Written by Scott Van Achte and published at 10:08 AM
Danny Sullivan recently posted the latest search engine market share stats in the SearchEngineWatch Blog . The order of the big three, has without much surprise, remained the same with Google the clear leader followed by Yahoo, then MSN.
Google
Yahoo
MSN
Google Since this time last year Google has seen a noticeable increase in their overall market share as they continue to grow in popularity. Its a slow and steady climb with no apparent end in sight. With the launch of new tools and features and the recent acquisition of YouTube, its ever increasing online presence is likely a leading contributor to this consistent rise in market share.
Yahoo
Yahoo remains in the middle. Having had some dips over the past 12 months they have risen slightly according to NetRatings and dropped slightly with comScore; however, overall, they have remained fairly static. This is not necessarily a bad thing as it does show stability over the long term and retention of return users. It will be interesting to see if by this time in 2007 they remain flat or if an increase in market share will be seen.
MSN
Since this time last year Microsoft has seen dips across the board and is now at its lowest point in the last 12 months. Currently hovering around the 10% mark it falls in third place and while 10% may sound low when considering the vastly increasing number of people performing searches, that figure still represents a significant piece of the pie. Certainly MSN would like to be higher, and with the launch of the new Windows Live, probably expected an increased share, but many people are afraid of change, and they just may have scared off some of their loyal users. That said, I would personally expect Windows Live, as it is further refined, to help MSN over the next 12 months.
What does all this mean for website owners? What it really comes down to is, yes you will get the most traffic by ranking #1 in Google, but you should not discount Yahoo and MSN, as they can still deliver a substantial number of visitors to your site. General optimization and responsible link building campaigns will help out with all three engines. Stay away from anything that looks fishy, continue to build quality content and incoming links, and keep your pages well optimized and you will stand the best chance of success.
Written by Scott Van Achte and published at 10:02 AM
This change has been forthcoming for some time now. The new Yahoo Search Marketing platform is available for some who have been chosen for early release, and for the rest, the new year will see the complete rollover into the new system. At the beginning of December, however, we will see the launch of the new bidding system at YSM and some recent changes to how you will manage your bidding. So what exactly is changing?
Top 5 Max Bids and Your Position
The current bids for the top 5 paid placements will be removed along with the your position column.
View Bids Tool
No longer will you be able to view the exact bid for specific key phrases as the view bids tool is being removed.
Estimated Average Position
You will no longer be able to view your exact position, however you will see your estimated average position. This figure is based on both your bid, and the bids of other advertisers.
Bid Range for Top Positions
Rather than seeing the exact bids, you will see a range of bids that advertisers are willing to pay for their ads.
Why are these things changing? The new bidding system with the new YSM platform is no longer that of a simple bid for position concept. The new form of bidding is now much more Google-like with click through rates, on site content, and bids all contributing to your ad rank. With this new system items such as the view bids tool, and top 5 max bids will be somewhat irrelevant to advertisers.
As some advertisers have already been rolled over into the new system, this bidding change reflected in the old system is to accommodate advertisers with more accurate bidding information. The following explanation has been provided by Yahoo to its advertisers:
Why are you making this change to the bid information on the Manage Bids page?
"We are making this change in order to provide advertisers who have not yet upgraded to the new Sponsored Search with accurate bidding information.
As you may know, we've begun inviting U.S. advertisers to upgrade their accounts to the new Sponsored Search and invitations will continue to be sent in stages to U.S. advertisers over the remainder of the year and early next year. Given the way bid information is currently displayed, as advertisers upgrade to the new Sponsored Search, their bids would no longer be visible in the current system. By making this change, we are able to provide all advertisers with consistent and accurate bidding information, regardless of whether they have upgraded their accounts yet or not."
Written by Scott Van Achte and published at 9:54 AM
After 4 years of Q and A Google Answers is being retired and as of late this week they will no longer be accepting new questions.
Google Answers was first introduced back in 2002 by a small 4 person team based on a rough idea by Larry Page. Within 4 months of inception the product was launched in beta and answered some of the most important questions of all time such as why there is no channel 1 and how flies can survive in the microwave .
While new questions will no longer be accepted after this week, Google Answers will continue to accept answers to existing questions until the end of the year. The Questions and Answers will also remain online for the foreseeable future.
Google Answers is a paid service to help searchers find answers to questions. While Google and the other search engines can provide information on just about anything, even for experienced users it can sometimes be difficult to find just the right piece of information. Google Answers allows you to post a question, and for a fee, have an expert researcher provide you with just the right answer.
In April 2003 I wrote an article called “The 10 Minute Optimization” which outlined a 10 minute process to optimize a web page for top search engine rankings. Well, a few things have changed since then so I thought a redux (revision) would be a good idea. How I am going to do this though, is a bit unorthodox. This document is largely still pertinent so instead of rewriting the same SEO tips I reproduced the article (the boxed content) and added a revision section below each point wherever necessary; ultimately bringing this up to date with today's SEO tactics.
The result of my work is "The Ten Minute Optimization Redux", an article-turned SEO tips white paper which is 3600 words in length and will arm my readers with a concept of what it takes to get top rankings and optimize a webpage themselves. Now a word of warning... this white paper is not meant for veteran SEO's or advanced SEO's; it is strictly meant to bring business owners up to speed on the latest search engine tactics and the current standards of web page optimization. The following is a table of contents for this white paper.
1. Introduction
2. Setting the Stage A) Determine Your Targets (Updated for 2006 with new tips) B) Design - Is Your Page Memorable? (Updated for 2006 with new tips) C) Spot Check for Relevancy (Updated for 2006 with new tips)
3. The Ten Minute Process - With 2006 Revisions > Spot Check for Spam > Polish and Optimize Text > Optimize the Title > META Tags (Updated for 2006 with a new tip) > Navigation... Provide Clear Paths > Test and Spell-Check (Updated for 2006 with a new tip) > Hurry Up and Wait (Updated for 2006 with new tips)
4. Link Building - NEW SEO Tips! Three sure-fire methods to build links to your website.
5. The After Thoughts - NEW SEO Tips! Links to pertinent articles that are recommended reading and provide more tips and advice from veteran SEO's.
QUESTION: We're a very small company with an 11 year website history, with web development resources somewhere between quite miniscule and non-existent. Nonetheless, SEO has been a keen focus of awareness since before it was called that, and up until that infamous "Florida" event 3 or so years ago, we did very well in the SERPs. Over the years a number of people have worked on the code comprising our site, and while there is nothing egregiously, obviously wrong with our content, no one knows if now we're being penalized for something 'lurking' in our code that may be left over from yesteryear and never found and rooted out. The biggest worry and source of disagreement seems to involve "duplicate content".
Two questions:
(1) is there a fast way to ensure elimination of all code that could be found objectionable to major SE 'anti-spam' filtering? and,
(2) is there any way to learn how the SE algorithms define "duplicate content", e.g., is it a matter of word-for-word duplicity, or would a site get penalized even for re-worded content that had the same general meaning -- appearing on more than one page?
- Steve F.
ANSWERS Thanks Steve, I am going to answer your questions in reverse order below.
Question 2 Answered: First of all, duplicate content is any substantial piece of content that has been duplicated, word for word, elsewhere on your website. I know, 'substantial' is a bit of a weak explanation but there is no official formula describing how much content can be used without triggering a search engine's spam alarm. Just to be sure, if you are trying to use foil the search engines by using slightly reworded duplicate content then chances are you will not end up a happy site owner. Search engines are getting 'smarter' by the day and frankly I and my SEO company are of the mind that working with them is far healthier than the alternative.
Okay, requisite preaching complete... now lets consider some basics regarding duplicate content so I can assuage any basic fears should they exist. Site navigation and small sections of the page that have, for example a text advertisement, are not of any concern. What would be a concern is if you had a large portion of the content on a page duplicated elsewhere within your site; say, a few paragraphs or a large percentage of the page's content (even as little as 30% duplication may be an issue).
So what happens if you do have duplicate content, are you going to be banned instantly? No, Google (for example) will only negate the benefit of the duplicated page(s) and this negation would not result in a critical penalty. A critical hit would occur, however, if a website were composed of a high ratio of pages that had been determined duplicate content offenders.
Either way, duplicate content is wasteful and no good will come of it.
If you do not think you have any duplicate content then you are probably safe. There is, however, another possibility. Has someone duplicated your website and tarnished your good name? To check for this take some random strings of content and search for them on Google using exact searching (surround the query in quotes). If you come up with a site that is using your content you may have your answer right there - your site has been duped! If duping is the problem you need to contact the site immediately and let them know you have discovered their copyright infringement. If they do not pull the content then if I were you I would send a more formal cease and desist letter.
Question 1 Recapped: Is there a fast way to ensure elimination of all code that could be found objectionable to major SE 'anti-spam' filtering?
Question 1 Answered: There is no single tool that comes to mind which will tell you exactly what is wrong with your site; at least not one that I would recommend. If you need your site reviewed for spam then a search engine consultant like myself can be hired for a couple hours to scan your site and provide concise feedback; in such a case often other beneficial recommendations are made. If you want to check your website yourself then I recommend reading an article written by Jim Hedger (our in-house SEO writer for StepForth at the time) called "15 Shades of SEO Spam" which will provide you with some tips on what tactics can cause problems.
John Battelle wrote an excellent article describing his experience with Google Checkout. I highly recommend the read if you are considering using Google Checkout for shopping this holiday season or as a merchant. Here is a snippet:
It seems Google is obviating the merchant entirely vis the ongoing data relationship with the buyer. The registration screen states: "'Google' will appear by the charge on your credit card statement. Your card number will not be shared with the seller."
Why on earth would anyone want this to be the case? To lose your relationship with the buyer? What information *is* passed back to ToysRUs? What rights do I have to that information, and to know how it's used between Google and the merchant?
To commemorate National Tree Week, which has been celebrated since 1974 and lasts from November 22nd to December 3rd, Litegreen.com will plant a tree for every new registration on their website. After that week they will plant a tree for every 50 british pounds spent on their website.
Litegreen.com is a search engine that provides content from vetted environmentally and human rights-conscious businesses. Here is their official description:
"Litegreen is a unique online consumer information and shopping directory which makes having a conscience an easy, modern lifestyle choice.
We review the World's leading brands to assess their impact on the planet and their attitudes to workers rights (see Rating Criteria)."
I officially think this is the coolest incentive a company can give for registering to a newsletter and I highly recommend that you signup. After all, you can always unsubscribe later if you don't like the newsletter; they make that very clear.
Kudos to the gang at Litegreen.com - I just love the concept of their website and I commend them for doing something proactive for the population's environmental conscience.
Part of my job of keeping up on the latest SEO news and tactics is to venture where I think no self-respecting webmaster should go... the black hat SEO news world. Fortunately, these occasional glimpses of the dark side are very interesting. For example, one of the more popular websites in the black hat industry, SEO Black Hat, recently noted that in a single weekend Google had managed to clear out much of the offensive adult content found in top 10 organic results; searches had to be conducted using a single adult word (use your imagination). The result? You and I may like this impressive cleanup but the adult webmaster forums were abuzz with dropped rankings across the Google board and supposition ran wild.
What does this mean to you and me, the webmasters that care nothing about the adult marketplace? Well here is the data that I found most interesting. According to the research conducted at SEO Black Hat, many of the adult websites that were dropped from single phrase searches actually lost little or no traffic. In fact, some of them increased traffic!
How Can This Happen? Before answering this question I want you to know I am basing my answer on statistics I have not formally reviewed. I am taking for granted the stats that SEO Black Hat noted are for real and that after the Google shakeup, in some cases (the ones shown), traffic actually stayed the same or increased. The results do actually make sense to me so I felt they merited this posting on the StepForth SEO Blog. That said, now without further adieu...
How Could Traffic Increase? Many of the sites that had managed to get a top ranking under a general adult term were obviously very effective marketers because gaining a ranking for a single keyword is extremely difficult. Taking this fact to the next step, many of these same adult websites were also targeting two-keyword phrases and had fantastic results under them as well. Now consider how the average searcher will react when they do not find what they are looking for after typing in any single word search; they will refine the query to get a finer result. This appears to be exactly what happened for the adult market after the Google clean-up; searchers decided to refine their search (again use your imagination - if you wish) and their refined results were rife with the adult material they were looking for. After all, Google has only 'cleaned' the top 10 results for single adult keyword searches and left alone the results for 2-keyword searches.
What Does this Mean for Google? Who knows just how much of this was planned by Google but this is what was accomplished:
By cleaning the top 10 organic results of xxx sites for single adult keyword searches Google has gotten some serious brownie points - at least from me. After all, to be relevant the resulting content is still adult related but at least it isn't rife with a myriad of questionable words and stomach-churning calls to 'action'.
Google did not filter the Adwords results for the top 10 so now adult sites that want to be found on the first page will have no choice but to pay for the ranking... interesting tactic by Google but not an admirable one in my book.
Google has successfully implemented a clever algorithm improvement that appears to specifically filter only the top 10 results; very interesting indeed. I wonder how this will be applied elsewhere?
What Does this Mean For You? I believe this information provides some extra weight against focusing on attaining rankings for single keywords. The fact of the matter is that a single keyword search may be shown to have a lot of searches but it is far too general and is not likely to be as effective as a top ranking for a phrase; since users are more likely to refine their search with an additional keyword.
My Question To You Have you noticed this filter affect your non-adult rankings? In my opinion, it is highly likely that this filter may have been applied across the board on Google (even past the top 10); the adult market has just been the worst hit. I would love your opinions on this, please post a comment. Thanks!
A Note to Google If you did indeed target the top 10 organic rankings (for single word adult searches) in order to clean out the most offensive sites then I find it questionable that you left the pay-per-click sites unfiltered on the first page. Of course I see the financial benefit to you by forcing adult sites to advertise to get first page exposure but this pushes the limits of your "don't be evil" motto. My recommendation would be to make the Adwords results start on the second page so that misguided searchers do not come across offensive advertisements on the first page.
Two excellent questions are answered in this article:
A.) Which steps should I follow when optimizing my dynamic website?
B.) Can you maintain the integrity of my design while implementing SEO?
QUESTION A) Which steps should I follow when optimizing my dynamic website? - Chriz R.
ANSWER:
To be certain of the particular answer for you I would need to know more about your website so I will provide a list of what I would term the most common steps to optimizing a dynamic website that utilizes a shopping cart.
URL's: Banish those ugly dynamic URL's and open your website to the search engines. Accomplish this by using a rewrite such as ISAPI_rewrite on Windows servers or a mod_rewrite on Apache servers. This tweak will provide search engines with an easier route to follow through your website. Why? When search engine spiders visit a website and find dynamic URL's there is a high likelihood that the website will not be fully spidered. This is because search engine spiders are trained to avoid the possibility of getting caught in a loop when indexing a website. For example, what if a search engine spider was indexing a website and found a dynamic calendar? Theoretically this spider could go on forever indexing the calendar, day after day. As a consequence, spiders place a limit on the depth that they will index a dynamic website; usually 3 levels. Here is a sample of a bad URL and a fixed URL:
In short, by making your website's URLs appear static the higher the likelihood that your website will be properly indexed. Once this fix has been applied optimize your website for rankings.
Titles and Meta Description Tag : Common in my world of SEO consultation is dealing with Content Management Systems (CMS) that do not allow for product/page specific title or Meta Description tags. These lower quality CMS end up using the same title and Meta Tags on every page within the website; this is the kiss of death for search engine rankings. If you are serious about obtaining top rankings you need to either increase the functionality of your CMS to provide title and description customization or switch to an alternative, more search engine friendly CMS.
Title Tags: A page title must concisely correspond to the ranking target for the page that it is on; after all it is used as the title for any ranking you obtain so it should be highly relevant. How this is done is up to you and the degree in which your CMS is setup for search engines. For example, excellent search engine friendly shopping carts such as Product Cart and Apple Pie Shopping Cart already incorporate the automation of optimized titles based on the product or page you are on within your website. If your system does not have this innate automation then the best option that comes to mind is to have additional functionality added to your website to allow automation. You can usually hire the maker of the software to make this addition.
Description Tags: The Description Tag is often used as the description for any search engine ranking a page obtains. As a result, this content must be highly relevant and engaging; to get users to click and visit the page. Fortunately the higher end SEO friendly carts (linked to above) already provide automated Description Tag functionality with the option to override automation with a custom Tag on a page-by-page basis. If your system does not offer automation and/or customization then you should again consider hiring an informed programmer include it.
Note: Keyword Tags are not mentioned here because of their vastly diminished importance in the world of search engine optimization. The fact is that search engines are paying little (if any) attention to this tag. In fact, I would venture that the Keyword Tag is ignored unless it is being used to SP@M in which case it will produce negative affect. So my tips generally do not include Keyword Tag advice – just FYI.
First Text : If possible, ensure that the first text a search engine indexes is relevant to the page at hand. For example, at StepForth ideally we like to include the page's target keyphrase within the first 10 words of text on the page.
Headings : Often the heading on a page is within the first 100 words of text that a search engine spider will index. To ensure the heading aids rankings it is important that it not only reflects the page's keyphrase but that it utilizes a Heading 1 tag. The Heading 1 tag will provide enough emphasis that the keyphrase will stand out from the prior words indexed. In addition, the Heading 1 tag (H1) was originally created as the signifier of a page's topic and for the most part this fact stands true to this day. If your CMS does not already incorporate H1's in the formal heading of the page then you should seriously consider having this functionality implemented.
Site Structure: If at all possible create a site structure that is no more than 4 levels deep. An example of how this can be arranged is to minimize the number of sub products/pages within your system.
For example, try to avoid the following 6 level site structure (extreme example): Bike Helmets (styles shown) -> Racing Style Bike Helmets (about this style) -> Racing Style Bike Helmets (brands shown) -> Racing Bike Helmets (Styles shown) -> Racing Bike Helmet (image shown) -> Racing Bike Helmet (detail shown)
Instead you could use this tighter 4 level structure: Bike Helmets (styles shown) -> Racing Style Bike Helmets (about this style integrated with a listing of brands shown) -> Racing Bike Helmets (Styles shown) -> Racing Bike Helmet (detail shown)
Navigation : The navigation of your website is paramount to proper search engine spidering. The navigation links should be in text format and use the keyphrase that the target page is optimized for. In addition each page must have a link to a central Sitemap that comprehensively lists every page and product/service within your website.
Images : If your system can support this make certain to place descriptive product information in the ALT tags for each product image. If you can you should also stamp each product picture with your website address in as attractive a manner as possible. The result is that search engine spiders will be able to index your product images appropriately and they may be featured in Google Image searches. By having your website address on the images you will have the added benefit of potentially receiving business from this search venue.
Is There More You Can Do to Optimize Your Dynamic Website? There are many additional customizations that can be added to a dynamic website to produce efficient optimization results. Unfortunately, it would take too much time for me to describe each one effectively. If you would like more information on what can be done please give me a ring or drop me an email , I would be glad to help or refer you to someone who can.
QUESTION B) Can you maintain the integrity of my design while implementing SEO? - Chriz R.
ANSWER:
My first instinct is to say “yes, of course!” because 90% of the time we do not need to disturb the general integrity of a website when optimizing it (i.e. layout, site structure, the majority of content, etc.). Unfortunately, this is not always the case. The fact of the matter is that some websites are provided with restrictions that stifle proper search engine optimization. For example, it is exceedingly rare but occasionally we are given websites to optimize that:
* Are entirely Flash based * Have content the clients do not want us to touch at all * Have too many links to outside sources * Are loaded with too many incidences of a keyword phrase (SP@M) * Etc.
In such cases, it is our job to educate the client that the restrictions being placed upon us will significantly diminish the chances for ranking success. It should be noted, however, that in no situation whatsoever will we make changes without the express approval of our client. StepForth is a customer-centric firm so effective communication is our mainstay; we know you know your business far better than we do; we are here simply to help you properly succeed online.
Thank you for your questions Chriz. I have many other great questions awaiting responses and I promise to respond to as many as possible over the next two weeks on the SEO Blog . Tune in and send in your SEO questions here . – Ross Dunn
Question: There are a number of wire services (like PRweb) for submitting press articles to online news feeds. Is it recommended to use a few of them for article submission or am I running the risk of having my article submitted to any particular distribution partner more than once. Is there any advice you can give me regarding which services distribute to which distribution partners and how to select which ones to use. - Frank O.
Answer: I recommend using only a single company to distribute your releases. In my opinion PRWeb is the leader in the world of online press release distribution.
Will using multiple press release companies hurt your online visibility? First of all consider that a professional, well-entrenched company such as PRWeb is going to do an excellent job of disseminating your news so chances are high that you would be wasting money using multiple companies. Secondly, consider the damage you could do if your news appears too often... spamming could produce backlash and I highly doubt multiple submissions will help search engine results.
I have used and hear enough about PRWeb to suggest that it is the 'go-to' company for press releases. That said, I am not an authority in the world of press release advertising (I have a hard enough time staying focused on the SEO world) so I cannot provide much more advice. I did, however, spend additional time studying the forms and they state that the base $80 SEO distribution package on PRWeb (note free submission is now no longer available) gives a great bank for your buck at only $80 per release. In addition, I came across some good feedback on the new SEO + social media $120 package.
In short, I believe my advice is informed enough to serve you well but I am sure there are many with more experience than myself in this area that can provide more detail. If you need more information I suggest checking the forums out at WebmasterWorld, WebProNews or SmallBusinessBrief (Search Engine Guide's forum) and posting your question(s) there.
Written by Scott Van Achte and published at 11:25 AM
For the first time Google shares have broken the $500 mark and Wednesday morning saw an opening at $510.78. These figures give 8 year old Google a market value of approximately $154 billion. When they priced its IPO back in August 2004, the value per share was $85 and after the first day of trading it broke the $100 milestone.
Written by Scott Van Achte and published at 11:13 AM
I recently had a conversation with a client who was having some difficulties with his Google AdWords account. This client had then made some changes to financial settings and had resulted in significant charges beyond what was anticipated. In this example, the date range being displayed on the reports was set to a range which made it difficult to see the charges being accrued.
I spent some time working things through with the client which ultimately resulted in the effect on the account being originally sought after.
While managing PPC campaigns is an additional service offered by StepForth, for existing clients I am happy to answer any questions to try and help. For extensive issues we may require a PPC contract, but in many cases I will likely be able to simply answer your questions to help get things on track.
If you have any PPC related questions, please feel free to drop me a note at scott@stepforth.com and I will see what I can do to assist!
In a bid that is sure to raise the interests of many e-tailers, Google has announced that it will be providing free merchant services for the holiday season. Say what?! Yes, FREE.
For those of you who are not familiar with transacting online suffice it to say that this promotion could save participating e-tailers hundreds if not thousands of dollars this holiday season. Here is the press release and if you have any interest in this product I expect it will be worth any headache involved in the transfer... after all I don't expect anything Google is going to disappear anytime soon; they have a wee bit of a nest egg to work from. ;-) Warning Fellow Non-US Citizens - Don't Get Excited Us Canucks may be neighbors but as usual that doesn't count for much at Google Headquarters. Google Checkout is not available to any non-American.
A new shopping search engine has brought to the public a technology that has been used mostly in movies and the offices of law enforcement - visual recognition. The new search engine, Like.com employs their "Likeness Technology™ to create a digital signature that describes the photo's contents and enables a more accurate search for similar looking items and products," says the About Us page on Like.com.
The Likeness Technology™ can be put to work searching for products in the following ways:
By Description: - Type a description of a watch you are interested in viewing: i.e. "dual chronograph" - You will be presented with a list of watches that have (in most cases) only two chronographs on the face. - Now choose a watch that has a particular styling that you like such as the chronographs appearing above and below the dial. - Once you select a watch you are then asked to draw a box around the portion of the watch that intrigued you. In this case I drew a box over the whole face. - After selecting I was provided with three options to tell the system what I liked about the selection I made; was it the "Shape", "Color" or "Both"? I selected "shape". - The result of my search presented me with a larger selection of dual chronograph watches interspersed with less relevant results.
By Celebrity: this search option allows you to match the latest styles of favorite celebrities by using the Likeness Technology™ to search for products that match a particular piece of clothing that a celebrity is wearing. For example: - Go to the Celebrity section - Now select your favorite celebrity and you will be presented with the latest photos of your celebrity where you can search for particular aspects of their wardrobe that have been preselected by Like.com for queries (i.e. Tom Cruise's shoes, or Sienna Miller's ear rings). - Just click on the bauble that you are most interested in and you will be provided with a plethora of products that match (in some manner) the object shown in the image. - Now you can alter color, shape and pattern in order to find the ideal product for you.
Like Upload: a feature coming soon will allow you to upload your own picture and have the Like search engine help you find products that match
Blink
Del.icio.us
Digg
Furl
Google
Simpy
Spurl
Y! MyWeb
