Google, Panda, and On-Page SEO December 4, 2012
Posted by nrhatch in Blogging, Life Balance.trackback
I received a piece of SPAM this week that concerns SEO (Search Engine Optimization) in light of the new Google update ~ Panda:
On-Page SEO means more now than ever since the new Google update: Panda. No longer are backlinks and simply pinging or sending out a RSS feed the key to getting Google PageRank or Alexa Rankings, You now NEED On-Page SEO.
So what is good On-Page SEO?
* First your keyword must appear in the title.
* Then it must appear in the URL.
* You have to optimize your keyword and make sure that it has a nice keyword density of 3-5% in your article with relevant LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing).
* Then you should spread all H1,H2,H3 tags in your article.
* Your Keyword should appear in your first paragraph and in the last sentence of the page.
* You should have relevant usage of Bold and italics of your keyword.
* There should be one internal link to a page on your blog and you should have one image with an alt tag that has your keyword.
But, wait, there’s even more . . .
Not for me there isn’t.
There is NO WAY that I’m jumping through all those hoops just to jump to the top of the Google Leader Board.
Worrying about SEO would take the J~O~Y out of the JOurneY . . . leaving only an empty “urne.”
Especially since I never write with a “keyword” in mind.
Aah . . . that’s better!
What say you? Have the changes to Google changed how you blog?
Spirit Lights The Way 
You completely lost me here! I write and push publish…the rest is beyond me!
Yes! Me too, Suzi. I write, share, explore, dream, discover . . . and rarely worry about rankings, stats, or numbers.
They are what they are.
oh, Nancy, I’m so glad to see you write this 🙂
keyword? LSI density? alt tag?
I just burble away and maybe someone will read. I’m never going to be bothered to put in the effort, or to understand what all that means, but it must be a real challenge for those who want to blog for different reasons.
I love that . . . “burble away.” Same here.
When I first started SLTW, a blog guru started to give me all sorts of “rules” to follow to increase my readership. I ignored them. At that point, my sign off on most posts was:
“No rules. Just write.”
Because that’s what works for me. None of us know how long we have here, if we don’t enjoy the journey in the NOW, we may never enjoy ourselves.
Here, Now . . . where the dance of life takes place.
I just post. When I do post.. 🙂
I had no idea how involved SEO could be until I got this piece of SPAM. Maybe if I made my living at blogging, it would pay to take notice of all these hoops.
But I don’t. So I won’t. Write on!
I absolutely agree with you! It would take all the fun out of blogging 🙂
We are HERE and it is NOW . . . what else is there?
Let’s dance on! 😀
No truer words could be typed!
Thanks, Hudson. I got your other message. Thanks. I added Beyond Plum Creek to my blog roll so I can find you easily. 😀
Rofl!
This is why I subscribed by email to your blog.
(not becouse it’s got the Spitits thing like me.)
You really had me there for a minute…can’t believe I was even reading another bite of CSO, or whatever…
Surprise!
My feelings precisly.
Thanks, WaywardSpirit. Here’s to saying what we mean and meaning what with say . . . without keywords and density getting in the way.
: D
Here here.
Yeah that spam!
I got it too. Saved it in spam, weird I know, just to get used to the future. Remember how we complained about being forced to learn to use a computer and that www brain press to get anything done. A conspiricy!
That’s why I reblgged this.
It cuts the crap right when we can’t take it anymore, while having given clear benefits to learning. The best part.Permission to ignore the awsome future and just freaken enjoy our blgs till the future flirts and takes
Rule of Stupid clears up the confusion . . . just disregard these SEO Spammers. They’re just out trolling for fish who’ll bite. 🙄
Reblogged this on waywardspirit.
I am with you on this one: I write what is in me, not what will be blessed by Google rankings.
If I was operating a commercial website I am certain that I would feel differently about this.
Yes, I agree. If this were a commercial venture, I might feel differently.
Of course, if this were a commercial venture, I wouldn’t be having nearly as much FUN. “Do what you love and the money will follow.”
I lost you at LSI. Google has gotten too big for itself, much like Ebay. It’s creators have created a monster. And only the ones that have the tech savvy to know and do all that will prevail, squeezing the little guy, like me, out into oblivion.
Google, eBay, Facebook . . . they are all too big for their cyber britches. 🙄
I’m happy to be a minnow swimming in the shallows ~ No sharks.
This is a nightmare. I don’t even understand what most of those terms mean, and they explain it that way on purpose.
Read through Rule Of Stupid’s comment ~ WordPress gets us “out there” without us having to focus on SEO. Yay!!!
The Spam is crap.
1) I’ve done a bit of Web & SEO, and WordPress is brilliant at getting you ‘out there’ all on its own. It doesn’t need help.
2) SEO is for people selling stuff. We’re writing stuff.
3) SEO is for people with their own sites, and no amount of it will do much for a normal blogger.
4) Asking you to add an email link? This is just fishing – if you put your email in a blog, it will be found by cretins and you will get email spam forever!
Most importantly. If they’re so F* good at SEO, why are so few people finding THEM through Google that they have to resort to SPAMMING US!!
THANK YOU!!!! That really cuts through the crap for us. And thanks for re-blogging.
It’s a pleasure. Blogs are for enjoyment, not extra worries. Glad this helped.
Exactly right! 😀
You save the day Panda!
Was gonna say when I reblogged, but my “smart phone” outsmarted me, that the ONLY Panda I’m interested in…scowls right there, that black and white hairy mug in my blog community.
As you can see. I was right. : )
I’m always right.
But you Panda, is righter.
Long live the Panda!
(The hairy one.)
Waywardspirit
That’s funny, WWS . . . a panda weighing in on Panda and saving the day! Hooray!
: )
This Kung Fu Panda is a regular super hero.
It’s just expected from him now.
[…] Spirit wrote a post an hour or so ago (yeah, I don’t have a life yeah, I don’t mess around), in which they worried about SEO. […]
Thanks for this blog. I never really got the SEO stuff. I am happy not to think about it ever, ever again. I was directed here from ruleofstupid and I’m glad I was. Cheers.
I feel the same. It’s never been in the forefront of my mind . . . then I heard some people talking about the changes to Google. So I thought I would share this to get reactions. And the reactions seem to be on par with mine . . . “let’s just keep having FUN.”
Agreed 🙂
Do you know, Nancy, I think SEO is a complete waste of time. I think I received a similar spam message to yours and all it made me think is why would anybody want to bother with doing all that? I mean if someone wants to sit there and dot tees and cross eyes, then that’s up to them, but me… I just want to enjoy my writing / blogging experience. How and where I rank is most probably the least of my worries… and interest, for that matter!!!
Yes! I’ve never given page ranking much thought. When I saw all the steps involved, I just rolled my eyes. Like this. 🙄
I have no idea what all those terms mean…I see them written about and have been confused and befuddled by them…so, I ignore them all!…looks like whatever it’s for, it’s fine to ignore. I write and create because I care about what I’m creating about…that’s all…and to share, in case others might relate… that’s all. Who in the world keeps up with those ideas and steps????…well, I guess people who are making a living online need to do that… thank goodness I don’t!
Same here, Kathy. It’s so much more FUN to focus on enjoying the journey . . . without trying to reach some pre-conceived destination. Write on!
This makes my head spin and I am happy to be in good company with you and your readers.:D However, it has been unfortunate that Google made things harder for those of us who own an online business. We have a health website that had first page Google ranking for about 8 years and this is what brought the site customers. This is the first year where we lost ranking, we cannot be found on the first two pages, so business has dropped considerably. Most of us when searching for a product to purchase do not go past the first two or three pages. Thankfully, I don’t do SEO, Phil does! 🙂
Thanks for sharing that, Marie. For those who have on-line business, I can see that SEO may be important to attracting customers. I’ll keep my fingers crossed that Phil figures out how to use Google Panda to your best advantage.
If I thought about all that I would mess up my ditziness royally.
It’s quite a check list, isn’t it? I’m glad that I don’t have to be concerned with Google rankings in order to write.
There are plenty of people making a living being “SEO experts”. If you have a website with wordpress.org (not .com) and use an SEO plug-in, it tells you exactly how to structure each page and where to use the right words to optimize the page. So honestly, it doesn’t require that much expertise with a built-in tool. And it’s very tedious to do (I’m doing it for a client right now and they have over 300 pages to optimize). Does it work? I’m not even sure because it all depends how many other pages out there are trying to do the same with identical keywords or themes. If those pages have been around for 5 years and yours is brand new, it doesn’t matter how much SEO you do, you’ll never show up above them. For casual bloggers, it’s not worth the effort much, but for professional businesses, SEO is still very important.
Thanks, Milka. I don’t envy you those 300 pages to optimize. And you voiced one of my thoughts ~ if everyone is doing the “same thing” to climb to the top of a haystack . . . the haystack is apt to turn into a pancake in short order.
This was fascinating…I’m glad I read it late in the game, because by the time I came around it appears we have fewer concerns. It’s all so complex…a whole new world of terminology. I have enough trouble just finding time to give time to reading and writing. What have we all jumped into here! LOL!
This is a comforting WordPressCommunity thread.
I love us.
If I could do something to pull in 10x the current level of visitors, I’m not sure I would. It might be too much too fast. Slow and steady works for me . . . with no unnecessary pressure to climb ever higher in a “race to the top.” This way, I can take my time and enjoy the view.
I found you through Wayward Spirit, not google, and I like you. A substantial amount. For what it’s worth. 😉
Thanks, Brandy. I took a quick peek at your blog and liked what I saw too. 😀
I like it when people I like, like people I like.
I think I’ll direct people from my reblog to this fine thread…The action is here.
That’s often the case with reblogs, WWS . . . they’re great for pointing the way to something you want to share, but not an ideal way to start a new comment thread on your own blog.