While I do expect that exact match domains of DOT XXX will have some weight in search engines, I don’t expect there to be as much power assigned to a .xxx domain name as a .COM/.NET/.ORG keyword domain. The reasoning is because (1) they’ve been around for nearly 2 decades longer than dot xxx and (2) the .XXX domain is inherently going to imply sex, even if the site isn’t filled with porn or nude pictures.

I’ve been watching and waiting to see dot XXX domains show up in the Google index for important keywords so that I can discuss Google search engine optimization using a .xxx website. While this has not happened yet, I can say that Bing and Yahoo seem to be weighing a DOT xxx domain name heavier at first glance than Google, or .XXX domains are working through Bing and Yahoo’s search algorithm faster.

My opinion on .XXX domains is that they will do very well in search engines down the road. The reason for this is because .XXX is a gTLD. Yes, with SafeSearch on nobody will even be viewing any .xxx domains at all. However, sex sells and let’s face it this is not a ccTLD such as .CO, .ME, and .WS are for Columbia, Montenegro, and Western Samoa. They will target worldwide search queries eventually I think…

Much to my surprise, a domain name, the link building you do for a site, and the internal SEO of the site are all pretty much equally important at about 20% of the pie each.

What didn’t surprise me is that content leads the pack at nearly 25% importance for Google Search Engine Optimization. This makes sense. Content is king. He always has been.

The remaining 15% of the pie chart is shared by the likes of social media presence via Facebook / Twitter, proper Keyword research, server up-time and responsiveness, etc.

I think the biggest thing that readers should take from this article is that SEO has become a full-bodied art with many different factors that can contribute to or deter your SEO.

The Google Keyword Tool works very simple. Type in a keyword or phrase into the search field. Specify Broad, Phrase, or Exact Match by selecting boxes on the left. Voila, there you have it. Real Google search statistics…

So I’ve been tracking keyword phrase search volumes for certain keywords in Google as far back as 2008 and I will say that the trend since then has been overall very positive. However, recently I’ve been at odds…

I began noticing on many accounts that overall search volume in Google has DRASTICALLY decreased recently. At first, I would assume that these keywords just became less popular, which makes sense.

The real confusion for me was WHY these keywords became so much less popular so fast? For example, say a location keyword such as ‘Glendale Arizona’ dropped off from close to 1 million broad searches and 50,000 exact match to 200,000 broad searches and 5,000 exact match searches.

If you do some number crunching you’ll realize that exact match is down to 10% of what it was a few years ago for a ‘Glendale Arizona’ Google keyword search. Also, phrase match is down to about 20% of what it used to be. So there must be some really bad stuff going on in Glendale Arizona, right?

Wrong. In fact, with an approaching Superbowl, the BCS National Championship, the Arizona Cardinals, and the Arizona Diamondbacks all located in Glendale there was arguably nothing but good news to INCREASE popularity of Glendale, Arizona.

Finally, it occurred to me that there is one other explanation for this insane drop-off in searches, other than inaccuracy of the Google Keyword Tool. What if Facebook, Twitter, Bing, Yahoo, and other search engines have taken a LARGE percentage of internet search from Google? Bingo.

So, what’s the problem with Google Plus? Well, it’s very simple. Most people trust Google with their Gmail and nothing else. Why? Because Google has been in the limelight about personal data towers offshore and arguably unethical tactics to track what you are doing online.

Recently, the Federal Trade Commission announced a probe to dig deeper into Google’s practices involving search engine rankings, docking websites, and replacing competitor websites with partner websites instead. Panda, the name of Google’s “new” algorithm,  has been the cover for these practices.

One user on Facebook posted the day of Google’s release of Plus, the following statement. “Google plus, WTF is this?” I think much of the world feels this sentiment. What makes Google a social network all of a sudden? The main reason seems to be that Google wants to move into a new market that has been so successful for Facebook and Twitter, social media.

Another person, a webmaster, offered feedback on his experience implementing the Google Plus button on his site. “At first, it looks like it might help your Google SEO ranking and that people would click it, but after months of implementation and use of Google Plus on my site spanning thousands of unique visitors, not a single Google Plus click.”

Aside from all of this, Google Plus doesn’t validate to W3C standards for most document types including 1.0 transitional and strict with multiple errors. From Google’s own Matt Cutts, he dismisses this saying, “Google doesn’t factor validation into search rankings.” Interesting, because coming from Bing and Yahoo, SEOs get the opposite feedback regarding validation and search engine optimization.

Google is making it very difficult to Google SEO these days and they are on the down-swing in terms of search engine optimization prevalence. As I’ve said earlier, I no longer use Google for search because the results are too biased in favor of what Google wants to show up instead of what should. As for the Google Plus button and SEO, it remains to be seen if people will embrace it like Facebook Like and Twitter Follow buttons as the user base for Google Plus grows larger by the minute.

My personal opinion is that Google is ruining their search engine with these non-stop Panda updates. Have you noticed how bad Google’s search results have been lately? Nearly 50% of all the search results are out of context or barely relevant content. Bing and Yahoo, on the other hand, have done the exact opposite. Instead of wasting time on a horrible new anti-SEO search algorithm, Yahoo and Bing are embracing search engine optimization to the fullest.

Bing recently announced that their webmaster tools will now incorporate both Bing and Yahoo search traffic data. While Google also offers this service, it has been known that Google will simply remove or dock a website once they learn about a heavy free traffic source from a high ranking keyword for your site. I can attest to this practice happening on not one but many different personal experiences.

It is becoming clear that Microsoft is here for the long haul and willing to embrace SEO in order to make the absolute best search results for their search engine. Good for them. How long before Google is THIRD on the search engine optimization importance list? My default search engine is now Bing on my computer and Yahoo on my phone because I’m annoyed with how SEO doesn’t seem to matter anymore to Google.

I think Google needs to seriously reconsider how they view search engine optimization. These techniques that Google has outlined through Google SEO guidelines should help website rankings rather than hurt them as many website owners are reporting. One of the great parts about SEO is that it means at least somebody cares enough about the site to update the content, sitemaps, and webmaster tools information. That’s why SEO should in fact work both ways increasing rankings and the search results quality.

One of the recommendations Google has is to “become a webmaster”, “submit your site to Google”, and “add a Sitemap.” While all these things are true, the question still remains to be answered is it good to engage in Google webmaster tools?

Believe it or not, after Google’s recent actions I would say NO. It looks like Google has turned its back on the very Google webmasters who listened to Matt Cutts and Google’s every word and followed directions on how to approach SEO for Google.

Even better, there’s really no point to become a Google webmaster these days if you think about it. You can submit your site to Google without ever becoming a webmaster, your sitemap will naturally be indexed by all search engines anyways, and finally all the webmasters tools will do is give Google a reason to envy your free traffic, if present, and take it away from you!

Why, you might ask? The answer is very simple. Money. Google isn’t getting paid by my SEO work or yours, so they’re watching other people make money using Google and they hate it. Ironically, even websites using Google’s very own Google Adsense have been specifically targeted in the banning and removal of several thousands of websites from Google’s index.

In the end, the risk outweighs the benefit at this point for any website owner to reveal his or her website information to Google using their supposed webmaster tools as a trap to get the info. When Google doesn’t like what they see, they change it. No algorithm needed. Stay away from Google webmaster tools.

Rather, go give Bing SEO webmaster tools a shot and you’ll actually be rewarded with traffic! Also, Bing doesn’t seem to use your webmaster tools information against you like Google. Wonder why Google is hating so much? Haha…

Many people speculate that one of the reason’s for Google getting slammed hard recently is because of the recent roll-out of a new algorithm that would crack down on supposed link farms, content farms, and websites with purely ping-back and RSS-fed content. However, not only these types of websites took a hit.

Google seems to be targeting Google Search Engine Optimization as an enemy, and in reality if Google SEO is an enemy it is quite ironic that they created it. Perhaps Google is envious of the opportunity that search engines naturally give to the SEO industry, which is a chance for impacting search engine traffic.

Good news is that Bing and Yahoo on the other hand have actually made moves for the better, not only as a search engine but also for Bing SEO and Yahoo SEO. Furthermore, aspiring new search engines such as Duck Duck Go have come up big as alternatives to the Google search engine. So is Google driving their own customers and stock down by making poor decisions? Perhaps.

Recently, Google decided to ban and remove thousands of websites from their index at will without any warning or outlined reason. Many believe that Google is trying to go to war with SEO companies by taking them out of Google. However, this has back-fired on Google as they are losing the support of the masses by giving way to newer, less political search engines.

So what does this mean for Google SEO as a webmaster? Well, here’s a hint. I use Bing and Yahoo a heck of a lot more now. They seem to care a whole lot more about website owners and they don’t turn your traffic data against you.

No canvas will make or break a painting. This is also the case with domain names. Think about it. How many INCREDIBLE domain names have you typed in assuming somebody was smart enough to shell out the cash and buy a premium domain only to be disappointed by a Page Load error or some cheesy splash page with cheap ads that don’t pay off. You may own Limo.com, but that doesn’t mean you own the Limo industry… yet…

To most artists, any canvas will work. To Picasso, the canvas meant a great deal. In fact, many times I like to ask the client if they want to make a big splash when they jump in the water, a cannonball, rather than a wimpy dive in. Domain names dance to the same tune. For example, a Tampa Web Design company may be able to brand just any catchy phrase and roll with it. However, if this company came to me to create their business from scratch, I’d recommend TampaWebDesign.com because I like painting websites like an artist. My canvas is very important to me.

The best advice I can give to business entrepreneurs ready to start a business and brand their company name is to think logically. What are people typing into Google, Yahoo, and Bing to find people who offer what you do? If you sell Limos in Tampa, consider all the people who type Tampa Limo, Limos Tampa, or Limo Tampa FL to find their destination of choice.

If you offer your products or services in a particular city, domains that target your market in your geography will do great. If you sell nationwide, look for a domain name that is more all encompassing, say RentalLimo.com for example. Using a generic and logical strategy to choose your domain name will pay off large dividends down the road when you rank above your competitors in search engines for generic searches. And remember, a domain name can also be completely different than your company name.

That’s one of the main reasons I went with this domain name Google Search Engine Optimization. It gives me a chance to target my customer base for the niche of Google SEO while showing off my guaranteed SEO services in the same process, all the while not revealing clients.

Getting back on topic, I reached out to an owner of a domain name similar to mine, SEOforGoogle.com, to discuss cross-promotion of his site and mine since they are right up the same alley. Turns out, I’m chatting with Rick Batchelor, CEO of an SEO and SEM firm called Qiigo in Atlanta.

Interestingly enough, first he brought up that my domain name may be targeted by Google. Since Google SEO is a niche job segment of SEO and not a trademark of Google but rather a service provided by SEO firms for the search engine Google, the UDRP would lose. (Regardless, if Google came after mine they’d surely come after his too… hilarious)

Moving along with our conversation, Rick mentioned that he may employ the strategy of a 301 redirect to a different domain name, I’m assuming Qiigo, in fear of trademark issues. Ironically, a 301 redirect would not prevent Google or ICANN to take action and repossess the name if they won the dispute.

Even scarier, in this conversation Rick mentioned only being able to take $20,000+ clients now right before telling me he will do a 301 redirect and that, quote, “The anchor text is the reason for the good rankings,” unquote. Good thing I have domainers reading to back me! Absolutely false. A domain name is huge in ranking well for keywords in search engines.

Domain names are perhaps the most expensive part of real SEO, because the best spots in search engines are reserved for the best .COMs with exact keyword matches. For example, GoogleSearchEngineOptimization.com is the absolute best domain name in the world for someone who would like to rank #1 in Google out of every website for the phrase Google Search Engine Optimization. (Makes sense, right?)

At any rate, the moral of the story is beware of SEO Rookies posing as SEO Gurus with a fancy website and a catchy name. It is the same story every day it seems. Do your homework and ask the right questions. If an SEO you’re talking to wants to tell you a 301 redirect from Baseball.com going to ProBaseballNews.com with the anchor text “Baseball” will do just as good in Google as Baseball.com standalone with the text “Baseball”, well then… tell him to read my articles!

Before I jump out of my Herman Miller Aeron screaming, “H-E-Double Hockey Sticks — Yeah!” let me preface by saying that the answer to this question depends entirely on what your goals are in terms of brand recognition, market share, and search engine ranking positions.

If you’re after a less competitive keyword or phrase such as ‘Santa Barbara Limos For Rent’, I would bet that a variety of domain names such as SantaBarbaraLimos.net, LimoSantaBarbara.org, or LimousineSantaBarbara.com would all do the trick. A proper SEO specialist should be able to rank for a low competition keyword or phrase with even a mediocre domain with no type-in or keyword exact matches.

On the other hand, if you’re trying to rank for a more competitive keyword phrase such as ‘Rental Limo‘ or ‘Limo Rental‘ and you’re like me and you can’t settle for 2nd or 3rd, domain names are absolutely imperative in the success of your SEO! When the competition for a keyword gets thicker, a pure .COM with the exact match of the phrase like RentalLimo.com would be your only chance at being a bear in the Google search engine optimization game for those keywords.

At the very least, having a .COM, .NET, or .ORG with an exact match on a keyword or phrase with high monthly frequency in Google will always be an upper hand against your competition for that keyword or phrase. At the very best, it’s the difference between hundreds of thousands of visitors versus thousands of visitors when you’re just above or below the top ranked website.