In another attempt for transparency and getting everyone on the same page, Google has released a SEO Starter Guide. This has been hailed by some and rejected by others, but there is no doubt it has been a long time coming.
The Google Guide is set up to get everyone doing the same things, which of course makes Google’s job easier. Just stuff like improving title and description meta tags, URL structure, site navigation, content creation, anchor text, and more is supposedly the thrust of the 22 page manual, which is designed to answer the question: “What are some simple ways that I can improve my website’s performance in Google?”
The Google Webmasters Blog states : “There are lots of possible answers to this question, and a wealth of search engine optimization information on the web, so much that it can be intimidating for newer webmasters or those unfamiliar with the topic. We thought it’d be useful to create a compact guide that lists some best practices that teams within Google and external webmasters alike can follow that could improve their sites’ crawlability and indexing“
It goes on to say that they feel that the information in the manual can be helpful to webmasters of all experience levels and sites of all sizes and types. Throughout the guide, they have also worked in many illustrations, pitfalls to avoid, and links to other resources that help expand their explanation of the topics. They plan on updating the guide at regular intervals with new optimization suggestions and to keep the technical advice current.
These best practices are supposed to be the ones used by Google staff themselves, and so this is from the horse’s mouth as it were. Some webmasters say that it doesn’t accurately represent all areas, however, so the jury is still out as to whether it is a real tool or just another compilation of SEO tips.
