SEO News

April 1st is the day upon which we are reminded of what we are on the other three hundred and sixty-four. (Mark Twain, Pudd’nhead Wilson, 1894)

Todays I don’t envie all the reporters out there. It’s is April Fool’s Day, and one needs to be on the lookout for what is real news and what is fake news. Here are my 5 favorite April Fools hoaxes from the search industry, starting with Google.


Google Mobile launched Brain Search, which uses their hoax technology CADIE (Cognitive Autoheuristic Distributed-Intelligence Entity) to “index your brain to make your thoughts and memories searchable”. The Big G also mentions some use cases for the new application: you can recall “the name of that guy across the room, where you put your car keys, why you started dating this woman in the first place”. Hehe, hillarious.

Yahoo launched a new search service called Ideological Search. The service allows searchers to “control the ideology of their search results for the first time in search technology history”.

MSN’s Live Search simply redid their homepage. Not a big effort, but still funny.

YouTube turns its videos upside down (add “&flip=1″ to URL to activate.

Reddit looks like Digg for a day.

Bonus (not search, but media related): the British newspaper Guardian announced that it will discontinue its publication after 188 years and publish its news via Twitter. Considering the state of the print media, not such a bad idea, isn’t it?

What were your favorite April Fools hoaxes on the web this year? Let me know in the comments!

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• SEO Book.com: Why it Makes Sense to Target Longtail Keywords First
  Another great post by Aaron Wall. He writes: If I target the most competitive keywords first (without a strong competitive advantage – like a network of sites to build off, an old trusted website, a huge brand, or a strong domain name) then I might never get to self-sustaining. There is no award, little traffic, and virtually no value for ranking on page 2 or page 3, even if it is for an exceptionally competitive and high traffic keyword like credit cards. Longtail keywords are easier to rank for.”
  (tags: seo keywords search traffic blog tips)
• SEOmoz | Whiteboard Friday – Positioning Your Blog
  This week SEOmoz CEO Rand Fishkin discusses how to position your blog within your niche. Blogging is obviously an incredibly powerful tool for building a brand and can be effective in almost any industry. However, there are important considerations to take into account when you’re setting up a blog.
  (tags: blog blogging tips branding video)
• Search Engine Journal: Build Links for SEO & Call to Action
  A great thread over at WebProWorld forums discusses how to both encourage more people to click the link while making it user- and SEO-friendly. Advice: “Click here” links are bad for accessibility and usability
  (tags: seo links linkbuilding usability)
• Forrester Research: US Search Marketing Agencies, Q1 2009
  Forrester’s evaluation of search marketing agencies against 72 criteria finds this market more mature than during our 2006 Wave. Forrester asserts that three agencies have set themselves apart from the rest of the pack; iProspect, iCrossing, and 360i. Among other findings: Percent of clients using vendor for both paid search and SEO – The big three were all at around 40%.
  (tags: seo study search marketing statistics)
• Inside AdWords: A change to our display URL policy
  The Google AdWords blog has finally announced that the new display URL policy will go into effect the week of February 24th. The new policy will disallow multiple display domains.
  (tags: google adwords advertising internet)

• aimClear Search Marketing Blog: Analytic Mashups For Advanced Keyword Research
  These days predictive utilities like Trellian, WordTracker and AdWords are only half the keyword research story. State of the art processes combine these standard search predict tools’ output with “what we already know,” by mashing in site-specific datasets at the keyword level.
  (tags: seo search statistics sem keywords ppc)
• ResearchBuzz: New Search Engine Wants to Give You Just the FAQ
  ResearchBuzz writes about an interesting search engine called SnappyFingers, a Q&A search engine that has a data set of over 13 million questions.
  (tags: searchengine search article)
• Google Throttles Blog Search Indexing | SEO Theory – SEO Theory and Analysis Blog
  Great article by SEO Theory writer Michael Martinez who takes a look at the downturn in Google Blogsearch quality and indexing over the past couple of months.
  (tags: google blog search seo article)
• Search Engine Journal: What Else Would You Like to See on Google Search Results Page?
  Great article by Search Engine Journal about FireFox addons that let you access alternative data right from Google SERPs based on your search query.
  (tags: seo tools search serps)
• Pandia Search Engine Detective: All-in-one portal for search engine and SEO research
  Pandia Search Engine Detective is a one stop shop for search engine intelligence. This useful collection of links to all kinds of search engine and SEO information is now updated with new categories and links.
  (tags: search searchengine tools seo)

• Search Engine Journal: Building Links With Content? Get Your Point Across!
  Julie Joyce gives us a lesson in effective writing that gets your point across in an effort to build links with quality content.
  (tags: seo blogging article links linkbuilding tips)
• Best Rank: How Social Media Marketing can help improve Organic Search Engine Results
  Great article on the effect of using social media sites like Digg, Reddit, Stumbleupon, and Delicious to increase your search engine rankings. Case study with Google analytics metrics provided.
  (tags: seo linkbait search marketing socialmedia linkbuilding)
• Agency Clients Slash Budgets 20% or More, Digital Only Bright Spot – MarketingVOX
  "Among North American CEOs, 62% said that they think digital will grow this year, while 39% of non-North American CEOs said the same."
  (tags: marketing advertising future statistics business online budget digital)
• Daily SEO Tip: 7 Ways to Turn Your Site into a Link Magnet
  Loren Baker gives us 7 tips on how to make sites linkable. Among others: presentation, interactivity, accountability, social proof.
  (tags: seo blog blogging business building link)
• beu blog: 2009 Google Flash SEO |
  In case you missed their recent announcement about Flash, Google and Adobe have teamed up on a new algorithm to index text content in Flash. As a result of the new algorithm for Flash, Googlebot now indexes “textual content in SWF files of all kinds” and extracts URLs embeded in Flash.” A case study by Brian Ussery.
  (tags: internet seo search blog marketing google article webdesign flash)

The advance of technology is based on making it fit in so that you don’t really even notice it, so it’s part of everyday life. (Bill Gates)

Although the cofounder of Microsoft referred to computer technology in this quote, I’m sure it can be applied to search engine optimization as well. SEO has become part of our everyday life. The (non SEO savvy) internet user might not notice it – but the SEO pros do everything to “make it fit” for their clients. Too much of a stretch? (Feel free to disagree with me by posting a comment…)

As I noted many times before, SEO is such a fast paced industry. So many news items, so many updates and changes every day.

Following a list with things I learned in the last 30 days about search engine optimization, internet marketing and social media:

1. I would like to visualize the basic SEO process? Is there a great chart which helps me to understand it?

Yes. Aaron Wall from infamous SEO Book created a impressive and very comprehensible chart, IMHO. The original PDF version can be downloaded here.

2. Is the bounce rate really a search engine ranking factor?

Yes. At least Top SEO’s must now take bounce rate into account when designing and refining a site, SEO Blackhat writes.

3. Does a non-indexed page pass on PageRank?

Surprisingly, yes. Dutch Search Marketer Eduard Blacquière received the answer through the LinkedIn group LinkedSEO. It said: “NoIndex is a request to not show the page in the results. PR still passes. NoFollow, PR doesn’t pass but does accumulate”.

4. How can I get 800,000 visits from Google.com in just 7 days?

Well, I don’t know if we’re ever going to make it to the homepage of Google. But the “Big G” linked to its new phone with T-Mobile at the end of October. According to Search Engine Roundtable, more than 800,000 unique visitors went to that page during the week the link was active. In one day, more than 233,000 unique visitors were registered. One can only dream…

5. Is the BrowseRank the new PageRank?

Maybe. Marios Alexandrou from All Things SE explains BrowseRank, a measure developed by Microsoft with the purpose of outperforming Google’s PageRank, in a very interesting post.

6. How do I build authority links (including .edu .gov .mil)?

Saad Kamal reveals the secret in a very useful post. First, in order to find authority links: spy on your competitors Find out which .edu/.gov/.mil are linking to your competitor, with a command like “linkdomain:www.google.com site:edu”. Then get Links from .Edu/.Gov/.Mil blogs on your Niche, with a command like the following: “Keyword+inurl:blog site:.edu”. Saad offers many more great tips.

7. Can SEO and user generated content really be a good match for each other?

Yes. Laura Callow delivers great insights on that, backed up by research and data. Among others, she writes that online comments and reviews posted by the enthusiasts are second only to word of mouth as a purchase driver for all web users.

8. Which are the Top 25 most powerful web directories?

Paul Teitelmann from Search Engine People provides a fantastic list. It includes directories like World Site Index, Dmoz Zilla and Octopedia.

9. How to I avoid to screw up a change of my domain name?

Andrew Heaps from Latitude has some valuable tips. Among others: Phase the transition. And don’t forget to tell the search engines.

10. Which are the best books on social media marketing?

Lee Odden from the Online Marketing Blog wrote a great post with over 20 Must Read books about social media marketing. It includes “Cluetrain Manifesto“, “Groundswell”, Seth Godin’s “Tribes”, James Surowieki’s “The Wisdom Of Crowds” and Paul Gillin’s “Secrets of Social Media Marketing”.

I am aware that this list could be ten times longer. Did I miss any of the “big stories” in SEO, in your opinion? Let me know!

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“There’s no two ways about it – SEO is hot again”, writes Rand Fishkin, CEO of the Seattle based SEO company SEOmoz, in his latest blog post. He observes that not only his firm has received a higher than normal volume of requests for consulting, but also various job sections for SEO professionals are thriving.

The employment trend chart by job search engine Simply Hired shows a 147% increase in SEO jobs in the last one and a half years alone:

  

Seo trends

Seo jobs

Fishkin lists 8 reasons why Search Engine Optimization is becoming more attractive to companies in a down market:

1. The Web Outperforms Other Sales Channel
2. It’s the Right Time to Re-Tool
3. Paid Search Drives Interest in SEO
4. SEO is Losing its Stigma
5. Marketing Departments are in a Brainstorming Cycle
6. Search Traffic Will Be Relatively Unscathed by the Market
7. Web Budgets are Being Re-Assessed
8. Someone Finally Looked at the Web Analytics

While I never would dare to compare my one man consultancy with a well-known SEO agency like SEOmoz, I personally can confirm that there is an increased interest in SEO. Although, as Search Engine Watch summarized recently in a great post, “the SEO process still requires an introduction at the onset of any presentation.”

Indeed, the majority of companies still seems to have a lack of knowledge when it comes to SEO. They either want you to be the miracle worker (”Can you help me to rank no. 1 in Google for keyword XY in one week?”), or prefer a paid search campaign only. As Rand explains perfectly in his post, SEO being discovered because company delivers more bang for the buck in times of marketing budget cuts.

Additionally, Forrester’s Kim Le Quoc and Jaap Favier stated in their report titled“How to Stimulate Consumer to Buy Online”:

“Creating preference with online buyers starts with search engine optimization (SEO). As search increases in complexity, marketing leaders need to move their teams toward advanced search marketing programs.”

These are my personal 4 tips when talking to a potential client:

• Consider SEO, because it doesn’t require a huge investment (unless you’re working with a top-tier agency that charges an excessive amount of money);
• Have an audit performed of your site to see where your site;
• Implement a simple rewrite of your URL structure. Often times, it can be enough to move your site into a position to be indexed by the search engines;
• Check to make sure that your navigation and pages are properly built with text links and easy to understand text. This can really help improve your site’s accessibility to search engines.

Do you have other suggestions?

Let us remember that, as much has been given us, much will be expected from us, and that true homage comes from the heart as well as from the lips, and shows itself in deeds. (Theodore Rosevelt)

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody! I wish you a relaxing day, a wonderful gathering with family and friends – and a delicious culinary feast.

In honor of this day, many search engines and websites in the search industry got ‘dressed up’. Here is a little collection of Thanksgiving logos:

Ask.com:

Live.com:

Google:

Yahoo:

Dogpile:

AOL.com:

Friendfeed:

Cre8asite Forums:

Search Engine Roundtable:

Plus: Check out Search Insider’s great post “10 Reasons Search Marketers Should Be Greatful”. It’s a must-read!

A new whitepaper by search marketing firm iProspect shows that 62% of search users click on links found on the first page of search results.

Overall, 90% of search users will click on links found in the first three pages of search results. The findings show the increased importance of first page placement, along with the value of being found in the Top 20 and Top 30.

Other findings:

• 41% of respondents would either alter or abandon the keywords used in their queries if they could not find results on the first page.
• 82% of the time, respondents would alter search queries by adding descriptive words, most often resulting in a successful search.

Pretty impressive results. This definitely show how important it is to rank in the first 20 SERPs of the major search engines.

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I have to admit. I am not the biggest fan of optimizing Flash websites. There are tons of blog posts which have written extensively how to SEO Flash. We all know the reasons: The search engines don’t know how to crawl these kind of sites, they eat up too much bandwidth, they have a slow load time, they’re CPU heavy etc.

From today there will be less headaches for SEOs and more love for Flash – supposedly. Google and Yahoo announced that they will be able to crawl Flash websites – thanks to Adobe. Apparently the software company has created a special Flash player which will aid the search engine in crawling the web content.

The Google webmaster blog has a great Q&A regarding the improvements. A quick summary:

• Better indexing of textual content in SWF files of all kinds. This includes Flash “gadgets” such as buttons or menus, self-contained Flash websites, and everything in between.
• All of the text that users can see as they interact with your Flash file. The words that appear in your Flash files can be used to match query terms in Google searches.
• Images (and text in images) will not be recognized and indexed.
• Flash content on website will be automatically indexed. If webmaster prefer Google to ignore their less informative content, such as a “copyright” or “loading” message, they should consider replacing the text within an image, which will make it effectively invisible to the search engines.
• Googlebot does not execute some types of JavaScript.
• Google currently does not attach content from external resources that are loaded by Flash files of a website.
• Currently there are difficulties with Flash content written in bidirectional languages.

Mmmm. Interesting. How was the reaction of the blogosphere? Huge. According to Trendpedia there were around 7000 posts published about this topic within the last 24 hours. The chart looks quite impressive:

There have been quite a lot of doubts and critical voices out there about this news.

Mathew Ingram writes in his great blog post titled “News Flash: Flash Websites Still Suck”:

I also have to wonder whether the ability to search through Flash files is going to be that great for websites, since the main thing that gets you higher in Google search results is the number (and quality) of links that you have to your content. (…) But the biggest fly in the ointment for me is the simple fact that most Flash websites are — not to put too fine a point on it — crap.

Techcrunch weighs in:

Becoming visible is one thing, actually ranking highly is another. Google currently can find about 73 million Flash files on the Web. But until Adobe makes it easy for the average Webmaster or blogger to link deeply into those Flash files, they are not likely to appear at the top of many search results.

Andy Beal from Marketing Pilgrim adds:

Google just destroyed the web. (…) Until (the search engine) can demonstrate that its Flash crawling capabilities are equal to its HTML crawling, you risk building a site that, while indexable, is not as “optimized” as its simple HTML cousin.

And Lisa Barone from the Bruce Clay Blog doesn’t spare with criticism:

Flash Web sites are evil. (…) They’re a lame attempt to make your boring site look interesting by distracting users with pretty pictures and moving frames. (…) My SEO advice: Stick with creating HTML-based Web sites that users will want to interact with.

What does this mean for Search Engine Optimization Professsionals?

Search Engine Land has a great summary:

Can SEOs now remove the “review Flash implementation” line from their checklists? Probably not. However, it should be easier for SEOs to work with Flash-based sites going forward. SEOs should keep in mind that these new algorithms don’t take into account any meta data or formatting markup in the Flash file and, for now, Google’s cache won’t show a representation of the extracted text so site owners can’t verify what is actually being crawled by viewing the cached copy.

Plus:

If you really HAVE to use Flash – read Jonathan Hochman’s useful article ‘How to SEO Flash’ and SEO Book’s great post ‘How to Flash sites rank well‘, among others. And get the 117 design guidelines for Flash usability by usability guru Jakob Nielson. It costs $60 – but it’s worth it.

I have to admit. I am not the biggest fan of optimizing Flash websites. There are tons of blog posts which have written extensively how to SEO Flash. We all know the reasons: The search engines don’t know how to crawl these kind of sites, they eat up too much bandwidth, they have a slow load time, they’re CPU heavy etc.

From today there will be less headaches for SEOs and more love for Flash – supposedly. Google and Yahoo announced that they will be able to crawl Flash websites – thanks to Adobe. Apparently the software company has created a special Flash player which will aid the search engine in crawling the web content.

The Google webmaster blog has a great Q&A regarding the improvements. A quick summary:

• Better indexing of textual content in SWF files of all kinds. This includes Flash “gadgets” such as buttons or menus, self-contained Flash websites, and everything in between.
• All of the text that users can see as they interact with your Flash file. The words that appear in your Flash files can be used to match query terms in Google searches.
• Images (and text in images) will not be recognized and indexed.
• Flash content on website will be automatically indexed. If webmaster prefer Google to ignore their less informative content, such as a “copyright” or “loading” message, they should consider replacing the text within an image, which will make it effectively invisible to the search engines.
• Googlebot does not execute some types of JavaScript.
• Google currently does not attach content from external resources that are loaded by Flash files of a website.
• Currently there are difficulties with Flash content written in bidirectional languages.

Mmmm. Interesting. How was the reaction of the blogosphere? Huge. According to Trendpedia there were around 7000 posts published about this topic within the last 24 hours. The chart looks quite impressive:

There have been quite a lot of doubts and critical voices out there in the blogosphere about this news.

Mathew Ingram writes in his great blog post titled “News Flash: Flash Websites Still Suck”:

I also have to wonder whether the ability to search through Flash files is going to be that great for websites, since the main thing that gets you higher in Google search results is the number (and quality) of links that you have to your content. (…) But the biggest fly in the ointment for me is the simple fact that most Flash websites are — not to put too fine a point on it — crap.

Techcrunch weighs in:

Becoming visible is one thing, actually ranking highly is another. Google currently can find about 73 million Flash files on the Web. But until Adobe makes it easy for the average Webmaster or blogger to link deeply into those Flash files, they are not likely to appear at the top of many search results.

Andy Beal from Marketing Pilgrim adds:

Google just destroyed the web. (…) Until (the search engine) can demonstrate that its Flash crawling capabilities are equal to its HTML crawling, you risk building a site that, while indexable, is not as “optimized” as its simple HTML cousin.

And Lisa Barone from the Bruce Clay Blog doesn’t spare with criticism:

Flash Web sites are evil. (…) They’re a lame attempt to make your boring site look interesting by distracting users with pretty pictures and moving frames. (…) My SEO advice: Stick with creating HTML-based Web sites that users will want to interact with.

What does this mean for Search Engine Optimization Professsionals?

Search Engine Land has a great summary:

Can SEOs now remove the “review Flash implementation” line from their checklists? Probably not. However, it should be easier for SEOs to work with Flash-based sites going forward. SEOs should keep in mind that these new algorithms don’t take into account any meta data or formatting markup in the Flash file and, for now, Google’s cache won’t show a representation of the extracted text so site owners can’t verify what is actually being crawled by viewing the cached copy.

Plus:

If you really HAVE to use Flash – read Jonathan Hochman’s useful article ‘How to SEO Flash’ and SEO Book’s great post ‘How to Flash sites rank well‘, among others. And get the 117 design guidelines for Flash usability by usability guru Jakob Nielson. It costs $60 – but it’s worth it.