Sunday, May 21, 2006
Google Algorithm Update
One of the worst things, I think, about search engine optimization is having to/trying to keep up with the changes that search engines make to the way they index/rank a web site.
You can understand that search engines will regularly want to make changes to their indexing algorithm as, for one thing, there are people on the Internet who will seek to exploit any SEO technique available to try to artificially boost their ranking.
Another reason for an algorithm update is to offer better results to search queries. If a search engine does not list sites that are highly relevant to a search querry, then that search engine will not be around for very long. It is therefore always important for a search engine to tweak its algorithm to try and improve its search results.
Google has recently gone through an algorithm update dubbed 'big daddy' in an attempt to provide us with better results. Rather than reproduce here what the big daddy update is about, I will point you to 2 sites that will provide you the relevant information:
Serge
You can understand that search engines will regularly want to make changes to their indexing algorithm as, for one thing, there are people on the Internet who will seek to exploit any SEO technique available to try to artificially boost their ranking.
Another reason for an algorithm update is to offer better results to search queries. If a search engine does not list sites that are highly relevant to a search querry, then that search engine will not be around for very long. It is therefore always important for a search engine to tweak its algorithm to try and improve its search results.
Google has recently gone through an algorithm update dubbed 'big daddy' in an attempt to provide us with better results. Rather than reproduce here what the big daddy update is about, I will point you to 2 sites that will provide you the relevant information:
- http://www.seoelite.com/Lessons/GoogleBigdaddyUpdate.htm
- http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/indexing-timeline/
Serge
Friday, May 12, 2006
Plural versus Singular Keywords
If you are in doubt about whether there is a SEO difference between singular and plural keywords, check this out.
I recently was looking for PHP scripts that I could use for SEO, and entered 2 phrases into Google.
"But", I hear you ask, "what of the results that Google returned?" That is a good question and I can say that the first page of results returned for each search keyword was different.
Proof that there is a difference, at least with Google, between singular and plural keywords.
This means that, when you do your keyword research to decide on what keywords to target, you should keep in mind whether people are more likely to use the singular or the plural version of a keyword.
For example, if you have a site that offers guitar lessons, then you need to decide whether you should target 'guitar lesson', 'guitar lessons' or both. What would someone wanting to learn to play the guitar type in a search engine: 'guitar lesson' or 'guitar lessons'?
Serge
I recently was looking for PHP scripts that I could use for SEO, and entered 2 phrases into Google.
- Using 'seo script', Google reported 655 results,
- Using 'seo scripts', Google reported 240,000 results.
"But", I hear you ask, "what of the results that Google returned?" That is a good question and I can say that the first page of results returned for each search keyword was different.
Proof that there is a difference, at least with Google, between singular and plural keywords.
This means that, when you do your keyword research to decide on what keywords to target, you should keep in mind whether people are more likely to use the singular or the plural version of a keyword.
For example, if you have a site that offers guitar lessons, then you need to decide whether you should target 'guitar lesson', 'guitar lessons' or both. What would someone wanting to learn to play the guitar type in a search engine: 'guitar lesson' or 'guitar lessons'?
Serge
Friday, May 05, 2006
Monitoring Your Keyword Ranking
If you have optimized your web site for specific keywords, then you need to monitor how well your web site is ranking for those keywords with search engines. This is called 'monitoring your keyword ranking' and needs to be done for all the keywords you are targeting at the search engines you are concerned with.
Currently, the 3 most important search engines are: Google, MSN and Yahoo. This means that, unless you are concerned with other search engines, then you need to know where your web site is listed in the results page for your target keywords.
The target that most people aim for, and rightly so, is in the top 10-20. It has been found that most people only look at the first 2 pages of results when conducting a search (each page displaying 10 results). This means that if your site is not in the top 10-20 results, then chances are no one will come to your site from that search engine.
In order to monitor your keyword ranking, you could go to Google, type in one of your target keywords and then go through the pages of results until you find your site listed. Then do the same with your other keywords. And then do the same thing all over again at MSN and Yahoo.
This is a long and laborious process.
Fortunately, there are many online services, mostly free, that allow you to do the same thing quicker.
One such service we have recently come across is Trace Search. There are several things we like about this service:
So, if you are interested in monitoring your keyword ranking at the big 3 search engines, then give Trace Search a try. It's totally FREE!
Serge
Currently, the 3 most important search engines are: Google, MSN and Yahoo. This means that, unless you are concerned with other search engines, then you need to know where your web site is listed in the results page for your target keywords.
The target that most people aim for, and rightly so, is in the top 10-20. It has been found that most people only look at the first 2 pages of results when conducting a search (each page displaying 10 results). This means that if your site is not in the top 10-20 results, then chances are no one will come to your site from that search engine.
In order to monitor your keyword ranking, you could go to Google, type in one of your target keywords and then go through the pages of results until you find your site listed. Then do the same with your other keywords. And then do the same thing all over again at MSN and Yahoo.
This is a long and laborious process.
Fortunately, there are many online services, mostly free, that allow you to do the same thing quicker.
One such service we have recently come across is Trace Search. There are several things we like about this service:
- you can monitor as many keywords as you like,
- you can monitor the keywords of as many web sites as you have,
- you can monitor your keyword rankings daily, weekly or monthly,
- you can monitor your keywords at the big 3 search engines: Google, MSN and Yahoo,
- it will send you the results by email according to the schedule you have set (ie. daily, weeky or monthly).
So, if you are interested in monitoring your keyword ranking at the big 3 search engines, then give Trace Search a try. It's totally FREE!
Serge
