Updates to KnowThis.com

DetailsCreated on August 29, 2012 Posted by Paul Christ

As some loyal visitors have noticed, today we rolled out a few changes to the KnowThis.com website.  Over the last few months, we have spent a considerable amount of time improving the site features and redoing the underlying structure.  This has resulted in a number of improvements including:  a redesign of Blog posts that features new Tag display and a new visitor Comment area; a new Marketing Terms section that includes a mouse-over option for seeing the definition of key terms contained within a definition; and a new layout for the Blog Archives.  In addition to these viewable changes, the underlying technical changes will enable the site to respond faster to visitors’ requests.

While the changes may not appear dramatic (for instance the general layout of the site is pretty much the same), what was changed took considerable man-hours.  The focus on updating the site led us to take a step away from adding a lot of new content over the last few months.  Consequently, we scaled back on postings to the Blog, Marketing Stories and other site sections in favor of  concentrating on the important software upgrades.

While, at this point, most of the work is completed, there are still a few nagging issues.  For instance, extra pages within the Marketing Links section are not quite working nor are those found in the Marketing Stories Archive.  Despite these areas not being 100%, we decided to roll out the upgrade in order to get back to providing regular updates.  Expect to see more frequent Blog postings, Stories and Tutorial updates beginning next week.

In the mean time, thank you for your patience during the upgrade and feel free to provide comments that will help us to continue the effort to improve KnowThis.com.

Staying Safe with Google Panda, Penguin Updates

Google’s latest algorithm updates – Panda and Penguin – may have left some businesses feeling perplexed as to why their site was penalized. Some of the black hat SEO tactics targeted by Panda and Penguin include backlink stuffing, duplicate content, hidden links, low quality and unnatural links and other potential spamming techniques that Google deems as over-optimization.

If you want to remain safe from Google search ranking penalties in the future, follow these simple tips for SEO best practices:

1. Provide original content. The first step to great online marketing is a great website. Your website should be a helpful resource for your visitors and potential customers searching for information about your business. Original, high-quality content will keep visitors on your site longer, and will keep them coming back for more. Never post duplicate content to your site. Websites using this bad practice were among the hardest hit by the Panda update.

2. Build quality backlinks. Everyone knows backlinks are great for SEO. However, it is important to observe the quality over quantity rule for link building, especially after the Penguin update penalized heavily for bad link building practices. Before submitting a link to a directory, make sure that site has a high page rank and has not been associated with any black hat tactics.

3. Choose keywords wisely. Avoid harmful keyword stuffing by developing a diverse set of targeted keywords for your SEO campaign. Use free tools like Google Analytics to test different keyword combinations and options. After developing a set of keywords, implement them into your website copy and original content strategically and ethically to avoid any future penalties.

For advice on SEO best practices and SEO services, contact a Michigan marketing agency. Visit our blog, or contact Clarity Quest today at 877-887-7611. Request a quote.