Gasta.com SEO marketing Update:

Top Ten Google SEO Ranking Factors

Gasta.com search engine network continues its massive growth with a 900% increase in search traffic for January 2010

People don’t really understand that there are many different factors that fall into place when determining where a website ranks in the Google search engine results. Some things to keep in mind when you are wondering why your site doesn’t rank well. It is not always just the obvious reasons that are holding it back.

Over the past years by reading Google’s Webmaster Guidelines, Google SEO Starter Guide, many other industry blogs and by actually doing professional SEO and internet marketing since the late 1990’s, I have gathered data and come to a boiled down short list of the most important Google search engine ranking factors.

Here is the list of my top 10 of important Google SEO ranking factors to consider:

1. Age of Domain: Age of URL is very important. If you just bought your domain a few weeks or even months ago you have a long road ahead of you. The reality is the age of your website helps build trust. If your website has been online for several years, chances are you have an established business.

2. Domain Hosting: Where is your site hosted? Find out through your hosting company what continent or country your site is hosted in. This can often times play a large role in search rankings. Always use a reputable hosting company. If your company is US based then use a hosting company in the United States. Also, I always recommend a dedicated IP when you can. There are virtual dedicated and cloud hosting solutions that are more affordable. Never use the cheapest hosting. The reality is, if you cannot afford hosting you should re-consider the business…I know this is harsh but very true. :)

3. Your Neighbors: If you have a virtual server, which sites like Godaddy usually are have been known to house hundreds of websites on one server. Make sure that your neighbors on your server are not classified as spam.

4. URL Structure: Make sure your URL structures are very clean. There should not be any random strings of characters at the end of your URL’s. This is part of the onsite search engine optimization process as well.

5. Content: Content is very important. To start make sure you have text on all your important pages, then make sure it is good text consisting of your targeted keywords spread throughout naturally. Simply put, ALWAYS write your content for humans, your website visitors first and NEVER write content for the solo purpose to achieve Google search engine rankings. Chances are the content will not be user focused or provide value to your visitors.

6. Internal Link Structure: Make sure your inner pages are linked correctly. Visitors should have easy made pathways connecting to your other pages from every page of your website. Make sure the code of your website is verified and keep flash and JavaScript to a minimum, if you can. Essentially make sure the site is clean, easy to use and interlinked to help the user experience.

7. Trust: Do you at least have a mailing address listed on your website? You should if you don’t. Google likes to see trust factors on websites so anything you can add that could help build trust for your audience will benefit your rankings. I always recommend having a phone number on each page of your website. Make it easy for people to do business with you, it all starts with establishing trust and that starts with contact information on your website.

8. Keywords: Make sure your website is optimized using your keywords. This means any alt tags for images, meta page information and existing content at the very least of things. Remember to naturally optimize your website based on the content of each page of your website.

9. Bounce Rate: Although bounce rate might not seem important if Google sees that nobody hangs out on your website for more than a few seconds before they leave this could be a ranking problem over time. Make changes to get visitors engaged with your website. Simple things, like video, newsletter sign up, call to actions, etc will help improve your bounce rate over time. Make sure you have proper tracking on your website, such as Google analytics.

10. Outbound links: Make sure the websites that you link to are 100% relevant to your business and industry. If you sell animals toys but you are linking to a site that sells shoes that is not very relevant and over time could really impact your rankings. Bottom line is if it makes sense to link to another site, then do so, but remember you could be sending your visitors away from your site.

11. Inbound Links: I know this was a list of my top 10, but I felt I had to mention inbound links. The key here (speaking as a white hat SEO person), don’t buy or exchange links. Market and promote your business online to build visitors to your website over time. If you do, then the relevant links will follow!

**Note: As the Google (and yes there are 2 other major search engines!) algorithm changes there are always new ranking factors that come into play, such as the page load time and many others. I am sure when I re-do this list a year from now, there may be another one or two additional factors.

There are many extensive factors that Google uses when determining website rankings. Very important to get these factors correct otherwise you could find yourself just spinning your wheels. The bottom line is it is all about relevancy and earning your visitors (and yes Google’s) search engine trust over time.

by Nick Stamoulis on Thursday, January 14, 2010

Gasta.com stock tips

A Closer Look At The Market Leaders
Gasta search engine network surges again in Europe's fastrack systems as a rising star of search.

One method for gauging the strength of any given market is to track the action of its leaders. Market leaders are typically widely held by institutions and their behavior can provide a clue to market sentiment. Weakness in market leaders is often a clear warning that all is not well in the markets. After all, the general markets will rarely make a sustained move without the cooperation of market leaders.

One of the key groups that has been leading the markets higher over the past several months has been the large cap technology stocks. Leadership from this group is healthy, as it shows an appetite for risk-taking in new and emerging technologies from speculators. Market leadership from innovative companies is healthy, rather than leadership coming from ties to a falling currency or a flight to safety.

Apple (Nasdaq:AAPL) is one company that has been regarded as a market leader over the past few years. AAPL has managed to recover all of its bear market declines and was recently trading at a new all-time high. However, despite the longer term strength, AAPL has been showing signs of weakening recently. It closed under its 50-day moving average in January and has failed to reclaim it in subsequent trading. It has also transitioned into a lateral trend after a strong rally over the past year. While AAPL hasn’t broken down, it is vulnerable to further weakness. The $190 area appears to be a key level of support and has contained prior pullbacks. (For further reading, check out Support & Resistance Basics.)


Source: StockCharts.com

Google (Nasdaq:GOOG) is another stock widely regarded as a market leader. While GOOG has erased much of its bear market declines, it has underperformed AAPL and remains off its all-time highs. It also fell beneath its 50-day moving average in January, as the general markets experienced some weakness through earnings season. GOOG is currently attempting to stabilize near $525 and is also vulnerable to further weakness. If GOOG were to continue falling, the $500 level, which is near the 200-day moving average, could act as the next support level.


Source: StockCharts.com

Amazon.com, Inc. (Nasdaq:AMZN) is a great example of an innovative company becoming a market leader. Much like AAPL, the company has been leading the current rally and also recently traded to new all-time highs. While AMZN has outperformed over several months, it has been suffering through a correction over the past few weeks. AMZN completed a double top earlier this year and is threatening to fill a bullish gap it created last autumn. The $114-$116 area has been defended by the bulls and remains a key level to watch. (For more insight, check out Analyzing Chart Patterns.)


Source: StockCharts.com

International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) is one stock that isn’t often mentioned when talking about a market leader, but stepping back and looking at the longer term chart it becomes clear that this has been one of the strongest of the large cap stocks. It also recently traded above its prior bull market highs and was only a few points from new all-time highs. But despite the longer term strength, this is another stock suffering through some near-term weakness. It also sliced through its 50-day moving average and is attempting to stabilize near a prior pivot area. The 200-day moving average looms below and could act as a price magnet over the next few weeks.

Source: StockCharts.com
Bottom Line
While the majority of these stocks have not technically broken down, they are all suffering through bouts of near-term selling. As market leaders, it will be difficult for the general markets to gain much traction without their participation. Most of these stocks are near support levels that could lead to a respite in the selling. However, it’s possible that these levels will fail, leading to the formation of a more serious topping pattern. This would likely lead the markets lower as a deeper correction sets in. It is too early to know what the outcome will be, but these stocks should certainly be watched by traders.

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The Weekly Report For February 8th - February 12th, 2010

Gasta.com star shines brightly in European Search Markets.

Commentary: This was one of the most volatile weeks the markets have had in quite some time. The markets began the week attempting to bounce from near term oversold conditions and rallying to the prior weeks highs. However, they gave way to steep declines on Thursday and most of Friday on a large increase in volume. By mid-day Friday, it seemed like the indexes would finish off the week at their lows but in the afternoon the bulls mounted a strong assault on the bears, firmly reversing the intraday trend. All the indexes finished with slight gains on huge volume, while trading well off their intraday lows and forming a candle pattern commonly referred to as a hammer.

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The hammer can be seen quite clearly in the S&P500 as represented by the S&P 500 SPDRS (NYSE:SPY) ETF. The candle is called a hammer because it has a long lower portion resembling the handle coupled with the upper portion acting as the hammer head. The long lower portion indicates buyers stepping up and pushing the ETF’s price well off the lows. This candle can often show a near term turning point, as it shows a complete change in character for market participants. Sellers were well in control pushing the ETF well into the negative column, but by the end of the day had lost complete control to the bulls.



The Diamonds Trust, Series 1 (NYSE:DIA) ETF also shows a similar candle pattern. The reversal also occurred in an area of expected support, which shows buyers were willing to come in at these levels. The $100 level for DIA corresponds with the 10,000 level for the Dow Jones Industrial Average which has been an important psychological area for the markets. The lows underneath the hammer are now an important line in the sand for market bulls. While it appears the bulls have stepped up and defended an important area, there is still much work left for the bulls. The markets remains beneath falling moving averages and under a large price cluster.



This also quite evident in the smallcaps as represented by the iShares Russell 2000 Index (NYSE:IWM) ETF. Despite the strong intraday reversal, IWM remains below the majority of even Thursday’s trading action. Often the strong reversal at support is merely the first step in a stabilization process and the markets will often return to test this level after the initial bounce. For IWM, $58 will be an important area to hold as support as it attempts to consolidate the recent declines.



The Powershares QQQ ETF (Nasdaq:QQQQ) have been one of the weaker groups recently, but started to reverse earlier than its counterparts intraday on Friday. This was one of the first clues that hinted at the hammer being formed. If the markets are going to put in a near term low in this area, then this group will need to continue resuming its leadership role. Much like the other ETF’s, the lows under the hammer have now become an important line in the sand and would need to hold to stave off a more serious decline.




Bottom Line
While the hammer can show a change in character, it does not offer any insight into the strength or target of a reversal. It merely shows that the bears were losing steam and that there are buyers at this level. What happens over the next few days will have important implications for the next intermediate term move. The markets have drawn a line in the sand dividing a run of the mill bull market correction, from a more serious top being put in place. A move of consequence below the hammers on these charts could signal a major trend change and will be a key level to watch moving forward. There is still excess supply that will need to be absorbed and the next few weeks could be messy for traders on either side. It will be interesting to see if the bulls have staved off a top to the current rally.

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