Google Launches SEO Starter Guide

[Linda Buquet]

If you don't know how to do SEO, learn how direct from Google. Check it out!

Google's SEO Starter Guide - From the Google Blog

"Webmasters often ask us at conferences or in the Webmaster Help Group, "What are some simple ways that I can improve my website's performance in Google?" There are lots of possible answers to this question, and a wealth of search engine optimization information on the web, so much that it can be intimidating for newer webmasters or those unfamiliar with the topic. We thought it'd be useful to create a compact guide that lists some best practices that teams within Google and external webmasters alike can follow that could improve their sites' crawlability and indexing.

Our Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide (PDF) covers around a dozen common areas that webmasters might consider optimizing. We felt that these areas (like improving title and description meta tags, URL structure, site navigation, content creation, anchor text, and more) would apply to webmasters of all experience levels and sites of all sizes and types. Throughout the guide, we also worked in many illustrations, pitfalls to avoid, and links to other resources that help expand our explanation of the topics. We plan on updating the guide at regular intervals with new optimization suggestions and to keep the technical advice current."

Note: have not read, just quick scan, looks pretty detailed and good for n00bs.

Discovered at The Niche Store Builder Blog: Google Releases an SEO Search Optimization Starter Guide!

 

[James Spinosa]

Well that is interesting, I never thought I would see Google encouraging anything with the words "search engine optimization" in it I just read it myself, obviously no shockers but a good resource for newbies.

 

[jcorkern]

You can bet that it does not cover link building, since they push "Natural links" which is a 100% false assumption.

 

[Rob_TID]

True enough Jim.

Though, as you know, I am experimenting with "natural linking" as Google would see it, and am getting some pretty good results in terms of people linking to my pages with the anchor text I want.

 

[footballshirts]

I've read this book cover to cover as such and found it extremely helpful. I've seen so many comments around different forums saying the information is too basic and nobody is going to get anything from it however I strongly disagree.

Google are hardly going to put their algorithm in the book are they, it amazes me that some people expect them too. The fact they have come out and offered advice to beginners is great, it gives people a place to start from a certified source.

 

[geoge01]

You can bet that it does not cover link building, since they push "Natural links" which is a 100% false assumption.

yes

I think it's a basic guideline that's why it's name is "Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide"

 

[jcorkern]

A basic Guideline will get you nowhere in Google for any keywords that will bring substantial traffic, not enough to make a living.

That was the point of my statement. How many here would settle for 50 to 100 bucks a month for long?

Next, they will not get in dept enough to show practical ways to build links other than "write good content that people want to link to"! Bah Humbug... find me a local plumber site that will get natural links to it without any other "manual" link building. Find me one.

how many will link to the local real estate site? how about the local glass installer? It just does not happen. Now, a national company like servpro that runs national media campaigns can get links because of name recognition. The local allstate agent may get some, but that is a branded national company also, and they spend millions on advertising, so, are they really natural? I think not.

 

[creedo]

Hi,

While a lot of people already are familiar with techniques to make your website user- and search engine friendly, Google just launched a new document describing some of the basic concepts of helping you with this.

Particularly I like the examples in this documents, that clearly shows how your effort reflects on how your site is displayed in the Google search results.

So read Googles Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide

 

[PPCguySCOTT]

Hi Linda,

Great info. I'm crossing over to the dark side and doing some SEO now on my sites as the Great Google really does want better quality sites in adwords campaigns. I asked this before, but can't find it now. what is the search in Google to locate your backlinks? link:www.mydomain.com ???

 

[Larwee]

PPCguySCOTT, you are correct. It is link:www.mydomain.com That is for Google, but Google doesn't show all of them.

There should not be any space between the "link:" and the web page URL.

 

[bwccom]

Thanks for posting those Linda! I've been reading about seo for a few months now, on different blogs, but it won't hurt to still consider myself a noob on the subject. I'm always interested in reading something geared toward beginners in case I missed something along the way...and especially comparing Google's standpoint with seo's standpoint can help out a lot.

 

[koochi]

thanks for posting this, its really knowledgable

 

[webfltrs]

Great, this is the perfect reading to start the week off with, thanks for the heads up on that!

Of course, it will be taken with a grain of salt, as Google likes to keep much of their goings-on secret, which I can understand is a must for such a big company.

 

[rentacar]

That whole natural link building concept is a crock of crap... preference is given to big business, large corporations with big money to spend online and offline. One thing, I liked about the internet was that it was supposed to level the playing field. But that is apparently changing, and se's like google (and spammers) have a lot to do with that. Damn spammers!

 

[bigcat1967]

Sometimes, I may forget the basics, and everyone needs a review every now & then. Thanks for the link!

 

[Orlando Web]

awesome post Linda

 

[jeffhyde]

Google needs to fix their own issues before issuing out a seo guide which isn't as effective as say some "grey hat" techniques.

 

[A Niche SEO]

This is by far the best source of information for those new to SEO and internet marketing. I find myself referencing this document on forums all the time.

 

[JoshOm]

10x I will check it. I really need some SEO advices

 

[eimroda]

I thought Google hates SEO.. hhmmnn.. Google is softening nowadays.. they just revealed their Adsense revenue sharing scheme which is a secret since 2003...