SEO: Let Us Hustle, Everyone
May 4, 2020
I was horrified in 2013 when I read “Google Semantic Search: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Techniques That Get Your Company More Traffic, Increase Brand Impact, and Amplify Your Online Presence.” I assume Ramanathan Guha, one of the semantic sparkplugs, may have to breathe deeply and do Zen things when he ponders how his semantic inventions have been applied.
One idea for “semantic” was to deal with ambiguity and provide improved recall for Web content. I am not to thrash around in the Semantic Web kiddy pool with over inflated natural language processing methods, the sprites of SPARQL, and Watson-esque methods that can figure out “meaning” in human utterances. No, no.
I want to point out that crazy suggestions for fooling Google’s bastardized relevance methods into presenting a user with increasingly less and less relevant information. Here’s an example: A query for “Peruvian Machu Picchu stone masonry.” Pretty specific. Here’s what the GOOG delivers:
The top hit is from a travel agency. Number two is a Wikipedia article. Number three is a collection of pictures.
I don’t know about you, but I am not confident in a travel agency’s take on Mesolithic quarrying. The Wikipedia entry raises the question, “Says who?” And the pictures. I don’t need pictures, I need data about quarrying: Where, chemical composition of stone, tools, etc.
But that’s the search engine optimization world at work. Travel agencies are experts because they put a word in their sales material. Notice that the wondrous Google ad matching algorithm did NOT generate explicit travel advertisements. This begs the question, “What’s the problem, Google smart software ad matching thing?”
The goal of search engine optimization is to outfox an increasingly mixed up Google and the clueless user who wants information on a specific topic; for example, Peruvian Machu Picchu stone masonry,” NOT a pitch for a tours. The sacred valley gateway to Machu Picchu becomes under ham fisted SEO manipulations, the Valley of Tricked Customers, populated with users wondering, “I meant masonry information, not a tour.”
Let’s put David Amerland and his ilk aside. At least, the almost respectable SEO bilkadoodles (a cross between a street savvy fox and pink miniature poodle) write books and contribute to Search Engine Journal, one of the advocates of helping Google display unrelated content.
No, let’s take a quick look at an outfit which is a breed of interest to SEO veterinarians: Woobound.com.
Woobound.com came across my lidar when I received this email on Friday, May 1, 2020. Note that the text is unedited:
Hi ,
My name is Christian from Woobound, Helping you get through remote work challenges!I’ve been looking up content related to Seo, Digital Marketing & Lead Generation for Finance topic and noticed that you published one on your site http://arnoldit.com/wordpress/2016/04/06/nasdaq-joins-the-party-for-investing-in-intelligence/
I liked what I have read so far, and I think we can agree on all your points. In fact, we have written and published similar content on the same topic which also touches on some of the Seo, Digital Marketing & Lead Generation for Finance tips/topics featured in your article.
We thought your readers might find it as a useful resource, and you can find it here: https://woobound.com/seo-financial-advisor/
Think it would make a nice addition to your page? I’m also keen to know your feedback or thoughts on our writing as well.We also have a blog manukakitchen.com and we’re happy to give you a link in return.
Keep up the great work at arnoldit.com and stay safe
Best
Christian
I noted several issues which this spam email poked in my face:
- The email is signed Christian, but the email address is for jeffrey@woobound.com. A fake name is a flashing yellow light.
The warning light is now pulsing. - The Christian Arriola / Jeffrey entity is following what is a trend in getting useless content in order to pump up a loser blog. (I receive these “please, take my content and link to me” requests frequently. As I was assembling this post, an entity called andreea.sauciuc@cognitiveseo.com begged me to respond to her earlier requests for me to talk to her. No, doesn’t work with these thoughtless, clueless individuals.) The Christian Jeffrey entity called my attention to a story from 2016 about finance, and it seems to Christian Jeffrey that a story related to “seo-financial-advisor” and Manuka Kitchen. The entities are either stupid humans or stupid software bots. The common denominator is “stupid.”
- The Christian Arriola / Jeffrey entity is confident that the entity and I agree. Wrong. The fake praise is even more obtuse than the links to subjects of zero interest to me and the DarkCyber team. What’s most inept? Assuming that I am going to agree with this Christian Arriola / Jeffrey or that I will craft a five star review of the Amerland SEO book?
What’s up with this Christian Arriola / Jeffrey entity, please?
Curious I did some checking of open source content. What do you know? The Christian Arriola / Jeffrey reinvented himself in 2018. Here’s a before behavioral modification in the food aisle and the fashion forward Christian Arriola / Jeffrey of the here and now. The image comes from Facebook. Of course, this Christian possibly named Arriola is a Facebooker and an Instagramer to boot:
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The “less pizza” diet seems to have had zero impact on the fashion sense of the entity Christian Jeffrey. You can check out the girl friends (numerous), the dog, the favorite cities, and the entity’s most loved pizza restaurants at this link.
A little more exploration revealed a cornucopia of search engine optimization rubbish presented in a series of YouTube videos. You can experience these discharges (effluent, not prison) by clicking on this image:
The Christian Jeffrey program does not present the name of the top hustler who operates the program.
Compared to the Poland China output in the Amerland book, the content in these videos might challenge a trippe of hungry pygmy goats.
Let’s look at an example:
The image is similar to those my team has reviewed as part of our work for a tribunal focused on human trafficking and child sex crime.
The program is part of the “show” — now mercifully discontinued — called The Hustle. This particular video features images of hot flames, a visage with what seems to be a Hustle smirk, a VW sedan, footage in a bar, and includes the statement “My life is proving my mom and dad wrong.”
With some trepidation, I asked some of my team to “watch” videos prepared by the Christian Arriola / Jeffrey entity.
Here’s the scorecard I received for three of the eight videos my team viewed. Please, note that each person watched two videos because as one of the DarkCyber team said, “I can’t stand this vlogger and the content. Two’s the limit for me.” I listen, so I said, “Okay, team two shows.”
Programs were rated on a scale of one to 10. One is an F or failure; 10 is a great program with solid content. Here we go:
Show 1: How to Be a Podcaster. Score: 2. Comment: Mostly correct but geared to a person who cannot read. On the Hustle Web site, the link to this program and the free series of which it is allegedly a part does not resolve. Dead links are not what SEO experts report as helpful.
Show 2: Best Keywords for Massage Therapist. Score 1. Comment: Distasteful subject. Seems like a way to build traffic for in call and outcall prostitution services.
Show 3: Make Money with SEMrush. Score 1. Comment: Superficial. Seems to suggest that anyone — even a person with zero education and a questionable reputation — can become a search engine optimization expert.
DarkCyber provided the Christian Arriola / Jeffrey entity with some questions, a routine part of our data collection process. Here are the questions Christian Jeffrey declined to answer:
Would you be kind enough to explain the use of dual names?
One of the team took a gander at the LinkedIn profile associated with one of the names the “Hustle” expert used in his communications to me. Here’s what one of the DarkCyber team learned:
- One job at the present time: “Associate Director of SEO” for Nexstar Digital. This is a full time position. Engaged for one year.
- Another job at the present time: “Search Engine Optimization SEO Consultant”. Engaged for nine years.
- A third job at the present time: Podcast Host and content marketing strategy. Engaged for three years. Note that the video podcast went into what seems to be permanent hiatus “one year ago.”
- Education: Five years to get a BA degree in “business administration, marketing, and computer information systems.”
- An entity named Carlos Rosado said, “One of the most complete SEO managers I have ever worked with.”
- Christian Jeffrey is interested in AT&T and the Hotel Group, among others.
The DarkCyber team member’s opinion based on viewing the Hustle programs and the LinkedIn profile:
The fact that the person Christian Arriola / Jeffrey uses one name for LinkedIn and omits his name from the “Hustle” podcast raises red flags. Also, the information presented in the LinkedIn biography makes clear that this individual presents three “jobs” of which two are his own endeavors. This is another warning light. Multiple gigs are understandable today, but to list one’s own projects as full time jobs leads me to believe that this individual is one with a bit of professional fluidity or “stretch.”
Net Net: SEO is a discipline which plays a cat-and-mouse game with Google. Making a Web page appear when the content of that Web page is not germane to the user’s query is in some ways beyond marketing. The practice edges into intellectual dishonesty. Maybe the behavior is not in the same class as illegal weapons dealing, contraband, human trafficking, and child sex crime? But the facts presented in open source support these conclusions:
- SEO practitioners do shade or shape what Google displays.
- Individual practitioners may embrace methods associated with criminal behavior; that is, the use of aliases in a professional setting like LinkedIn and email to entities like ArnoldIT.
- The expertise required to deliver for fee SEO services may depend on the use of questionable software tools developed by other SEO “experts” and may not work. (Alexa Ranking reports that the Woobound.com site ranks at 7,313,183. DarkCyber finds it peculiar that an SEO expert cannot generate traffic or YouTube views for that matter.)
If you have to decide between the Amerland book’s advice and the “expertise” peddled by Christian Arriola / Jeffrey, look further. You’ll probably save time and money and avoid the “hustle.”
Stephen E Arnold, May 4, 2020
Search Engine Optimization: The Next Frontier Is Smart SEO
April 29, 2020
Content strategy plans are the most overlooked part of any Web site design and advertising campaign. Good content is integral to selling a product or a service, but not everyone is good at creating it. News Patrolling runs down the: “Best AI Tools For Content Marketing Strategy” and how AI is becoming an industry game changer.
Content is usually the first impression consumers have of companies. It is meant to engage the consumer, then:
“It serves as a tool to communicate with your audience. If you identify their pain points to provide them with a solution, they will trust you and be more interested in buying your offerings. The growth of your business depends on content strategy. It must be as effective as possible if you do not go downhill. Artificial intelligence can help you make an effective content marketing strategy. There are various tools to help you from targeting keywords to choosing the right topic. You will be surprised to know that AI tools can create a smarter content strategy by identifying the behaviour of users. Such software can help you increase revenues and reduce cost.”
The article recommends four content marketing software: Hubpost, Quill, Clearscope, and BrightEdge. Hubpost is advertised as using machine learning to help one get an edge on competition. The software analyzes keywords to discover what consumers want, then it clusters topics based on competition level.
Quill specializes in keyword optimization and generating quality content. Clearscope also optimizes content using keywords. It helps you generate keywords based on Google data and select the best keywords to use. Once you choose a keyword and write your post, Clearscope analyzes a post with other top-ranking posts.
BrightEdge is one integrated software solution that provides performance measurement, optimization, and keywords. It is described as a one-size-fits-all for content marketing strategies.
AI can provide insights into how to create the best content, but the most important part of a content strategy plan remains creative humans.
Yep, SEO is modernizing and automating methods to ensure that ad-supported Web search engines decide what matches a query. Precision, recall, and objectivity? Forget those irrelevant concepts.
Whitney Grace, April 29, 2020
Was It Google or SEO That Undermined the Internet?
April 22, 2020
If you are searching for a Web designer position, the job description will most likely contain the term “familiar with SEO.” SEO stands for “search engine optimization” and it uses keywords in original content to drive traffic to a Web site and make it appear at the top of search results. SEO makes the World Wide Web go round, but Super Highway 98 tells, “How SEO Ruined The Internet.”
Super Highway 98 is a nostalgic Web site that glorifies the early days off the Internet—back in the 1990s when dialup was still needed to surf. The article explains that from 1998-2003, Google was a magical experience. Nowadays, SEO technicians modify hyperlinks and headings to optimize them for search engines. In essence, they are rewriting history, instead of archiving the past:
“ ‘Content pruning’ is an effective SEO tactic on large, established websites. Rather that archiving old content with historical significance, many websites will delete it from their servers and return a 410 status code. Gone. The goal is to optimize “crawl budget,” keeping Google focused on the content that matters now. The result is a web without institutional memory or accountability.”
Today’s Internet hosts “the illusion of choice,” because many Web sites (especially review sites) are owned by the same company and content is specifically scripted for best SEO practices. Content needs to be breaking news and drive up Web traffic. Links are Internet currency. The biggest players usually do not link to other sites to keep users on their own pages.
Not for the foreseeable future. Money is more important than delivering objectionable, comprehensive, user tracking free services.
Whitney Grace, April 22, 2020
Did 2012 Mark the Beginning of the End for the Google?
February 24, 2020
A colleague sent me a link to “Google’s Best Days Are Behind Them.” I don’t have much hope for a write up with a grammatical error in the headline. The viewpoint is that of a search engine optimization professional. For a member of this elite and relevance destroying group, Google is good if it returns a specific Web page in response to a user’s query. In my experience, the query matters less than putting a particular page at the top of a first page of result. To achieve this, gamesmanship, deceptive practices, and social engineering are the norm.
The write up pegs 2012 as the beginning of the end of Google. I prefer to think of Google beginning a stroll toward sundowning, not death, and not for a long time. The write up asserts:
Google first started making major changes in its long-existing algorithm in 2012, when it came up with the Penguin update. With each subsequent algorithm update, the company focused on key areas like building links, improving content, or technical SEO aspects.
What’s happening is that SEO experts find themselves with less room to fiddle and fool Mother Google. In reality, Google has taken the fooling around into its own hands. The write up touches upon one example:
But recently, Google has started paying more attention to the way it displays its search results, i.e., the UI/UX. And this sole factor has cost multiple websites the entirety of their business, if not more.
Instead of a list, Google has experimented with making the pages into showcases, digital fruit salads, and odd mixes of content from its silos of indexes. But that disguised a core problem for the Google: The rise of the mobile phone and the shift from desktop search to small form factor search. The article identifies one consequence of this shift:
While Google had a 20% volume of advertisements on its SERPS before, Google-owned features now tend to occupy almost 80% of the page. In most search results, the first fold is completely taken over by features like Google ads, a Google Maps pack, or Google Shopping ads.
For the author, this means that getting a site to appear at the top of a results list is a difficult task. For certain types of content, the SEO efforts – usually a hit and miss effort – became outright failure.
The write up does point out that Google made more than 3,000 changes to its search algorithm in 2019. That’s sort of right. The plumbing is still in place at the Google. The fixes take place in the layers upon layers of wrappers which enhance search with the advertising revenue objective. What Google’s algorithm is now resembles a giant tar ball with leaves, sticks, plastic water bottles, and other detritus embedded in its surface. Changes require changes. Revenue objectives require changes. Users doing something Google did not predict requires changes. To make matters more interesting, the changes follow the sun; that is, search engineers make changes around the world, across time zones. DarkCyber is not sure there is a single person working at Google who knows what is generating a particular search result. That’s not going to change.
When did this situation begin? Was 2012 the Golden Year?
No. That’s like pinpointing the specific date of the Stone Age.
Google’s transformation began the day the Yahoo litigation was resolved. For those unaware that Google was accused of improper use of Yahoo owned systems and methods, you can get up to speed at this paywalled (of course) story in the New York Times by the ever sharp Saul Hansell: “Google and Yahoo Settle Dispute Over Search Patent.”
Search is expensive. Google’s approach to business is expensive. Google’s assumptions about Android advertising are expensive. In short, no matter how much money Google sucks in and carves out for profit there will never be enough. As a result, Google has to reduce costs and increase revenue.
The changes Google has been implementing since 2004 are not visible to even the least aware SEO professional. To those who have used Web search systems since before the inception of Google, the changes in the quality, timeliness, relevance, precision, and recall in Google search results have been deteriorating for — let’s do the math 2020 – 2004 = 16 years — yes, more than 15 years.
There’s nothing like an SEO expert who is on top of search, what’s been going on for 180 months.
DarkCyber’s key insight into search: Run those queries across available systems. Relying on one is going to produce results that may deceive, mislead, and disappoint.
That’s work. Yep, so is understanding that information retrieval is a serious business. Advertising is a money business. SEO is a deception business.
And Google is consistent and sundowning. No matter how flawed the service, it is a monopoly. Monopolies take a long time to go away.
Stephen E Arnold, February 24, 2020
A DarkCyber Tip: Stay On Google’s Good Side
September 20, 2019
If your Web site does not appear in Google, it might as well not exist. Being in the top Google search results is key to your Web site’s success or failure, but how do you get in the top search results? The answer is: being on Google’s good side. Bit Rebels explains how to be on good terms with Google in the article, “How Important Is Getting On Google’s Good Side.”
You want to focus on getting in Google’s top search results, because 73% of all online searches are conducted via it. Google is the big guns when it comes to online search and if you get to the top of Google, then you will get to the top of the remaining search engines.
Being on the second, third, and fourth pages might appear to be an accomplishment, but humans have short attention spans and do not want to browse. Humans want instantaneous results, so that action involves a once over of the first page and clicking on a link.
Do not forget that SEO is an important part of high rankings:
“At this point, you probably have an idea what search engine optimization, SEO, is. In case you don’t, though, it’s the process of making your website more attractive to a search engine. When the popular search engine that is Google arranges results, it does so using specific criteria; relevance of the domain name to the search keywords, website speed and reliability, relevance of web content, popularity and several other factors.
We also noted:
What’s more, Google also takes into consideration how many clicks does your website often get. So, if it is a frequently visited website, it would automatically get bumped up the results page. Having said that, get ready to scoop the leftovers of your mind off the floor because we’re about to blow it to bit.”
To get on Google’s good side the formula is simple: create good content, concentrate on SEO, gets hits, and maybe invest in some online advertising?
Whitney Grace, September 20, 2019
SEO: The Relevance Killer
August 26, 2019
The maker of the AWS-based email platform Send With SES vents some frustration in the post, “The Internet Is An SEO Landfill.” We could not agree more. The entrepreneur describes the advice they have received from SEO consultants, who suggest paying to flood the internet with thousands of unnecessary words about their simple and well-documented product. All to trick Google’s algorithm into elevating their site in search results because, of course, that is how one gets ahead in competitive fields these days. The author is as vexed as we are about this state of affairs; they write:
“Search Engines need some kind of validation to decide what’s popular. What better validation than gossip. And that’s what the internet has become. Full of gossip, junk content, paid posts, con articles, click bait links, sock-puppetry, spam, regurgitated spam, free e-books, self-aggrandizement, fake followers, fake news, – all designed to achieve one thing – con the Search Engine – and you.
We found this interesting as well:
“Don’t the makers of Search Engines know this? Of course they do. It’s just not in their interest to bring clarity. SEO Consultants are an unpaid [by search engines] army of evangelists who channel billions of dollars in ad revenue to Search Engines. Why would a Search Engine want to disown the evangelists when so much money is at stake!
We also noted this statement:
“SEO is easy money. It attracts the bottom feeders of the tech world. It’s easy to make a livelihood off of SEO. Why? Because it requires little skill. The startup costs are little. There’s a huge and easy market … lots of entrepreneurs who will grab at any straw of hope that promises to make their product more visible.”
Ouch! We are guessing the writer did not bite on any of their would-be SEO consultants’ pitches. If only every business would adopt this attitude, we could relegate junk content to the archives of history.
Cynthia Murrell, August 26, 2019
Google: Help the GOOG Find Your Business with the Help of Search Engine Optimization
July 11, 2019
One can buy Google ads. That may help. But if you just want to create a listing for your business, you may have to do a bit of work. If your business does not come up in a Google query, that business may be missing out on sales. That’s called leaving money on the table. Not much fun DarkCyber thinks.
Well, there’s a fix. Just point your browser to this write up:
No kidding. That an SEO friendly title.
The write up points out this easy fix:
Fortunately, Google has been helpful in working with us to find a solution, which shows that Google is flexible and willing to evolve. As more companies adopt business models shorn of permanent locations, the bigger question is how will Google adapt over time? If you are one such business, you may need an advocate to work with Google – but it’s worth trying. Google, to its credit, watches for patterns of behavior among its users and adapts. It behooves Google to provide the best experience to its users, and if more of its users are struggling to find businesses, Google will adapt rather than lose them to another ecosystem.
Yep, Google is helpful. But not as helpful as hiring an SEO expert. There’s nothing like a “real” news story with substantive information. Fascinating. As Google’s results become less and less relevant to a user’s query, the SEO crowd wants to ensure that your business can be found even if the query is not relevant to your business. That’s just “good” business in SEO land.
Stephen E Arnold, July 11, 2019
Google Produces YouTube Series on SEO Myths
May 16, 2019
It seems Google has a new angle for its public relations. Search Engine Journal announces, “Google Steps Up Its Content Game with New YouTube Series on SEO Myths.” Writer Matt Southern tells us:
“Google is preparing to launch a new video series about SEO myths which is drastically different from its previous videos. The ‘SEO Mythbusting’ series will be hosted by Google’s Martin Splitt and published on the Google Webmasters YouTube channel. Splitt recently wrapped up a video series on JavaScript SEO, so he’s wasting no time moving on to the next thing. Judging from the trailer, Google has seriously upped the production value of its video content. … It’s best described as an insightful, engaging SEO talk show produced by Google.”
Southern has gleaned several probable episode topics from the trailer: Googlebot, JavaScript frameworks, and communication between developers and SEOs for example. Apparently, each episode will include a segment discussing SEO misconceptions with folks from the developer and/or SEO communities. The write-up embeds the 1.5 minute trailer, so curious readers should check it out.
Cynthia Murrell, May 16, 2019
Google: SEO Like a True Google Human Actor
April 18, 2019
We know Google’s search algorithm comprehends text, at least enough to produce relevant search results (though, alas, apparently not enough to detect improper comments in kiddie videos on YouTube). The mechanisms, though, remain murky. Yoast ponders, “How Does Google Understand Text?” Writer Jesse van de Hulsbeek observes Google keeps the particulars close to the vest, but points to some clues, like patents Google has filed. “Word embeddings,” or assessing closely related words, and related entities are two examples. Writing for his SEO audience, van de Hulsbeek advises:
If Google understands context in some way or another, it’s likely to assess and judge context as well. The better your copy matches Google’s notion of the context, the better its chances. So thin copy with limited scope is going to be at a disadvantage. You’ll need to cover your topics exhaustively. And on a larger scale, covering related concepts and presenting a full body of work on your site will reinforce your authority on the topic you specialize in.
We also noted:
Easier texts which clearly reflect relationships between concepts don’t just benefit your readers, they help Google as well. Difficult, inconsistent and poorly structured writing is more difficult to understand for both humans and machines. You can help the search engine understand your texts by focusing on: Good readability (that is to say, making your text as easy-to-read as possible without compromising your message)…Good structure (that is to say, adding clear subheadings and transitions)…Good context (that is to say, adding clear explanations that show how what you’re saying relates to what is already known about a topic).
The article does point out that including key phrases is still important. Google is trying to be more like a human reader, we’re reminded, so text that is good for the humans is good for the SEO ranking. Relevance? Not so much.
Cynthia Murrell, April 18, 2019
Semantic SEO: A Frothy Romp
November 6, 2018
Someone spent a long, long time assembling the information included in “Using Topic Modelling to Win Big with NLP and Semantic Search.” [The original spells “modelling” with two Ls. I have changed the spelling in my write up.] I am not exactly sure what “semantic search” means. I have a glimmer of understanding about natural language processing. Whether it works as one assumes is, of course, another thing entirely. The idea of “topic modeling” is new. “Models” I get. Topic modeling, not so much. My thought is that the phrase means indexing and categorization. But?
The slide deck covers quite a bit of ground in the Microsoft / LinkedIn / Slideshare document. The lingo in the document includes a bountiful gathering of buzzwords.Also, there’s an equation, although, I am not certain it clarifies. Could it be that its inclusion is intended to add some mathiness to the confection?
Here you go. Channel your inner Leibnitz with an intuitive view:
Remarkable what SEO experts can assemble.
Stephen E Arnold, November 6, 2018
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