SearchPath Blog
SearchPath Internet Marketing Blog - Thoughts, ideas, humour, information and more ...
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Any programmer will know what we’re talking about here!
More often than not we take on a new client and examine their existing website from an SEO perspective. Now while we do not expect other programmers to necessarily code well for search engines, we would really appreciate indented code.
Indenting code correctly should not only be something that all programmers are taught from the beginning, it is also good practice and good manners. Carrying out this good practice will make it easier for all programmers who take on existing projects, whether website or software related.
Are you an SEO professional looking to check the defintion of a certain term? Are you a website owner looking to broaden your web marketing knowledge before you select an SEO firm to work with? The the SearchPath glossary could be what you are looking for.
Written by experienced SEO professionals here at SearchPath, the glossary covers terms ranging from "algorithm" to "SERPS", giving clear, concise defintions and explanations in common sense language. As a practical guide, it is in its infancy in terms of size: we expect it to grow significantly over the coming weeks and months, so do come back to see the new entries as they are updated. Also feel free to contact us with any comments/additions, we welcome your input.
The glossary is available now! Please click this link Internet Marketing Glossary to take a look. Also, if you have any words or abbreviations you are not sure about regarding Internet or web marketing, just drop us a line. We will send you an explanation and add it to the glossary.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Google has added another option for AdWords users, within the system's report centre.While the ability to download reports in XML and CSV formats has existed since the AdWords system itself, publishing reports as Google Documents is now an additional option.What does this mean? Well not a lot really, if you need to download reports and create graphs for management within your organisation then using external software is still the only option. However, if time saving and sharing information is vital, then reports can now be instantly published and viewed by an almost unlimited number of people.Google Documents currently consists of a simply word processor and spreadsheet formatter, which are compatible with Microsoft Office application, such as Word and Excel. Another advantage of this completely FREE software is how easy it is to use, compared to some more "advanced" applications.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
We are not in any way about to get on our high horse here; being pious is not our style... However, we think we should communicate some things that are important on this subject and we will probably put together some blog posts that will end up as a guide to who NOT to choose as your Internet marketing partner.
Firstly, the most important choice you will make in this area is who is going to help you with SEO. The damage a bad SEO implementation can do is sometimes difficult to recover from.
So, first tip...
*** It is better to do nothing than bad SEO stuff ***
OK, I know it wasn't that eloquent but the point is that you may as well save your money and keep your website the way it is rather than let someone keyword stuff it to breaking point and create rubbish or bought (or both) links.
The one exception to the above rule is if you are looking for short term results i.e. less than three months or so. Before Google algorithm sorts you out you may get a bounce in rankings, however, this will not be long term.
If you are committed to your company and website for the long term, make sure you don't take short term decisions with your SEO approach or who you get to do it.
Monday, August 13, 2007
We're often asked how best flash can be used on websites and can Google read flash.
Flash was primarily developed as a visual medium and we would advise that it is used a such, and sparingly. As Google says, use "Flash for rich media but rely on HTML for content and navigation." Used well, flash can enhance the experience for your users - at worst, it can be frustrating for visitors and terrible for your search rankings. Don't build sites entirely in flash - if you insist, create a separate HTML version for accessibility and for the search engines.
According to Google: "Googlebot can typically read Flash files and extract the text and links in them, but the structure and context are missing. Moreover, textual contents are sometimes stored in Flash as graphics, and since Googlebot doesn't currently have the algorithmic eyes needed to read these graphics, these important keywords can be missed entirely."
Google goes on to say: "Some websites use Flash to force the browser to display headers, pull quotes, or other textual elements in a font that the user may not have installed on their computer. A technique like sIFR still lets non-Flash readers read a page, since the content/navigation is actually in the HTML -- it's just displayed by an embedded Flash object.
Non-Flash Versions: A common way that we see Flash used is as a front page "splash screen" where the root URL of a website has a Flash intro that links to HTML content deeper into the site. In this case, make sure there is a regular HTML link on that front page to a non-Flash page where a user can navigate throughout your site without the need for Flash."
Thursday, August 09, 2007
Google has announced that its formula for placing PPC Ads in the top position (above organic results) is changing.
The change is designed to improve the quality of ad results, and to give advertisers more control over achieving top ad placement.
Top ad placement is governed by price and quality & Google will not be changing this. However, they are improving the way they factor price into the formula. They are also adjusting the way actual cost-per-click (CPC) is determined for ads in top spots.
Read below for more details - (taken from Google's announcement)
In the current top ad placement formula, we consider your Quality Score and your actual CPC, which is determined in part by the bids of advertisers below you. Even if you have a high quality ad, if advertisers below you are not bidding very much, your actual CPC may not be high enough to qualify your ad to appear in a top position.
With this new formula, instead of considering your actual CPC, we'll consider your maximum CPC bid, which you control. This means that your ad's eligibility to be promoted is no longer dependent on the bids of advertisers below you. Therefore, if you have a high quality ad, you now have more control to achieve a top position by increasing your maximum CPC.
Your actual CPC will continue to be determined by the auction, but subject to a minimum price for top spots. The minimum price is based on the quality of your ad and is the minimum amount required for your ad to achieve top placement above Google search results. As always, the higher your ad's quality, the less you will pay. And you will never be charged more than your maximum CPC bid.
How might this affect me?
We anticipate that most of your ads will continue to perform as they have in the past. In some cases, you may see that ads previously shown alongside search results are now shown in top spots, and vice versa. As a result, you may see a change in the average number of clicks and average CPCs for impacted ads.
Make sure that you check your stats regularly and adapt your campaigns as you see fit. Here are some quick tips:
If you do not want ads that usually appear in high positions alongside search results to appear above search results, check that their maximum CPCs are not dramatically higher than the actual CPCs you normally pay.
Continue to make routine quality optimisations to keep your costs down and your performance high.
Yes, our team is growing - our latest recruit to the SearchPath team is Kevin Morley, joining us as an Internet Marketing Exec. Kevin's expertise lies in search engine optimisation, so he'll be working with our clients and their sites to maximise their Internet exposure and increase their sales.
Welcome to Kevin!
31.7 million Britons - 63% of the population over 15 years old surfer the Internet in June.
The average surfer spent nearly 35 hours online (according to figures from ComScore).
Google is still the most visited website, with 27.7m unique visitors, followed by MSN with 26.8m and Ebay with 22.1m.
Google has recently released a new impression share reporting measure to help identify lost sales.
Impression share reporting lets you track how often your ads are being displayed compared to how often they could be displayed if you had a maximum ad quality score and a maxed out budget.
The report includes:
Impression Share (IS): The percentage of times your ads were shown out of the total available impressions in the market you were targeting.
Lost IS (Rank): The percentage of impressions lost due to low Ad Rank (cost-per-click bid x Quality Score).
Lost IS (Budget): The percentage of impressions lost due to budget constraints.
The new report is designed to let you know if you're missing out on potential sales by not having your ads show often enough. Sometimes ads which you thought were being displayed every time someone typed in the keywords you're bidding on turn out to be displayed infrequently, generally due to a low ad quality score.
If you want to know more, give us a call.
