What is a Google Partner? SEO Agencies Are the Opposite!

What is a Google Partner? SEO Agencies Are the Opposite!

In recent years most former SEO agencies have become Google Partners that is they buy enough Google ads to be eligible for that badge in the first place. Can they really also help with SEO though?

10 SEO Myths that Make You Look Stupid

10 SEO Myths that Make You Look Stupid

One of the most popular ways to teach people about search engine optimization seems to be to point out what’s wrong about it. There are plenty of “SEO myths” posts out there and they get shared a lot. I usually…

utm_source=crap: How Google Analytics Breaks Links + UX

utm_source=crap: How Google Analytics Breaks Links + UX

* Did you notice how dirty some website addresses are? They are full of crap! Why? Over the years Google – the dominant analytics provider on the market – and marketers have increasingly inserted it! In this post I explain…

SEO is Dead – PIG is the New SEO

SEO is Dead – PIG is the New SEO

* With another big wave of “SEO is Dead” posts appearing it was about time I added something to the debate again. Nowadays Google forces us to grant them access to private files like CSS stylesheets or JS scripts. Google’s…

Is Your Site Really Mobile-Friendly or Just Pleasing Google?

Is Your Site Really Mobile-Friendly or Just Pleasing Google?

* The good news first: making a site mobile-friendly is easy. I have converted my custom built and decade+ old main site to responsive web design myself. I managed to do it myself even though I don’t work as a…

Guest Post by Matt Cutts on Spammy Link Building [Satire]

Guest Post by Matt Cutts on Spammy Link Building [Satire]

This is a guest post by Matt Cutts, Google’s “head of spam” by day and well known SEO blogger by night. I added some text decoration/formatting here and there to stress the main message and to improve readability. In my…

Optimization is NOT “Just Marketing”

Optimization is NOT “Just Marketing”

* Many marketers will tell you that SEO is “just marketing” now. SEO is dead, “finished” or only makes sense as part of marketing. I’m really tired of reading this cliché. There are two reasons for that: Optimization means improvement….

Why and How to Add nofollow When Linking Google Sites

Why and How to Add nofollow When Linking Google Sites

One day I threatened Google with symbolic retaliation. Why? It was for their ruthless attacks on webmasters and the open Web. Yet my idea back then was still somehow metaphorical. Fast forward a few years and there is a tool…

How to Spot a Fake Link Removal Request

How to Spot a Fake Link Removal Request

Are your links unnatural or do they grow on trees? When Google invented “unnatural links” by simply deciding that some links are unnatural while others are not they also created the problem of large scale “negative SEO“. Then they professed…

Hey Google! Sunset Your Unnatural Oral Action or I’ll Nofollow You

Hey Google! Sunset Your Unnatural Oral Action or I’ll Nofollow You

* Do you remember the days when “manual action” was something desirable and NSFW? Listening to Google spokespeople turns more bizarre with the years. They have come up with their own language to hide the sour facts of penalties faulty…

Content Creation Can’t Cure Cancer

Content Creation Can’t Cure Cancer

* Summary: Content is not a one size fits all solution, especially for small business owners who can’t afford to become publishers. When does content actually make sense and how? What else can small businesses do that don’t have a…

Broken Social Media: Anti-Social Sites vs Alternatives

Broken Social Media: Anti-Social Sites vs Alternatives

* Some of the so called social media sites are broken and a waste of time. In fact they are not social at all, they are anti-social. Don’t Waste Your Time – Move On! You not only waste your time…

10 Things the Unnatural Links Penalty Taught me [Google SEO]

10 Things the Unnatural Links Penalty Taught me [Google SEO]

I didn’t expect to get penalized for unnatural links at all! That’s why I noticed it very late. It also sucked! Why? The whole process of dealing with the unnatural links penalty has been “problematic” itself to say the least….

Quality Sites Are the New Links and Santa Exists

Quality Sites Are the New Links and Santa Exists

According to Google and Search Engine Land the decades old practice of link building has been replaced by “building quality sites” back in 2013. Is SEO dead then, again? No, that’s not a joke. This is official. The webmaster guidelines…

Dangerous Links: Why & How Google Wants to Abolish Hypertext

Dangerous Links: Why & How Google Wants to Abolish Hypertext

* Are links unnatural or even dangerous? The Web is built upon so called hypertext. Why is hypertext called hyper in the first place? Isn’t it just text published on the Internet? The hyper-aspect stems from hyperlinks. It’s not because…

Training in Winter

Training in Winter

* I have started training parkour some time ago. It made me not only 200% healthier over the recent years – I feel 10 years younger by now. Parkour also inspired me in other areas of life. I’ve already coined…

The Inconvenient Truth about SEO

The Inconvenient Truth about SEO

One fine day my online friends Patrick Altoft and AJ Kohn were mad at Smashing Magazine for not getting SEO. Why? The popular Web design blog published an incisive piece misrepresenting search engine optimization under the ominous headline “the inconvenient…

How to Use the Google Disavow Tool for NOT Against Negative SEO

How to Use the Google Disavow Tool for NOT Against Negative SEO

* Google created the problem of so called “negative SEO“. How? By taking “manual action” on inbound links webmasters have no control over. Instead of just discounting “unnatural links” pointing to your site Google will make you responsible for them!…

What Guest Blogging and Blogger Outreach Are Actually About

What Guest Blogging and Blogger Outreach Are Actually About

Nowadays “content marketing” is a must-have for everybody who has an online presence. Why? Google’s business model is to monetize third party content. So what? You need to “just create great content and they will come”. Who are they? Google…

Unnatural Links: What is the Purpose of the Google FUD Campaign?

Unnatural Links: What is the Purpose of the Google FUD Campaign?

* Google has been sending out “unnatural links” warnings for quite some time now. At first the messages meant that you got penalized on Google search and thus you potentially lost your rankings and traffic. Then Google started sending out…