[GrimGriz]

I'm guessing they don't for the myspace one..but I've been thinking about blogging lately and I want to pull in as many poor saps to read it as I can. Any suggestions?

[Jump]

Google searches all pages on the net unless they violate the Google TOS.

As far as people reading it, good luck.

[project3wc]

ew myspace, use the google 'Blogger" instead.

[GrimGriz]

Originally Posted by project3wc

ew myspace, use the google 'Blogger" instead.

thanx chocobo bill

[Veloxi]

Originally Posted by GrimGriz

I'm guessing they don't for the myspace one..but I've been thinking about blogging lately and I want to pull in as many poor saps to read it as I can. Any suggestions?

As a heavy blogger myself, I can tell you that

1. Google WILL spider your MySpace, however...
2. MySpace is an AWFUL blogging blatform. You'd be better off using LiveJournal (my personal favorite), Wordpress or Blogger as your primary blogging platform and then crossposting your stuff to MySpace. This is what I do and it's much better.
3. Even using these systems, the best blogging system is the one you set up and install yourself on your own server, if you can afford it. Personally I like this better than those free options, but it's up to you.

Good luck!

[Grimfalcon]

Hey! Yes, Google will index your Blog if it's set up correctly. If you're using a default install that you're managing yourself (Wordpress, Moveable Type, etc on your own server) or pre-setup Blog (Blogger.com, Wordpress.com, etc) these should have no settings to deter Google/Yahoo from indexing your site. (ex: Robots.txt set up incorrectly, etc).

Veloxi is dead on that if you want a blog, Myspace wouldn't be the best choice. My personal favorite blogging systems are WordPress.com Get a Free Blog Here, Tumblr, www.blogger.com and Free Blogs, Blog Hosting & Photo Sharing at Vox.com.

As far as getting Google to rank your blog well in their results, you need to do some pre-work on your side.

1.) What keywords/phrases does your blog best fall under? I'd pick no more than 10 of these for starters as you don't want to overdo it at first. An example is if you're starting a Jumpgate Blog about how to PVP and the best outfittings for it, you'd obviously want to work towards building rank in Google for words like:

Jumpgate (hard)
Jumpgate Evolution (hard)
Jumpgate PVP (moderate)
Jumpgate PVP Guide (easier)
Jumpgate PVP Outfittings (easier)

etc

Now, these aren't going to be as high traffic in results as say "PVP" or "MMO" but you'll see it's much easier to get rank in Google quickly for longer phrases. The more general the word (ex MMO, Jumpgate, Gaming) the more difficult to build a good search rank as there's thousands of competitors. Go for the low hanging fruit / words first and MAKE SURE they're words that apply to your site. If you try and rank for every word on the planet, you'll never get anywhere and if you do it bad enough, you might get blacklisted by Google.

2.) Once you have your keyword list, print it out and put it by your computer. Then, using that list:

- Create a well written and informative title for your blog that contains at least the majority of those words. (Ex: JoeBlow's Jumpgate PVP Guide - PVP Advice, Guides, Outfitting and Information on how to PVP in Jumpgate Evolution). Don't do a title that is "Jumpgate PVP Outfitting MMO Netdevil Blog PVP PVP PVP MMO" as that looks awful to a reader. Do something that gives a good quick summary of what your site is about and also uses your main keywords sensibly.

If you have multiple pages on your blog, make a Standard Title (ex: Blog Name - Page Name - Description). Don't use the same exact title for each page if you can help it.

- Create a unique META Description on EVERY PAGE describing what that page/section is about. This is what will, the majority of times, be displayed as the description of your results. Do the same as the title. Include major keywords/phrases you want to rank for but do it sensibly. You want people to come to your site as the end result. Making your description look like a copy/paste from Websters doesn't do that


- When you post, make sure to make sensible titles. Everyone likes funny titles but if your blog is about Jumpgate PVP and none of your titles (whats usually in a H1/H2 tag) has no mention of any of your major keywords, that does nothing to help get your rank. Titles like "Combat specs for a Quant Phoon in Jumpgate" are much more useful than "Own that bastard real good!"

- Try and use at least 3-4 of your keywords in your posts. DON'T do it insane like and make your blog read like you're trying to be SEO / Search Engine friendly. Write for your audience but keep in mind to use a few keywords in your post (ex: PVP in Jumpgate vs Fighting in Space)

- Tag tag tag tag your posts.

- Link to sites you like that are relevant to your blog (Joystickrequired, jumpgate evolution, etc). DON'T expect a link back but build a relevant list of links related to your blog topic.

- List your blog in directories that aren't shady. (DMOZ.org, etc).

- Submit your blog to Jumpgate Evolution's Fan site. Links from high ranking/relevant sites on Jumpgate like Netdevils site gives you good rank too. Google wants to show it's users the most relevant information and the best way to find that is if big players link to you

Those are some good starter ideas. I can help more if you need it.

Let me know.

[Jump]

That's a great post Grimfalcon. We practice all of that here at JSR.

I would be careful of using link strategies though. If you follow the latest in SEO you know that Google is cracking down and punishing sites that sell links. Even big sites like the New York Times and the Washington Post got hammered with that one. The thing is not that you sell links, but that you have the "appearance" of selling links. This has pretty much killed the link list as a viable option for a site. Piss off one knowledgeable person and they go off reporting you as a link seller to Google. Even if you're not you may get punished for appearing like one. It's not like Google actually cares to find out the facts.

Also link exchanges have been a no no for a long time now. Google will down grade you for that.

What you need is natural links from other sites with similar keywords. Links made by other people in their posts or in other articles that link back to you because of what you said. These are what Google likes to see. Google is trying to create a relevant search engine for it's search customers not webmasters. So it's important to play by their rules even if they don't always do the same.

[Grimfalcon]

Amen to that, well said Jump. Always remember that trying to cheat the system is never good (Blackhat as its called). Once google blacklists you, it's a big chore to get them to undo that.

Definitely focus on "natural" linking to your site and let it happen naturally. Link to people you like, recommend, don't be afraid to do that but never purchase links or expect a "return" link. (Ex: Linking to CNN is fine but you'd never expect CNN to put a link on their site just because of that). If you have good content and people find it, they'll start linking to it. Maybe place the link to your blog in your email signature, see if any of your friends that have blogs or sites that are relevant will link to your blog on their sites as recommendations to their audience. At most, for linking, if you have a site that Jumpgate Evolution.com would link too as a fan site you'd be good right there as Jumpgate Evolution.com has a huge relevance with any jumpgate keywords as they're the company that makes it.

Like Jump stated, Google stays in business if people keep using their search engine, so they want to reward good content and punish those that try and exploit their rules. Never buy links or list your link on a "link farm" page/anything you even have a hint of thought regarding "This feels like cheating the system" because it probably is.

As well, for your blog, just as good practices, be as text friendly as you can. Flash/Images can be used but don't put all your content/keyword rich content in flash/images. (Ex: Navigation in text rather than images or have both if you need images for design reasons).

As well, use those alt attributes for your images and use them well. If you have an image of a Phoon for a post, in your Alt attribute for that image (usually easily editable in any blog platform) put alt="Quantar Phoon closing in on a target" or something that lets google know that the image you have there is content relevant.

Anchor text is very important too. Use "click here" as a link very, very sparingly. If you are linking to a battlestation picture, make the word your linking "Hey take a look at this (link begins)player built battlestation in Quantar Space(link ends)." Google will follow that link when it indexes you and associate a relevant "score" the text and destination url it went too. Hence why if you type in "click here" in google, you get some odd results. If you're blog is about "Read More" and "Click Here" then disregard that rule

Just focus on the low hanging things like titles, meta descriptions, content and keep in mind, getting a site on a search engine and seeing the results of your work can take a long time, 6 months on average so it's a game of patience.

Always keep in mind though, never let SEO writing (writing to rank better in search) be more important than writing good, useful content. After all, while you want to be ranked well in search engines, the most important thing is that people want to read what you have when they get there and bookmark it, come back.

[Jump]

Yes I get excited when I see a linkback generated but then I cringe when I see that the poster put "click here" or "link". This makes the link back pretty useless. Because the search engines will see those keywords and check the site for relevant keywords. If it doesn't find it it will consider the link irrelevant for the most part. Granted there are other factors but that's a big one. No site needs to rank high for the words "click" and "here".

I especially cringe when I see site owners do that to their own links back to their site.

[GrimGriz]

I'll probably use those posts as a reference, but for sure my main plan is just to try and write useful stuff....or something. I've got to replace the forum trolling with something productive at some point.

Hey Jump, do you have the Oblivion stuff laying around somewhere?

[Jump]

oblivion stuff?