The subdomains vs subfolders debate is a historical one. Matt Cutts states that this argument usually tends to be over nothing. Rand Fishkin recommends an evaluation of one’s website in all thoroughness before setting on a strategy.

To be clear, a subdomain is usually a url like this: babyproducts.amazon.com, while a subdirectory or a folder is a url like this: amazon.com/babyproducts/. No ambiguity here about definition. From a branding standpoint, one is a brand latch-on and attempts to co-brand itself while differentiating itself by product. The other nestles itself comfortably under the brand’s influence. Technically, they both perform the same function.

» Read more: Subdomains vs. Subfolders – The Fix

Hope you enjoyed reading about the first two creative things you can do to obtain links from other folks.

Here are three other tips in Part II of the article: 5 Creative Link Building Strategies.

Enjoy! » Read more: 5 Creative Link Building Strategies – Part II

Every SEO (Search Engine Optimizer) has a mandate to get his/her site to rank on Page 1 and further on be placed in positions 1-5 of the Google search engine results pages (SERPs). Link building is a critical activity that these SEOs must pursue with a vengeance, in order to achieve their ranking objectives.

Here are 5 tips to help SEOs creatively execute on their link building strategies. » Read more: 5 Creative Link Building Strategies – Part I

It’s a given today that search spam is a growing problem for Google. According to the CEO of Blekko (the different search engine),  Google’s recent algorithm changes won’t make much of a difference as he rightly states that  Google didn’t manually remove any sites from its index as the search spammers still show up in the search results, though in different places.

Business Insider recently interviewed him. Here’s that interview in its entirety. It makes for very interesting reading. » Read more: How Blekko might best Google soon

Continuing on from Part I of this article…

PageRank was a good signal, where the importance of a page relative to the rest of the Web helped determine relevance. Other signals were the title on a page, anchor text (the words that make up the actual hyperlink connecting one page to another), freshness of pages, location, content relevance, meta content etc. Today, Google uses more than 200 signals to help rank its results.

Over the past couple of years, folks have started complaining about unethical business practices in the search marketing industry.  Snake oil SEOs guaranteeing first page rankings, independent authorities selling rankings for profit etc. etc. » Read more: Has Google’s Search Algorithm become like the Tax Code? Part II

Google changes its algorithm all the time. It’s almost like the tax code. The original tax code was simple and easy to understand. Over time, however, we humans, tried to circumvent it using tricky naming conventions and financial maneuvers. The IRS recognized that and made a new set of rules to overcome that. The human race found more ways to reclassify or rename things to avoid taxation. The IRS added more clauses and rules to overcome that.

Over the years, this cycle continued till the point today where the tax code is now a set of complex and complicated rules which require translators (CPAs) to help people understand them.

With the consistent changes that Google makes all the time to its algorithm, is Google going the way of the tax code? » Read more: Has Google’s Search Algorithm become like the Tax Code? Part I

The big question that needs to be asked. Right now, SEO’s are content regurgitators and there’s very little strategic overview within their execution processes. they’re mostly content and keyword focused, some website structure focused and some (very few) link building focused.

This whole SEO game is about creating content that will be shared and will engage users and receive approval from a wide set of audiences.

What will happen in 5 years? » Read more: What will an SEO do in 5 years from 2011?

A lot is written about off-page optimization and how it’s critical to get peer credibility online in the form of back links to your website. but, that’s a long-term game. In the short-term, a robust on-page optimization process will not only improve your page rank, but will also help your SEM efforts by increasing your quality score. All this will help with the ultimate goal which is to improve your website’s relevance for key search terms. If your website has content that is compatible with certain search terms, your site will move up for their search results.

Search engines seek to determine your site’s overall relevance and your pages’ relevance to the topic being searched on. They use the following criteria: » Read more: On-Page Optimization – The Essentials