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Showing posts from April, 2011

Achieving SEO Sustainability

One of the most important lessons learnt after the farmer updates is to always do whatever you can to make your site a high quality and useful site. With these latest changes, many companies have now started investing in quality instead of looking for short cuts to get there. Quality and hard work is the only way to yield results in the long run. However, many people are still; finding ways to get around this latest algorithm. If credibility, quality and authority can be identified in a site, then the site will immediately get noticed by the search engines. Other important factors include: density of advertising, address and phone information, author names and titles, content density, badges and memberships in known organizations, W3C compliance and even the quality of a site’s link profile. Good SEO is something that brings various disciplines together, from user experience and information architecture to web design and how a site has scored. The credibility of a website and how it fe

How Google’s latest Algorithm has changed the face of Internet Marketing

Google’s latest Farmer algorithm has changed the face of online marketing all over the world. However, many companies have started welcoming this change as it helps to promote sites that produce original, quality content. Google released this update in an attempt to improve the search quality by regulating the search results based on certain criteria. Sites that have been hit the hardest are those with low quality content and that contains old information or that is never updated. Users have also been affected that have high ads to content ratio, proving that although Google gives high rankings to sites with original content, rankings of sites will be reduced if it isn’t connected to any authoritative content of value. This is why it is important to create valuable and compelling content. So, always provide your readers with information that they want and need and Google will reward you. Social sharing and engaging users also plays a pivotal role in the ranking of a site. Google contin

Google adapts Applications for Smaller Businesses

Google has changed its applications pricing structure in order to make it more appealing to the smaller businesses. Google has recently introduced a flexible plan that offers $5 per month as a pricing option for users and it also requires no contractual commitment. The pricing option currently is priced at $50 per year per user and has a one year commitment attached to it. This has now changed and has been given a new title, the “Annual Plan”. Google has also scrapped the plan for accepting upfront payments from new customers, which ensure that they will only pay at the end of the month. Now, direct debit payments are available. However, it’s not all good news for every business. Google’s changes to its applications will upset new customers. Under the new rules, new customers having 10 users or more will have to sign up for the paid option for the Google Apps. Before, businesses with as many as 50 users could enjoy this service for free.

The Pros and Cons of Android for Smartphone’s and Tablets

Google is the only brand that Apple has been watching carefully lately. Despite reveling in the popularity of its latest iPad release, Apple is still keeping a watchful eye on Google. Google’s lightening speed rise in the Smartphone and tablet market has made it one of the biggest brands around. While Apple has invested the money, research and resources in developing hardware as well as software, Google has simply managed to get everyone interested in Android without have to invest in huge amounts of research and designing costs. Android is fast becoming essential to portable devices and is constantly coming out with new versions. This is a very smart move on Google’s part. The first question that people will ask you when they see you have a Smartphone is “what version of Android does it run on?” It is now taken for granted that every Smartphone runs on Android. What with the benefits of Android 2.0, more and more consumers are beginning to understand that having an Android handset wil

How Social Updates came about on the Search Engine Results Pages

The latest social search updates by Google and Bing have generated a lot of interest from their users in the last few months. Instead of separating the search results from social networks like Facebook and Twitter from the other organic search results; both these search engines have now started combining both the social context and the organic results in their search engine results pages. Google and Bing have both declared that for some kinds of searches, the social updates would help to boost the rankings of the results on the search engine results pages, more so than the regular results. This goes a long way in confirming that social media and search engines are combining, resulting in the increased importance of social media marketing for businesses. But, how are these changes beneficial? Firstly, both the search engines have moved away from simply showing tweets and have sectioned off a “Liked Results” tab in their search engine result pages. Secondly, search engines have now start

Is SEO more Popular with Small Businesses this year?

With the New Year well on its way, it has become increasingly clear that more and more small businesses have begun to opt for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) in their B2B digital marketing campaigns as a way to save money and market just as effectively. In the years before, very few small businesses were seen to utilize SEO as a marketing strategy. However, this year, it was found that many more small-medium sized businesses have been turning to search engine optimization as a way to enhance their B2B initiatives. A 36 percent increase in the number of businesses was observed. It was also found that companies that are currently using SEO as a marketing technique were up to 27 percent from 19 percent. Social media is also becoming increasingly popular for small businesses as a part of their B2B digital marketing operations. Search engine marketers have also said that SEO is absolutely necessary for website, as it helps to bring in traffic to the a site and thus increases business.

Latest SEO Techniques for the Wholesale Supplier

Ever since the recession, many of the B2B wholesale suppliers have been operating their businesses with extremely limited resources. This is why it is very important to allocate a large sum of your marketing money to trying out successful and cost-effective Internet marketing strategies. However, SEO tactics are always changing and it is important for companies to keep up with the latest changes. Here are a few of the latest SEO techniques that can help you get better rankings along with increased traffic and conversions. Here are a few of the latest SEO techniques: Keyword Research: Keyword research is generally the first step to every SEO campaign because it informs you about the keywords that your customers are using to find your website. Using this data, you can then develop a list of keywords that can be used to optimize your web pages. Here are a few places in which you can find the most relevant keywords – Your site log files that contain frequently used keywords, your site sear

Search Marketing Tool, Panda, causes controversy for Google

After the recent changes to its search algorithm, Google has increasingly been facing allegations of rigging its search results, after many companies have found that their rankings have dropped. Panda is a search marketing tool that identifies all low quality websites and filters them out of the search results. Since the launch of this tool, many companies have experienced a sharp drop in their rankings. Many companies have even found their rankings to have dropped by almost a hundred places in the search engine listings! This change means that many companies now have to alter their SEO strategies to fit into the new system. Google has been denying these accusations of rigging all along; calling them absolutely absurd. Panda was launched in the United States towards the end of February and by now, nearly 12 percent of all the US sites have been affected by the algorithm changes.

Content Mills, Paywalls affected by Google’s latest algorithm changes

The latest algorithm changes implemented by Google in its page rank algorithm system, “Panda”, have affected paywalls. Owing to the latest search engine updates made by Google, many of the well established UK technology websites and paywalls have experienced a major drop in the visibility of their web pages in the Google search results. The paywalls could possibly have been affected because Google’s web crawlers may not have been able to access the full website. These updates were introduced to its search engine earlier this week with the intention of pushing forward and rewarding high quality content instead of those sites that gain high ranking through SEO tricks. Keywords form a major part of the search engines, and they use these metrics to determine which websites are the most relevant to a specific users search. An entire industry has emerged from this, where people have tried to outwit the search engines by correctly placing keywords in order to improve a websites search visibil

Google works on Search algorithms to stay ahead

If you think that Google’s winning Internet-browsing formula is complete and Google cannot come up with anything new, then perhaps you should give that another thought! Nothing could be further from the truth. Software engineers at Google have been diligently refining its search algorithms so that by the end of the day, it ends differently from when it started. Many Google teams have tested more than 6,000 changes to the search engine in 2010 itself, with nearly 500 of them passing the test and moving on to become permanent. Google has made so many changes to its search engine that it has now become second nature to them. Today, Google has managed to root out all the low quality websites and is only keen on promoting quality sites. Google’s search algorithms are tweaked at least twice in a day. Google is looking to move quickly and to make big changes. But on the other hand, Google also does not want people to say that they don’t recognize these changes. In February, Google took the st

Google’s Android is both open as well as closed

There has been a lot of recent misinformation doing its rounds about the Android platform and the role that Google plays in supporting the ecosystem. But Google’s Android boss, Andy Rubin, doesn’t seem to think so. In an attempt to set the record straight, Andy wrote on Google’s blog last week in response to the latest stories that suggest that Google was intentionally restricting the openness of its platform. However, Andy says that Google has always been committed to developing an open platform for the mobile industry. But if Rubin’s claims of commitment and dedication are to be taken seriously, it is important to first note that many of Google’s own partners are beginning to show signs of uncertainty and doubt. In a recent edition, Google’s engineering directors, Alberto Savoia and Patrick Copeland, were seen to tell the world that Android is both an open as well as closed platform. Google has plenty of projects that follow an open or a closed model, and some others that do not fit

Can Bing dominate over Google in 2012?

Today, Google might be the dominating search engine in the United States, but research has shown that in the last six months, searches that are powered by Microsoft’s Bing have begun to increase at a rapid pace. So rapid, in fact, that if this trend continues, there will be a real competition between Google and Bing next year. And Bing may just about emerge as the winner! Recent surveys have shown that Google was responsible for almost 65% of the searches in the United States last month. Bing powered searches include searches from bing.com and yahoo.com, have accounted for nearly 30% of the searches in the United States. The very fact that Bing’s searches have crossed the 30% mark has made it a significant competitor to Google. Last year, Google controlled nearly 72% of the search market, while Bing powered searches covered about 23% only. But in the last 6 months, Bing’s market seems to be rising rapidly. But Google still dominates over Bing in a 2 to 1 victory. But when you consider

Can the Android Smartphone’s replace Debit Cards?

Reports have recently exposed Google’s future plans of turning Android handsets into the next best way of conducting electronic transactions. Yes, Google is collaborating with Mastercard and Citigroup to create a mobile payment system for all Android handsets. This deal and related technology are of course in their initial stages, but this system could possibly allow users to wave their handsets in front of a wireless reader at a checkout counter. Today, more and more mobile phones have near-field communication features that retailers and other card companies are hoping to exploit, in spite of rampant security concerns. According to the reports, the terms of agreement do not involve Google taking home the slice of the payment, but instead they would be using the data from these transactions to get a better idea of consumer’s spending habits, which proves to be very valuable for retail advertisers. This campaign will get started with users of Citigroup-issued debit and credit cards bein

Feds want to Monitor Google’s Operations

Google is now being pressed by the U.S. Justice Department to let it monitor its business operation in order to gain approval of the company’s $700 million acquisition of travel data provider, ITA Software Inc. Google has been resisting the department’s demands, as this would give the government the authority to review company behavior that could potentially hurt competition. For instance, officials want Google to assure them that it isn’t ranking its services higher than its competitors in the search results. These negotiations between Google and the government are the latest signs that federal antitrust authorities are concerned about Google’s dominance as the world’s most popular search engine. The Federal Trade Commission is considering conducting its own antitrust investigation of the company’s operations. Google’s rivals, Microsoft and Kayak have accused the company of intentionally harming the competition. The outcome of the Justice Department’s probe into the ITA acquisition ma

Google’s YouTube all set to Negotiate with Hollywood?

YouTube, is an online video website by Google, and is recently in the news for negotiating with Hollywood with regards to an offer on a line-up of new channels. In an attempt to overhaul YouTube, the offer was that channels would allow Google to offer ad-related videos to viewers who use the Web to watch movies and TV shows. However, the discussions are still in the preliminary stages and no real plans have been solidified yet. YouTube plans on offering channels that are tailored to TV, sports and music, along with celebrity websites, each having more than 10 hours of professionally programmed material a week. Plans have mentioned 20 channels with a budget of $5 million for programming. This service however, won’t be available until later this year or early next year. YouTube’s initial focus will be on short music videos and programs.

Google comes under scrutiny for antitrust case again!

The Federal Trade Commission is the latest agency to investigate into Google’s practices. The Federal Trade Commission has been considering conducting an antitrust probe into Google, as it is growing extremely concerned about how big Google is and the extent to which it dominates the search engines and search based advertising. Before getting started, FTC will first wait to see whether the Department of Justice challenges the search giant’s $700 million acquisition of ITA Software. Word of the probe comes in the midst of increasing scrutiny of the search giant’s operations. The Texas Attorney General launched an antitrust probe into the company last year. Last week. Microsoft announced that it would conduct an antitrust investigation against Google. Google has been accused of using technical as well as commercial means to root out competitors.

Google Android slams Apple’s iPhone!

Surveys have shown that in the United States, one out of every three Smartphone’s is powered by Google’s Android operating system, making it an industry leader with a mind boggling growth of 7 percent since November only, thus beating Apple’s iOS which has only grown by 0.2 percent since November. This report comes as incredibly good news to Google, who has managed to make Android one of the main forces behind Smartphone’s in just 2 years, thus surpassing all of the former giants like Microsoft, Research in Motion, and Palm by nearly 33 percent. Today, Google’s only main competitor is Apple. Google has done what no other company could have done. Imagine any company starting from zero and then ending up with a third of the market share in just two years! This is something only Google can manage to do. Let’s see whether their +1 system and their pay without your card by phone feature works this well too!

Yahoo! All set to launch a new search engine for the Indian Audience

In an attempt to compete with Google, Yahoo! Has announced that it will be releasing its latest search engine “Search Direct” in India by the second half of this year. However, Yahoo! Rolled out the beta version of the upcoming search engine in the United States last week. This search engine is different, as it helps to predicts results from character to character and presents results dynamically, thus making for a fast and simple search experience. Yahoo! Reaches up to nearly 30 million users per month in India alone and reports have shown that nearly 74% of the Indian website users use Yahoo! as their preferred search engine. Let’s see how Search Direct works for the Indian audience!