SEO Best Practices
301, 302, 303, 307? And You Thought You Knew About Redirects
by Kerry Dean on 12/03/2009 at 5:44 pm in Commentary, SEO, SEO Best Practices
As an SEO, I spend a lot of my time discussing redirects, specifically 301 redirects and 302 redirects. Talking about redirects with marketing managers and e-commerce directors can be a complete powerdown for all parties involved. There have been times where I have actually seen someone’s eye go crossed while I was babbling on about temporary this and permanent that. It’s not easy explaining redirects without losing your audience, as header status codes and redirects are not the most compelling subjects. To avoid those terrible scenarios, most SEOs simply tell their clients, “301 redirects are good, and 302 redirects are bad.” 99.99% of the time, that’s all that anyone needs to know. And regardless of whether or not anyone really knows the reasoning behind that claim, the fact is that everything almost always works better for SEO by using 301 redirects.
Full StoryHow Quickly Will 301 Redirects Kick In?
by Kerry Dean on 11/11/2009 at 1:17 pm in Online Strategies, SEO, SEO Best Practices
In another attempt to pull the curtain back on this blog operation, today I am going to discuss the redirects we used to redirect all URLs from the previous blog to the current blog. Also known as 301 permanent redirects, 301 redirects are a the most important SEO item to consider when changing URL structures or moving from one domain to another. In the case of TheRangeBlog.com, we actually moved from rangeonlinemedia.com/blog to therangeblog.com. We implemented 301 redirects for all URLs, and it’s been a week since the move. But the question is: Have these 301 redirects kicked in yet?
Full StoryBlog Update: Getting Indexed by Google, Yahoo & Bing
by Kerry Dean on 11/10/2009 at 5:27 pm in Online Strategies, SEO, SEO Best Practices
Last Tuesday morning (Nov. 3) we launched TheRangeBlog.com. When you move a blog from one domain to another, there are a lot of I’s to dot and T’s to cross. I did what any project manager would do: I came up with a simple checklist. Many of the items are SEO best practices for redirects. In this case, we had to keep in mind the fact that we were moving from one domain to another. Here is what we did.
Full StoryRobots Running Amok!
by John Greer on 08/05/2009 at 3:29 pm in SEO, SEO Best Practices
Robots are not simply a part of the future, but part of daily life for a website. Robots (A.K.A. crawlers or spiders) are an automated method to discover the pages and content on a website. Search engines employ robots, making robots integral to natural search traffic and also playing a role in paid search traffic. To make your way through this future of shiny metal and emotionless automatons, an important but underappreciated page on a website is the “robots.txt” page.
Full StoryThe Long Tail: Not Just for Paid Search Anymore!
by Herndon Hasty on 06/25/2009 at 3:45 pm in Online Strategies, SEO, SEO Best Practices
I started my life in search engine marketing on the paid side of the search equation. With ROI being at the bottom line of every decision made from keyword selection, match type strategies, campaign organization and, of course, bidding, amassing wins using long tail keywords was one of my favorite approaches. Good paid practitioners are constantly fighting to find ways to get those one or two keywords that drive huge traffic a little more efficient, but there’s really nothing like coming in to see a line like this in the previous day’s results.
Full StoryIt’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas
by Herndon Hasty on 05/29/2009 at 2:48 pm in Online Strategies, SEO, SEO Best Practices
Getting winded trying to keep up with Google’s latest and greatest offerings? Well, don’t take your Nikes off just yet. Google recently announced a slate of updates and new developments, including ways to make your search results prettier and a new emphasis on fresh content. For those who’ve been encouraging clients to add microformats to their pages, you should feel a little vindicated, because these should be right up your alley. If that’s not enough, MSN also announced that they’re updating and rebranding Live Search, naming the concept Bing (previously known as Kumo) and gearing it towards behavioral search. If it works like they say it will, then we’ll have something to celebrate before July 4.
Full StoryJohn Greer Coast-to-Coast SEO
by John Greer on 05/15/2009 at 2:21 pm in SEO, SEO Best Practices
SEO is great for conspiracy theorists. For starters, it’s monopolistic, with Google gathering more than 70% of US search traffic. It’s also black box, where the only way to learn about how it works is through experience. For most people, it’s a complete mystery and works like magic. Google’s Chief Spam Cop, Matt Cutts, releases just enough information to make the conspiracy all the more believable.
Full StoryWire Your House Before the Wallpaper Goes Up
by Herndon Hasty on 04/09/2009 at 2:11 pm in SEO, SEO Best Practices, Webinars, Website Usability & Design
In Range’s recent Search Marketing Now webinar on SEO and Usability, we had a chance to discuss the ways that your site’s usability and natural search potential actually walk hand-in-hand. For anyone who couldn’t attend or can’t listen in to the on-demand version the main takeaway is this: your natural search potential and conversion potential are, in many ways, the same thing. They’re often controlled and helped – or hindered – by the same elements, so don’t be willing to trade one for another.
Full Story