Aira Bongco

Symbols may mean a lot to people and even more to an organization or corporation. In Google’s endeavor to be the primary search engine, it transforms its small search box to a bigger one.

Here is a picture directly from the Google Blog.

It may be a small change but it is a change that emphasizes the company’s focus on search. Also, a bigger search box means bigger letters as well. Marissa Meyer, Google’s Vice President on Search Products and User Experience, said “Over the past 11 years, we’ve made a number of changes to our homepage. Some are small and some are large. In this case, it’s a small change that makes search more prominent.”

However, reactions of the users vary. Some people like it while others don’t. Matt McGee of Search Engine Land did not like the new search experience. “I’ve been using it for the last hour and … well … I don’t feel like I’m having more fun.” He said.

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A domain age is the span of time a particular domain is registered. This has been a very important factor not only for SEOs but also for domain sellers. But as Matt McGee from Search Engine Land recalls the past debate on this matter, it seems that Google do not worry about it to much.

This is actually not a new issue. One of the problems of a lot of new people who want to do SEO is that they tend to over-focus on factors such as domain age. What they do not understand is that SEO is a play of various factors and domain age is only one of them. While it is true that domain age can be a proof of a website’s authority, it is just one part of the proof.

Phil Payne of Google Webmaster Central could not put it better

“Domain age is perhaps part of the “trust” factor. There are supposedly over 200 factors in site ranking – a history of good behaviour may well be one of them. Not age of itself, but a track record of being properly handled during that time. Sitemaps with accurate and useful meta data, proper resolution of canonical issues, that kind of thing.”

Another interesting point of view is that expressed by Ann Smarty of the Search Engine Journal in her article entitled “Domain Age: How Important Is It for SEO?” She says that domain age cannot be a proof for a website’s quality because of three factors.

(1) domains can be parked
(2) domains can be transferred
(3) domains can be redirected

She then resolves the qualifying factor of domain age by giving three more points.

(1) Domain age is not important, it is website age.
(2) Domain age plays a part but does not take center stage
(3) Domain age only matters because of backlinks

So I hoped this article has helped you think twice about purchasing that old domain with dreams that it will do wonders for your SEO campaign. Domain age may still play a role but it is really not that important to be worried about. As Google’s Matt Cutts said, “My short answer is not to worry very much about that [the number of years a domain is registered], not very much at all.”

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I have seen a lot of articles talking about how a website can be indexed by Google. Some say that you should submit it to Google itself while others advise to just keep updating the blog or website with new content. Actually, there is really no science behind Google indexing. With their goal to provide the largest directory on the internet, their robots will find your site sooner or later.

But then you may be overly concerned on how Google will notice you. Well, do not try so hard. Here are some tips to get noticed fast.

1. Get a domain name

Believe it or not, getting a domain is really one of the steps for Google to notice you. My recently purchased domain name can get index in a single day even if the page does not have any content. Having a domain is powerful. It does not have to be keyword-rich though. Any domain name will do fine unless you are really concerned with SEO (search engine optimization).

2. Install an autoping plugin or ping your blog through other sites

Pinging is one way to get noticed. By pinging, you are actually poking certain sites (Google included) to tell them that “Hey! I exist.” Some of the ping plugins for Wordpress blogs I can recommend are Pingcrawl and MaxBlogPress Ping Optimizer. They have served my sites in the past so I see no reason for them to fail now.

3. Slowly build links

Links are also just an important if you want to build your website. Google love it when people vote for you. It makes you seem more credible. As you build links, Google will follow the link to your blog and notice that you exist.

Here are just some ways. It worked for me so if these tips do not work for you, then tell me. I hope this will be your first step in joining the extensive Google directory.

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Funny I should start with this article especially since my blog is just starting out. But then there has always been a debate on whether content is king or not. Does your site really need lots of content and is this really beneficial to SEO? This has made me wonder when I have read an article entitled “SEO Mythbusters: Do You Need Lots of Content?” by Gab Goldenberg.

In the article, he indicated how people are focusing too much on content that it discounts the other thing that is beneficial to SEO – interlinking. The more content a site has, the more links it has to have which further degrades the PR from both ways. Sure, Google loves new content. Its robots eat all the content it can crawl. But then, Gab explained how having too much content is actually not beneficial to SEO.

But from his argument, I want to express my side. As for me, I do not think about SEO too much. What I think about is my audience. What is important for me is whether my audience will like my content or not. Of course, there is the thinking process on what people will be searching for and this is very beneficial if you are targeting longtail keywords in SEO. But the goal is not SEO or to reach the top of the search engines but to provide useful content to the readers – which must be the main goal of any blog in the blogosphere.

The problem comes in when we have the “reach the top of the search engines” goal as our main goal. We think too much about our keywords and we get overly sensitive on the phrasing and keyword densities that sometimes we forget to provide real value to our readers. So in this argument, I will say content will remain king even if it dilutes PR in the other blog pages. Remember that I am not pertaining to simple just-to-keep-the-blog-updated type of content. What I am pertaining to is content that are valuable to the readers in your niche.

Why did I say this? Well, if you continue to provide valuable content, readers will come in. They will increase and your links will also increase as well. All these will happen naturally. Gaming the system will not work. After all, you do not want to find yourself changing your gaming strategy as the search engines change its algorithms.

What I am saying is you must go an extra mile. You should not only aim to be noticed by search engines or to attract links. Links will come naturally and you will become an authority in your niche if you continue to provide good content. After all, so long as people find your site valuable, I am sure search engines will see you as a valuable site as well. So lots of valuable content will not hurt you.

If you do not know how to write valuable content, I will teach you. Just click here and join my Newbie Coaching Bootcamp for only $2 and I will help you.

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