So when you prepare content make sure it includes a lot of intra-site links, and even links using your full URL. So instead of linking to /seo you should link to http://www.netpaths.net/seo to have links picked up on other sites. This is also important for your blog, which may likely be read in a 3rd party feed reader.

Im very impressed that Mr. Cutts took such a bold public stance on content scraping, and here are possible meanings:

1. Google is tired of people including them in lawsuits over content scraping. Google is effectively saying there are some (possibly negligble) value to content scraping, so please don’t make us defend ourselves while you sue your competitor.
2. Dulplicate content is such a big problem, Google is waving the white flag and giving up on trying to control blackhat spammers. They are effectively saying: go ahead and scrape, the legitimate sites will always win. Generally this is true, as the authoritative site being copied generally has a higher trust ranking than the copier.
3. Google is trying to appease newspapers (and the AP specifically) and educate them about the web. Any large news event will have thousands of articles written about it, with the majority of the articles being repurposed content. Google is telling the major newspapers and news bureaus that they should not be afraid of having their good content distributed, as they get links back as a reward for sharing and this will help them build their online authority.

Matt Cutts is the webspam god of Google, and what he says goes. He is the head PR person that interacts with search engine optimization firms In person he is a very kind and fair man, someone you would enjoy sitting down to have a beer with and discuss gadgets, code and algorithms. It is essential to listen to everything he says if you want good search engine rankings, and even more important to read between the lines to understand how the search engine functions.

Thanks for reading our web design and SEO blog. Get the full post online Google Suggestion For Better Rankings: Have Your Content Scraped and tell us your thoughts. Netpaths Guide to SEO & Web Design - Simple Search Engine Optimization Steps

Related posts:

1. Sharing Your Work Increases Exposure – Avoiding Duplicate Content Problems Increases Your Rankings
2. Optimizing Google Places For Better Local Rankings
3. How To Overcome Duplicate Content Problems and Boost Your SEO

Matt Cutts gives his State of the Index recap for last year.

Topics include

• Google Chrome
• voice recognition
• OCR for PDF’s that are not text
• SearchWiki
• Google Trends – this is an amazing tool that shows us a taste of the massive amount of data Google holds on us. This allows SEO’s to compare trends, keyword searches and brand recognition.
• Blackhat Spamming & Hacking

See the original search post on GWC.

Thanks for reading our web design and SEO blog. Get the full post online Matt Cutts Google State of the Index and tell us your thoughts. Netpaths Guide to SEO & Web Design - Simple Search Engine Optimization Steps

Related posts:

1. Matt Cutts Explains Why Google Helps Webmasters with Search Engine Optimization
2. Matt Cutts Identifies Which Directories Will Get You Penalized
3. Supplemental Index Ratio Calculator

Ok Google, we understand that you hate paid links and have waged a battle against text link ads and now paid reviews. The problem that the search engine optimization field has is the unfairness with which we are treated – there definitely is a double standard as we are the most visible crowd online.

Some people go way over the line and spam by placing sitewide footer links, paid links with a greater than 15% ratio, 50% sponsored posts, or scraped duplicate content. The SEO field has savvy users, and people know (even if they refuse to admin) if they are whit, gray or black hat optimizers. Don’t throw the white hats and into the same ditch as the cloaking and spamming crowd, I promise we want to work with you, not against you.

Michael asks the question

Matt, why is this? What is it about these people that you interact with on a regular basis that leads you to trust the decision making process of anonymous Yahoo employees over theirs?

As much as I hate to admit it, a Yahoo directory editor is an unbiased reviewer, and likely has a good understanding of quality websites. Also, they have no personal financial interest in the decision, other than they want to perform well so they can keep their job.

Also, kudos to matt cutts for expressing sincere concern and helping individuals who have been penalized. I have worked with people who were in the Google penalty box and it is not a pleasant situation.

The bottom line is that if SEO’s are going to be held to stricter editorial standards, we need a better line of communication with the Google webspam team and reinclusion team.

I don’t really consider this a war unlike some people but all I ask is for a better way than shooting first and making bloggers come begging for mercy.

Thanks for reading our web design and SEO blog. Get the full post online Google Dropping Atomic Bombs In Paid Link War and tell us your thoughts. Netpaths Guide to SEO & Web Design - Simple Search Engine Optimization Steps

Related posts:

1. Cutts Fox Interview Reveals Paid Link Penalties and Subdomain Changes
2. Google Adwords Paid Search Guarantee is Unethical
3. Google PageRank Update Penalizes Link Farms

Great takeaways from this informal conversation:

• Matt explains how paid links can get you into trouble
• Full pagerank update December 2007
• If your rank dropped first, your pagerank was reduced for link selling
• if your pagerank dropped later, inbound links that previously had high pagerank are now greatly devalued
• Vanessa spills the beans on the projects she worked on while employed at Google Webmaster Central: geolocation tools and including multiple languages
• Google is much better at valuing links and has a killer paid link filter
• Subdomains are not what they once were. Logical subdomains are useful for good site architecture, but superfluous sub domains will not get you extra spots in the SERP’s.
• Sites using sub domains likely to be devalued are shopping and e-commerce sites.
• Vanessa Fox explains how to not have your blog hacked
• Notable sites that were hacked: Donald Trump & Al Gore

Read more and see the comments at web pro news.

Tip for WPN – allow embedding of your videos like YouTube. You will get much more exposure by allowing others to post and reference your content.

Thanks for reading our web design and SEO blog. Get the full post online Cutts Fox Interview Reveals Paid Link Penalties and Subdomain Changes and tell us your thoughts. Netpaths Guide to SEO & Web Design - Simple Search Engine Optimization Steps

Related posts:

1. Google Dropping Atomic Bombs In Paid Link War
2. Matt Cutts Identifies Which Directories Will Get You Penalized
3. Matt Cutts Explains Why Google Helps Webmasters with Search Engine Optimization