Well, personally, I don't take 'd on't s pam' to mean don't mass-link or mass-automate. Clearly, I just mean: create useful content. If u do so on a larger scale, be sure it's not too similar.
Clear, cogent, and unique.
Has to pass both AI and human reader, Id say...
Also..ppl suggest::
Create amazing content?
Fast page load? (Some of my sites are FAST! Others are SLOOOOOW! Need to fix this!)
Buy GOOD proxies!! Buy GSA Captcha Breaker! (I am still waiting on this!!!)
Use PBN for T1. Real PBN = self hosted on different hosts, unique hand-written content, lots of it. Use SERE for T2. Nothing spammy. That's it. Don't worry about index services. G will find it. Just a waste of resource in the current environment. Finally, and most important, basics of web design must be in place - all tags count, robots.txt helps, sitemap, etc. Don't overlook importance of indexing images (alt tags) and videos. The easier you make it for G, the better the results. Use your analytics and WM tools. It is all right there. You can check my posts over the years. I have been all over the place as I learned. Now it is pretty simple for ranking. Focused and high quality execution. I am still playing around with theories on bot traffic for organic rankings. There is something to it, just haven't skinned it right yet. Will post when I do. All of this is assuming you want to rank long-term and are not churn+burn.
@viking: I appreciate your stopping in and commenting. Clearly, I can learn a LOT from you. A LOT may not even come close to describing it.
I talk a good talk, but I am not as careful as I tell others to be.
Maybe I need to think about this...
May I ask you, what may/will happen if I am NOT so careful??
Should I re-review all the penalties? Which may apply??
I'm being totally serious now.
I guess to me, it's all about marketing. Why should we be penalize for links? IRL, ppl say "get your brand out." So, I guess I see every link as an opp for branding.
I know this may harm rather than help.
Also, I don't use sitemaps or robots files. Well, that's not entirely true. Sometimes I do.
Why not?? I just dont want competitors to have an easier time dissecting those sites.
I asked about this practice on BHW years ago. No one had compelling argument as to why it's a necessity.
@Deeeeeeee I suppose it is the voice of experience, some good, some bad. I have made a lot of SEO mistakes over the years. You name the mistake, and I have probably made it at some point. Here on this forum, over the years, I have been lucky enough to learn from a lot of really skilled people. Most of those conversations though actually happened on the sideline via direct message or email.
IMO seo comes down to what your objective is. Churn+burn is still a viable business model if done correctly. Lots of people do it and make good money. That is not my business model though.
I own a brand. So my perspective is more conservative now. As the brand is sold in several countries, I also have to cater to localized strategies of search engines, social media, and languages for that country.
But looking at it from a 'u.s.' perspective....and this is my opinion based on my personal experiences, I would not use SER for T1. That is not a knock on SER. SER is perfectly capable of doing it, it is just that the playing field has changed. G has upped their game in the last year. It's not necessary to generate huge amounts of garbage links at T1 to rank. PBN is the way to go. It requires some work and extra cost, but it is nearly bullet-proof if done correctly. And it sticks long-term.
I agree with you about marketing and links. 100%. But that is the way of the world according to G. It is their world, so we need to play by their rules. With that though, and as I have said several times previously, SER is the best tool for building a presence online. I am friends with someone who is a CMO at a major insurance company in New York. They have over 100 marketing people who do nothing but bang out content and links all day, every day. If anyone thinks they can compete for any other their keywords by doing 'white hat' seo, they are fooling themselves. SER gives you a chance to compete. The other thing, they also use a LOT of blackhat techniques. So nothing wrong with Blackhat, just don't do it at T1.
So for your last comment about a compelling argument. There is none. Only experience. If you want to rank a kw on page 1 for a day or two, that is something that is relatively easy, but then the url is fried and useless when G slaps it. If you want to rank the same kw for a year, 5 years, 10 years, well that requires adjusting to G's ever changing requirements and making sure onsite is solid. G has been pretty clear that they want onsite to be perfect...for them. An obvious point is that 60% of all G searches are now done via mobile device. If your site is not mobile-enabled and mobile-optimized do you think G will rank you?
I wholeheartedly appreciate your words! I've re-read this three times just now. lol
What you wrote supports me in the direction I am already going: working on my PBNs. I think I'm just going to start over, not scrap existing, but rather add a few TOTALLY new sites, not re-used domains I find or buy, just 100% clean.
I only learned about the special mobile-enabled mode (AMP) all sites should have while reading older posts on this forum. Did 0% of that, so far.
Of course, the commercial CMSes I use are mobile-friendly. It's just the couple of platforms I made on my own, that I re-used on all different sites, that need attention. I did change most of my own sites a few years back to pass the G! mobile-friendly test.
(I added a check for mobile, and if user is mobile, don't display the side menu and a few other basic things. Mobile menu, etc. (They passed Google mobile test when I checked a few yrs back-maybe I should re-rest??) Even so, I know the CSS needs attention for the mobile on some sites (type size) and YES, this is a priority so I'll get to this soon.
I'm also dealing with brands, tho I'd like to start a few C&B projects just for fun.
"It's not necessary to generate huge amounts of garbage links at T1 to rank."
Years ago, I did all this by hand. haha Really. I'd spend all day creating accounts for profile links, posting in dirs, and for a time it did work. But here's where I wonder where the line is: I wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary, just promoting my brand. Comparatively, I got little done, as now what I can do with SER is way more efficient. At what point is it going to be considered passing the penalty threshold?
I don't want to hide my new T1 PBNs...but I will!
I feel like these are a "constellation" of my related sites. I don't think the SEs feel the same way. lol So, I'll hide them, but I feel like it's without cause.
" If anyone thinks they can compete for any other their keywords by doing
'white hat' seo, they are fooling themselves. SER gives you a chance to
compete."
I've very quickly come to understand this. I consider this software a life saver. Plus, it's created a gig economy for ppl worldwide, where even SER work for cheap can actually pay for a lot in their own local economies.
"I don't want to hide my new T1 PBNs...but I will!"
I am a little different on this. My PBN's are truly stand alone sites that function as if there are end-of-line sites. I don't hide them at all. I promote them and drive traffic to them. It's just that they drop outbound power to my MS. Pretty basic, but not many do it. The PBN must have no connection to the MS except for the outbound link.
I like the PBN strategy as it insulates my MS from any mistakes I may make, and still passes through the link juice from my seo efforts. But it does cost more in time and money.
I have a few PBNs like this!! My goal is have more high-quality stand-alone PBNs that are worthy in and of themselves. From the first ones I made, I was trying to make them LOOK real and sort of "feel" real, if someone happened upon them. I dunno if I'd have fooled anyone, but now, there's no one to fool, as the T1s are solid on their own.
I went crazy and started making high quality Tier 1s that actually ARE REAL and that I actually WANT ppl to visit! I didn't know if I was wasting time or not. Maybe it wasn't so crazy after all. lol
"The PBN must have no connection to the MS except for the outbound link."
I've followed this as well. But why?? If my T1s are getting really good, better than a lot of MS I find, why do we have to do this?
I guess a lot of this for me is just getting with the program and thinking of all this in new terms. My first university degree was related to advertising. I think that has helped me, and at the same time, has actually been a hindrance, in that a lot of what we are doing is sort of counter-intuitive.
Like IRL, if you can get ads in all different media, that's great. Different audiences and demographics, sure!
Cheap weekly periodicals? Sure, why not! Penny saver sales papers? ^#<& yeah! But with SEO, there are actually places u can place your "ad" that will harm.
IMO the single best argument for having PBN's at T1 is that SER + SERE links tend to drop out of the index rapidly. I have never had a single PBN drop out of the index. Yes, PBN's are more work and cost, but what is the aggregate cost of resources when you have to constantly backfill lost links? Even if you use an index service, the results will be the same. Those types of links tend to drop. PBN's are bulletproof. This is what I see as best practice this year. Also as I previously mentioned, on-site, mobile-friendly layout.
Comments
Don't spom.
Don't spum.
What does this even mean?!?!??!??!?!?!
Well, personally, I don't take 'd on't s pam' to mean don't mass-link or mass-automate. Clearly, I just mean: create useful content. If u do so on a larger scale, be sure it's not too similar.
Clear, cogent, and unique.
Has to pass both AI and human reader, Id say...
Also..ppl suggest::
Create amazing content?
Fast page load? (Some of my sites are FAST! Others are SLOOOOOW! Need to fix this!)
Buy GOOD proxies!!
Buy GSA Captcha Breaker! (I am still waiting on this!!!)
Subscribe to SEREngines!
I talk a good talk, but I am not as careful as I tell others to be.
Maybe I need to think about this...
May I ask you, what may/will happen if I am NOT so careful??
Should I re-review all the penalties? Which may apply??
I'm being totally serious now.
I guess to me, it's all about marketing. Why should we be penalize for links? IRL, ppl say "get your brand out." So, I guess I see every link as an opp for branding.
I know this may harm rather than help.
Also, I don't use sitemaps or robots files. Well, that's not entirely true. Sometimes I do.
Why not?? I just dont want competitors to have an easier time dissecting those sites.
I asked about this practice on BHW years ago. No one had compelling argument as to why it's a necessity.
IMO seo comes down to what your objective is. Churn+burn is still a viable business model if done correctly. Lots of people do it and make good money. That is not my business model though.
I own a brand. So my perspective is more conservative now. As the brand is sold in several countries, I also have to cater to localized strategies of search engines, social media, and languages for that country.
But looking at it from a 'u.s.' perspective....and this is my opinion based on my personal experiences, I would not use SER for T1. That is not a knock on SER. SER is perfectly capable of doing it, it is just that the playing field has changed. G has upped their game in the last year. It's not necessary to generate huge amounts of garbage links at T1 to rank. PBN is the way to go. It requires some work and extra cost, but it is nearly bullet-proof if done correctly. And it sticks long-term.
I agree with you about marketing and links. 100%. But that is the way of the world according to G. It is their world, so we need to play by their rules. With that though, and as I have said several times previously, SER is the best tool for building a presence online. I am friends with someone who is a CMO at a major insurance company in New York. They have over 100 marketing people who do nothing but bang out content and links all day, every day. If anyone thinks they can compete for any other their keywords by doing 'white hat' seo, they are fooling themselves. SER gives you a chance to compete. The other thing, they also use a LOT of blackhat techniques. So nothing wrong with Blackhat, just don't do it at T1.
So for your last comment about a compelling argument. There is none. Only experience. If you want to rank a kw on page 1 for a day or two, that is something that is relatively easy, but then the url is fried and useless when G slaps it. If you want to rank the same kw for a year, 5 years, 10 years, well that requires adjusting to G's ever changing requirements and making sure onsite is solid. G has been pretty clear that they want onsite to be perfect...for them. An obvious point is that 60% of all G searches are now done via mobile device. If your site is not mobile-enabled and mobile-optimized do you think G will rank you?
What you wrote supports me in the direction I am already going: working on my PBNs. I think I'm just going to start over, not scrap existing, but rather add a few TOTALLY new sites, not re-used domains I find or buy, just 100% clean.
I only learned about the special mobile-enabled mode (AMP) all sites should have while reading older posts on this forum. Did 0% of that, so far.
Of course, the commercial CMSes I use are mobile-friendly. It's just the couple of platforms I made on my own, that I re-used on all different sites, that need attention. I did change most of my own sites a few years back to pass the G! mobile-friendly test.
(I added a check for mobile, and if user is mobile, don't display the side menu and a few other basic things. Mobile menu, etc. (They passed Google mobile test when I checked a few yrs back-maybe I should re-rest??) Even so, I know the CSS needs attention for the mobile on some sites (type size) and YES, this is a priority so I'll get to this soon.
I'm also dealing with brands, tho I'd like to start a few C&B projects just for fun.
"It's not necessary to generate huge amounts of garbage links at T1 to rank."
Years ago, I did all this by hand. haha Really. I'd spend all day creating accounts for profile links, posting in dirs, and for a time it did work. But here's where I wonder where the line is: I wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary, just promoting my brand. Comparatively, I got little done, as now what I can do with SER is way more efficient. At what point is it going to be considered passing the penalty threshold?
I don't want to hide my new T1 PBNs...but I will!
I feel like these are a "constellation" of my related sites. I don't think the SEs feel the same way. lol So, I'll hide them, but I feel like it's without cause.
" If anyone thinks they can compete for any other their keywords by doing 'white hat' seo, they are fooling themselves. SER gives you a chance to compete."
I've very quickly come to understand this. I consider this software a life saver. Plus, it's created a gig economy for ppl worldwide, where even SER work for cheap can actually pay for a lot in their own local economies.
I am a little different on this. My PBN's are truly stand alone sites that function as if there are end-of-line sites. I don't hide them at all. I promote them and drive traffic to them. It's just that they drop outbound power to my MS. Pretty basic, but not many do it. The PBN must have no connection to the MS except for the outbound link.
I like the PBN strategy as it insulates my MS from any mistakes I may make, and still passes through the link juice from my seo efforts. But it does cost more in time and money.
I have a few PBNs like this!! My goal is have more high-quality stand-alone PBNs that are worthy in and of themselves.
I went crazy and started making high quality Tier 1s that actually ARE REAL and that I actually WANT ppl to visit! I didn't know if I was wasting time or not. Maybe it wasn't so crazy after all. lol
"The PBN must have no connection to the MS except for the outbound link."
I've followed this as well. But why?? If my T1s are getting really good, better than a lot of MS I find, why do we have to do this?
I guess a lot of this for me is just getting with the program and thinking of all this in new terms. My first university degree was related to advertising. I think that has helped me, and at the same time, has actually been a hindrance, in that a lot of what we are doing is sort of counter-intuitive.
Like IRL, if you can get ads in all different media, that's great. Different audiences and demographics, sure!
Cheap weekly periodicals? Sure, why not! Penny saver sales papers? ^#<& yeah! But with SEO, there are actually places u can place your "ad" that will harm.
I have to say, there's really no good argument against this practice. So, this is what I'm going to be focusing on in coming weeks.
"PBN's are bulletproof."
It does seem that PBNs insulate your MS...
https://powerseoranker.com/seo-link-building-strategy/