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September 30, 2005
Is .NET A Search Engine Ranking Killer?
A lot of companies are moving their web site architecture over to Microsoft's .NET technology.
Peer pressure? Perhaps, but I believe in many of .NET's benefits. However, from an SEO perspective, just a word of caution. Before you dive head first into migrating your site, be sure you have a good idea of how your URLs will change (and they will).
If you're going from static URLs or dynamic URLs with 1 or 2 dynamic characters to extremely long dynamic URLs with 4+ dynamic characters, you will likely have serious indexing issues with search engines.
It's still difficult to predict what Google will do with a dynamic URL with 4+ dynamic characters, but you should still use caution when considering anything that may make your site less search-engine-friendly and negatively affect your hard-earned search engine rankings.
Have your web developer or team show you some examples of the new URLs. Then compare to your current URLs and make sure you're not about to dramatically decrease your web site's visibility while taking the .NET plunge.
That way, this isn't your next technology solution.
Posted by doug at 04:42 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 29, 2005
Link Building Subject Line – Persuade or Perish
Three seconds and 40 characters.
According to Karon Thackston’s High Rankings article (soon to be archive here), it is within these parameters that your audience will decide to open or delete your e-mail. And be advised that the open rate will resemble the batting average of . . . let’s say . . . White Sox outfielder Aaron Rowand(.272). As in the bigs, get above .300 and you’re an All-Star.
Karon’s article applies more towards sales campaigns, so I wanted to push the idea towards Link building. How can your subject line persuade your audience to look at your link request? Think about your ideal candidate. This person actually posts links out of interest and to serve his or her readers (our results show that this person still exists and has many friends). The problem is that this person gets as much spam each day as the rest of us.
Two important guidelines here: honesty and relevance. Be honest. If you trick them into opening, you’ll evoke wrath. Do not hide the fact that it is a link request in anyway. Include the word suggestion, inquiry, addition, question, etc. Many people will delete based on these words, but that is OK. These people would not have posted your link anyway.
Realize that you are not selling your site to the individual. You are selling its relevance to the individual’s site. If the candidate buys into that relevance, he or she might visit your site and decide to add the link. Include the site name or the title of the links section to show you have been there. Then include your site name. If the connection does not seem obvious, add a relevant keyword to your name. If this makes no difference, do not send the link request.
Keep in mind that a relevant link request is not the enemy - spam is. Your open rate will improve if your audience has reason to believe your link request is relevant.
Three seconds and 40 characters. Good luck!
Posted by tom at 02:15 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Happy Birthday Google SMS
Next week, it's the first birthday of Google SMS (Short Message Service), but chances are, you haven't used it yet. While Google Mobile's Web Search is the hot young quarterback of mobile search, Google SMS is its offensive lineman, quietly getting the query jobs done, content without the column-inches of its flashy, backfield brother.
And because more than a few of us still haven't upgraded to a browser-enabled phone, it's all we have.
Google SMS is a fast, efficient way to find information about location-specific weather, businesses, phone numbers, movies, and stock quotes (remember when that was cool?). Simply type your query text and send it to 46645 (get it? GOOGL), and in less than a minute, you'll receive your query results back in the form of one or more text messages sent to your phone.
Weather. To find the current weather and four-day forcast for any US location, you can use either a ZIP code or city name. Be specific and use a state abbreviation. Type a query such as [weather las vegas nv] or [weather 90048] (don't use brackets for any of these queries).
Movies. Can't remember exactly what time the show starts, or where it's playing? Type the movie name followed by city & state, or ZIP code. For example, [serenity 10048] or [corpse bride iowa city ia] (in some cases, like the latter, using an abbreviated title still works - the entire title is "Tim Burton's Corpse Bride").
Many more. Following is a list of additional queries that work, along with relevant notes.
- [define cronyism] (Use define + term to get a definition.)
- [tractor parts lincoln ne] (A product or service, followed by a city/state combo or ZIP code searches Google Local.)
- [616] (Type an unfamiliar area code [or ZIP code] to find its location.)
- [yhoo] (Type a stock symbol to find out its current quote and trade volume.)
Airlines? Curious about what else Google SMS could do, I recently checked on the status of my own flight, using something like [northwest 645] as a query. The reply :
Looking for the flight status of Northwest Airlines 645? Sorry, flight information is not yet available.
implies that while it doesn't work right now, flight info might someday be a feature of the service.
Here's a great online demo of SMS features, and a handy wallet-sized reference card (.pdf) you can print out and keep with you.
Posted by erik at 10:35 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
September 28, 2005
Google search operators
During the sales process, a lot of people inquire about how I find their website information on Google such as site index counts, inbound link counts, etc. So I think it may be nice to share some of the advanced google search operators typically not known by the average search user. These search operators will help create a streamlined search experience that should be shared by all.
Let's start with Google index count
Go to Google and type in the following: site:www.yourdomain.com
The above search will show you exactly how many pages of a domain are currently indexed at Google. You may find your site not as indexed as you may have thought or have too many pages indexed. If you feel there are too many pages indexed at Google, you may have PDF's, Word Documents, old web pages, etc. that are being counted as indexed pages.
Now let's look at current Google link count
Go to Google and type in the following: link:www.yourdomain.com
This search operator is prompting Google to show you web pages that are currently being counted as inbound links to a particular web page. If you have sub-domains, just type in the sub-domain instead of the www. The same google search operator works with sub-directory pages as well (if that's your thing).
Onto Title searching
Let's say you are searching for an item such as "discount digital cameras" and you only want Google to return results that have the exact phrase "discount digital cameras" in the title of a page. Type in [intitle:"discount digital cameras"]. The returned results will show you only pages that have the exact phrase "discount digital cameras" in the title of their pages. If you're not interested in the exact phrase being matched in the search results, take out the quotations and search that way [intitle:discount digital cameras]
There are many more Google search operators and combination search operators available, but those are reserved for a future post.
Posted by sean at 10:22 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 27, 2005
Custom 404 Error Pages and Deceptive Error Codes
Last week, a client asked me to look into a strange search result on Yahoo. For this particular search phrase, the page listed in the Yahoo SERP had long ago been deleted. In fact, the Yahoo descriptive snippet for this page gave the typical "error" description from the client's custom 404 page:
"The page you requested may have moved or no longer exists...," etc. etc.
404 error pages sticking around in the engines' indexes is nothing new. Many clients wait 3-6 months or more for their 404 pages to drop out of Google and Yahoo. But this was different. I ran the client's URL through a header checker, and sure enough, the problem was not a stale index. The problem was a deceptive http header code.
Many webmasters believe that creating 404 error pages automatically ensures that the server automatically passes the 404 error code along with it. This isn't always the case. Here are a few examples.
Adidas error pages give the http 200 code. The 200 code means that the intended page was found, which is certainly not the case in a URL like www.adidas.com/zzzzzzzz. The error page does a meta refresh after 10 seconds back to the Adidas home page, so the user eventually arrives at navigable content. But it really should send the 404 code instead to ensure that the legacy URL gets flushed from the engine's index.
The British National Space Centre uses a 302 redirect to take the user to a page containing error copy, but that page gives the 200 error code. (Try this fictitious page to see what I mean.) So for any BNSC pages lingering in search engine indexes, the content of the first page is used to create the SERP description, and the second page is the user's ultimate destination. The problem is that engines frequently believe that both pages still belong in the index, when in reality neither does.
In the health checklist of SEO, this issue isn't equivalent to a broken leg or clogged arteries. It's more like an old football injury that flares up at inconvenient times. The most likely results of a deceptive header code on your error pages are search query results that return error copy in the SERP description, and possibly an artifically inflated index count. Neither one will kill you, but it's something you shouldn't ignore.
I've found this phenomenon to be most common on Microsoft IIS platforms, usually with .asp or .aspx pages. This doesn't mean that other platforms don't also cause the error - only that I haven't seen any non-MS instances.
Make sure that your error pages produce the proper 404 header code. To do this, create a nonsense url, such as www.mycompany.com/fake-page-name.zzz - in other words, a page that you know does not exist. Insert that URL into a header checker, such as the one at SEO Consultants or Rex Swain's HTTP Viewer. (Rex's site has been on my bookmarks list for several years now, and I use it about 10 times a day.)
If your fake URL gives any header code except a 404, it's time to roll up your sleeves and fix it. Here's a long thread about possible fixes on IIS, and WebmasterWorld has a little information about the same thing happening on an Apache server.
Posted by erik at 04:30 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
We're #1! We're #1!
The fascination with a number one ranking has been part of the American psyche since the AP first named Minnesota the top hit in 1936. The fact that it was Minnesota likely wasn't the primary factor in catapulting rankings to the forefront of the collective mind, I'm guessing, although some allowance has to be made for a potential disproportionate preponderance of Minnesotan thought-leaders influencing the culture of the time, however unlikely that may seem today. Rather, and more likely, the phenomena of having a third party point to a single entity as the best of a list was the rub that our competitive spirits just couldn't help but notice, and immediately believe to be legitimate.
Almost 70 years later we find the same inability to ignore a top ranking digitally, and not just by the companies who covet that spot; it is the fans here too, the searchers searching for the most efficient route to the best answer to their queries, who seemingly cannot look past the top spot. 42% will click nowhere else but there, according to the latest study amplifying what most search marketers routinely see in client logs.
I believe this phenomenon stretches back to polls like the one I mentioned because I have seen it to be this way digitally across the lifespan of this industry and across every industry that we have ever tried to help gain a top spot at Intrapromote. When we have succeeded we really never even needed the confirmation of a rankings check the traffic surge was so obvious, and when a top spot slips even to number two there also is the same obvious reason to try to quickly regain, as the likelihood of a click plummets to 8%. 42 - 8 is a point spread Minnesota circa 1936 would even have had a tough time surmounting, black hat or non.
Posted by john at 12:21 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 26, 2005
Baseball's Magic Number
If you happen to be a baseball fan this is the week that you live for all season. The final week, a time for playoff baseball before the playoffs.
If you root for a team that is contending for the playoffs you are well aware of the term "Magic Number". I happen to be a Cleveland Indians fan and have been following them rather closely as of late, and have been intriuged by how they calculate a magic number.
I searched all over the internet only to come up short in my quest for a good definition until, I found a footnote on the Major League Baseball standings page (go figure). Here is the note in part:
"...The Elimination Number for a particular team is determined by adding their number of losses to the number of wins for the team leading the division, and subtracting that total from 163. The Elimination Number for the second place team is the "Magic Number" for the first place team...."
Well, there are a lot of numbers flying around, magic or not, but what really counts is what the players do on the field. So buy me some peanuts and crackerjacks, and let's have some fun watching the final week of the season.
Go Tribe!
Posted by brent at 09:20 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
September 23, 2005
Web Site Redesign: Avoiding A Category 5 Storm
A major redesign of your web site can hit your search engine rankings, traffic, and conversions like a category 5 hurricane. However, there are some critical things you can do to cool the waters and downgrade your redesign to a tropical storm.
Keep in mind that if your URLs are going to change, this will affect your search rankings, traffic, and conversions. But, if you take proper precautions both before and after your redesigned site launches, you'll weather the storm just fine.
Here are some important things to consider and do:
Keep The Faucet On
Make sure your design team creates a new custom 404 page. This will ensure you capture visitors who arrive from old page links at the engines instead of them getting a "Page Not Found". We recommend the 404 page be a sitemap so the visitor can choose exactly where they'd like to go. See our custom 404 page as an example.
Tell The Engines Where To Go
Remember that your old URLs are likely in the search engine's index. If these URLs change with your redesign, you have to tell the search engines where to find the new URLs. The best way to direct a search engine to a new page is with a 301 permanent redirect. If you want more details on how to do this, see James' post "Implementing a 301 Server-Side Redirect"
Don't Forget The SEO
Make sure your design team doesn't leave the SEO behind when they create new pages. Be sure that the optimization code and text content is not overlooked or stripped out when your new URLs are created.
Get Indexed
During the first few months after the redesigned site goes live, be sure to closely monitor Google, MSN, and Yahoo! to make sure the new pages get indexed correctly. If new pages are not indexed within the first few weeks, some manual search engine submissions may be needed.
Don't Forget Other Inbound Links
Take a close look at how other web sites link to you. If the pages they link to have new URLs, make sure to notify them so these links can be updated.
Posted by doug at 01:50 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
September 22, 2005
David Manning Link Building School Opens its Doors!
Famous movie critic David Manning has thrown his animated hand into the evolving world of Link Building. How can this rather abstract movie critic offer improvement to your link building campaign? I think there is plenty to learn from the similarities between Link Building and Movie Criticism, in addition to the storied existence of David Manning.
Link Building, in principle, is very similar to movie criticism. A link is a vote of recommendation. The more recommendations a site has, the better the site must be (perceptional value, anyway). I am more likely to go to a movie if somebody tells me it is a good movie, especially if the person is an authority on movies such as a movie critic. A link recommendation is also more meaningful when it comes from an authority on the subject, and as in movies, the more authorities making the recommendation the better.
The need for recommendations to generate traffic has affected the Web in the same manner it has affected the movies. Sites desperate for recommendations tend to forget the significance of authority level and subject relation. I will see any movie Roger Ebert recommends, but I would not buy lingerie for my wife based on his recommendation.
Enter David Manning. Better yet, enter the Sony Studio Executives. Faced with movies for which even 3rd class movie critics (authority levels vary – pay attention to superlative-saturated commercials for Summer Blockbusters) would not vote, Sony created David Manning, and the recommendations were outstanding!
The David Manning School of Link Building is now open, and students are evident across the Web in the form of sites created with the soul purpose of linking to a site. Now a site created to serve a subject or a geographical area is wonderful. Such link sites serve a useful purpose. However, a link from a site lacking useful and unique, subject-related content is as valuable as a David Manning recommendation.
Keep one thing in mind, whether you are promoting a movie or a Web site. The best way to get recommendations is to have a good product. Would you recommend the product if you were not already associated with it? Do not ask for recommendations until you can confidently answer in the positive.
Posted by tom at 12:14 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 21, 2005
Faster Searching with Firefox
Statistics show that if you're reading this blog, you're more likely to be a Firefox Web Browser user than typical web surfers. Over 35% of our readers use Firefox or its Mozilla counterpart, while at the Intrapromote site, the number is less than 7%. Chances are you're very search-oriented, so I wanted to share some Firefox tricks that make my searching much more efficient.
I love toolbars, but I'm not crazy about the amount of screen real estate they consume. And even with Firefox's multiple tabs, I don't like always having one or more tabs devoted to search. I was poking around the Firefox docs and was happy to learn that the browser comes with built-in search capabilities, and additional capabilities that enable you to configure further searches.
The Address Bar in your browser (the field at the top of the browser that shows the URL of the site you're visiting) can become a de facto Google Search box simply by typing the term google, followed by your actual search query. The following graphic shows a query on everyone's mind:
Hit Return, and you'll get a Google page with query results for [britney spears baby], just as if you'd typed the query from the Google site.
But why do I have to type the entire word "google"? Couldn't we improve that a bit?
Turns out we can. This feature is based on one of Firefox's "Quick Searches" bookmarks. If you came of age with Microsoft products, it's unlikely you know about these, because in my opinion, they're much better labeled as tools or macros than bookmarks, and I until now, the coolest thing ever found while poking around a list of pre-installed browser bookmarks was 10,000 free hours of AOL.
I wanted to query Google simply by typing g followed by the query terms. To do so, follow these steps.
1. Open the Bookmarks Manager by clicking Bookmarks -> Manage Bookmarks...
2. Click the + sign to open up the Quick Searches folder.
3. Right-click "Google Quicksearch" and select "Properties"
4. In the "Keyword" field of the Properties box, replace google with g, as shown in the following graphic:
5. Hit "OK", then close the Bookmarks Manager.
That's all there is to it. Now just type g and your search terms into the Address Bar, hit Return, and you're instantly searching Google. But what about Yahoo and MSN? You'll have to create two new bookmarks in the Quick Searches folder. To create a new bookmark, right-click the Google Quicksearch page within the Quick Searches folder, and select New Bookmark.... In the resulting properties window, use the following code to create Quick Searches for Yahoo and MSN:
For Yahoo:
Name: Yahoo Quick Search
Location: http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=%s
Keyword: y
For MSN:
Name: MSN Quick Search
Location: http://search.msn.com/results.aspx?q=%s
Keyword: m
After you've created these Quick Searches, your current browser tab is a fast gateway to any major search engine. Just type g, y, or m, followed by your search terms, to query Google, Yahoo, or MSN, respectively.
Another helpful (and existing!) Quick Search is for Wikipedia. Use the letters wp, followed by your search terms, to query Wikipedia.
Posted by erik at 01:15 PM | Comments (0)
Pay Per Phone Call Advertising
It’s time to dish out some numbers and information about the PPP (Pay Per Phone Call) advertising service.
According to the Kelsey Group, PPP could reach up to $4 billion in 2009. That sure is a lot of bling bling that will make service providers and advertisers alike dance and sing.
Last year, Ingenio reported $70 million in revenue and in some cases, advertisers were paying anywhere from just a few bucks up to $40 per phone call!
As it stands today, PPP pricing can be either a fixed dollar amount rate per call or an auction based system like that found with a traditional AdWords or Yahoo! Search Marketing PPC campaign. No word yet if PPP companies will choose one model over the other or perhaps leverage both. I personally like the flat rate simply because ROI analysis would be ever so simplified and makes budgeting less of a headache.
The PPP model is an emerging service that will quickly become a primary online marketing tactic. The reason this service is so HOT and will continue to gain market share is because its easier to understand and quantify and isn't limited to certain businesses. As a matter of fact, Pay Per Phone Call can be leveraged by businesses that don't even have a website! One can obviously see the potential advantage with PPP Vs. PPC, but of course, I'm a huge fan of both.
Sorry I don't have more information to share at this time, but I plan on keeping a VERY close eye on pay per phone call advertising and reporting my findings back to the blogosphere as I come across fresh information.
Viva La PPP!!!
Posted by sean at 10:19 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
September 20, 2005
Battelle's "The Search" on FT's Short List
John Battelle just announced that his recently released book, The Search, has been included in the Financial Times' list of finalists for "Book of the Year." Congratulations to John.
No word on whether the winner of the FT prize will be awarded a free, invisible text link from the Financial Times site...
Posted by erik at 03:42 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
AOL/MSN vs. Google and Yahoo?
The Associated Press today is reporting that MSN and Time Warner (AOL) are in discussions about a potential partnership "...that would help the two companies better compete against rivals Google and Yahoo".
Also, "...one aspect of the talks centered on using Microsoft's new MSN search engine on AOL, replacing AOL's current relationship with Google."
It is certainly interesting to hear about these two (formerly?) bitter rivals talking about becoming partners in the battle against the big boys, Yahoo and Google.
We'll have more to say about this if the partnership looks like it will become a reality.
Posted by doug at 12:29 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 19, 2005
What's the word, Thunderbird
What's the word, Thunderbird. How’s it sold, free!
(For those of you not ummmmm ‘cultured’ enough to recognize the above as the jingle for the Thunderbird “wine� you can skip past this history link (bumwine.com) and right to the heart of this post)
For the past several weeks now we have been giving Mozilla's email client, called Thunderbird a try. And so far I'd give it 4 out of 5 stars. Nothing is perfect, unless of course you're a Mac fan in which case everything Mac does is perfection personified, but this is a pretty nice program. I won't go into detail about all that it offers, as they do a pretty good job of that on their web site (Mozilla-Thunderbird). But I would like to blog briefly about why I like it and hopefully it will give you some insight into it, and whether or not you'd like to try it out. 
First and foremost I like the fact that it's not Microsoft. Now I am not a "hater", but rather someone who doesn't like having limited choices and always hearing about the latest security issue for my Microsoft program. This coupled with the fact that Thunderbird is opensource gives me a sense that this program will be smiled upon by the internet powers that be. Or at least not hacked as much as the Microsoft haters out there.
Secondly, I love all of the extensions that you can add onto the program. My personal favorite is the one called QuoteColors that allows you to view responses to your email in heirarchial view, coded by color and indentation. This makes it much easier to follow email conversations.
Last, but not least, I like how easy it is to learn and use. It was very easy to install and get running. It automatically imported my address book and all of my emails from my prior email client. Granted I had to re-sort them all, but it was a great excuse to clean house and get rid of all those buy.com coupons I never used.
Overall, I've been pleased with Thunderbird. It's not perfect, but it does what I want without a lot of fluff and fanfare. That's my bottom line. Keep it simple!
V5
If you have any cool tools and/or sites that you would like to submit for possible blog publishing please send it to me, or simply leave a comment.
Posted by brent at 09:16 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 16, 2005
Just Do It: Make Your Site Search Engine Friendly
Every day, senior level staff perform highly relevant queries at Google to see if the company’s site appears in the top few results. Upon seeing that the site isn’t on page #1 at Google, a good share of these folks become irritated and fire off an email, demanding an answer from the subordinate responsible for search engine marketing.
It may go something like this:
Linda,
We still are not in the top three at Google for “x�. Please advise ASAP!
Steve
...or...
Linda,
We are getting killed at Google by our main competitor. Please advise ASAP!
Steve
I’m convinced this happens hundreds of times each week in businessland.
From an agency who specializes in SEO, what we’ve seen many times is a tendency for some companies to practice selective listening when it comes to recommendations that require them to make critical changes to their site to improve its search engine friendliness.
Are you one of those frustrated senior level people?
Have your people or your SEO Firm recommended changes to your site to make it more spiderable or search engine friendly and it just hasn’t been implemented?
Are you sticking with the same site architecture and continuing to add pages to your site that handicap its search engine performance?
Should your next email be?…..
Hi Linda,
Let’s meet today about making those changes to make our site friendlier to the search engines.
Steve
Posted by doug at 12:20 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 15, 2005
Google Backlinks vs. Google Indexed Pages
In a recent post, the Maestro illustrates the problem with focusing entirely on Google backlinks. He is discussing the noble “deconstruction of 2,690 links to George W. Bush,� which shows an even split between legit links and google bombs.
The problem is, Google only reports a slice of whatever links point at a particular page.
Go over to MSN Search, and it has nearly 30,000 links point at that page. Google certainly knows of around this many and uses them as part of the ranking process. It simply doesn't report them all, as any experience search marketer knows. The analysis is skewed by not taking that into account. It operates using partial data.
Most link building campaigns try to win the partial data war. You must realize that Google knows about much more data than they show. If google indexes the page, they will see the text link. It’s reasonable to assume that most of the other 27,000 MSN backlinks are indexed by google, and are impacting the performance of the bio page for [miserable failure].
It is a simple distinction. Do not focus on Google backlinks. Focus on Google indexed pages and keyword-rich text links.
Posted by tom at 12:16 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 14, 2005
Pay-Per-Call Frenzy
It appears the SEO industry is entering a new era of search engine marketing with Pay-Per-Call advertising. Pay Per Call is a performance-based system that charges advertisers on a per-call basis as opposed to Pay Per Click which charges advertisers a per-click fee. This new form of SEM could and most likely will be HUGE!
Several months ago, FindWhat was the first search engine to enter the Pay-Per-Call arena and since then, AOL jumped on board. Both companies currently utilize Ingenio’s ingenious pay-per-call model and it seems to be working well for both the search engines and advertisers.
Other search engines wanting to embrace Pay-Per-Call are Google and MSN. Rumor has it that Google and MSN are gearing up their technologies to add Pay-Per-Call to their arsenal for advertisers, but no beta or launch dates have been published or forecasted.
I don’t understand why one of these engines didn’t just buy Skype while they had the opportunity. By not moving quickly, they have lost acquisition potential for this top-tier Pay-Per-Call service company as eBay recently purchased Skype for $2.6 billion dollars.
I have a feeling eBay is going to take Pay-Per-Call beyond search advertising and create even more performance-based advertising potential in areas we can’t even imagine just yet. Time will tell.
There is no acronym available for this new SEM model, so I think I’ll call it PPP (pay-per-phone-call).
I will follow up on this new advertising platform as time progresses and look forward to seeing this new SEM model flourish in the months and years to come.
Posted by sean at 01:06 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Google Adds Blog Search Engine
SearchDay tells us that Google's Blog Search is now online in beta stage. I'm looking forward to testing it for freshness and depth.
You can access the engine here (with a traditional Google interface) or here (with a Blogger interface). Either way, it's the same engine returning the same data. I did several random searches to confirm this, because my initial fear was that the Blogger search interface returned results only from Blogger sites, which is not the case.
To get your blog "found," Google says it's necessary only to publish a site feed in any popular format and to ping at least one popular service. Speedwagon runs on Movable Type, so we ping several sites after each post. However, I'll test the Pingomatic service recommended in the SearchDay article and report the results to see which is faster and more reliable.
The Google Blogsearch FAQ says the query box supports "all of the standard Google Search operators," including link: , site: , and intitle:. I found this not necessarily true. a search for [site:seoblog.intrapromote.com] to return no results, while a simple search for [seo speedwagon] returned about 37 - not a full crawl, but fairly representative of our current site.
While the site: command doesn't seem to work to give a full index count of a blog, it does seem to work in conjunction with another search term. In other words, a search for [link building site:seoblog.intrapromote.com] does return pretty accurate results.
What Does All This Mean for You?
Typically, niche bloggers find and report stories long before major news outlets because they aren't tied down by annoying constraints such as "fact-checking" and "source confirmation."
Lame humor aside, as a searcher, you'll probably find this service to return much fresher results on very hot topics.
For our clients with whom we're consulting on blog-building and maintenance, it's yet another potential traffic source, and we're excited about the possibilities. More to come.
Posted by erik at 06:37 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 13, 2005
Implementing a 301 Server-Side Redirect
There could be many reasons why you may need to use a 301 server-side redirect. Usually having to do with a site redesign, pages that no longer exist, branding issues, marketing campaigns and/or a new domain name.
Server-side redirects are the safe way (as opposed to the meta refresh technique) to transfer your traffic to the new site while still retaining your search engine rankings.
The Moved Permanently directive in the HTTP header tells the spider that the page they crawled has permanently relocated to a new URL. Telling the spider to disregard the URL they crawled and index the new one instead.
It will take usually 6-8 weeks to see the old site drop from the rankings and the new site indexed. In the meantime you will probably see fluctuations in your rankings and/or traffic until things settle down to a comfortable level.
How To Implement a 301 Re-direct
Implementing a 301 redirect is actually pretty simple. First, you download the .htaccess file from your server's root directory. If there is no .htaccess file present then go ahead and make one in notepad and save as .htaccess (just as it appears, no extension). Upload it to your root directory after you've made the changes.
Second, place the following code in the .htaccess file:
redirect 301 /index.html http://www.newsite.com/index.html
* The initial command must be the path to the file name of the old page (/index.html)
* That is followed by a space
* The final command must be the full URL of the new page (http://www.newsite.com/index.html)
(If there is already code present in the .htaccess file, double return (skip a place) at the bottom and add the 301 code there.
Third, re-upload the file to the server's root directory and you're good to go!
Of course when redesigning and transitioning to a new site there are many items to consider as it relates to Search-Friendly Design and "SEO Before the Site". These are topics that I'll cover in future post or you can email me any specific questions you may have regarding this topic.
In my next post I'll talk about how to create and implement custom 404 pages. This is an excellent way to help those potentially lost customers find what they are looking for, before they click the dreaded back button.
Happy Trails, Amigos!
James Gunn
Posted by james at 08:03 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
September 12, 2005
ROI for Search Engine Marketing
Return On Investment (ROI) has been a key measurement of success ever since, dare I say, there has been commerce. ROI can be calculated many different ways, but the basis for every determination is the definition.
Whether you are the business owner or an e-marketing manager, correctly defining ROI for your campaign will help you to decide if you are meeting your goals. So, how should you define ROI for your campaign?
As stated earlier, ROI can be calculated many different ways. There are also many definitions for it ranging from technical accounting definitions to (in my view) simpler and more applicable investment definitions. One of my favorites, which captures the simplicity and essence of what most people identify with when they mention ROI, is this:
“The percentage of profit made on an investment.� (quoted from Cnet News.com Investor)
With this definition in mind, here are some basic guidelines for effectively using ROI as a measuring stick for the success of your campaigns.
1. Clarity:
I’m an accountant by trade. One of the things that I find that can cause confusion, disappointment, and even anger is when two (or more) people involved with the same investment have different measures of success. A quick example would be a campaign where one person’s view of a successful campaign might be site visitors who go past the landing page, while another’s view of success is how many site visitors see the landing page. This difference in goals can have a big impact on the focus and overall effectiveness of the campaign. The lesson here is to communicate, communicate, communicate. Don’t worry about clarifying or “over-communicating� your definition of success. Make sure everyone is on the same page. It is a good practice to actually list the definition of success along with the results of a campaign so that all can be clear about the definition.
2. Keep it simple:
When trying to calculate the success of a campaign, there will be lots of numbers and percentages. These are very important, but if not taken in doses, they can be overwhelming. Be careful to keep your definition of ROI handy when looking at all of these because they can divert your attention from your original goal and focus. Also, if your ROI calculation has too many variables, it could either point you in the wrong direction or simply be a waste of time. Try to trim down your calculation of ROI and see if there is a simpler, or shorter, way to come up with it. One final note, when looking for a shorter way to calculate ROI, keep in mind your margin for perfection, i.e., if you can get to within a certain % of your ROI number, and cut out 5 steps, or an hour of calculation time, it may be worth it. It’s also a good idea to re-visit #1 and keep everyone on the same page.
3. Try different measurements:
Perspective is an often overlooked and much maligned term. It is used a lot in this context: “to put it in perspective, we lost 5% more last period in this category as well�. If you try thinking of perspective like an artist who looks at things from more than one perspective, you may gather different understandings of the same thing. For example, I once was able to attend a professional basketball game and was privileged to sit in the second row. I had been to games before, but I was always much further away from the court and players. While in the “cheap seats�, I was in awe of how they moved and how they played, it seemed graceful and effortless. When I sat in the second row I was still in awe, but for different reasons. Now I could see how big the players actually are. From the cheap seats they were all together so they didn’t look any different than the people around them, but when I got up close I couldn’t believe how big they actually were. Needless to say, it squashed all of my fantasies in which I would imagine that “I could hang with them�. Not to say that they weren’t graceful, but suddenly they didn’t seem quite as graceful, nor did it seem effortless either. What changed? My perspective. In reviewing your campaign ROI, don’t be afraid to look at it from different perspectives. Be careful to make sure that your perspective matches your goal, or else you may end up with very incongruous results. By doing this, you may find benefits from the campaign that you never knew were there.
Finally, let me say the ROI can be a very effective, bottom-line, type of measurement for your campaign. Make sure due diligence is performed when determining how you are going to measure ROI before starting, and while planning, your campaign. This will help everyone involved to work together for the success of your campaign.
Posted by brent at 12:45 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
At Matt Cutts' Blog, Comment is King
It's probably no surprise that I enjoy Matt Cutts' blog; I've referred to it in several posts already. He offers a view inside Google that is impossible to find elsewhere on the Web. Sadly, though (for SEOs, at least), one gets the feeling that for every cookie of knowledge he tosses out to the starving masses, he's holding back a hundred cakes.
As an armchair anthropologist (and a bit of an Op/Ed freak), I enjoy examining various bloggers based on the comments left by readers. The love/hate relationship so many webmasters have with Google exposes some pretty interesting societal archetypes. Following is a rough sketch of the personality types I've seen in the comments section of Matt's posts, along with a fictitious example of each.
1. I hate you; now kiss me! Exhibiting Google love/hate in its purest form, this poster is typically critical at first but by the end of the comment, realizes that some diplomacy is in order.
...Sure, I understand about potential problems with duplicated content, but pardon me if I get a bit upset when GOOGLE, the MOTHER OF ALL SCRAPER SITES, starts telling me about content I AM AND AM NOT ALLOWED TO SHOW ON MY OWN SITE.
BTW, thanks for making this blog - I love it! Keep it up!!
2. The Non-Sequitourist. Any foot in the door will do, if you're looking for Google algo data. Also known as the "(Out of) Left-Fielder."
...Hey Matt, great post about the best places to get sushi in Palo Alto. Why won't Google just publish the penalty threshold for rapid accumulation of non-thematic backlinks?
3. Jack (World Wide) Webb. The true gearheads prefer just the facts, ma'am. And keep 'em coming.
...Matt, thanks for the 1200-word post about linkage and authority sites. Hey, when you get a chance, could you give us similar info on non-.htaccess-based 301 solutions, a timeline and upate on the 302 pagejacking issue, and the likelihood of penalty based on puchase and repopulation of previously blacklisted, post-sandbox domains?
No hurry - later today is fine. Thanks man!
4. Sigmund Schadenfreude. Taking pleasure in the pain of others is a blogosphere staple. Matt's blog is no exception, especialy due to the pain (both real and imagined) that Google causes some webmasters.
...Wow, Matt, sorry that your little blog server was down for 3 hours and that you're being plagued with comment spam. Guess maybe you know how I'm feeling. Oh wait - no you don't, because your Adsense income didn't drop by 70% after the Bourbon update, forcing you to revamp your entire affiliate program and take a part-time job in a Chevron station. If that happens to you, THEN you'll know how I feel.
ps: love the blog! great work!
Posted by erik at 06:44 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
September 08, 2005
Vintage Search Engine Spam
I am amazed at the number of web sites who still use invisible text to keyword stuff their web pages. This antique, black hat, SEO spam technique is like a nagging, 4-year-old canker sore that won't heal.
One of my favorite examples is the Gulf Coast Spas site.
On their home page, scroll down to the bottom of the page. See the light blue horizontal bar? Now hold down the Control and "A" buttons on your keyboard (this will show you just the text on the page).
Ba da bing! Your browser should now show you the hidden text that makes its home in that blue horizontal bar. This text is the exact same color as that blue bar. In HTML-speak, it's font color="#d2d2d2".
What text does a search engine spider see when it visits this page? Exactly what you see when you hit Control-A:
gulf coast spas gulf coast spa coast gulf spas coast gulf spa gulfcoast spas gulfcoast spa superior spas auqaclara spa covers hot tub covers spa filters hot tub filters aquaclara home spa jacuzzi sundance spas dealers nation wide Gulf Coast Spas Gulf Coast Spa Coast Gulf Spas Coast Gulf Spa Gulfcoast Spas Gulfcoast Spa Superior Spas AquaClara Spa Covers Hot Tub Covers Spa Filters Hot Tub Filters Home Spa Jacuzzi Sundance Spas Dealers Nation Wide gulf coast spas gulf coast spa coast gulf spas coast gulf spa gulfcoast spas, gulfcoast spa superior spas superior spa spa covers hot tub covers spa filters hot tub filters aquaclara home spa jacuzzi sundance spas dealers nation wide Gulf Coast Spas Gulf Coast Spa Coast Gulf Spas Coast Gulf Spa Gulfcoast Spas Gulfcoast Spa, Superior Spas Superior Spa Spa Covers Hot Tub Covers Spa Filters Hot Tub Filters Home Spa Jacuzzi Sundance Spas Dealers Nation Wide gulf coast spas gulf coast spa coast gulf spas coast gulf spa gulfcoast spas gulfcoast spa superior spas superior spa spa covers hot tub covers spa filters hot tub filters aquaclara home spa jacuzzi sundance spas dealers nation wide Gulf Coast Spas Gulf Coast Spa Coast Gulf Spas Coast Gulf Spa Gulfcoast Spas Gulfcoast Spa Superior Spas Superior Spa Spa Covers Hot Tub Covers Spa Filters Hot Tub Filters Home Spa Jacuzzi Sundance Spas Dealers Nation Wide gulf coast spas gulf coast spa coast gulf spas coast gulf spa gulfcoast spas, aquaclara superior spas superior spa spa covers hot tub covers spa filters hot tub filters aquaclara home spa jacuzzi sundance spas aquaclara dealers nation wide Gulf Coast Spas Gulf Coast Spa Coast Gulf Spas Coast Gulf Spa Gulfcoast Spas AquaClara, Superior Spas Superior Spa Spa Covers Hot Tub Covers Spa Filters Hot Tub Filters Home Spa Jacuzzi Sundance Spas Dealers Nation Wide AquaClara
Pathetic. Notice they even include competitor names. And yes, if you click on the main navigation links on the left, the same invisible text resides on these pages as well. Hey, if you're going to spam, why be shy about it?
All the major engines tell web designers to "avoid" hidden text and call it search engine spam. I guess with the billions of web pages that now reside on the web, you're bound to still find pages like this. But, I still sigh and grin a little when I find one.
Do you know of a site that still uses vintage search engine spam techniques? Let me know.
Posted by doug at 05:06 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
Building Links with Google Search Operators and Google Alerts
You probably know that google search operators provide an excellent platform for building links to your site. You should look at any pages linking to your competitors [link:www.yourcompetitor.com/] in search of potential link candidates. You should also look at backlinks with the other search engines, but realize these are not nearly as filtered, which has both positives and negatives associated.
Google Alerts represent a good way to keep track of the new links to your site. Enter the backlink search operator [link:www.yoursite.com/] as your search term, and change the type to “web.� You will be notified whenever google adds to your list of backlinks. Let this also serve as a reminder to check your competitor links for candidates, once again, as they also will have been updated.
Obviously, there is much more to link building, but the above is a good way to build links on a small scale when your clock and budget prohibit other means.
Posted by tom at 01:59 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
September 07, 2005
SEM Study: Too Little ROI Tracking in Employee Evaluation
iProspect and JupiterResearch just announced the iProspect Search Marketer Performance Study.
The gist of the report is that too many companies (about 60%) use the same short-sighted metrics to evaluate the people in charge of their SEM campaigns that they use to evaluate the campaigns themselves - typically rankings and traffic, as opposed to genuine ROI/conversion tracking. The study finds, however, that as SEM budgets increase (it uses $1M as a fence), the likelihood of using ROI to evaluate marketers does increase.
It's good information and I strongly recommend a look. I do, however, take slight issue with how some of the data is presented. The study was based on responses to the following question:
Which of the following natural or paid search marketing metrics are taken into account when your company is evaluating your job performance?
In addition to the option of selecting "ROI from search marketing" as a choice, many of the other choices seem to represent potential subsets of ROI tracking, such as "Return on advertising spend," "Number of leads generated for products sold online," and "Customer acquisition cost." Respondents were free to select as many choices as needed. However, it seems possible that when given both vague and specific choices, the respondent might choose only the most specific metric, which might artificially lower the number of companies that appear to use ROI to evaluate job performance.
Finally, another possible response to the survey question caught my eye: Brand impact. Some studies have shown that brand impact via search results is, in itself, a viable return on investment - particularly when the brand site does not have an ecommerce component, and particularly when the sites displaced on the results page are either amateurish enthusiast sites or derogatory in nature.
Still, though, take a look at the study.
Posted by erik at 11:03 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 06, 2005
Hurricane Katrina and Fast-Acting Search Results
When I added the Red Cross ad to the blog recently (please give to some type of rescue organization if you're able!), I was curious about the flurry of activity surrounding Katrina over the last week, and to what extent it had affected organic results pages. Unlike specific news engines (where I typically get my news), the organic algos are generally a little more sluggish (or stable, depending on your worldview). Still, when comparing results for [katrina] at large engines, I noticed several interesting results.
First, an analysis of the first page of Google results for the query [katrina]:
1. Red Cross root page (www.redcross.org). The #1 ranking for this site is due in large part their massive viral banner campaign (which we found out about thanks to Threadwatch). Also at play here, in my opinion, is the phrase "katrina" in close proximity to the link to redcross.org in blogs and news stories. For example, "To help victims of Hurricane Katrina, please give to the Red Cross." This "proximity credit" is an ages-old part of the algo that accounts for web coders who use "click here" as anchor text instead of the nearby money phrase.
2. National Weather Service's National Hurricane Center and Tropical Depression Predictor (nhc.noaa.gov). In case you're curious, the NOAA stands for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. If you're familiar with American bureaucracy, it should be no surprise that the NOAA is part of the US Department of (wait for it...) Commerce. The NOAA site, an XML/RSS smorgasbord, is to serious weather chasers what Slashdot is to 30-year-old gadget freaks living in their parents' basements. Plenty of legacy link pop here, probably using link text like Hurricane Katrina, since weather enthusiasts are keen to note (and anchor) the difference between tropical storm, tropical depression, hurricane, and so on. Also note that this site ranks in the top spot for [hurricane katrina] and [tropical storm katrina], so it's been building momentum for a while.
3. Wikipedia entry for Hurricane Katrina (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Katrina). Yahoo shows over 24,000 links to this page, and at least right now, Wiki can do very little wrong in Google's eyes.
4. Home page of an on-the-ball web developer whose name is actually Katrina (katrina.com). She's had the domain for the better part of a decade, and probably had the top rank until about a week or so ago. Kudos to her - she's taken advantage of her rank to show tons of missing persons and disaster relief information. (Question to self: What's the moral and semantic opposite of a scraper called?)
5. Weather.com homepage (weather.com). Certainly helped by current radar images, slide shows, and the accompanying incoming links to those features. And it doesn't hurt that a "synonym search" at Google for [~hurricane] shows "weather" as a bolded phrase - meaning that Google's algo considers them very similar terms. LSI, anyone?
6. A Red Cross credit card contribution page tied to a specific site. Hard to say why Google picked this specific iteration of the "Contribute" page without further investigation. The link redirects from www to give.redcross.org, so the second subdomain (or maybe the https protocol) is probably the reason it's not an indented entry under the first Red Cross result at #1.
7. Official site of Katrina and the Waves (katw.com), '80s pop group behind such hits as "Walking on Sunshine" and ... um ...
8. See #7, but this time (katrinasweb.com) it's the personal site of the band's lead singer. Entries 7 and 8 are like the Moe Green of [katrina] - making their bones when the Red Cross and National Weather Service were going out with cheerleaders.
9. FEMA (fema.gov), likely helped along by some linking discussing their handling of the hurricane aftermath.
10. Local New Orleans TV station (wwltv.com) offering a prolific blog about events in the city as they happen. Yahoo shows about 16,000 links directly to this page, and over 72,000 to the domain.
So what's the moral here? Google loves links - all shapes, sizes, and locations. Linking during national crises is a hyperbolized version of natural linking. It happens more quickly and in greater numbers. Still, there appears to be no temporary link devaluation (TLD) or backlink over-optimization devaluation (BLOOD) going on here. Is the onslaught of new links spread out over enough sites as to appear natural (which it is), even with the accelerated timeframe? Apparently so, assuming there's no manual intervention going on.
In my next post, I'll tear apart Yahoo's SERP for the same query.
Posted by erik at 10:32 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 02, 2005
Envelope Please
We don't often toot our horn here at Intrapromote, but I have something today that is definitely "toot worthy".
I'll let the press release do the talking:
American Honda Recognizes Search Engine Marketing Firm Intrapromote
As A Top Supplier With Premier Partner Award
TORRANCE, Calif., August 30, 2005 – American Honda Motor Co., Inc. President and CEO Koichi Kondo today presented the company’s Premier Partner Award to Intrapromote, LLC of Cleveland, Ohio for excellence in search engine optimization (SEO) for American Honda's family of Web sites. Intrapromote has worked with Honda since 2003 and oversees SEO programs for sites ranging from Acura and Honda Cars to Honda's Financial Services and Power Equipment sites. Intrapromote was one of 15 award recipients selected from 51 suppliers nominated by American Honda associates nationwide.
The Premier Partner Awards were established in 1998 to recognize suppliers who embrace American Honda’s philosophy of exceeding customer expectations. The award winners represent excellence in a variety of industries including automobile batteries, railway transportation, information technology services, marketing services and much more. “Honda’s global success is directly related to our core philosophy of delivering the highest possible value to our customers through quality products and customer service,� said Gary Kessler, American Honda’s senior vice president of human resources and administration. “Today we acknowledge select suppliers who share in our philosophy and thank them for their dedication to American Honda’s quality commitment.�
Honda is one of the world's leading producers of mobility products including its diverse line-up of automobiles, motorcycles and ATVs, power products, marine engines and personal watercraft. Honda is the world's preeminent engine-maker, with annual worldwide production of more than 19 million engines. On a global basis, Honda has more than 130 manufacturing facilities in 29 nations.
Honda began operations in North America in 1959 with the establishment of American Honda Motor Co., Inc., Honda's first overseas subsidiary. Honda began assembling motorcycles in America in 1979, with U.S. automobile manufacturing starting in 1982. Honda now employs more than 26,000 Americans in the design, manufacture and marketing of its products in America. Honda currently builds products in 12 manufacturing plants in North America, with three major R&D centers in the U.S.
Intrapromote is a privately held search engine optimization company headquartered in the Midwest with offices across the U.S. Sparked by disenchantment with conventional marketing methodologies and a desire to rewrite traditional Internet promotion, Intrapromote was created in 1999 as a consortium of experts in search engine optimization, online and offline marketing, programming, and publishing.
Toot toot!
Posted by doug at 02: