Google Slap 2012 – Tips On How To Avoid It

Google Slap of 2012 – Did It Hit You?

 

The dreaded 'google slap' of 2010 still strikes cold fear into the heart of serious internet marketers – 'the google slap of 2010' was the cause of many a sleepless night and doomed business back in 2010. 

The 'google slap of '10' …. It swept in without warning just like a tsunami and left cyber mayhem and destruction in it's wake as it swept out just as quickly as it came in.  After it left thousands of internet marketers unable to access the google adwords advertising platform forever. The google slap left an indelible mark on internet marketing in 2010.

Back in 2010 the google slap was aimed at Internet Marketers – in particular those whose business model used replicated sites and who sold a similar product or service to thousands of others.  Google wanted to clean up it's adverts on google adsense and purge the scourge of internet marketers (forgetting somewhere along the way that it earned millions of dollars of ad revenue from these very marketers).

So, back to the google slap of 2012 what happened this time?

Well this time Google has gotten wise to a well known practice in SEO using 'Build My Rank' (BMR) and ALN (Authority Link Network).  BMR was a very well known network of high page ranked blogs that were part of a huge blog network.  If you were a member of BMR then every month you could submit articles to blogs in the network and get backlinks to your (or your clients) sites. 

The long and the short of it is that google deindexed the whole damn network over night.  Which meant that literally hundreds of thousands of backlinks got wiped out in 1 foul swoop – bang……  gone forever ….. whoosh!!  The google slap of 2012 hit hard and without warning!

So, what do the serious SEO folks do – well, the really serious ones were not daft enough to be caught up in this whole debacle of 'google slap 2012' anyway as serious SEO people know that the big blog networks were built on shifting sand to start with – over spun articles making sense to no one and not adding a single iota of value for the user.

So where do the serious SEO'ers build their links to avoid the google slap?

Google Slap limitation 101.

Serious SEO folks do all they can to avoid the next google slap however it might come and whenever it might strike.  They practice something called 'link diversity' which means that they build links using lots of different methods to generate traffic to their sites – google slap proofing at it's best.

They also create valuable good content which people actually like to read because it makes sense and gives great information.

Over at SEO In Leeds  they help to avoid such complications using very diverse link building strategies that do not raise the red flag over at google in fact they use strategies that google actually likes.

How do we know this?

Well, simples really – if google likes your site and approves of it then it will move heaven and earth to give it a good ranking as fast as it can

In fact take a look right here at a site they have been working with for just 4 weeks – a brand new site with 22,000 global searches per month for the main keywords and already showing at number 1 and 2 for the main keywords and 2 and 9 for the secondary ones.   This is a site with lots of good solid valuable content not a jumble of rubbish thrown together just for the sake of it.So, the moral of the tale is never ever put your eggs into the one basket and keep your link building strategies diverse by using videos, blogs, guest blogging, press releases, social bookmarking – google slap proof it!

When creating your content make it valuable and interesting to make your readers engaged and wanting to comment.  Good original content that is well written and not spun into an article that makes sense to no one is not what google wants to see – adding value is something we should all be doing! Google slap proof it!

Google is increasingly looking for social approval – in other words people leaving comments, tweeting it, 'liking' it and giving it a +1 are all signs of a good reader experience and a sign that your blog has got friends.  Google slap proof it!

………. No one knows when or what the next google slap is going to be or when it will hit so keep yourself cleaner than clean.

So, in the meantime the best you can do is Google Slap Proof it to the best of your ability!

Need some help with this?  Ok tell us about your site right here

Vax Mach Air

Vax Mach Air Bagless Cylinder – Thinking of buying one?

Less than one year ago our beloved 17 year old Dyson DC02 died – we loved it very dearly and over those 17 years it had never given us a single days trouble.  Our carpet was pristine and clean and even thought his was one of the oldest first Dyson's we never had to do any extra cleaning on the filters other than washing them every 3 or 4 months.

So, off we went down to Curry's to buy a new Dyson.

However …. when we got there and analysed all the bagless vacuums in stock one in particular caught our eye – The Vax Mach Air and we were seduced!

You see, the Vax Mach Air claimed to have more suction power than the DC02 and came with a 6 year warranty, it cost £50 less than the Dyson and to make the deal even sweeter it had a 6 year warranty ….. deal done!

 

So home came the Vax Mach Air and a cleaning we went.

Now, for the first few weeks the Vax Mach Air performing 'ok' – all except for the 'turbo tool' (the attachment that cleans the carpet – you know the main one!) – well this tool simply never even had enough suction power to pick up bits of paper even from day 1 (the old Dyson damn near sucked up the whole carpet but this one simply just  glided like an ice skate).

Lol ……"Turbo Tool'!!

However, we choose to live with it as we only have 1 carpet and the wooden floors respond better to the small brush attachment.

However, after about a month we noticed that the Vax Mach Air began to seriously lose suction …. even when using the nozzle attachments so it was time to clean the filters.  We followed the instructions (not very good ones at that) and cleaned all the filters they show you in the book and away we went again. The suction improved a bit but not completely.

After about 3 months we noticed our previously 'pristine carpet' looking very dirty (because the Vax Mach Air turbo tool did not work and we just had to clean it with the hose tool) and we also realized that the pre motor filter now had to be cleaned after every use.

No, we are not a dirty or hairy family creating lots of extra dirt and hair!  Remember the Dyson took all of this in it's stride and never gave us any trouble.

Still the suction was getting worse and worse with the Vax Mach Air.

i emailed Vax customer services and they sent me back to Currys

I went to Curry's who then rang Vax on my behalf who explained that they would send me a new 'Turbo Tool' and that would be it.  I wanted to send the Vax Mach Air back – they would not accept it – I cannot say I blame them really as I would not have wanted it back either!

The new Vax Max Air turbo tool arrived and it was exactly the same – useless.

The suction was atrocious!

So, I took matters into my own hands and decided to undo the 4 screws keeping the Vax Mach Air cyclone unit together (not recommended in the instruction book but by now I thought 'what the hell')

This is the area that you should be cleaning in the Vax Mach Air as over the months this is what gets clogged up with dust, hair and rubbish.  They never recommend that you do this!!

The suction improved but the damn 'Turbo Tool' remains as useless as it was at the start so although I now have suction my carpet is filthy as the Vax Mach Air is not a carpet cleaner!  In fact the Vax Mach Air is simply a house ornament (not a very pretty one at that either!)

The Vax Mach Air sucks (not in the way I would expect it to), you have to clean it where Vax do not recommend you to clean it, the 'turbo tool' does not work and your carpets stay dirty!

I have since remailed customer services twice to request a refund for this under performing Vax Mach Air and not had a response.

My recommendation to you?

Do not get the Vax Mach Air – spend the extra and get the Dyson!

You Have To Be Offering More Than They Pay For ….

Ever taken advantage of one of the cut price offers such as Groupon or similar?

You know the ones where you can get a $50 meal for $20 or a haircut for $10.

In fact I have been so impressed with some of these marketing offers that I actually bought quite a few as Christmas present this time and it means your nearest and dearest get a higher value present but it costs you less

Now, I have experienced both sides of these deals because I have also sold them as well as bought them and if you read my earlier post you can learn about pitfalls to avoid.

However, just this morning I became a 'customer' and with the experience I just had I decided to share my observations.

My voucher was for a cut price half hour massage, plus a manicure and pedicure.

• First of all rule number 1 of being a therapist (I should know I have been 1 for 17 years) – you always do a 'proper' consultation and get the client to sign it and date it.  Just to see that there are no reasons not to give a treatment and to see what the client is looking to get out of the treatment.  This morning I was asked just 2 questions, nothing was written down and nothing signed (ooh the insurance company could have a field day with that alone).  Whether the client is paying full price of cut price the rules are the same!

• When a treatment is billed as a 'half hour' then it need to last a 'half hour' – not 20 minutes as I got this morning.

• Hygiene – Clean towels per client and use of disposable couch roll.  No matter if the client is paying full or cut price again!

• The room needs to be warm – no one comes back to a cold salon.

• Manicure and pedicure requires nails to be filed, not simply shown the nail file.  Plus the file needs to be sanitised in front of the client and the towel the clients hands resting on covered with couch roll and be clean and dry (ughh!)

• The client needs to feel they are getting a full price treatment and experience it as such to entice them to return again soon bringing all their eager friends with them.  The client does not want to feel like a poor relation who is not truly welcome.

• Learn some marketing skills and offer them a discount when they return.

Cut price treatment customers need to have exactly service than full price ones, they need to be made ti feel extra special because if you can do this for cut price customers what do you do for full price ones?  No one wants to feel like the poor relation.

Going over and above clients expectations with delivery and service is what makes YOU special and stand out and it is what makes a difference between that customer coming back to you or to someone else.