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Article Marketing (Web 2.0) Shunned by Google and More Answers

by Intrepreneur
36 replies
You'll all enjoy this interview with Google. Plenty of answers there and if you're a newbie you probably couldn't get any better advice than what is metnioned in questions 11+12.

Google Experts Answer your SEO Questions

Thank me. Go on you know you want to.
#answers #article #google #marketing #shunned #web
  • Profile picture of the author dvduval
    I think the phrase "article marketing" has become increasingly associated with article spinning, manipulation of anchor text, and SEO. But it has become decreasingly associated with good content, added value and user centric. As long as this pattern exists, I think you will see google attempting to minimize the effect of article marketing as we know it now.
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    • Profile picture of the author BrainCopy
      Originally Posted by dvduval View Post

      I think the phrase "article marketing" has become increasingly associated with article spinning, manipulation of anchor text, and SEO. But it has become decreasingly associated with good content, added value and user centric. As long as this pattern exists, I think you will see google attempting to minimize the effect of article marketing as we know it now.
      I would say, that's because you have all of these new black hatters that are just trying to make the quick buck. In my eyes it's quality over quantity. If you provide GOOD content, then there should really be no reason why the potential customer wouldn't visit your website or even buy from you.

      Just my $0.02

      Best Regards,
      UFG
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    • Profile picture of the author JayPeete
      Originally Posted by dvduval View Post

      I think the phrase "article marketing" has become increasingly associated with article spinning, manipulation of anchor text, and SEO. But it has become decreasingly associated with good content, added value and user centric. As long as this pattern exists, I think you will see google attempting to minimize the effect of article marketing as we know it now.
      I've already seen tons of articles that I was monitoring drop off of the first page of Google in the last few months.

      This will probably happen more and more as time goes on.
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      • Profile picture of the author 4morereferrals
        If the content is unique and compelling, it will generally attract links naturally over time.
        .... and then you get frustrated - or broke - or both and try PPC - trying to get someone to FIND it amongst all the CRAP that google feels compelled to shove at the top of the index - like local search tripe, and Amazon, Target, Walmart and other HUGE $$$$ advertisers "quality" paid links.What a joke.

        Relevance my ARSE! The only thing relevant they truly care about is shareholders earnings. Wise up people. They are who they are because their stock price has taken them thru the stratosphere.

        They do what they do to keep the share price rockin, shareholders happy, and revenue streaming. All the other BS - smoke n mirrors by a entity with unfathomable financial resources. Mistake their petty altruistic expenditures on green power, and misc. whimsical forays into pet projects as - DOING NO EVIL at your own peril.

        Far more BORG'ish an entity with tentacles in every MAJOR facet of business and daily life than the dreaded Microsoft and Gates ever had plans of being.
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        • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
          Originally Posted by 4morereferrals View Post

          trying to get someone to FIND it amongst all the CRAP that google feels compelled to shove at the top of the index
          If your site isn't crap, people will want to find it and they will want to tell other people about it.

          Search engines are really a lot more interested in that than they are in backlinks. Backlinks are just the evidence people leave behind when they want to help other people find things.

          As time goes on, the search engines get better and better at figuring out whether those backlinks are people who like your stuff... or just you, running around the internet like a retarded monkey on crack, shilling and whoring your own crap as if people give a toss.

          I suggest this is a good thing.
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          • Profile picture of the author Jeremy Kelsall
            Originally Posted by CDarklock View Post

            Search engines are really a lot more interested in that than they are in backlinks. Backlinks are just the evidence people leave behind when they want to help other people find things.
            While this might be true, Google can't differentiate between the two - Backlinks, and evidence people leave behind - because they are both the same thing. I seriously doubt that the Google algo will ever be able to interpret intent.

            Backlinking isn't anything new...In some of the guides that I've read that are 5 or more years old, people talk about adding self built backlinks to your site to increase the visibility of your site, and it's ranking in the Google index.

            The only people that will ever really be affected by any changes in Googles algo will be the ones that are too dense to read between the lines.

            I'm not trying to turn this into one of those "marathon" threads, where you and I go back and forth...although...we've had some good ones, and I think we would both agree to a certain extent, they are a bit entertaining, and fun

            BUT

            Just short of actually hand assigning the first page rankings by some sort of human review of ever possible keyword on the planet, Google can not stop their index from being "gamed" regardless of what Matt Cutts, or any of the other Google geeks say. Just by reading some of the answers that they gave in the "interview" I'm seriously wondering if they know how their own index works, and exactly what qualifies a site to rank well?

            6 months ago, I might have posted some examples here, but in todays climate, 1 of 3 things would happen - worst case...all 3:

            1. I would get a temp or perma ban from the forum
            2. Some cry baby would report my site(s) to big G
            3. This thread would be locked

            SEO in one aspect is similar to copywriting - Because it all boils down to perception. In the case of copy, it comes down to what you can get the visitor to perceive, and in the case of SEO...it's even easier, because the only thing you have to convince is some goofy Google bot, and an Algo that struggles to keep up with how innovative and creative that people can be.

            Without a doubt, there are going to be some that tell me I'm wrong, that I don't know what I'm talking about, and that I am unethical for saying the things I say, and I accept that there are people that genuinely feel like that, but the things that I say are true, regardless of whether or not they fit into your view of how they should be.
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            • Profile picture of the author Shaunman
              I would say, that's because you have all of these new black hatters that are just trying to make the quick buck. In my eyes it's quality over quantity. If you provide GOOD content, then there should really be no reason why the potential customer wouldn't visit your website or even buy from you.
              I get this, Quality is the #1 thing to shoot for. But you do need to promote your website as well. There are 100,000s of blogs out there with excellent content but nobody to read it and link to it.

              if you're a newbie you probably couldn't get any better advice than what is metnioned in questions 11+12.
              I agree with this is great advice, your content should come first.

              However it was also a diplomatic answer. What do you think google a company that wants to keep a reputation of showing the best content on the web would rather say, Write great content so that people will naturally link to you and you get high SE rankings or write articles with backlinks and you can rank anything high? The truth is somewhere in the middle, but they don't want to say that.
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  • Profile picture of the author ArticlePrince
    Google would have nothing to index if there wasn't any content; they refer to article marketing as spinning garbage anywhere it will stick to get links; not writing decent information to get traffic. I can see their point though, that's how most people do it unfortunately.
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  • Profile picture of the author Chris Worner
    Originally Posted by cjmo75 View Post

    I really hate Google. It just intensifies day after day as they continue to do things to thwart the internet marketing industry. I wonder if they care that are ripping food from my mouth and the mouths of other struggling Americans?
    My friend,

    if you are dumb enough to make your buisness's bottom line dependent on Google then you are the one to blame. Google has made its position clear for a very long time, it wants a GOOD experience for its users. Its only until fairly recently that they have been getting really anal about it. It is also one of the main reasons it is the number one search engine of modern times.

    Chris
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    • Profile picture of the author TimG
      I think your title is a bit misleading because I didn't see where they shun article marketing. What I got out of the answers was they recommend you build your own site first with quality content which is what has been advocated on this forum numerous times.

      Of course, I can't help but wonder why they wouldn't want someone to use article marketing to attract traffic to their website.....oh, wait a minute, that's right...they have adwords which means you can pay to get traffic to your site.

      No thanks, I'll stick with free article marketing methods because no matter what Google says, they still work.

      Respectfully,
      Tim
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    • Profile picture of the author Chris Worner
      Originally Posted by cjmo75 View Post

      How can you not depend on Google? If you want targeted search engine traffic, you have to cater to them. I understand a lot of people have done the wrong thing and that's why they are so anal. It's just too bad that there are no alternatives and that the people who don't do things like spin articles and post duplicate content have to pay of the other people who do.
      Very little of my traffic comes from Google because I do relationship marketing. I network and socialise with people, uising online communities and platforms such as Ning and Facebook.

      Imho, Googles days as the number one advertising platform are slowly becoming numbered. Facebook, when utilised correctly is far superior since you can target your set demographic, which you cannot do in Google. I also think this is another of the reasons Google is really pushing hard to maintain its position.

      You may remember they launched Google Buzz, an attempt to overthrow Facebook, it failed spectacularly, as did Google Checkout.

      And with the boom in e-comerce and web2.0, more oppotunities and ways to interact are becoming possible, which means increased competition for Google to maintain its position as a top advertising platform.

      I would not be surprised in the very future if FaceBook did launch its own search engine. They already have a classifieds ssection, so I think craigslist should be concerned as well.

      The smart buisness owners will take advantage of these oppotunities as they arise.


      Chris
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  • Profile picture of the author E. Brian Rose
    Originally Posted by cjmo75 View Post

    I really hate Google. It just intensifies day after day as they continue to do things to thwart the internet marketing industry. I wonder if they care that are ripping food from my mouth and the mouths of other struggling Americans?
    I think that Google has a purpose and that purpose is to provide the most relevant information to searchers. Most of the time, the best information is not a marketing pitch. You may look at it as making it harder for marketers, but they look at it as making it easier for searchers, which outweigh marketers by about a billion.
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  • Profile picture of the author Intrepreneur
    Originally Posted by cjmo75 View Post

    I really hate Google. It just intensifies day after day as they continue to do things to thwart the internet marketing industry. I wonder if they care that are ripping food from my mouth and the mouths of other struggling Americans?
    Questions 11+12 are proving that Google are providing what they should. Essentialy thwarting the efforts of those that try to say adding content to article directories and such is worthwile.

    And yes they do rip the foods from people's mouths but they also try to keep the worst from cheating their way to make money.

    Think about it. Work hard for bigger rewards don't cheat and build something worthwhile then reap the rewards when it does get succesful. Remember all large/successful sites had to start out somewhere. Who's to say you can't do the same instead of using all these so called "quick cash" methods.

    Also keep up to date with what is going on at the Google Search engine by regularly taking time to have a scan through what is ranking and think about why it is ranking.

    One trend I noticed (and take advantage of) is to write content with way more content than to just cover the keywords at hand and instead to cover the why, how, where, when's etc and they rank pretty well. Example: How To Gain Weight and Build Muscle Fast & the typical list articles: 50+ web design resource etc etc.

    Originally Posted by TimG View Post

    I think your title is a bit misleading because I didn't see where they shun article marketing. What I got out of the answers was they recommend you build your own site first with quality content which is what has been advocated on this forum numerous times.
    Originally Posted by Intrepreneur

    Questions 11+12
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  • Profile picture of the author ArticlePrince
    They don't 'rip food' from anyone's mouths. Without them, you wouldn't have organic traffic, you'd have to pay. So they want better quality, just deliver quality. Your subscribers will like you for it anyway.
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  • Profile picture of the author tommygadget
    I read the post and all I have to say is PLEEAAASSEEE! We've said it before, write something interesting and people will read it, bookmark it, refer to it, etc. I have my team write tons of articles to promote new sites. It does not harm the user and they get to find my site. Spin into unintelligible garbage and pay the price.

    TomG.
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  • Profile picture of the author verbose
    I am not sure but I think bounce rate affects your keyword ranking. I know they cookie you when you leave their search engine and my guess if someone goes to your site and comes right back their algorithm rate you a bit down. I also think that links gain a bit as they age.
    But those are wild guesses on my part.
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  • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
    Originally Posted by cjmo75 View Post

    I wonder if they care that are ripping food from my mouth and the mouths of other struggling Americans?
    Since when is it Google's job to ensure you make a living?

    I'm sorry, but this entitlement crap has got to stop. You earn a living by... well, it's right there. You earn it, by doing something valuable and useful, so other people are willing to pay money for you to do it.

    If you are tricking people into giving you their money, then word will get out and you won't be able to trick people anymore.

    If you are doing something any idiot can do, then any idiot can come in and take that money. And since he's an idiot, he'll probably take less money for it.

    This is the very substance of competition. The rest of the world wants that money you're getting, too. Your mission, your job, is to deserve it more than they do. The stars will align and the universe will conspire to give you what you deserve... or at least it will seem that way, because the rest of the world is out there trying to hustle their way to another buck and a quarter.

    Make it your mission to deserve the things you want, not to go out and get them "by hook or by crook." And if you insist on playing "edge games" that aren't technically against the rules, understand that this is precisely why new rules get made.
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    • Profile picture of the author BlogBoom
      The way to "game" Google is to not game them.

      In other words, G has human reviewers as well as computers whose sole objective is to see if an article or even an AdWords landing page is out to game them. If a reviewer sees a page and it looks like fluff, spam, a bunch of keywords with little information, and so on, that page is not gonna see page 1 in the SERPs anytime soon.

      But if you pretend Google doesn't exist and just publish a quality article that helps people and is relevant to your keyword (that's where subtle but effective keyword phrasing and LSI come in handy), your article can dig in and get ready for a nice long stay on page 1!

      I've seen quality articles with very little on-page and off-page SEO rank very high for competitive terms because, imho, the article is extremely relevant to the keyword and it truly helps the reader. Of course, if you do actually optimize, then it's even better.

      I'll say it again, the way to "game" Google is to not game them!
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  • Profile picture of the author Asher
    CDarklock, that is an epic response you made.

    Bravo!

    Asher
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  • Profile picture of the author US Blues
    I do a lot of article marketing for offline clients and it is still a very valuable source of online exposure for them. Maybe it is the typical article marketing (weight loss, forex, make money, etc) articles that google is taking notice of. But for a dentist in a mid sized town tying to get more online traffic, article marketing still works wonders.
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    • Profile picture of the author Jeremy Kelsall
      The specific questions that you keep referring to #'s 11 & 12 don't really give any insight...to anything to be honest with you:

      Q 11. I have launched a new blog and it obviously won't rank in Google because none of the reputable blogs are currently linking to it. Therefore, I am actively writing guest posts on other blogs as that gives me a chance to get a link from them. Is Google fine with guest blogging and do links 'earned' from writing guest blogs matter?

      John Mueller: Making and promoting a new site takes time and effort. In general I would recommend putting that work into your own site, instead of creating content for other people's sites.
      It's much better to create great content for your blog and to let other sites refer visitors to your site on their own. Good luck!

      Q 12. What's your take on articles submission websites? I do a lot of article marketing & distribution for my clients. These are original articles written and distributed through sites like eZineArticles and iSnare. Obviously besides the exposure my clients get as experts, I am also looking at the SEO benefit of earning backlinks from these posts. How do you treat multiple copies of the same article spread over different sites?

      John Mueller: As mentioned in an earlier question, it generally makes much more sense to create great content for your own site, instead of giving it to a large number of other sites to publish.
      Personally, I would recommend not looking at it with regard to the links; think about how users will view the content and the people who created it. Having high-quality content on your own site will make it stand out much more than if that content is posted all over the web. If the content is unique and compelling, it will generally attract links naturally over time.


      How can it be earth shattering to anyone to hear that it is best to make good quality content, and to put it on your own site?


      Unless you are implying that Google is going to somehow penalize Article Directories, and marketers? In which case, I would simply refer to you to Googles own index to look at some of the killer keywords that are owned by Article Directories and Web2.0 sites.



      I personally don't care about the SEO Benefits of a backlink - Hell, most of my anchor text is - CLICK HERE. I'm in it for the direct traffic, rankings on the page itself, and the consistent sales that result from the average internet surfer thinking that because you are "published" that you must know what you are talking about.



      After all, it says "expert author" or something similar right next to your name on most directories = Instant Authority.
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  • Profile picture of the author Trivum
    John Mueller: Making and promoting a new site takes time and effort. In general I would recommend putting that work into your own site, instead of creating content for other people’s sites.

    It’s much better to create great content for your blog and to let other sites refer visitors to your site on their own. Good luck!
    HA! ... Good luck indeed!

    Google will LIE to you, and they are lying to you here. ... Links are what drive everything for Google. Guest blogging works (great!). Buying links works (great!). Google's lies ... don't work (and that's great too!).
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    • Profile picture of the author Jeremy Kelsall
      Originally Posted by Trivum View Post

      HA! ... Good luck indeed!

      Google will LIE to you, and they are lying to you here. ... Links are what drive everything for Google. Guest blogging works (great!). Buying links works (great!). Google's lies ... don't work (and that's great too!).
      Sometimes I think Google themselves don't look at their own index, either that or they are one of the following:

      Stupid
      Dumb
      Liars
      All of the above

      Seriously, type any search term into google, and come to your own conclusions.
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  • Profile picture of the author jjpmarketing
    To master the google, one with the google, you must be. Create unique content valuable to the user, you must. Get quality backlinks in a natural way, you must.

    Dennis
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  • Profile picture of the author revjoe
    Become an expert and google will love you. Just write original content you will be surprized:-)
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    • Profile picture of the author Trivum
      Originally Posted by revjoe View Post

      Become an expert and google will love you. Just write original content you will be surprized:-)
      I would like to believe that, but unfortunately, it's not true. I have more than one "quality" site to prove it. ... I hate doing link-building and the like, and so I have had quite a few sites that I have simply concentrated on the content with.

      That said, I have some sites that have been treated well by Google overall just by focusing on the content.

      I think what Google does is they give new sites (or sites with a few new links) a bump for a temporary period, and they see if others start to pick up on it. (Kind of like throwing "it" up against the wall to see what sticks.)

      But there are a LOT of factors involved, and Google's rather unsophisticated approach can unfortunately bury a quality site just as easily as it can send it to the top.
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    • Profile picture of the author E-supreme
      Originally Posted by revjoe View Post

      Become an expert and google will love you. Just write original content you will be surprized:-)

      Writing quality content has nothing to do with ranking well, obviously its excellent to give your viewers something to enjoy and be hooked to your site, but in terms of ranking it means very little.

      This is proved with all the MFA sites out there. I have autoblogs killing it in the serps with complete duplicate content and just a plugin like wpunique. Im not complaining, it makes me cash consistently!

      Although for some of my long term niches I do have quality content, but I feel its irrelevant in terms of ranking. Get enough quality links out there and Big G is literally on its knees ranking you. Obviously in really competitive niches your site will come under a manual review. Look at all the google sniper sites they rank really well not because Google thinks your providing a great service to your viewers but because of the way the sites are developed and due to your keyword choice.
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    • Profile picture of the author Intrepreneur
      Originally Posted by revjoe View Post

      Become an expert and google will love you. Just write original content you will be surprized:-)
      You've got the American writing bug. That's an unecessary Z you put in there.
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  • Profile picture of the author THK
    Did anyone else notice the sarcasm in the answer John Mueller gave to question number 11. Maybe I am reading a bit too much into it. But it is such a canned response and then throwing in the words "good luck" in the end just made me laugh.

    Tanvir
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    • Profile picture of the author Jeremy Kelsall
      Originally Posted by THK View Post

      Did anyone else notice the sarcasm in the answer John Mueller gave to question number 11. Maybe I am reading a bit too much into it. But it is such a canned response and then throwing in the words "good luck" in the end just made me laugh.

      Tanvir
      Yeah, it was almost like he originally finished the answer off with "haha suckers!" then later changed it to "good luck" lol
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  • Profile picture of the author brokenblade
    I've read question 11 and 12. What I get from it is that it is much better to publish your own content on your site in the sense that you will likely rank better due to the unique content being on your site.

    But I am fuzzy on how to bring traffic to your site other than through submissions on article directories as Social Bookmarking doesn't seem to do much for me. (I'm sure I'll figure it out.)

    "Make it your mission to deserve the things you want, not to go out and get them "by hook or by crook." And if you insist on playing "edge games" that aren't technically against the rules, understand that this is precisely why new rules get made."

    I like that saying. Often times when I find myself trying to "deserve" what I want, I end up getting more than what I want.
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