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Local Search: Where's the Love?
By Michael Boland, Search Engine Watch, Dec 19, 2008

Local search sometimes seems like Rodney Dangerfield: It can't get no respect. This has most recently been evident in the category's omission from Mashable's Open Web Awards, and from the program of the upcoming South by Southwest conference.

But there have also been glimmers of hope for local, if you watch closely enough. At the Kelsey Group's Interactive Local Media Conference last month, local online advertising took center stage. And at SES Chicago last week, local was given lots of airtime in sessions about search marketing, online video, and shopping search.

A key theme at both shows was something that's been on everyone's mind lately: the economy. Though overall ad spending is falling, economic factors could bode well for online local search as small to medium-sized business (SMB) advertisers demand more measurability and concrete ROI.

There have been many fence sitters in the SMB segment for online marketing and search. That's the nature of the beast -- deep-rooted habits and busy SMB schedules have been powerful retention factors for traditional media companies that subsist on local ad dollars.

But could tough times push many of these SMBs over the fence, to finally check out this SEM thing that everyone's been talking about? There are arguments for and against this.

Local Motion

Online video is one area that could have an impact. User demand has exploded (according to recent comScore data) and many advertisers, large and small, are seeing cost-effective online video as a substitute for television advertising (one of the biggest victims).

Combine that with universal search and the opportunity to increase rankings by embedding video in local business listings or landing pages. Here, the traditional strengths of video (entertaining, informative, colorful, etc.) marry the direct response and targeting capabilities of the Internet -- especially when joined with information-rich Internet yellow pages or city guide listings.

For small businesses, this will also be driven by economics as digital production and distribution bring video within their grasp for the first time. This will open up the market considerably and drive local online video from a $10.9 million market in 2007 to $1.5 billion in 2012, as projected by the Kelsey Group.

Putting it another way, video's falling barriers could make it as popular and necessary for small business marketing as Web sites have become today (about half of the 15 million U.S. storefronts).

"We look at Web site penetration as a model for what could happen with [local] video," said TurnHere VP of Corporate Finance and Business Development, Jared Simon at SES. "Back around '96 we saw Web sites pick up as a must-have thing. I don't know when we're going to see the inflection point with video, but we believe it will follow the same path."

Local's Turning Point

Most of all, mobile will put local on the map (bad pun). As I've harped on in past columns, the mobile industry's quickly evolving standards will give local search the boost it needs. This was the subject of many of SES conversations last week.

This will play out as sexier and user-friendly devices (and falling prices) continue to bring smart phones closer to mainstream territory. Equally important is the door continuing to swing open for third-party innovation in the mobile environment through devices like the iPhone and G1 (also see Palm's Software Store announced this week).

The iPhone only makes up about 1 percent of worldwide mobile devices, but its sales are quickly rising and we'll see its adoption spike in 2009. This will happen as prices continue to drop and the iconic device is sold in all Wal-Mart locations (no kidding).

Meanwhile, copycat devices will continue to flood the market and compete on price, making iPhone-like search features a commodity and a mass market phenomenon. I'm making the call (bad pun #2) that we'll see such a device for under $100 in 2009.

Moving Target

Bottom line: because local search is so conducive to the immediacy and geographic relevance that is inherent in mobile search, a great deal of the application-level innovation driven by all of the above will focus on local search.

Think of it this way: In the online world, about 20 percent of searches have local intent, said Yahoo Local's Director of Strategy and Business Development, Atif Rafiq at SES Chicago. But in the mobile world, my hypothesis is that local will represent a much larger stake of overall search activity and user intent.

But that doesn't necessarily mean that advertising dollars are there (yet). The combination of a recession and an "experimental" ad medium means growth in 2009 should be flat. But as things rebound, mobile data consumption will independently grow closer to the levels that will begin to attract advertisers in greater numbers.

Given the demand for more measurability and ROI, application development will include ad models that are conducive to the immediacy and direct response nature of mobile. This will include lots of voice search applications, click-to-call ad models, and mobile shopping search with directly measurable calls to action like mobile coupons.

The ultimate killer app in mobile local search has yet to be developed. We'll see lots of experimentation and false starts before market standards emerge. But one thing I'm fairly sure of: local search will ride mobile's coattails in the explosion of application-level innovation that we'll see over the next 24 months.

This innovation, combined with search volume increases, will attract more small and large advertisers that wish to target locally across the 3.3 billion worldwide mobile devices (Google already has its eye on this prize). Then maybe local will get some love.

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Dec 19th, 2008

16 Must have Tools for Twitter Users

By Kalena Jordan (c) 2008

Hands up if you're a Twitterholic. Yes, my hand's up too. If you love the micro-blogging platform Twitter as much as I do, then keep reading.

I've put together a líst of the coolest plug-ins and apps designed for us Twitterholics and scored each out of five on the *must have* scale.

Twitter Specific Tools:

1) TwitterFox is a Firefox extension that notifies you of your friends' status on Twitter and lets you make posts from your browser status bar. It also allows you to switch between multiple Twitter accounts in one click. This is my #1 must-have, deal-breaker, cannot live without Twitter plug-in.

Must Have Scale (5): • • • • •

2) Retweet This is an application designed for use with the Greasemonkey Firefox plug-in. It allows you to append a retweet button to the end of each Twitter entry to encourage your followers to retweet your posts.

Must Have Scale (3): • • •

3) Classify Twitter Users is a script that allows you to classify Twitter users and decide whether they are worth following based on their friends, followers and post ratios. Another Greasemonkey app, it's a great tool to help you weed out the Twitter spammers and fan boys from the socially healthy.

You can set the script to use your Twitter user scales (e.g. spammer, social climber, social rock star) or just gather more information about people you are following.

Must Have Scale (4): • • • •

4) TwittAd allows Twitter users to monetize their account by accepting advertising on the background image of their Twitter user profile. You decide the duration and price advertisers pay for exposure and get paíd for every hour you serve the ad.

Must Have Scale (2): • •

5) TwitterCounter lets you add a daily updating TwitterCounter to your blog so everybody can see how popular you are by the number of persons following you.

Must Have Scale (3): • • •

6) TweetBeep is just like having Google Alerts for Twitter. It enables you to keep track of conversations that mention you, your products or your company via email. You can even keep track of who's tweeting your website or blog. It's a great tool for online reputation management and you don't even have to be a Twitter user to benefit from it. TweetBeep is another one of my personal *must haves*.

Must Have Scale (4): • • • •

7) Twitter Grader measures the reach and authority of a Twitter user, calculated by the pace of their updates, the completeness of their profile, their number of followers and the network power of those followers.

Twitter Grader displays as a score out of 100 and is consistently updating and adapting as your Twitter account grows. Based on those grades, Twitter Grader lists the Twitter Elite globally and in each country, just like Technorati does for bloggers.

Must Have Scale (3): • • •

8) TwitPic, as the name suggests, is a photo sharing tool for Twitter. When logged in, it allows you to upload photos and post them with comments as a Tweet. It works with a range of Twitter clients such as Twitterific, Twhirl and MobileTwitter and stores all your photos in a single location with updated viewing stats. As far as Twitter image sharing goes, this is king for reliability.

Must Have Scale (5): • • • • •

9) Twuffer is a Twitter buffer. It allows Twitter users to compose a líst of future tweets, and schedule their release. Twuffer is ideal for making hourly, daily or monthly announcements or send post-dated birthday greetings or reminders to people about upcoming events. It's also perfect if you're the type of person who wants to give the impression that you don't ever sleep.

Must Have Scale (3): • • •

10) Twistori I have a real soft spot for this one. One of the developers is Amy Hoy, one of my favorite speakers from Webstock 2008 and a goth geek to boot. Twistori is a social experiment that taps into the Twitter conversations revolving around life's central activities: Love, Hate, Think, Believe, Feel, Wish. You can click on any of these emotions and witness a live feed of Tweets that use them. It's voyeuristic and utterly compelling.

Must Have Scale (4): • • • •

11) iTweet is another interface for Twitter. It has built-in auto-refresh, search and hash tags and features full follow, block and notifications features. Users can view and post user bio, location and URLs inline with their tweets. Another cool feature of iTweet is the ability to Retweet a user post with a single click.

Must Have Scale (3): • • •

12) Twitturly is a service for tracking what URLs people are talking about as they talk about them on Twitter. Similar to Digg, on Twitturly, people "vote" for a URL. The more votes it gets the better it ranks. If it does well enough, it gets promoted to the home page and as the votes rise it gets displayed higher up the home page. Twitturly differs from Digg in that instead of voting on their site, you vote by participating on Twitter. Each time that you send a link to your followers on Twitter, Twitturly takes a note of it and applies your vote to that URL. It's a great way to follow the loudest global conversations.

Must Have Scale (4): • • • •

13) Mr Tweet is another big favorite of mine. Similar to LinkedIn , it looks through your extended network and makes suggestions to help you build effective relationships on Twitter. For example, which of your followers should you be following in return? Who are the most influential people you should be following? Who are your followers following?

Must Have Scale (5): • • • • •

14) Twitter Search is Twitter's own built-in and oft-overlooked search tool. You can use it to search for other Twitter users, keywords, hash tag topics and a range of cool shortcut items.

Must Have Scale (4): • • • •

Non Twitter Specific Tools:

15) FlipTitle is, not surprisingly, a tool that enables you to flip text upside down. It's great for Twitter because sometimes your tweets can get lost in the conversation. Using FlipTitle makes sure they get noticed.

Must Have Scale (2): • •

16) Bit.ly is a very cool URL shortener that also includes click-thru statistics. Why is it perfect for Twitter? Because the length of the converted URLs is generally much shorter than other URL converters like TinyURL. When you are tweeting, space is premium as your whole post can only consist of 140 characters including spacing.

The other neat thing aspect of Bit.ly is that it keeps a record of clicks that your URLs received and where they originated from. It even provides a share button so you can re-tweet your URLs on Twitter or send them to friends on Facebook, Gmail or another email client.

Must Have Scale (5): • • • • •

So there you have it, 16 cool tools to help you indulge your Twitter addiction.

Happy Tweeting!

About The Author
Article by Kalena Jordan, one of the first search engine optimization experts in Australia, who is well known and respected in the industry, particularly in the U.S. As well as running a daily Search Engine Advice Column, Kalena manages Search Engine College - an online training institution offering instructor-led short courses and downloadable self-study courses in Search Engine Optimization and other Search Engine Marketing subjects.

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Dec. 17th 2008

Introduction

Hey everyone! It seems that everyone is gearing up for the holidays. Lots of folks on vacation already and more coming up. We've been surprised at how busy it's been even in the midst of all that is going on. It's a good kind of surprise, though. :)

Anyway, I've got an article on having realistic SEO expectations for you today. Enjoy! – Jill

Search Engine Marketing Issues

In 2005, when I originally wrote the article below, I thought by the time 2009 approached, things would have changed. Yet many businesses continue to have unrealistic expectations of what an SEO campaign is all about. We've had a number of calls to our office recently from companies who continue to be hung up over one specific keyword phrase, with no interest in branching out to others. Surprisingly, I changed very little of the content of this article because the message is still as valid as the day I wrote it. - Jill

++Setting Realistic SEO Expectations++

Those who've been in the SEO biz for a number of years know how much more competitive it is these days compared to a few years ago. The number of web pages indexed by search engines has doubled, tripled, and quadrupled in past years. On top of that, a good portion of site owners and webmasters know just enough SEO to be dangerous. In the golden age of SEO, the vast majority of websites hadn't given a thought to the search engines, and when they did, it was only to place some keywords in their Meta tags. (Which, incidentally, didn't help then either.) Those were the days when anyone who knew even the slightest bit about SEO could easily rank highly in all the major search engines, with very little effort. Even competitive areas were doable with just a little more work than their non-competitive counterparts.

The Competition Is Fierce

These days, it's almost the exact opposite. Even keyword phrases that nobody's searching for can sometimes be difficult to obtain high rankings with unless you really and truly know what you're doing. And even then, those rankings may be here one day and gone the next. The problem is magnified for new businesses and new websites. If your site isn't at least a few years old, your SEO efforts will be less likely to provide the results you want. This is one reason why your website optimization should always be seen as a long-term proposition.

It's About Targeted Traffic, Not Rankings

As we move forward in this industry, webmasters, site owners, and SEOs need to shift their focus from asking how they can get this keyword to this position in this engine to how they can get more targeted traffic and convert it into customers. Unfortunately, a large portion of those looking into SEO services are still seeing the small picture. For instance, on the contact form on our High Rankings site, I ask people to tell me a little bit about their "business goals." A good number who fill it out want something like "top-5 rankings in Google and Yahoo for this keyword." Huh? That's not a business goal! A business goal is more like "Bring more people to my website who are searching online for the types of products we sell." (As a side note, soon after writing this, I got an email from someone whose goal was to have their Flash site be "#1 in all the search engines for the word 'spring.'" I kid you not!)

Don't get me wrong, I very much understand why people would love to move their rankings up from #11 to #1 for a highly sought-after and targeted keyword phrase. I'm quite sure it would very much increase their targeted traffic and their sales (assuming they're doing everything else right). My frustration lies in the fact that there are people who believe that somehow an SEO company can magically snap their fingers or wave their magic wand and make it so.

Even the best SEOs are not magicians. They can't simply place a site at the top of the engines when there are hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of others that offer basically the same thing, and provide basically the same information. If they could, you'd see a whole lot more millionaire SEOs.

Does this mean that SEO is dead?

Absolutely not! But SEO that focuses on rankings for the most highly sought-after keywords in any given space is most definitely dying. This doesn't mean that you have to settle for keywords that receive few searches. It just means that you have to broaden your horizons and see the big picture.

Almost every time I review one of those "put me at #1" prospects' websites, I see tons of opportunities for fixing the site in general so that it will work better for both their users and the search engines. They are almost always so focused on their "money phrases" that they completely neglect many areas of their site. Instead they put their special phrase on every page and never research the thousands of others that are being typed into search engines every day.

Content for Content's Sake

Another trend I've been seeing a lot lately is the creation of content simply for the sake of creating content. What's that all about? SEOs certainly throw the words "good content" around a lot, but why is it that nobody seems to know what that means? We now have a whole cottage industry of companies who will allegedly write "good content" for you. Worse, there are even some that will *rent* you content! Newsflash...good content has nothing to do with the history of your products. Nor is good content a bunch of madlib spam pages where you simply substitute keyword phrases from one page into the other. Good content isn't stuff you write for the search engines.

What Exactly Is Good Content?

Good content is unique. Really and truly unique. It is creative ideas that simply popped into your head which nobody else in your space has thought of yet. The key to good content is creativity. Unfortunately, creativity itself seems to be a dying art. Being creative isn't looking at what your competitor is doing and copying them. It's being a leader, not a follower. It's having your own voice and your own opinions and expressing them, regardless of what others might think. It's pouring your heart and soul into your website, not looking for the next quick fix. And it's (say it with me) making your site the best it can be for your site visitors AND the search engines. It's what brings targeted traffic to our own site for thousands of phrases, and it's what will help your site gain traffic for whatever phrases relate to it. But it's not easy, and it's not fast. And it can't be done with the flick of a switch.

Determine Your True Goals

So please...if your pet phrase isn't ranking highly enough, don't call me and don't email me. In fact, don't call or email *any* SEO company. Instead of calling, you need to reassess your goals. No SEO company in the world will be able to help you unless you are ready to forget about what you think you want, and learn more about what you really need. Read that last sentence again until you really understand it. Forget about what you think you want, and learn more about what you really need.

Beware of SEO Companies Who Will Tell You What You Want to Hear

And remember, there are plenty of SEO companies that will say they can do whatever you want them to do. You want to be #1 for "spring"? Sure, no problem. They will happily take your money, do some work, and promptly get no results. Don't blame them though – they were just telling you what you wanted to hear.

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Google cranks up the Consensus Engine

Manufacturing isn't dead - it just went to Mountain View

By Andrew Orlowski • Get more from this author

Posted in Music and Media, 12th December 2008 19:38 GMT

Free Download - Comparing Data Center Batteries, Flywheels and Ultracapacitors

Google this week admitted that its staff will pick and choose what appears in its search results. It's a historic statement - and nobody has yet grasped its significance.

Not so very long ago, Google disclaimed responsibility for its search results by explaining that these were chosen by a computer algorithm. The disclaimer lives on at Google News, where we are assured that:

The selection and placement of stories on this page were determined automatically by a computer program.

A few years ago, Google's apparently unimpeachable objectivity got some people very excited, and technology utopians began to herald Google as the conduit for a new form of democracy. Google was only too pleased to encourage this view. It explained that its algorithm "relies on the uniquely democratic nature of the web by using its vast link structure as an indicator of an individual page's value. "

That Google was impartial was one of the articles of faith. For if Google was ever to be found to be applying subjective human judgment directly on the process, it would be akin to the voting machines being rigged.

For these soothsayers of the Hive Mind, the years ahead looked prosperous. As blog-aware marketing and media consultants, they saw a lucrative future in explaining the New Emergent World Order to the uninitiated. (That part has come true - Web 2.0 "gurus" now advise large media companies).

It wasn't surprising, then, that when five years ago I described how a small, self-selected number of people could rig Google's search results, the reaction from the people doing the rigging was violently antagonistic. Who lifted that rock? they cried.

But what was once Googlewashing by a select few now has Google's active participation.

This week Marissa Meyer explained that editorial judgments will play a key role in Google searches. It was reported by Tech Crunch proprietor Michael Arrington - who Nick Carr called the "Madam of the Web 2.0 Brothel" - but its significance wasn't noted. The irony flew safely over his head at 30,000 feet. Arrington observed:

Mayer also talked about Google’s use of user data created by actions on Wiki search to improve search results on Google in general. For now that data is not being used to change overall search results, she said. But in the future it’s likely Google will use the data to at least make obvious changes. An example is if “thousands of people” were to knock a search result off a search page, they’d be likely to make a change.

Now what, you may be thinking, is an "obvious change"? Is it one that is frivolous? (Thereby introducing a Google Frivolitimeter™ [Beta]). Or is it one that goes against the grain of the consensus? If so, then who decides what the consensus must be? Make no mistake, Google is moving into new territory: not only making arbitrary, editorial choices - really no different to Fox News, say, or any other media organization. It's now in the business of validating and manufacturing consent: not only reporting what people say, but how you should think.

Who's hand is upon the wheel, here?

None of this would matter, if it wasn't for one other trend: a paralysing loss of confidence in media companies.

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Paid Links: A Black Hat/White Hat Discussion

Those expecting a knock-down, drag-out brawl at the "Black Hat/White Hat" session at SES Chicago may have left a bit disappointed. It looked like the sparks could fly, with Dave Naylor, director of search marketing at Bronco, and Todd Friesen, VP of search at Position Technologies there representing the black hat side, and Eric Enge, president of Stone Temple Consulting and Doug Heil, owner of ihelpyou there defending the white hat side.

But, as Friesen so eloquently said, "As it turns out, Doug's actually a nice guy."

So despite the lack of violence, the session turned out to be an hour-long discussion of techniques that will or will not get you banned by Google, the ethical considerations of search marketing, and a few black-hat tips thrown in for good measure.

Much of the discussion centered on buying links for SEO purposes, which is frowned upon by Google. Naylor and Friesen both said buying links should be allowed, noting that paid links are still relevant, since they bring a user to the page they promise.

"If a user clicks on a link that says 'Buy Viagra', they're going to land on a page that's selling Viagra," Naylor said.

The difference is that Google sees a bought link as an "unnatural" link, since payment has entered the picture. But that argument gets muddied when it comes to bartered links, or other kinds of non-monetary rewards given in exchange for links.

To be safe, Enge says, "Google makes the rules. If we want to have a stable business for the long term, we have to follow them."

The paid links debate is muddied further by the issue of links from trade organizations, which usually charge a membership fee. Enge pointed out that the reason those are OK in Google's eyes is that there is some kind of review process involved, as there is with a quality directory listing like Yahoo or Best of the Web.

In Heil's view, it's a matter of authority. Sites that have earned the authority to vouch for a business, or sponsor an event, for example, should be allowed to do so with a link. The caveat, of course, is that they don't abuse that authority and start linking out without any kind of quality oversight.

Naylor outlined one of his favorite white hat methods of getting links: press releases. When you issue a press release with links in the copy, you will often get people that reprint the release on their site with the links intact. He also recommends getting your site's content into Google News.

Everyone on the panel agreed that dropping the PageRank meter from the Google Toolbar would be a good idea to help curb buying and selling of links for SEO value, and it appears that Google is headed in that direction. "It's a beast they never should have unleashed," Naylor said. It would also help if Google's algorithm stopped relying so heavily on links as a measure of a site's quality, they said.

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Universal Search Should Be a Plus

By William Flaiz, Search Engine Watch, Dec 8, 2008

It's no secret that online marketers love universal search. Variety in the search results gives us multiple opportunities to rank and gain new listing visibility. And the universal results appear in their vertical searches as well, which means increased coverage.

We love images, videos, local, news, shopping feeds, maps, and all the vertical listings that can appear in the SERPs. But how does the user feel?

This is the inherent problem with universal search. As new listing types begin appearing in results, we often lose sight of whether these listings are really helpful to the user.

SEO efforts can gobble up an entire top results page with universal listings if left unchecked. It's great for marketing; it's great for businesses; but the end user may take the hit.

SERPs can be a convoluted place for searchers. Excessive universal search optimization can impede a user's ability to find the most relevant listing. As marketers, we must strive to enhance the searcher's experience, not crowd out what they came to the engine seeking.

The issue of results obfuscation affects displayed search real estate and page length. While universal results shape what appears at the top of the page, the latest incarnations of these bells and whistles have the potential to severely push listings below the fold.

Product Search Plus Box, a User Plus?

One of Google's newest universal features really illustrates this results-pushing premise. Google recently began alpha-testing a new feature for its paid search listings, the Product Search Plus Box.

This paid search Plus Box functions similarly to other Plus Box features Google has introduced, such as for local searches and financial information. The difference is that the Product Search Plus Box includes an actual product list from the advertiser. The products are listed with a picture, description, price, and (if set up correctly) a link directly to the product page on the advertiser's Web site.

When these ads appear at the top of the page in the sponsored links section, a user can click on the Plus Box and push the organic results further down the page.

Now, let's say you're an advertiser in search position four in the rankings for a specific term -- not a bad place to be. If a paid listing has a Product Search Plus Box, your organic listing could be pushed far enough down the screen to appear below the fold.

The same can be said for paid search listings on the right side of the page. Once that plus box is expanded, above the fold ads are pushed out of sight.

Brave New Search Results?

Fast forward about 12 months. Let's assume the Product Search Plus Box makes it out of alpha-testing and becomes just another feature on the search page. Hypothetically, a savvy advertiser could own a significant portion of the SERPs and everything above the fold.

What if someone searches for "flat screen tvs at circuit city?" We can assume that this user is looking to compare flat screen televisions and, presumably, purchase one through Circuit City. I would argue that the user's search would be best serviced by a single Web page (most likely a deep page on Circuit City's Web site) that compares the latest models of flat screen televisions.

For the sake of this example, let's say that Circuit City has its online act together and has spent some time optimizing for search and aggressively funding a paid search program. Potentially, the search could return results that include a paid search ad for Circuit City above the organic listings, and this ad could contain a Product Search Plus Box. The organic results could also yield a result for the Circuit City domain with site links and a Plus Box for financial information (including a stock quote and graph), shopping engine listings, local listings (if the user provided a ZIP code during sign up or is logged into a Google service), and news results that include video.

Let's say the results appear as follows: Circuit City paid search ad with Product Search Plus Box, shopping engine listings, image results showing Circuit City's latest circular, and then Circuit City's domain with site links and a financial information Plus Box. This wouldn't be an unthinkable return of results. Now, our target page -- the Circuit City flat screen television comparison page -- would appear in organic position number four, beneath the domain listing.

Now, say the user expands the Plus Boxes. The page is now filled above the fold by Circuit City information and flat screen product listings. But this doesn't meet the searcher's needs. Our target page at listing four is beaten out by "relevant" yet unhelpful listings.

The shopping engine listing is triggered by a targeted branded search. The image listing appears highly due to freshness. The domain appears at the top due to its clout.

And listing four, the most informative listing, can go unseen by the searcher.

In this scenario, universal listings work against the searcher. The Plus Boxes certainly push the relevant listing down if activated. The marketer here clearly succeeds in covering the space, but the user is hung out to dry. This is the potential menace of over-optimizing universal content: you create clutter.

Don't Overdo it

As search results become more complex, we can't lose sight of the end user. Sometimes we can go overboard with universal optimization efforts. We need to get back to basics and make sure that we're putting our strongest optimization efforts behind the client's most relevant page (or content piece) for a search term. This makes the user happier and increases the chance of a customer conversion.

I like seeing the search page evolve, and I understand that Google needs to continue to innovate in order to stay the search market leader. Innovation should enhance the searcher's user experience.

Ultimately, Google is only providing the tools for us to reach search audiences. We have to learn to use them responsibly. Let's not give people reason to pine for the days of text link-only search results.

Join us for Search Engine Strategies Chicago December 8-12 at the Chicago Hilton. The only major search marketing conference and expo in the Midwest will be packed with 60-plus sessions, multiple keynotes and Orion Strategy sessions, exhibitors, networking events, and more.

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High-Value Link Building is Hard Work
By Eric Enge, Search Engine Watch, Dec 3, 2008

You've probably heard that obtaining links from authoritative sites is a must for your long-term Web site promotional plan. Certainly, this is a key piece of advice that we provide to all of our clients. Today, we'll discuss the steps to obtaining such links.

First, How Not to do it

Backlinking your competitors and building a mailing list for all the sites that link to them, and then sending out mass mailings is the big no-no here. Even if you're clever, there's no way to produce a mass e-mail which shows that you looked seriously at their site. You must hand-customize your e-mail to these types of sites (more on this later).

On a related note, you can't fall into the mindset of looking at your cost-per-acquired-link. This metric is downright harmful, because as a businessperson, you'll begin to optimize on it. You'll want to drive your cost per link down. The result: you'll get worse and worse links.

After all, forum spam, blog spam, and WordPress template spam is pretty cheap, but you aren't going to get anything authoritative that way. The other factor that must be central in your mind: one authoritative link can potentially be worth 10,000 times more than one of those blog spam links.

1. Set the Right Goals

You can't get where you need to go unless you understand where you need to go. If your chief competitor has a dozen killer authoritative links, don't devise a plan to get yourself two such links -- you also need a dozen or more. You have to play to win.

2. Identify the Authorities

There's no simple formula for doing this. However, there are a few possibilities to consider:

• Leading companies in your space. Because you don't want to look at your direct competitors, think about looking at independent authorities that carry a lot of respect in your space.
• Backlink competitors. Focus on the domains with the highest PageRank that link to them.
• Colleges and universities. Not student and professor bookmark pages, but school departments and school libraries.
• Major media. Is there a columnist at the New York Times that covers your space, or something closely related to it?

3. Devising a Content Strategy

Once you know who the targets are, figure out what it will take to get them interested in what you do. They will only link to you if you offer their users great stuff. Understanding this and absorbing it into your overall business strategy is incredibly important.

How hard the content plan will be depends on the goals you set for yourself, and the diversity of authorities you're pursuing. You'll need to assemble a market leading content/tool package to play to win in this game. You'll probably need to provide this in a non-commercial user experience -- otherwise, it will be an unattractive page to link to.

4. Develop a Contact Plan for Each Site

When dealing with high value, authoritative sites, develop a separate contact plan for each one. The person who contacts them needs to spend enough time on the target site to really understand what might motivate the person responsible for the page to give a link.

You then need to determine what aspect of the great content and tools on your Web site might appeal to the audience. You may end up developing custom content just to improve your chances of getting that link.

The more creative you can be here, the better. You may need to build a relationship over a period of time. For example, if you spot a typo on the subject site, make that the subject of your first e-mail to them (without any overt request for a link).

Keep in mind that this is the most important stage of the process, and it requires the most thought. The first three steps of the process exist solely to put you in a position to succeed in this step.

Summary

Set yourself up for success by setting the right goals and aligning your content and contact plans with the needs of the authoritative sites on which your success depends. A properly defined goal may leave you with a pretty daunting set of things you need to do, and it may be intimidating (although this certainly isn't always the case).

But, it sure beats pursuing something over a long period of time with no chance of success.

Join us for Search Engine Strategies Chicago December 8-12 at the Chicago Hilton. The only major search marketing conference and expo in the Midwest will be packed with 60-plus sessions, multiple keynotes and Orion Strategy sessions, exhibitors, networking events, and more.

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November 25th, 2008:

Yahoo Updating Their Index

Yahoo has released a statement that they are updating their search index and ranking algorithms. Stating that we may see some ranking changes and page shuffling in Yahoo's index over the next xouple days. They provide a link for comments at http://suggestions.yahoo.com/?prop=SiteExplorer where you can share your thoughts.

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November 18, 2008:

The Future of Google's Search Personalization

By Mark Jackson, Search Engine Watch, Nov 18, 2008

Even with the economy in the state that it is, our industry is growing and moving forward. Part of that surge forward is in the way that we measure SEO success. Yes. I've written about this topic many times, but I promise this column will be different.

What struck me was something that Bruce Clay shared in a Pubcon 2008 session I moderated this past week. Clay was speaking to the future of SEO and said, "2009 will be the year of the end of the ranking report."

"Well, yeah," I thought. Doesn't everyone know that's already happening?

Well, after an entire week of bringing the subject up to several conference attendees, apparently this is still "news" to many. People aren't getting the message about Google's personalization of search results.

So, for those of you who may not have received this message before: search engine ranking is dead. In the very near future, you will no longer be able to reliably check your rankings in the Google search engine.

How to Measure Success

Track your traffic, conversions, and ROI. These are the important metrics for any form of marketing or business. That's the way it should be.

Like it or not, personalization of the Google search results is here. Many are seeing it right now for several search queries.

Google has just been awarded a patent for language personalization of search results. They are (or will be) changing the search results based on the language you use in your search query and based on the language of the Web pages that show up on the search results.

I recently searched for a keyword phrase to do some research on other SEO companies. After performing one search and then entering another search query, Google added a phrase onto the top right of the search results: "Customized based on recent search activity." If you see this phrase on a search results page, then your search results have been personalized just for you.

To get more information about it, click on "More Details." Let's take a look at what Google says:

"Search customization details: search engine marketing company

When possible, Google will customize your search results based on location and/or recent search activity. Additionally, when you're signed in to your Google Account, you may see even more relevant, useful results based on your web history.

The following information was used to improve your search results for search engine marketing company:

Recent Searches

You or someone else recently searched for search engine marketing using this browser."

Google is personalizing the search results based on your recent search engine queries. They say specifically that based on your location and/or your recent search activity the search results have been altered.

This is happening even if you aren't logged into your Google account. If you are logged into your Google account, you'll likely see even more different search results.

We're going to see more customization and personalization because Google believes this will bring us more relevant, useful search results. As Google moves more toward personalization, it will be even closer to the end of the search engine rankings: no more top rankings or number one ranking for a certain keyword phrase.

What This Means for Company Web Sites

When someone visits a Web site, they will potentially be more "qualified," and the ratio between traffic and conversions might improve. Traffic may go down, but in the long run, the visitors that do visit our sites via a Google search will be more qualified because the search results were personalized to what that they were really looking for.

There are several things that we'll see in the future as a result of Google's personalization of search results:

• Personalized search will change our perception of search engine "rankings."
• Google will focus on a user's intent, showing us search results based on our search history and the query we use. There will be different search results based on whether we're doing research, looking to buy something, or looking for something locally in our area.
• There will be a local impact on the search results. Search results will change depending on the content and keywords on our Web sites and the geolocation of the user. Search results will change based on your IP address.

What to Focus on Now

Concentrate on understanding your ideal Web site visitor. Understand what you want someone to do when they come to your site. Focus on content and keeping visitors on your site.

The best thing you can do now is to start focusing on a different measurement of success. Don't focus on search engine rankings. Focus on ROI, conversions, and overall traffic.

Join us for Search Engine Strategies Chicago December 8-12 at the Chicago Hilton. The only major search marketing conference and expo in the Midwest will be packed with 60-plus sessions, multiple keynotes and Orion Strategy sessions, exhibitors, networking events, and more.

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 November 18, 2008

SEO About to Get Turned On Its Ear?
By Chris Crum - Tue, 11/18/2008 - 7:10am

Bruce Clay Talks About Big Changes in Ranking
At PubCon, Bruce Clay, Inc. President Bruce Clay presented at a session entitled "Top-Shelf Organic SEO" in which he discussed the approaching future of SEO as search engines evolve into more modern ranking methods. Bruce was good enough to take the time to speak with our own Michael McDonald in a one-on-one interview, which can be viewed in the video below.Behavior Based Search
Bruce says that everybody who does a search will end up with different search results based on their prior search history. Personalization is going to be "web-wide" using third party cookies and things.

Video Link: http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2008/11/17/seo-about-to-get-turned-on-its-ear

He provided a specific example of a search for "java". Some are looking for programming, some are looking for the beverage, and some are looking for travel information. Theoretically, the search engines will know that and provide results accordingly.

"We can't search for any term and look at rankings because I can get different results than you for exactly the same query. So that's going to change a lot," he says. It doesn't matter if you're logged into Google or not. Bruce believes that personalized results will be coming out within the first quarter of next year.

Intent-based Search
Google has been looking up your IP and revising results based on IP. They know where you're located and can make assumptions about the intent of your search. As you get more into intent-based search, it's going to change the way pages rank, Bruce explains. "The page that ranks for a shopping query is an entirely different architecture than the page that ranks for a research query."

Where Does this Leave the SEO Crowd?
"Ranking is dead," says Bruce, recalling his words from his presentation. Going forward, he says you're going to have to look at analytics, measure traffic, bounce rates, action, etc. SEOs will have to ask themselves questions like:

- Did I get the conversion I was after?

- Did I really deliver on the promise of SEO?

Bruce thinks that in the first six months of 2009, we're going to see a lot more implementation of behavior and intent-based search leading to a mindset of "ranking is dead, and traffic is all that matters."

Universal Search
Bruce says this will be the most significant factor of 2009. Google looks at soundtracks and convert them to text. They can jump into the middle of videos, scan sites to determine if you have video/images or not. There are a lot of variables in universal search, and some of these variables tell how engaging your site is.

If you don't have video and your competition does, Bruce thinks we're going to see a big shift in rankings. He thinks if the top ten sites don't have video, they may lose their ranking over night.

Bruce notes that Google has been testing some of these variables, and will really start testing them a lot more in the first quarter, once the holidays are out of the way. He mentions the criticism Google took over the Florida Update, which took place in the month of November, and believes the company wants to avoid that again. He thinks we're going to see a lot of "Google Dances" early in the year though.

The Impact on Spam
According to Bruce, this is all going to really help Google fight spammers. He says it will affect the way scrapers and spammers work, because if they are just scraping text, they wouldn't be able to rank.

He also says that all of the variables that come into play may diminish the value of linking, which will certainly not help the spammers' cause either. He says it will be a big win for Google, and big win for the searchers.

There's no question that if everything Bruce talked about comes true, the SEO world will be turned on its ear. Bruce says, "If you're not ready for it as an SEO, you're gonna lose."

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Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Welcome to Google's Lenoir, N.C., Data Center
On May 21, eWEEK was on hand for the ribbon-cutting ceremony of Google’s newest data center, a sprawling complex situated on 225 acres of rolling peaks and valleys in Lenoir, N.C., part of Caldwell County. The data center cost $600 million to build, and Google employs hundreds of state natives to run it. Lenoir and Caldwell County officials are hoping the data center will boost the county's economy, which suffered when 250,000 furniture factory workers lost their jobs from 2000 to 2002. (No, Google reps didn't let anyone inside, although eWEEK tried.) [Read Complete Article Here]

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April 6th 2008: Universal Search = Fewer Clicks
by Jason Lee Miller

ComScore's James Lamberti reveals the new Google truth: Universal Search means fewer paid clicks.

Google's latest mission is fairly clear: Reduce the number of clicks while increasing the value of clicks remaining. At first glance it appears disastrous for marketers. Less real estate on which advertise and higher premiums on the space available equals CPC inflation.

And that sounds kind of bad. Google's philosophy though, is that the fewer clicks will be more relevant, more likely to convert, and therefore more valuable. But the nerves are understandable.

Lamberti posts the results from a one-week-in-January study at the comScore blog. During that period comScore looked at 1.2 billion searches. Of that, 220 million brought up universal results. The black-and-white of it: The more universal results on a page, the fewer paid clicks that happen. With 17 percent universal results, paid clicks declined to 14 percent. "For the search marketing industry," he writes, "the shift from 17% total universal search results to 14% paid clicks is a vital stat. In other research situations, a move of 3 percentile points is hardly worth mentioning. In the world of search – where decimal points of change move tens of millions in commerce – it’s a big deal."

But also means that organic SEO becomes all the more vital, especially when it comes to video and images. Better, more inclusive results might mean fewer paid clicks, but it also means there's an opportunity for relevant and free* clicks. *Free is a relative term, just as we are taught by the "free lunch" adage. Ranking well can be expensive.

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Search Engine News from 2007

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