SEO ShootOut

The ‘Pinocchio Effect’ in Search

DougBedell — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 15:00:10 +0000

Jennifer Laycock, of Search Engine Guide, begins a fascinating six-part blog series on the “Pinocchio Effect” in search. By that she means “…deep down, search engines want nothing more than to be real boys (or girls). That’s right, it’s that simple. As search engine engineers gain more and more ability to tailor the algorithms, their ultimate goal is to help the search engines make choices the way that people do.”

Jennifer’s seeks to explain where this sort of “humanistic” thinking leads in terms of search strategy. Since aspects of human development are ever-changing and approximate, search becomes a fertile field for both pertinent and opportunistic spiels.

Five Special-Function Search Engines

DougBedell — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 16:32:07 +0000

Here are five offbeat search engine paths, courtesy of Search Engine Land:

• Track This Now - A news search engine that tracks results geographically on Google Maps.

• StateStats - Shows the populatirty of any search term on a state-by-state basis. For example, states in the southeast U.S. tend to do the most searches for ”Walmart”.

• Jogli - A music search engine claiming to have 12 million albums and 500 million songs on hand.

• 2itch - A local search engine listing businesses that are open 24-hours-a-day, on a Google Maps interface.

• Ninja Tickets - A ticket site that attempts to spot the best values in tickets on other ticket-selling sites. Includes a Price Rating tool.

Two SEO Conferences in February

DougBedell — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 15:51:43 +0000

Here are the speakers and programs for two big SEO conferences virtually back-to-back and an ocean (the Atlantic) apart next month. First there’s the SMX West search marketing conference in Santa Clara, CA, February 10-12. And then SES (Search Engine Strategies) in London February 17-20. A time of recession is especially germane for polishing up search engine knowledge, if you can afford the tab for either conference.

SEO Traffic Growth Flowchart

Chris Bailey — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 18:16:30 +0000

I’m a visual person so this easily qualifies as one of the better practical explanations for how SEO works and how you can start using it today. If you’re a relative newcomer to the world of SEO, take a look at this diagram created by Aaron Wall at SEO Book:

[full flowchart]

Why Microsoft Doesn’t ‘Get’ Search

DougBedell — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 14:55:39 +0000

Here’s Danny Sullivan’s heartfelt meditation on why Microsoft doesn’t succeed with search – its heart isn’t in the technology, only its appetite for the dollars it yields. Danny, of course, is editor-in-chief of Search Engine Land and has been covering search since 1996.

Danny laments that he hasn’t been able to get Bill Gates or Steve Balmer to speak at his search conferences, while their rivals at Google, Yahoo! and Ask have accepted his invitations to mix it up with the search community. But it’s not just a question of shunning conferences – it’s a failure, in Danny’s sense of it, to view search as a deeply relational technology, a technique in the service of destiny. Big stakes, indeed.

Tell-a-Friend as a Viral Marketing Tool

Kimberleeferrell — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 12:00:27 +0000

Allow your readers to promote your website with the new Tell-a-Friend service. By adding a simple widget to your site, your visitors can share your pages with any of their friends, as well as with social media sites such as Digg.

For a premium, you can customize the widget to your own personal brand, and even add an incentive program for your readers. As it is, this is a simple to use and fun way to engage your readership and improve hits to your site.

Our 2008 in Google Searches

DougBedell — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 16:08:47 +0000

Google Zeitgeist looks at the top events, trends and memorable moments of 2008 as reflected in billions of Google searches. Sort of a coalescence of the mass mind. Fascinating!

Alt Tags Put Your Images to Work

Kimberleeferrell — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 01:44:05 +0000

Use alt tags to improve your web pages’ SEO quality. Your images can be sitting there lifeless, yet with the addition of a few keywords, they can bring in new search traffic to your site.

The best keywords to use are related ones that you could not work into the original text. In addition, your images can link back to other relevant pages within your website, boosting their visibility as well. Once searchers have come to your site via alt tag keywords, they will be drawn in by the additional available links.

Post to Article Submission Services

DougBedell — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 15:59:32 +0000

In emphasizing content on your website (and helping to get your site indexed by Google and other search engines if it isn’t already), write and post a short article on a technique you use and submit it to an article submission service. Search engine spiders scan those lists and your site should be picked right up. Here’s a list of article submission services.

(We’re indebted to the Hoogy Media Blog for this tip.)

Basic Principles Count Most in SEO

DougBedell — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 15:33:15 +0000

Key SEO principles are nicely highlighted in a PC World Canada piece on the craft.

First, approximate tactics are the best that can be used to be congenial to search engines.

Second, pick keywords that people are using in searches. Use both the Google Keyword Tool and the SEO Book Keyword Suggestion Tool for insights here.

Third, focus on title tags and URLs – Title tags are those at the top of each page of your site – and the tag for each page should be keyword-different.

Fourth, encourage links to your site from other sites. Consider using OnlyWire, which links to 20 social bookmarking sites with one click. Consider using a word/tag cloud on your home page.

Fifth, Emphasize quality content on your site.

Finally, keep the site design simple and elegant. Avoid using Flash and tables in the design. “It may seem too obvious to bear mentioning, but the quality of your Web site’s content must come first in any SEO strategy.”

There are more tips in the PC World Canada piece, but these will get you started strong.

Good stuff.