John Doherty's Blog

22 Nov

John Doherty Posted in Technical SEO 7 comments

Should I use a Rel=Canonical or 301 Redirect?

There seems to be a lot of confusion in the world of SEO today, especially in clients minds and with their technical teams, about when to use a 301 redirect and when to use the rel=canonical tag. My goal with today’s post is to explain the differences and talk through some of the nuances to help you think through which one pertains to your situation. Every situation is different, so take the time to read and figure out which is better for you.

17 Nov

John Doherty Posted in Technical SEO 37 comments

Lessons from Google about URL Lengths

A few weeks ago, I was reading through some posts on the official Google blogs, such as InsideSearch, WebmasterCentral, and the GoogleBlog. I was taking notes and sharing a few links via the Tweeters, and while doing such I noticed a link like this:

Search queries data is....what?

13 Nov

John Doherty Posted in Search Engine Optimization 5 comments

SEO: It’s all about the Content. And everything else.

We hear frequently that “content is king”, which I am coming to believe more and more, but the more that I come to believe that Content is King, I realize that content is nothing without other stuff done right. If you have a site with incredible content that deserves to rank, yet your site is terrible, you don’t deserve to rank. This is a waste of awesome.

08 Nov

John Doherty Posted in Search Engine Optimization 4 comments

SEO Facepalms: Don’t Hide Content Behind Javascript

Arguably one of the worst mistakes that can be made with a website is hiding content (inadvertently, not in a cloaking way) from search engines. Since on-page SEO and quality content have become larger ranking factors in the past 2 years (and especially since Panda first rolled out in February), we have to make sure that content is quality and visible.

For optimal SEO benefit, do not develop a site in Flash. And, do not hide content behind Javascript or other code.

05 Nov

John Doherty Posted in Search Engine Optimization 4 comments

#Searchlove New York Recap – Day 2

*If you haven’t read it, check out the Searchlove Day 1 Recap before reading this post*

Searchlove New York day 2 started out with a bang. People rolled in looking a bit bedraggled, but mostly none the worse for wear, from the previous night’s Halloween party. If you want to see pictures of some of SEO’s finest looking great in Halloween costumes (we had Steve Zizzou, Buzz Lightyear, a cowboy with a horse, and Waldo, just to name a few), check them out here:

Potter and Zissou — Chad Burgess (Harry) and Rand Fishkin (Steve Zissou)

#Searchlove New York Recap – Day 1

The first ever Distilled Searchlove conference in New York City happened on Monday and Tuesday, the 31st of October and 1st of November. Being a Distilled employee in New York, I was privileged to attend the entire conference and to get to lead a table on Panda First Aid as well, which I hope was beneficial to everyone who attended. Aside from the parties (which are always awesome), the content was top-notch. I am consistently blown away by the amount I learn at conferences, and this one did not disappoint.

In the past I’ve recapped Linklove, which almost killed me, ProSEO Boston, and Mozcon (which also almost killed me). For this one, even though I live tweeted the whole conference (which almost killed my fingers), I’m not going to do a full recap. Instead, I want to follow suit in something that Will Critchlow has taught me and give you some actionable bits and bobs from each talk.

Let’s rock and roll.