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CATEGORY: Content Management

Google Content Farm Crackdown

21st March, 2011

How Google is Affecting Content Farms

Regardless of whether you think the Google Content Farm Crackdown has helped or hindered the World Wide Web, you will want to know how your web content will be affected. I performed a small amount of research on my own that will help you determine whether the changes will impact your web content.

Sistrix.com produced their findings in an article titled, “Google Farmer Update Quest for Quality”. They found that a popular content farm called wisegeek.com has experienced a roughly 77% reduction in Google keywords that they originally ranked for after the algorithm update was launched.

So I set out to browse wisegeek.com to find out exactly why they have seen such a decrease in search engine visibility. I polled five articles at random and came to a striking conclusion. Of those five articles, three of them were found elsewhere on the web.

For example, in the picture below is an article found at wisegeek.com. I copied the first paragraph in Google then clicked the search button.

wisegeek gets slammed by google farmer update

WiseGeek.com Google Content Farm Crackdown

In the next picture, I highlighted the duplicate content of the same article found on other websites.

picture of Google search results performed on a wisegeek.com article

Duplicate Content Found at WiseGeek

It is worth noting that the date is not always the underpinning factor of who created the content first. With that said, it is hard to judge who is guilty of duplicating content and only with a record of the actual dated articles can you come to that determination.

Nevertheless duplicate content was found excessively when targeting this niche. Fixya.com has the same question answered on over 30 pages with different keywords targeting people with different styles and brands of cameras. After doing more research and if the date has anything to do with it—the answer was first found at answers.yahoo.com on Nov 9, 2009.

That would make answers.yahoo.com the winner for original content in this instance and ensures they will not be affected by the Google content farm crackdown. All the other examples are simply to make money off the original article by attaching adsense to each one of them and placing them on various content farms across the World Wide Web.

It has been said that Google is attacking websites that are “Antidemand-Media” but Sistrix disagrees and has found no evidence of it. A picture is forming rather quickly here though. This same article was copied, pasted, and leeched in dozens—actually in more than 50 instances—with Google adsense attached to every article. One could easily conclude that Google was “Antidemand-Media” but I agree with Sistrix that this is not the case. I think the bigger picture is more about duplicate content period.

We have to remember the purpose of the Google Farmer update was to stop duplicate content from showing within the search engine result pages. The Google Farmer Update is improving search quality. I have a good guess on how Google determines what original good content is and what duplicate content is considered to be. Simply put, they could easily program their algorithm to do a simple search of their own index by checking for duplicate content every time they index a new webpage. If the webpage appears somewhere else on the World Wide Web then it will greatly affect how it is placed within the SERPs.

Check for Duplicate Content

How do you check for duplicate content? All you do is copy a portion of any article, and paste it into a search engine. If other websites have published the same article, the majority of the search will be in bold lettering as seen in the above picture.

It is important to note that if you quote someone from another website then you should use the appropriate block quote tags. I even go as far as to cite my sources within the quote so the search engine knows that the quotation is not original content. World Wide Web Consortium shows you how to format a block quote citation properly when quoting your sources.

Here is a visual reference on how to cite someone else properly on the Web…

W3C Block Quote Citation Standards

Later in this series, we will look at other websites that have claimed the Google Content Farm crackdown has negatively affected them. Plus, we will look at the top 10 Google Farmer tips to to help you avoid fallout over the update. We will prove that this update is more about improving search results than it is about hurting unsuspecting people trying to make money online with their own original content.

Learn about Long Tail Keywords

Shawn Manaher

25th January, 2011

Content Management

I am very excited to help you learn about long tail keywords and the many benefits of targeting them. With the web growing in leaps and bounds, and as civilization becomes connected to the web in the remote corners of the Earth, it becomes more difficult to compete with keyword phrases in any search engine. If you have been putting off launching your own website or providing daily web content to your visitors, now is the time to take advantage of these longer search queries. A long tail keyword gives you the ability to rank well and rank fast. In

Keyword Differences

the diagram below, you will see the difference between a keyword, a keyword phrase and a long tail keyword. For the sake of simplicity, I am defining each separately with a clear distinction.

From the screen capture, you now know that a long tail keyword contains more than two words, it is longer than a phrase, and it is almost a complete sentence. You might be thinking, “Do people actually search this way?” Actually, they do–a recent case study was done by an online ad network called Chitika, and they found…

How many words does it take to get to the center of good search traffic? According to a new study by online ad network Chitika, three – as in, three-word search queries drive the most traffic from search engines.

Here is look at the ‘traffic by word count graph’ they provided…

Learning Long Tail Keywords

According to that graph, it puts long tail keywords as one of the most prominent ways to market your website.

An older study conducted on Dec 21, 2000, that can be found at the Journal of American Society called ‘Searching the Web: The Public and Their Queries’, looked at queries performed in Excite. They found that…

The average length of a search query was 2.4 terms.

Two separate case studies with similar results over an extended time period should be enough to convince you that optimizing websites for 3 and 4 word search queries can help you drive traffic to your website.

How easy is to rank for three word queries? Rather simple. I just launched a website last week that contains a rather high profile long tail keyword. I already rank on the top listing in the second page of Google. Mind you, with only a little work I can supersede much of my competition by pointing relevant web content to that website, which will drive me to the first page. The great part is that I did not even submit that website to Google to be indexed.

If you not taking advantage of long tail keywords by now, this column should give you enough proof to rethink your website optimizing strategy. If you are interested in learning more on this subject, please leave a reply. I would be more than happy to help with your questions and concerns.

Keyword Density Tips and Tricks

Shawn Manaher

8th January, 2011

Content Management

Keyword Density Tips & Tricks

We explained the advantages to word density and the benefits of longtail keywords, we looked at the brief history of the web and how search engines were forced to apply strict standards to the benefit of their users to return better search results. We looked at what tools you can use to make sure your content had the proper percentage of phrases for better visibility in a SERP and we educated on the different terms related to this topic.

Let us look at how to craft SEO content step by step. The overall word count of the article you plan to publish will determine how many times you can get away with using the same phrase without seeing penalties from search engines. The normal advice I hear everywhere being regurgitated is that for any given 500 word page, the keyword should be located in at least three areas of your article. I am not saying this advice is bad, but if you want to see more natural results from the same piece of content then this rule falls a bit short. This is especially true if you want your one piece of content to be listed for different variants of the original phrase over the long haul. Moreover, it gives you much more leeway as a webmaster and it does not hinder your writing style.

Placeholder Keyword Variants

Using variants of the same phrase can help you get more natural looking results within search engines. One piece of content can get listed for multiple keywords, then once you tie into other content you published with links, it reinforces and makes the original content and future content that much more relevant. Relevancy plays a very important part of where you list and how well you list.

Place your main keyword once in the article introduction and then once in the body. To conclude the article place a keyword variant in the last paragraph. This gives you the ability to come back later and use the placeholder keyword variant term as a link to a new article. We will cover this more indepth when we teach you how to properly interlink content in future columns.

If you learn one thing, let it be that no matter what you do, keep it consistent as possible. Some people call this gaming Google; I call it smart authoring. Understanding what your readers want will play exceptions to this rule. If you already are an authority within a niche, then by all means, write for your readers and not for search engines. However, if you are looking to get better results in a search engine, then taking a close look at the density of keywords and their variants within your content is the first step in the process.

Keyword Density Tool Compilation

Shawn Manaher

6th January, 2011

Content Management

The number of keyword density tools available across the web is immense and to list them all here would not be feasible. I will though, give you 20 keyword density tools to work with. These tools are not listed in any order. If you want to submit your tool to be added to this compilation please feel free to comment to this column.

Keyword Density Tools

Live Keyword Analysis Wins our Editors Mention Award!

Keyword Density Tools

For this Keyword Density Tool Comparison list I picked the first 20 webpages that claimed they had this tool in a Google search engine result query. I then went to each site and performed a keyword analysis with the same article I wrote a year ago. Keyword density checker for just a tag cloud were taken off the list.

Here is a helpful Keyword Density Tool Comparison graph comparing each tool and their features.

keyword density tool comparison

Live Keyword Analysis Wins Editors Mention Award

Live Keyword Analysis receives the Editor’s Mention Award for ease of use, no advertisements, and no security key to enter. All you do is paste in the text that you want to be analyzed, enter the keyword and it automatically gives you the keyword density percentage on the fly, without the hassle of clicking a button.

live keyword analysis easy to use interface

We are not promoting any of these websites. This is a simple list of the available working keyword density tools across the net. If you have a tool you want submitted please leave a comment. I will evaluate your tool and add it to the list and graph.

Keyword Density in Retrospect

Shawn Manaher

5th January, 2011

Content Management

Keyword density in respect to the way search engines serve relevant results to the user has changed the face of the internet. It affects what we see and read on a daily basis, especially if search engines are used as the tool to browse the internet. Case studies like the Nielsen Report tell us that most of us do use search engines to browse the internet.

In fact, for June 2010, the Nielsen Company found that the average time spent online in the U.S. grew by more than 3% when compared to the previous month.

If you look at the above graph taken from the Nielsen Report website, you will notice search engines continue to be the primary method people use to browse and view the internet. Although Nielsen’s report is US based only, a similar report found that this is a worldwide occurrence.

Some other statistics you might find useful…

Out of every 2000 US based consumers it is estimated 86% use search engines to find local businesses.

Of every 2000 US based consumers, 81% said the internet was vital to their lifestyles and among that group 90% said they use search engines to search for local businesses.

The “research web” was born 20 years ago and was comprised of research servers used at colleges. Four years later, 1994 was named the “Year of the Web” by Cern. The Web had 10,000 servers, 2,000 of which were commercial, and 10 million users.

When we were talking about our experience in building websites, my response was I had 10 years of experience in building websites; his rebuttal was “You’ve been building websites for 10 years? I’ve been at it twice that time.” I had to correct him and tell him the “research web” was launched in December of 1991 and it is impossible for anyone to have 20 years of website building experience.

The whole point is that the web is like the newborn child of the digital world. Keyword density in respect to the web has changed how we see and view the web on a daily basis. Only in 1994 did the web morph into what we use today. The search engine algorithms did not meet the expectations of the user in those first 10 years. The webmaster could easily manipulate the results by spamming their website with the same keyword repeatedly to reach top listings. Keyword density was born to counteract such manipulation of search engine results.

In a very crude fashion, the search engines were forced into setting the standards on how to write website content to counteract the manipulation of blackhat internet marketers. A widely held myth is that if you write and serve good content, search engines will recognize you. Simply put a, search engine is a computer and a computer does not know how to distinguish a good writer from a poor writer. That is why it is so important for you as a webmaster to understand the history, the fundamentals, and ideology so you can make an educated decision on whether to conform to the standards set for keyword density.

Let us not discount the fact that to be a good writer you should not be using the same words and phrases repeatedly to begin with. Keyword density is not something new and it certainly does not take a college level education to wrap your head around it. Many websites already offer writing classes to teach you how to write like a professional. If you find the need to subcontract your work out, The Content Authority offers a seamless and affordable solution for written articles and we have a keyword density option.

Monetizing Your Blogger Blog

Shawn Manaher

27th December, 2010

Article Submission

You will learn how to add Adsense to your Blogger blog in this tutorial.

Last week I installed a very cool feature called Clickheat on The Content Authority Blog. Based on the results of last week’s heatmap, the Blogger link in our Article Submission Website article was very popular. Therefore, let’s look more closely at Blogger and give you something useful to start making money with your Blogger blog.

First, let’s login to your Blogger account. If you don’t have an account, that is fine, simply create one quickly, then meet me back here. (Note: If you’re thinking, “But I already have a blogger blog”, rest assured you can create multiple blogs under the same Blogger account. Today, I am going to create a new blog for a project I am currently working on.)

Under your dashboard in Blogger account, you will see the text “create a blog”, please click it and continue.

Now let’s name your blog. I’m going to name my blog ‘web content university’.
Now, once it is named, click the continue button.
Now select any theme. We can change the theme later so any theme will do.
Now click the “continue” arrow.
Now click the “start blogging” arrow.
You will see a post screen come up, let’s click the monetize tab.
Make sure the “setup Adsense” tab is selected.
You want to display ads in your sidebar and in posts, so make sure the first ‘display in’ option is selected. Please click next now.
The Make Money with Adsense tab will now be displayed.
You have two options. The first option, create a new Adsense account. The second, sign into an already created Adsense account. (Note: Due to the time constraints of this tutorial, we will cover creating a Google Adsense account in another tutorial later on. If you do not have an account, simply create one now. It is pretty straightforward for basic use. )

We are going to select the “using an existing Adsense account” option.
Enter you Adsense email then add either your postal code or the last 5 digits of your phone number. (Note: This information was entered by you when you created your Adsense account, so if you cannot remember, please go retrieve it now.)
Now click the next button. (Note: If you successfully filled in the fields you will come to the ‘Adsense is enabled for your blog’ success page. This page can be seen in the illustration below.)

Now let’s get the Adsense posted to your blog. The idea here is to maximize the highest click rate from people that will visit your blog. To achieve this, you will want your Adsense placed just below your header and on the right sidebar at the top.

Let’s click the edit layout link to start placing Google Adsense ads. (Note: The Blogger interface offers an easy click-n-drag solution.)
I want you to click the ‘add gadget’ link.
When the gadget window pops up, scroll down until you see “Adsense” gadget by blogger.
Now click the ‘+’ sign next to it and click save, the ads can be fully configured later on. This will place an additional area in your layout labeled Adsense.
Now drag the Adsense to the top of the screen until you have something similar to the visual aid below.

If you click preview it should look similar to this. Like what you see? Then click ‘save’ and that’s it, you are finished.

Congratulations on successfully adding Adsense to your Blogger blog.

Article Submission Websites

Shawn Manaher

15th December, 2010

Article Submission

In yesterday’s column we talked about content writing. I explained how you can increase your readership base by serving your visitors daily content. Today, let’s look at where you can start publishing that content at popular article submission websites. Don’t fret about the money end of it right now, because I will be covering that in great detail in future columns. Make sure you subscribe to The Content Authority Blog RSS Feed so you don’t miss out.

The question is, you have your daily content ordered and it was delivered, so what is the next step?

The web offers you multiple ways of publishing your content. The easiest and quickest way to attract readers in a small amount of time is through article submission websites. I will walk you through each in future columns. Here they are in short form so you can start the registration process with each of them.

The Content Authority offers a seamless, no hassle solution when it comes to submitting your content to article submission sites. They actually publish your articles for you at a small fee. Therefore, you can order the content, and then when the order is processed, it is posted automatically to the article submission website you configured in the settings panel. It is a huge timesaver, so make sure you check out the article submission service today! Register a free publishers account at The Content Authority and click the ‘Poster’ tab to get started with our article submission service.

Article Submission Sites

(In alphabetical order)

EzineArticles.com allows expert authors in hundreds of niche fields to get massive levels of exposure in exchange for the submission of their quality original articles.

GoArticles.com has the Web’s Largest Free Content Article Directory.

HubPages.com is your online space to share your advice, reviews, useful tips, opinions and insights with hundreds of other authors.

InfoBarrel.com is your information super database. Earn money writing by contributing to our crowd sourced content database.

Postrunner.com Is a service that allows you to trade your content for links.

Squidoo.com The popular (free) site for creating single webpages on your interests and recommendations. Even earn money for charity or yourself.

Popular Blogging Websites

(In alphabetical order)

Blogger.com is s Free weblog publishing tool from Google, for sharing text, photos and video.

WordPress.com Free blogs managed by the developers of the WordPress software. Includes custom design templates, integrated statistics, and automatic spam protection.

Self Hosted Blog Platforms

(In alphabetical order)

Drupal.org – Use Drupal to build everything from personal blogs to enterprise applications.

Joomla.org is a dynamic portal engine and content management system.

WordPress.org A semantic personal publishing platform with a focus on aesthetics, web standards, and usability.

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