Will Buying adwords help Google rankings ,

This is a question often asked in forums not just in forums but even we get same question from potential leads and current clients. Every one who is new to this SEO world might have a wrong assumption that buying Adwords will have a positive impact on Organic Google search engine rankings.

No it does not nor had never been that way nor will it ever be like that in Future. Google has been know to be a highly ethical search engine their Motto says “Don’t be Evil” if they give boost to adwords advertisers in organic rankings then it simply means they are being evil.

Adwords has been a very successful program from Google and today google’s No.1 revenue comes from adwords their pay per click program which displays sponsored results besides organic search engine results. Adwords results are inside iframes and embedded inside JavaScript so those links are not crawled. Also the links go through a redirect which is prevented from passing any link popularity or Pagerank to the targeted site.

SEO Blog Team,

Expired domain do they help in search engine rankings.

Acceptable downtime for Search Engines

Downtime of website, Hmm everyone should have gone through this if you are running a website. Lots of people are worried if the site goes down then they will loose their search engine traffic and loose their rankings altogether. This is not totally true search engines don’t penalize or just drop a site just because a site is down for couple of days. Even if a site is down for couple of days and during that time Search Engine Robots visit’s the site its not a problem they will come again they are programmed to do that. Me having written my own search engine robot program have done that way.

But that being said if your site is down for a long time then you have reasons to worry. Search engines if they repeatedly hit a site and see that its down they will remove the site from the index or prevent the site from ranking all together. They do this to prevent users from visiting a site from their SERPs ( Search Engine Results Pages ) and returning empty handed . So I recommend if your site is down don’t wait too long just make sure the host solves the problem promptly or switch host and change DNS immediately.

This will save a lot of headache with search engines.

Reasons for Google not catching a page: A SEO checklist for Google’s cache problem

Reasons for Google not catching a page: A SEO checklist for Google’s cache problem

1. If a page is password protected and the search engines cannot access it but find many links coming to it they will keep the URL in search results but there wont be any cache since the page cannot be accessed by Googlebot.
2. If the page is too large for indexing we discussed this before in our blog Googlebot has problem caching large pages. For example large PPT, large PDFs or large Docs are not cached by Google. From our research they have a indexing limit of 1.5 Mb and I have personally not seen a page more than that being cached again understand indexing and caching are two different things I am discussing about indexing only here.
3. If a page has errors and not rendering properly for Googlebot they fail to index that page. This might sometimes happen with dynamic pages some servers when the Googlebot is visiting might not render the page problem and this will result in Googlebot not caching the page.
4. If you are suffering from a page penalty then it will affect page caching.
   Also if Googlebot has not visited a page for a long time but the page is still in index it will loose its credibility in the index and will loose the cache.
5. Accidental blocking of a page in robots.txt or in Meta tags will stop search engines from caching a page. For example the Nocache meta tag syntax will tell the search engine robot not to cache the web page.

What caused indexed pages to disappear: A SEO checklist for problems with indexed pages

What caused indexed pages to disappear: A SEO checklist for problems with
indexed pages

1. A page can disappear if Google finds something wrong with that page we discussed about this on page specific Google penalty here.
2. A page can disappear when suddenly it attracts 1000s of backlinks. This might suddenly trigger a filter with Search engine algorithms and that page might go through a strong search engine spam filter and once it clears it will be available again.
3. If a page has any server related problems and not accessible by search engines it will disappear from search engine index
4. If a page has problems with the html or dynamic code and again not properly rendering for the search engines it will be booted temporarily from the index.
5. If a page has hidden links and if detected by spam detecting Googlebot it will assigned a temporary penalty and will be booted from the index.
6. Manual review by certain search engines have made pages disappear. This is though very rare but it does happen and search engines do this to make sure users are not led to the wrong page.

Does all links count in Search Engines – A SEO checklist

Checklist of links that count, that count and pass link juice and links
that don’t Count

There is a difference between links that count and links that help rank a website, also there is a set of links that never count.

Links that count and help rank a website;

1. Links from good authority websites like major news sites, major blogs and other quality sites.
2. Links through link exchanges from quality sites many argue that reciprocal links don’t work but in my point of view , reciprocal links do work if done with the right websites
3. Links from article syndication through this plays a small role in helping a website rank but still it helps. The problem with these sites is that due to the large amount of syndication that happens Google devalues links from too many duplicate copies but still some links work.
4. Links from directories. Directories like dmoz, yahoo provide the maximum link juice but some paid directories or other human edited free directories also pass link juice to a website
5. Links from press releases: Yes links from press releases still work and they do help a site push its rankings
6. Text based links – Today this is the hot topic since Google is finding it hard to combat text links bought for link juice and Pagerank they are penalizing sites for buying and selling links. Penalties include loose of trust in Google, looking some value of toolbar pagerank, totally removed from search engines etc. But ofcourse they do work and links bought from big sites tend to pass a lot of link juice.
7. Links from social linking where people link to your site because they link you, this also plays a important factor and does help in rankings
8. Link from some sponsors, say you sponsor a event and they link back yes it helps if the linking site is non-profit or high quality site with already good reputation in Google.
9. Links inside PDFs and word Docs also count for link popularity if they are from good recognized sites.
10. Links from forum footer do count but to a very small extent, Its important the forum doesn’t do anything to stop spreading of link popularity

Links that count but don’t help in boosting rankings:

1. Link from social bookmarking sites like Digg, delicious, technorati etc. These links as far as our research goes are crawled very well by Google and other search engines but they don’t pass pagerank or link juice since most of the links are NOFOLLOW. Nofollow is a syntax added to the HREF tag for search engines to understand that the linking site is not trustworthy or simply that they are links that are beyond editorial control.
2. Link from wikipedia yes it counts but again not for Pagerank or link juice but good for Google love, Wikipedia also has Nofollow in most of its pages but all search engines pick links from wikipedia and crawl it.

Links that don’t count nor help in Search Engine Rankings:

1. Links from sites banned by search engines. If a search engine finds a link from banned site it don’t even follow it mostly and they never count as a link nor pass link popularity.
2. Link from Spam sites which again is blacklisted by search engine algorithm don’t count.
3. Link from blogspam, comment spam are not counted as link popularity links anymore with search engines.
4. Links that are embedded in Javascript don’t count since JavaScript is not crawled by search engines.
5. Links inside Adsense ads are not crawled since its embedded in JavaScript and they also are in IFRAME.
6. Links inside some complicated Flash files are not crawlable since search engines don’t understand complicated flash.
7. Links inside password protected pages / password protected PDFs don’t count.
8. Links from pages which are inside search results and only accessible by searching through a search button don’t count.

Search Engine Genie SEO Blog Team,

Age of domain SEO – Role of age of domain in SEO

Many over a course of 2 years had been debating whether Age of domain name plays a important role in Search Engines. From my point of view yes Google takes into play age of domain , inception date of a domain into google’s search results, inception date of backlinks for a site etc.

Of this Inception date of backlinks and age of backlinks is the most important factor. When sites like digital point started rotating text link ads ( Co-op ad-network ) on different websites based on link weight Google immediately stood up to the occasion and started seeing the date when the link to an other website was crawled for a particular date and when it sees the same link again on the page and compares it with the previous data. This is what we call the age of Backlinks and the pattern of change of links over a period of time.

When we say inception date of a website into Google it simply means when Googlebot first crawled a website and added it to its index. This also plays a important role with Google.

Now coming to the age of domain this plays a very important role when it comes to search engine algorithms. A person can register a domain before 10 years but the site might have been included into Google results only before a year so even if the domain’s age is old still for Google the inception date is the most important factor. So we don’t have to worry too much about age of domain name understand that its important to get the domain name indexed by Google as soon as possible and getting permanent backlinks getting indexed by Google as soon as possible. These 2 factors play a important role with Search engines especially Google.

SEO Blog Team,

Microsoft threatens to take on Yahoo if it doesn’t meet its deadline

Phishing emails target Google adwords customers

Recently we have seen a surge in adwords phishing scams, phishing is an attempt to criminally and fraudulently acquire sensitive information, such as usernames, passwords and credit card details, by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication. eBay, PayPal and online banks are common targets. Phishing is typically carried out by email or instant messaging,[1] and often directs users to enter details at a website, although phone contact has also been used.[2] Phishing is an example of social engineering techniques used to fool users.[3] Attempts to deal with the growing number of reported phishing incidents include legislation, user training, public awareness, and technical measures.

Beware of phishing emails to adwords. We are into adwords for both our sites as well as client sites and we have seen a increase in phishing emails to adwords advertisers. There are some adwords advertisers who spend more than 200,000 a month in Google Adwords. If any of these account holders fall for the scam they will loose their personal information and possibly some money .

Here is how a recently Scam phishing email to adwords advertiser look like

Dear Google AdWords Customer,
Please sign in to your account at http://adwords.google.com/select/login
, and update your billing information. Your account will be reactivated as soon
as you update your payment information.Your ads will show immediately if you
decide to pay for clicks via creditor debit card. If you decide to pay by direct
debit, we may need to receiveyour signed debit authorization before your ads
start running, depending on your location. If you choose bank transfer, your ads
will show as soon as we receive your first payment.
We look forward to
providing you with the most effective advertising
available.
Sincerely,
———————————————————————————-
The Google AdWords
Team

Please be aware that lot of people lost their personal information and money to phishing scams. If you find a email on this scam forward to adwords-support@google.com

Sites and businesses banned from adwords,

List of Google’s banned areas of advertising with adwords and Adsense,

1. Academic Aids:

You are NOT suppose to promote or encourage provide service for
writing thesis, academic paper writing, prewritten Academic
aids advertising for applying for exam on behalf of
someone else.

2. Aids to pass Drug Tests:

Advertising is not permitted for the promotion of products designed to help
someone pass a drug test. This includes products such as drug cleansing shakes
and urine test additives.

3. Alcohol:

Different countries have different laws when it comes to alcohol ads. US don’t
allow hard alcohol ads and countries like India bans all alcohol ads. Wine and
champagne are restricted in some areas.

4. Anabolic Steroids:

Advertising steroid related produced for Muscle enhancement is strictly
prohibited.

Automated Ad Clicking:

This is targeting Google itself. This destroys search engine’s natural tendency
to send potential leads to sites. Automated ad clicking ads are banned.

Bulk Marketing:

Bulk email marketing, EMail marketing software and non-opt in lists are banned
from advertising.

Copyright: Copyrighted information is not allowed in Adwords.

Counterfied designer Goods, Data entry affiliates and programmes are banned from Adwords advertising.

Dailers:

Dailers are mostly malwares or spywares which try to connect to a premium number
and you will be charged huge if you are not aware of what’s happening.

Drugs and Drug Paraphernalia

Don’t promote drugs and drug paraphernalia.

e-Gold

In the past one year e-currencies especially egold have become very popular in
Nigeria. E-gold is an electronic currency backed by real gold stored up in a
bullion somewhere in the United States and accounted for by weight. E-gold was
established by Douglas Jackson in 1996.
E-gold is used as a medium of
exchange on the net. Many businesses now accept e-gold as a form of payment for
their services or products all over the world. Our very own Nigeria caught the
bug about a year ago with people using it especially to fund their forex trading
accounts, hyip programs and muli-level marketing programs.
The main
attraction perhaps for Nigerians is the fact that the process of opening and
operating an e-gold account takes just a few minutes and verification is never
required unlike payment systems like paypal.
Another controversial feature of
the egold system is their non-repudiation policy which regards all spends as
being final. There are no charge-backs with egold. To fund an egold account, all
a user has to do is find an Independent exchanger whom he pays cash in exchange
for his egold account to be funded.
The two features of e-gold stated above
has made it a preferred medium of operation by fraudsters. The fact that no
verification is needed and that once the egold gets into their account, it can’t
be retrieved makes the system a perfect one for fraudsters. These limitations
notwithstanding, millions of people all over the world have continued to use the
system.
With its growing popularity in Nigeria, the egold system gradually
became a target of fraudulent activities by criminally minded Nigerians. Today,
egold fraud in Nigeria has become an issue. Perhaps it is the next level of
internet fraud in Nigeria.

Fake Documents

Don’t promote fake documents.
Advertising is not permitted for the promotion
of false documents such as fake IDs, passports, social security cards,
immigration papers, diplomas, and noble titles.

Fireworks and Pyrotechnic Devices

Don’t promote fireworks or pyrotechnic devices.
Advertising is not permitted
for the promotion of fireworks and pyrotechnic devices.

Gambling

Don’t promote online gambling or related sites.
Advertising is not
permitted
for the promotion of online casinos and gambling activities.
This includes,
but is not limited to, the following:
sports books
lotteries
bingo
poker
sites that provide tips, odds, and
handicapping
software
facilitating online casinos and gambling
gambling tutoring online
gambling related eBooks
‘play for fun’
gambling or casino games of skill
including sites where the primary
purpose
is ‘play for fun’ gambling
affiliate sites with the primary
purpose of
driving traffic to online
gambling sites

Hacking and Cracking sites;

Google has always been against hacking and cracking sites. its illegal to promote a hacking website in Google Adwords. Sites if found will immediately be banned. You can actually find Hacking and Cracking sites in Organic results though since its very difficult to filter sites in Organic results.

Miracle Cures
Don’t promote miracle cures.
Advertising is not permitted for the promotion of miracle cures, such as ‘Cure cancer overnight!’

Mobile Subscription Services
Mobile subscription sites must display the required service details.

Prescription Drugs and Related Content
The promotion of prescription drugs and related content is restricted.
Google AdWords only accepts pharmaceutical advertising from pharmacies that are based in the U.S. or Canada. Pharmacy-related ad campaigns can only target the U.S., U.S. territories (American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands), and/or Canada. Ads for prescription drugs will not be displayed in other countries. Additionally, Google AdWords requires all online pharmacy advertisers and affiliates to be a member of the PharmacyChecker Licensed Pharmacy Program. Ads ill not run until a valid PharmacyChecker identification number is provided.
Note that pet pharmacies and affiliates advertising pet prescription drugs when targeting the U.S. or Canada must also be PharmacyChecker approved.

Prostitution
Don’t promote prostitution.
Advertising is not permitted for the promotion of prostitution.
Scams/Phishing for Personal Information
Don’t use phishing or other scamming tactics.
Advertising is not permitted for sites collecting sensitive personal information or money with fake forms, false claims, or unauthorized use of Google Trademarks. Examples of personal information include email addresses, user names, passwords, and/or payment information.

Template Sites for Ad Networks
Don’t promote template sites for ad networks such as AdSense.
Advertising is not permitted for the promotion of template sites for ad networks. This includes products and services that create template or pre-generated websites solely intended to profit from ads.
Tobacco and Cigarettes
Don’t promote tobacco and cigarettes.
Advertising is not permitted for the promotion of tobacco or tobacco-related products, including cigarettes, cigars, tobacco pipes, and rolling papers.
Traffic Devices
Don’t promote illegal traffic devices.
Advertising is not permitted for the promotion of radar jammers, license plate covers, traffic signal changers, and related products.
Weapons
The promotion of weapons is restricted.
Advertising is not permitted for the promotion of certain weapons, such as firearms, firearm components, ammunition, balisongs (switchblades), butterfly knives, and brass knuckles.