Published: October 27th, 2009
I’ve recently read that Youtube is now the second most-used search engine, ahead of Yahoo and Bing. If it is, then what does it mean for the long-discussed future of vertical search?
In case you don’t know what vertical search is, it means niche search engines that focus on a particular area of search. For example, you go to Youtube to search for videos only. So far, many have predicted that vertical search will take over from the current search paradigm, as vertical search can provide better results for the user - by better fulfilling their search expectations.
Google has noticed this coming and has diversified its product line to accommodate – e.g. Google Product Search, which focuses on…product search. So far this has proved successful in staving off the apparently imminent migration to niche corners of the internet.
Published: October 23rd, 2009
This is a question I often ask myself. As far as I can see, the answer seems to depend upon two factors – the emergence of real time search and how SEO progresses within the marketing mix.
At present it is impossible to see beyond Google when looking into the future. However, the emergence of a viable competitor does not seem as far off as it did a year ago. The merger of the Bing and Yahoo could make an impact – as long as they stop trying to play catch-up and start looking beyond existing search conventions.
One avenue that looks like it could impact upon Google’s quality-weighted algorithm is real-time search. At the moment, real-time search doesn’t offer much in terms of value for businesses. This is because of its current prominence in the social media sector. The failure of businesses to convert social media into revenue means that the connection between real-time search and revenue has not really been made.
Published: October 12th, 2009
In order for SEO to become a fully integrated part of the marketing mix, it must pay more attention to how it fits itself in with overall marketing strategy.
A main element that is currently neglected by SEO is brand.
SEO can no longer simply be about achieving brand awareness, as the methods it uses to achieve brand awareness encompass a far broader spectrum of brand components. Does our SEO strategy fit in with the brand values – is it fun, forward thinking or environmental, for example? What about our interaction with others? And which links will support the brand image?
At present, these questions are ignored by many in the SEO community, but it could be the missing piece in the jigsaw. Thinking about these questions will allow you to work with bigger brands – brands that have developed beyond a mere logo and into a philosophy. A philosophy that you must become part of…or at the very least, compromise with!
It may blur the lines between SEO and other marketing functions, but Google dictates this must be so in order to be successful in the rankings. Buying or reciprocating links will not work for the bigger clients with the popular keywords.
As such, marketing is beginning to realise that SEO is no longer the little brother that can survive off pocket money – it has grown up and must be invited to the party. But to make sure it’s invited back, it must behave appropriately! And this means paying attention to the needs of the brand it’s working with.
Published: October 8th, 2009
Having read (and listened to) Matt Cutt’s blog post informing the world that meta tags are useless and that description tags are only used for the listing’s ’snippet’, I was far more interested in the latter revelation.
As everyone has pointed out, meta tags have been presumed dead for a long time. However, Matt seemed to suggest that meta descriptions are only useful for getting a good ‘snippet’ - rather than as another chance to reference your keywords.
As he pointed out, Google wants to provide your site with a good ‘snippet’. This is because it is likely to increase your click through rate.
I’ve already heard rumblings about Google using the amount of time/pages a user spends onsite before returning to the SERPs as a factor in ranking. Now I believe that Google uses click through rate as a factor to determine rankings. Maybe not a major factor, but definitely one of the many!
You may have noticed that click-through rate and impressions have been added to Google Webmaster Tools. I’m not quite sure when exactly this happened, but I am sure they have not always been there. There must be a reason for this other than purely for your information.
Therefore, if I’m right, your thinking should change (if it hasn’t already). Rather than referencing your keywords in your meta description with the aim of further increasing the relevance of your page, you should reference your keywords with the sole aim of increasing your click through rate. And you should go beyond simply informative or gently persuasive. Include an Adwords-style call to action in there. Short sharp snippets with sentences like ‘free delivery, buy now!’ etc are bound to catch the eye amongst a sea of half finished sentences.
What do you think?
Published: October 1st, 2009
Google appears to be weighting some factors more heavily since the recent spate of updates - here are three that you need to take advantage of:
1. Make sure you have an onsite blog
Sites with blogs seem to be doing even better in the SERPs following the recent updates. It makes sense that Google would move further in this direction, as if you have a section onsite devoted to regularly updated content then your link strategy will appear more natural – obviously the addition of a blog is more likely to attract links to the site (be it to the blog itself or the homepage). The outcome is greater trust.
2. Make sure you have content on the homepage
Sites that have a reasonable amount of content on the homepage seem to have performed better since the updates. This content is also useful for putting anchor text links into other parts of your sites – by doing this we have noticed that you can have more influence on the ‘sitelinks’ listed in the SERPs (the links to other parts of your site underneath your listing).
3. Make sure you have some form of feed on the site
This (like the other two points) has been known to be beneficial for a long time, though weighting appears to have been altered further towards this factor. Make sure you have a feed, whether it’s a feed of a regularly updated blog, news or an RSS feed. Again this update makes sense – regularly changing content is likely to point towards a higher quality user experience and therefore a higher quality site.
Please list any of your own observations in the comments section.
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