still relevant?

[jarnold22]

So far I've gone through all the videos through step 8 (videos 1, 2 & 3) and one of the things in the back of my mind keeps wondering if this material is still relevant since it is all date-stamped more than 2 years ago? I'm not doubting it but wondering if there are additional things that need to be considered, since the approach mentioned is prior to Panda or Penguin even being a rumor.

Also (and maybe I need to look around a bit more) there are references in the videos to something more "concise", either a video or PDF but I haven't seen that?

Lastly, I was pretty excited about reading about cdigg in the videos but apparently cdigg died a long time ago. Or was that just an example, where there are plenty of other sites in the blog announcement network that can/should be used?

[mikedeering]

Hi,
Being a BU member for the past 2 years or so. I can tell you the principles and methods still work today. Actually, better than before because Google 'cleaned' out their indexes (Panda and Penguin). I've found it only takes a few links to have my site's ranking's increase. It used to take many back links, because we were competing against sites with 1000's of bogus back links. (Directory blasts, automated back linking schemes, ect). Many of those sites were de-indexed.

I have used BU for most of my backlinking, and I only had one site out of 40 that was de-indexed. It was a site that never did that well anyways, and I kept it around hoping that someday it would make me money...

I have used CDigg in the past and I'm sorry it went away. There are many new blogs to replace the blogs that were hit by the zoo animals.

To keep up to date, I recommend you read the latest article posts by Mike Leibner. I'm sure the training will be updated in time, but for now it is recommended that you provide back links to your site in a few of the social sites, such as Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, to gain trust.

[admin]

Yes the 12 step system works. It has concepts that are actually much older than 2 years and the stuff still works.

Right now the links in the BU blogs are very effective - more effective as mentioned above. A few good links the right way go a lot farther now because so many sites were wiped out!

Other than Google deindexing some sites last april and hurting some folks - if you follow the steps reasonably close you'll see it works.

You can make it as complicated as you want and there are more things you can do - but the goal is to get top rankings - not do MORE than necessary.

Do the basics and if that gets you on top you can move to another site or try to go for more related keywords instead of doing extra work that is not needed.

There are a few suggestions and considerations for after panda and penguin but the system is still the same.

See the blog for latest articles and tips. There are extra things you can do and some things to be aware of that will help you.

http://blog.bloggingunderground.com/har ... p-ranking/

But that said - many of these tactics have been in the training for a long time - it's just they're more important now - for example LINK TEXT VARIATION.

I have talked about link diversity for over 7 years in my training stuff. It just so happens it's as important as ever to not be a robot and humanize your efforts.

And yes - social signals will help you - but are not always needed.

Start with the basics and if a site HITS IT BIG - develop it more and do more to keep it on top for your main keyword and to expand how many other keywords your site ranks for.

Unfortunately as far as cdigg and some sites - they were deindexed last April. It does happen but as long as blogs are indexed and the post has relevant words they will pass benefits to your pages.

[jarnold22]

this might be more of the "many gurus say..." type thing but i don't recall seeing it in the 12 step videos nor implemented on the example blogs, so i have to ask:

what about having pages on your blog about the "required by google for trust" for "about us" or "contact us" and "privacy policy"? there is actually some decent plugins for both freely available - contact form 7 for a contact form and google privacy policy for the obvious purpose, both using shortcodes and very easy.

or are these not really necessary?
Jon

[mikedeering]

I have most of the pages you mentioned on all my sites. I believe the FTC likes to see a disclaimer page stating that you make a commission.

I think that having the other pages about us, contact us, ect help to round out your site. As many commercial and company sites all have those pages.

I place links to those pages in the footer area only and do not have them in the pages section. You might want to put a site map and an rss feed too if you have time.

[MasterMind]

About, contact, privacy, fcc disclaimer, and depending on your type of site you may need a medical, legal or earnings disclaimer.

Google wants sites that look professional and considers sites that don't have such things as not professional.

You also need a favicon and an robots.txt plus a site map.

[admin]

The days of "small people" getting the same love and respect as "corporations" has passed as far as gOOGLE is concerned, so doing that extra stuff like contact us, privacy policy and disclaimers is a good idea.

It is smart to do the legal type things that please the FTC and protect you from getting in trouble out there.

Google does prefer sites that do this stuff, but it alone will not help your site rank higher. It may only prevent it from being banned in a human review.

Like it or not - google prefers commercial business type sites to be in it's index.

The main thing is that your site needs to look professional like a real business and NOT look like you're scamming people or trying to trick them into doing things that will make you money.

That's also why SOCIAL SIGNALS help - because the signals help establish you as being credible like a real business.

Real businesses all now have twitter pages and facebook etc. Do what real businesses do!

Hope that helps!

[MasterMind]

Here's a link to a nice simple TOS http://www.socialbuzzwidget.com/terms.html I grabbed it but I will modify it to fit with my site. One of the most imnportant things in it is where any lawsuits will be heard. Put your own state in there or country.