slow. Trying to work on that one

Thanks again, Ana!

Staci
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Mavis Nong March 18, 2011 at 11:26 am

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
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Ana | Traffic Generation March 18, 2011 at 6:54 pm: 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.
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Linda @talktherapybiz.com March 18, 2011 at 7:04 am

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:)

Ana | Traffic Generation March 18, 2011 at 6:51 pm: 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.
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Facebook Application March 18, 2011 at 12:46 am

First - Your article is Awesome “Ana”

@nd…”Ana” is my SEO Guru..I adopted all tips in my website and now generate traffic more but Some things still are on the way..How many link create for per page..i want some tutorial also on that..

Ana | Traffic Generation March 18, 2011 at 6:43 pm: There’s not hard and fast rule on that.
You must link out to authority sites sometimes; you definitely should interlink your posts, and definitely moderated your comments to weed out any links you don’t want to have on your blog.
All of it is common sense pretty much.
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Lisa@ list building March 17, 2011 at 4:51 pm

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
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Ana | Traffic Generation March 17, 2011 at 9:37 pm: So good to have you back, Lisa - and thank you!
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Alexandru Petru March 17, 2011 at 2:19 pm

Hey Ana,

I don’t think the PR is actually leaking from your page, but rather it’s flowing from your page, that is you still retain your PR but you influence the PR of others.

Also, I am always for branding your business but this can’t always be the case, especially when you are building a niche website, because you would most likely have to fight against a big brand and it’s not always good.
Branding your blog is great, but who will search for the brand if no one knows about it and will most probably won’t know and wont search it on google no matter how hard you try to promote it.

One thing that I tried to do is get people to some of my websites exclusively through other means then Google. From websites like digg, twitter, facebook and other social or bookmarking websites. Thus following exactly the google guidelines, that you should get traffic from nowhere which in turn will bring you links this increasing your rankings. Guess what? If you are thinking that I got no link whatsoever and no increase in ranking you are right, I had to do my own link building so, we don’t have to always listen to Google.

Also, I follow google’s blog and I usually find out from there if google has something to say. But it’s nice to have the most important stuff put together and easy to access
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Ana | Traffic Generation March 17, 2011 at 9:36 pm: As far as leaking PR vs flowing PR, Alex, I am still of the opinion that your PR can suffer due to too many links.
I have so many readers proudly tell me that they are on the first page of Google for their brand name no one every heard of… But it’s the first page, Ana!
Of course, we always need to do our own link building and not rely on natural linking; however, Matt does have a point.
That’s exactly how I get a lot of my readers and many links - they come, they like my content, they link to it.
Reply

Sheila Atwood@landing pages best practices March 17, 2011 at 12:04 pm

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.
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Ana | Traffic Generation March 17, 2011 at 9:25 pm: 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.
Reply

Lou Barba@informationhighwaycardandgiftshop.com March 17, 2011 at 7:20 am

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
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Ana | Traffic Generation March 17, 2011 at 9:22 pm: 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!
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GabrieIe Maidecchi@Esimple Studios March 17, 2011 at 3:48 am

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.
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Ana | Traffic Generation March 17, 2011 at 9:10 pm: 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.
Reply

Sandeep@CuriousLittlePerson March 16, 2011 at 9:28 pm

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..
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Ana | Traffic Generation March 17, 2011 at 9:08 pm: You are so very welcome, Sandeep - let me know how you like SEO Doctor.
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Alex March 16, 2011 at 9:03 pm

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 )
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Ana | Traffic Generation March 17, 2011 at 9:07 pm: 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…
Reply

Jane@Blogging Tips March 16, 2011 at 7:07 pm

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.
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Ana | Traffic Generation March 17, 2011 at 9:01 pm: 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?
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DiTesco March 16, 2011 at 11:59 am

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

Ana | Traffic Generation March 17, 2011 at 8:58 pm: 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!
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Riya @ Couponseasy March 16, 2011 at 10:21 am

Hi Ana,

It’s very influential post and certainly clears more if’s and but’s about Google working and influence in search engine.
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Ana | Traffic Generation March 16, 2011 at 11:47 am: Thanks, Riya, and always a pleasure to see you around.
Ana
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Allie March 16, 2011 at 10:17 am

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?
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Allie March 16, 2011 at 10:57 am

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!
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Ana | Traffic Generation March 16, 2011 at 11:44 am: 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.
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Steve@Internet Lifestyle March 16, 2011 at 10:00 am

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.
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Ana | Traffic Generation March 16, 2011 at 11:37 am: 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!
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James March 16, 2011 at 9:32 am

Did you hear what he said about article marketing?

I can see his point if you misinterpret article marketing and your aim is to get as many poor quality articles written as possible and spam the directories to get backlinks. That doesn’t work. But creating high quality articles and publishing them to a select few of the top directories still works as a traffic generation technique. People do pick up your articles if they are of high value and recommend them and even publish them to their sites for their own audiences to read.
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Ana | Traffic Generation March 16, 2011 at 11:34 am: I bet that video was made BEFORE the recent Panda update. Matt Cutts records his videos in bulk and then posts them periodically.
Point being, James, that now SE will give even less love to article directories and might even discount links from them - personal opinion.
Also from personal experience, I always published high quality articles in only the best article directories and barely got any traffic out of them. And the links? The were always republished by blogs who didn’t want to write their own content - no quality there.
Again, personal opinion on the matter; seems like Matt Cutts agrees.
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Robert Dempsey@Internet Marketing Strategies March 16, 2011 at 9:20 am

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.
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Ana | Traffic Generation March 16, 2011 at 11:31 am

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?
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Robert Dempsey@Internet Marketing Strategies March 16, 2011 at 6:09 pm

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.
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Ana | Traffic Generation March 17, 2011 at 8:54 pm: 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.
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Vivek Parmar March 16, 2011 at 9:09 am

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?
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Ana | Traffic Generation March 16, 2011 at 11:26 am

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?
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Dave@Auto Traffic Tycoon March 17, 2011 at 3:37 pm

Hi,

Unless you want to pay for traffic like PPV, media buy, you have to talk about Google. Yahoo and Bing combined do not even come close.

But I must admit that Facebook and Youtube are 2 very good traffic sources.

But when we talk SEO, we relate to Google, no brainer here!

Thanks

Dave B
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Ana | Traffic Generation March 17, 2011 at 9:40 pm: Well, lookie-loo who do we have here! Dave is back!
Welcome back and I completely agree. I would add Twitter to your short list as well - for me, it’s been the largest referral traffic source since the beginning of this blog.
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TrafficColeman March 16, 2011 at 8:57 am

A slow site will turn people around, so you must fix that if you may..

“Black Seo Guy “Signing Off”
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Ana | Traffic Generation March 16, 2011 at 11:24 am: Not that difficult to do, so why not?
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Edwin March 16, 2011 at 8:52 am

Awesome post. Its great to finally have some of my SEO questions answered, and with videos and everything
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