February 20th, 2006 by Jonathan Kemp
The second article in the search engine optimization series on SEO Profile is How Search Engines Work. This is an article for beginner SEO’s and people wanting to learn more about search engine optimization. Here is a small excerpt from the article.
Once the user performs the search, the search engine returns a results page showing all the pages in its index that it considers a match for the search terms. The search engine will rank the results by relevancy, providing the most relevant results at the top of the list. The search engine will find all the documents containing the words the user searched for and return them in a list to the user. The search engine determines which documents are the most relevant by counting the number of times the words appear together within the document. Additional factors considered include the placement of the keywords within the document.
February 17th, 2006 by Jonathan Kemp
Improving your site’s indexing and ranking from the Inside Google Sitemaps blog gives great advice on things can you do to increase your site’s indexing and ranking in Google. Here is the list.
- Make sure your site is full of unique, high-quality content.
- Does your site follow the webmaster guidelines?
- Does your site use hidden text?
- Does your site use keyword stuffing?
- Does your site buy links from other sites or participate in link exchange programs that don’t add value for visitors?
- Do you use search engine optimization?
I think the key thing to learn here is your site should add value for your visitors. If you make it a point to do all of these things, you should have no problem attracting people to your site. You may also find that more traffic can mean more links and potentially increased search engine visibility!
February 17th, 2006 by Jonathan Kemp
First up in the search engine optimization article series on SEO Profile is Anatomy of a Web Page. This is an article for beginner SEO’s and people wanting to learn more about search engine optimization. Here is a small excerpt from the article.
Understanding how web pages are composed is essential to begin a discussion of search engine optimization. This article is designed to help you understand the codes behind a web page so that you can better understand how SEO works.
February 17th, 2006 by Jonathan Kemp
Basically, this post is just to announce that SEO Profile is finally live! I pushed it live this past weekend, but I have been hard at work on it for a month and half. What does it have to offer? Well, lots of information on search engines and search engine optimization.
SEO Profile has a blog, as well as a few articles on search engine optimization and an SEO FAQ. I have more articles on the way and lots to blog about so stay tuned and be sure to find the links in the sidebar to add this site to del.icio.us or subscribe to the feeds.
February 10th, 2006 by Jonathan Kemp
I happened to visit dmoz.org tonight and noticed the header. It is now sporting an AOL Search Partnership logo.
I really don’t know what this means. It wasn’t there earlier this week. Anybody else heard of this?
January 5th, 2006 by Jonathan Kemp
Feedback on Bigdaddy data center was posted on Matt Cutts blog yesterday. This is the first info I am hearing on this so called “Bigdaddy.” But, I will post the critical parts of Matt’s post here.
Google has a new data center they are previewing called Bigdaddy. Google is currently asking for feedback on the Bigdaddy data center. Bigdaddy is now visible at two data centers: 66.249.93.104 and 64.233.179.104. Matt says he expects Bigdaddy to become the default source of web results within 1-2 months.
What’s new and different in Bigdaddy? It has some new infrastructure, not just better algorithms or different data. Most of the changes are under the hood, enough so that an average user might not even notice any difference in this iteration.
The best place to report webspam you see in Bigdaddy is http://www.google.com/contact/spamreport.html. In the “Additional details:” section, use the keyword “bigdaddy” in your report.
For reporting other quality issues in Bigdaddy, do the search that you’re interested in on 66.249.93.104 or 64.233.179.104, then click the “Dissatisfied? Help us improve” link at the bottom right of the page. Again, fill in details and use the keyword “bigdaddy” so that folks at Google can separate out feedback specifically about this data center.
December 29th, 2005 by Jonathan Kemp
Amazon Hosting Author Blogs on ClickZ details Amazon’s new program to encourage authors to interact with readers. The most recent posts from an author’s blog will be featured prominently on an author’s profile page or on a book’s description page, along with a link to the author’s full blog. In addition, users will see new posts from authors of books they’ve purchased on their Amazon home page. So far, the program doesn’t allow readers to comment on blog posts, or to subscribe to blogs via RSS feed.
According to the article, Amazon.com has experimented with user-generated content before. Last year, it began allowing users to upload pictures related to products. It also reportedly began testing product wiki pages last month, on which consumers could add or edit information about a book or product. The company also began letting users tag products.
December 29th, 2005 by Jonathan Kemp
If you are using the Firefox browser and you visited Yahoo! today, you may have seen a new banner pop up on your screen informing you how to change the search box from the default of Google to Yahoo!. I just saw it for the first time a few minutes ago. If you are not familiar with the browser, Firefox has a built in search box in the top right corner from where users can search the web. The default search engine is Google. Apparently, Yahoo is using browser detecting to serve up the popup to Firefox users. In fact, I just ran a check, and it did not happen with Internet Explorer. Here is the text of the banner:
Search with Yahoo! right from your browser.
1. Look for the search box in the upper right corner of your browser.
2. Click on the small triangle in the search box.
3. Choose Yahoo!. You’re done!
There is even a “don’t show this again” checkbox for users to turn it off if they don’t want to see it again. I think this is pretty creative thinking on Yahoo!’s part. Google has been sort of the adopted standard in search, especially with the technologically inclined. Yahoo! is trying to grab some market share here by showing users that they have a choice. My guess is most Firefox users are probably aware that they can change it however and choose to keep it Google. Kudos to Yahoo! though for being proactive.
December 29th, 2005 by Jonathan Kemp
Time Magazine Considers Ad Gateway to Subscription Content on ClickZ reports that Time Magazine is currently testing a system where users are given access to paid subscription content if they are willing to endure a multi-paged, full-screen interactive ad from sponsor Chrysler. Using technology from Ultramercial, Time.com site visitors have been able to access the renowned “Person of the Year” cover story, along with the magazine’s full archive of articles, free for 24 hours after they viewed the ads. Time says that if this venture is successful, they will consider offering more paid content free on an ad-supported basis. This is marks a growing trend online by publishers to open archives and paid content that is supported by ads to better generate revenue from online advertising.
December 28th, 2005 by Jonathan Kemp
Google Begins Agency Outreach, Recruits Traditional Media Buyers from MediaPost Publications reports that Google is placing ads online for media buyers. This signifies Google’s entrance into the print advertising world. Although Google claims they are just testing the waters, many advertisers are fearful of Google throwing their hat into the ring and what it could mean. The article details advertising executives fears and concerns over Google. According to the article, Google says these fears are unfounded and is working to derail the apprehension they are facing by rolling out programs directed specifically at these issues.