Free weekly SEO news: tips, tricks and search engine news

Our free search engine ranking facts newsletter offers valuable information about search engine optimization. Each issue contains one main article and links to all important search engine news items of the week.

You could pay much money to get expert advice or you can subscribe to our free weekly newsletter to get valuable search engine ranking information for free.

Recent search engine news

  • Official Google information: what to expect from Google in the coming months

    21 May 2013 - Spammers beware! This summer, Google is going after black-hat and link spammers. Google’s Matt Cutts announced 9 things that Google will do within the next months. How do these changes affect the position of your web pages in Google’s search results and what can you do to protect your rankings?

  • Why linking to other websites can help your Google rankings

    14 May 2013 - Many people are not aware that links to other websites can have a positive influence on the rankings of their web pages on Google. Understanding this ranking factor will help you to improve the position of your pages on Google's search result pages.

  • Web page optimization tip: don't fall for fake Google results

    30 April 2013 - Do you sometimes get search results that are unexpected and hard to explain? The reason for that might be that Google displays fake search results to fool spammers. This has a major influence on how you should optimize your web pages.

  • A new search engine challenges Google

    23 April 2013 - A new search engine tries to challenge Google. It doesn't rely on backlinks and it actually delivers good results. Could this be a real alternative to Google? How can you make sure that your website will be found in this search engine?

  • Co-occurrence, co-citation and their effect on your rankings

    16 April 2013 - Co-citation and co-occurrence are important factors that influence the position of your web pages in Google search results. The environment in which the links to your website can be found have a big impact on the value of the links.

  • The new approach to link building

    19 March 2013 - For many webmasters, link building has been a numbers game. The more links a website has, the better. Whole industries were built around this idea. There's a new approach to link building that will help you to get better results.

  • Google publicly shows spamming websites

    12 March 2013 - On a new web page, Google shows live examples of web pages that have been removed from Google's index. These pages use aggressive spam techniques such as automatically generated gibberish, cloaking and scraping content from other websites. Is your website in danger?

  • How competitors can hurt your site with fake link removal requests

    05 March 2013 - Since the dramatic Google Penguin update a few weeks ago webmasters and companies have been going crazy trying to clean up their backlink profiles. Instead of doing things to improve their web pages, some webmasters concentrate on removing backlinks that point to their site.

  • Step-by-step: how to create a successful SEO campaign

    26 February 2013 - A good search engine optimization campaign can help you to solve many of the problems that websites have: better rankings, more targeted visitors, better conversion rate. Unfortunately, many people don't achieve these goals. The reason for that is that most people don't plan their SEO campaigns well.

  • The new keyword suggestion tool

    12 February 2013 - We have greatly improved the keyword suggestion tool in IBP. The keyword database in IBP now has 160 million keywords. That's much more than you get from competing services.

  • Negative SEO: official Google statements

    05 February 2013 - In a video on YouTube, the head of Google's anti-spam team Matt Cutts talked about negative SEO. Can other companies hurt your website rankings by spamming your site? What can you do to avoid this?

  • How to do a professional SEO audit of your website

    29 January 2013 - Doing a regular audit of your web pages is important if you want to make sure that search engines can index all of your pages. The more pages your website has, the more likely it is that there are many errors that have to be corrected.

  • Five steps: how to check your website

    22 January 2013 - Are you dissatisfied with the performance of your website? Maybe it's time to take another close look at your web pages. Look at your website with the eyes of an uninterested third party. This week's article will help you to do that.

  • What to do if your link requests get rejected

    15 January 2013 - Are you dissatisfied with the performance of your website? Maybe it's time to take another close look at your web pages. Look at your website with the eyes of an uninterested third party. This week's article will help you to do that.

  • How to improve the credibility of your website

    08 January 2013 - Credibility is an important ranking factor. The more credible a website is, the better it will rank on Google. How do search engines measure the credibility of a website and what can you do to improve the credibility of your own site?

  • Happy New Year

    01 January 2013 - We wish you a Happy New Year 2013 and all our best wishes! May this new year bring you joy, happiness, love and health!

  • The Axandra Christmas puzzle

    25 December 2012 - We just want to take this time to wish you and your family a happy holiday season! We hope you are all enjoying your holiday! Take this time to enjoy your family and get ready for a New Year!

  • A five step plan for your 2013 link building campaign

    18 December 2012 - Backlinks are still the most important ranking signal of Google, Bing and other search engines. Since Google's Penguin update, bulk-link spam doesn't work anymore and the quality of the backlinks has become more important than ever before. This week's article helps you to make a successful link building plan for 2013.

  • First things first: how to get a solid foundation for high rankings

    11 December 2012 - If you do it right, search engine optimization is not difficult. Do the right things in the right order and your website will get the rankings it deserves. Unfortunately, many webmasters try to run before they can walk. This week's article will help you to get the basics right.

  • Why a Google penalty removal won't improve your rankings

    04 December 2012 - Many people who are new to SEO think that using Google's disavow link tool will help them to get the high rankings back that they had before Google's penalty hit their sites. That is not the case and this week's article explains why.

  • How to improve the look of your page with rich snippets

    27 November 2012 - Rich snippets help you to improve the look of your website on Google's search results pages. Pages that use rich snippets usually get more clicks than web pages that are displayed without them. How can you make sure that Google displays your website with additional information?

  • The 100% bullet-proof way to promote your website on Google

    13 November 2012 - Are you frustrated by Google's recent updates? Do you think that it is too difficult to get high rankings on Google? There's a simple six-step plan that will bring your website to the top of Google's search result pages.

  • Is Google's disavow links tool just a trick? Be careful.

    06 November 2012 - Google's new disavow links tool is seen as the cure for all SEO problems by many webmasters. Should you use this tool? Are there any risks and does it make sense to invest your time in Google's disavow tool? Could this be a trick of Google?

  • Five things that you should know about your SEO activities

    30 October 2012 - Many webmasters think that SEO has become more difficult after Google's recent updates. That's not case if you invest your time in the right things. If you want to be successful with your website, there are five things that you should know.

  • Google releases a disavow links tool: who should use it and what does it do?

    23 October 2012 - With the release of the Penguin update, Google started to count bad links as a negative ranking signal. Many webmasters worried that other people might create bad backlinks to harm their website rankings. The new disavow link tool enables webmasters to tell Google that particular links should not count.

  • Official Google statement: changes in Google's ranking algorithm

    16 October 2012 - Some days ago, Google published a list of the ranking algorithm updates that were done during the last two months. How do these changes influence the position of your website in Google's search results and what do you have to do to make sure that your website gets high rankings?

  • Official Google statement: manual penalties and your rankings

    02 October 2012 - In an online discussion, Google's John Mueller explained why a website won't regain its old rankings after a penalty. Even if the penalty is lifted, the website still might have bad rankings. What can you do to make sure that your website is not affected by this?

  • Five reasons why your business must use SEO

    25 September 2012 - SEO (search engine optimization) is an investment that no business can ignore. If you use search engine optimization correctly, you can make sure that your business gets high rankings on search engines, attracts the right customers and makes more money.

  • 5 steps to a successful SEO campaign

    18 September 2012 - Is your SEO campaign delivering the results that you expect? Or are your campaigns underperforming? There are several things that you can do to make sure that search engine optimization works for your website.

  • Check your links for Google's Penguin update

    11 September 2012 - Many websites have been hit by Google's recent 'Penguin' algorithm update. These businesses lost their top rankings on Google, resulting in a major decline in visitors. This article shows how to check the backlinks of your website.

  • Fear, uncertainty and doubt: some webmasters change good links

    04 September 2012 - Many webmasters are rattled by Google's recent updates. Although links are still very important, some people even want to change perfectly fine high quality links. Is this really necessary? How can you save time when improving your backlink profile?

  • Reality check: are links not as important as you think?

    28 August 2012 - Everyone's crazy about links. Some people want to get as many backlinks as possible, others fear that their website will be penalized if it has the wrong backlinks. Are backlinks really that important? A search engine has the answer.

  • Google announces a new ranking algorithm update

    14 August 2012 - Google has announced a new ranking algorithm update. Websites that receive many copyright removal notices might get lower rankings. Will this affect your website rankings? What do you have to do?

  • SEO wealth building: you have to do the right things

    07 August 2012 - Search engine optimization is very similar to wealth building. If you do the wrong things and listen to the wrong people, you might lose everything and you might be left with nothing. This is a lesson that many people learned after Google's Penguin update.

  • The brand new IBP 12 is now available

    31 July 2012 - We have just released the brand-new version 12 of our popular website promotion tool IBP. IBP is a tool that helps you to get first page rankings on Google and other search engines. The new version offers many new great features.

  • How to compete with established websites on Google

    24 July 2012 - Google trusts websites that have been around for a long time more. In addition, these websites had a lot of time to get good backlinks. If you have a new website, it will be difficult to compete with these established sites. Fortunately, there is a solution.

  • How to get more clicks from rankings that you already have

    10 July 2012 - Although the meta description tag doesn't influence the rankings of your web pages much, it can have a major influence on the number of clicks that you get. By attracting more clicks, good meta descriptions can also have a positive influence on your rankings.

  • More than words: how to make your website relevant

    05 June 2012 - Last month, Google introduced the Knowledge Graph with the claim "things, not strings." Google says that the new algorithm "understands the world a bit more like people do." This has a major impact on how you have to optimize your web pages.

  • Negative SEO: does it really exist?

    22 May 2012 - After Google's recent Penguin update, much has been written about negative SEO. Does it really exist and can it be used to hurt your website? What can you do to avoid problems?

  • Pimp your web page titles in 6 easy steps

    15 May 2012 - With all the hype about Google's latest algorithm updates, it is easy to forget about the basics that are needed to get high rankings. Before you work on the links to your site, your web page basics must be right. There are several things that you can do to optimize your web page titles.

  • Google releases two new ranking algorithm updates

    01 May 2012 - It seems that Google releases a new ranking algorithm update every week. Last week, Google’s Matt Cutts announced that there is another algorithm update that targets web spam. What does this mean for your rankings and how must you react?

  • How to benefit from backlinks (even without Google)

    24 April 2012 - Many people are uncertain about the best way to get backlinks to their sites. There are one-way links, reciprocal links, nofollow links, paid links and more. This week's article will help you to improve your link building activities so that you get the most effective links for your site.

  • How to react to Google's over-optimization filter

    27 March 2012 - Last week, Matt Cutts, head of Google's anti-spam team, announced that Google is working on a penalty for over-optimized websites. What does this announcement mean to your website and how should you react to this announcement?

  • How to judge the quality of a backlink

    20 March 2012 - You want lasting results when you build links to your website. It does not make sense to invest your time in search engine optimization methods that are just a flash in the pan. How do you judge the quality of a website? What is a good website and from which web pages should you get links?

  • How to understand Google's latest ranking algorithm

    13 March 2012 - In an online forum, webmasters are discussing Google's latest algorithm. It seems that things have become very complicated and that it is difficult to keep up with Google's latest changes. What can you do to get your website listed with Google's latest ranking algorithm?

  • How Google evaluates links: 7 characteristics

    06 March 2012 - Last week, Google announced changes in the way they evaluate links. How does this affect your website rankings and how exactly does Google evaluate links? This week's article has further insights.

  • Official Google announcement: changes in the algorithm

    28 February 2012 - Yesterday, Google announced 40 changes in the ranking algorithm. The most important changes were another Panda update and changes in the way Google evaluates links. How do these changes affect the rankings of your web pages?

  • Can your website visitors trust you? 4 things that you can do.

    21 February 2012 - Before people purchase something on your website, they have to trust you. If your website does not look trustworthy, then you won't get many sales no matter how many visitors your website has. There are four things that you should do to show your website visitors that your company can be trusted.

  • The fab four: how to create a natural backlink profile

    14 February 2012 - Unnatural backlink profiles can have a negative impact on the positions of your web pages in Google's search results. If you want to get high rankings that last, your website must have a backlink profile that confirms that your website can be trusted.

  • Can you take the risk? How Google detects paid links

    07 February 2012 - Backlinks are still Google's most important ranking signal. That's why many businesses buy links to artificially improve the rankings of their websites. This can be very risky because Google doesn't like paid links at all. Google has several ways to detect paid links.

  • The tao of SEO: how to find the perfect balance

    31 January 2012 - If you want to succeed with an activity, you have to find the perfect balance of the factors that are involved in that activity. It's the same with search engine optimization. If you want to get high rankings on Google or Bing, you have to find the right balance between on-site factors and off-site factors.

  • Different keywords require different SEO tactics

    24 January 2012 - Keywords with little competition require different tactics than keywords with high competition. If you want to get the best possible results for your website, you must use the right tactics with the right keyword.

  • How to find good keywords without keyword research tools

    17 January 2012 - The keywords that you use for search engine optimization are very important. Choose the right keywords and your website will get many new customers. Choose the wrong keywords and you will lose a lot of time and money. There are several things that you should do before using a keyword suggestion tool.

  • New year resolutions: link building is just like getting in shape

    10 January 2012 - The backlinks that point to your website are still the most important factor that determine the position of your website on Google. Unfortunately, it's not easy to get good backlinks. Link building can be compared to getting in shape after the holidays.

  • The new year starts with shady ads on Google AdWords

    03 January 2012 - A company has started the new year with shady Google AdWords ads. Fortunately, Google has pulled the ad in the meantime. Is this ad a sign of the shady advertising methods that we have to expect in 2012?

  • Happy Holidays!

    27 December 2011 - In the news: webmasters are faking microformats, there seems to be another Panda update and more.

  • One year of search engine news: everything you need to know

    20 December 2011 - This year, we published many articles that help you to get better results for your website. In this issue, you have a quick overview of the 2011 articles, sorted by category: Google ranking algorithm insights, tips and tricks, link building, Google's +1 button and Google algorithm updates.

  • The most important Google ranking algorithm changes in 2011

    13 December 2011 - 2011 has been a very busy year for Google. Much has changed and if you want to make sure that your website gets enough visitors, you have to keep up with the latest changes. This week's article shows the most important Google changes that you should keep in mind.

  • New Google patent: does your site have references from trusted agents?

    06 December 2011 - Last week, a new patent application was published that shows how Google might evaluate references on the Internet. The more Google trusts a source, the higher the influence of the reference. You might want to take another look at your links and Google's +1 button.

  • Five tips with examples: how to turn more visitors into customers

    29 November 2011 - Getting many website visitors is not enough. Your website visitors must become buyers if you want to succeed on the Internet. This week's article shows you 5 easy tips that help you to improve the conversion rate of your web pages (with concrete examples).

  • Official Google information: 10 recent algorithm changes

    22 November 2011 - Last week, Google published a list of 10 recent ranking algorithm changes. Do these changes affect your website rankings? Do you have to adjust your web pages for the new algorithm? This week's article has the answers.

  • Has your website been penalized by Google? Here's what you can do

    08 November 2011 - Since Google's latest ranking algorithm, the search engine rankings of many websites are worse than before. If your rankings dropped, your website might have been penalized by Google. This article helps you to recover from such a situation.

  • Google's leaked quality rater handbook: 7 helpful tips

    01 November 2011 - Last month, Google's latest quality rater handbook leaked. The handbook contains useful information about how Google rates the quality of a website. Is your website good enough for Google's requirements?

  • Official Google statements: how to optimize your web pages

    25 October 2011 - In an online Q&A session, Google's Matt Cutts answered the questions of webmasters who want to get higher rankings on Google for their websites. This week's article summarizes the most important SEO relevant statements of this session.

  • How spelling mistakes influence your rankings on Google

    11 October 2011 - Spelling mistakes can have a negative effect on the positions of your web pages in Google's search results. In addition to this, there are many more quality signals that Google checks on your web pages.

  • Four steps to reach customers with Google in different countries

    04 October 2011 - Getting listed on Google's local country variations is very important if you're selling your products in more than one country. Google's results differ from country to country and there are four things that you have to do to make sure that Google lists you in the search results for that country.

  • Lust, curiosity, prestige and forbidden fruits

    20 September 2011 - Getting your web page on Google's first result page is often a lot of work (although it is easier with the Top 10 Optimizer in IBP). When your website is listed on the first result page, you have to make sure that people click on your listing.

  • Flash pages still won't get high rankings on Google

    30 August 2011 - Some webmasters prefer to have a pure Flash website because they can look very impressive. Although Google can index Flash content to some extend, it is very unlikely that a Flash page will get high rankings on Google. Even the noscript tag won't help you.

  • Four types of backlinks that your website can get

    23 August 2011 - Backlinks are still the most important factor when it comes to high rankings on Google. If you want to see your website on Google's first result page, then you must make sure that your site has as many good backlinks as possible. There are 4 different types of text links that can appear on a web page. You can use all of them to create a powerful backlink profile that will strengthen the position of your website on Google.

  • How to check if spammers abuse your website

    16 August 2011 - A new type of spam cloaking is getting more popular: spammers hack into popular websites that have high rankings on Google and then insert keyword rich links and redirects to other websites. What can you do to make sure that your website is not abused by spammers?

  • Optimize your internal links to get higher search engine rankings

    09 August 2011 - Optimizing the content of your web pages is important if you want to get high rankings on Google. Most people know that they have to work on web page titles, web page content and links from other sites. The internal link structure of a website is often overlooked although it has a big impact on the rankings of a website.

  • Why the iPhone 5 will fail (how to create linkworthy content)

    02 August 2011 - If you want to get backlinks from other websites, your site must have link-worthy content. Other websites will only link to your site if there's something interesting on your web pages. This week's article helps you to create link-worthy content.

  • Google says that valid HTML code is a quality signal

    26 July 2011 - Webmasters are not sure about the importance of valid HTML code. Some think that it is very important while other say that it doesn't matter. Last week, Google said that valid HTML code is a quality signal.

  • The risk of using dubious link-building services

    19 July 2011 - You probably know the offers from companies who promise links from PR5-PR9 sites for a few dollars. This sounds like a very good offer and the websites look relatively credible. However, things that look too good to be true usually aren't true.

  • How Googlers review reconsideration requests

    12 July 2011 - In an online forum, a Googler explained how Google reviews reconsideration requests. What can you do if your website has been penalized by Google and what does Google expect from you?

  • Official Google statement: don't obsess about PageRank

    05 July 2011 - Many webmasters still care about the PageRank that is displayed in Google's toolbar. It's not wise to focus on that metric. Some days ago, Google published another official statement that made it clear that you should focus on other things than PageRank.

  • Outrun the bear: five steps to beat your competitors

    28 June 2011 - Your website does not have to be perfect to get high listings on Google. It just has to be better than the websites of your competitors. This week, you'll get concrete advice on how to outperform your competitors.

  • Everything you need to know about Google's +1 button

    07 June 2011 - Google's +1 button is now available for websites. The new button will influence the position of your web pages in Google's search results. What exactly does this button do and how can you use it with your web pages?

  • Is your website used by search engine spammers?

    24 May 2011 - Spammers have found a new way to get high rankings on Google. The new trick involves hacked websites and the canonical tag. Is your website at risk? What can you do to avoid this?

  • How to get more clicks on your Google listings

    17 May 2011 - It's great if your website is listed on Google's first result page for the right keywords. It's not so great if nobody clicks on your listing because there's something wrong with it. There are some easy and some not-so-easy things that you can do to get more clicks on your Google listings.

  • Four ways to get natural backlinks

    03 May 2011 - Google has become pretty good in detecting low quality web pages and links. If you use a link service that promises a lot of high PR links for little money or if you participate in a fully automated linking system, chances are that Google will penalize your website because you are trying to trick them. What can you do to get "natural" backlinks?

  • The top result on Google gets over 36% of all clicks

    26 April 2011 - A new study of Optify shows how important it is to get a high position in Google's search results. The top results get an average click-through rate of 36.4%. The number of searches and the cost per click for a keyword also influence the clicks. What does this mean to your search engine optimization activities?

  • How to get 50% more customers with a simple change

    19 April 2011 - Would you say 'no thanks' if someone offered you an easy way to get 50% more visitors to your website? Probably not. However, that's exactly what most webmasters are doing. There's a simple thing that you can do to drive many more visitors to your site.

  • How to get listed as quickly as possible in Google's search results

    12 April 2011 - We're living in a world of instant gratification: the Internet and the TV report news as it happens, you can call anyone, anywhere at any time, fast-food is delivered and consumed immediately, etc. Does this also work with search engines? How can you get listed as quickly as possible in Google's search results?

  • Why SEO is like wealth building

    05 April 2011 - Search engine optimization is very similar to wealth building. If you do the wrong things and listen to the wrong people, you might lose everything and you might be left with nothing. This week's article goes into the details.

  • How Google segments the contents of a web page

    29 March 2011 - Last week, Google was granted a patent that describes how Google might segment the content of a web page. Depending on the location of the content, a web page will get higher or lower rankings.

  • How to get links from authority sites (+ plan B to get more links)

    22 March 2011 - Links from high authority websites have the biggest impact on the position of your web pages in Google search results. If high authority websites link to your site with your keywords in the anchor text, the chances that your site will be listed in the top 10 results for that keyword increase dramatically.

  • How to secure your rankings after Google's latest update

    15 March 2011 - Google's Panda update caused a ranking drop for many websites. Google has a very long official discussion thread about this topic. The discussion reveals things that you can do to make sure that your website gets its rankings back.

  • Google has released a major ranking algorithm update

    01 March 2011 - Google has released one of the biggest ranking algorithms updates of the last months. The change noticeably impacts 11.8% of all queries on Google. How does this affect the rankings of your website on Google?

  • Watch out: Google continues to penalize spammers

    22 February 2011 - Last week, J. C. Penney was penalized by Google because they used paid links to advertise their website. This week, Forbes.com has been penalized because they sell links. Is your website in danger? Which search engine optimization methods are safe to use?

  • Paid links: do you still have to worry about them?

    15 February 2011 - Once again, paid links are a hot topic in the search engine optimization community. The website of J. C. Penney had number 1 rankings for many competitive keywords. It turned out that the J. C. Penney website obtained these rankings through buying links on over 2000 pages. Now that Google found the links, J. C. Penney faces a major problem.

  • 5 reasons why your SEO campaign doesn't work (yet)

    08 February 2011 - Many webmasters face the problem that their SEO campaigns don't deliver the expected results. Why are your campaigns underperforming? What can you do to make sure that search engine optimization works for you?

  • Official: Google launches a new anti-spam algorithm against content farms

    01 February 2011 - Earlier this month, Google announced that they would release several new anti-spam algorithms this year. The first algorithm update has just been released and it deals with content farms. How does this affect your website and what do you have to change on your web pages?

  • How Google is going to fight spam sites in 2011

    25 January 2011 - Google is going to fight spam sites stronger than before in 2011. What are Google's anti-spam plans for 2011 and what do you have to do to make sure that Google doesn't classify your website as spam by mistake?

  • Reciprocal links: don't be fooled by false information

    18 January 2011 - Reciprocal links were the first social element on the World Wide Web. They existed a long time before the term "social media" even existed. In the last few years, there was a lot of FUD about the efficacy of reciprocal links. Do they still work? Is there any reliable data?

  • How your web page changes influence your search engine rankings

    11 January 2011 - It's a no-brainer that changes on your web pages influence the position of your website on search engines. However, it's not so clear how search engines react to the changes on your site and what exactly causes the changes in the search results. A new search engine patent might have some answers.

  • 5 ways to improve your Google rankings with your existing backlinks

    04 January 2011 - Getting links to your website is one of the most important and one of the most difficult tasks that you have to do if you want to get high rankings on Google. This week, we're taking a look at 5 things that you can do to improve your Google rankings with your existing backlinks.

  • A Google ranking guarantee? There really is no catch.

    21 December 2010 - Every few weeks, we get an email from a potential customer who tells us that he does not believe our ranking guarantee. That's understandable. We guarantee that your website will be found in the regular (unpaid) search results on Google for the keywords of your choice. How does this work and will it work for your website?

  • Has your website the right reading level for Google?

    14 December 2010 - This week, Google introduced a new advanced search feature that enables you to filter search results by reading level. Which reading level is required to read your web pages and does this influence the position of your site in Google's search results?

  • How to get 33% more visitors for your website

    07 December 2010 - Your revenues are fine? You don't need more traffic? You're not interested in new website visitors? If you ignore the Bing/Yahoo alliance in your search engine optimization campaigns, you might be missing a lot of visitors.

  • The top 100 websites with the most backlinks

    30 November 2010 - Did you ever want to know which domains have the most backlinks? Worldwide or country by country? Now you can. The online SEO tool suite SEOprofiler.com publishes a free daily updated list of the domains with the most unique backlinks.

  • The perfect number of keywords for your website

    23 November 2010 - The purpose of SEO is to get a lot of new customers through high rankings on Google and other search engines. If you have taken the time to find the best keywords for your website, you probably have a very long list with many keywords. How do you add that list to your website and what is the right number of keywords per page?

  • Four things that you can do to get more sales

    16 November 2010 - It can be difficult to convince your website visitors to buy from you. Your visitors have to trust you before they buy. There are four easy things that you can do to make your website more trustworthy.

  • Get local: how to get on Google's first results with Google Places

    09 November 2010 - Getting listed in Google Places has become very important with Google's recent algorithm change for local results. If you offer local services, you should make sure that your website is listed correctly. This week's article will help you to improve your results.

  • Blekko: a new search engine with a new approach

    02 November 2010 - Blekko is a new search engine that started a public beta test some days ago after a development period of 2.5 years. It uses an interesting new approach to improve the quality of the search results.

  • How to make people click on your search engine listings

    26 October 2010 - Getting listed on Google's first result page is great but it won't do your business any good if nobody clicks on your listing in the search results. This week's article contains several tips on how to improve your snippets so that searchers click on your listing.

  • SEO Tai Chi: find the perfect balance

    05 October 2010 - Finding the right balance between several factors is important for many things in life. Search engine optimization is no different. If you want to get high rankings on Google, Bing or other major search engines, than you have to find the right balance between on-site factors and off-site factors.

  • First aid: how to recover lost rankings on Google

    28 September 2010 - It's one of the worst things that can happen to a webmaster: your website has lost its rankings on Google. Ranking drops can cost your business a lot of money. This article will help you to recover your lost rankings on Google.

  • An insight into Google's 200 ranking factors

    21 September 2010 - Last week, Google's Eric Schmidt said that listing Google's 200 ranking factors would reveal business secrets. Although Google does not officially publish their ranking algorithms, there is something that you can do to crack Google's secret algorithm.

  • How to get more visitors with Google Instant search

    14 September 2010 - Last week, Google released Google Instant. You have to adapt to this change if you don't want to lose many website visitors. In this article, we'll explain what Google Instant is and you'll learn what you can do to benefit from the change.

  • Six points: how to turn more of your website visitors into customers

    24 August 2010 - Your website will only cost you money if your website visitors don't become customers of your company. For that reason, it is important that you get the basics right. Check the six points in this week's article to find out if your website turns enough visitors into customers.

  • How much money can you make with a single keyword?

    17 August 2010 - Having high rankings for the right keywords will have a big impact on your revenue. In this article, you'll learn how to judge the financial value of your keywords. You might be surprised.

  • The SEO pyramid: do the right things

    10 August 2010 - Get a solid foundation. The SEO pyramid shows you how to do the right things in the right order so that you get the best possible search engine rankings for your website.

  • How to prepare your website for the Yahoo-Bing change

    27 July 2010 - Yahoo is starting to display Bing results on the search result pages. Bing results are going to deliver a lot of traffic in the near future. Is your website prepared for that change or will you lose a lot of visitors?

  • Does Google show the right Sitelinks type for your website?

    20 July 2010 - When Google displays Sitelinks below your website listing in the search results, it's very likely that your website will get more clicks and more visitors. This week's article explains how to check your Sitelinks and how to make sure that Google displays the right Sitelinks for your website.

  • How to tell Google that your website is not about toads

    13 July 2010 - You know what you sell and you know the topic of your website. Are you sure that Google puts your website in the right category? If your website is about shoes, Google still might think that it is about frogs and toads. How can you tell Google that your website is not about toads?

  • Six things that you should know about SEO

    06 July 2010 - Most people know that being listed on Google's first result page will bring them a lot of targeted visitors and that they will get a lot of sales through that listing. However, you also have to know what to do if you want to get these results. This week's article shows you six things that you absolutely must know about SEO.

  • Official Google statement: 6 tips to get quality links

    29 June 2010 - Last week, Google published an official statement about quality links and their effect on your website rankings. In the statement, Google wants to explain their viewpoint on earning quality links. This week's article contains six link building tips that Google endorses.

  • New Google patent: the reasonable surfer and your links

    22 June 2010 - Last month, Google was granted a patent that states that the different links on a linking page have a different effect on the linked pages. How does this affect your website and what do you have to do to secure your rankings?

  • Google Caffeine is live: what you need to know

    15 June 2010 - Last week, Google officially announced that their new web indexing system "Caffeine" is live on all Google pages. What does this mean for your website and do you have to change anything on your pages?

  • Five things you have to do to get high Google rankings

    08 June 2010 - If you want to get high rankings on Google and other search engines, you must do the right things to succeed. You have to work on many different factors to make sure that your website performs better than the sites of your competitors. This week's article helps you to check the five most important points.

  • Six things you can do to remove bad press from the search results

    25 May 2010 - No matter how good your company is, some people will always write something negative about your site, even if you tried your best to help them. What can you do if web pages with negative comments appear on Google's first result page for your company name?

  • Eight things you can do to show search engines your most important pages

    04 May 2010 - How can you get search engines to display the web pages with the best conversion rate in the search results and what can you do to to make sure that unwanted pages are not listed? This week's article explains eight things that you can to do show search engines your most important pages.

  • Four steps to great keywords (without keyword tools)

    27 April 2010 - Most people use a keyword suggestion tool when they try to find new keywords for their campaigns. While keyword suggestion tools are good, they should not be the first step in your keyword research activities. This article helps you to find great keywords without using keyword tools.

  • Should you buy links? Google's Matt Cutts made a new announcement.

    06 April 2010 - Google's Matt Cutts recently made a new announcement about paid links. Buying links is a very hot and controversial topic among webmasters. Should you buy links to increase the position of your website on Google? Do paid links help your rankings? Are there any risks?

  • Pimp your links: how to improve your existing backlinks

    30 March 2010 - Getting links to your website is one of the most important things that you have to do if you want to get high rankings on Google and other big search engines. Unfortunately, it is also one of the most difficult tasks. Do you make the most of your existing links? This week, we're going to pimp your links.

  • Official Google statements about ranking factors

    23 March 2010 - Last week Google's Matt Cutts gave an interview in which he revealed some things that will help webmasters to better optimize their websites. In this article, you'll find the most important things that Matt Cutts said in the interview.

  • A new Google penalty? What can you do against it?

    16 March 2010 - Webmasters in online forums reported an unusual Google behavior. New web pages of some sites are indexed with a longer delay. Is it a new Google penalty? Or is it just a bug that affects only certain websites?

  • Top 5 elements that you need for high rankings on Google

    09 March 2010 - A small error in one search engine optimization factor can destroy your efforts in all other elements. When you optimize your website for search engines, you have to consider several different factors. In this article, you'll find the five most important factors that influence your Google rankings.

  • Is your website exploited by proxy hijackers?

    02 March 2010 - Proxy hijacking still seems to be an issue on Google. Other websites might steal your website content and they can outrank your web pages on Google with the stolen content. Is your website affected? What can you do against these hijackers?

  • Bing about web spam - Is your website considered spam?

    16 February 2010 - All major search engines have special teams that try to eliminate web spam from their search result pages. Bing has just published an article about web spam. Is your website spam and are your rankings at risk?

  • Google AdWords: how to lower your costs while selling more

    09 February 2010 - If you advertise your website on Google AdWords, chances are that you found out that you can spent a lot of money on AdWords without getting a lot in return. The reason why many people spend much more than they have to for their Google AdWords ads is that they use the wrong settings in their campaigns.

  • How to get your breadcrumbs on Google's result pages

    02 February 2010 - Webmasters continue to see breadcrumbs on Google's result pages. What are breadcrumbs, for which websites does Google display them and how can you get Google to display breadcrumbs for your own website?

  • How do synonyms in Google results affect your rankings?

    26 January 2010 - Google has announced a major change in the way that they handle search results by including synonyms for some words that may be used in queries. How does this affect the position of your web pages in Google's search results?

  • How to get in Google's real-time results

    05 January 2010 - Last month, Google started to display real-time results on the search engine result pages. How are these results calculated and how can you get in these results?

  • Will web page speed become a more important ranking factor?

    22 December 2009 - Google's Matt Cutts recently suggested that the speed of a web page might become more important in Google's ranking algorithm. How will this affect your website and what can you do to improve the speed of your website?

  • Official search engine statement: link building do's and dont's

    01 December 2009 - Bing recently published a document about link building. Although it focuses on how Bing deals with inbound links, it can also help you to get better links for Google, Yahoo and other search engines. The most important points of Bing's document can be found in this article.

  • The right SEO tactic for low and high competition

    17 November 2009 - Depending on the keywords for which you want to get high rankings, you have to employ different tactics. Keywords with less competition require different tactics than keywords with high competition. Two charts illustrate the importance and the effect of different optimization tactics.

  • Paid links: do they really affect your Google rankings?

    03 November 2009 - Many websites on the Internet will link to your website if you pay them for the links. Is this a good method to increase the link popularity of your website or can you get in trouble if you use paid links?

  • Official Google statement: how to deal with bad inbound links

    27 October 2009 - Many webmasters think that low quality links or links from spammy websites can have a negative effect on the ranking of their websites on Google. The problem with links from spammy websites is that it is very difficult to do something against them. Here's an official Google statement about bad links.

  • Five steps: How to outrank your competitors on Google

    13 October 2009 - To get high rankings on Google, it is not necessary to have everything that Google expects from a great website. You just have to be better than your competitors. If you have a website with optimized web pages, it is usually the quality of the links that make the difference. The tips in this article will help you to get better rankings than your competitors.

  • What's the catch? How IBP's Google ranking guarantee works.

    06 October 2009 - You have probably seen the top 10 ranking guarantee that we give users of our website promotion tool IBP: we guarantee that your website will be found in the regular (unpaid) search results on Google for the keywords of your choice. Is it really possible to guarantee a top 10 position on Google? What's the catch?

  • Reciprocal links: are they great, crap or something in between?

    22 September 2009 - Reciprocal links are discussed controversially among search engine marketers. Some think that reciprocal links are great, others think that they are a waste of time, another group thinks that reciprocal links work to some degree. Is there a final answer?

  • A new free online keyword suggestion tool

    15 September 2009 - If you want to succeed on the Internet, it is extremely important that you choose the right keywords for both organic search engine optimization and pay per click marketing. If you choose the wrong keywords, you'll waste a lot of time and money. A new frekeyword suggestion tool helps you to find good keywords.

  • The effect of your URL structure on your Google rankings

    08 September 2009 - Does Google care about the position of a web page on your server? Does it make a difference if a web page is in the root directory of your website or in a sub directory? How does your URL structure influence the position of your web pages in Google's search results? What can you do to improve the position of your website?

  • The winner takes it all: how to survive three rounds to get the sale

    25 August 2009 - One of the main problems in Internet marketing is that it is often a "the winner takes it all" game. That means that the best website will get the deal and all other websites will get nothing, no matter how good they are. If you are just slightly better than your competitors, you will get many more sales.

  • The effect of the Yahoo/Microsoft deal on your website

    04 August 2009 - The Yahoo/Microsoft deal will have a major impact on the search engine landscape and there definitely will be effects on your website rankings and the number of visitors that your website will get..

  • How to get much better results with Google AdWords

    28 July 2009 - Google's AdWords system is a great way to get more website visitors. However, Google is also a business that needs to make money. That's why most people pay much more for their AdWords ads than they have to.

  • How to outrank websites that have more backlinks than your website

    14 July 2009 - If you want to get high rankings on Google, it is necessary that many other websites link to your website. This is something that most webmasters know. What many webmasters still don't know is that a website that has only a few inbound links can outrank a website that has many inbound links.

  • SEO is pointless if your website does not convert

    30 June 2009 - Getting listed on Google's first result page is great. It's not so great when you find out that you get a lot of visitors through your high search engine rankings but only a few customers. Search engine optimization is pointless if your website does not convert visitors into customers. You'll actually lose a lot of money if you don't take the time to optimize the conversion rate of your website.

  • For how many keywords should you optimize a web page?

    23 June 2009 - This week, we're taking a look at the number of keywords for which you should optimize a single page of your site. It is possible to optimize a web page for a single keyword and get rankings for many keywords.

  • How to save money with quickly created long tail keywords

    16 June 2009 - If you choose the right keywords, then you will pay as little as possible for your ads and you will get more sales. This new tool helps you to quidkly create long tail keywords and keyword lists for Google AdWords.

  • A new keyword tool with a unique keyword database

    09 June 2009 - This week, we're taking a look at a brand new keyword suggestion tool that uses a unique keyword database that no other tool on the Internet can offer you. Finding the best keywords for search engine optimization is crucial if you want to succeed with your website. That's why you should take a look at this tool.

  • Has Google a new -50 penalty?

    26 May 2009 - Webmasters in an online webmaster forum observed an anomaly in Google's results that might indicate a new Google penalty. Which websites have been penalized and could this affect your own website?

  • How to create trust for high Google rankings

    12 May 2009 - Trust is a major factor in Google's ranking algorithm. Some websites can get high rankings on Google for nearly any content they publish while other websites cannot get high rankings at all although they have optimized web page content. The reason why some websites do better than others is trust.

  • How to get indented listings for your website on Google

    05 May 2009 - Wouldn't it be great if your website was listed twice in Google's top 10 results for your most important keywords? Although Google usually shows only one page from every site in the top results, it is possible to get two listings if you do the right things.

  • Three easy steps to optimize your existing links

    28 April 2009 - Link building is one of the hardest and one of the most important things that you have to do if you want to get high rankings on Google. As it takes so much time to get inbound links, it is very important to make sure that the links to your website contain the right keywords. Here are three things that you can do to optimize your existing links.

  • Improve your Google rankings with second-tier links

    21 April 2009 - Getting high quality links is crucial if you want high rankings on Google for competitive keywords. Links from old and reputable high authority sites work best. Unfortunately, it's often not easy to get links from high authority websites.

  • Do keywords in URLs improve your search engine rankings?

    14 April 2009 - Should you use your keywords in the URLs of your web pages? Do search engines look at the keywords that are included in the addresses of your web pages and do these keywords have an effect on the rankings of your website? Google and Yahoo made some statements about it.

  • Ten things that you should know about search engine optimization (SEO)

    31 March 2009 - Search engine optimization is not difficult if you understand the basic concepts. If you know what to do, your website will get the best possible rankings on Google and other important search engines. This article will help you to better understand SEO or to explain SEO to your clients.

  • How Google analyzes the top keywords on your website

    24 March 2009 - Google recently filed a patent application that deals with the keywords that Google finds on your web pages. How does Google find the keywords on your website and how do they rank your website? What can you do to get better rankings?

  • Google's sandbox filter is still alive

    17 March 2009 - Google's sandbox is a filter that Google's search quality team created to fight spam in the search results. This Google filter is still alive and it might be the reason why your website is not listed as high as it could.

  • Nine factors that affect your website usability and SEO

    10 March 2009 - Optimizing web pages for search engines is often the same as optimizing web pages for web surfers. This week, we're taking a look at nine factors that can improve the usability of your website as well as your search engine rankings.

  • 100% natural: how to get high rankings with natural links

    24 February 2009 - Some years ago, it was enough to get many inbound links to get high rankings on Google. This has changed. As Google and other search engines continually improve the way they rank web pages, getting the right links is crucial if you want to be listed on the first search result page.

  • Google warning: is your site abused through redirects?

    17 February 2009 - Google recently wrote in one of its official blogs that it is possible for spammers to take advantage of your website without ever setting a virtual foot in your server. Spammers can do this by abusing open redirects. What can you do to avoid this?

  • Three tips to compete with established websites on Google

    10 February 2009 - Old websites have a big advantage over new websites. Websites that were around several years ago had far fewer competitors and it was much easier for them to get high rankings in that environment. How can you compete with these websites? Here are three tips.

  • How long does it take to get top rankings on Google?

    03 February 2009 - Many people who start a website think that it is possible to get high rankings on Google within a few days. Unfortunately, this is not possible. Competition on the Internet is fierce and there are several factors that influence how long it takes until Google lists your website.

  • The art of writing a link exchange request that is not spam

    27 January 2009 - Link exchange requests have a very bad reputation. The reason for that is that many people send mass link exchange requests that are nothing more than spam. However, if you want to get links from authority sites, you have to send link exchange requests. The secret of successful requests is to write link exchange messages that aren't spam.

  • How to feed, indulge and guide Google's robot

    13 January 2009 - Google's robot decides whether your website will get high positions in the search results or not. Give Google's robot what it needs and your website will get better rankings on Google.

  • Find the hidden message

    23 December 2008 - This week, we're bringing you our Christmas puzzle instead of the main article. Can you find the hidden message?

  • Ranking test: can there be too many links to your home page?

    09 December 2008 - In an online webmaster forum, a webmaster described the link experiment that he did with his websites. He tried to find out how linking to the home page affected his rankings. Can too many links to the home page of your website have a negative effect on your rankings?

  • Google's search engine optimization starter guide

    25 November 2008 - Two weeks ago, Google released a so-called search engine optimization starter guide for webmasters. While the Google document does not tell you how your website can be listed on Google's first result page it will tell you what you shouldn't do if you want Google to index your web pages.

  • Do search engines think that your website is spam?

    18 November 2008 - About three weeks ago, Microsoft was granted a new patent with the name Web Spam Classification Using Query Dependent Data. Although this patent application was filed by Microsoft, all major search engines probably use similar methods to classify web pages. Do search engines think that your website is spam?

  • Inbound link analysis: how long should a text link be?

    28 October 2008 - The words that are used to link to your website improve your search engine rankings for these words on Google. But how long should the link text be? Which words will be considered? Is there an optimal length for text links?

  • Two new spam tricks to get higher rankings on Google

    14 October 2008 - Many people will do anything do get on Google's first result page. That's why some webmasters regularly come up with new spam methods to get on Google's first result page. Here are two new methods that people use to get high rankings on Google.

  • How to increase your sales with less traffic

    07 October 2008 - Search engine optimization is not about getting as much traffic as possible. It's about getting the right kind of website traffic. Sometimes, less traffic can be better. This week, we're showing you that your sales can increase if your website gets less traffic. If you optimize your web pages correctly, you can multiply your revenue without working more.

  • Does Google ever forgive a penalized website?

    30 September 2008 - Many of the methods that promise high search engine rankings are basically spam. Google doesn't like spam at all and if Google finds out that your website contains spam elements, your website will be penalized. Will Google forgive you if you remove the spam from your site?

  • Four important rules: how to get a #1 ranking on Google

    23 September 2008 - Many people still don't know what it takes to convince Google that your website is more relevant than the millions of other websites on the Internet. There are four simple rules that will help you to get your website on Google's first result page.

  • How your web page titles can help you with local search

    16 September 2008 - If you're selling products and services that are related to a special area, it is crucial that your website gets found by the right people. One of the easiest ways to get found by people that live in your area is to optimize your web page titles.

  • How to convince webmasters that they should link to your site

    09 September 2008 - Suppose that you have a great website with great content. Your web pages are perfectly optimized for visitors and search engines and you have found many related websites that could link to your site. How do you convince these websites that they should link to your website? Here are five tips that will help you to convince other webmasters.

  • Being first in the search results is not always the right thing

    19 August 2008 - The number one position on Google is something that most webmasters try to achive. Unfortunately, many webmasters don't take the time to plan to find the best keywords for optimization. This can lead to problems with pay per click and with organic search engine optimization.

  • How to write link texts that will increase your Google rankings

    12 August 2008 - Good link texts can give your website a boost in Google's search results. Unfortunately, many webmasters still don't take advantage of the full potential of optimized link texts. This article explains how you can make the most out of your links.

  • How to GEO target Google

    15 July 2008 - Do you want to get customers from outside the United States? Is your business located in Europe or another part of the world? There are a few things to consider if your website is aimed at people outside the United States.

  • Step-by-step guide: How to get high quality links

    08 July 2008 - Link building is one of the most important search engine optimization steps. Without good inbound links, your website cannot get high rankings. These four easy steps will help you to link your website with some of the best sites on the Internet.

  • Top 4 reasons why your Google rankings have dropped

    01 July 2008 - Most webmasters face this problem sooner or later. The rankings of your website on Google have dropped and you don't know why this happened. Read this article to find out why this could happen to your website.

  • Does your CTR influence your Google rankings?

    24 June 2008 - Google uses the click through rate to rank the paid search results. The more clicks an ad gets, the higher it will be ranked in the search results. Does Google also use this method for the regular search results?

  • Does your website have no or the wrong Sitelinks in Google?

    10 June 2008 - More and more websites get Sitelinks in Google's search results. What are they, how can they help your website and how can you influence which links Google will use for your Sitelinks? What can you do if Google displays the wrong links?

  • All you need to know about duplicate content

    27 May 2008 - Although there is no such thing as a general duplicate content penalty it is difficult to get high rankings for a web page which contents can also be found on other web pages. What do search engines do with duplicate content and how can you avoid problems with duplicate content? All you need to know can be found in this article.

  • How to explain to your boss why website optimization is important

    20 May 2008 - People not involved in website optimization often have difficulty to understand search engine optimization and the different methods that are involved. If you have to explain the basic SEO concepts to your boss, the following list will help you.

  • Google's -60 penalty and how to avoid it

    13 May 2008 - During the last weeks, people in online forums observed some strange Google result changes. Rumor has it that there is a new -60 penalty. Which websites are penalized? How can you avoid getting penalized?

  • How much is a Google top ranking worth?

    06 May 2008 - High rankings on Google can make the difference between an extremely successful online business and a total failure. The position of your website in Google's search results can make or break your business. But how much exactly is a top ranking on Google worth? What can a top ranking on Google do for your business?

  • Can your website usability influence your search engine rankings?

    29 April 2008 - Do search engines care about the usability of your web pages? Does it make a difference whether your web pages are easy to navigate or not? A recent patent application from Yahoo indicates that search engines might take a look at your web page design.

  • A major Google algorithm update might be on the way

    08 April 2008 - Webmasters in a discussion forum have noticed changes in Google's search results. Do we have to expect a larger ranking algorithm update? How will this influence the ranking of your web pages in Google's search results?

  • Is your website text too complicated for your website visitors?

    01 April 2008 - Are you sure that your website visitors understand the text on your web pages? If your web pages are difficult to understand, you might not earn as much as you could with your website. There is a simple test that enables you to check the readability of your web pages.

  • Does your website look like spam to search engines?

    25 March 2008 - Is your website nowhere to be seen in Google? It might be that Google doesn't like your website because it looks like spam. Check this list to find out whether your website might look like spam or not.

  • Are your AdWords results getting worse?

    18 March 2008 - If you find that your per click prices are going through the roof while your conversions are going down you should check your AdWords strategy. These tips will help you to save a weak campaign.

  • How to get Google Sitelinks for your website

    11 March 2008 - Many webmasters wonder how they can make Google display additional Sitelinks for their websites. What exactly are Sitelinks, how can you get them and are they worth the effort?

  • Google's new method to detect duplicate content

    04 March 2008 - Google's new patent application on near duplicate content describes a new method how Google tries to keep its users from finding redundant content in the result pages. How does this affect your web pages?

  • Get top 10 rankings on Google with IBP 10

    19 February 2008 - We released the brand new version of our popular SEO software tool IBP. The new version IBP 10 has everything that you need to get top 10 rankings on Google, Yahoo and other search engines.

  • Google backs out of the position 6 penalty

    05 February 2008 - Three weeks ago, we informed you about Google's new position 6 penalty. At this time, it was unclear why Google assigned this penalty to some websites. It seems that Google doesn't use this penalty anymore. Why did this happen?

  • New technologies detect black-hat SEO methods

    29 January 2008 - Search engine optimization methods are divided in two categories: black hat SEO and white hat SEO. Recent developments indicate that websites that use black-hat methods will be in trouble soon.

  • Mosaic cloaking: a new form of search engine spam?

    22 January 2008 - Webmasters involved in rather shady search engine optimization methods invented a new form of cloaking. That new method has been called mosaic cloaking and it is an attempt to make cloaking less detectable.

  • Google's new position 6 penalty

    15 January 2008 - A discussion in an online webmaster forum indicates that Google might have invented a new ranking penalty for websites that rank well for popular search terms. Is your website affected by this penalty?

  • All important articles of 2007

    01 January 2008 - We published many articles in 2007 that will help you to get more out of your website. The categorized articles in this issue help you to increase the rankings on your website on Google and other major search engines.

  • Axandra's Christmas SEO crossword puzzle

    25 December 2007 - Instead of our regular weekly articles, news and facts, we decided to publish a Christmas crossword puzzle about search engine optimization this week. Have fun! :-)

  • How Google creates the description of your website for the result page

    18 December 2007 - Having high rankings on search engines is a great thing. However, it's also important that your web pages are displayed with an attractive description in the search results. If the description is not appealing to web surfers then they might not click the link.

  • Google warns against cloaking: we can detect it

    04 December 2007 - In a recent blog post, Google's anti-spam engineer Matt Cutts wrote about cloaking. The blog post makes several things clear. You put your website at risk if you use cloaking.

  • Are you paying too much for your AdWords ads? Change it now!

    20 November 2007 - Pay per click marketing can be a good addition to organic search engine optimization. However, if you do it wrong, pay per click will cost you a fortune without bringing results. If you do it right, AdWords ads will help you to make more money.

  • Reciprocal links are alive and kicking

    30 October 2007 - A while back there was quite a bit of scare mongering going around the SEO industry about how reciprocal links were dead. No, reciprocal links are not dead and now I have the proof.

  • Are you unintentionally spamming search engines?

    16 October 2007 - Are you sure that your website is free of hidden text? There are many ways to create hidden text unintentionally. Google might penalize your website for something you did not intend to do.

  • How to overcome Google's filter for new websites

    09 October 2007 - It's easier to get high rankings on Google with older websites than it is with new websites. Why is this so and what can you do to get high rankings on Google if you have a brand new website?

  • The perfect incoming link for high search engine rankings

    25 September 2007 - It's important that you get the right kind of links if you want to get high rankings on Google. If you have 20 good incoming links then you'll get better rankings than with 100 bad incoming links. So what makes a good incoming link? There are several points that can make a link better than other links.

  • 4 tips to increase your sales by creating a trustworthy website

    18 September 2007 - Even if you have high search engine rankings, people still might not buy from you. The reason for that is that your website might not be trustworthy. Of course, you need a professional web design to create trust. However, there are a few other things that are necessary to convince your website visitors that they should do business with you.

  • Top 3 tips to get indexed on Google within 48 hours

    11 September 2007 - If you have a new website then it takes some time until Google visits your web pages. Even if you submit your website to Google via their regular submission form, it usually takes weeks until Google visits your site. There are some things you can do so that Google indexes your web page within 48 hours and not within weeks.

  • The effect of unnatural linking patterns on your search engine rankings

    04 September 2007 - Inbound links are one of the most important factors that Google uses to calculate the position of a website in the search results. Some years ago, it was enough to get a lot of inbound links to top Google's search results. Nowadays, it's not that easy. Google has started to detect unnatural linking patterns.

  • How to fake PageRank and how to find websites with faked PR

    28 August 2007 - Although most professional search engine optimizers agree that the green PageRank display has little to do with the actual performance of a website in Google and other search engines, many webmasters still focus on websites with a high PageRank when it comes to link building and website promotion. The PageRank a website can be faked easily.

  • Search engine market shares in Europe

    21 August 2007 - If you target international markets then it's important to know which search engines are used by European web surfers. Google has a large market share in the US. Astonishingly, Google's market share seems to be even bigger in Europe. Here are the numbers from Germany, France and the UK.

  • The importance of page 1 listings and how to get them

    14 August 2007 - High search engine rankings are important if you want to get more customers and more sales. Is it important to be listed on the first result page or is it enough to be listed in the top 30 results?

  • How Google might filter annoying pages

    07 August 2007 - Google recently filed a patent application with the title "Detecting and rejecting annoying documents". Should you check your web pages?

  • Google's Matt Cutts: do not stuff your keywords

    31 July 2007 - Keyword stuffing is one of the oldest spamming techniques on the Internet. Many webmasters still use that technique although most search engines can detect it nowadays. Last week, Google's anti-spam engineer Matt Cutts made fun of a website that used keyword stuffing.

  • A new SEO trick for high Google rankings

    17 July 2007 - Some webmaster use a new search engine optimization practice to get high rankings on Google. They hotlink images from other web servers to get on Google's first results page. Will this method also work for your site?

  • What is better: PPC or SEO?

    03 July 2007 - Many webmasters are unsure whether they should advertise their website with SEO (search engine optimization) or PPC (pay per click advertising). Actually, most commercial websites work best if you use both SEO and PPC. The exact mix depends on your goals.

  • The risk of over-optimization

    26 June 2007 - Many webmasters overlook an important part of search engine optimization: if you over optimize your web pages, chances are that your website rankings might drop because your site has been designed for search engines and not for websurfers. Read this article to learn how to avoid over-optimization.

  • Insider information about Google's ranking algorithm

    19 June 2007 - The New York Times has recently published an article about Amit Singhal. Amit Singhal is in charge of Google's ranking algorithm. The interview reveals some interesting facts about Google's ranking algorithm.

  • How to clear bad press from search engine results

    05 June 2007 - No matter how good your company is, some people will always write something negative about your site, even if you tried your best to help them. What can you do if web pages with negative comments appear on the first result page for your company name?

  • Do no-follow links count for search engine rankings?

    29 May 2007 - Actually, the rel=nofollow attribute should prevent search engines from following special links. Some webmasters might have found out that nofollow links will help your search engine rankings though.

  • New study: which web page elements lead to high Google rankings?

    22 May 2007 - The German company Sistrix analyzed the web page elements of top ranked pages in Google to find out which elements lead to high Google rankings. They analyzed 10,000 random keywords, and for every keyword, they analyzed the top 100 Google search results.

  • Are search engine spammers exploiting your web pages?

    15 May 2007 - A recent thread in a webmaster forum indicated that some search engine spammers might exploit the new XML sitemaps files. Has your sitemaps file been abused by spammers? Can using a sitemaps file harm your rankings?

  • Two new Google ranking patents

    08 May 2007 - Google filed two new ranking patents in April: Document Scoring Based on Traffic Associated with a Document and Document Scoring Based on Query Analysis. What do these new patents reveal about Google's ranking algorithm? How can they help you?

  • What Google thinks about hidden and paid links

    24 April 2007 - Some webmasters use hidden or paid links to increase the link popularity of their websites. Google's anti-spam engineer Matt Cutts recently commented on these links. Can you get in trouble?

  • Search engine submission with the new Sitemap protocol

    17 April 2007 - Ask.com has joined the team so that now all four major search engines support the Sitemap protocol. In addition, the search engines now can automatically detect your Sitemaps file. What does this mean for your web site?

  • How to deal with Google's latest ranking algorithm changes

    10 April 2007 - There is a new change in Google's ranking algorithm. It looks as if more pages are added to Google's supplemental results and that Google might re-rank the results based on new quality criteria. How can your web site benefit from the new algorithm?

  • What Google could do if they were evil

    03 April 2007 - You probably know Google's informal company motto "Don't be evil". Google is a very successful company that knows a lot about its advertisers and users. In addition, Google has a market share that would allow them do certain things. Read this article to learn what Google could do if they were evil.

  • All about Google's new PPA advertising product

    27 March 2007 - Until now, Google has primarily sold pay-per-click (PPC) ads, so-called AdWords ads: advertisers pay when someone on Google or a Google partner site clicks on the ad. Google is testing a new advertising system that allows businesses to advertise on a cost per action basis.

  • How to work around Google's spam filters - Part 5

    20 March 2007 - Duplicate content, false use of the robots.txt file and Google bowling can be the reason if your web site rankings on Google dropped. This article will help you to find a solution.

  • How to use the new NOYDIR tag on your web pages

    06 March 2007 - Yahoo announced support for a new meta tag called "NOYDIR". The new tag will complement the "NOODP" meta tag that is already supported by all major search engines. Read this article to learn how to use the new tag on your web pages.

  • How to work around Google's spam filters - Part 3

    27 February 2007 - If you use the wrong search engine optimization techniques then Google won't list your web site. Read this article to learn how to avoid getting caught be Google's spam filters.

  • 15 Google spam filters and how to avoid them - Part 2

    20 February 2007 - If your web site gets caught by one of Google's spam filters, it will be very difficult to get high Google rankings. Did you check your web site against these three link filters? Read on to learn more.

  • 15 Google spam filters and how to avoid them - Part 1

    13 February 2007 - If your web site gets caught by one of Google's spam filters, it will be very difficult to get high Google rankings. In this article series, we'll take a look a the 15 most common Google spam filters and we'll tell you how you can get around them.

  • The top 5 factors for successful web sites in 2007

    06 February 2007 - If you want to have a successful web site and if you want to get high rankings on search engines then your web site must have the right factors. Here are the top 5 factors for successful web sites in 2007.

  • The end of Google bombs?

    30 January 2007 - Google bombs have become a problem for Google. The official Google webmaster blog recently had a statement about Google bombs and how Google deals with them. How does this new algorithm affect your Google rankings?

  • Google's plans for the next weeks

    23 January 2007 - Matt Cutts has just revealed Google's latest ranking plans for 2007. Read this article to learn how your web site will be affected by these plans.

  • Will this famous Google SEO guru quit?

    16 January 2007 - Matt Cutts is the poster boy of Google and the search engine optimization (SEO) community. Thousands of webmasters follow every single word on this blog. Rumor has it that he is going to leave Google.

  • Does Google read your CSS files?

    09 January 2007 - Many webmasters reported that Google's spider started to index their external CSS files. What are CSS files, why does Google index them and how can this affect your rankings on Google and other search engines?

  • Official Google statement: How to deal with duplicate content problems

    02 January 2007 - Duplicate content is a problem that worries many webmasters. Rumor has it that duplicate content can hurt your Google rankings and that web pages that copy your web site content can harm your rankings. Read this article to learn what Google has to say about duplicate content.

Search our newsletter archive:
Need content for your own website? You can publish the articles of our newsletters on your site. Click here for details.