Backlinks, Losing Rankings and Overoptimizing

https://www.etsy.com/listing/60825578/etsy-relevancy-and-google-seo-success

SEO, Google's Penguin update, overoptimizing and losing rankings on Google.

The latest Google update to the search algorithm which took place at the end of April has to do with "overoptimizing." Web sites that Google considers "overoptimized" have lost their rankings in Google's search results. 

If the views to your Etsy shop, other online venue or your own stand alone web site have suddenly dropped in the past few weeks, here are the possible reasons:

Keyword Stuffing - this is the practice of overloading the web page with keywords, such as paragraphs of text that runs on and on, is filled with many keywords and do not make sense when read. I have never seen this in any Etsy shop that I have seen in the past 5 - 6 years but Etsy sellers might be Keyword Stuffng on their own web sites. 

No Content Above the Fold - If you have a web site that is all design or ads above the fold (the bottom of the screen before scrolling), your Web site could get "punished" for doing this. Google considers this low quality content.

Link Schemes - If you have been working on building backlinks for your Etsy shop or stand alone web site, you should be aware of the types of backlinks that Google does not like: Links intended to manipulate PageRank, Links to web spammers or bad neighborhoods on the web, Excessive reciprocal links or excessive link exchanging ("Link to me and I'll link to you."), Buying or selling links that pass PageRank.

Quality of Backlinks - For years, it did not matter which web sites linked to yours as long as your web site did not link to "bad" web sites (spammers, scammers, Link Farms, irrelevant web sites, etc). Now who links to your Web site or shop does matter a LOT. 
----If Google deems a web site to be irrelevant to yours (for example, a sports web site linking to a jewelry web site), Google will remove the link value passed by that link to your web page. If Google removes the link value from many web sites linking to your Etsy shop or stand alone web site, your rankings on Google will drop in the search results.
----If a known Spam web site links to your web site, your web site will lose rank value, even if you had nothing to do with getting the backlink from the known spam Web site.

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WHERE THIS UPDATE IS A CONCERN FOR ETSY SELLERS:

Etsy sellers who hire link builders to build backlnks for their shop or web site must make sure that the link building person is aware of good links and worthless links or bad links that can harm your shop or web site. There are many low quality link builders who do not know the difference between good and bad lnks and will build backlinks anywhere and everywhere. Be sure to find out where your backlinks are coming from and remove those that are in "bad neighborhoods" (Google's words).

Anytime there is a Google update, there are always a lot of fears, rumors and misconceptions that follow. You can read more about this latest update on Google's own blog and know whether or not this applies to your shop or web site: http://insidesearch.blogspot.com/2012/04/another-step-to-reward-high-quality.html

Mary
SEO and Relevancy Guide Books

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What is Link Building, Backlinks, Link Popularity

A link, also known as a hyperlink, is any clickable text or image in a web page, like our names and shop names and avatars on Etsy. Clicking on these links takes us to a profile page or shop page or other page within Etsy.

Backlink definition summarized from: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backlink

Backlinks, also known as incoming links, inbound links, inlinks, and inward links, are incoming links to a website or web page. In basic link terminology, a backlink is any link received by a web node (web page, directory, website, or top level domain) from another web node.

Inbound links were originally important (prior to the emergence of search engines) as a primary means of web navigation; today, their significance lies in search engine optimization (SEO). The number of backlinks is one indication of the popularity or importance of that website or page (for example, this is used by Google to determine the PageRank of a webpage).

Search engines often use the number of backlinks that a website has as one of the most important factors for determining that website's search engine ranking, popularity and importance.

There are several factors that determine the value of a backlink. Backlinks from authoritative sites on a given topic are highly valuable. If both sites have content geared toward the keyword topic, the backlink is considered relevant and believed to have strong influence on the search engine rankings of the webpage granted the backlink.

The link I posted in the message above, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backlink, when clicked, takes us to another Web site.

Links are used for navigation within web sites and from one web site to another.

Years ago, Google decided that links had a value beyond navigation, that any Web page that had many other Web pages linking to it, had to have some importance and significance. Any Web page that had very important other web pages (like government pages, educational pages, and trusted authority Web sites such as CNN.com) inking to it had to have even more importance and significance.

The quality and number of inbound links (or backlinks) that any web page or web site has now determines where that web page comes up in the search results.

When you go to www.google.com and enter a keyword phrase, such as, "handmade jewelry", you will see 10 web sites come up on the first page of search results. Etsy is at the very top, after the sponsored ads, followed by nine other web sites selling handmade jewelry including Artfire.

Where these web sites selling handmade jewelry come up in the search results depends on both the keywords that are used on these web pages as well as the number and quality of their backlinks. (The last time I checked, Etsy had over 1.5 million backlinks and seems to have that top spot secured).

Where a web page or web site comes up in the search results is very important for the number of web visitors that web site gets. Most people do not look past the first page of search results. Most people will click on the first web site, then the next, etc. Getting to page one of the search results and especially to the top spot FOR THEIR KEYWORD PHRASES is the goal of many web sites.

There are over 15,000 searches each month on Google for "handmade jewelry" alone. Etsy also comes up for every other "handmade" keyword phrase I have tested. This top spot insures a lot of Internet visitors to etsy.com

Where to build backlinks

Before building backlinks, download the Firefox browser and then install the developer toolbar. The developer toolbar will let you know which web sites and blogs and forums block link value from being passed along to your web page. These blocked links are highlighted in bright pink when you use the developer tool bar.

Here is a screen shot of my Facebook page with links highlighted in pink by the developer tool bar: www.wingsdove.com/screens/FirefoxBlockedLinksFacebook.jpg  

(NOTE: there is now a newer developer tool bar for use with the newest Firefox browser and the blocked backlinks might not appear the same way as on the older Firefox browsers.  I will be posting an update when I learn more.)

You might not want to waste your time leaving blog and forum comments as those links in your signature have no value to your web page. Find web pages that do not block link value when you leave a link to your Etsy shop web site.

Firefox browser download: www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/

Developer Toolbar download: addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/web-developer/

One of the easiest and best ways to start with link building for a web site is by exchanging links with other trusted web sites owned by people that you know. Since you cannot add link pages to your Etsy shop like you can to your own web site, you can work around this by using your blog.

Your own blog is a very good place to start building backlinks to your shop. You can add at least one link to your shop with each blog post. 

You can also exchange links with other Etsy bloggers by writing about their Etsy shop and linking to their shop from your blog post. The link exchange would involve the other blogger writing about and linking to your Etsy shop in exchange.

Another way to exchange links with other blogs is by using the "grab my button badges" that sometimes can be found on blogs. You can see what this badge looks like on the left side of my blog, www.seo-web-pro.blogspot.com/ . When someone copies the code that is in the white text area and adds it to their blog, a link is created that links from their blog to your blog.

These link building ideas are a good place for a beginner to start. 



Mary
SEO and Relevancy Guide Books

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