Written on June 9, 2010
Interesting news surfaced recently regarding Microsoft’s Bing Search to be the leading search engine placed on Apple’s newest iPhone. Previously running through Google’s search, it appears TechCrunch has some news and further sources who have regarded the credibility of Microsoft taking over the search. The news seems very good for Microsoft as trying to compete against Google as a major search engine is not an easy thing to do.
I don’t know how Bing is going to run on the OS, as I’ve always been a huge fan of Google. In fact, I expect to be searching through Google in almost any app.
However with Google starting to fund and truly get behind the Android market, it appears as though a split between Apple and Google was inevitable. Not sure where the market will go from here, especially considering how many apps run through Google (YouTube, Maps, etc).
Here’s further info quoted from an interesting post discussing the relationship between Apple and Google. It reads:
Multiple sources at Google tell us that in informal discussions with Apple over the last few months Apple expressed dismay at the number of core iPhone apps that are powered by Google. Search, maps, YouTube, and other key popular apps are powered by Google. Other than the browser, Apple has little else to call its own other than the core phone, contacts and calendar features.
So at this point I’m a bit torn, only time will truly tell what’s going to happen. It was discussed in TechCrunch’s post that Google is paying Apple $100 million a year for the search rights for the iPhone, along with the rights to serve search ads within the app. Not to say this would be going away any time soon, unless Microsoft happens to offer a better deal.
Written on March 24, 2010
10. Don’t Use Flash for SEO
Flash websites are very eye-catching, but search engines cannot read or index this type of content. If it is impossible to avoid a Flash-centric website and you need search engines to index it, you will have to offer an html version too. Search engines don’t like Flash sites for a reason – a spider can’t read Flash content and therefore can’t index it.
9. Don’t Use too Much JavaScript
Searchbots are not designed to read and understand JavaScript code. If a website contains a few lines of text in the JavaScript code, chances are that searchbots will ignore the entire block of code along with the text. This is true in the case of JavaScript menus. Try to keep the use of JavaScript to a minimum. Alternatively, create an external JavaScript file if it is unavoidable.
8. Do Implement a Robots.txt File
The primary purpose for using a robots.txt file is to gain complete control over the data indexed by the searchbots. Implement a Robots.txt file only when you want to prevent unwanted web pages from being indexed. A robots.txt file is always placed in the root folder of the website where the searchbots can access it easily.
7. Do Target the Correct Keywords
Targeting the wrong keywords is a common mistake many optimizers make and even worse – veteran SEO professionals do it. Marketers select keywords that they think are explanatory of their website, but the average searcher does not think in those same keyword terms. Picking the right keywords can increase or decrease traffic to your SEO campaign. A first-class keyword suggestion aid, for example the Google search-based keyword tool, will help you find keywords that are appropriate for your site.
6. Do Include Long Tail Keywords
With a million websites competing for short tail keywords, it can take more than 6 months to rank in the top 20 for a competitive keyword. In this case, long tail keywords come in handy. Long tail keywords are more specific and can contain the name of a specific product, brand or city. Ranking for long tail keywords is comparatively easier and the rate of conversion is better than that of short tail keywords. Do include keywords in the title tags.
5. Do Maintain a Uniform URL Structure
If your website is dynamic, then you need to modify the URL structure of the web pages. This maintains uniformity and helps searchbots to understand which page it is indexing. It is very easy to maintain the URL structure in dynamic websites. Blogging platforms like WordPress provide an option for permalinks.
4. Don’t Link to Low Quality Websites
Link building is a very crucial aspect of search engine optimization. Search engines consider the number of incoming links to a website as an indication of their popularity and give them priority rankings. Many beginners fail to realize that it is links from authoritative and quality websites that are important and they mistakenly link to low quality websites for higher rankings. This tactic can cause the credibility of the website to go down with search engines and in some cases, the website may get banned.
3. Do Perform Competitive Intelligence
Before starting your search engine optimization program, visit the competing websites in the top results. Research these types of questions:
A. How many websites are competing for the same keyword?
B. How old are the websites in top search engine results pages?
C. How many back links do the top ranking websites list?
D. What type of social media is used by the competing sites?
2. Do Take Advantage of Google Analytics
2009 was the year when web analytics gained momentum. Google Analytics came up with advanced metrics and intelligence report features which revolutionized free analytics tools. Companies realized the benefits of using web analytics tools to extract their relevant data. Implement Google Analytics to analyze data and build a 2010 plan to increase traffic and rates of conversion.
1. Do Create Fresh Content
Search engines are famous for penalizing a website for publishing duplicate content. With plagiarism on the rise and availability of content checking tools such as Copyscape, marketers have become more cautious. Yahoo is considered to be among the harshest of all the search engines with regard to this penalty. Add fresh content to your website to help build visitor interest and credibility with the search engines.
These 10 simple do’s and don’ts can help you to avoid making potentially dangerous SEO mistakes and ensure your site is indexed and boost rankings.
Written on August 24, 2009
Google appears to be testing breadcrumbs in some search results, at least in some areas. If you are unfamiliar with the term breadcrumbs, it refers to the hierarchical display commonly used in site navigation. For example: Home Page>Product Page>Product A Page.
This is a feature that has been introduced by NECSES Webdesign for all of it’s web designs to aid navigation by users. Another example shows the breadcrumbs displayed in a different position within the search result:
Google’s use of breadcrumbs appears to only be a test, and a limited one at that. Google has talked repeatedly about sites having good site architecture in the past. This allows Google to more easily and quickly crawl sites.
Bing acknowledges this too. Rick DeJarnette of Bing Webmaster Center recently said, “You can have great content and a plethora of high quality inbound links from authority sites, but if your site’s structure is flawed or broken, then it will still not achieve the optimal page rank you desire from search engines.”
If Google does begin incorporating the breadcrumbs display, on a mainstream level, that will be all the more reason to clean your site architecture up, at least in the navigation area. Site architecture certainly goes beyond this, but it is a key part of usability anyway and one that we at NECSES Webdesign always take in to consideration when designing our clients web sites.
Written on June 9, 2009
Microsoft’s Bing search engine has just become publicly available, allowing you to decide whether Microsoft’s latest effort has the goods to take on Google. Bing is available at www.bing.com and replaces Live Search.Microsoft is expected to spend $80 million to $100 million on Bing marketing which would be a nice hedge against Yahoo! because Bing will most likely take market share from Yahoo!.
Whether Bing ultimately succeeds or not, it will push Google to keep innovating search, and the new pay per click competition will ensure that Google doesn’t get too greedy.
How is Bing different from Google?
Bing is not dramatically different from Google, but some people have found its results stronger. There are some visible changes:
- Bing shows a preview of the web pages in the search results when you hover your mouse pointer at the right side of the search results.
- Bing displays fewer results if it is certain that it has understood your intent. The search for “Facebook”, for example, brings up just one result linking to the site itself.
- Some search results are divided into categories. For example, if you search for the popular musician “Justin Timberlake”, you’ll get results in the categories news, songs, movies, biography, wallpaper and downloads. In addition, the search results show images, videos and the popularity of the musician.
- Wikipedia searches can be displayed inline in the search results without leaving the Bing site by clicking the “Enhanced view” link.
- Bing features a different background image every day. The image contains special hidden hotspots that lead you to more information (soon advertising?) about the image.
- Despite the background image, Bing’s homepage loads very quickly in your web browser because the search box and logo load first. You can turn off the background image.
- Bing’s video search lets you watch videos without leaving the search engine.
- Bing offers specific health, shopping and travel search engines, as well as instant answers to travel searches. For instance, the search “Vegas hotels” displays a selection of hotels in Las Vegas, including hotel stars and prices.
- Bing’s search history lets you return to your most recent searches of the last two days. This feature can be turned off to protect your privacy.
However, some Google features are missing. For example, Bing doesn’t seem to recognize mis-spellings and returns no results in these cases. First impressions are that Bing has a long way to go before knocking Google of it’s pedestal. That will not stop NECSES Webdesign from ensuring our clients web sites are submitted to the new ‘decision engine’ (as Microsoft like to label it) ensuring full SEO for their buusiness.
