We all know that links are a must if you’re going to get good search engine rankings. Google’s algorithm has been centered around links to websites for years. In fact, since the beginning, links for ranking in Google have been important. And as Gary Illyes once admitted, they tried testing the Google organic search engine algorithm without links. And apparently that didn’t work out so well. So, you still need links to rank well in Google’s natural search results. [Read more…]

There is a new type of virtually undetectable type of negative SEO attack that I discovered. This type of negative SEO attack is a particularly nasty type of attack, as it’s virtually undetectable by you (if you are a victim of the negative SEO). It takes advantage of a fairly new tag (the canonical tag) that search engines like Google and Bing support–but uses it in a very mischievous way. In fact, as a technical SEO myself, having practiced organic SEO for 20 years, I normally wouldn’t have been able to spot this type of negative SEO attack on my client’s web site. But, just like a lot of criminals out there, they can be sloppy, which ultimately lead to this negative SEO attack being discovered. [Read more…]

There is a lot of really, really bad SEO (search engine optimization) advice out there, some worse than others. Luckily we have Googlers like John Mueller and Danny Sullivan that take the time to dispell some of the rumors out there. For example, John Mueller recently did an AMA (Ask Me Anything) on Reddit, which was great. But then again, there are places where people give SEO advice and they have absolutely no business giving that advice. In fact, they can even spread the rumors further, making it even worse SEO advice. Here’s a perfect example. [Read more…]

As you might recall, I made a strategic decision last month to split this website into two separate websites. This website will continue to be my blog, here on BillHartzer.com, while my other website will have mostly services pages. I’ve owned Hartzer.com since July 1999, and now it’s Hartzer Consulting’s home. [Read more…]

Google has always been adamant about the fact that paying for Google AdWords ads will not boost your site’s organic search engine rankings. Google’s AdWords database is not shared with their organic search algorithm or any of the databases connected to it. So, I do believe Google when they say that paying for Google AdWords ads won’t boost your organic search engine rankings. But what about paying for other promotions, paying for traffic in other ways? Will that boost organic search engine rankings? Yes, it will, you can actually pay for organic search engine rankings. [Read more…]

Performing a full SEO Audit of your website on a regular basis, perhaps at least once every six months, is key to maintaining your web presence and maintaining your organic search engine rankings. It has been a while since I personally performed a highly technical SEO Audit of my own web site, which I just completed. There were several things that I checked, and each of these are detailed here. [Read more…]