March 2007

Choosing the right search engine

Posted by Michael Martinez on March 29, 2007 in SEO Theory

Everyone wants to rank on Google but one of the less well-known secrets of search engine optimization is that Google underperforms in a number of commercial (and non-commercial) sectors. When you set out to optimize a new site for search, one of the questions you need to answer is: which search engine shows the […]

Baking relevance, the most misunderstood recipe in SEO

Posted by Michael Martinez on March 28, 2007 in SEO Theory

Search engine optimizers talk about relevance very casually these days. They seem to be fixated on relevant links, however, rather than actual relevance. Relevant links don’t help you very much. In fact, relevant links can hurt you.
A few years ago when the SEO industry was still young and small business owners were […]

The Long Dark Linktime Of The Web

Posted by Michael Martinez on March 26, 2007 in Link Theory, Seo Myths

Not every link counts.
One of the most poorly understood principles of search engine optimization is that gluttonous linking will always destroy its own value. In most competitive queries, links don’t make nearly as much difference as SEOs today believe. You can look at how search engines evaluate pages in a very simplistic way:

Do […]

The Physics of SEO Theory

Posted by Michael Martinez on March 23, 2007 in SEO Theory

Search engine optimization often reminds me of the physical universe and the various laws that we believe make the universe work. Some of the most well-known laws include the Laws of Conservation, the Law of Causality, the Determinism Principle, and the Uncertainty Principle.
Determinism says that if you know everything about a closed system […]

Measuring Competitors’ Advantages

Posted by Michael Martinez on March 22, 2007 in Competitive Analysis

When you evaluate a competitive Web site, you need to look past the backlinks, Toolbar PR (which is worthess for competitive measurements), and number of words in the query. To understand how strong a competitive site truly is, you need to establish a metric for that query.
Query-based metrics are tedious but essential to high-powered […]

King Content For The Small Business Site

Posted by Michael Martinez on March 21, 2007 in Search Engine Optimization

A common challenge for many small business owners striving to build an online presence is they feel there is really nothing for them to say on their Web sites. While there is nothing you can do with a lazy business owner who just slaps up a 1-page site, anyone who seriously wants to make […]

Four Sources of Links

Posted by Michael Martinez on March 20, 2007 in Link Building, Search Engine Optimization

Everyone wants links. In today’s search environment, the key to linking success begins with understanding where links come from, how you get them, how you use them, and why you really need them.
There are four sources of links (in descending order of importance):

Your internal navigational links
The links you give yourself from other sites
The links […]

The four foundations of SEO Theory

Posted by Michael Martinez on March 16, 2007 in SEO Theory

What is “SEO theory”? In our white paper on the topic I define SEO Theory as “the study of techniques and methodologies intended to affect or improve the visibility of Web documents in search engine results.” The discipline can be broken down into four categories:
Content Optimization Theory - What makes a Web page […]

Pro bono optimization and query competitiveness

Posted by Michael Martinez on March 13, 2007 in Competitive Analysis

Every now and then an SEO discussion turns into a contest of wills resulting in a pointless game of oneupmanship, where at least one person tries to discredit the other person’s point of view by suggesting or claiming the other person is not working with competitive queries. The rule of thumb is, if you […]

Being local in every community

Posted by Michael Martinez on March 9, 2007 in Search Engine Optimization

Local Search is on the verge of becoming the Viagra of small business marketing. When I began writing about the value of Local Search two years ago, I felt like a lone voice in the wilderness. I was neither the first person to advocate the value of Local Search to SEO nor the even the […]

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