Does Google Plus help in SERP?

I thought it is high time that I addressed this question because many of my clients are asking this.

In case you don't know what Google Plus is, I will provide a brief summary. It is a social network launched by Google for entering multi-billion dollar social market. Just like "Like" feature of Facebook, Google launched "+1" feature. You can +1 articles, blogs, images, pages and URLs. Just as "Like" button, it counts as your vote for a piece of content. Many people tend to think that the more votes you get, you win.

That's NOT true. There is a logical reason behind this. If you have ever been spammed, then you would already know this. There are quite a few software which allow someone to create 100's of Google accounts in one go and Google knows that. Anyone who has a Google account can plus one pages.

For creating a neutral field for everyone, Google is not using plus one feature for increasing or decreasing "public" SERP. Plus one feature affects only "personal SERP" i.e. if you liked some content and plus one'd it, then you have more chances of seeing content from same website again for other similar searches in future. It could also influence your friends in your circles, because they can opt to see "Personal results" which would let them know whether any of their friends have Plus One'd a page. For a Bot with no friends (or other Bot friends), plus one is a useless feature. It doesn't increase organic traffic to your website because Bots are not Real customers and it nicely solves Google's problem.

So, here is your answer :) You could Plus one my website ;)

Change in Google's Algorithm. What SEO Freelancers should do?

You would have heard that Google changed its algorithm on Feb 25th, 2011 to reduce SERP of various low-quality content websites or content farms. Demand Media Inc., a content farming company said that this change in algorithm may impact their website traffic. Stock of demand media fell 7.8% on this news indicating what investors thought of this change in algorithm.

Now, as a SEO freelancer, what can you do?

1 - Make sure that your content is original and not widely distributed. News websites are treated differntly as most of them will report on similar topics.
2 - Enrich the content of your website so that Googlebot can index it in the right category
3 - Have in-depth reports or “thoughtful” analysis rather than some blabber
4 - Increase your client's Social Media Presence on Twitter and Facebook
5 - Add fresh content and archive old content

These simple steps will ensure that this heavy Google axe doesn't fall on your website.

Search Engine Expert - Prepare for future

Supported by: Genie Bazaar - Get your Search Engine Expert Today!

There are millions of websites and directories on internet where so called "Seach Engine Expert" is submitting his/her client's websites for increasing Page Rank. In addition, there are another million websites meant for link exchanges. Do these links really matter? Are "Experts" assuming that Search Engines don't know about widespread link exchanges?

Yes Search Engines do! So does the future of search engine optimization lies on backlinks? I doubt so. Slowly and steadily backlinks will lose their lustre and new algorithm will take over the seach engines which will make backlinks least important factor while ranking pages. You may be wondering, how is that possible?

For starters, I have this abstract idea. Everyday people make one to ten searches on search engines before finding the page they are actually looking for. If a mega database is created which tracks each users entered keywords and the website where he/she settled, then a database can be formed which would show most related result for a typical kind of search. It is very difficult to manipulate such data. With such approach there may be a surge in computer programs designed for searching a query and clicking a certain pages, however, it is very simple to find out about any such activity and block it or disregard it.

Bottom line! SEOs life will be more than managing off page backlinks and directed more towards placing ads at lucrative places where people will click it and get redireccted to a certain website. Gear up for such huge change Search Engine Experts!

SEO Profile

Where can I Hire Freelancers

With increasing globalization, hiring a freelancer has become easy and cost efficient. There are several websites where one can post a project and let freelancers bid on them. However, many of such freelancing websites (and for that matter bids) can be misleading. Freelancer's estimate of 30 days can easily convert in 150 days. The best freelancing website that I have come across till date is Genie Bazaar. Here is why:

1 - It's free to post a project and free quotes
Many websites charge you for posting a project. There are ample number of freelancers in the market. Freelancers usually sign up on multiple websites and hence you can get a quote from the same freelancer on another website for free. I am not sure why should one pay for accessing that talent when a website like Genie Bazaar allows you to access the same talent for free.

2 - Quality
Whenever I had questions, Genie Bazaar was quick to respond. In addition, freelancers finished the work as per their estimates.

3 - Lower Project Fee charged to Freelancers
I had this conversation with my freelancer where he told me that he passed on the savings to me because he is being charged less for the projects. Every penny saved is a penny earned! No wonder that bids on this website were much more competitive than on other websites.

4 - Escrow Service Charges
Most of the freelancers opt for escrow services and steep charges on escrow services can be really costly for freelancers which ultimately pass on to you. Genie Bazaar charges some minimal amount. I guess it was so minimal that I can't even remember how much they charged the freelancer :)

5 - Cash Back
Genie Bazaar credits employer's account with some cash which can be used as hard currency for any future jobs. I really liked this feature because my second project was almost done for pennies.

Happy Freelancing!!!