CHAPTER 1.05 WHAT SUFFIXES ARE AVAILABLE

Choosing the Right Domain Name:

a Marketing Perspective

all you need to know about domain names

(and some you don't need to know, but is interesting anyway)

CHAPTER 1.05
WHAT SUFFIXES ARE AVAILABLE?

As I stated previously, suffixes have geographic origins. Here are the options for America, the UK and the rest of the world.

DOMAIN NAMES IN PRACTICE : you say extension, I say suffix

In the USA and other regions of the world, the domain name suffix is commonly referred to as the extension.

The United States
Because they are not limited to registration by American organizations, US-originated domain names tend to be treated as 'global' and not country-specific. The most common are:
* .com : designated as 'commercial company'
* .net : designated as 'commercial company - alternative'
Note that .com and .net are administered by VeriSign Inc
* .org : designated as 'non-profit organization'. Although originally this was not 'policed' (it is not unusual to find commercial websites on .org domains) when the Public Interest Registry (PIR) took over its administration in 2003 it pledged to meet the 'unique needs of non-commercial organizations'

Others domains exist but are restricted to the pertinent establishments, eg .gov (government office), .mil (military) and .edu (education). In existence as long as domain names have been around, but rarely used until its 're-launch' in 2002, is the America-only .us. It is now commonly used as a second level domain for the US states eg .fl.us for Florida.

In response to demands for new Top Level suffixes, the Internic has introduced:

* .info : unrestricted use
* .aero : air transport industry
* .biz : businesses - unrestricted
* .coop : co-operatives
* .name : for individuals - mainly sold as second level domains on the most common surnames eg john.smith.name
* .museum : yes, for museums
* .mobi : for web content which has been designed specifically for downloading to a mobile device (note that the advent of new mobile browsers - such as that on the iPhone - have rendered this domain largely redundant)
* .pro : for which second level domains were made available on: .law.pro (law related services), .cpa.pro (accountancy related services) and .med.pro (health related services). These are only available to organizations and individuals that qualify as a member of the relevant US professional bodies
* .travel : for organizations in the travel industry
* .jobs : for the recruitment industry

DOMAIN NAMES IN PRACTICE :
Three of the newer TLDs (.aero, .coop, and .museum) are so-called 'sponsored top level domains' (sTLDs) created for a particular industry sector and administered by a trade body or other representative group. It is likely that any future additions will be 'sponsored' - as is the case for the recently introduced .jobs.

Whilst .com is still far and away the most popular US suffix, with others being mainly frowned upon (for .biz, read poor substitute for .com), the lack of good available .com names will inevitably lead to examples of new suffixes becoming more common in years to come. For example, the suffix .xxx has been long muted for use on websites with adult material, but protests in the US congress stalled its progress and in May 2006 it was rejected - though experience still keeps nudging me to say it might not have gone away forever.

DOMAIN NAMES IN PRACTICE : dot biz is not the biz?
Around three quarters of registered .biz domain names have no websites on them and a quarter registered to the same organization that registered the corresponding .com (source: Harvard Law School, 2006). This would appear to make the whole .biz name something of a waste of time - except to those companies that make a profit handling the registrations.

At the time of writing, ICANN - having estimated that only 17% of the original four billion network addresses remained available, and that addresses are expected to run out within five years - put forward a suggestion for what might be the most revolutionary event in domain names to date. The proposal will allow companies to purchase new generic top-level domains ending in almost anything they wish - in particular, their brand name. So rather than me having alan.charlesworth.eu, I could have alan.charlesworth - with 'charlesworth' being the suffix. More realistic is that an organization like eBay would come up with the fee (touted as being anything from 25 to 250,000 dollars) then sell domains to their customers for use on eBay-linked websites - alanstoys.ebay, for example. Or Nike could have soccer.nike, tennis.nike, golf.nike, and so on. Another possibility might be cities (though quite who - council, private company - would own/administer the domains would be problematic) using the suffix for businesses in each city, alansrestaurant.newyork perhaps. However, given the sums of venture capitalist's money poured into 'e' businesses since the birth of the Internet, perhaps some entrepreneurial types will see an opportunity to make money by selling names based on generic top-level domains? The following spring readily to mind: .news, .restaurants, .hotels and .books. Or what about .websites or .phonenumbers for some kind of online directory? Despite innovations in domain names having a history of protracted launches, this one is planned for introduction in 2010. I'm not holding my breath.

DOMAIN NAMES IN PRACTICE : effective use of dot info
An example of effective use of the .info suffix is the ariel.info website from Procter and Gamble. This is not a corporate website, but a source of information (for consumers) on washing clothes - an 'infomercial' if you will. There is a second lesson included here regarding the spelling of similar domain names. Note of the spelling of the washing powder. Everything you need to know about the font of the same name is on arial.info.

Another TLD that has been heavily promoted but seems to have had little take-up is the .me suffix. Originally planned to be for individual's websites it is, however, unrestricted. This means that for limited applications it does have certain originality - hire.me for a recruitment business or talkto.me for a communications company perhaps.

DOMAIN NAMES IN PRACTICE :
the hardest-to-get suffix of them all?
The .int gTLD is reserved for international treaty-based organizations and United Nations agencies - a rather exclusive group, and so is perhaps the rarest of all top-level domains.

The United Kingdom

The second-level domains under the .uk ccTLD are:
* .co.uk : UK business, unrestricted - any person or business in the world can register
* .me.uk : Individuals, unrestricted - any person in the world can register
* .org.uk : not for profit organizations, unrestricted - any person or business in the world can register. The 'not for profit' element of this has never been 'policed', it not unusual to find commercial websites on .org.uk domains
* .plc.uk : UK Public Limited Companies, restricted - the domain name must be identical to the registered plc name
* .ltd.uk : UK Limited Companies, restricted - the domain name must be identical to the registered limited company name
* .net.uk : Internet network providers, restricted - though open to some flexibility. For example; doctors.net.uk seems to get round the rules by offering email services, or maybe it just slipped through the net?
* .sch.uk : UK schools, restricted
* .ac.uk : UK Higher Education establishments, restricted - though some HE-associated organizations are accepted eg hero.ac.uk
* .gov.uk : UK government departments, restricted
* .nhs.uk : UK National Health Service departments, restricted
* .police.uk : UK Police forces, restricted * .mod.uk : UK Ministry of Defense establishments or associated organizations, restricted

It is unlikely that even veteran surfers will have come across any of the following, but they are out there. Dating back to the early days of the web, all are still valid for the relevant organizations but rarely used. They are:
* .jet.uk : the Joint European Torus Project
* .aeatech.uk : AEA Harwell
* .bl.uk : the British Library
* .icnet.uk : Imperial Cancer
* .nel.uk : the National Engineering Laboratory
* .scot-off.uk : the Scottish Office
* .ccta.uk : the Central Communications and Technology Agency
* .parliament.uk : UK parliament
* .nls.uk : the National Library of Scotland

Don't even think about trying to register a name on any of these.

DOMAIN NAMES IN PRACTICE : is .co.uk too easily available?
Having found that around 480,000 websites based in China and other countries are hosted on .co.uk domain names, the summer of 2009 saw UK Trading Standards officers warn consumers to be vigilant when buying goods over the Internet, as they have identified a number of websites that claim to be from the UK selling counterfeit products. Perhaps a case for having more stringent rules with regard to registering a .uk domain name - a UK postal address, for example?

The Rest of the World
There are over 250 countries with a country-specific domain, for example; .de for Germany, .jp for Japan, .fr for France, .ca for Canada and .gr for Greece. More than 80 countries are 'unrestricted' meaning anyone anywhere can register names. Some of these have been heavily promoted, but they are still considered as 'novelties' in the majority of business fields. These include .tv (Tuvalu) and .cc (Cocos Islands). The use of such domains is discussed in chapter 3.01.

Each country has made the decision as to whether they use second level domains in their suffixes. The one you will see most in this book is .co.uk - because I am from the UK. However, the UK is unique in its use of 'co' (we pronounce it 'coh', not see-oh) - most countries use 'com'. For example, businesses in Australia, Bahrain, Cyprus and Argentina use .com.au, .com.bh, .com.cy and .com.ar respectively. Others - such as Canada - have opted to follow the US's lead and simply use .ca as its suffix. Some countries, however, just like to make life complicated. Greek websites, for example, can be found on both .gr and .com.gr suffixes - and Mexico used only .com.mx for years before deciding to allow registrations on .mx in September 2009. I'm not going to cover every country's options in this book - needless to say, if you are outside the US or UK you are likely to know your own country's options better than I.

DOMAIN NAMES IN PRACTICE : vive l'availability
June 2006 saw one of the bastions of restricted names fall. Previously available only to professionals, associations or public bodies, the French .fr registration was made available to any individual 18 or over and with a postal address in France. Les cybersquatters and Gaelic ne'er-do-wells must have rubbed there hands with glee.

As well as country specific suffixes that use Latin characters, there are also a growing number of Internationalised Domain Names (IDNs - also referred to as multi-lingual domain names) which use characters outside A-Z, 0-9 and the hyphen. At the time of writing around 40 additional character sets are available, supporting over 350 languages including Arabic, Hebrew, Korean, Russian and Greek. The registry responsible for operating each of the domain names or suffixes decides which, if any, additional characters can be used. For instance .com and .net are available in most major character sets including Arabic, Hebrew and Han (Chinese, Japanese, Korean ideographs). Many of the European suffixes, however, offer few non-Latin characters, in the main limiting options to accented letters.

Applications of IDNs for the marketer are limited. The most obvious issue is that if the domain uses non-Latin characters only the keyboards of users in countries where those characters are used can type in the domain name (OK, I know you could write the name by inserting characters from the PCs symbols file, but it is not very convenient). If an IDN is being used it is most likely the website will also be in the language of the IDN, so effectively restricting its use to geographic areas. For the marketer there are a few applications to consider:
* If your market is local to a region, you could gain brand value by using that region's language
* For a multinational company, websites for different countries could be in the language of each
* You might wish to appeal to expatriates in their native language

The problem with these suggestions is that, as with all forms of segmentation, you take the chance of alienating other potential customers by not using their language - or at least English, which is generally accepted as the world's business language.

DOMAIN NAMES IN PRACTICE : poor soccer substitution?
Spotted during the 2006 Football World Cup was germany2006.tv. Good use of date in the name, but why .tv when it was a website with - it would appear - no affiliation to television? Maybe they were too late to get the .com, .net etc? If that is the case it's a bit like displaying your online marketing shortcomings in public. Given the sport concerned, .net might have been better.

The years 2006 and 2008 saw the launch of the long awaited .eu domain (it had been 'coming soon' since around 1998) and .asia respectively. Although the jury is still out, these domains (and other proposed regional TLDs) might eventually become a 'must have' for global traders based in those areas. It is worth noting that as registrants of .eu names must be registered by a person or company established in a European Union Member State, any transactions on .eu sites are subject to EU laws - something that might be attractive to potential online customers. However, given the shortage of available .com domains and the ever growing number of web users in Asia, the .asia in particular may prove increasingly popular - perhaps one day challenging the mighty .com for registration numbers?

DOMAIN NAMES IN PRACTICE : a US domain name, for a European country, in a UK newspaper
The summer of 2006 saw a full page teaser ad in UK Sunday newspaper supplements featuring a small keyhole shape on an otherwise blank page with the text 'romance, especially if you and your partner aren't in groups', and the message 'Visit Europesbestkeptsecret.com'. Nice idea to use cross media promotions such as this, and the domain name is good also. So how might I have improved it without adding much to the budget? I'd have also registered europesbestkeptsecret.eu - it is a European destination after all. Also, as the text in the newspaper was small and in a hand-written style of font it was easy to misread the URL as visiteuropesbestkeptsecret.com - so I would have registered that as well. Note that both extra names would be redirected to the primary site.
I'll make no comment that Europe's best kept secret is, apparently, Belgium - though the ad was actually for Eurostar, the train service.

DotAsia, the not-for-profit registry operator of the new domain was quick to spot an opportunity in the market by auctioning off some of the most popular generic names. It might be a reflection of trade in that region, but two (arguably, three) of the top six auctions were sex-industry related.

The top six, with their purchase price at auction prices were:
1 discover.asia : $112,111
2 sex.asia : $83,334
3 buy.asia : $73,000
4 sexshop.asia : $53,607
5 gold.asia : $46,602
6 models.asia : $41,009
source: www.dotasia.org

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Copyright copyright 2009 Alan Charlesworth. All rights reserved.
International Standard Book Number: 978-1-4452-0538-0
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the author.
Notice
Every effort has been made to make this book as complete and as accurate as possible, but no warranty or fitness is implied. The information provided is on an 'as is' basis. No responsibility is assumed by the author for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions or ideas contained in the material herein.

CHAPTER 4 SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION

further reading ...

The following links take you to content that supplements and updates this chapter of the book. Note that

I’ve included some articles that are a few years old ... don't let their publication date put you off - they are

still relevant now. The most recent posts are at end of each section.

4.1 INTRODUCTION

If you check the bio of the author of Comparing SEO to PPC you will see she is not new to search engine marketing - and so her opinion carries some weight. Note how the articles differentiates SEO from advertising on search engines ... just as I have done in this book - and as I have done since advertising on search engines started.

If you really want to get your head around how Google works, make yourself comfortable and read Google’s Search Quality Rating Guidelines.

These search commands for Google are useful for people searching on Google - but are included here as they can also help search engine optimizers in determining where keywords/search terms can be placed within a site.

Ignore the headline of Half Say Advertising is Important in the Buying Decision – top in the list of shopper’s important purchase information sources is search engines.

If you’re serious about understanding SEO We’ve crawled the web for 32 years: What’s changed? is a must read. Its author, Mike Grehan, worked from the North East of England in the early years of the web and we shared the stage at numerous events telling owners and managers about the Internet and how it was going to change business. From the same author, and also well worth a read is The origins of E-A-T: Page content, hyperlink analysis and usage data.

How Google Trends works is an interesting background on Google Search. Similar in nature in that it offers a background in how search engines developed is What we can learn from past and present Google algorithm updates.

The Open Secret of Google Search is an interesting read on the search giant.

The issue of Why you should invest in branded keywords even if your company ranks #1 on Google has folk who argue for both side of the debate – this one is in favour.

Around the time that the book was going to print a story that Google exec suggests Instagram and TikTok are eating into Google’s core products search and maps made the rounds of SEO commentators. One such response included some different types of search which might be used on social media, see - Nearly 40% of Gen Z prefers using TikTok and Instagram for search over Google. However, Millennials Are Increasingly Using Various Methods to Search for Things Online gives a wider, and more revealing. picture – note that there is no mention of ‘prefer’ as stated in the headline above. Are 40% of Gen Z shunning Google for TikTok? Not exactly is an update [Jan 2024] on the concept.

Personal research into this matches findings by others – we’re talking about ‘lifestyle’ searches only [e.g. “lively bar near me” or “how to apply X brand of makeup"], and mainly female users. I can appreciate that watching a series of short videos of local bars might be easier than reading about them. So - message to bars attracting younger clientele ... encourage customers to post videos on TitTok.

Google is trying to reinvent search — by being more than a search engine.

Just to show that SEO is ongoing - Google helpful content system update rolling out now (December 2022 update).

Welcome to the age of social SEO: how to maximize visibility on TikTok searches.

Google ranking signals: A complete breakdown of all confirmed, rumored and false factors.

ChatGPT has some roles to play for the digital marketer - perhaps the most common/useful will be in SEO, so here's An SEO’s guide to ChatGPT prompts and AI Chat and Keyword Research.

5 Website Performance Benchmarks from Q4 2022 offers some [slightly] different stats to the chart - on website traffic sources - shown in chapter 4, but the issues are generally the same. The 5 key issues are:

1. More Than 1 in Every 3 Sessions Encounters Friction

2. Page Load Speeds Impact Bounce Rates, Page Views

3. Mobile Widens Traffic Share Lead

4. Paid Search Traffic Converts Better Than Paid Social Traffic

5. Desktop Still Boasts Far Higher Conversion Rates Than Mobile

I've included Google releases March 2023 broad core update and Google removes several search ranking algorithm updates from its ranking systems page simply as a reminder that search engines change their algorithm on a regular basis.

Is click-through rate a valuable SEO metric?

I make it clear in the book that I consider SEO and PPC ads to be different things. SEO vs. PPC: Differences, pros, cons & an integrated approach offers a different view - although it also can be read as supporting my opinion.

Brand Visibility Is the New SEO ... caused by AI, apparently.

EXERCISE: Byron Sharp purports that ‘ ... paid search is not advertising (which has as its main job building mental availability). Search is like shelf space. It’s to improve purchase availability.’ Samuel Scott offers more detail, saying that ‘Display on retailer, broker, and review sites is the same as paid search. Paid and organic search are forms of distribution, not parts of promotional marketing communications. Basically, you are getting your product put on Google, Amazon, and others' store shelves like when you pay a store to put your juice in the juice aisle. Same for getting listed on sites like G2. This is fulfilling existing demand and having physical availability. Advertising is about creating more demand and having mental availability.’ Going back in time, when I first got involved in the use of the Internet for business purposes [in 1996] I was frequently asked where the new communication medium sat with regard to the 4Ps ... and I said it was part of distribution. My opinion wasn’t supported by many – any, even – but it seems I may have had a point.

What's your opinion on the views of myself, Sharp and Scott?

50% of product searches start on Amazon includes stuff from this and other chapters - well worth a read. Note that it's from the US, so the stat in the title might not apply to you.

Organic search could be the moat your brand needs is a kind-of strategic view of SEO using quirky analogies - in general, I agree with its basic premise, not least because it syncs with my opinion.

I'm not a fan of SWOT analysis ... just use the issues raised in SEO SWOT analysis: How to optimize where it counts as a kind-of to-do list.

Another example of why SEO is a full time job is Google to fix link report in Search Console. And another... Google releases August 2023 broad core update.

Why are publishers losing traffic from Google? is about online news - but much of is relevant to other kinds of website.

To understand the present and the future - take a look at the past ... Google’s Florida update: 20 years since the SEO ‘volcanic eruption’.

The AI-powered Google apocalypse is heading for your brand is from December 2023 ... who knows how true it will turn out to be?

Google confirms a search ranking bug where sites disappear from search results over the weekend is an example of what is a fairly common problem - if your website relies on search engines for visitors [and so, business] this can hit income.

The Periodic Table of SEO Elements has been around for a few years - this is the 2024 version.

A concern with using third parties - eg Google itself - for SEO purposes is that the third party can change its operating model ... Google is shutting down websites made with Business Profiles is one such example.

And the changes keep on coming ... Google releasing massive search quality enhancements in March 2024 core update and multiple spam updates.

Who Sends Traffic on the Web and How Much? New Research from Datos & SparkToro.

Consumers' online information sources - search remains top.

You can file Small review site lost 91% of its Google traffic to affiliate-focused SEO content under 'don't put all your eggs in one basket' - relying on Google is not a good strategy for a business.

6 unpopular SEO opinions you need to consider raises some interesting and accurate points. But here's a thing I allude to in the book. The first four points are much the same as I - and others - were teaching [or is that 'preaching'] back around 1997 ... that's before the author of the article left school.

The end of May 2024 saw big news about Google's algorithm HUGE Google Search document leak reveals inner workings of ranking algorithm, here's Google's reply ... Google responds to leak: Documentation lacks context - and Unpacking Google’s massive search documentation leak is a review of the happenings. Only time will tell how big a story this was.

As I allude to in the book, I think that knowing what is being searched for in this research is vital to make it relevant ... the what might dictate where the search is started, Also, note above the article which states that 50% of product searches start on Amazon - where does that fit into Almost Half of Gen Zers Opt for Social over Google for Search?

Is The Google Maps pin scam: A new Google Business Profile threat common? I doubt it - but I've included this article because keeping track of scams like it is an example of why SEO is a full time occupation.

Which Topics Are Gen Zers Searching for on Social Media?

In all aspects of digital marketing new terms come and go. I wonder GEO will stay the course, or disappear like so many others? See What is generative engine optimization (GEO)?

Again, it never stops ... Google August 2024 core update rollout is now complete.

Google updates crawl budget docs for large sites with differing mobile and desktop pages and links ...Google said it is best practice to have all links present on both mobile and desktop versions. I would ask; why on earth would you have different differing mobile and desktop pages and links? Maybe another example of non-marketers in marketing? [see chapter 3]

That Long-tail keywords: Target lower-competition phrases and attract qualified visitors has been published by [one of] the world's major SEO websites suggests that some folk are not aware of the issue. I and others were writing about it 25 years ago. Ho hum.

I've included How to fix the ‘Page with redirect’ error in Google Search Console simply as an[other] example of some of the stuff that competent SEOs need to know.

Another reminder that SEO doesn't stand still ... Google quietly updated the News and Discover manual action policies.

Although Google’s search market share drops below 90% for first time since 2015, it's still got 90% of the market so me talking about Google so much in the book is still valid.

Another example of the problem of [potentially] putting all your marketing eggs in one basket ... Google bug cause reviews to drop out of local listings.

59% of Americans click on brands they know in Google results: Survey ... also, nearly half of Americans trust organic results more than paid results and Google remains the most trusted source for information.

And again, again, it never stops ... Google March 2025 core update. And rules change as well ... Google Ads policy update.

4.2 HOW SEARCH ENGINES WORK

In the book I mention the importance of E-A-T, 14 ways Google may evaluate E-A-T is a good guide … but it also shows that SEO isn’t as easy – or quick – as some folk would have you believe.

More on the subject ... E-A-T auditing: How to level up your credibility game

Naturally, just days after the book was published, this happened ... Google doubles up on E with updated search quality raters guidelines (E-E-A-T) - and here's another article, this one with more details ... How Google may identify and evaluate authors through E-E-A-T. And nearly a year later ... Debunking common Google E-E-A-T misconceptions.

The two parts of E-E-A-T Google hasn’t told you about.

Barry Schwartz's list of what is NOT a Google search ranking factor.

--------------

ZERO-CLICK

[April 2023] There is a lot being said about AI-developed content and its impact on SEO - well here's my take. I think that impact will be on zero-click with searches producing more and more SE-developed content ... and that content will be produced by LLMs which will reproduce the content of websites. Furthermore, those websites' owners/publishers will not be compensated [via links] by the search engines.

In the book I suggest that Google was holding the zero-click percentage at around 50% - welllllll, I missed later data from the same researcher that proposed that figure upped it to 65% - around two thirds. In 2020, Two Thirds of Google Searches Ended Without a Click – although note that the research on which this was based does not include the CTR paid links to Google sites.

Google isn’t the only guilty platform to see the value of this strategy; see; Zero-Click Content: The Counter-intuitive Way to Succeed in a Platform-Native World.

More on zero clicks - with Google search study: 25.6% of desktop, 17.3% of mobile are zero-click offering some very different stats to those listed in the book. That said, the research seems to be a bit different. One thing about this research, however, is that the CTR on ads is less than 2%. That seems very low to me.

Nearly 60% of Google searches end without a click in 2024.

As per my comment at the beginning of this section ... 75% of Google AI Overview links come from top 12 organic rankings.

Ex-Google exec: Giving traffic to publishers ‘a necessary evil’ is an article on zero clicks which doesn't use the term.

--------------

Another innovation from Google to keep you on Google - Google Maps adds new store location feature, Locator Plus, Reserve with Google integration, new analytics and more.

A Small Business Guide to Google My Business ... I think there is a reasonable argument that for many small businesses, this could be their web presence.

I’ve included the biggest mystery of Google’s algorithm: Everything ever said about clicks, CTR and bounce rate here as an example of how no one really knows how the Google algorithm works. As if it counts ... I’ve always thought that CTR counted, making it easier to stay in the top spot on a SERP than get to it.

Another version of How Important is The Top Search Result on Google? to the chart shown in the book.

Nothing that's really new in 16 reasons why your page isn’t ranking on Google but it's always good to have a list.

4.3 KEYWORD SELECTION

Keyword Research for Product Content

The Search Before the Search: Keyword Foraging.

I’ve put How to do a competitive analysis for local SEO in this section [where local search is covered] but it is relevant to other sections also.

What do you think the Most Searched Consumer Brands in the world in 2022 are? I’m not surprised [I’ve been around a while] but the why still amazes me.

The case of the stealth Google-bomb is about the role of domain names in SEO. You should know most of it if you're to work in SEO. It also kind-of confirms the value of keywords. Find out more about domain names.

YouTube SEO: How to find the best traffic-generating keywords.

Yes, SEO Keywords Remain Important.

SEO: Targeting the Long Tail for More Sales.

Here's a nice - and simply - tip SEO Signals from SERPs.

4.4 ON-SITE OPTIMIZATION

What Is SEO Writing? How to Be a Better SEO Writer is included in this section as its focus is SEO. However, although it is a reasonable guide to the practice, the article could also be in the section on developing website content and also content marketing. It also offers an insight into the skills, time and application required to get the job right.

I could have put How to attract your ideal customers with quality content in the later chapter on website development, but as it has a SEO focus, I’ve included it here.

Google doesn’t want your AI-generated SEO spam content.

Given the nature of much of this site [this page, for example] Outgoing links: Are they beneficial for your site or not? is something I've taken notice of over the years.

SEO content writing vs. content writing: The key difference.

An SEO’s guide to understanding large language models (LLMs).

This was true in 1996 ... seems it's still true now - 85% of titles feature keywords in Positions 1-5 of Google.

I think this issue - Does HTML structure matter for SEO? - is more important than many folk realise. One thing not covered in this article is that the search engines dislike pages that don't adapt for mobile devices. I found this out for this site and had to accept a PC format I didn't really to meet the mobile requiement.

4.5 OFF-SITE OPTIMIZATION

How to audit your site’s backlink profile Auditing your backlinks is a process that should be part of your regular SEO routine. Here's a guide on how to do it.

I've included How to outsource link building: Benefits and tips to follow not just for the advice it contains, but as another example of the specialized jobs that are out there.

Links are not a top 3 Google Search ranking factor, says Gary Illyes ... 'I think they are important, but I think people overestimate the importance of links'.

Does guest blogging still work for SEO? Pros ... cons and best practices.

4.6 THIRD-PARTY SEARCH ENGINE RANKING

SNIPPET

Smile please - Colgate's oral health website

I’m not sure which section using the amazon search engine as marketing belongs in – but as Google may well pick up the Amazon listing, I’ve put it here. Obviously, it’s not for everyone, but for some it could be a really good idea.

Here are a few articles on links that are a bit old - but they will tell you all you need to know. If you take the time to read them all you will come to appreciate that not only is serious link building a strategic concern, but it is very time consuming. However, on the strategic side of things, you will note that some of the suggestions go beyond link building eg developing a competition on your website to encourage links - the competition itself might be considered as a marketing tactic in its own right. In other words, SEO should be a key aspect of the organization's marketing strategy. 50+ More Things Every Link Builder Should Know, 4 Ways to Wash Away The Link Building Hate, 5 Pieces Of Content: 25 Link Ideas, Link to my awesome content, please!, How To Attract Killer Links For E-Commerce Sites and 10 Questions To Ask When Creating A Link Building Campaign does answer some of the basic questions on the issue, and so is useful - however, some of it does seem just a bit creepy to me. Not sure it's the type of job I would enjoy doing every day :)

How to gain value from broken backlinks is perhaps for more serious SEO - but it shows that effective SEO is a full time occupation.

I have to say that I didn't realise this was so big a thing ...‘Link in bio’ platforms: Which is best for SEO?

4.7 ENTERPRISE SEO

GO ONLINE *page 91*

Two of the best SEO guides are Search Engine Land‘s Guide to SEO and Ahrefs’ The Beginner’s Guide to SEO.

Enterprise SEO: Lessons from 20 years in the trenches

I’ve put 9 roadblocks to SEO success here rather than in earlier sections because, effectively, it is about strategic SEO.

How to manage and edit your Google Business Profile from Google search.

1 million URLs: How to pivot your SEO strategy when you reach enterprise level

11 enterprise SEO challenges and solutions

How to plan and budget for enterprise SEO

I didn’t mention Negative SEO in the book, but it deserves a mention. I’ve put it in this section as although all websites are susceptible to it, only major websites are likely to be victims. 6 types of negative SEO to watch out for explains what it’s all about and Negative SEO Disavow Lists lets you know the basics.

How one company’s rebrand and domain name change led to SEO disaster details how getting this wrong can mean the end of a business - but in this example the organization failed to follow advice and guides that have been around since the turn of the century.

How to choose an enterprise SEO platform - what you need to know in choosing the right enterprise SEO platform.

9 big risks of cheap SEO.

7 tips to turn Google’s Search Essentials into strategy covers the key issues.

I could have put SEO and website design: How to build search engine-friendly sites pretty much anywhere on this page - but it's most relevant here.

Beyond SEO: Embracing the future of organic search optimization.

10 simple steps to analyze your brand SERP and build an effective digital strategy is very good ... but remember it is for a brand name - not all key words [though some of the tips could apply to general keyword issues].

Cross-border SEO for Same-language Sites.

I've put How to fix a huge traffic drop after rebranding here as I think re-branding comes under 'enterprise SEO' ;-)