Garbage SEO

CRD Web Design recently started a blog to have a place to post our musings, primarily about the Internet. Primary subjects were expected to revolve around CRD Web Design developments, the latest important Internet related happenings, web design, and search engine optimization.

We were not planning on very many “How to…” articles on SEO or web site design as there have been so many articles already posted. From an SEO perspective this is probably not too smart. The commonly accepted way of thinking is that the more articles you have out there, the more articles are indexed by the search engines, the greater the possibility for someone to enter your site through one of these articles. Sound logic, but it will inevitably lead to an Internet cluttered with rehashed postings covering the same topics that have been covered already (ad nauseum…).

We were planning on allowing readers to post comments to articles that they felt would enhance the article’s perspective. We set our blog to allow anyone to post without setting any limits. We didn’t really expect very many postings as the blog was never setup to be any more than an information outlet for our company and also for the occasional post of something currently relevant.

What we did not plan on was the incredible amount of blog “garbage” that has been posted on our blog as a way of increasing the inbound links to one’s site. As of this writing we have already had 34 postings on one of our articles and not a single one was a legitimate response to the article!

We have received postings with links to baseball jersey websites, shoe sites, hotel sites, travel guides, Zune mp3 player vendors, etc… I realize that the Internet is incredibly competitive and sites must try to increase their placement in the search engines (usually through SEO or PPC advertising), but when it comes to SEO try to find an SEO firm that will not use garbage tactics and uninvited links as a way increasing one’s site in Google’s eyes. The people at Google are not stupid, in the short term using shortcuts such as these may help your site do better (temporarily), but once Google starts weeding out the garbage you may find that your site has been penalized or even worse ‘banned’.

Quality work, yields quality results. Garbage is garbage. When it comes to SEO, look for a reputable firm, that will go over the details of what they are planning on doing and be sure that they will be performing SEO that will not have (negatively) adverse long term effects. If something sounds fishy, it probably is. Don’t be afraid to ask questions and if you don’t like the answers, run for the hills. Having your site penalized for having unethical SEO performed could be devastating. There are plenty of reputable firms out there, CRD Web Design included. Take the time to look around and find a quality, reputable firm to enhance your Internet presence.

If you would like to post to this article, please note that we have turned on additional anti-spam incentives that will hopefully cut down on the ‘garbage’ postings.

Unique Site Design – A Disappearing Act!

When creating a website it should be taken into consideration that if your website is indistinguishable from other sites it will eliminate your ability to show your uniqueness to your visitors. Currently it seems that more and more sites are being template/CMS driven and have that same “cookie cutter” look to them.

It may be comfortable to believe that looking like the rest of crowd will allow your site to “fit in” better with other sites, but uniqueness is an attribute that is often overlooked.

Odds are you will be offering content (whether it be merchandise, information, or a value added product) that is similar if not identical to your competitors. With so many sites being constructed these days with WYSIWYG editors/templates/CMS, it is often difficult to have a site that is truly unique. If your website looks and feels similar to theirs, you will be eliminating your site’s potential to “stand apart” from the crowd and give them something that is rapidly disappearing from the Internet. A UNIQUE WEBSITE.

Cookie cutter sites are all well and fine if you are looking for a (relatively) inexpensive way to get started. Getting a CMS or template driven website is as easy as copying and pasting data into database or form and having it created for you. They are usually a little cheaper than other sites, because very little needs to be paid for the design/development of the site. Problem is, your site will look like all of the other sites that have done the same thing and in the long run, you will probably get what you paid for. Not much.

When considering a website, be sure to consider that a well written, attractive, search engine friendly, easy to navigate, unique website will allow you to offer the product/service that want to offer and also deliver the impact of uniqueness.

CRD Web Design – 1st Blog posting

This is the first post of the CRD Web Design Blog.

We will be blogging about various topics with a primary focus on website design, search engine optimization, and other topics relevant to operating a successful website.

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