Google Webmaster Tools now makes the process of tracking down the causes of “Not found” errors a piece of cake. Before, you could only watch the number of 404′s increase and decrease in Google Webmaster Tools, now you can actually use GWT to take action and turn these external links into new inbound links.  Here is a quick overview of where to look for this information in GWT:

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You can get more information at Google Webmaster Blog Post.   We are glad to see the constant improvements by Google on the webmaster tools and we avidly monitor and manage the information in the Google Webmaster Tool interface.

If you want to take advantage of this new feature to not only reduce 404′s but increase links, here is a sample email you could send to those sites with 404 links to your site to increase both your link count and your anchor text relevance:

(Person),

This is (clients name) from (client) and we noticed through our Google Webmaster Tools that you have a link to our site. First off, I would like to say thank you for linking to (client website) as we believe it is a valuable resources for your website visitors. However, we did find that there is an issue with the link that is pointing to our site. The issue is that the page you linking to no longer exists on our site and we would really appreciate it if you could update this link to an active page. To help you find the page that is linking to our site we have included a screen shot below that contains this information. Right below this information is the link to the new page we would like you to point this link to with the anchor text. We would like you to replace the broken link with this new information.

Broken Link:
(Put bad link here)

New Link:
(Put new link here with optional description if page allows it)

Please let me know if you have any questions and I can help you work through those.

Thank you ,
(Clients Name)

URL structure includes the different words that make up a webpage URL, and the way they are separated. It is important in various ways, such as how easy it is to print or write down a URL, and its effect upon website maintenance. But why is URL structure important to SEO?

URL styles affect SEO (Search Engine Optimization) in two significant ways. First, the words contained in the URL – its subdomain, domain, subdirectory, and filename – help the corresponding webpage to gain a higher ranking in search results for these keywords. If there is more than one word in the domain name, filename, or other part of the structure, it is important for the words to be separated (when possible). They can be separated using hyphens or underscores, although hyphens are typically preferred. This allows the search engine’s computer software to distinguish between each of the separate keywords. It is best if these keywords are also used in the text of the webpage in question.

Second, URL structure is also important to SEO because people see URLs when looking at search result listings (on most search engines). They are more likely to visit a site if its address is short and/or contains words related to the subject of interest. A webpage with a relevant domain or subdomain name seems more likely to provide useful information than a page without this advantage. Most major search engines make any search keywords in the URL appear bold, helping to attract the attention of searchers. Yahoo shows the domain name in bold as well. This factor probably isn’t as important to SEO as the impact URL structure has upon search result positioning, but it is worth keeping in mind.

Both of these factors encourage website operators to use a long URL structure with numerous separated keywords. However, very long URLs do have some non-SEO drawbacks. People are reluctant to write them down or use them in print, they take longer to copy & paste, and they use more storage space and bandwidth (because of the long URLs appearing in HTML link codes). A domain name with many words may be forgotten if it is not immediately added to a user’s bookmark/favorites list. It is best to balance these concerns by avoiding the use of multiple subdirectories, leaving out unnecessary connecting words, and curtailing any excessive insertion of keywords in URLs.

The concept of Search Engine Optimization (or SEO) first appeared in the mid 1990s, and it has undergone significant evolution in the years since. Read on to learn more about the evolution of SEO and how it came to be in the first place…

Before search engines existed, people typically used links to navigate the WWW. Although this navigation method works acceptably, it doesn’t offer a way to quickly locate specific information on the web. This deficiency brought about the introduction of search engines; naturally, individual web site operators wanted to gain a higher position in search results so they could receive more traffic. This led people to look for ways to qualify for higher rankings, often through experimentation.

The development of SEO made it possible for web sites to take specific measures aimed at improving their search result positions. In the past, search engines were less difficult to optimize for, but also easier to manipulate. Such manipulation made it harder for searchers to find useful results. The major engines took various steps to correct this, and SEO adapted to these changes as part of its ongoing evolution. Even today, the engines continue to change their policies in efforts to provide more relevant results.

Some controversial issues have appeared during the evolution of SEO, including disputes over the difference between beneficial and manipulative activities. Individuals applying blatantly manipulative techniques have complicated the work of everyone involved in SEO, and made it impossible for engines to provide quality search results without the use of complex software and algorithms. Such methods continue to be applied by some, but are not as widespread as they were in the past.

Despite changing techniques, the primary objectives (beyond improved rankings in general) of SEO have largely remained the same throughout its evolution. These include obtaining inbound links, optimizing the content and HTML codes of individual pages, and ensuring that sites are accessible to the search engine “spiders” which index them. It has always been important to take into account the reaction of both search engines and searchers to the titles, descriptions, and URLs of each web page.

Basically, SEO has undergone some changes, but has retained the same basic goals throughout its ongoing evolution. In the future, it may need to adapt to more widespread use of mobile internet devices and the expansion of direct user input in search result listings.

There is quite a bit of debate in the SEO world on whether no follow links matter or not. If you are unfamiliar with the concept, a “no follow” is an HTML attribute value that is used to instruct some search engines that a hyperlink should not influence the link target’s ranking in the search engine’s index.  Many people think this type of link shouldn’t help your site rank better in search engine results. Sites such as Wikipedia use them to reduce the effectiveness of certain types of search engine spam. This is thought to improve the quality of search engine results and to help prevent spamdexing.

But, there are two main reasons why no follow links are important. First no one really knows search engine algorithms work exactly. Google, Yahoo and the other search engines keep their rating algorithm a secret so even if they tell us that the links don’t pass authority there is no definite way to know how they impact ratings.

Secondly, Google spiders do follow a no follow link. This is evidenced because Traffic Marks reports only what Google gives it. However, we don’t know how important the link is to Google, only that they are indeed following it.

Finally, if there is a term that you want to rank for you should perform a search for it. If you find in those results that they all have a backlink in common, it makes sense to try and get the same links as the market leaders. Besides this links are some of the easiest to obtain. Ignoring them could be a big mistake if it’s done without any thought put into the decision.

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) involves numerous terms and acronyms that many people are unfamiliar with. Some of them are also used with regard to internet marketing in general. The following SEO Cheat Sheet briefly explains each of the important terms’ meanings.

ALT Tag: Usually applied to graphics; text-only browsers and search engine spiders/robots see these tags instead of the images they are associated with.

Backlinks: These are simply external links from other web sites and blogs that link to the site in question. Some sites have free backlink-checking features.

Black Hat: Manipulative SEO techniques which try to cheat search engines and competitors by artificially making pages appear relevant to certain unrelated keywords.

Blogroll: This is a list of links to other blogs/sites which appears in the left or right sidebar of many blogs. Getting listed is good for SEO.

CTR: Click Through Rate. This is the percentage of internet users who click on a particular link or another type of online advertisement.

FFA: Free For All link pages. Although these may have had some SEO benefit many years ago, using them can severely harm search engine rankings.

Keyword Density: How often keywords appear throughout a page. Search engines may penalize attempts to cheat, such as putting a long list of keywords at the end.

Link Bait: Such “bait” is a web page that uses a title and/or content which “baits” other sites to link to it. It is very desirable for SEO.

META Tags: This refers to the keyword, description, and title tags used by many web pages. They affect how search engine results appear.

NoFollow: The “nofollow” tag/attribute, when added to a link, prevents the site being linked to from receiving (or losing) any SEO benefit.

PageRank (PR): A ranking system used by Google, which affects how close to the top of Google search and directory results a web site will appear.

Robots/Spiders: Automated computers which explore the WWW, looking for new pages and collecting information for the search engines to index.

Sandbox: A theory that Google puts new web sites at a significant disadvantage in search results for months after they are indexed.

SEM: This acronym refers to Search Engine Marketing, which encompasses SEO, paid inclusion, and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising.

Site Map: A page on a web site which links to all of the other pages. This makes it easier for “spiders” to find and index them.

See our other entries for more details on each of the terms listed in this SEO Cheat Sheet, and consider printing out this page for future reference.