Posted on August 26, 2009
Filed Under Google Updates, Toronto Marketing Consultant, Toronto Online Consulting, Toronto SEO Consulting | Leave a Comment
Google Caffeine Update
Seems Google is back at it with the new update under development called Caffeine. For those that have been in SEO for awhile you will remember the “Big Daddy “ update that happened back in 2005. According to Matt Cutts, this is along the same vain of overhaul.
Big Daddy really hurt allot of individuals and companies marketing with SEO and clearly called for a revamping of your SEO strategy. Seems “Caffeine” will pull the same need for revisions to the SEO professional community.
In the past algorithms changed to reflect off page factors, that being, an algorithm looking to deem you as an authority site with other authority sites pointing back to you. When Google introduced the entertaining Page Rank theory it deemed businesses viable or not viable for end-users. Allot of companies put heavy weight to obtaining the highest “PR” possible. Now we know that Page Rank is deemed for entertainment purposes only and should not be taken literally.
But is that true?
As we look at the current database, Google is displaying in Google.com many heavy weight sites are still cutting through with extremely high page rank. The current index, probably due to the change coming, is also listing allot more Spam sites and sites that are not pertinent to the geo targeted regions of a search criteria. Certain verticals pull results that are not targeted to an end user looking for a particular service. For Example, if I’m in the USA searching for insurance, I’m finding allot of sites that are:
- .info domains, typically these domains carry no weight
- .co.uk sites which are focused on the UK, UK sites should only be showing in Google.co.uk which is not relevant to the end user looking for insurance in the United States
- IP detection now seems out of whack on generalised search
- Search index counts that are very high
Above are just a few points that become clear very quickly.
Does Caffeine correct this issue? Run the back to back test here: Compare Google Caffeine Results
There are many theories in the SEO community that seem to attempt many view points:
1. Term targeting – Phrase match – Turning your keyword research and focusing on terms that have 50,000 phrase match results or less. Well, that’s works for long tails, but try telling that to a corporate client that still needs to focus on 2 phrase search terms this is the new direction to take.
2. Having end users focus more on command tools to search within Google :
- end users should search in quotation marks to define the best results
- end users should use an operator like : allintitle:
- end users should use an operator like : intext:
- end users should use an operator like : inanchor:
These search techniques are usually applied by advanced search engine users, to the general public it simply won’t happen. End users typically search based on the lowest common denominator of search practice, that being, typing your term or phrase directly into the search bar at Google with no operate commands around it.
Clearly Google is on the path to deliver the message of a more “robust” search delivery platform with the new release of MSN’s Bing.com offering. Although stated, the Caffeine update has been in the works for months.
One interesting theory that is being thrown around is that this would be a push to increase Adwords use. Knowing that this update is comparable to the 2005 “Big Daddy update” that would be the timeframe period Google revenue stream sky rocketed:
2004 – 3,189,223
2005 - 6,138,560
Until Google ports over the Caffeine results to the true index, many sites will now bare the burnt of the Google change over. Companies better have a new strategy plan in place as the next step, working with and managing your Google listings has now become more difficult
Try out the new Google Caffeine Experience : Google Caffeine Listings
Posted on March 17, 2008
Filed Under Google Updates, Toronto Marketing Consultant, Toronto Online Consulting, Toronto SEM Consulting, Toronto SEO Consulting, Toronto Web Consulting | Leave a Comment
1. What is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?
Search Engine Optimization is the process of preparing a web site in order to achieve search engine rankings that drive traffic to your site. SEO is an ongoing process beginning with the initial optimization of the site, monthly maintenance of the site, regular evaluation of search results and adjustments to the site.
2. What good is having a web site if it is not being seen?
90% of Internet buyers are turning to search engines to find the products they want. Google alone conducts over 150 million searches a day. In fact, recent studies show that purchasers are about 12 times more likely to buy your products or services after finding your site through a search engine than all other traditional advertising methods combined (including trade shows, print ads, direct mail, radio, and even television)… at a fraction of the cost!
As searchers generally only explore the first two pages in the search results, achieving high rankings on the search engines will make an enormous difference in the amount of visitor traffic your site receives.
3. Why doesn’t my web site rank very well in the search engines?
Having your web site rank high in the search engines is a science and the rules for search engine optimization (SEO) are always changing. Get more information on the “Google Caffeine Update“
Here are some reasons why you may be having poor ranking:
- Incorrect usage of the TITLE tag or no TITLE tag content.
- Too many occurrences of the same word in a page (spamming).
- Missing H1 and H2 heading tag content.
- Missing ALT tag content in your graphic links.
- No meaningful content in the first 250 characters on each page.
- Less than 200 words per page.
- Very few pages on your website.
- No links from other web sites to your web site (link popularity).
4. How does the Search Engine find websites?
There are two ways a search engine can find a website to add to its database. The first and most direct method is to accept submissions from web site designers and SEO optimizers. Most search engines have a “submit your URL” section inviting submissions from Internet users.
The second, and least obvious method of finding websites is to send a “spider” to follow each and every link on, off, and through a website. New URLs encountered by the spider will be added to the database. In this way, some search engines will grow very rapidly.
5. How long does it take for SEO results to kick in?
The amount of time required to see results of search engine optimization work range anywhere from 2 weeks to a few months. This is dependent on how often search engines update their index and subsequently re-rank sites. The Google Dance for example is almost a spectator sport among the SEO community.
6. What is my site ranking dependent on?
Site ranking tends to be “cumulative” and is dependent on the following factors:
- The specific keyword phrases (search terms) that have been targeted
- The overall competitiveness of your industry – how many players are there
- Whether you are targeting a regional, national, or international market
- How well ranking is monitored and the site tweaked over time for SEO improvement
- The progress of your inbound linking campaign
- Number of competitor sites achieving new ranking themselves.
7. Why might I need to have extra elements added to my website?
A search engine spider is an automated program that electronically probes every URL submitted to its database. As the spider is a computer program, it is designed to look for and rank very specific items on each page it probes. If those elements are present, the spider computes a higher ranking than it would if those elements were not present.
8. If these elements are so important, why didn’t they get added when my site was originally designed?
Most website designers haven’t learned the importance of search engine friendly design. In almost every case we’ve encountered, the site designer is a highly skilled and creative person whose job is to put your ideas on the web. More often than not, the designers have not received any training in search engine optimization and don’t think about it while pursuing a cool looking design.
Search engines are also constantly changing their ranking criteria. They do this to prevent gross manipulation of their search tools. Often, website designers are not fully up to date with changes at search engines.
9. Does every page of my website really need to be optimized?
In a word – yes. Every page of a website can be a potential entry point or ‘landing page’ for visitors. You can’t predict which page or pages will be ranked the best for specific keywords. As such, each page must be individually optimized too for optimal ranking. Collectively, all pages of your web site reinforce the common “theme” of the site, which also can help boost ranking. Don’t assume that your home page is the only important page on your site.
10. Isn’t This Something We Can Do Ourselves?
Large amounts of time, attention and expertise are needed to achieve the desired results in such a constantly changing niche industry. The expense of adding personnel and necessary resources alone would quickly outweigh the cost of hiring our Toronto SEO company, which is why outsourcing SEO is by far the most popular method. Remember, an SEO company has already established strong, ongoing relationships with all the top search engines, and has experienced professionals who are constantly researching the changes and trends in this dynamic field.
11. Can you guarantee a number #1 position in the search engines?
Nobody can guarantee a number #1 position or specific ranking for your site for a given keyword phrase in the organic search engine results. There are simply too many factors beyond anyone’s control – the search engines changing their ranking algorithms, efforts made by competitors, and new sites being added to the Web.
Obtaining a specific ranking is analogous to managing a portfolio. Your financial advisor will do their best to monitor the stock market and other indicators and to make sure your portfolio is managed to the best of their abilities. However, your advisor cannot guarantee that your portfolio will be at a specific value or even that the amount will be up at all by a given date.
12. It’s been several months and my website finally shows up in Google but it’s ranked in the hundreds. Why is that?
It’s not always easy to get better search engine rankings. In fact, search engine optimization is part science and part art. Search engines continually change their algorithms and tweak their rules for ranking. It is possible that Google does not fully read your page due to structural issues, your web site (or at least individual web pages) could be lacking in meaningful content, no significant web sites link to you, your web site is too small to be of any value to people searching for your topic, or any other range of problems.
Search engines may be flooded with web sites on a given topic, making it more difficult to achieve higher rankings. As such, a good search engine optimizer will look for a niche to exploit. For example, consider whether your web site has greater appeal to a local, national, or international region.
13. My web site did not get accepted last time I submitted to the search engines… why?
Search Engine listings are not guaranteed to everyone who posts a web site to the Internet. Search engines are for-profit businesses and have the right to refuse to list any site for virtually any reason. We ensure all bases are covered and all necessary elements are present before submitting the finalized site to the search engines or directories.
14. Why Should I Choose to Outsource SEO?
To achieve a high ranking web site, you have to know exactly the most effective META tag design formula, best web copy writing techniques, keep track of current search engine ranking algorithms, know what format to submit the site in to every engine and how often to resubmit the site. You also need to know whether your site is technically compatible with search engine robots, what types of pages the engines will accept and which will be barriers to ranking, plus what sort of overall “relevancy score” your site will receive from each engine you submit to.
Not only that, but once you’re ranking highly, you have to monitor your progress and adjust your tags every now and then to ensure you stay up above your competitors on all engines for your major search phrases. These are all crucial steps to a high ranking, but very time consuming and not your core business!
15. How Do You Choose the Best Keywords?
The first step in our SEO campaign is to develop your Keyword Profile. Based on your initial input, we will use a combination of experience and software programs to generate a list of the most effective and well-searched keywords in your industry. We then work together to refine this list and compile the list of keywords and phrases that will be most beneficial to your product or services. You know your business and we know ours. We know how important it is to work together to generate the most effective Keyword Profile possible.
16. Will You Need to Access Our Web Server?
Yes, we will need access to your web server in order to upload and periodically update pages. We do our best to keep you informed every time we do an upload or make a change. It is vital that anyone else who may be making changes to your site stays current with the optimized pages we provide.
17. Do You Have to Make Changes to Our Site?
While many of the changes made to your site are done behind the scenes in the source code, it may be necessary to make certain minor changes to your site’s copy or layout. In most cases, these changes are minimal. We post all changes made to the front end of your site to our test server for your approval before we go live with the changes.
18. I found other services that do what you do much more cheaply: how do I choose?
Some companies take advantage of the uninitiated web site owner promising top rankings for $9.95 or something similar. Beware of such promises – if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. That $9.95 will typically buy an automated submission to 10,000 “engines” that nobody ever visits or possibly even result in a domain ban for over submitting. Once the $9.95 campaign is finished, so is your domain. There is no such thing as #1 rankings in all search engines or “it only takes 2 weeks and $9.95″.
More importantly, most of these services only include submission, not optimization, as a part of their deal. Submitting an un-optimized site to the engines simply will not improve your rankings. If you don’t plan on optimizing your site before submission then you shouldn’t bother submitting it at all.
19. What should I look for when choosing a SEO consultant?
The ideal SEO Consultant is one that understands the dynamics of marketing, business, and technology – and employs the highest levels of integrity in their work. There are a number of unethical practices or short cuts that can be used in search engine optimization, but the search engines themselves often times will not accept these questionable or “tricky” practices.
You should choose a Toronto seo company that doesn’t promote these practices to achieve short-term results for its clients. You should also expect to benefit from the research expertise, customized approached, management expertise, and on-going consultative process from a Toronto SEO firm.
20. What’s the right time for me to start a search engine marketing campaign and how long it last?
No time like the present! We usually establish a 12-month seo consulting campaign / project. There is an enormous amount of education, research, analysis, technical programming, and testing performed in the first 3 months in particular
« go back