Is CannonFire Google Friendly?
In order to prove we are, it has to get a little technical here, but I promise to use the most simple terms I can for your comparison purposes.
This "quoted" information comes from Google pages for webmasters and anyone seeking their standards. Each reference will also be linked to where these direct quotes were found so you can easily verify anything said here.
All Google links will open in a 2nd window so you won't lose your place.
The main source of reference is the Google SEO Starter Guide. The links contained inside will send you to some of these notes and other links are found on the pages we reference and link to. Get the Guide Here:
Here we go:
Design and content guidelines http://google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=35769#1
- "Offer a site map to your users with links that point to the important parts of your site."
- "Create a useful, information-rich site, and write pages that clearly and accurately describe your content."
- "Think about the words users would type to find your pages, and make sure that your site actually includes those words within it."
CannonFire Response: Look at the top of any page on this site to find the link to our site map. This site is very rich in informational content and is the exact reason I built it. And, we don't just think about words users search with we verify each and everyone with WordTracker and design the best keyword marketing strategy for your law firm in complete detail that any webmaster can follow. Before we design a web site we design results. It really is the only way to achieve them.
Technical guidelines http://google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=35769#2
- "If fancy features such as JavaScript, cookies, session IDs, frames, DHTML, or Flash keep you from seeing all of your site in a text browser, then search engine spiders may have trouble crawling your site."
- "If your company buys a content management system, make sure that the system can export your content so that search engine spiders can crawl your site."
CannonFire Response: We only use JavaScripts proven to not interfere and that actually help the readers. An example is to hover any navigation button on this site to see it change colors and let you know where you are on site. Our scripts are most always placed in the CSS code pages where search engines do not go and therefore can not get in Google's way. We will not use content management systems that run on heavy duty scripts or have unfriendly url strings you'll read more about in a minute. Before you purchase any content management systems make sure they are Google friendly. There are tons of bad ones out there!
Quality guidelines http://google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=35769#3
- "Make pages primarily for users, not for search engines. Don't deceive your users or present different content to search engines than you display to users, which is commonly referred to as "cloaking."
- "Don't use unauthorized computer programs to submit pages, check rankings, etc. Such programs consume computing resources and violate our Terms of Service. Google does not recommend the use of products such as WebPosition Gold™ that send automatic or programmatic queries to Google."
CannonFire Response: This page you are on now was designed especially for readers. In fact, we also designed it to our optimization standards so if Google wants to index this page, we have the elements installed to allow that. Our search engine submission process uses Google's XML site map system and is the exact same process we use for client sites. I guarantee there is no difference in a design for me or a design for you unless it be the looks!
Keyword stuffing
http://google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=66358
- "Keyword stuffing" refers to the practice of loading a webpage with keywords in an attempt to manipulate a site's ranking in Google's search results. Filling pages with keywords results in a negative user experience, and can harm your site's ranking. Focus on creating useful, information-rich content that uses keywords appropriately and in context."
CannonFire Response: We see this happening very often. It seems people think if a little works a lot works better. See at the link above it is not true. That's why our seo standards clearly say... Keep keywords within 100 characters in meta tags. Usually from 1 to 5 keywords or key phrases can be used, depending of course on their length. Sprinkle your main keyword, and blend in your support keywords throughout the rest of your body copy. This "scatter pattern" should look like an hourglass... bigger (i.e., more frequent) on the top and bottom, and less (but still present) in the middle of the page. Don't overuse your keywords, as the search engines will detect this and possibly penalize your page for "keyword spamming."
URL structure
http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py
?answer=76329
- "Consider using punctuation in your URLs. The URL http://www.example.com/green-dress.html is much more useful to us than http://www.example.com/greendress.html. We recommend that you use hyphens (-) instead of underscores (_) in your URLs."
- "Overly complex URLs, especially those containing multiple parameters, can cause a problems for crawlers by creating unnecessarily high numbers of URLs that point to identical or similar content on your site. As a result, Googlebot may consume much more bandwidth than necessary, or may be unable to completely index all the content on your site."
CannonFire Response: Look in your browser window at the top where the web page address is... Notice the URL is the same as our page title and uses dashes. All pages on this site and clients are done this way. Now you know why. Above in Technical Guidelines, content management systems often use complex URL's that offer no information to Google. Their message above clearly says you cause Googlebot problems indexing your site, your rankings can be affected. If they don't see it, how can they rank it at all? Compare this: example.com/sDefinition/0,,sid26_gci508916,00.html to the green-dress.html in example above. Now who's friendly? All I changed was the red part so not to reveal the actual domain name.
Little or no original content http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer
=66361
- "One of the most important steps in improving your site's ranking in Google search results is to ensure that it contains plenty of rich information that includes relevant keywords, used appropriately, that indicate the subject matter of your content."
CannonFire Response: I personally wrote every page on this site. I highly suggest you do the same and if you don't write seo, get help with it. We are often asked, "can't we use other sites pages and doctor them some?" I'll answer that question with a question; Do you want your law firm web site to be some other firms site? Didn't think so.
If you made it this far down the page it's likely because you want to optimize your site to be Google friendly. I strongly advise you to because Google now supplies 71% of all search engine results. To meet your goal, subscribe to CannonFire for more tips or consult with me for free. I'll get you started right away.
