A Huge Tip for New Sites

Avoid Search Engine Penalties

Over the years I have had an entourage of Spies who really aren’t that subtle about watching what I do (Statcounter is great for spying on the spies) In truth I have always encouraged people to pay attention to what I do rather than just what I say and a large group of friends have done just that. In part I can’t always speak about everything openly (G gets persnickety about some things) and in part because I really don’t want to give the malicious saboteurs any ideas or ammo. Having said that I want to clear up a few things now that I have re-entered the MMO sewer as my old friend Splork likes to call it. (Quite an apt description I think.)

Before going any further I’d like you to read a couple of comments that Lorecee and Red left on my last post and then I’ll throw in my reply to them.

RED

Grizz, or anyone else that may know…I’m going to test this out soon, but what does everyone think about getting a strong link to be indexed with from the beginning. Is there a better effect or no effect at all by getting a few links and then a strong one, or having your strong one be your first link to get indexed? Anyone test weather G throws more weight in one way or another? My plan was to build “normal links” and then a month later or so then throw in one that will have considerable weight. I was just curious if anyone knew anything about that. I think I remember reading somewhere(possible MMFB) that its good to get a strong link first, but now that things are changing I might want to go as natural as possible. I think I answered my own question, but if anyone else has any input, it would be greatly appreciated. I love theories on this stuff. They are addicting in their own right.

Lorecee

I think I can help Red with his question:

“I’m going to test this out soon, but what does everyone think about getting a strong link to be indexed with from the beginning.”

I’ve been watching the construction process of Griz’s other two MMO blogs. The cardinal rule of bear watching is “watch what he does more than what he says.” Of course you need to remember that that some things he does may be tests, as in don’t try this at home or you might blow something up.

I’ve been wrong before (or so my BF tells me), but it would be just like Griz to model the construction of a new site from the ground up for those who care to pay attention. True or not, he’s sure got mine.

Glad to see you back, Griz. –Lorecee

RED

I’ve actually been watching what Griz has been doing with internetmarketinglessons.ca. It appears to be heavily bookmarked(scuttle plus) on individual posts. I don’t know if this is Grizz’s doing, or if someone just decided to help him out. I also noticed they are on bookmarking sites that are indexed in G and some have pr2′s or higher on their index page. The anchor text looks to be a mixture of heavily targeted and general related terms. I also noticed not just anyone can register on these bookmarking sites. So either, Grizz owns them or a buddy of his does. Or the third option. I once came across a “service” that allowed you access to a number of scuttle plus sites(with PR) for a fee. I’m not trying to blow the lid off anything your doing Grizz, so if you want to edit my post I understand. That being said I think all of the above is common knowledge with the folks that do this IM stuff. It also looks like he is trying to relate the words “Grizzly” and “Brears” with having to do with Internet Marketing and SEO. I’m not an expert on G, but I assume if it finds Grizzly and Brears on pages related to that stuff, it will start to equate those words with having to do with the niche. How many other people will choose those words for their IM or SEO site? Most likely only Grizzly. I guess it helps with branding. Just a theory, though. It may not work like that at all. By the way Grizz, which site should we watch most. Internetmarketinglessons.ca, Grizzlybrears.com, or this one? I’ve already picked the .ca to closely watch. Am I in the right ballpark er.. golf course?

Red,

Believe it or not – I haven’t built a single link anywhere for any of the three sites you mentioned. In fact, this may surprise most of you – I don’t link build anymore and haven’t in ages – yes I do acquire relevant links from appropriate sites but not for G’s benefit and not in any way that falls afoul of G’s guidelines. (I will talk about this in due course on the IM Lessons site.)  The IM.ca site has ranked page 1, position 3 on the Canadian data center for over a month now and page 7 on the US DC. If you are finding links to them then others have been bookmarking – would you believe I have never bookmarked any site – ever.

I have simply created what I consider properly SEO’d on site pages and then wait as the SE’s sort them out. So far they have been indexed quickly (without links) and ranked where they are without experiencing the G dance.

For those watching – the IM.ca site has only two posts. The GB site has 40ish put up rather quickly and then I stopped completely. In both cases G and the other SE’s treated the sites exactly the same – quick indexing and ranking without the usual dancing around.

Why?

Because I don’t manipulate them in any way shape or form. Or to put it another way they mimic a natural progression because they are in fact natural.

Over the past year I have seen this happen over and over again with all the business sites I have built for my clients. No this will not get you to position 1 but that can wait.

My goal with every new site I build is to avoid penalties and gain trust. The easiest way to do this is not to do anything other than introduce optimized content – either slowly or rapidly – makes no difference, just don’t build links. Be patient. Concentrate on optimized long tail related Posts/Pages and the SE’s will send traffic. More content = more long tail traffic. More traffic and surprise, surprise – real links will start to appear on their own or by legit means instigated by you and acceptable by G – in fact G is more than happy to give you a link themselves. (Surely some of you have learned how this is done by now?) If this sounds like just what G is looking for… it is. And it works – at least for legit sites in business niches. I’m just seeing if it will work in the cesspool niche we call IM/MMO.

You know how G has always stated that we should just provide good content and the rest will take care of itself? Well the Algo is actually capable of doing that in the mostly uncompetitive niches these days – I’m interested in seeing the results in a competitive niche. Most (read “all”) of the competition manipulates their rankings and while they may achieve results for a while I believe they will all shoot themselves in the foot sooner or later through penalties. In the end the non manipulated sites should rise to the top for no reason other than they aren’t penalized – it may take a while but once there they will never falter. As I said this has worked well in the not so competitive business niches so I am testing it in this niche now. I have some reservations though – this niche attracts saboteurs and an endless stream of new competition which I don’t see in the Aviation SMS niche or the Shrink Wrap niche or the Timbuktu Equipment Rental niche etc.

So that’s about it for those watching and wondering what I’m doing with these MMO sites. I am simply allowing G to do what it says it can do – weed out quality from the morass of sewage in this niche. Btw – I have no designs on any particular keywords – not interested. I just want to see if these sites acquire trust as quite frankly none of the sites in MMO have it in any meaningful way.

On a side note I linked to a clients site above – shrink wrap – so you can see just how quickly a site can rank without any manipulation in a local niche with moderate competition. Keep in mind that the business is located in Winnipeg and the owners only need to rank well for people searching for their product in Winnipeg. The site was built near the end of Oct. 2010 and within days it was sitting in 3rd position with nothing more than a link from G and a link from a relevant business directory.

Click to Enlarge

And how will this help you make money online?

Well I intend to drag you all out of the sewage niches and put your knowledge to work providing services to people who could use your help and are willing to pay you for it. There is a huge market out there for people with the skills you’ve acquired and you will be surprised at how little competition there really is.

More to come…

Griz

Related Posts:

• An Important On Site SEO Tip
• How to Convince a Skeptic