Blended Search – Let’s Get Vertical

admin    Google     Blended, Let's, Search, Vertical

When consumers today search online for the products and services your business offers, you are not only competing with other web sites, you’re also competing with social networking profiles, online videos, blog posts, Twitter tweets, photo sharing sites, online news outlets, etc., all blended together on the search engine results pages (SERPs).

So how can your business optimize for all these different types of media now being included in the search results? By getting vertical.

Getting vertical is simply another way to think about your search engine strategy. Yes, you still need to effectively optimize your web site to do well in the search results. But in addition to that, you now must also optimize for the search “verticals” that contribute to blended search results as well.

For instance, Google determines its blended results (in part) by analyzing what ranks well in its search verticals, including image search, Google News, video search, and social networking information from Twitter, Facebook, and Friendfeed. That’s a lot of verticals to consider! But optimizing for blended search means that you need to have at least some sort of presence on these verticals to get Google’s attention and boost your position in the search rankings.

Social Networks

Since the major search engines now include real-time information from popular social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube, your search engine rankings can definitely benefit from implementing a social networking strategy. By participating on social networking sites, you contribute a constant stream of fresh information that not only benefits your customers and followers, but also helps get (and keep) the attention of the search engines as they gather new information from these real-time sources.

The key to being successful on the social networks, however, is to implement an integrated strategy that combines all of your social marketing efforts together with your web site and with the other marketing activities you may already have established. (See our web site or blog posts on Integrated Social Marketing (ISM)® for more details on this concept).

Online Videos

Videos can be optimized for blended search, whether on a web site, in a blog post, on a social networking site, or uploaded to a video sharing site like YouTube. In fact, video sharing sites already have built-in features that make it easy for users to share videos with friends and followers. They also allow viewers to leave comments or forward video links to their lists of contacts.

When using videos in your search strategy, be sure to add relevant descriptions and title tags to your videos, and rename the video files to include your targeted keywords in the filename for an added boost. Re-use your videos in as many places on the web as you can, including embedding them in your web pages and integrating them with your Google Place pages to help build authority for the videos as well.

News Content

Another source of blended search results comes from content found in online news from mainstream media outlets, in Google News, and on a variety of online newswire services. One way for small businesses to get online news coverage is to submit press releases to online media outlets, both paid and free, as a way to build quality inbound links and get additional exposure online. You should also try to include video and images in your press releases whenever possible. Multi-media content tends to do well – especially in Google News – and it provides additional press release content that can be indexed in the search databases.

Images and Photos

There are several ways that you can use images to contribute to your results in blended search. First, your images and photos should have keyword-rich file names, such as “keyword.jpg” or “my_company_at_eventname.jpg” whenever possible. Also, be sure to use keywords in your HTML image alt tags and in the descriptions and captions of the photos as well. Then, you can share these photos on your web site, on your blog, on your Facebook page (and other social profiles), and upload them to photo sharing sites like Flickr. Encourage your visitors to leave comments, and also leave your own comments, since this type of participation will also help provide fresh content and gain attention from the search engines as they gather real-time search information as well.

Think Vertical

So if you are serious about improving your business’ positions in the search engine rankings, you will need to expand the way you think about optimizing your entire search profile online. The more you can do to optimize the search “verticals” (like social networking, video, images, etc.), the more influence you will have over what the search engines know about your business and its relevance to searchers today. Thinking vertical can help you stay competitive now that blended search means competing with more than just other web sites.

How to Get High Google Page Rank And Start Making Money Online

admin    Google     Google, High, Making, Money, Online, Page, Rank, Start

Everyone desires to make money online on the Internet but it is not so many a times and it is all a process which requires time and patience. It is evident that Google attracts most of the traffic on the internet with MSN and Yahoo close in pursuit.

There is no bypassing hard work and patience, climbing the ladder is all based on keywords that will attract high traffic. Targeting key words that don’t have much competition is a good way to set out. To attract more visitors to your website what you can do is update the information on a daily basis. This will help improve your Google page rank.

Google assesses the originality and importance of a website according to the content present on the pages, it is known as the Google page rank system, the more authentic the content matter the higher the page rank. The more significant the number of backlinks to your website, that’s right the higher the Google page rank. Backlinks are just as important because when Google sees that and feels the importance of your website they give it a high page ranking. The higher the Google page rank the more the traffic which simply means more clicks and more visitors. And off course, one is on their way to making money fast.

There are ways to one’s increase page rank, exchanging links with other websites rake in more backlinks and thus the traffic is increased. Creating a sitemap of one’s website can be uploaded Google Webmaster this allows Google bot to crawl your site, there are high chances of the content on your site to appear in search results as Google indexes your site. Another way to increase one’s page rank is to submit the site to search engine directories which in turn gets links to your site for free.

Making money fast depends on the page rank and the traffic your website attracts. Buying links will also help in your link build up. Focusing only on the money making aspect is lopsided thinking, your main focus should be on content of high quality which will benefit the internet as a whole. When you constantly deliver the goods automatically your Google page rank is increased, with plenty of links and backlinks chances are that your page rank will keep increasing and the money will begin to flow in steadily.

The goal here is to attract as much traffic to your website as you possibly can. You need to be passionate about your goals and also be careful about false clicks that can be discovered by Google very easily. The more pages in the index the more higher the page rank and this also leads to more control and a quicker way for making money online free.

Every page gives you a finer edge to make money online but remember don’t compromise on their quality. You can check to see the number of pages your competitors and then set a target for yourself. You can check on this by using site searches for their domain.

Google-Microsoft’s war: Reshaping search engine

admin    Google     Engine, GoogleMicrosoft's, Reshaping, Search

Microsoft Corp, the software giant has updated its search engine with a new Decision Engine, called Bing in June this year. The new platform has provided a boost to the company’s effort in the search arena. Bing has reached 10.3 percent market share in November. The new platform also incorporated various new features in the last six months and also joined hands with Yahoo to counter the monopoly of Google.

In the last six months, Google also added various features to its search engine. It also announced its faster variant called Google Caffeine, which can provide faster and more results to your queries. Google has recently unveiled its real-time search interface and it looks much better than Yahoo and Bing.

Various analysts predict that in the upcoming years, both companies would bring avalanche of innovations that could change the face of search.

Google’s new innovative products

Google is leading the search market with 65.6 percent share in November. The company has introduced a number of changes this month. It has announced Google Goggles, a photo-based search. You have to take a photo by Smartphone, click a button and Google will analyze imagery and text in the photo for your search query.

Instant Voice Translation: Now, you can not only search by voice, but also translate between English and Spanish in the cloud, via your mobile phone. The company will allow translation in all the world’s leading languages by 2010.

Location based search: The new application differentiate the search results according to your location, however the mobile device should be GPS enabled. The company also introduced a new feature through which users can find the nearest store on which the desired product will be available and whether that product is in stock.

Near Me Now: The new feature, Google.com will be available on Android phones, will allow users to have search categories like restaurants or stores on the front page.

Microsoft’s answers to Google Search

On July 29, 2009, Microsoft and Yahoo! had announced a 10-year deal in which the Yahoo! search engine would be replaced by Bing. However, for the first five years, Yahoo! will keep 88% of the revenue from all search ad sales. The deal between the second and third search engines will certainly provide a reason for worry to Google.

The Redmond giant has released the feature-rich updated version of its Bing maps, which is claimed to be superior to Google Maps. The company also introduced another application, called Local Lens, which makes use of local blogs, and tries to figure out the map in the appropriate location as well. Also, Microsoft has introduced many features that will help users to access Bing on the move and get your answers quickly.

Recently, Mozilla has announced that the Firefox users should search via Microsoft’s Bing after Google’s CEO downplayed consumers’ privacy concerns.

Discussion

According to the research firm, Gartner, search has never really been static. Recently, both Microsoft and Google announced that they had both joined hands with Twitter for real-time search interface. Hence, with time, the search will become more dynamic for the lives of online users.

Social Media Optimisation (smo) and SEO a Reality

admin    Social Media     Media, Optimisation, Reality, Social

Social Media Optimisation is not coming…it has arrived. Just when website owners think that they are finally coming to grips with the term ‘Search Engine Optimisation’, they are suddenly introduced to the all new ‘Social Media’ or ‘Consumer Generated media’. Companies will need to compete to get social and search engine preference if they want to succeed.

We have barely digested the term SEO and already we’re hearing new jargon such as SMO (Social Media Optimisation) creeping in. Don’t be fooled into thinking that this is simply a preview of things to come on the web. It’s already here and pioneering companies have already grasped the concept and are ensuring that their internet marketing strategy extends beyond traditional e-Marketing and into the area of Search Engine Optimisation, Search Engine Advertising and Social Media Optimisation.

Pioneering companies will win: Sadly, few South African companies realise the significance of optimising their websites for top search engine rankings and social popularity. There are many extraordinary looking websites being launched onto the Internet daily, yet their splashy entry pages and dazzling creative’s seldom does the company any good. These websites occupy space on the web; however they are by no means optimised to attract the correct target audiences. Few web designers are taught the skill of optimising the websites that they design for search engine rankings. From the start of the web development project, companies should commission experienced search engine marketers or analysts to be involved in preparing the website brief for the developer by defining the essential elements that should be incorporated, if the website is to be positioned anywhere of significance on search engine results pages.

There are more than a hundred varying criteria that search engines include as part of their ranking algorithm. Website owners, web designers and marketers should take cognisance of the fact that it is simply not good enough to publish a fancy looking website onto the Internet and expect it to start attracting and converting customers in the hope of producing income from its online presence. It takes skill and careful planning to create a website that will be recognised by search engines as relevant enough to rank in the top ten results, and then to take this one step further by ensuring that the user experience is one that will convert a researcher into a customer. Today’s consumer has a lot of power.

Today’s consumer is in control: The new consumer is actively participating in social networks, they are bookmarking websites on social search engines and they are blogging about you. Ensure that your website is optimised to generate publicity through social media, online communities and social networks. There are websites that consist of user generated ranking systems. Make sure that your website can be bookmarked, linked to and tagged easily enough by the user. Create a company blog or user community within your own website. If you create something that allows your user to engage with you, and it is compelling enough for them to spread the word and to bookmark you then you are half way there.

You can’t fake it until you make it: Getting ranked highly on search engine results is not a quick fix. It is a process that requires a great deal of planning, editing and monitoring in order to first climb into the top ranking positions and then to try to remain there. With the algorithms changing at will, there is no one technique

PPC Advertising – A Short-term Commitment

admin    PPC     Advertising, Commitment, Shortterm

When you are looking to get the word out about your business you might be considering Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising.

While I recommend adopting long-term strategies utilizing Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategies, the use of PPC advertising and email marketing are ways to get the message to more people in the short-term.

If you have a limited budget you might want to spend quality time learning how to develop an effective PPC advertisement (think laser focused). Again, if money is a prime consideration you can work at bidding on keyword terms that command a smaller price per click.

For instance if you sell military surplus items you might consider a serve term like ‘woodland camo’ or ‘digital pattern backpack’ as opposed to ‘military surplus’.

It is possible to find some bargains in search terms, but it won’t likely be with the most obvious search terms. Many PPC users may start their campaigns with the most obvious choice and have to stop advertising sooner than expected, pay a significant amount for a much smaller return on investment (ROI), or find alternative keywords that are less expensive

Some of the more prominent PPC advertising sites allow you to gauge the success of your campaign while others do not. It is possible to improve site visitation dramatically, but the PPC price tag may be a profit killer.

A good rule of thumb is to use PPC advertising when you have a sale that will be in effect for a limited time or if you have a very specific industry issue that has immediate importance.

If you use PPC advertising to the exclusion of SEO strategies I promise you it will cost much more than if you worked on developing a comprehensive SEO plan.

The biggest difference in strategies is PPC provides an immediate influx of site visitors while SEO strategies (when implemented correctly) have a significant impact on future site visitation.

Some business have been able to develop their website with no PPC advertising by simply relying on solid SEO principles. The downside to using SEO alone is that the strategies can takes months to produce meaningful results. If you can weather a slow start you can get by without PPC advertising.

Using PPC in the early stages of your online store can help bridge that gap between business startup and the time when SEO finally kicks in and helps online searchers find your site more quickly.

Use PPC advertising if you must, but make SEO the top priority of present and future site development.

How Much Should Be The Google Page Rank , And The Alexa Rank Of A Chinese Supplier To Be Legit?

admin    Google     Alexa, Chinese, Google, Legit, Much, Page, Rank, Should, Supplier

someone told me google rank should be above 3 and alexa below 3,000,000 and i could`nt find a supplier with these results?

Google-Microsoft’s war: Reshaping search engine space

admin    Google     Engine, GoogleMicrosoft's, Reshaping, Search, space

Microsoft Corp, the software giant has updated its search engine with a new Decision Engine, called Bing in June this year. The new platform has provided a boost to the company’s effort in the search arena. Bing has reached 10.3 percent market share in November. The new platform also incorporated various new features in the last six months and also joined hands with Yahoo to counter the monopoly of Google.

In the last six months, Google also added various features to its search engine. It also announced its faster variant called Google Caffeine, which can provide faster and more results to your queries. Google has recently unveiled its real-time search interface and it looks much better than Yahoo and Bing.

Various analysts predict that in the upcoming years, both companies would bring avalanche of innovations that could change the face of search.

Google’s new innovative products

Google is leading the search market with 65.6 percent share in November. The company has introduced a number of changes this month. It has announced Google Goggles, a photo-based search. You have to take a photo by Smartphone, click a button and Google will analyze imagery and text in the photo for your search query.

Instant Voice Translation: Now, you can not only search by voice, but also translate between English and Spanish in the cloud, via your mobile phone. The company will allow translation in all the world’s leading languages by 2010.

Location based search: The new application differentiate the search results according to your location, however the mobile device should be GPS enabled. The company also introduced a new feature through which users can find the nearest store on which the desired product will be available and whether that product is in stock.

Near Me Now: The new feature, Google.com will be available on Android phones, will allow users to have search categories like restaurants or stores on the front page.

Microsoft’s answers to Google Search

On July 29, 2009, Microsoft and Yahoo! had announced a 10-year deal in which the Yahoo! search engine would be replaced by Bing. However, for the first five years, Yahoo! will keep 88% of the revenue from all search ad sales. The deal between the second and third search engines will certainly provide a reason for worry to Google.

The Redmond giant has released the feature-rich updated version of its Bing maps, which is claimed to be superior to Google Maps. The company also introduced another application, called Local Lens, which makes use of local blogs, and tries to figure out the map in the appropriate location as well. Also, Microsoft has introduced many features that will help users to access Bing on the move and get your answers quickly.

Recently, Mozilla has announced that the Firefox users should search via Microsoft’s Bing after Google’s CEO downplayed consumers’ privacy concerns.

Discussion

According to the research firm, Gartner, search has never really been static. Recently, both Microsoft and Google announced that they had both joined hands with Twitter for real-time search interface. Hence, with time, the search will become more dynamic for the lives of online users.

How To Improve Google Page Rank

admin    Google     Google, improve, Page, Rank

One of the first things you should do is aim to increase the number of backlinks that you have pointing to your website. This fact alone can increase your link popularity and ultimately increase your PR.. Combined with that is the fact that the more back links you have pointing back your website for more potential traffic you will get from it.

Google’s page rank system has indeed added a very interesting twist on the whole search engine optimization (SEO) game. SEO is no longer what it used to be and for the most part it is grossly misunderstood. On-site optimization, these days, count for very little. It all boils down to off-site optimization and this is where page rank (PR) comes in.

Page Rank (PR) is an algorithm used by Google to compute the relative importance of a particular webpage on the internet and assign it a numeric value from 0 (least important) to 10 (most important). This value is calculated through an iterative analysis of the backlinks to the webpage. If webpage A links to webpage B then webpage B would receive 1 “vote” towards their page rank.

If you are wanting to obtain a higher page rank in the least possible amount of time your best option is to run a Google search using the keywords for your website. Take note of the top page of results, then, visit the high ranking web pages one by one. Write to the webmasters and ask if you can participate in a link exchange.

The “actual” Page Rank values of URLs on the web are very fluid. They are constantly being updated as Google’s spiders crawl the web discovering new pages, finding that old pages no longer exist or have been moved, discovering new links on existing pages, finding that old links have been removed from existing pages, etc.

The more votes that are cast for a web site page, the more important the page becomes. Also, the importance of the page that is casting the vote determines the overall importance the vote. Google calculates a page’s importance from the votes cast for it, it is the vote of trust. How important each vote is taken into account when a webpage’s PageRank is calculated.

So, has Google Page Rank killed off SEO: absolutely not, and good search engine optimization on your web pages will provide you with a higher listing that if you relied purely on links. My reason for this belief is my own experience in getting rapid high listings in the major search engines when my website is correctly designed and optimized.

Search engine rank can be improved by intelligent use of links, both external and internal, but Google Page Rank does not have the profound effect on your search engine listing that many have led you to believe. Good onsite SEO usually wins so keep that in mind when designing your website.

Google Page Rank uses incoming links to your web page to determine your web page’s importance and credibility. The number of incoming links is important but is not the only factor. The site from which the link originates is also important.

Where Can I See What Search Terms People Are Using On Google?

admin    Google     Google, People, Search, Terms, Using

Is there a place where you can see in real time what search terms people are typing into Google, Yahoo, Ask.com and other major search engines?

3 Must Have Twitter Tips for Beginners

admin    Twitter     Beginners, Must, Tips, Twitter

Twitter has become one of the most powerful free marketing and public relations tools on the internet. But how do you gain that elusive quality following? Especially in a niche market like photography? This article will provide you with three must have tips to boosting your credibility and building a quality Twitter network.

Twitter Tip #1: Craft Your Message

The most important part of crafting your message is knowing what it is. You should know why you want to use Twitter before you sign up. Otherwise, you may become discouraged as your profile sits with three followers.

Ask yourself the following questions before you sign up:

What would I like to accomplish on Twitter? Will my Twitter profile be professional or personal? Will my Twitter profile be straightforward, a little bit funny or full of sarcasm? How can I craft a message that builds my business? How much time do I have to devote to Twitter?

You want to discover your reason behind your interest in Twitter.

Limited Promotion

Don’t arrive on the scene like a hardcore salesman. Slow down. Many people make the mistake of instant marketing on Twitter. Never jump right in and start promoting. Twitter is an opportunity to build relationships. Don’t damage them by beating people over the head with your product. You may be online but people still don’t want to feel used.

Twitter is all about finding value in the expertise of others. It takes time to build good relationships — on or offline. Take the time to research people who may be interested in your niche. Follow people who already have a solid standing in your market. If you peruse their followers, you’ll find out what they’re talking about. And if you play it smart, you may be able to develop a targeted product offering.

Mastering the 140 Rule

140 characters is a very short writing form. Master the art of getting your message out succinctly. With so many people tweeting, it’s hard to wade through the trash and find good information. If you don’t want your information to be deemed trash, then start by building a trustworthy relationship and avoid spamming your followers. Don’t forget to offer help when you can.

Twitter Tip #2: Manage Your Network

Many people join Twitter and follow everyone that follows them. If you plan on using Twitter as a goldmine for marketing research, this is a bad strategy. While there are tools like Tweetdeck and Twitter lists that cut down the chatter, there’s nothing like good old fashioned discretion. Make sure you only follow people you are interested in hearing from. Have you ever noticed some tweeters have 10,000 followers and they’re only following 200? That’s a smart strategy. They only follow those individuals that interest them and add value to the constant stream of information they see daily.

While it may seem rude not to follow all of your followers, how will you manage 10,000 x 20 tweets x 24 hours x 7 days? Would you follow every Joe you met on the street? Then don’t follow everyone on Twitter. In addition, Twitter has rules that will only allow you to follow so many people. So make sure you manage your Twitter network like you manage your offline network — with discretion.

After you have found people you are interested in learning from, ease yourself into their conversations. Introduce yourself and find common ground. Don’t jump in on Jim’s conversation about his fifteenth anniversary gift. Do jump in on Jim’s conversation about healthy eating tips. Especially if this is your market. Leave the personal conversations between people who feel comfortable with each other.

The Photocritic blog has a great database full of must follow photographers. Check them out here.

Twitter Tip #3: Promotion in Intervals

The biggest turn off for many on Twitter is the constant stream of promotional Tweets. There’s nothing worse than someone who constantly toots their own horn. Remember, Twitter is about building trust by providing value. Manage your tweets consistently.Try sending promotional tweets with links to your product or blog once for every five or ten helpful tweets you send. Feel free to experiment with your own intervals. Twitter is a value based venue. Only those that provide valuable information consistently are successful in gaining a large targeted following.

Twitter will only be successful if you spend time building quality relationships. So, when you’re on Twitter, make sure you spend your time wisely. Don’t go in with a strictly promotional motive. Seek people in your niche you can learn from. Be careful who you follow and always remember to have fun!

7 Great Twitter Tools Backtype: If you run a Wordpress, blog this is a must have plugin to bring relevant information to your readers. Grouptweet: Send direct messages to groups you define. Snaptweet: Share your Flickr pictures on Twitter. Splitweet: Manage your brand. Period. Twaitter: Schedule your tweets. Tweetdeck: Download. Install. Manage. If you don’t have Tweetdeck, you’re missing the point. Twitpic: Share your photos on Twitter.