My OperaGetting links from .gov and .edu sites
Friday, October 17, 2008 10:12:24 AM
Before we crack on, today we've jumped up to page 49 for the term architects. Not bad given that a fortnight ago we weren't ranking for that term. More news on our progress next week. Oh, and for those that care, this jump in rank appears to be purely down to changing my keyword density.
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Ok, back to the SEO. We talked yesterday about the value of links from .edu and .gov sites and had a quick look at how to get them. Today we'll expand on that a little.
Using google we can refine our search of the .edu and .gov sites by adding more criteria. For example:
Before we wanted to search for sites containing the words "Add URL". Let's try something which will probably bring up more relevant results:
site:.edu "architecture"
This should chuck-up .edu sites that feature content on architecture. We can get more specific:
site:.edu "links" + "architecture"
Now we're getting there. The first slot for this on .co.uk is taken by the Boston College. So we could email the webmaster and try and get featured. It helps if there's a reason for you to be on there (coincidentally we have two Boston Alumni architects working for us, so that might be our foot in the door) but there's no harm in trying. You could offer a backlink possibly, or if you have a budget, some money.
We can try this for .gov too, and possibly try other keywords like "directory", "listing", "partners", "friends", "affiliates" etc etc.
Content. Again.
As always, content is the best way for getting high-quality back links. In terms of .gov sites your best bet would to actually do some work for them. I'm hoping we design a building for the government at some point. Fingers crossed.
For .edu links, there are many more ways to get links. You could run a competition for schools or colleges which would get you plenty of attention. You could make a careers guide aimed at college leavers for your chosen field, or write a success story for the college you attended. Maybe sponsor some students or offer an internship. Be as creative as you want to be.
The cheapest option would be to have some kick-arse content on your site, suitable to be a refernce for students, promote it a little and sit back an watch the links come in.
More next time. Happy SEOing, people.
-------->
Ok, back to the SEO. We talked yesterday about the value of links from .edu and .gov sites and had a quick look at how to get them. Today we'll expand on that a little.
Using google we can refine our search of the .edu and .gov sites by adding more criteria. For example:
Before we wanted to search for sites containing the words "Add URL". Let's try something which will probably bring up more relevant results:
site:.edu "architecture"
This should chuck-up .edu sites that feature content on architecture. We can get more specific:
site:.edu "links" + "architecture"
Now we're getting there. The first slot for this on .co.uk is taken by the Boston College. So we could email the webmaster and try and get featured. It helps if there's a reason for you to be on there (coincidentally we have two Boston Alumni architects working for us, so that might be our foot in the door) but there's no harm in trying. You could offer a backlink possibly, or if you have a budget, some money.
We can try this for .gov too, and possibly try other keywords like "directory", "listing", "partners", "friends", "affiliates" etc etc.
Content. Again.
As always, content is the best way for getting high-quality back links. In terms of .gov sites your best bet would to actually do some work for them. I'm hoping we design a building for the government at some point. Fingers crossed.
For .edu links, there are many more ways to get links. You could run a competition for schools or colleges which would get you plenty of attention. You could make a careers guide aimed at college leavers for your chosen field, or write a success story for the college you attended. Maybe sponsor some students or offer an internship. Be as creative as you want to be.
The cheapest option would be to have some kick-arse content on your site, suitable to be a refernce for students, promote it a little and sit back an watch the links come in.
More next time. Happy SEOing, people.
53north # Friday, October 17, 2008 4:37:05 PM
I've only been on the web 2 months properly and I'm beating USGS and all the Universities. =o}
Could somebody have 'bombed' google as a joke? (I was on several hacker forums packed with nerds until recently).
Is it possible to investigate stuff like this? Scroogle and Dogpile don't rate me so highly.
Ed Graysugarcanegray # Tuesday, October 21, 2008 2:59:10 PM
Is it your Opera blog that you're talking about? Opera sites seem to always rank pretty well. I've noticed that I get quite a few hits from google inspite of the fact that I am neither promoting my blog or SEOing it (kind of as an experiment)
As far as I can tell, Google is fond of Opera and the way it's pages are constructed.
I wouldn't worry too much about the Google bombing. It's something that is becoming much harder and not the kind of thing someone would bother doing as a joke. Your blog has a PageRank of 4 so that's obviously adding a lot of weight to your search engine positions. That plus the good page construction of the Opera community is giving you a good advantage over other sites.
Just keep up the good work, you're obviously doing something right
53north # Tuesday, October 21, 2008 9:55:38 PM
Ed Graysugarcanegray # Wednesday, October 22, 2008 9:24:11 AM
http://www.prchecker.info/check_page_rank.php
Google Toolbar for firefox:
http://www.google.com/tools/firefox/toolbar/FT3/intl/en/
Not sure if you can do this on your mobile though!