GPWA Times - Issue 20 - March 2012

By Paul Reilly I asked a colleague of mine this ques- tion: “What do iGaming affiliates re- ally want to know about in SEO?” and point blank her response was: “Links.” Every SEO knows that links carry with them a degree of risk. Whether it’s trip- ping a filter, being found out for link buy- ing or selling or indeed just getting ripped off by brokers, link buying is a risky busi- ness and we’re going to look at ways to: 1. Assess the risk 2. Mitigate the risk OK. Let’s look at filters and penalties. What’s the difference? To oversimplify matters here’s how you can tell: • Have you ever wondered why, no mat- ter how many links you buy, you just can’t get above position 10 for your key- word? That’s a filter! • Have all your keywords and brand phrases dropped you to page seven? That’s a penalty! The truth of the matter is that filters can often be a bigger pain in the ass than pen- alties. For instance, if your site has been penalized you can expect it to stay in the sin bin for three months and back you shall pop without too much trouble thereafter. Filters can, however, pose a greater prob- lem: they can last for what appears to be for- ever, and by the time you’ve made all your knee-jerk fixes such as link removal and content refresh, you’re frequently unsure of whether the filter is still present or not. I used to be concerned by such hazards since they’re actually quite simple to re- move, but I rarely concern myself with them anymore. As the old saying goes, there’s nothing to fear but fear itself. Fear holds back many affiliates and operators from pushing forward. I would never hire an SEO who fears pen- alties or filters, and if your SEO agency or consultant claims to have never incurred a penalty, then run away! The difference between a good SEO and a world-class SEO is this: A world-class SEO should be fearless! He or she should instinctively know where the line in the sand is, and be bold enough to dance around it. This may sound care- less, but think about it. If you don’t know where the line is or where the trip wires are, how will you be able to push right up to it or get through the jungle safely? I’m not suggesting hiring based on some- one’s track record for torching sites. I know of one acclaimed SEO “guru” whose ability to build a toxic link profile is sec- ond to none. No, don’t do that! That would be plain stupid. I’m just suggesting that you don’t buy into the “I’ve never had a penalty” line. SEOs, like anyone else, learn from their mistakes. Hopefully this learning would come from a test site, but more to the point is how quickly the issue can be fixed. Fixing penalties OK, agencies, I realize you’ve all been milking these fixes for some time. Some have even built careers out of it. Here’s how to fix or test for whether a filter is be- ing applied to your site. Filter removal (single keyword ex- cessive anchor filter) 301 redirect the main domain to a subdomain: www.example.com 301 redirect everything to: subdomain.example.com Within three to seven days the problem is fixed. If there’s no change, once the site returns under the new URL, then there was no filter to fix. Penalty removal (based on the pen- alty described earlier) www.example.com 301 redirect everything to: www.newdomain.com Make sure the new domain isn’t the same exact match string on another TLD: www.example.com www.example.org (may not work) Within three to seven days the problem is fixed. If there’s no change, once the site returns under the new URL, then there was no filter to fix. There you have it – and now you can be fearless and get on with the real business of buying links and making money. SEO should never really be any more complicated. Remember. . . • Followyour instincts when hiring expertise. • Don’t believe the hype! If you have any specific questions e-mail me directly at paul@mediaskunkworks.com or follow me on http://twitter.com/paulreilly or stalk me on http://foursquare.com/user/paulreilly The truth of the matter is that filters can often be a bigger pain in the ass than penalties.” “ Paul Reilly has more than 12 years experi- ence in Search Engine Optimization. With a wealth of experience in highly competitive sectors, Paul has worked on many of the U.K.’s largest brands in the toughest spaces, both in-house and at large, reputable search market- ing agencies. In most recent years Paul has focused on and specialized in online gaming. Paul is the founder of MediaSkunkWorks, a new and pioneering service provider which dissects the traditional agency model, building world-class, in-house, hand-picked specialist teams and providing outsourced think-tank and creative problem-solving services. 11 How to fix penalties and become a fearless SEO