BIZTECH - Lillian Haase
... that doesn’t make it true. By having a name, face, and bio associated with your content, you’re standing by it and its factualness (and vice versa). Therefore, it makes sense for Google to use this as part of their algorithm.
Google Trust Factor #1: Expertness What Google asks: Is this content written by an expert or enthusiast who knows the topic well, or is it shallower in nature? Similarly, is the site a recognized authority on its topic? In addition, does it contain insightful analysis or interesting information that is beyond obvious? How
your site might be sending a
negative signal: You’d be surprised how many websites I see with blogs that have no byline attached to their posts. They’re usually posted by some default “admin” or maybe a first name only, with no bio at the beginning or end of the article, or any sort of link to a bio page.
The fix: Whether or not you write your own blog posts, you need to associate a name with them. If you’re a small company, you’ll often want to use the CEO, owner, or president’s name. It’s also fine to have multiple authors if you’re a larger company. But you will need to establish the credibility of each of them. Of course, beyond just having a byline and bio, you should also mark up your code with the rel=“author” markup. Key takeaway: Anyone can write or say anything on the Internet, but 12
Google Trust Factor #2: Comprehensiveness
The fix: Remember why blogs exist. The idea of a blog (and content marketing in general) is to add value to your site. It enables you to go above and beyond talking about the products or services you offer. In short, it’s a way to demonstrate your (or your company’s) expertise. Write about what you know and know well. Key takeaway: Forget about SEO when you’re trying to decide what to put in your blog and instead think about hot topics in your industry -- not so you can rank for those keywords, but so you can provide your own unique perspective. This in turn will be exactly the sort of content Google is looking for -- that is, content that people bookmark and share.
What Google asks: Is this the sort of page you’d want to bookmark, share with a friend, or recommend? Does the content provide complete or comprehensive description of the topic? Are the articles short, unsubstantial, or otherwise lacking in helpful specifics? How
your site might be sending a
It’s not surprising that most of the blogs I saw that weren’t associating any name with their posts were also not very comprehensive. In fact, they often didn’t appear to be written for real people at all. They seemed to exist only because someone (probably some “SEO”) told the site owner they needed a blog for SEO purposes. And of course most of the posts were useless drivel only there to link to other parts of the website via keyworded anchor text. Which of course misses the whole point of having a blog in the first place.
negative signal:
Google Trust Factor #3: Redundancy for the Sake of Keywords What Google asks: Does the site have duplicate, overlapping, or redundant articles on the same or similar topics with slightly different keyword variations? Are the topics driven by genuine interests of readers of the site, or does the site generate content by attempting to guess what might rank well in search engines?
BlackBiz Indigenous Business Magazine - issue #08 WINTER 2013