Approximately four years ago, Google made a major change in their search engine results page by introducing a “Universal Search” system that blended listings with video, images and news results along with the sites it gathered from crawling web pages. Universal Search also accommodated the increase in searches for location-specific information. Instead of just searching “restaurants”, many people were searching “restaurants Louisville KY.” Search engines tested this new interest trend by placing a map and local listings at the top of the results page. Heat map reports showing how users absorb a search results page implied that users paid a good deal of attention to the map listings at the top of the page.
This research also indicates that users interact with map listings and organic search results more frequently than the paid ads. This change prompted Google to prioritize local search to the top of the search results page, and in time most engines followed suit.
Before the rise of local search, users had to enter a search term plus a geo-modifier (e.g., Louisville, Kentucky, 40299) in order to get location-specific search results. Today’s search algorithms take into account the IP address of the user, showing location-targeted results without the searcher requesting it. A search for just “dentists” from a computer in Louisville will pull up dental offices in the Louisville, KY area along with the general information pages.
Google experimented with how many local search listings to display in order to maximize user experience. Originally, only three local search listing results were displayed as flags next to the area map. Google tried increasing local map listings to a 10-pack, but found that searchers did not like how far down the page that moved organic search results. Research indicated that local searchers wanted a selection of map listings, but also valued the organic search listings. This led to the 7-pack format, which presented seven listings at the top of the search page.
The most recent iteration of Google’s local search display is called “Place Search.” This format combines the organic listings with local map listings and positions the map on the right panel. There is also an option to see only local listings by clicking the “Places” link in the left-hand panel. The latest iteration personalizes local search by allowing users to select their location to see local listings in any area, not just their current location. This change puts even more emphasis on local search results by showing more robust listings with pictures, meta descriptions and review quotes.
Bing and Yahoo have followed Google into local search marketing. However, all local search does not work the same and they have different algorithms to determine business rank. Obviously, you get more traffic if you are ranked on the first page of local search. To obtain a high ranking, you must build out your business listing using geotags, reviews, citations, product and service keywords and additional information.
G3 Marketers is an internet marketing service that specializes in online marketing for local
businesses. G3 helps businesses get recognized through dynamic Search Engine Marketing (SEM) Google Places Optimization (GPO) as well as Yahoo Local and Bing Local. In addition, G3 provides Social Media Marketing (SMM) services which includes strategically placing your product, service or brand in front of millions of web users that religiously participate in social networking.
This article courtesy of SiteProNews.com for MayonWebHosting’s Blog
Tags: geotargeting, goggle search, local marketing, local search strategies, local seo, search engine marketing, search marketing
Google, the internet giant based in California, has had a strangle hold on much of the online market for the past decade. Most would struggle to find a single person in the Western World who is not yet familiar with the Google Search Engine. In fact the search engine is so popular that the phrase ‘Google it’ has been adopted by many Gen-Yers.
In addition to their massive presence in the search marketplace, Google also commands a large percentage of the online advertising industry, generating revenues in the region of US$35 billion per annum.
Facebook, a relatively new comer to the internet, and center of popular film The Social Network, is quickly closing on Google’s market. Currently Facebook ranks as the 2nd most visited website online globally and holds over 750 million member accounts. Facebook is beginning to threaten Google’s market dominance in online advertising due to the huge volume of data that the social network holds about its members. While Google’s advertising model focuses around what people are looking for, specifically using search queries, Facebook’s model allows advertisers to utilize behavioural targeting. A Facebook advertiser can select very precise advertising audiences by focusing on:
- Age
- Gender
- Location
- Employment Type
- Education Level
- Likes and Dislikes
By selecting a narrow cross section of the global audience by one or all of the above variables, an advertiser can see significant improvement in their ROI when compared with search or conventional marketing.
This is where Google Plus enters the scene. In May Google released a limited Beta of their new social network, to approximately 10 Million users. Google Plus, similar to Facebook, allows users to create profiles, enter personal details, connect with friends and join a global community online. The Google +1 button is the equivalent of Facebook’s Like button – allowing users to show their approval of an idea, concept, website or product and broadcast this to their network.
It’s not a new concept that Google uses a number of user specific factors to influence their search results. These have historically included the user’s location, past search history, bounce rate from certain sites, browser setting and a host of other signals to indicate whether or not a search result is likely to fit the user’s specific requirements or reason for search.
While not officially announced as yet, the Google +1 button will affect the manner in which search results are returned to users. The very nature of a social network suggests that people who are connected will share similar likes, beliefs and ideas, and consequently are likely to be interested in the same websites, resources and search results.
It follows then, that the connections of a user who have historically +1ed any given search result will have these sites promoted up the list of future search results due to perceived validity and relevance of that result.
So, when will this new ranking factor, or as Google now refers to them signal, start influencing search results?
That’s a tough question, and it’s likely only to be once the Google Plus and +1 button programs reach a critical mass. That is where the number of +1s reaches a volume and velocity that indicates considerable adoption by the searching public.
You can already see the impact of +1 within your own search results, i.e. complete a search; navigate to page 3 of the results and +1 a single result Google returned. Now complete the same search again, it’s likely that the result you +1ed will be elevated within the new set of results. This is exactly the same behaviour we expect to see once Google brings +1 and Plus into full swing.
We expect that this will become a ranking factor around the end of the year, likely in time for Christmas shopping season.
What can you do to gain the maximum benefit from +1?
At present the +1 signal is only being used to influence a user’s personal search results, but this is likely to change late this year so it’s time to get started on a strategy to make the most of this opportunity. This way when Google flicks the switch you will receive all the benefits of being +1ed and you will surge ahead of your competitors within specific market segments.
By now your web developer or SEO firm should have already contacted you offering +1 integration; it’s a good idea to get Facebook Like done at the same time. If not, get in touch with the team that manages your website and request them to place the +1 button prominently on your site. The button is pretty funky and modern and is not likely to do any damage to your branding or design. Make sure you are communicating with your clients, visitors and connections to ensure they +1 your site. The earlier you start work the sooner you will see results.
Rich is head of SEO Perth for Zen Net Solutions, who are a leading Online Marketing Strategy agency.
This article courtesy of SiteProNews.com for MayonWebHosting’s Blog
There are plenty of SEO companies and consultants on the Internet that can help you out and plenty of free forums and guides that will give you the basics. Even if you do decide to use the skills and expertise of an SEO firm, it is still important that you at least know the basics of SEO so that you can also work with the company to make the results even better.
There are loads of things that you need to be doing within an SEO campaign, but there are also some things that you REALLY must avoid and we take a look at some of these below with our top ten things to avoid when running an SEO campaign.
Waiting Too Long - One of the biggest mistakes most people make is waiting too long to even begin an SEO campaign. If you have a website you should be running some kind of SEO, no matter how young the site is because a good campaign can help to get a higher ranking in the early days.
Targeting Competitive Keywords - If you sell houses then the chances of you getting to the top of Google for the keyword “houses” are going to be slim, to say the least. If you are working in an extremely competitive market, then you need to look outside of the box and start looking at easier keywords that you can rank for, because realistically, it is going to take a lot of time, effort and a little bit of luck to top the charts for the most competitive search terms.
Ignoring Long tail Keywords - Many people think that they should always go for the most popular keywords, but these often tend to be the most competitive, so you need to look at the long tail keywords. If you targeted 5 long tail keywords that all attracted 200 searches a month but were less competitive than one that attracted 1000 searches a month, you stand more chance of getting the traffic you want in a much shorter time.
Writing Rubbish Content -Content is king for Google and the search engine is so advanced and sophisticated these days that it can easily spot duplicate content and also poor quality content. The main aim is to write high quality content that is useful, informative and offers the user a good experience; else you will just be wasting your time and hindering your progress.
Publishing Poor Articles - Content on your own site is very powerful, but you should also look at writing articles and releasing them on some of the more powerful article directories like EzineArticles. If you are going to do this, then make sure you only publish good quality articles, otherwise they will be rejected and once again you will have wasted your time.
Spammy Blog Comments - Although blog commenting can be a good way to get relevant links back to your site, if you go around adding poor and unrelated comments, then this is only going to backfire on you in the long run. If you are going to comment on blogs, then make sure that you post quality comments on quality sites and check out the link follow status and the page rank / authority before you even begin.
Reciprocal Linking -Swapping links used to be one of the methods used for acquiring links until like most link practices it was abused and Google started to shy away from the weight it carried in rankings. Although it can be a good idea to swap links with local businesses or related businesses, do not waste your time swapping links and also limit the number of outbound links you have on your site.
Bad Link Neighbourhoods - Always avoid linking to or getting links from “bad neighbourhoods” – sites like gambling, adult and other sites that might be considered a little bit risque. If you are found to have loads of links on these types of sites, then you are going to be in trouble, so always make sure you are careful about where links are added to your site.
Ignoring Your Own Website - SEO begins at home in our opinion because if your website is rubbish, any extra traffic you generate will be a waste of time. Add to this the fact that if your meta titles and content are really poor, you are also going to lose out on ranking because two of the biggest factors when it comes to onsite SEO are meta titles and quality content.
Running Out Of Patience - SEO takes time – fact! You cannot expect to start an SEO campaign and get overnight results; it will take weeks, if not months, before you really start to get the results that you deserve if you run a good campaign. SEO should be an ongoing thing, running for as long as you decide to keep your website alive, because SEO is one of those things that goes on forever and is a constant effort.
Ian Spencer works for Clear Web Services, a SEO Web Optimization and Web Design company serving the Forest Of Dean, Gloucestershire and South Wales.
He has worked in the SEO and Internet Marketing world for many years, and working in partnership with another company has launched the new SEO business. http://clearwebservices.com/. For more information, please call 01594 835 857 or emailinfo@clearwebservices.com
This article courtesy of SiteProNews.com for MayonWebHosting’s Blog
Tags: search engine optimization, SEO Campaigns, Website Promotion
So you’ve got your nice shiny new website. You’ve told all your friends and family to go and see it and to Like it on your Facebook page.
Now it’s been two weeks and the traffic has stopped. Only so many friends and family members!
So now what? You need to decide on the following points: Who is your website aimed at? How do you reach them? How much time and money are you prepared to put into it?
If you don’t know the answer to any of these questions, please stop what you’re doing. Sit down and spend a day answering them. If you don’t know who your market is then there is no point even starting your SEO.
Once you’ve decided who you want on your site you need to put your product in front of them and get them clicking.
The following is my recommendation for what to do to start the ball rolling:
1. Submit: The first thing I do is submit my site to all the search engines. Get yourself a Webmaster account with Google, Yahoo and Bing. Submit sitemaps to them all too. Do this early to get it started. It can take time to get listed in the engines so don’t wait until your site is completed.
2. Keywords: Deciding which keywords to use is the hard part. With so much competition on the web it’s hard to know which keywords will be the most successful. Try to think of how you would begin to search for your product. What would you enter in Google to find you?
3. Meta: Ensure your meta Title is relevant to your content and contains keywords. When people search this is the first bit Google will see so make it count!
4. H1: H1 tags are like the headline in a newspaper. They act as an anchor grabbing the bot and telling him “Oi, look at this!”. Including a keyword in your H1 will also help. NB. There are H2, H3 and H4 tags too so use them!
4. Content: Ensure your content is original, unique, relevant and contains keywords. Try to change the content of your homepage regularly. If you can’t think of new content each day or it really doesn’t apply to your site then you could include a news feed as this will change daily.
5. Socialise: Facebook, Twitter and the rest have all moved into the view of SEO. With so many users all over the world it’s a great way to get the exposure you need. Once again though, take time and put effort into creating your pages. A good Facebook page can send tonnes of traffic to you but a bad one will not only send none, it may even lose you some.
6. Persist: “If at first you don’t succeed…” SEO is not an overnight thing. You can’t submit to Google today and expect to see your site on top tomorrow. It takes time and effort to get top positions. SEO can take months or even longer. Don’t give up or be downhearted if you’re still not there after a few weeks.
After all is said and done the main thing to remember is your content. I recently posted on an SEO forum the following analogy: In real-estate they say “Location, location, location”. The equivalent in SEO is “Content, content, content”.
Andy has been developing websites for 15 years. Optimisation has been a major part of this for a long time. Andy now works as a consultant advising on website design, development and SEO for companies across Europe.
This article courtesy of SiteProNews.com for MayonWebHosting’s Blog
Tags: managing SEO, search engine optimisation, search engine optimization, SEO
Stefanie Hoffman, article title “iFrame Attack Infects More Than 300,000 osCommerce Sites” is an interesting read for any osCommerce users.
If you are using osCommerce for your site please read the article, review your site and contact our Tech Support if you need assistant.
Tags: alert, iFrame, osCommerce, warning
