Musings of a Professional UK SEO Consultant

Having started up this blog only a short while back, I am still in the throes of adding quality content to get the blog up and running properly. I am enjoying the process and writing is fun but… as the floodgates begin to open, the spam starts rolling in…

Obviously this Blog is moderated and I delete blatant spam as soon as it appears, the trouble is I’m getting a lot of comments that are in between being blatant spam and being insightful.

I have therefore been struggling with the nofollow / dofollow question and whether I should apply these tags to the post comments on this Blog.

What are Nofollow / Dofollow tags?

A link with a nofollow tag will appear the same to the general web going public as a link without the tag, but by implementing the nofollow tag the Blog or Forum owner is telling the search engines that this link has not been checked (or is not from a trusted source) and that the link should therefore pass no link juice or power to the resulting page.   At least that is the official line; there is some debate as to how the tag is really being dealt with by Google and the other search engines.  Tests have been run that prove that the Search Engines at least follow the nofollow links to their destination whether the resulting pages receive any link juice is open to debate.

Nofollow tags are implemented as follows:

Visit my <a href=” http://www.justinmarch.com/cheltenham-gloucester-web-design-seo-offer/”>SEO Company Cheltenham</a> site.
Which would look like this: SEO Company Cheltenham

Applying a nofollow tag, the comment would be transformed to:

Visit my <a href=” http://www.justinmarch.com/cheltenham-gloucester-web-design-seo-offer/” rel=”nofollow”> SEO Company Cheltenham</a> site.
Which would look like this: SEO Company Cheltenham

As you can see both of the above links look exactly the same to the casual observer.

NB: There is no dofollow tag; essentially dofollow is simply a “normal” hyperlink (or the absence of the nofollow tag).

Find out more about the background of the nofollow tag here: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2005/01/preventing-comment-spam.html

See David Leonhardts’ blog post for even more insight into this debate.

So what to do about Nofollow / Dofollow tags on this Blog?

I act to prevent spam as much as possible but am also willing to reward insightful comments with a dofollow link, the trouble is I’m getting a lot of comments that are in between, they aren’t blatant spam and they aren’t quite as insightful as I would like.

The problem  is it’s a trade off, I don’t want to put people off, and I don’t mind a bit of banter as it helps to humanise my Blog, on the other hand I don’t want to necessarily reward banter with a dofollow link.

Option 1:

• delete the spam
• nofollow the in-between comments
• follow the insightful comments

Option 2:

• delete the spam
• delete the in-between comments
• follow the insightful comments

Option 3:

• delete the spam
• follow in-between comments
• follow the insightful comments

Conclusion

For the moment anyway I think that option 1 is the most ideal I will just have to put up with the questions relating to why some comments are assigned nofollow where others are given normal link status.

I look forward to pleanty of insightful comments on this below…

Google Caffine (a major rewrite of a large chunk of how Google index web pages) looks set to launch, the sandbox that was set up by Google has now been retired http://www2.sandbox.google.com/

Google state that “Based on the success we’ve seen, we believe Caffeine is ready for a larger audience. Soon we will activate Caffeine more widely, beginning with one data center. This sandbox is no longer necessary and has been retired, but we appreciate the testing and positive input that webmasters and publishers have given.”

So what is going to be different:

• It looks like the results will be returned much faster
• It may change the Search Engine Results Pages (SERP’s) but supposedly not by much
• Google will get better and better at prioritising Breaking News
• Mashable think it means a tough time for SEO’s (see link below)

While the sandbox was active Mashable reviewed it here: http://mashable.com/2009/08/10/google-caffeine/

This is What Matt Cutts had to say back in August 2009:

It never ceases to amaze me how many people do not understand the difference between Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and Pay Per Click (PPC).  I am also conscious that, education particularly when it comes to online marketing is incredibly important, a little while back I heard of another instance where PPC listings were being sold as SEO.  I’m also fed up of people championing SEO and rubbishing PPC (which can be a very effective form of marketing for many websites).  So to this end I have decided to briefly explain the differences between SEO and PPC.

The image below shows a search in Google and highlights where the PPC advertising and the Natural (or Algorithmic) search results appear.  While Google is not the only search engine it is probably the one that most people use and the results of Yahoo, Ask, Bing etc. appear in much the same way.

PPC & Natural (or Algorithmic) Search Results

What is SEO?

SEO is the process of improving the volume or quality of traffic achieved through the Natural (or Algorithmic) search results.  The search engines are trying to return quality relevant content and the aim of SEO is to help make your site pages as relevant as possible for the phrases that you are targeting.  SEO normally involves keyword and competitor research in the first instance followed by input into both the site itself and also into offsite elements.

What is Pay Per Click (PPC)

To put it (very) simply PPC works by the advertiser selecting appropriate keywords that will then trigger their adverts. When a user types in the keywords the advert is displayed (there are other variables involved but this is a short article). If the user clicks on the advert then the advertiser pays, hence the phrase Pay Per Click.

What are the Benefits of PPC?

• You can use PPC to test your business ideas
• PPC can be set up immediately, SEO can be a slow burn
• PPC can inform your future SEO strategy
• It is flexible; you can turn off the campaign, reduce spend, refocus your adverts etc.

Further Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pay_per_click
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_engine_optimization

I have been racking my brains trying to think of a truly wiz bang idea for my first official post on this blog; it suddenly occurred that too much thought = no work.  So I settled on coming up with a list of third party resources to educate and inform those who are about to hire an SEO or develop a website.

Google Webmaster Guidelines
The Google Webmaster Guidelines are a good place to start to ascertain Googles’ position on SEO and what to look for when hiring an SEO consultant.

Google Search Engine Optimisation Starter Guide
If you want to obey all of the rules this is an excellent overview of the basics.

The SeoMoz Beginner’s Guide to Search Engine Optimisation
The SeoMoz Beginner’s Guide to SEO is again an excellent overview of some of the processes used by SEOMoz a well respected company.

High Rankings Forum
Run by the famous Jill Whalen this is a great place to ask your SEO related questions.

Digital Point Forum
Another great Forum although unlike High Rankings I feel that often some of the less likely theories go unchallenged.

So there it is my first official post, more to come over the next couple of days whan I have a chance to think about some meatier topics.