Live Coverage of Ask The SEOs at SMX West

11:19

Barry Schwartz: Starts in 5 minutes...

11:19

Barry Schwartz: 10 minutes i mean

11:29

Barry Schwartz: ETA 1 min but looks like we are running late...

11:32

[Comment From Anne Haynes]
Hi Barry

11:32

11:33

Barry Schwartz: Starting up now...

11:34

Keri Morgret: Panelists are introducing themselves and their basketball scores.

11:37

Keri Morgret: Question about redesigning site and your traffic drops -- why? how to troubleshoot?

11:38

Keri Morgret: If you didn't do 301 redirects it could take a lot longer to rebound, for example.

11:38

Keri Morgret: Rae: difference between redesign and restructure site. Did you make it look different? Or did you change backend?

11:39

Keri Morgret: Greg: You're not doing due diligence ahead of time because you didn't anticipate that this might be a problem. Call an expert before hand, before you start, to make sure you don't majorly screw things up.

11:40

Keri Morgret: Jill: "The developers keep us SEOs in business"

11:40

11:41

Keri Morgret: Bruce: take your old site map, submit it to search engines -- old URLs will be spidered and the engines now know about the 301s.

11:42

[Comment From Guest]
I'd like to know who they recommend selling poop online

11:43

Barry Schwartz: Boser said, "if it aint broke, don't fix it" when it comes to redesigns, etc...

11:43

Barry Schwartz: So don't change your URLs if you dont need to...

11:44

Barry Schwartz: 27 hyphens in a URL was spotted by Bruce in the Google results.

11:44

Barry Schwartz: Keywords in URLs don't help all that much, so dont destroy your current URLs

11:44

[Comment From Guest]
Keywords help with CTR!!!!!

11:45

Barry Schwartz: Yes, they admitted that, but it isn't worth killing your old URLs for that

11:45

Keri Morgret: If you are using descriptive URLs, do use dashes instead of underscores.

11:46

Barry Schwartz: Greg said, your title tags are about "readability"

11:46

[Comment From SanDiegoSEO]
If you're not getting the traffic you feel you deserve, adding keywords into the URL's while doing redirects properly, can significantly increase the revenue your site brings in

11:46

Keri Morgret: Don't make your title tag look like a wish list. Don't make it look like it was written by a four-year-old.

11:47

Barry Schwartz: @SanDiegoSEO, right, if it IS broken, then go ahead ;-)

11:47

[Comment From SanDiegoSEO]
but at what level is considered "broken"

11:47

Keri Morgret: Todd: we never go beyond product category:product name.

11:48

[Comment From SanDiegoSEO]
it's broken if it can be improved upon, and increasing CTR improves it

11:48

Barry Schwartz: @SanDiego But changing thousands of URLs at one time, is not recommended just to boost CTR, if those pages rank well already

11:49

Keri Morgret: Jill is opposite of most of the panel, she likes longer title tags. They're still being indexed, the ... can also look like a call to action.

11:49

[Comment From AnneHaynes]
I'm making a client change their URLS because the site is only 10 pages big.

11:49

Barry Schwartz: @anne, that is fine imo

11:49

Barry Schwartz: Matt Cutts of Google taking notes...

11:49

[Comment From AnneHaynes]
good - thanks barry

11:50

[Comment From SanDiegoSEO]
you can safely change 1000's of URLs if you do it properly

11:50

[Comment From SanDiegoSEO]
the key is doing it properly and with someone experienced

11:51

Keri Morgret: @SanDiegoSEO The 301 redirect session yesterday had a lot of good information about that, too. https://www.seroundtable.com/archives/019354.html

11:51

Barry Schwartz: @SanDiego, well - I disagree, I don't think changing thousands of URLs is worth it for a site that gets good traffic from the search engines... I don't think it is worth it.

11:52

How important are keywords in the URL for ranking in search engines?
Very important

( 10% )

Somewhat important

( 70% )

Not important

( 20% )

11:53

[Comment From SanDiegoSEO]
Barry, if you properly handle the updates, and after 3 months those new pages rank the same as the old ones, and are receiving higher CTR, how can that no be worth it? Like I said you have to do it properly.

11:53

Barry Schwartz: @sanDiego, I don't believe a 3 month drop in traffic is worth it. I am sorry... Keywords are bold in the titles and description... I doubt the CTR increases that much if the bold keyword shows in the URL

11:54

Keri Morgret: The panelists talk about using Word Press and some caveats. Use Supercache, all-in-one SEO pack, get a good programmer.

11:55

Keri Morgret: Rae: Go see http://yoast.com/articles/wordpress-seo/ for a good guide about using word press in an seo-friendly way.

11:55

[Comment From alex-borsody-borsodas]
keywords in the url are very important, amazing disinfo

11:55

[Comment From AnneHaynes]
I'm not a good programmer and I'm find with wordpress it's a cms - what does the panelist mean?

11:55

[Comment From SanDiegoSEO]
if you do it properly, the dip in traffic wont be 3 months. I've usually seen a dip in rankings for less then 2 weeks and then a full rebound

11:55

[Comment From alex-borsody-borsodas]
what's more important a good idea for a site, good site design and understanding and programming, and interesting/viral content. or....seo tricks and mysticism?

11:56

[Comment From Matt Crouch]
@alex ... the first 5 things you said

11:57

Barry Schwartz: Now they start talking about the link condom.. yipeee

11:57

11:57

[Comment From AnneHaynes]
oh joy

11:57

[Comment From Michael Martinez]
Ask them what they think the impact of the news industry implosion will have on search results.

11:58

Barry Schwartz: @Michael, please expand that Q so I can submit it

11:58

[Comment From Matt Crouch]
Did they ever pass out real condoms with the wrapper say Link Condom. That would have been funny. I know you can brand your own condoms

11:58

Barry Schwartz: @Matt Crouch, I personally have never seen that

11:58

[Comment From Michael Martinez]
How much do they work with sites vetted in Google News and how much do they promote sites through the news industry?

11:59

[Comment From Michael Martinez]
Also, how much do they compete with news sites for keywords? e.g., New York Times has an SEO team, etc.

12:00

Barry Schwartz: Greg said, he has seen where some people buy links with anchor text and then they no longer rank for that anchor text phrase

12:00

Keri Morgret: Matt Cutts is bringing out his black book.

12:00

Does Google penalize sites by hand or manual review?
Yes

( 100% )

No

( 0% )

12:01

Keri Morgret: And he has his laptop screen nearly horizontal so nobody behind him can look on his screen. He may have had it specially modified to do this.

12:01

[Comment From Michael Martinez]
BTW this live blogging tool is a great improvement over previous live blogging efforts.

12:02

[Comment From Matt Crouch]
Props on this live blog format!

12:02

[Comment From Erik Dafforn]
Agreed. Very nice format.

12:02

[Comment From AnneHaynes]
I second @Michael

12:02

Barry Schwartz: Thanks guys! okay back to live blogging...

12:03

Barry Schwartz: How bad can penalities be?

12:03

Barry Schwartz: Greg said there are different levels of banning (super ban, etc.)

12:03

Barry Schwartz: Danny said Google should redirect Google Japan to Yahoo

12:03

[Comment From AnneHaynes]
What does matt say about levels of banning?

12:04

Barry Schwartz: @Anne that is the next session, Ask the Search Engines...

12:04

Barry Schwartz: Competitive sabtogage is out there and real

12:04

Keri Morgret: @anne he's just sitting in the audience right now and smiling/laughing and not saying a word.

12:04

Can you hurt a competitor's rank in Google?
Yes

( 83% )

No

( 17% )

12:05

Barry Schwartz: Ranking well on Yahoo or MSFT but not on Google, what do I do?

12:06

Barry Schwartz: Jill said, you can't make your site worse

12:06

Barry Schwartz: Greg, Google has a larger of aged links and pages, so they know more... unlike MSN

12:07

Barry Schwartz: Danny, "I wont call it a Sandbox"... Danny finds that a domain's trust over time is useful. Do you, the panelists, subscribe to that...

12:07

Barry Schwartz: Greg said, it is like being on probation

12:07

Barry Schwartz: Rae said the quicker you get authority links, the quicker you rank

12:08

Keri Morgret: Greg: in early days of site, focus on authority links, not anchor text.

12:08

Is there a Google Sandbox? (I know, not defining what I mean by sandbox, sorry)
Yes

( 70% )

No

( 30% )

12:09

Barry Schwartz: Todd;s iPhone start buzzing and the GSM network blasts into the Micophone -- ouch!

12:09

Keri Morgret: Rae: Emphasizes what she said in the last session. I don't care what anchor text the Washing Post uses when they link to me, as long as they link to me.

12:10

Barry Schwartz: Sometimes Google gives you a temporary boost for a page to rank well for a short period of time

12:10

Barry Schwartz: Todd called this a "tasting" theory (I think he said that)

12:11

Barry Schwartz: Bruce does the "if your links look unnatural, then it probably is"

12:11

12:12

Barry Schwartz: Danny said when starting the new site, SELand, he wished he could have taken his PR with him... Andy Beal had ther same issue...

12:13

Barry Schwartz: Greg, you need people to vouch for you...

12:13

Barry Schwartz: Should I love the h1 tag group of questions....

12:14

Barry Schwartz: Todd said you should aboslutely have your H1 and it should align to your title tag

12:14

Barry Schwartz: Dont stuff all your words in an H1 tag

12:15

[Comment From AnneHaynes]
I agree with @Todd

12:15

Barry Schwartz: Jill said, it doesnt "have to be an h" tag

12:16

Barry Schwartz: Lisa Barone blogging behind me

12:16

[Comment From Michael Martinez]
Ask Matt Cutts to leave. They have toned it down again.

12:16

Barry Schwartz: @michael not going to happen

12:16

[Comment From AnneHaynes]
@Michael ROFL

12:16

[Comment From Michael Martinez]
Jill is right. Hx tags make it easy to emphasize but there are other ways.

12:17

[Comment From AnneHaynes]
So using the CSS to emphasize is ok

12:17

Barry Schwartz: @Anne, yes

12:17

[Comment From Matt Crouch]
That's creeping Barry. ;) kidding. Try and get someone rubbing their nose

12:17

Barry Schwartz: Todd disagrees with Jill on her statement about the H1 tag

12:17

[Comment From Matt Crouch]
The photo i was referring to

12:18

Barry Schwartz: Bruce said, he feels his web site is like a thesis and structure as such

12:18

Barry Schwartz: Bruce uses H1s

12:18

Barry Schwartz: Rae said make sure your H1s are above the fold

12:19

[Comment From Michael Martinez]
I use Hx out of sheer laziness. You heard that right here....

12:20

[Comment From Matt Crouch]
LOL@ Michael.

12:20

[Comment From AnneHaynes]
I can't stand sites that rank with a bunch of crap below the fold!

12:21

[Comment From alex-borsody-borsodas]
have any of you hurt a competitors rankings in google....honestly

12:21

[Comment From Matt Crouch]
Is that why they keep making monitors bigger and the display bigger...

12:21

Keri Morgret: Question about changing title tags and impact. It can help in some situations.

12:21

[Comment From AnneHaynes]
@alex you can hurt their ranking by beating them in the serps

12:22

[Comment From alex-borsody-borsodas]
sure but. i want to know how many people here have practiced negative seo

12:22

[Comment From AnneHaynes]
@keri keep it coming

12:22

Have you sabotaged your competitors in Google?
Yes

( 11% )

No

( 89% )

I Tried But Didn't Succeed

( 0% )

12:23

Keri Morgret: @anne I need more coffee coming, am slacking off some, my apologies.

12:23

Barry Schwartz: Tools...

12:23

Barry Schwartz: Jill hates SEO tools

12:23

[Comment From alex-borsody-borsodas]
seo tools are gimmicks

12:23

[Comment From AnneHaynes]
I see a direct connection between title tags and rankings!!! I change it and I rank!

12:24

Barry Schwartz: Todd said there are two types of tools
(1) SEO score tools and those are bad
(2) Intrepratation tools are good, they give you data

12:24

Keri Morgret: You need to be a human to interpret the data. Don't just blindly follow what some program tells you.

12:24

[Comment From some guy]
lisa looks sexy with a mac

12:24

[Comment From Michael Martinez]
I hate SEO tools too. They are WAY TOO lazy.

12:24

[Comment From AnneHaynes]
*giving Keri coffee* your doing fine!

12:24

Barry Schwartz: Bruce said there is a difference between data and wisdom

12:26

Barry Schwartz: Next Session "Ask The Search Engines" featuring:
Matt Cutts, Software Engineer, Google Inc.
Keith Hogan, Vice President, Search Technology, Ask.com
Sasi Parthasarathy, Program Manager, Live Search, Microsoft
Sharad Verma, Senior Manager, Yahoo! Search Technology, Yahoo!

You Won't want to miss it. Starts at 1:30 (PST)

Make sure to check it out at https://www.seroundtable.com/ it will be a good one!

12:26

[Comment From Prashant]
what happens if you use h1 tags and resize the font via css to say only 14px? does google detect those changes?

12:26

[Comment From Prashant]
or does it even matter i should ask

12:26

[Comment From AnneHaynes]
analysis tools are good, automation and execution tools are bad

12:26

[Comment From Matt Crouch]
It doesn't matter whether the tool is good or not. It always comes down to the person using it.

12:26

[Comment From alex-borsody-borsodas]
data vs wisdom/rational thinking. true. looking forward to see how short all these seo's really are are when you come visit the big apple

12:26

Barry Schwartz: Few minutes left of this session

12:26

[Comment From SanDiegoSEO]
google has always stated formatting H tags with css is not an issue if you're not trying to hide it

12:26

Barry Schwartz: The very best tool for SEO is training, said Bruce

12:2

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