Blogger’s Blood Boils as SEO Misinformation Spreads
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To us, the type of SEO attacks revealed this week are only a few steps away from what tons of bloggers/websites do every day: purposely try to game search engines just so they can get more hits to their site, and by extension, maybe make a few extra dollars. Unless you are running a straight-up scam link-farm or very, very lucky — the highest search engine rank in the world is not going to have lasting benefits if the content is nonexistent.
One Angry Wolf
The full post got quite a strong response from Michael at Graywolf’s SEO Blog, who literally says Christina is a clueless idiot. That kind of language is a little strong, I’m not going to personally attack Christina, but I will state that her post was a personal attack on folks like me - who work our blogs with passion and technical savvy to attract and keep the most readers.
Recognizing search engine technology and optimizing your site is not unlike researching traffic and finding the best location for your corner store. You’ve got great product and a great store, isn’t it intelligent to place the store in the best location? Is it gaming unless you put your store in the middle of the desert where no one can find it?
Christina also appears ignorant of Google’s ability to accurately analyze and rank links. Truth be told, you can do all the gaming you’d like, but if no one is referencing your site, you won’t be in the standings for very long. Popularity is key on the web, and bloggers help to drive each others’ popularity. I do hundreds of searches with Google on a daily basis, and rarely find a page ranked high that doesn’t have the information I’m seeking.
Is Blogging Opportunistic? Absolutely!
If you’re not taking advantage of the opportunities that search engines have put forth, you’re just plain stupid. I’m not gaming the system by concentrating on my page structure, content, keyword selection, etc. I’m putting a red carpet out for Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo! to find me easily and organize my content properly.
Google wrote the recipe that all good sites should follow. If you can’t follow the recipe, don’t complain to me that your dinner tastes like crap compared to mine. Get to cookin, follow the instructions… and ask for help when you need it!
Marketing is very important when the big company spread overly with information and it is important to get through to your customer. Not at all cost though ways like spam I despice heavily…
With blogs the little people got a new way to get their truth told and people who loose their power gets upset. I think it is only symptomatic that they think other truths than their own is totally wrong…
They will have a tough awakening…
As far as Google’s ability to accurately rank pages…they’re good enough,but I have done searches where the top listing didn’t have much to do with the search except for the keyword(s) showing in the text occasionally.
Even though I greatly understand evrything you’re saying Doug, I just wanted to be fair to Christina -I don’t think she’s a total idiot.
Perhaps that’s the problem, William. Christina isn’t distinguishing each, she’s simply lumping the entire blogosphere together and saying that we’re the problem, not the solution.
Here’s another blurb:
SEO isn’t good for readers and searchers? Really? It’s all a lie and blogs are negatively impacting search results? I get most of my assistance from blogs, not brochure sites… assistance with finding vendors, development, SEO, marketing, technology… rarely do I find better material outside the blogosphere.
I believe blogs tend to be more open, honest and balanced than corporate websites. That’s why people pay so much attention to them - and in turn - Google ranks them high. Companies don’t like this… in fact, they despise it because it may force them to open up and begin to blog themselves.
Media used to think the same thing, always knocking the blogosphere and blaming all their online woes on bloggers. (Just as they blamed classifieds dying on eBay and Craigslist). At least Mass Media got smart, though, and they are now blogging!
It’s all about supply and demand. I think Christina has it all wrong because people are demanding this type of content. Bloggers aren’t the problem. Ignorance is.
PS: I don’t think Christina is an ‘idiot’, either. I just think she doesn’t have a solid grasp of the nature of search, online behavior, and how to properly leverage it. I know a lot of folks like Christina!