Quote “You say that all you have to do is get quality links, and nothing else matters. So I can use duplicate content? ” Unquote. Amazingly – YES you can use duplicate content and get the indexing – but only IF IF IF you have more and better links than the original!!!

Quote “Can I also link to banned domains?”Unquote
To be fair, I did qualify (weasel) with “links from reasonable neighborhoods”, not “links from Hell”!

Actually, Matt Cutts is on record as saying that bad neighbors cannot harm you, (just do you no good). Amazingly again – but it must be true because otherwise anyone could sabotage their illustrious and blame-free competitors just by linking to them from any old sh*thouse. Reductio ad absurbum!

Quote “Keyword stuff? Place invisible text etc?” Point taken! On-page stupidity can indeed undo any amount of sterling off-page effort.

Recent “on-page” wisdom seems to be that most “on-page optimization” has become counter productive with Google (i.e. unnatural). Including even the time honored wheeze of placing keywords in H1 header tags – simple Italics or Bold font works better now.

Apart from a relevant title and page url; an honest meta description; and a couple of relevant keywords in the keyword meta tags, there’s not much to be done on-page anymore. Just stay “natural”.

Here endeth the limits of my knowledge about Google.

Postscript – you can still get away with some stuff on Yahoo and MSN that no longer washes with Google. And in total Yahoo plus MSN still deliver serious traffic (volume and targeted). So there’s still life beyond Google, if you’re not proud!

Best regards

Steve H

Regarding relevant quality links being the most important aspect. I agree 100%, ref Google using a touch of propaganda, I agree 100%.

However, your theory has a few leaks.

You say that all you have to do is get quality links, and nothing else matters. So I can use duplicate content? Thanks Steve! Can I also link to banned domains? Keyword stuff? Place invisible text etc?

Of course not!

Your main point is correct, but there is more to it than that.

FYI – my advice comes from solid experience in some cut throat industries.

Thanks for your feedback.

There are refinements to this broad brush – like relevant anchor text and page-titles, and good LSI content arouund the LZ – but these are mere reinements, dear boy…..

Google do play the propaganda game to perfection – to plug the gaps their algorithms are not human enough to catch. Like our parents and teachers did when we were kids – mine told me with straight faces that they had eyes in the backs of their heads.

Truth was that my own moronic behaviour did not require very smart radar to suss. And that’s the germ of gold (hows that for a shaken but not stirred metaphor) in Dean’s article.

The problem we face that although computers and most softwares ARE moronic – and Google is competent but not Superman – WE are capable of truly spectacular self-destructive ploys that often snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

My own extended experiences in the solitary (sandbox) – and the quite generous rehabilitaton G extended when I started to clean up my act – lead me to the view that Google is no more omniscient, sinister or omnipotent than any other normal, everyday, average, bloated oligopolist.

At least G still tries to make useful, well-engineered products usable by ordinary mortals. Can you imagine their products, prices and service if Gates was at the helm?

Keep it coming Dean – your “Attila H” prose style brightens up many a dull day.

Steve – http://YourFashionCareer.com

I’ve heard it helps to bow to the west and chant “Google knows all… Fear the wrath of Google… Good Google… May your stock keep rising… There’s nothing to see here… Move along… and P.S. – Keep sending traffic”

Do that five times a day and you’ll have absolutely nothing to worry about besides being mistaken for an Al-Qaeda operative by Homeland Security.

Just joking.

Regardless of the sandbox, you may be tripping smaller filters and are hindering your rankings without even knowing.

No decent SEO would do anything on that list in large quantities anyway, so you should be fine. That is the key point of the article… I am not saying you SHOULDN’T do any of that stuff, just do them naturally and in moderation.

Good post. I agree 100%. Actually I didn’t even realize it before I read the post but the one thing I’ve been guilty of is using the same anchor text. That small adjustment might make a big difference.

As far as article submissions, you can use a tool like Artemis Pro to get around using duplicate content and bio boxes. It randomizes the article and bio boxes for you so each article submitted is unique.

Robert

Cheers.

Good to hear from you again.

yes, it can be frustrating. There is light at the end of the tunnel though. Just a shame the tunnel smells of shxt

Dean