For businesses that market wholly or partially online, it may seem that three words are the only way to get more customers: search engine optimization (SEO). Typically, the search engines being referred to are: Google, Yahoo, and MSN. These three engines have almost become interchangeable with the phrase "do a search", so much so that the word "Google" has entered the English lexicon as "find information".
There are actually hundreds of search engines, not just the Big Three (Google, Yahoo, and MSN) that many Internet users think of. By focusing only on the most well known search engines for your marketing online strategy, you may be missing out on as much as 30% of the billions of searches being done online every single day.
While not the oldest search engine on the internet, Google does have the reputation of being the granddaddy. However, it is worth investigating alternative search engines - niche engines, meta-search engines, and human-powered engines.
Niche search engines focus their searches on a particular subject matter, such as blogs or articles. Meta-search engines (DogPile, Widow) compile results from multiple search engines . Finally, human-powered search engines (Mahalo, DMOZ) are composed of directory pages with link and general information, put together by humans who search for the most relevant content. These alternative search engines tend to have pretty high page ranks, which give more credence to the fact that online marketers shouldn't overlook them.
There is also the fact that some Internet searchers do not want to use Google because of personal or political views. Because of Google's popularity, it can (incorrectly) be perceived as having a monopoly on the search engine market. That perception, combined with opposition to a seemingly growing "corporate world", turns off some potential customers and eliminates your potential to reach them, if you focus only on Google or other big search engines.
As part of SEO, using keywords to bring in consumers is all the rage. Businesses spend a great deal of time and money researching keywords, keyword density, and effects on page rankings in results lists. Guess what? It's not only a pain for the businesses to constantly be looking for which words may get them more hits and higher rankings; it's quickly becoming over done.
Consumers are fatigued with seeing keyword-loaded articles and websites tagged with anything that could possibly be related to their search terms. This online marketíng strategy may make sense in the short-term, but chances are good that by the time the strategy is perfected by your marketers, there will be a different trend altogether that needs to be learned. Marketing with the intent to only improve your page rankings, by any means necessary, is only a quick fix and could be quite expensive.
SEO tactics are starting to turn customers off. If SEO is the main priority of a marketing campaign and keyword-dense content was the impetus for the customer finding the website, this hurts the site's credibility with the consumer. Perhaps they'll buy from you once because you showed up at the top of the results page, but will they remember you next time or just do another search?
Another concern with search engines is the program spiders that crawl the Internet, looking for relevant pages for search results. Even the largest of the search engines can only cover a portion of the internet. According to Wikipedia, no search engine can search more than 16% of the net!
In addition, the spiders have a massive amount of searching to do, which can be a slow and taxing process on the sites they are crawling. By the time a spider finishes crawling the Internet, the information collected can be outdated - pages and links have either been deleted or new information added. Spiders are certainly not a perfect means of finding good results with one search engine.
Searching just one engine at a time is time-consuming and not very cost-efficient for searchers looking for the most appropriate information or businesses to suit their needs. Enter, meta-search engines. As mentioned earlier, meta-search engines compile results from multiple engines.
Among these, dogpile.com is probably the most well-known. The problem with dogpile, as I see it, is that it spits back the top 10 results from each of the Big Three engines. This results in a lot of sponsored results at the top of the result líst, followed by a mix of "normal" results and more sponsored results. The truth be known, I simply consider dogpile to be really annoying, so I avoid it.
In comparison, widow.com uses a different sort of math equation that sorts through search engine results for the most relevant information and ranks them in their results pages. In an unscientific but entertaining comparison I performed, I plugged in "celebrity gossip" to both dogpile.com and widow.com.
On dogpile.com, I felt like I had to search through commercials to find the content. The results on widow.com were much more relevant, giving me results with the desired content. Plus, I didn't have to look between the annoying sponsored results to find the information I wanted.
Utilizing meta-search engines can be very time-efficient and cost-effective for online marketers, especially when doing market research, even for keywords.
More importantly, if you can also rank in the meta-search and smaller niche search engines, you have a better chance of reaching the approximately 30% of searchers who do not use one of the Big Three engines, as their search tool of choice.
The niche audience may be smaller than the number of consumers you're exposed to on Google, but if you can gain an audience in the niche search engines, you are likely to find consumers intent on buying what you are selling. It's a good general marketing strategy to remember that "quantity exposure" does not always equate to "quality exposure". It's also a good general marketing strategy to not rely on only one advertising platform to help you reach your target audience.
About The Author
Bill Platt has been helping online marketers promote their online businesses since 2001, through thephantomwriters.com
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Patent analysis: how search engines deal with inbound links
This month, Yahoo was granted a patent that describes how link texts may be used to increase the relevancy ranking of a web page. Although the patent was filed in 2002, it provides interesting details about how search engines can use link texts.
Why are link texts important?
All major search engines pay close attention to the text that is used in links pointing to web pages. A web page might be considered more relevant to a search term if the search term not only appears on the web page but is also used in the text of the link that points to the page.
Web pages can even get high rankings for a search term if they don't contain that search term. It's enough that many websites link to the page with the search term in the link text. This has been demonstrated with several Google bombs.
How do search engines treat link texts?
While it is clear that link texts are very important for search engines, it's not clear how much weight search engines assign to a link text when they index a page. Are some link texts more important than others?
The patent indicates that link texts are broken into parts, called tokens:
Once an anchortext phrase is identified, it is converted into a set of tokens. For example, page 306 contains the phrase "best Louis Armstrong site" pointing to page 200. The tokenization produces the following tokens:
* Trumpet"Best Louis Armstrong site"
* "Louis Armstrong"
* "Louis"
* "Armstrong"
* "Best"
* "Best Louis"
* "Best Armstrong"
* "Best site"
The search engine algorithm calculates a weight for each of these tokens. If the weight exceeds a threshold, the linked web page may be indexed under that token.
How do search engines calculate the weight?
Search engines consider how often each word or word sequence can be found in link texts pointing to a particular page and how often the token appears in the index.
Search engines might assign the greatest importance to words that appear the least frequently in the search index. The reason for that is that those words are often more specifically related to the searched topic.
In addition, a token that appears very often in link texts that point to a special web page could be given higher weight. Tokens that appear very frequently in the search index ("site" or "best") might be discounted because they are not relevant to the special topic.
What does this mean to your website?
All major search engines use this method to rank web pages. If you want to get high rankings on search engines, you must make sure that your web site has good inbound links with the right link texts.
Optimized web pages are important to tell search engines that your website is relevant to your keywords. Good inbound links with the right link texts will enforce the relevancy of your pages for your keywords.
What you have to do to get high rankings on Yahoo and Google
1. Optimize your web pages for your keywords. While it is possible to get high rankings for a keyword if you have enough inbound links that contain that keyword, it is much easier to get high rankings for a special keyword if your web page has been optimized for that keyword.
2. Try to get as many inbound links as possible. The links to your website should use your targeted keywords in the link text. Do not use the exactly same text over and over. Vary your link texts and use related but different expressions for the links to your site.
The Yahoo patent confirms the methods that modern search engines use to rank web pages. If you follow the tips and tricks above, your website will get the best possible rankings on Yahoo, Google and other major search engines.
for more visit: facts.axandra.com
Why are link texts important?
All major search engines pay close attention to the text that is used in links pointing to web pages. A web page might be considered more relevant to a search term if the search term not only appears on the web page but is also used in the text of the link that points to the page.
Web pages can even get high rankings for a search term if they don't contain that search term. It's enough that many websites link to the page with the search term in the link text. This has been demonstrated with several Google bombs.
How do search engines treat link texts?
While it is clear that link texts are very important for search engines, it's not clear how much weight search engines assign to a link text when they index a page. Are some link texts more important than others?
The patent indicates that link texts are broken into parts, called tokens:
Once an anchortext phrase is identified, it is converted into a set of tokens. For example, page 306 contains the phrase "best Louis Armstrong site" pointing to page 200. The tokenization produces the following tokens:
* Trumpet"Best Louis Armstrong site"
* "Louis Armstrong"
* "Louis"
* "Armstrong"
* "Best"
* "Best Louis"
* "Best Armstrong"
* "Best site"
The search engine algorithm calculates a weight for each of these tokens. If the weight exceeds a threshold, the linked web page may be indexed under that token.
How do search engines calculate the weight?
Search engines consider how often each word or word sequence can be found in link texts pointing to a particular page and how often the token appears in the index.
Search engines might assign the greatest importance to words that appear the least frequently in the search index. The reason for that is that those words are often more specifically related to the searched topic.
In addition, a token that appears very often in link texts that point to a special web page could be given higher weight. Tokens that appear very frequently in the search index ("site" or "best") might be discounted because they are not relevant to the special topic.
What does this mean to your website?
All major search engines use this method to rank web pages. If you want to get high rankings on search engines, you must make sure that your web site has good inbound links with the right link texts.
Optimized web pages are important to tell search engines that your website is relevant to your keywords. Good inbound links with the right link texts will enforce the relevancy of your pages for your keywords.
What you have to do to get high rankings on Yahoo and Google
1. Optimize your web pages for your keywords. While it is possible to get high rankings for a keyword if you have enough inbound links that contain that keyword, it is much easier to get high rankings for a special keyword if your web page has been optimized for that keyword.
2. Try to get as many inbound links as possible. The links to your website should use your targeted keywords in the link text. Do not use the exactly same text over and over. Vary your link texts and use related but different expressions for the links to your site.
The Yahoo patent confirms the methods that modern search engines use to rank web pages. If you follow the tips and tricks above, your website will get the best possible rankings on Yahoo, Google and other major search engines.
for more visit: facts.axandra.com
Friday, July 18, 2008
Search Engine Facts
. Step-by-step guide: How to get high quality links
Link building is one of the most important search engine optimization steps. Without good inbound links, your website cannot get high rankings. Although it is very important that your website has optimized content, without the links to your website, search engines won't consider that content much.
It's important to get the right links to your website. Link spamming doesn't work. You must make sure that you get high quality links that Google and other search engines like.
Step 1: Make your website linkworthy
You must make your website linkworthy. You cannot expect that other websites link to your website if your site is basically a collection of affiliate links or an online shop that looks like a thousand other online shops.
Your website must be different. Try the following:
* Add articles about your products or services to your website.
* Add tutorials and how-to articles about the topic of your website.
* If you have a lot to say, add a blog to your website.
* Add a directory with links to valuable resources on your website.
Step 2: Check your competitors
The best way to start link building is to duplicate the links that your competitors have. Find all websites that link to your competitors and then try to convince them to link to your website.
The link builder tool in IBP makes it easy to find these websites. Just click Add Sites > Find websites that link to your competitors in IBP's link builder and IBP will return all websites that link to your competitors in a clearly arranged list.
You can then check the websites one after the other and convince them to link to your website.
Step 3: Get links from blogs
There are millions of blogs on the Internet and they all need something to write about. Getting links from blogs is a good way to get links from related websites.
To find blogs that deal with your website topic, select Add sites > Find websites by keyword search in IBP's link builder and enter the topic of your website plus the word blog. For example, you could enter "real estate blog" or "music blog" in IBP, depending on what you sell on your website.
The advantage of using IBP instead of manually searching for the blogs is that IBP automatically presents all found blogs in a clearly arranged list.
IBP also allows you to contact the blog owners quickly and easily and it automatically keeps track of the websites that you've already contacted so that you don't contact the same person twice.
Bloggers give out millions of free links each month. Use IBP to make sure that you get your share of these links.
Step 4: Get links from Internet directories
Submitting your website to Internet directories can be a good way to show Google that you have a reputable website. Low quality websites usually don't invest the time and money that is needed to be listed in Internet directories.
An easy way to submit your website to many Internet directories as possible is IBP's directory submitter.
Inbound links are very important if you want to get high rankings on search engines. You should optimize your web page content first to make sure that search engines find your website relevant to your targeted keywords.
If more than one website has been optimized for the same keywords (and that's usually the case) then the website with the best links will get the best rankings.
Link building is one of the most important search engine optimization steps. Without good inbound links, your website cannot get high rankings. Although it is very important that your website has optimized content, without the links to your website, search engines won't consider that content much.
It's important to get the right links to your website. Link spamming doesn't work. You must make sure that you get high quality links that Google and other search engines like.
Step 1: Make your website linkworthy
You must make your website linkworthy. You cannot expect that other websites link to your website if your site is basically a collection of affiliate links or an online shop that looks like a thousand other online shops.
Your website must be different. Try the following:
* Add articles about your products or services to your website.
* Add tutorials and how-to articles about the topic of your website.
* If you have a lot to say, add a blog to your website.
* Add a directory with links to valuable resources on your website.
Step 2: Check your competitors
The best way to start link building is to duplicate the links that your competitors have. Find all websites that link to your competitors and then try to convince them to link to your website.
The link builder tool in IBP makes it easy to find these websites. Just click Add Sites > Find websites that link to your competitors in IBP's link builder and IBP will return all websites that link to your competitors in a clearly arranged list.
You can then check the websites one after the other and convince them to link to your website.
Step 3: Get links from blogs
There are millions of blogs on the Internet and they all need something to write about. Getting links from blogs is a good way to get links from related websites.
To find blogs that deal with your website topic, select Add sites > Find websites by keyword search in IBP's link builder and enter the topic of your website plus the word blog. For example, you could enter "real estate blog" or "music blog" in IBP, depending on what you sell on your website.
The advantage of using IBP instead of manually searching for the blogs is that IBP automatically presents all found blogs in a clearly arranged list.
IBP also allows you to contact the blog owners quickly and easily and it automatically keeps track of the websites that you've already contacted so that you don't contact the same person twice.
Bloggers give out millions of free links each month. Use IBP to make sure that you get your share of these links.
Step 4: Get links from Internet directories
Submitting your website to Internet directories can be a good way to show Google that you have a reputable website. Low quality websites usually don't invest the time and money that is needed to be listed in Internet directories.
An easy way to submit your website to many Internet directories as possible is IBP's directory submitter.
Inbound links are very important if you want to get high rankings on search engines. You should optimize your web page content first to make sure that search engines find your website relevant to your targeted keywords.
If more than one website has been optimized for the same keywords (and that's usually the case) then the website with the best links will get the best rankings.
Search Engine Facts 15 July 2008
1. How to GEO target Google
Do you want to get customers from outside the United States? Is your business located in Europe or another part of the world? There are a few things to consider if your website is aimed at people outside the United States.
Google's market share outside the US:
Google is the biggest player in the US market. They also have a big market share in other countries:
Country Market Share
Google Germany 89.20%
Google UK 70,25%
Google Bulgaria 90.00%
Google France 89.79%
Google Netherlands 95.00%
Google Poland 90.00%
Google Israel 90.00%
Source: Lunapark
If you want to get customers from outside the US then you must make sure that your website is prepared for Google's local versions. For example, Germans who enter Google.com in their web browsers are automatically redirected to Google.de.
Google returns different results in different countries
Google.com and Google.de return different results. For example, Google.de returns totally different results for the keyword "auto" than Google.com.
That means that websites must meet certain criteria to be listed in Google's local versions.
What you can do to get listed in Google's local versions
1. Get a country specific domain name
If you want to get high rankings in Google.co.uk then you should have a .co.uk domain name. This is by far the most important factor. A local domain name makes it much easier to get high rankings in country specific search engines.
2. Make your web page content relevant to your target market
If you're trying to sell something in Germany, it is obvious that your web page content should be in German. If you're website is aimed at people living in the UK, mention your full UK address in the footer so that search engines can associate that address with your website.
3. Check your server location
If the IP address of your server is based in France then Google can take this as an indicator that you're targeting the French market.
Getting high rankings in Google's local variations is easier if you follow the tips above. Note that your web pages still must be optimized for your keywords if you want to get high rankings.
In addition, Google only lists your web pages if you have good inbound links,
Do you want to get customers from outside the United States? Is your business located in Europe or another part of the world? There are a few things to consider if your website is aimed at people outside the United States.
Google's market share outside the US:
Google is the biggest player in the US market. They also have a big market share in other countries:
Country Market Share
Google Germany 89.20%
Google UK 70,25%
Google Bulgaria 90.00%
Google France 89.79%
Google Netherlands 95.00%
Google Poland 90.00%
Google Israel 90.00%
Source: Lunapark
If you want to get customers from outside the US then you must make sure that your website is prepared for Google's local versions. For example, Germans who enter Google.com in their web browsers are automatically redirected to Google.de.
Google returns different results in different countries
Google.com and Google.de return different results. For example, Google.de returns totally different results for the keyword "auto" than Google.com.
That means that websites must meet certain criteria to be listed in Google's local versions.
What you can do to get listed in Google's local versions
1. Get a country specific domain name
If you want to get high rankings in Google.co.uk then you should have a .co.uk domain name. This is by far the most important factor. A local domain name makes it much easier to get high rankings in country specific search engines.
2. Make your web page content relevant to your target market
If you're trying to sell something in Germany, it is obvious that your web page content should be in German. If you're website is aimed at people living in the UK, mention your full UK address in the footer so that search engines can associate that address with your website.
3. Check your server location
If the IP address of your server is based in France then Google can take this as an indicator that you're targeting the French market.
Getting high rankings in Google's local variations is easier if you follow the tips above. Note that your web pages still must be optimized for your keywords if you want to get high rankings.
In addition, Google only lists your web pages if you have good inbound links,
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