It was a refreshing video, and even existing SEOs can learn a little something from his talk. It’s not just about using fancy software to hunt for “money” keywords and mechanically building links anymore. Now, the role of a SEO is more wide-reaching, and just as the search landscape has changed, so has the SEO’s job description.

Defining Marketing Goals

Fishkin began his talk by asking SEOs to think about defining their marketing goals. He gave a couple of cool examples to illustrate what he meant. First, he had webmasters imagine they were in charge of marketing a recipe or food-related site. Obviously, he said, the surface goal is to attract people who are interested in food. The deeper goal? To establish a rep with like-minded foodies around the Web. A good rep would equal more traffic (and good backlinks) – guaranteed. This example, according to Rand, is that of a website with a very broad set of marketing goals.

The second example focused on webmasters with marketing goals that are far more narrow. He gave the example of a new toy he digs; a remote controlled ball that can operated by a Smartphone. The product serves a very specific niche, so the marketing plan in this instance would be tight and laser-focused. This means the search demand for the product would not be as high as searches for a broader subject or interest.

According to Rand, the gadget is, “…[s]uper cool, but nobody searches for “little electronic ball that I control with my phone.” This just does not get search volume, despite maybe Sphero [the manufacturer] wishing that it did. But there might be lots of other interesting things that they could rank for.”

In this kind of situation, the marketing rules would be much different. The SEO would be hyper-focused, and marketing efforts would center around activities such as increasing brand recognition and getting the word out about the company’s product in the press.

These two sharply contrasting scenarios are Rand’s way of illustrating how dramatically different SEO marketing campaigns may be depending on what exactly you’re trying to market. Back in the day, SEO was pretty much the same, regardless of what you were promoting. Keywords, backlinking and automation were the name of the game and Fishkin is attempting to get us to wrap our brains around the new reality of SEO: it’s all about creating a marketing plan – not just a simple SEO strategy. As the Web becomes more complex, so does marketing online.

Should SEOs Focus on Search Engine Traffic?

This seems like a redundant question, given that the job title is “SEO,” no? But surprisingly, the role of the SEO has greatly evolved and expanded right alongside the ever-changing landscape of the Net.

To flesh this point out, Rand returns to his previous example of the Sphero toy. He says the company would likely want more press and exposure. Hence, it would need more reporters visiting the site. The company would want to find an angle that could get its toy recognized by influencers in the tech niche, such as inclusion in write-ups on sites like Engadget or Techmeme. The new SEO is about connecting those dots, and not necessarily about directly ranking for a certain set of terms.

For the broader niche example – the foodie website – the classic rules of SEO would apply more heavily. An SEO in this situation could use a more traditional approach to rank for various long-tail food-related terms, recipes, brands, etc. However, Rand says, you should think even bigger than that. Today’s SEOs should deal with all things that stand to positively impact the process… even down to UI/UX and marketing. The SEO of the past was all about metrics, numbers and lists. Now, she must become a Jill-of-all-trades.

Other SEO Job Responsibilities

Now that we know the job code is much broader than it once had been, let’s end with a look at some of the other responsibilities Rand highlighted for SEOs.

According to Fishkin, speed, website accessibility, branding, press and public relations all play a part in the new SEO’s job description. It’s not just about classic SEO – the game has evolved into creating an entire brand presence for your clients online.

I would add that social media management plays an essential role here as well. Your goal is to create one unified “face” for a company or website; a persona that people will immediately recognize and gravitate toward in your niche. Sure, it’ll be one hell of an undertaking in the beginning, but all that perseverance, organization, and determination will pay off royally in the end. If you play your cards right and cast your net wide, your campaign will eventually take off and more doors will open than you ever dreamed possible.

Do you agree with Rand’s description of the new SEO? Care to share any additional job responsibilities you’ve encountered while in the trenches? Tell us about it in the comments below.

Luckily, we can now put many of the myths to bed once and for all. Matt Cutts just released another of his infamous Webmaster Help videos on YouTube, and this time, he focused squarely on the ingredients necessary to craft a winning reconsideration request. Now, webmasters can submit their requests with greater confidence that they’ll win approval, and possibly see their sites restored to their former glory in the SERPs. Let’s dive right into what Matt covered in the video and get down to the nuts and bolts of how you can best make his advice work for you.

Submitting a Proper Reconsideration Request

Cutts says that the primary focus of a good reconsideration request should be making the case to Google that you’ve stopped engaging in the activity that triggered the initial penalty. For example, you could document the fact that you’ve stopped buying or selling paid links if that was the original issue. Of course, you’ll need to submit documentation that you’ve successfully taken down the offending links in order to back up your claim.

If you were caught cloaking links, scraping content, or creating doorway pages, be prepared to prove you’ve cut those no-nos out as well. In Cutts’ own words, “You need to make a clear and compelling case that the behavior has stopped.”

The second aspect of a successful reconsideration request, says Cutts, is sincerity. Don’t proclaim you’ll never violate Google’s quality guidelines again only to immediately return to your spammy ways once your site has been reinstated.

Bottom line: the more info you can provide Google in your initial reconsideration request, the better your chances are of successfully reinstating your website. Don’t be afraid to get crazy lengthy with it, either – Cutts urges webmasters to include as much info as possible – he says it will boost your chances of reinstatement immensely. Make sure not to drop raw links directly into your request. Your reviewer won’t follow them, so don’t bother. Google reps are every bit as leery of malware as the rest of us, so Cutts suggests that webmasters build a Google Doc or Google Spreadsheet and include the link to the document in their request instead. This allows reviewers to evaluate the info without assuming any unnecessary risk.

What Happens Next?

After you submit your request, what happens next? Do you wait? Follow up? What’s the protocol, and how long will all this business take, anyway?

Countless anxious webmasters have asked themselves these kinds of questions after submission. Fortunately, Barry Schwartz over at Search Engine Roundtable has some answers for the weary. First, he points to another Webmaster Help video in which Cutts assured viewers that it usually doesn’t take more than a couple of weeks to receive your response to a pending reconsideration request. He adds that those who experience wait times any longer than two weeks should try posting about their situation in the Google Webmaster Forum.

You’ll receive one of four canned responses when your request is finally processed. They’re listed as follows:

1. You do not have a manual action against your web site.

2. You did have a manual action but Google removed it after reviewing your reconsideration request.

3. You do have a manual action against your site and still do because there are still issues with your site.

4. Google processed your reconsideration request, which means, you are between numbers two and three. Google needs to look deeper and maybe you resolved some things but not all things. Maybe Google found something interesting they want to look deeper into.

If you receive the first response, obviously, you’re in the clear. It basically means you’re silly and Google never took any action against your site in the first place. Pack it up.

The second reply is what you’ll want to see if you have a legitimate manual slap against your website. It means you’ve submitted the right documentation, included all the most relevant info, and successfully convinced Google that you’re not planning on messing up again and you’re ready to leave time-out.

If you receive the third response, then you, my friend, have a serious problem on your hands. It means either you did not submit a convincing reconsideration request or you’ve failed to clean up the problem successfully. Either way, it’s back to the drawing board for you. Start from scratch and retrace your steps. Make sure you’ve hunted down everything that could have caused the slap and eliminated the threat. Then, submit a new reconsideration request, sit on your hands, and wait.

Number four was eloquently explained by Barry above, no further elucidation necessary.

It is possible to make a complete recovery after Google takes manual action against your site. If you’re dealing with a mess of issues, such as hunting down a knot of spammy links, the hardest part will be doing the legwork to eradicate the problem. Once you do, however, you’ll have all the proof you need to re-approach Google with your appeal.

Have you submitted a reconsideration request and had your site reinstated? Share your experience and tips with others in the comments below!

Not too shabby.

Sounds great in theory, but in practice? It’s a bit harder. Just about every SEO on the planet is on the bandwagon right alongside you, on the prowl for the almighty backlink. That makes competition a whole heck of a lot tougher – regardless of your niche. Webmasters far and wide are inundated with guest post requests, link purchase queries, and emails that are generally begging for a shout-out. Many website owners have already learned to tune out the begging, considering it nothing more than white noise clogging their inboxes on a daily basis.

That’s precisely the reason you should stop wasting your time on what is essentially the email version of cold-calling. Instead, try scoring links from lesser-known sources around the Web. Here are a few ideas to get you started.

#1 – Publishing Positive Reviews

Is there a product or service you use for your website or blog? Is it something you’re legitimately in love with? Then sing its praises by way of a detailed review published on your site.

There’s a couple of caveats to address with this method, however. First, make sure you’re reviewing a product or service that has small- to mid-sized popularity. Although it’s possible you’ll get a mention (and a link) for promoting one of the big guys, you’re much more likely to get a reciprocal link from a smaller vendor.

Write a spectacular, highly detailed review and email the company directly with a link to your post. Make sure to Tweet the post to your followers and mention your tweet in your email as well. Although this technique doesn’t guarantee a backlink, depending on the company, your chances of scoring a public plug and a link back to your post are pretty high nonetheless.

#2 – Hooking Up with a University

Shout out to Gregory Ciotti for this super-sweet linkbuilding technique. It’s awesome because we’re talking about securing a coveted “dofollow” backlink from an .edu domain. Here’s what he did:

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You can replicate his success by tracking down a student organization or a department at a lesser-known university in your local area that relates to your website’s niche. You’ll need to have a working knowledge of website setup, and you can do this easily by setting up a simple WordPress blog for the organization or department in question.

Ensuring the organization you choose is related to your niche is important – it will make the possible recipient much more inclined to accept your offer. Side note: recently, Google has started discounting the value of links included in theme footers and widgets, so you can adapt Ciotti’s technique by requesting an article or blog post including your link in exchange for your services instead.

#3 – Start a Movement

This idea comes courtesy of a personal finance blogger that started a wildly successful blog movement earlier this year. The blogger, Jeff Rose, mobilized over 140 personal finance bloggers by declaring a national “Roth IRA Movement” day.

After speaking at a college event, Rose was dismayed to learn exactly how many young people had no clue what a Roth IRA was – much less how to use one to supplement their retirement savings portfolio. To remedy this, he called on his fellow bloggers to each post about Roth IRAs on one pre-determined day, and the response was unprecedented.

Rose’s idea helped bring attention to a very worthy cause, but a great fringe benefit for Rose was the influx of backlinks to his blog – many from established, high-PageRank blogs and respected news sources. You can capitalize on this idea by choosing a cause close to your heart in your own niche.

Call upon your peers to take part in your movement by posting their personal take on the matter on their websites and blogs on a specific day. Make sure to get the word out far and wide about the movement long before the big day arrives, and reach out to other bloggers personally to take part in the special cause. If it’s something people in your niche deeply care about, many will be more than happy to participate.

#4 – Stalking Your Competition

Use a tool to get the lowdown on the backlink profile of your key competitors – especially those that have site stats comparable to your own. Scour the data to hunt down backlink sources you may have never thought of, and compile a list of the best possible websites to approach.

Try a mixed-bag method when you use this approach. Remember, today it’s all about relationship building, so if you send a mass email with each site owner’s name pasted in and ask to submit a guest post, then you’re setting yourself up for failure. Remember, these website owners are all part of the same niche, and many already know one another, which means they talk.

Instead, feature some of the site owners in a linkbait post, such as a “best of” list, for example. Reach out to others simply to introduce yourself and establish a relationship without asking for anything. Comment consistently on some of the blogs in the list and get yourself known around the community. The goal is to use the list as a roadmap to build relationships – not as a list of webmasters to query about guest posting.

#5 – Fundraising

You can try this method on its own, or you can couple it with #3 above. If the cause you champion includes a group that needs financial assistance in some way, try starting a fundraiser to raise awareness for your cause. If you do this, make sure to use a service like PayPal to track donations and keep everything above-board. This will also reassure people that their money is going to the right place.

Write an impassioned post about the cause and your fundraiser. Spread it far and wide – tweet it, email industry leaders about it, reach out to your fellow bloggers. Ask them to link to your post in order to share the info with as many people as possible. When you’re giving selflessly, you’ll be surprised by the positive feedback and cooperation you’ll receive. Plus, you’ll have the added benefit of knowing you’re doing something good to help your cause.

Do you have any little-known backlink-procuring strategies of your own to share? Let us know your favorite method in the comments below!

It’s kind of funny how major algo updates happen during critical events. It’s a great tactic to minimize attention when Big G makes new changes – whether the search giant is employing this tactic deliberately, however, is up for interpretation.

It should be noted that this is a data refresh and not a complete algo overhaul. It’s the 21st in a series of Panda updates, and each one has rolled out roughly every 4-6 weeks, give or take. After the initial earthquake in the SERPs when Panda first burst onto the scene, the algorithm has finally taken root and started leveling out. If you haven’t been doing some serious quality control, you may have found your site tossed into the virtual abyss this week.

Data Refreshes versus Traditional Panda Updates

This Panda update is a data refresh. Way back in 2006, Matt Cutts explained the difference between data refreshes and full-fledged algo updates on his personal blog. This was back in the dark ages – he wrote these definitions long before all those cute cuddly creatures made their way into our SEO vocabulary. However, the core explanation remains constant, and it’s definitely worth a trip down memory lane in light of all the recent upheaval in the search landscape.

A full-scale algorithm update results in changes in the SERPs that manifest dramatically. They’re huge overhauls that change the core workings of the algo in question. Keep in mind that Google may change algorithms whenever it chooses, but algorithm updates are relatively infrequent in the grand scheme of things.

Data refreshes, on the other hand, are merely information updates. They refresh data in an existing algorithm. After an algorithm has been live for some time, as we’ve seen with Panda, data refreshes become less and less noticeable as things level out.

Matt Cutts also released a video in which he discussed data refreshes versus algorithm updates. In it, he pointed to the metaphor of a car to explain the differences with a bit more clarity. Cutts noted that a full algorithm update is similar to changing the engine or another major part in a car. Conversely, data refreshes are merely like gassing that car up.

A Panda Success Story

When Panda first rolled out, we saw an Internet bloodbath of epic proportions. Content farms especially took major hits in the SERPs – think sites like eHow, About.com, wiseGeek, and Suite101. Most had overly optimized articles in thousands (even millions) of subject areas. And by subject areas, I mean areas with highly searched keywords. I know this because, when I first began freelance writing, I wrote for a few of these sites. The pay was paltry, the standards were non-existent, and anyone could get a job writing for one. Anyone. Even people who couldn’t speak English very well.

Then, along came a Panda. These websites were the first to feel the wrath of the Google slap, and most went under due to irreparable financial damage. Some dramatically restructured and started from square one. We’ve yet to see a strong comeback.

That is, until now.

Demand Studios has one heck of an impressive comeback story. The website was the veritable definition of a content farm – and it became infamous as a spam-producing machine literally overnight. Soon after Panda rolled out, eHow articles began dropping like flies all over the SERPs.

Demand didn’t curl up and die, however. Far from it. Instead, the company went on a mass firing spree and completely reworked its writer requirements. Employees worked tirelessly to remove hundreds of thousands of low-quality articles completely from its database. It was a year long process with lots of blood, sweat, and tears in its wake.

Flash forward to the present. Check out what the stock market had to say about Demand Media yesterday:

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Is that clear enough for ya? Any website can bounce back from Panda – even the worst offenders.

Quality Control for Your Website

If you got hit by Panda, or if you’re in the unfortunate minority that suffered at the hands of the newest data refresh, don’t despair. Take a page from Demand’s playbook and get crackin’ on fixing the leaks in your site that caused it to tank.

Here’s a few pointers to help you get started:

1. Check your entire volume of website content for grammar and spelling issues. Frequent slips are a hallmark of a low-quality site.

2. Ensure your navigation is easy to use and your layout is easy on the eyes.

3. Don’t cram ads above the fold – keep them minimal.

4. Ensure your content is displayed as soon as a visitor hits your home page.

5. Don’t stuff title tags, headers, and URLs with keywords. Instead, throw keywords out the window and keep it relevant.

You can read more about what Google considers “high quality” here. Remember, Panda is completely algorithmic and it only runs once in a while, so it is possible to make a 100% recovery with the right tweaks. You just have to do the legwork.