Relevancy Modified MozRank: A Smarter Metric for Rank Analysis
We have been working for a while now on our own internal correlation study in partnership with Trident Marketing and Fuzzy Logix. In working on this project, time and time again it shocked me how crude our current ranking metrics are. We finally have good raw data from sources like SEOMoz and Majestic SEO but we have only begun to scratch the surface of how Google uses these types of data to organize and create search rankings. In the same way that SEOMoz identified a simple statistical modeling technique known as Latent Dirichlet Allocation as a likely candidate for how Google models topic relevancy, we have been looking for similar statistical techniques that Google is likely to use in turning raw link data into metrics more suitable for ranking pages. The...
Updated PageRank Recovery
Hey folks, after it was reported to us that there were some issues with our free pagerank recovery tool, we decided to make a few upgrades for everyone. Now the tool will report both 404 and 302 URLs (and give you the status code so you can make a decision yourself as to which types you want to 301 redirect). We also now check the top 600 URLs according to the Linkscape API. No tags for this post.
Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Matt Cutts
I spoke yesterday at the excellent Distilled link building conference in London and will be again in a week. While my session covered a range of white-hat to black-hat techniques in social media link building, it was certainly the darker side of marketing that drew the most attention as the conference it self in general focussed on white hat techniques. At the end of the session, someone joked if I was afraid if Matt Cutts was in the audience, and I brushed it off saying “Im not afraid of Matt Cutts” and I think it came across as a bit braggadocios. The truth is that no one needs to be afraid of Matt Cutts. His goal is not to scare people into using particular tactics – in fact, his primary agenda is to protect the integrity of google search...
Google Adsense Good Faith
A friend of mine forwarded me the email from Google after is Adsense account was disabled, pointing out that he was disabled not for invalid click activity actually happening, but because Google says “we’ve determined that your AdSense account poses a risk of generating invalid activity”. The email goes on to say that the revenue will be returned to the advertiser. I understand that Google has a vested interest in proactively disabling Adsense accounts that have suspicious patterns to prevent future fraud, but I think they have an ethical obligation to pay out the remaining balance to the publisher if no actual invalid click activity was found. The publisher has given something of value to Google Adsense and the Advertisers in Good Faith, often...
An Unsettling Trend Among Search Agencies
For the second time in the last two months, I have received reports from clients both previous and current that other search agencies are refusing to disclose the links they have built for their clients. Let me say this clearly and concisely: If your SEO company refuses to disclose the links they build on your behalf, it is because they are either embarrassed by them, or they don’t exist at all. Call them out. They will say some BS like “we can’t reveal our secrets”. Tell them you “can’t reveal your money”. Seriously, links can be just as damaging as they are helpful. Paying for their services is like trusting a random person on the street to inject your arm with some unknown substance to make you stronger. No tags for thi
Once Again, it is about the links, not the tweets…
SEOMoz has posted another piece of anecdotal evidence linking tweets to rankings that must be taken with a grain of salt. I hate to continue to harp on this issue because I am still a big fan of SEOMoz, but the reality is that a tweet generating links is not a social signal. The issue in question was that smashingmagazine.com tweeted out a recommendation for SEOMoz’s excellent beginner’s guide to SEO. I highly recommend you check it out. After the tweet, their guide shot to the front page for the keyword “Beginner’s Guide”. Unfortunately, it is far too easy to jump to the conclusion that the retweets and social weight of smashing magazine’s twitter profile were responsible for the jump. What is the more likely culprit? A...
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