Incoming Search Terms
-
Hi guys,
I saw a blog post recently where the author added a list of "incoming search queries" to the bottom of his post, obviously to improve the post's ranking for those terms.
On one hand, I suppose it it does help users find that post. On the other, it seems lazy and somewhat dodgy, but I haven't found any opinions on it elsewhere and have not seen this practice in my experience.
What're your thoughts? Outright search engine manipulation?
Cheers, Carlo
-
Glad you agree, thanks for your answers guys.
-
My take on it is that it's good old keyword stuffing and dodgy at best.
The content is of absolutely no use to a human reader - there's no reason for them to care what other search terms led visitors to that page. And since it clearly looks like those phrases don't actually link to other articles (correct me if I'm wrong) they can't be considered "related content".
So a spammy tactic for SE manipulation only. If the site owner knows the page is targeted at those terms, he should be using them properly within the content instead of stuffing them at the end.
This is the kind of stuff Panda's been finding and killing for the past year or so. I sure wouldn't want to bet my rankings on it - and look like a douche to my readers in the process.
Paul
-
Good question Carlo . If i had to handle that for the client, i would classify the links as "related content" or "related posts" which is a common practice with blogs and news oriented sites. The "incoming search queries" classification can be misleading and a direct suggestion that it is aimed at the search engine bots as opposed to the visitors.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Ranking Expectations and Search Intent Alignment
I've recently implemented the page optimization recommendations provided by Moz Pro to help our site rank for specific keywords on certain pages. It’s been about two weeks since we've added these URLs/keyword parings. The optimization scores for the targeted keywords and URLs are looking strong. Also, we've crafted these pages with keyword optimisation in mind. However, we have a couple of questions as we move forward: Ranking Expectations: Since our optimization scores are good, when might we start seeing improvements in our keyword rankings? We know that SEO results can take time, but we would appreciate any insights on a typical timeline based on your experiences. Optimization and Search Intent: While the tool’s optimization suggestions have been helpful in regards to giving us a score for a specific keyword, we’re curious about how this factors into search intent. How does this tool take into account variations in search intent, especially if users search using slight variations of the keywords we’re targeting? Thank you so much for your insight!
On-Page Optimization | | Cricket930 -
How to get a mobile thumbnail image next to the search result?
Hey! I noticed the last few months that a lot of google searches now show an image next to your result when on mobile. i managed to get my listing to show an image before but I made some changes to the image and site and can’t seem to get Google to ahow the new image (or any image). I’ve added the image to schema mark up and still no luck. Wouod ahyone have any advice on how to get the image picked up, or st least help increase the odds? The site is https://tourstoniagarafalls.com and you can see it on search (for me it shows on the bottom of page 1) for the keyword “Niagara Falls tours“. Thanks again!
On-Page Optimization | | Originaladam0 -
Best way to optimize a website for local search today?
A real estate agent client has had a website for years, which he optimized to position himself as a national real estate expert (to get more TV and media exposure). Now he wants to be found for a more local real estate term, such as Westchester ny real estate. Should he add a page to his site that's focused on Westchester real estate, or would Google view that as spammy? Should he update older blog posts with relevant, useful content about Westchester? Any best practices and suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
On-Page Optimization | | JimMartinSF0 -
Long-tail with few searches vs. Generic with many
Our business is a contract packager/manufacturer of products sold to very prominent brands who sell through retail. For example, we make the sunscreen under a brand’s name, which you might then find on the shelf in Target or CVS. As I’ve optimized our pages, I’ve attempted to go long-tail, which has been simply to add “…contract packaging” or a variation after the particular product. So, instead of trying to compete in “sunscreen”, which would pit me against big-box distributors and prominent brands and sellers of sunscreen, I’ve optimized for “sunscreen manufacturers.” “Sunscreen” has 31K – 72K searches, with an 81 Difficulty and 67 Potential. “Sunscreen manufacturers” has a low 13 Difficulty and a decent 54 Potential, but only 51 – 100 searches. Some of my terms have only 0 – 10 searches, but I’ve been thinking that it’s better to compete for fewer but more qualified / buyer-intent searches and have generally lower Difficulty. Can you please tell me if this is a smart strategy, or if I should instead try to compete in higher-volume terms but much greater Difficulty? Thanks a lot for everyone's help.
On-Page Optimization | | Beau_W0 -
On-site optimization: Do we need local terms inside subpages?
We're optimizing a franchise's website for local SEO, where each franchise location has its own page on the main corporate site. We've identified a lot of keywords which are relevant for each location. But I'm wondering if we need to include the location as part of the keyword we're optimizing for. For example, picture "best yoga studio" as a keyword that is relevant, and the franchise has locations in San Francisco and San Mateo. Do we need to optimize for "best yoga studio san francisco" on the San Francisco subpage and "best yoga studio san mateo" on the San Mateo subpage? Or do we optimize for "best yoga studio" and is Google smart enough to return the San Francisco page for San Francisco searchers and San Mateo for San Mateo searchers, without our additional on-page optimization? I should mention that the franchise sub-page is being submitted via Moz Local and will have all the Google business listing, consistent citations, etc. Thanks in advance, --eric
On-Page Optimization | | EricOliver0 -
Directories and Search Engine Site Submissions and Technorati Tags Important?
I use a wordpress for out website 50campfires.com and we have a site map set up along with google analytics and web master tools. I believe wordpress automatically sends information to the search engines with changes in the site map. Do I need to submit to search engines manually once a month? Is directories like DMOZ still relevant with SEO today? And what are your opinions on Technorati Tags? I never heard of them before reading this article. I m new to SEO and any insights are helpful. 2Sqv5C2.png EEQFpIx.png 2Sqv5C2.png
On-Page Optimization | | revonick1 -
Site not showing up in Google search since move
Hi, hoping someone might help me with some answer(s) as to why our site no longer shows up in Google search results. Even when we type the full name and city into Google, the site is absent. Our Facebook page, LinkedIn and some backlinks show, but our site is missing. I can no longer find it in Google places. I'm sure I've done something wrong since moving from a static (flash-based) site to Wordpress. But the robots.txt file looks okay to me and the sitemap.xml file is present. Anyway, this is what happens when you ask a network technician handle website design... We know just enough to be dangerous! Here is the site in question: www.newfrontiertechnologies.com located in Shoreline WA. Any advice is much appreciated.
On-Page Optimization | | NFTECH0 -
Do search engines look for keywords in the slug?
Is it OK to split a key phrase into a slug and file name, or should the entire key phrase be in the file name. For example, consider the following articles: How to wash your car.
On-Page Optimization | | ChristopherGlaeser
How to change a tire.How to replace a windshield wiper. Will search engines recognize the "how to" in the following taxonomy: www.domain.com/how-to/wash-your-car/
www.domain.com/how-to/change-a-tire/
www.domain.com/how-to/replace-a-windshield-wiper/ Or, should the "how-to" be included in the file name? Best,Christopher0
