Quote: There are many things that categorize a Made for SEO website. Large scale sites are prone to fall into this trap, because their scale often has them already competing for a large number of search terms across their many pages.
Some of the biggest factors that mark a Made-for -SEO Site are:
1.Thin slicing on search phrases ?i.e. pages on the site which are not very distinct from each other, but which were created so they could each compete for minor variations of similar search phrases. Many large sites have this problem. The question that needs to be answered for every page is why does it need to exist, given the other pages already on the site? Capturing additional search traffic is not the right answer!
2.Pages created for products not sold on the site ?where the intent is to cross sell the visitors on a different product. This is again a problem that some large scale sites have.
3.Lack of any real added value content ?for example a site that has no distinguishing content from its competitors. Unfortunately, many legitimate e-commerce sites that have failed to build a brand or add any unique content may fall into this category. Score a double minus for using manufacturer supplied descriptions.
4.Lack of an authoritative link profile ?sites that get no recognition from authoritative sources are at best non-distinct, and could be classified as a Made-for-SEO site.
5.No brand searches ?if the business has no brand searches taking place then it is questionable whether or not the world at large cares whether they exist.
6.Poor user experience ?as shown by user engagement metrics that is worse than competition.
7.Over commercialized ?what balance does the site have between adding value to the users and closing the sale? Note that if you are a major brand with lots of brand searches you get some leeway here. A large part of your added value is the trust people place in your brand. If not, you need to think about what your value add is, and being the site someone found in the search results is not it!
8.Affiliate only model ?being an affiliate site is not a sin by itself, but if it is combined with several of the other factors above, the use of affiliate links makes it clear that there is no value add in the production of the product or service.
9.Reseller only model ?this is basically the same as the affiliate only model. It is OK to be a reseller, but given that your value add is not the creation of the product or service you better excel at something else!
These are just some of the factors that go into whether or not a site is a Made-for-SEO website. A more general way to think about it is how the company goes about making decisions. If the only thing considered in making business decisions regarding the site is (a) getting more traffic, or: (b)converting users into sales, then we have a problem.
Let me illustrate how this unfolds with an example of how thin slicing can be done, and what should be done instead of that. http://searchengineland.com/dont-fall-into-the-made-for-seo-website-trap-106206
Read the entire article before you answer and tell us what are the biggest factors that mark a Made-for-SEO Site for YOU? design and ads play a big role, if i see alot of ads and banners on it i don't dig it.. Ads are a pet peeve. Or sites that have loads of content, in English, but its so stuffed full of keywords or badly sun that it feels like you're reading some alien dialect that even google translate can't help you with.
Some of the biggest factors that mark a Made-for -SEO Site are:
1.Thin slicing on search phrases ?i.e. pages on the site which are not very distinct from each other, but which were created so they could each compete for minor variations of similar search phrases. Many large sites have this problem. The question that needs to be answered for every page is why does it need to exist, given the other pages already on the site? Capturing additional search traffic is not the right answer!
2.Pages created for products not sold on the site ?where the intent is to cross sell the visitors on a different product. This is again a problem that some large scale sites have.
3.Lack of any real added value content ?for example a site that has no distinguishing content from its competitors. Unfortunately, many legitimate e-commerce sites that have failed to build a brand or add any unique content may fall into this category. Score a double minus for using manufacturer supplied descriptions.
4.Lack of an authoritative link profile ?sites that get no recognition from authoritative sources are at best non-distinct, and could be classified as a Made-for-SEO site.
5.No brand searches ?if the business has no brand searches taking place then it is questionable whether or not the world at large cares whether they exist.
6.Poor user experience ?as shown by user engagement metrics that is worse than competition.
7.Over commercialized ?what balance does the site have between adding value to the users and closing the sale? Note that if you are a major brand with lots of brand searches you get some leeway here. A large part of your added value is the trust people place in your brand. If not, you need to think about what your value add is, and being the site someone found in the search results is not it!
8.Affiliate only model ?being an affiliate site is not a sin by itself, but if it is combined with several of the other factors above, the use of affiliate links makes it clear that there is no value add in the production of the product or service.
9.Reseller only model ?this is basically the same as the affiliate only model. It is OK to be a reseller, but given that your value add is not the creation of the product or service you better excel at something else!
These are just some of the factors that go into whether or not a site is a Made-for-SEO website. A more general way to think about it is how the company goes about making decisions. If the only thing considered in making business decisions regarding the site is (a) getting more traffic, or: (b)converting users into sales, then we have a problem.
Let me illustrate how this unfolds with an example of how thin slicing can be done, and what should be done instead of that. http://searchengineland.com/dont-fall-into-the-made-for-seo-website-trap-106206
Read the entire article before you answer and tell us what are the biggest factors that mark a Made-for-SEO Site for YOU? design and ads play a big role, if i see alot of ads and banners on it i don't dig it.. Ads are a pet peeve. Or sites that have loads of content, in English, but its so stuffed full of keywords or badly sun that it feels like you're reading some alien dialect that even google translate can't help you with.