technical seo face-off
DESCRIPTION
Rand Fishkin's Face-TRANSCRIPT
Technical SEO Face-OffHow to handle some of the nastiest, most common
technical SEO issues in web development & marketing.
Rand Fishkin | CEO
http://bit.ly/mozseotech2012
Redirects of All Kinds
How to Move Content,
Sites, Users & Engines
The Classic 301
http://www.seomoz.org/learn-seo/redirection
301s Used to Be a Solution to Penalties
https://twitter.com/#!/klark0/status/184303676477816832
301 Rewrite Rules Make Life Easier
http://www.seomoz.org/blog/rewriterule-split-personality-explained
The Rel=Canonical
http://www.johnfdoherty.com/do-bing-and-google-treat-relcanonical-differently/
Cross-Domain Canonical
Whoa… Dharmesh +1’d
the new domain, not the
old one. Interesting.
Cross-domain canonical
took <48 hours to work
The Temporary 302
Don’t use the 302 as a permanent tool/solution as engines may change how they interpret it.
If Bing crawls a 302
redirect five times, it
begins to treat the 302
(temporary) redirect as if it
were a permanent redirect
(301). We’ve observed
similar behavior from
Google.
The Meta Refresh
Google picked up the meta refresh immediately, Bing took several months, and still displays the old URL
Javascript-Based Redirection
http://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=66355
Hey! Isn’t that a “sneaky”
javascript redirect?
The CSS Overlay
Many websites that require age/location verification use overlays to get input prior to access
Keyword Cannibalization
How to Get the Right Page
Ranking for the Right Query
Why Cannibalization Hurts
Multiple pages targeting the same keywords can cause dilution of relevancy
I really wish this page
was #1 for this phrase
The Content Targeting Solution
http://pro.seomoz.org/tools/on-page-keyword-optimization
The Internal Linking Solution
Identifying the links that point to the content and the anchor text they use internally can be helpful
The External Link Reclamation Solution
Getting external links to change their anchor text or surrounding text can help, too
The 301 + Re-Build Solution
This tactic can help when all else fails (particularly if external link signals are very strong
Currently Ranking Page
http://website.com/oldurl
Page You Want Ranking Well
for This Query
http://website.com/targetpage
New Version of OldURL
http://website.com/newurlTake the content from this page and recreate it here.
Domain Names,Subdomains & Subfolders
Structuring Sites for Maximum
Marketing Effectiveness
Root Domains, Subdomains & Subfolders
Same root domain and subfolder is almost always the way to go in SEO
www.website.com
www.website.com/folder/page1
www.website.com/otherfolder/page2
Any positive SEO signals on these will help the others rank, too.
Positive SEO signals tothis one might not helpthis one orthis one.
blog.website.com
www.website.com/content
files.website.com/whitepaper
Microsites
http://spyline.de/features/best-microsites-of-2008
3rd-Party Hosting
https://plus.google.com/photos/112544075040456048636/albums/5683143713592220369
URL Structures
The Final Word on SEO Best
Practices for URLs
Rules #1-2 for Great URLs
If shown without context/anchor text, the link’s content should still be obvious.
#1: Make the Content Obvious from the URL
Not Obvious:
Obvious:
#2: Avoid URL Parameters of Any Kind
Parameters:
Nice & Clean:
website.com/s/wm_bts773A
website.com/shoes/womens-boots
website.com/recipe?q=chicken&t=cordon+bleu
website.com/recipe/chicken-cordon-bleu
Rules #3-4 for Great URLs
Long URLs get clipped, and those with bad separators may appear less-click-worthy
#3: Shorter is Better; Maximum of 66 Characters
Too Long:
Just Fine:
#4: Separate Words with Hyphens, or + If Necessary
Bad Separators:
Good Separators:
website.com/cars/mercedes-benz/2009/models/sedans/c-class-coupe/full-options
website.com/mercedes-benz/c-class-coupe
website.com/mercedes&%20benz
website.com/mercedes-benz
Rules #5-6 for Great URLs
Neat, clean URLs perform better in social, search, links and sharing of all kinds
#5: Keywords Closer to the Front of the URL is Ideal
Less Ideal:
More Ideal:
#6: Keep Folder-Depth to a Minimum, Yet Still Organized
Disorganized:
Smart Folders:
website.com/electronics-laptops-cables-samsung-power-cord
website.com/electronics/laptops/samsung-power-cord
website.com/electronics/thin-laptops
website.com/products/electronics/2275/thin-laptops
When is Rewriting Worth It?
http://www.seomoz.org/blog/bing-vs-google-prominence-of-ranking-elements
Absolute vs. Relative URLs
https://plus.google.com/u/1/104591903036738260658/posts/3XSM37yuxYL
<a href=“http://website.com/page>anchor text</a>
<a href=“../page>anchor text</a>
Relative URLs can make development and
migrations easier, but don’t help with the
scraping side effect on links.
When absolute URLS get scraped
(especially in RSS content), the links will
point back and sometimes provide a boost.
URL Rewriting Tools
http://www.seomoz.org/blog/url-rewrites-and-301-redirects-how-does-it-all-work
Duplicate & Thin Content
Fighting Indexation, Crawl Issues,
Penalties and a Big Fat Panda
Straight Duplicates are Easy
http://searchengineland.com/search-illustrated-how-a-search-engine-determines-duplicate-content-13980
Modified Duplicates are Hard
Some material is duplicative, other stuff is unique; that makes this challenging
Making Duped Material Engine Inaccessible
If you have “boilerplate” content that everyone’s using, consider making that inaccessible to engines (or rewriting it)
Thin Content’s Really Hard
This is the best image I could find for this slide. I’m sure you will agree.
FYI: These are Thin Mints
It’s still funny, even though I have to explain it, right?
A Litmus Test for “Thin” Content
http://www.seomoz.org/blog/replicate-googles-panda-questionnaire-whiteboard-friday
Keep Thin Out of the Index
404’ing may work better than noindex to help get out of a Panda situation
Content w/o User Signals Can Hurt
http://www.quickonlinetips.com/archives/2012/02/find-thin-content/
Tools Can Help You Make Thin Thick
http://www.mediapiston.com/ is an excellent starting point
Rand Fishkin | CEO
http://bit.ly/mozseotech2012
@randfish
www.seomoz.org/blog