Mar 28
Daily Search Forum Recap: March 28, 2008
in Search Engine Roundtable
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Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.

Mar 28
SearchCap: The Day In Search, March 28, 2008
in Search Engine Land
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Below is what happened in search today, as reported on
Search Engine Land and from other
places across the web.

From Search Engine Land:


  • Search In Pictures: Google Shooting Range, Yahoo Asia Schwag, Google Pizza
    In this week’s Search In Pictures, here are the latest images culled from the web, showing what people eat at the search engine companies, how they play, who they meet, where they speak, what toys they have, and more….

  • In The Trenches, March 28, 2008
    In The Trenches is a weekly spotlight of tips, tricks, and news about the tools search engine marketing professionals use to give them a leg up on the competition. Today: News from the search engines, today’s in-depth look, “What You Don’t Know About Quality Scores May Kill You,” and…

  • In The Trenches: New Column From Search Engine Land
    Our newest Search Engine Land column, In The Trenches, launches today. In The Trenches is a weekly spotlight of tips, tricks, and news about the tools search engine marketing professionals use to give them a leg up on the competition. In today’s debut article, Josh Dreller comments on news…

  • Google Adds 13 Metro Areas To Street Views, Plus New API Support
    The Google LatLong Blog announced the expansion of street views to Google Maps. Google added 13 new metropolitan areas and Yosemite National Park. The 13 metro areas include Albuquerque, NM, Anchorage, AK, Austin, TX, Cleveland, OH, Fairbanks, AK, Little Rock, AR, Madison, WI, Nashville, TN, Rockford, IL, Richmond, VA, Spokane,…

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

Business Issues

Local, Maps & Mobile

Link Building

Microhoo

Paid Search & Contextual

Searching

SEM Industry

SEO & SEM

Social Media

Video, Music & Image Search

Recent Hot Items From Sphinn, Our Social News Sharing Site:

Mar 28
SearchCap: The Day In Search, March 28, 2008
in Search Engine Land
Comments Off

Below is what happened in search today, as reported on
Search Engine Land and from other
places across the web.

From Search Engine Land:


  • Search In Pictures: Google Shooting Range, Yahoo Asia Schwag, Google Pizza
    In this week’s Search In Pictures, here are the latest images culled from the web, showing what people eat at the search engine companies, how they play, who they meet, where they speak, what toys they have, and more….

  • In The Trenches, March 28, 2008
    In The Trenches is a weekly spotlight of tips, tricks, and news about the tools search engine marketing professionals use to give them a leg up on the competition. Today: News from the search engines, today’s in-depth look, “What You Don’t Know About Quality Scores May Kill You,” and…

  • In The Trenches: New Column From Search Engine Land
    Our newest Search Engine Land column, In The Trenches, launches today. In The Trenches is a weekly spotlight of tips, tricks, and news about the tools search engine marketing professionals use to give them a leg up on the competition. In today’s debut article, Josh Dreller comments on news…

  • Google Adds 13 Metro Areas To Street Views, Plus New API Support
    The Google LatLong Blog announced the expansion of street views to Google Maps. Google added 13 new metropolitan areas and Yosemite National Park. The 13 metro areas include Albuquerque, NM, Anchorage, AK, Austin, TX, Cleveland, OH, Fairbanks, AK, Little Rock, AR, Madison, WI, Nashville, TN, Rockford, IL, Richmond, VA, Spokane,…

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

Business Issues

Local, Maps & Mobile

Link Building

Microhoo

Paid Search & Contextual

Searching

SEM Industry

SEO & SEM

Social Media

Video, Music & Image Search

Recent Hot Items From Sphinn, Our Social News Sharing Site:

Mar 28
How Doing a Little Thesaurus Surfing Attracts the People Who are Article Surfing
in Search Engine Guide
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by Jennifer Laycock

Sean D’Souza at Copyblogger calls them “a few measly words.” I like to refer to it as “Thesaurus surfing.” Either way, Sean offers up a couple of fantastic examples of how adding a target and some adjectives to your article titles can go a long way toward tightening up your content and enticing readers to click through and follow you along for the literary ride.

What makes Sean’s post a little different is that he’s not just pushing title changes for the sake of gaining more clickthrus. We’re not talking about a link-baitey “here’s how to get a bunch of clicks to a random article” type of post. Instead, Sean’s aiming to help you understand how putting some serious thought into your article title will also make you put some serious thought into the content. Fleshing out the expectations for your readers will also flesh out your expectations as a writer.

And it’s a simple process.

Sean explains:

Let’s start off by taking a random topic…

So let’s take a topic such as: Why article writing is the key.

But the key to what?

Most writers leave out the core detail. They miss out telling you where the article is going in the first instance. And these writers don’t leave out the core detail on purpose.

They just don’t realize the importance of the core detail. And the core detail should usually contain what we’d loosely call a target.

A target is simply who or what are we speaking about?

Let’s me demonstrate what I mean, by doing a little addition.

So instead of: Why article writing is the key…

We say: Why article writing is the key to getting strategic alliances.

He goes on to give some excellent examples of how adding an adjective to describe the target or goal makes an article title look even more enticing. Sean wraps it up with some powerful advice. (And when I say that I mean: if you weren’t already convinced he was right, here’s the thing that will do it.)

…as you can plainly see, they’re three completely different articles, going in three completely different directions. But when you have a vague headline, it’s almost impossible to keep the content of the article focused. When you have a specific headline, it’s darned impossible to go off track.

Sometimes, a writer’s worst enemy is themselves. We worry about covering every angle instead of realizing we can cover another angle the next time we write. Why put out one average article when you could follow Sean’s advice, tighten up your title and turn out three (or more) excellent and highly focused articles?

Learn something from this post?
Come and experience Search Engine Guide style teaching in person! Join us for our first ever Small Business Marketing Unleashed Conference in Houston, Texas on April 21st and 22nd.

Mar 28
Online Reputation Management Requires Cabinet War Rooms
in Search Engine Watch
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Intense preparation helped Churchill win the war, and it can help you deal with a sudden reputation management crisis. Reacting swiftly and decisively can help minimize the damage from negative search results.

Mar 28
Boost Your Blog with Static Content
in Search Engine Guide
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by Jennifer Laycock

Earlier this week I wrote a post reminding small businesses why it’s so important to consider launching a blog to go with their web site. At the time, I pointed out the benefit of ever-changing content. Today, i ran across a great post over at ProBlogger exploring nearly two dozen types of static pages you should consider building into your blog. While the idea of creating static pages on a blog may sound counterintuitive, it’s actually an important part of blog creation many people miss.

Darren points out WordPress’s ability to generate static pages through the program’s dashboard. These static pages become part of the navigation on your blog and can serve as a powerful way to add value and information for your readers.

(Sidebar: It’s important to note static pages are different from blog posts. The blog posts you create are dated and show up on your blog in reverse chronological order; your most recent post display first. The static pages sit on individual web pages and are linked to from the navigation bar of your blog. These pages never move and the content stays the same until you update it again.)

In his post, Darren outlines twenty different types of static pages that might be appropriate for your blog. I’m not going to summarize all of them, but here are some of them I think most every blog could benefit from.



1. About Page - perhaps one of the most common uses of the ‘page’ function on WP is the good old ‘about page’. Having an about page is essential in my mind as it gives new readers to your blog a snapshot of who you are and why they should subscribe to your blog.

2. Contact Page - I’m amazed how many bloggers don’t have any way of contacting them on their blog. While I understand the temptation not to have one you could be missing out of wonderful opportunities by not giving readers, potential partners, press, other bloggers a way of contacting you.

6. Subscribe Page - having a page dedicated to how people can subscribe to your blog can be very useful. I find that having a page like this can be useful as some readers don’t understand the idea of RSS or can be worried about issues of privacy or what it means to ’subscribe’.

17. 404 Page - when people arrive on your blog to a page that has been deleted, follow a dead link etc and end up on a default error page on your blog you’ve got a wasted opportunity on your hands.

Darren lists quite a few other options as well, though many apply only to certain types of blogs. Chances are good you’ll stop at least one static page idea you haven’t already implemented. If your blog is heavy on the content side of things, check out #8 and #9 (Series pages.) If your blog is used to promote functions or you’re a requested speaker, consider adding #16 (Event pages.)

For that matter, read through Darren’s list and come up with an entirely new idea, simply because you’ve started to consider what your readers might want quick and easy access to. Either way, your blog will be better for it.

Learn something from this post?
Come and experience Search Engine Guide style teaching in person! Join us for our first ever Small Business Marketing Unleashed Conference in Houston, Texas on April 21st and 22nd.

Mar 28
Boost Your Blog with Static Content
in Search Engine Guide
Comments Off

by Jennifer Laycock

Earlier this week I wrote a post reminding small businesses why it’s so important to consider launching a blog to go with their web site. At the time, I pointed out the benefit of ever-changing content. Today, i ran across a great post over at ProBlogger exploring nearly two dozen types of static pages you should consider building into your blog. While the idea of creating static pages on a blog may sound counterintuitive, it’s actually an important part of blog creation many people miss.

Darren points out WordPress’s ability to generate static pages through the program’s dashboard. These static pages become part of the navigation on your blog and can serve as a powerful way to add value and information for your readers.

(Sidebar: It’s important to note static pages are different from blog posts. The blog posts you create are dated and show up on your blog in reverse chronological order; your most recent post display first. The static pages sit on individual web pages and are linked to from the navigation bar of your blog. These pages never move and the content stays the same until you update it again.)

In his post, Darren outlines twenty different types of static pages that might be appropriate for your blog. I’m not going to summarize all of them, but here are some of them I think most every blog could benefit from.



1. About Page - perhaps one of the most common uses of the ‘page’ function on WP is the good old ‘about page’. Having an about page is essential in my mind as it gives new readers to your blog a snapshot of who you are and why they should subscribe to your blog.

2. Contact Page - I’m amazed how many bloggers don’t have any way of contacting them on their blog. While I understand the temptation not to have one you could be missing out of wonderful opportunities by not giving readers, potential partners, press, other bloggers a way of contacting you.

6. Subscribe Page - having a page dedicated to how people can subscribe to your blog can be very useful. I find that having a page like this can be useful as some readers don’t understand the idea of RSS or can be worried about issues of privacy or what it means to ’subscribe’.

17. 404 Page - when people arrive on your blog to a page that has been deleted, follow a dead link etc and end up on a default error page on your blog you’ve got a wasted opportunity on your hands.

Darren lists quite a few other options as well, though many apply only to certain types of blogs. Chances are good you’ll stop at least one static page idea you haven’t already implemented. If your blog is heavy on the content side of things, check out #8 and #9 (Series pages.) If your blog is used to promote functions or you’re a requested speaker, consider adding #16 (Event pages.)

For that matter, read through Darren’s list and come up with an entirely new idea, simply because you’ve started to consider what your readers might want quick and easy access to. Either way, your blog will be better for it.

Learn something from this post?
Come and experience Search Engine Guide style teaching in person! Join us for our first ever Small Business Marketing Unleashed Conference in Houston, Texas on April 21st and 22nd.

Mar 28
Video: Stoney deGeyter, Link Baiter Extraordinaire!
in Search Engine Guide
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by Sage Lewis

Professional and comedic props go to Stoney deGeyter of Pole Position Marketing this week for his article “The Anatomy of a 12-Month Link Baiting Campaign.” Stoney clearly defines his step-by-step process for becoming a “household name” over the span of a year. His humor and bares all attitude make the article both amusing and informative.

Learn something from this post?
Come and experience Search Engine Guide style teaching in person! Join us for our first ever Small Business Marketing Unleashed Conference in Houston, Texas on April 21st and 22nd.

Mar 28
Video: Stoney deGeyter, Link Baiter Extraordinaire!
in Search Engine Guide
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by Sage Lewis

Professional and comedic props go to Stoney deGeyter of Pole Position Marketing this week for his article “The Anatomy of a 12-Month Link Baiting Campaign.” Stoney clearly defines his step-by-step process for becoming a “household name” over the span of a year. His humor and bares all attitude make the article both amusing and informative.

Learn something from this post?
Come and experience Search Engine Guide style teaching in person! Join us for our first ever Small Business Marketing Unleashed Conference in Houston, Texas on April 21st and 22nd.

Mar 28
Video: Roundtable Reveals, SEMPO Surveys and YouTube Winner
in Search Engine Guide
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by Sage Lewis

Sage encourages industry experts to be aware of their audience as Search Engine Roundtable reveals, via Jacob Neilson findings, that 25% of people don’t know how to do a Google search. SEMPO releases statistics at SES New York from a survey that shows the North American search marketing industry growing from $9.4 billion in 2006 to $12.4 billion in 2007 and projecting an increase to $25.2 billion by the year 2011. Also, YouTube announces the “Adorable Laughing Baby” as the winner of its contest.

Learn something from this post?
Come and experience Search Engine Guide style teaching in person! Join us for our first ever Small Business Marketing Unleashed Conference in Houston, Texas on April 21st and 22nd.

Mar 28
Video: Roundtable Reveals, SEMPO Surveys and YouTube Winner
in Search Engine Guide
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by Sage Lewis

Sage encourages industry experts to be aware of their audience as Search Engine Roundtable reveals, via Jacob Neilson findings, that 25% of people don’t know how to do a Google search. SEMPO releases statistics at SES New York from a survey that shows the North American search marketing industry growing from $9.4 billion in 2006 to $12.4 billion in 2007 and projecting an increase to $25.2 billion by the year 2011. Also, YouTube announces the “Adorable Laughing Baby” as the winner of its contest.

Learn something from this post?
Come and experience Search Engine Guide style teaching in person! Join us for our first ever Small Business Marketing Unleashed Conference in Houston, Texas on April 21st and 22nd.

Mar 28
Search In Pictures: Google Shooting Range, Yahoo Asia Schwag, Google Pizza
in Search Engine Land
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Search In Pictures
In this week’s Search In Pictures, here are the latest images culled from the web, showing what people eat at the search engine companies, how they play, who they meet, where they speak, what toys they have, and more.

Click to continue reading…

Mar 28
Search In Pictures: Google Shooting Range, Yahoo Asia Schwag, Google Pizza
in Search Engine Land
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Search In Pictures
In this week’s Search In Pictures, here are the latest images culled from the web, showing what people eat at the search engine companies, how they play, who they meet, where they speak, what toys they have, and more.

Click to continue reading…

Mar 28
Weekly Search Buzz RoundUp - 03/28/08: YouTube Video Statistics, Google Demographics Targeting & Video Ads on Google and Yahoo
in Search Engine Roundtable
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search-buzz-roundup.gifHappy Friday everyone! It’s officially spring out here; the weather has gotten warmer and it’s almost April! Wow.

Easter!

Yeah, that’s right. Last week was Easter. And there were plenty of celebrations in the search sphere.

YouTube Analytics

Probably the coolest thing (for me) that happened this week was the announcement that YouTube is now providing analytics on their videos. I know Avinash Kaushik would be proud. It is very cool to see how well your videos are doing, and Barry provides a nice screenshot tour of the various options you can take advantage of. Sweet.

Google AdWords Demographic Bidding Screenshots

Barry has been in a screenshot mood lately. After the announcement about Google’s demographic targeting for AdWords advertisers, he provides Google AdWords demographic bidding screenshots as well. You can see traffic reports by gender, age, and more.

We Asked You What You Thought About Minus X Penalties

….and most of you thought it was backlink related. In other words, the links pointing to your site may be causing a drop in your rankings. Even Barry thinks so.

New Google Mobile

A spy blogger journalist dude from ZDNet was snooping around examining Google’s robots.txt file and found Google’s new mobile interface. It’s actually quite cool; it knows where you’re located and gives you popular attractions. Of course, if you’re not a tourist, the results Google provides may not help you, but a big chunk of folks are probably looking for something on that map. (For the others, Google, personalized search!)

Microsoft Live Search March 2008 Update

The March 2008 update of Live Search has left webmasters really upset at the quality of results. One even likens it to “split personalities.” Not good.

Google Sitelinks March 2008 Update

On a similar note, Google is performing updates of its own. I finally have sitelinks, albeit they’re … interesting.

New Versions

Some advertisers have been invited to the new Microsoft adCenter Editor Beta. No word on performance issues yet.

On Google’s end, Google AdWords API version 12 is now live, and you have until July 26 to switch over. Speaking of deadlines, it’s almost April 1st, and the Google AdWords display URL policy is going into effect then. Check your campaigns carefully as soon as possible if you haven’t already.

Video Ads Come to Google and Yahoo

It looks like other search engines are jumping in the video ad game. Google came out with AdWords video ads and Yahoo now has Partner Results. Life is changing and it’s all video, baby. (I am not sure if I’m impressed.) ;)

Do Search Boxes in Google Search Results Increase Traffic?

The answer is maybe. Search boxes in the SERPs increase traffic astronomically, according to one person who was fortunate enough to get a search box on his site. The “traffic doubled overnight,” he says. Others disagree, though. So time will only tell if it helps or hurts.

No, You CANNOT Blend Your Ads

The Google AdSense team has officially provided guidelines saying no to blending ads with your content. Will they enforce it? Hard to say. Keep watching this site. ;)

10 Minutes Until Google Time

You have about 10 minutes until you can join the Google Webmaster Help Live Chat depending on when this post gets published and when you read it. Don’t miss it!

Welcome Brian and Suman

Finally, I’d like to welcome AdSensePro reps Brian and Suman who hail from Ireland and India, respectively. It’s nice to have global assistance when you need it. :)

Have a great weekend!

Mar 28
In The Trenches, March 28, 2008
in Search Engine Land
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In The Trenches - A Column From Search Engine Land In The Trenches is a weekly spotlight of tips, tricks, and news about the tools search engine marketing professionals use to give them a leg up on the competition. Today: News from the search engines, today’s in-depth look, “What You Don’t Know About Quality Scores May Kill You,” and this week’s free tips and tools.

Click to continue reading…

Mar 28
What Belongs in a Search Engine Optimization Strategies Document?
in Search Engine Roundtable
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At a Cre8asite Forums thread, a user is looking for guidance on how to compile a SEO strategic document. What would be contained in such a document?

The first step in writing a document like this is determining your audience and asking who is going to read this strategy document. Once that’s set, you can think of other goals, particularly the company goals and the departmental goals.

But be careful. Don’t make promises you can’t deliver:

I’d also try to be easy on predicting awesome sales. It is better to underestimate and be a winner later, then overestimate now and be seen as underachiever. Even if in the latter variant, you’ve done exceptionally well.

What do you think? Forum discussion continues at Cre8asite Forums — and the final outline for the SEO strategies document is revealed.