As a Web designer, Webmaster and inhouse SEO/SEM, I was THRILLED when Google announced that its Webmaster Tools had added a “Linked From” feature. This new feature finally allowed Web site owners to find out which URLs were linking to “not found” pages on their site.
For example, let’s say you did a redesign and int he process, renamed some of your URLs. If another Web site was linking to your old URL and you move it or rename it, the link from that other site is now broken and you’re not getting credit for that link because the search engines aren’t finding anything when they follow that link. Booo!
How do we fix this? Well, for starters, I would suggest keeping the old URLs and creating a 301 redirect from the old URL to the new one. This preserves any ‘link juice” your older URL had acquired and transfers it to the new one. It also prevents “Not Found” links from appearing in your Google Webmaster Tools > Diagnostics > Web Crawl > Not Found list because anyone still linking to the outdated URL will automatically be directed to the new one and you don’t have to do a thing.
The “Linked From” function was going to make my life, and the lives of many SEO/SEMs, much easier because it could save us the time of trying to find out who was linking to our “Not Found” URLs. Alas, you can imagine my supreme disappointment when I logged in to use the new feature and 95 percent of the time I get is this error message.
This kind of tool is invaluable to SEOs, especially inhouse SEOs, who are trying to make the most of their limited time and budgets. By identifying sites that have outdated links to our site, we can contact their Webmaster and provide the updated link, thus increasing our link juice. Of course, IF Google’s Webmaster Tools’ “Linked From” feature worked, it’d be even better.
Hello fellow SEOers and SEMers! Welcome to SEO-KungFu.com, formerly the In-House SEO Blog (inhouseseo.wordpress.com). I chose the domain name SEO-KungFu.com because of a comment I posted on SEO-Chicks.com. In my comment I quoted an upcoming Dreamworks movie called Kung Fu Panda. Stay with me. The main character, Po the Panda (played by Jack Black), is a noodle maker that wants to become a Kung Fu master, but he’s not quite Fung Fu material … or so we’re led to believe. During his training his master asks him to demonstrate his skills, to which Po replies very hesitantly:
“Yeah, OK. I mean, I just ate, so I’m still digesting. So my Kung Fu might not be as strong as … laaaater on.”
If you haven’t seen the trailer, watch it and you’ll laugh yourself silly. Anyhow, Po’s explanation for his lack of skills kinda of reminds me of my path to becoming an SEO Kung Fu master. I am a relative newcomer to the world of SEO. I started in early 2007 and have been working hard to catch up.
I attended the Search Engine Strategies 2007 Conference in New York and will be attending the 2008 conference as well. I read most of the major SEO-related blogs like SearchEngineLand, Matt Cutts, SEOMoz, SEOBook.com, etc. I comment occasionally, but I feel I am, for the most part, out of my league with the SEOers who post regularly. That’s about to change thanks to this blog.
Hmmm, it just dawned on me that I should probably introduce myself! My name is Gary Cope and I am the De facto in-house search engine optimization and marketing professional for Luna Innovations in Roanoke, VA. I am also a member of SEMPO’s In-House Committee.
Before you get off and running through the rest of the site, and I know you’re dying to, let me throw out a couple of disclaimers before you start rummaging.
First, I think I have a pretty good grip on the SEO basics, h1 and h2 tags, title and alt tags, link building, CSS, etc. I also do a considerable amount of keyword research for my company’s four Web sites. I am an army of one, which I suspect is the case for many of you who are also in-house SEOers.
Secondly, I am not Aaron Wall, Danny Sullivan, nor do I claim to know as much about SEO and SEM as they do. My path to an SEM career is one that would make your head spin. In short I’m a former sports journalist, turned corporate communications specialist, turned Web designer, turned Web developer, turned search engine optimization professional. It’s a long story. E-mail me and I’ll tell you about it if you enjoy tearing your hair out from sheer boredom.
When Luna Innovations hired me in 2006, they did so with the idea that I would redesign their Web site and then maintain it along with their three other sites. No problem. I was a relative newcomer to the Web development world, but obviously I was doing something right because they liked my work and gave me the job. (It should be noted that Web development wasn’t my only responsibility. I do other stuff, too!)
So after the development process began, I started getting questions about SEO. S-E-What? I replied? Thus began my journey into the world of search engine optimization and search engine marketing. Now, more than a year later, I feel I can speak intelligently and authoritatively on the subjects of SEO, SEM, PPC and CSS. In fact, I am even a member of SEMPO’s In-House SEM committee. Scary, huh?
If you are an in-house SEOers at your company and would like to talk shop or bounce some ideas of a fellow SEOer, by all means, give me a call at (540) 769-8447 and I will be more than happy to talk. You can also e-mail me at gary.cope@gmail.com.
Together, we can make our SEO Kung Fun strong and fight the good in-house SEO fight!