Content Theory


Palindromic SEO makes SEO palindromic

Posted by Michael Martinez on October 8, 2008 in Content Theory

I’ve mentioned in the past that you should be able to optimize your page titles (and URls) forwards and backwords. Palindromes are words, expressions, or numbers that — when read forward or backward — have the same meaning. Palindromes may be composed in one of several ways, as long as the palindrome’s meaning [...]

Redefining Microcontent for Search Engine Optimization

Posted by Michael Martinez on October 7, 2008 in Content Theory

In 1998, Jakob Nielsen defined Microcontent as pearls of clarity: you get 40-60 characters to explain your macrocontent. Nielsen was referring to subject lines, online headlines, link anchor text, etc.
We (my team and I) use the term microcontent differently. 80 characters are just way too few to be useful for search engine optimization. [...]

7 Tips to optimize content for multilanguage search

Posted by Michael Martinez on September 23, 2008 in Content Theory

One Web site does not serve all needs. Although the online business community does understand the value of creating and maintaining multiple brands (which nonetheless remains a controversial practice for reasons I cannot into here), our vision of branding is still pretty limited. It’s not like you can walk into a mall and [...]

Website Navigation and Website Navigation Theory

Posted by Michael Martinez on September 18, 2008 in Content Theory

There are actually people searching for the expression “site navigation theory”. Somehow, despite my not having optimized for site navigation theory, they have found the SEO Theory blog. The fact that I have written about Web site navigation a few times explains those search referrals but I’m curious about how many SEO-related theories [...]

How to create good content for your Web site

Posted by Michael Martinez on September 11, 2008 in Content Theory

Jane Copland recently complained about the lack of specific advice on how to create good Web content. The SEO community doesn’t necessarily fall down on the job when doing this, in my opinion, but there is a high noise-to-signal ratio. A great deal of static inflates the content about content throughout the community.
So, [...]

A semantic technique for SEO copywriters

Posted by Michael Martinez on July 15, 2008 in Content Theory

Question: Who is Michael Martinez?
Answer: Michael Martinez is Director of Search Strategies for Visible Technologies, Inc. (doing business as 1st Query) in Seattle, WA. In this capacity Michael Martinez writes the SEO Theory blog, discussing search engine optimization analysis, technique, metrics, and industry standards. Michael Martinez is formally trained in Computer Science and [...]

How to make content rich doorway pages that last

Posted by Michael Martinez on July 10, 2008 in Content Theory

I see people are searching for information on “content rich doorway pages”. The doorway page had its heyday in the late 1990s when most search engines were easily fooled by deceptive redirecting pages. You really didn’t have to do much to achieve high rankings for competitive keywords back then because the competition was [...]

How not to use bridge content for SEO

Posted by Michael Martinez on July 7, 2008 in Content Theory, Web spam

We have been quietly asked if we would be willing to place other people’s bridge content on our Web sites. It is not my personal policy nor the policy of my employer to sell space on our content networks.
Quite frankly, I would not regard third-party content as “bridge content”. It’s third-party content. [...]

HTML Sitemap Design and Theory - Fundamental Basic Principles of HTML Sitemap Design

Posted by Michael Martinez on June 10, 2008 in Content Theory, Link Theory

The most important part of any large Web site is the HTML sitemap. Both search engines and people use HTML sitemaps, and even Webmasters can find uses for them as they help us keep straight just where all the content has been placed.
An HTML sitemap should have the simplest, barest, non-flashiest design of your [...]

Does Google ignore meta tags?

Posted by Michael Martinez on May 20, 2008 in Content Theory

It’s an all too common occurrence these days that people are unclear on what should be very basic, common SEO knowledge. Unfortunately, too many people in the SEO community still share bad information on blogs and forums.
Does Google ignore meta tags? No, Google does not ignore meta tags. But the people who [...]

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