Matt Cutts short video on micro sites

Banned 11 years ago

An interesting point of view. Wonder how many people who build these micro-niche sites will actually listen. It is a group that is pretty steadfast in their beliefs when it comes to the viability of their strategy.

Thanks

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5900459].message }}

hicksdelight

11 years ago

Few more good ones, first is about article marketing

Do you recommend article marketing as an SEO...

Also, this one is well worth 45mins of your time, he mentioned what to do if you get a message from Google saying you have been penalized, and also mentions whether +1 has any effect on rankings, whether domain extension matters, whats a good keyword density and more, well worth the watch.

YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

Next one he recommends people getting their site to run as fast as possible...I am guilty about ignoring that more than I should

If you were an SEO of a large company, what would...

And this one he answers how important is keyword in a domain

How important is it to have keywords in a domain...

[ 3 ] Thanks

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5900485].message }}

wolfmmiii

11 years ago

He confirmed what I've been saying for quite some time now. That said, those who think the EMD/microsite marriage is the be-all end-all will continue to think so.

[ 1 ] Thanks

Signature

Want a REAL Online Business That's Fun to Run?
CLICK HERE FOR INFO

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5900507].message }}

Christopher Fox

11 years ago

I don't know how old this vid is, but no doubt, in 2 months or 2 years, there will be threads titled, 'Help, my mico niche sites got Google slapped'. For all of the complaining I have seen about Google from IMers, Matt Cutts seems to be pretty straight up a lot of the times about telling you what he and Google think is spam.

There are certainly other ways to go for traffic besides Goggle, but don't fool yourself into thinking Google just pulls this stuff out of their rear end on a whim. They do HEAVY market research about what their users want. Not their customers but their users. Which then gives them their customers.

If you want to use Google in your IM startegy, why fight them? Why not capitalize upon the FREE MARKET RESEARCH they have put out there for IMers.

When it comes to SERPS, what Google wants is what their users, who are also your potential customers, want. 'Cause without users, they have no customers.

That is a huge point to consider. Matt Cutts is not just telling you what Google wants, he is telling you what da people want. What do I know, but I, at this point, think the majority of IMers are riding a wave. It may last for a few more years, but ...

[ 4 ] Thanks
2 replies

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5900523].message }}

hicksdelight

11 years ago

Originally Posted by Christopher Fox

I don't know how old this vid is, but no doubt, in 2 months or 2 years, there will be threads titled, 'Help, my mico niche sites got Google slapped'. For all of the complaining I have seen about Google from IMers, Matt Cutts seems to be pretty straight up a lot of the times about telling you what he and Google think is spam.

There are certainly other ways to go for traffic besides Goggle, but don't fool yourself into thinking Google just pulls this stuff out of their rear end on a whim. They do HEAVY market research about what their users want. Not their customers but their users. Which then gives them their customers.

If you want to use Google in your IM startegy, why fight them? Why not capitalize upon the FREE MARKET RESEARCH they have put out there for IMers.

When it comes to SERPS, what Google wants is what their users, who are also your potential customers, want. 'Cause without users, they have no customers.

That is a huge point to consider. Matt Cutts is not just telling you what Google wants, he is telling you what da people want. What do I know, but I, at this point, think the majority of IMers are riding a wave. It may last for a few more years, but ...

So you think doing a more authority site is better?

If so, I do agree, long term wise it is obviously better, not sure anyone would disagree with that.

But with most markets with a decent amount of searches being so saturated, its so hard to rank with one, I think, which is why people (myself included) go for the easier to rank words and micro niche side of things.

Nice little article here

http://affiliatestrategy.org/affilia...ritysites.html

Thanks

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5900555].message }}

Joseph Robinson

Banned 11 years ago

Originally Posted by Chris Kent

Don't take everything he says at face value. He's trying to shape the way people do things for Google's gain.

It pays to listen to what he says but then decide for yourself what to do.

It's very true. What he is saying is certainly interesting and can be beneficial to those who want to make Google a part of their marketing strategy; but you have to remember that Matt Cutts and Google have their own agenda as well.

Comes right back down to using your common sense when making a business decision.

Originally Posted by Christopher Fox

There are certainly other ways to go for traffic besides Goggle, but don't fool yourself into thinking Google just pulls this stuff out of their rear end on a whim. They do HEAVY market research about what their users want. Not their customers but their users. Which then gives them their customers.

If you want to use Google in your IM startegy, why fight them? Why not capitalize upon the FREE MARKET RESEARCH they have put out there for IMers.

When it comes to SERPS, what Google wants is what their users, who are also your potential customers, want. 'Cause without users, they have no customers.

That is a huge point to consider. Matt Cutts is not just telling you what Google wants, he is telling you what da people want. What do I know, but I, at this point, think the majority of IMers are riding a wave. It may last for a few more years, but ...

Wish more people would heed these words. Sure gaming the system with (now-defunct) things like link wheels and what not produce a short term game; but it is never going to be enough to build a business on.

Google's endgame is to provide their users with what they want. Smart marketers have the same goal. So if you are using Google to market, you need to tailor to what their users (that you are hoping will become your users/readers) are looking for.

Originally Posted by hicksdelight

So you think doing a more authority site is better?

If so, I do agree, long term wise it is obviously better, not sure anyone would disagree with that.

But with most markets with a decent amount of searches being so saturated, its so hard to rank with one, I think, which is why people (myself included) go for the easier to rank words and micro niche side of things.

Nice little article here

http://affiliatestrategy.org/affilia...ritysites.html

Having put zero time in SEO, I have a question that pertains to this. Couldn't you just take pages or sections of your authority site, and rank those for these individual keywords you would target as a micro-site? You get the benefit of building/maintaining an authority site (that according to Cutts gives you a consolidated work space to focus on) while still targeting those lower competition words.

No idea if this is possible, but would seem like the logical thing to try to do in my opinion.

Thanks
1 reply

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5900575].message }}

hicksdelight

11 years ago

Originally Posted by Joe Robinson

Having put zero time in SEO, I have a question that pertains to this. Couldn't you just take pages or sections of your authority site, and rank those for these individual keywords you would target as a micro-site? You get the benefit of building/maintaining an authority site (that according to Cutts gives you a consolidated work space to focus on) while still targeting those lower competition words.

No idea if this is possible, but would seem like the logical thing to try to do in my opinion.

Haha, just posted the same question before I read your reply

Thanks
1 reply

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5900624].message }}

zaco 11 years ago

Originally Posted by hicksdelight

Haha, just posted the same question before I read your reply

Yea that's how it is done, you build an authority sites, then inside the authority site you have pages with the keywords you want, you build links for both the pages and the main site, the links juice will be spread all over the site and targets everything , the competitive keyword and the other low compt keywords..

I have 3 sites that I am working on, 1 is for testing, so far I can rank alot of the keywords with targeting alot of pages.. not all the pages so far but I see them ranking..
- Thanks
{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5900666].message }}

Michael Ten

11 years ago

That is a great post and a useful video!

Thanks

Signature

New Book! Radical Life Extension. Help me to hasten the defeat of aging.
Michael Ten . Do Nothing Does . All Books by Michael Ten

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5900595].message }}

zaco

11 years ago

Originally Posted by Chris Kent

Don't take everything he says at face value. He's trying to shape the way people do things for Google's gain.

It pays to listen to what he says but then decide for yourself what to do.

I think its better to listen to what he said as long as it makes sense.. ofcourse Google will tell you to do things the way they want them, but at the end they are the biggest players so if its not done their way then you wont rank as simple as that..

In regards to micro sites I have been saying that for months, and it does make sense..I am still shocked why the 10 pages or 15 pages sites are ranking, they shouldn't rank as simple as that. If a site is not providing value and adding content then its just there and getting visitors for outdated info and the person will see its ranking and start building micro sites and flood the internet with these "stupid, ugly" micro sites

I have noticed alot of the micro sites are amazon based sites with that ugly wordpress template that everybody is using, do you really think that the visitor didn't visit 2 or 3 sites that look the same? once he/she gets on the site and see it looks the same as the other sites then they will close it and look for something else..

We need to create unique valuable sites and that is what I am doing right now.. so far its taking alot of my time and I am not getting income because I still didn't post reviews, I am working on the site structure to make it easy for the users to navigate...I get visitors and they spend from 2-5 mins on my site which is not bad and I can see them navigating to which pages and what pages do they exit on or they dislike..

Thanks

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5900596].message }}

hicksdelight

11 years ago

I thought an interesting point in the link I posted was this, with regards to authority sites.

Affiliate Authority Sites - The Pros

You can rank individual pages very high on the search engines for low compeitive keywords. These are the kinds you would use to rank for an affiliate niche site.

Maybe build a niche site on something you are passionate about, make the main keyword a competitive one that will take time to rank anywhere, but do subpages on the LTK's that can rank more easily, and thus keeping it all on one site rather then make 20 different sites, so youre doing the micro-niche'ing on the one site along with building it up to be a authority with more hard to rank for keywords.

Dunno if thats a silly idea or not, but seems you can keep it all on one site rather then spread out.

Obviously if you build sites on lots of different niches then that isn't viable, but if you pick a subject you are passionate about with enough LTK's it could work well?

Thanks

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5900599].message }}

Mike Hill

11 years ago

Well if you listen to the way Matt speaks and the kinds of words coming out of his mouth he is NOT speaking to YOU. Ever notice his reference talks about large corporations (Super Bowl Ad Reference)...

Google is a joke! They change the rules whenever they feel like it for their gain and now they are being investigated for it.

That's why I will not rely on Google to shape my business.

Thanks

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5900665].message }}

batchos

11 years ago

So what, micro sites, mini sites, authority sites are all the same to Google.

Build whatever site you want, they don't have to include it in their index.

Tomorrow authority sites will be penalized if they don't fit their profit goals.

Go figure

Originally Posted by Chris Kent

Don't take everything he says at face value. He's trying to shape the way people do things for Google's gain.

It pays to listen to what he says but then decide for yourself what to do.

Thanks
1 reply

Signature

*Be Veg, Make Peace!

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5900676].message }}

Mike Hill

11 years ago

Originally Posted by batchos

So what, micro sites, mini sites, authority sites are all the same to Google.

Build whatever site you want, they don't have to include it in their index.

Tomorrow authority sites will be penalized if they don't fit their profit goals.

Go figure

Yeah, that's what kills me about Google... They are now saying if you do too much SEO you will be penalized but look at how many videos they have that teach you how to optimize your sites, your videos, your backlinks, etc.

And to think, the FTC is investigating them but it's all a smoke show.

Thanks

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5900744].message }}

JSProjects

11 years ago

This video is nearly a year old. Also, what does Google consider to be a micro site? A 1 page site? 5 pages? 10 pages? What about sites that use a broad, but niche related, domain name and highly targeted keywords for the inner pages?

Matt seems to kind of go around in circles in this video. Says a lot without really saying anything.

Thanks

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5900924].message }}

marketerpro

11 years ago

Originally Posted by Chris Kent

Don't take everything he says at face value. He's trying to shape the way people do things for Google's gain.

It pays to listen to what he says but then decide for yourself what to do.

Thats what I believe too. He has an agenda, besides just providing information on seo. I take everything I see from Cutts with a grain of salt!

Thanks

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5901086].message }}

wolfmmiii

11 years ago

Folks, I'm not sure where the distrust comes from. Whether you believe what Cutts says or not, it's their game. Would it not make sense to play by their rules anyway, whether you like it or not?

Thanks

Signature

Want a REAL Online Business That's Fun to Run?
CLICK HERE FOR INFO

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5901209].message }}

hicksdelight

11 years ago

I have always thought of Matt is someone who is quite trustworthy and to the point, I believe he not only wants the best for Google but for you too and gives helpful information out as a result.

But maybe I am being nieve

Thanks
1 reply

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5901246].message }}

batchos

11 years ago

Nah, you just believe the world is round.

Originally Posted by hicksdelight

I have always thought of Matt is someone who is quite trustworthy and to the point, I believe he not only wants the best for Google but for you too and gives helpful information out as a result.

But maybe I am being nieve

Thanks

Signature

*Be Veg, Make Peace!

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5901573].message }}

Bill_Z

11 years ago

IMO your best bet is to do both. Yes authority sites are great, and of course I would prefer to own just bigger authority type sites. But if you depend on Google to bring you traffic, spending all your time on a few authority sites could screw you when Google makes a change in their algorithm and your traffic suddenly tanks. Just go to Google's webmaster forum and read all the stories of guys who have spent 5+ years developing a huge authority site, with no unnatural link building, only to see their traffic take a 40% hit when G makes a change.

I'm talking about only sites that rely on Google organic traffic, not paid or social traffic, or JV traffic.

Thanks
1 reply

Signature

Affordable Whiteboard Animation Videos!

Get More Buyers & Increase Conversions
Grab Visitors Attention With Hottest Trend of 2013!

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5901334].message }}

Christopher Fox

11 years ago

hicksdelight

So you think doing a more authority site is better?

I think that an authority site is what Google wants to put at spots 1, 2, & 3 when a search query is entered for niche within that site.

But with most markets with a decent amount of searches being so saturated, its so hard to rank with one, I think, which is why people (myself included) go for the easier to rank words and micro niche side of things.

Go for it. It is definitely working now. I certainly understand why this is done. I also think Google is being clear that it will not last forever and that they consider it spam, and is warning microniche sites to squirrel away some of that money they are making as rainy days are ahead for that money making model. But, yea, ride the wave - we all gotta eat.

Chris Kent

He's trying to shape the way people do things for Google's gain.

And their gain in this case is ... ? Everything Google does is designed to maintain and increase their stock value. As far as manipulation, well, he is telling you what Google does and does not like. It is one hell of a lot cheaper to make a quick vid than to set loose a taskforce of highly paid programmers to combat micro niche sites ending up on page one. In this case, I do accept it at face value.

An example:

dogdiarrhea.org. #1 for a 90,000 LMS keyword phrase. Not quite micro, but it fits the bill. If you look at that site, you know what it is all about, I know what it is all about. And so does Google. It is a site thrown up by an IMer who probably knows jack sh*t about dog health compared to a vet and who's sole purpose in the creation of that site was to use Google for free traffic to capitalize on adsense. That site was put up by an IMer, not a dog lover or authority.

And, quite frankly, I think it a cheesy site that sucks and belongs nowhere near page one for question about dog health.

Yet there it is, numero uno. Instead of manipulative ulterior motives that you are suggesting, I would suggest that what Google is saying via Cutts in that video is:

Yea dogdiarhea.org, we see you there. We know what your real game is. We know every method you use to get that #1 rank. And we don't like it. We think it is cheesy spam. And as the world becomes more internet savvy, those 90,000 people searching for that are going to know what your game is too and that you are an IMer, not a vet.

And when they figure that out, they are going to go to Bing to look for non-IMer spam info about piles 'o runny poo. And our stock price is going to drop. So, fair warning. It is expensive and complicated to alter our algo instantly to deal with this, but make no mistake, we will deal with this. And that big brown wave of runny poo you are riding to make money off of clicks is currently in the process of drying out. And you will be left with a dried up turd of site that will make you no money and be nowhere near #1 when we get done with it. Because we think it spam. And the more spam we put at #1, the lower our stock price and share holder return is. And we will not stand for that.

Do what you can now, but I would bet more than one smart IMer is planning for the future when this happens and are quietly building authority sites, not to monetize today, but as an investment for the future

[ 1 ] Thanks

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5901672].message }}

onSubie

11 years ago

Hi

All you have to do is some basic keyword research to see that Google continues to treat and rank micro-niche sites very well.

The point of a micro-niche site is to target a niche that has low competition. Low competition allows the micro-niche sites to rank.

If Google has nothing else to rank, what will it put in front of the micro-niche sites?

I have a bunch of micro-niche web sites that are only 3-4 pages, no backlinks, no traffic driving and they are all ranked #1 in Google for their keyword.

The keyword is "<city name> <industry>" and the domains are citynameindustry.com. With no other websites targeting this keyword, who will Google rank above my mini-sites?

Mahlon

Thanks

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5901634].message }}

wolfmmiii

11 years ago

Awesome post, Chris. This is exactly what is going on. Too many people are short-sighted and think because it works right now that Google is OK with it. It amazes me how many IMers are so short-sighted and have no long-term plan whatsoever.

Thanks

Signature

Want a REAL Online Business That's Fun to Run?
CLICK HERE FOR INFO

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5902047].message }}

CDarklock

11 years ago

Originally Posted by Chris Kent

He's trying to shape the way people do things for Google's gain.

That "gain" being the ability to identify sites which don't do these things as spam, with minimal examination. Which Google are going to do, eventually.

But hey! That's way, WAY down the road. It's not like they'd roll out an update silently with no notice that slaps millions of sites, is it? Nah. They'd never do that.

EDIT: The blog post Matt mentioned - http://www.ninebyblue.com/microsites...t-of-the-time/

Thanks

Signature

"The Golden Town is the Golden Town no longer. They have sold their pillars for brass and their temples for money, they have made coins out of their golden doors. It is become a dark town full of trouble, there is no ease in its streets, beauty has left it and the old songs are gone." - Lord Dunsany, The Messengers

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5902135].message }}

grover69

11 years ago

I am slowly but surely adding content to my sites to round out the authority issue that Google is worried about, but some of my minisites that I haven't had a chance to work on are still sitting at the top of the search engines for their keywords. How long this will last? Unknown, but underneath not a lot has really changed so far. But yes, plan for the long haul!!

Thanks

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5902236].message }}

ibmethatswhoib

11 years ago

hah, you guys eat this up.....I have ranked thin sites just fine and will in the future. How do you think company sites with hardly any info rank well? You think they will penalize all sites that don't have much content, no. Then it would be a sea of crap articles just to boost up a sites post counts.

Thanks
1 reply

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5902488].message }}

Joseph Robinson

Banned 11 years ago

Originally Posted by ibmethatswhoib

hah, you guys eat this up.....I have ranked thin sites just fine and will in the future. How do you think company sites with hardly any info rank well? You think they will penalize all sites that don't have much content, no. Then it would be a sea of crap articles just to boost up a sites post counts.

Going to go ahead and disagree with the sentiment of this post. But hey, it's your sites, do what you want with them.

Check out that article that CDarkLock posted; pretty much sums up the case against using them in my eyes.

Thanks

{{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5903264].message }}

Carlos Tabora

11 years ago

Thanks for sharing. I know Matt Cutts is Google's spokesperson for how their search engine works. I need to squeeze out more time to watch stuff like this.

keep movin'

buzz