Speaking of SEO...

I was on my way home the other day, which is one of the times that I always seem to get these random ideas... for some reason SEO came to mind. Personally, I don't care all that much about SEO (various reasons that are irrelevant for this), but I understand the purpose of SEO and keywording, and wondered about the method of implementation...


I've seen a number of sites where there is a tags/keyword section on the home page or even various pages within the site, which look like a dictionary listing. Personally, I've never cared for this and have always felt that it took away from the site (particularly one that is meant to be displaying images/artwork). So, what occurred to me is.... wouldn't it be just as effective (for the bots who do the SEO searching) to have the lettering in identical color as the BG, and blend in 100% with the site - as to be invisible to the casual observer? The bots (as I'd think) aren't looking for contrasting color between your BG and font color, so couldn't you place black text, on your black BG and have all the tags there for SEO, but not visible for clients to see?

They are reading code not looking at the page.

jskaggs72 wrote in post #16400378
They are reading code not looking at the page.

Exactly. It's not people who are doing it... it's automated bots. That's why I asked, "wouldn't it be just as effective (for the bots who do the SEO searching) to have the lettering in identical color as the BG...?"

So, why don't people do this?

Years ago, people did that, & the bots will now drop you to the bottom of the listings because of it.
"If a search engine detects text in the same color as the background, it might penalize or even ban your site."

PhotosGuy wrote in post #16400461
Years ago, people did that, & the bots will now drop you to the bottom of the listings because of it.
"If a search engine detects text in the same color as the background, it might penalize or even ban your site."

Likewise, Google's not particularly fond of the keyword stuffing you have noticed either. Do a search for a popular search term, check the top 10 results, I'll guarantee that none of them have used keyword stuffing. Just shows how useful it is

All of these old SEO tactics do not work anymore. Disguising keywords, link lists, etc... They've all been made moot by googles updates to their algorithm. I wouldn't rely on any of them, and in most cases it's a sure way to get your site penalized or banned.

Good, fresh content that people link to, is the best way to increase your ranking.

Seo becoming more about content, rejoice! It's a huge time sink but blog posts, articles filled with pictures and stories are very sexy to google. They'll even rank as a page.

Content is king.. Organic SEO is the smartest move possible.

Create quality content. It takes a long time, but that is what will give you the higher rankings.

Its not just content, though this is a large part, its also about authority which, basically, means quality inbound links from authority brands/sites (to said content) that are on topic and so help cement that your site is seen as quality and reputable. Its quality links, mind, not masses of links from link farms, off topic sites, low level blog directories, etc.

Additionally, don't forget image alt tags. Good, sound descriptions in these also helps. Also, site loading speed in increasingly under googles scrutiny.

I have also read somewhere that Google doesn't like flash video's or music in pages...

Jim

No one should be using Flash anymore anyhow, and sites that do need to move away from using it.

Andrew Tingle wrote in post #16404338
No one should be using Flash anymore anyhow, and sites that do need to move away from using it.

I agree especially seeing as iPads and Android tablets don't support flash. Its very irritating to be surfing on the tablet and run across a site that still uses flash and you can't view half the content.

a_roadbiker wrote in post #16404304
I have also read somewhere that Google doesn't like flash video's or music in pages...

Jim

not Flash video.

Embedded Youtube video, definitely. Embedded Vimeo to a lesser extent.

Last I checked, Youtube is better for SEO, but Youtube also has drawbacks - for instance, it will "suggest" related videos when your embedded video finishes playing - and some of that related content may be your competitor's! We use Vimeo for improved video picture quality, and the ability to turn off the unwanted suggestions.

Andrew Tingle wrote in post #16404338
No one should be using Flash anymore anyhow, and sites that do need to move away from using it.

I know it's off topic, but you got a great logo, Andrew!

As for the SEO - write quality content, put pictures, use alt tags. It also helps if you have a nice amount of backlinks not only to your main .com page but to the deep down pages like your blogs, e.t.c.

At the end: the one with the most backlinks wins! But to get them, you have to attract the users to tag your content and share.

Good luck!