Archive for March, 2011

Yahoo Fine-Tunes Its Search Engine

Thursday, March 31st, 2011

SUNNYVALE, Calif. — Since Yahoo surrendered its search engine to Microsoft two years ago as part of a major overhaul of its business, it has been trying to innovate on top of Microsoft’s technology to keep people coming to its site.

The latest effort was announced Wednesday when Yahoo introduced a refinement that gives users answers to their questions without having to click on the search results. Search Direct, as the product is called, provides weather forecasts, celebrity biographies and news reports before users finish typing the question.

If it sounds familiar, that is because it is Yahoo’s response to Google Instant, which automatically pulls up search results as people type their queries. Yahoo’s version goes a little bit further by presenting edited information and images just under the search box instead of a page full of links.

Shashi Seth, senior vice president for Yahoo’s search and marketplaces, said that the new service helped users find what they were seeking much faster because they did not have to click away from the search page. “People are looking for answers, they’re not looking for links,” he said.

“I think it’s very interesting conceptually,” said Greg Sterling, an analyst with Sterling Market Intelligence. “As for the execution let’s call it limited or nascent.”

By entering into a search alliance, Yahoo and Microsoft had hoped to better challenge Google and cuts costs. They succeeded in cutting costs, but Yahoo also found its share of Internet searches eroding. Google still holds a wide lead in search with 65.4 percent of all queries. Yahoo has slipped to 16.1 percent from around 20 percent two years ago, according to comScore.com. Much of that loss was picked up by Microsoft, which now has a 13 percent share.

Mr. Seth declined to predict that Search Direct would bring people back to Yahoo’s search page. But he said that it would raise the number of searches by existing users based on their increased satisfaction with the results.

Search Direct is available on Yahoo’s search page, but not from its home page. Yahoo intends to test the performance of the new design before introducing it more broadly in the coming months, Mr. Seth said.

Typing “Kobe,” as in Kobe Bryant, the basketball star, brings up a box with related search terms along with his playing statistics and a photograph. Searching for “Paris, France” automatically shows the local time and a list of the top three things to do in the city.

For now, such information is limited to about 15 categories and is far from comprehensive. Yahoo executives acknowledged the shortcoming and said more would be added over time.

Yahoo is considering whether to place ads in the Search Direct box, including video ads. Those details are still being worked out, as is whether Yahoo would share the revenue from them with Microsoft.

By VERNE G. KOPYTOFF

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Search Engine Optimization

Monday, March 28th, 2011

Search engine optimization is vital to the success of a website
but unfortunately, it is a very confusing thing for new website
owners. Many feel like they can strike out on their own without
using professional search engine optimization services while
others feel that search engine optimization is best left to the
experts. While SEO is not easy and techniques for getting top-ranking are ever changing, an ongoing commitment to learning about search engine optimization will save you time and money as well as improving the performance of your website.

Achieving top ranking in the search engines through effective
search engine optimization is like free advertising. It is the
most logical way to drive loads of traffic to your website.
Traffic combined with good sales copy and a quick loading website
converts browsers to buyers and can skyrocket your sales.

The majority of people that visit a website find the website in
the search engines. Moreover, they usually don’t browse past the
first two pages in the search results. So using search engine
optimization to get top-ranking in the major search engines is
vastly important if you desire the amazing amounts of traffic
that the search engines can direct to your website.

A major misconception about search engine optimization is that
the alternative to it is to buy your way to the top of the search
engines through pay-per-click advertising. There are some
definite advantages to pay-per-click advertising because it is
easier to achieve and maintain a top position in the search
engines. Also, with pay-per-click advertising you only pay for
click-throughs and you can get listed quickly. But, it can be
costly if you fail to manage your pay-per-click campaigns
aggressively and consistently.

The biggest mistake that website operators make in using the pay-
per-click search engine services over search engine optimization
is not considering the value of each website visitor. Because you
are paying for every click to your website it is vital that your
maximum bid for the keyword does not exceed the value of the
click. Without adequate attention to that factor, your pay-per-
click advertising costs can eat up your precious advertising
funds rather quickly.

For search engine optimization to work and to work consistently,
your website has to be submitted to the search engines initially
and resubmitted periodically. You need to monitor the
effectiveness of your search engine optimization and maintain it.
This is necessary because the search engine indexing rules change
frequently and such changes can cause your site to move down in
ranking without ongoing search engine optimization efforts.

This is an important consideration if you choose to use a search
engine optimization company rather than doing your own search
engine optimization. Some offer one time services while others
offer ongoing maintenance. Unless you learn to retain your search
engine position on your own through continued search engine
optimization, you will need ongoing monitoring and maintenance
services.

Search engines use algorithms to rank websites. Algorithms are
simply their rules for determining relevance of a website’s
content to a browser’s search. Because the search engine’s
purpose is to serve those looking for information, their
algorithms are closely held trade secrets and aren’t made
available to those aiming at search engine optimization. This is
what complicates the process of search engine optimization as
much of it must be accomplished through trial and error.

There are a couple of things that seem to remain consistent in
search engine optimization techniques. Those are the use of
keywords and keyword phrases and obtaining link popularity with
relevant links coming into your website. The main advantage of
search engine optimization, naturally, is that having a top-
ranked site in the major search engines is effective, free
advertising. The disadvantages are that it may take several weeks
after you submit your site for the search engines to index it and
ongoing maintenance is required to ensure that your search engine
optimization efforts achieve the results you desire.

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Internetlion.com

Monday, March 28th, 2011

It’ll be so much easier to ignore solicitors when your dish and satellite systems to directtv. Check out the deals at Internetlion.com!

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What is SEO

Monday, March 21st, 2011

Search engine optimisation (optimization) is one of the most cost effective, long term Internet marketing methods, focusing on driving additional traffic to your organisations website. Search engine optimisation is crucial if you want your website to be accessible to search engines and to be ranked well in their results pages.

Optimisation

Search Engine Optimisation experts have the experience and knowledge to help promote your website within organic search results of all the major search engines. Without doubt search engine compliance is the one area that most SEO agencies overlook, it does not matter how good the optimisation of a website is, if the site is not compliant then it will not perform in search engines such as Google. Now is the time for businesses to move their pay per click campaigns to true organic search agencies, this is because search engine optimisation will lower your click costs and improve relevancy scores. Did you know that combining pay per click and search engine optimisation can boost returns by as much as 40%.

Web

Much of SEO is also based on links to and from your website, with search bots favoring relevant links from content rich websites to your site. These links are particularly effective from highly ranked websites. This is why an informative, useful website can help to increase your traffic. A popular way to provide a constant stream information is to have an online blog, focusing on updates to do with your company and website. A site map is an optional feature found on a website, the site map page contains a link to every individual page within the site. Search Engines use Spiders to crawl through websites and extract relevant information in regards to the word or phrase that the user has searched for. It exists within the World Wide Web which means it can be done anywhere in the world. SEO is more than fixing Meta information and writing content, its about research and analysis, its about knowing what a website should show for and making the most from visitors. In addition, our knowledge of proprietary information from sources such as Google allows websites that we work with to get listings for search terms that are being used by potential customers. If you need to increase traffic to your web site, you need to know how the search engines rate your site and what can be done, both in the short term and in the long term, to realise new business through what is now the most powerful driver of new customers.

Techniques

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) uses many different techniques to enable the very best possible experience and results for the customer. Such techniques include Linking, website design, keywords and most importantly content. For competitive advantage it is essential that your web site is designed for consumers using search engine friendly techniques, similar to those used in SEO. For a website to appear in the natural (organic) listings on search engines it is essential that SEO or search engine optimisation techniques are implemented to ensure that your website is equipped with the right tools to compete and be a first page player.

Keyword

Keyword research should distinguish between generic words and phrases that have large search volumes and more selective phrases that have a higher propensity to convert in paying customers. Such techniques include Linking, website design, keywords and most importantly content. Search Engine Optimisation is a process from Virtual net Marketing featuring the following: Search Engine Keyword Research Agreement with clients on appropriate Keywords and text Optimisation of web site code with new text, keywords Manual submission of URL to major search engines/directories Repeat submission to relevant search engines Building good Page Ranking through back linking campaigns Monitoring of Internet Visitors to clients web site Provision of a detailed Monthly Statistical Report Analysis and Consultancy of Optimisation and web site performance. You get a minimum of 20 keywords to select for your search engine optimisation that you wish to be found under. Make sure that each page across your site has unique description, title and keyword tags. Many people get preoccupied with the keywords on their website, after all you know what words you want to target for SEO and want to make sure that your content contains those words in order to rank.

Rankings

You need to aim to achieve high search engine rankings, opening the doors to highly potential customers who are actually searching for your products, services. To deliver the ultimate search engine marketing strategy requires an extensive website analysis to identify the areas that are not helping your website get high search engine rankings using correct and ethical search engine optimisation techniques. The topic-focused pages also have search engine optimised addresses and are fully prepared with the elements which influence search engine rankings. High rankings in search engines lead to more visitors to your site and therefore increased sales.

 

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Internet Marketing is Essential

Monday, March 14th, 2011

Internet marketing is essential to the success of web sites. You can have a professional looking website but what good can it do if internet users are not able to find it when they need your products and services? That is where an internet marketing campaign comes into play.

“Your website has to magically appear before buyers when they need products and services.”

Internet marketing is similar to designing websites- it does not require much experience to do a good job, just good knowledge and a keen eye for details. It is fundamentally important for a good internet marketer to constantly update himself weekly, if not monthly, of online markets. There are many ways to market your website. Pixel advertising is a great and usually cheap way to start off!

Find a Competent and Reliable Internet Marketer

Justify the costs of hiring an Internet Marketer – First of all, getting an internet marketer is not essential for every website. If your website is a business website or a website which you want to generate revenue from, it is good to seek a competent internet marketer to work on your website. The costs spent on your website for internet marketing has to be justified and often, they are justified by having more revenue and traffic to your web site.

Potential customers have to know that there are no guarantees in SEO. Since everything is fundamentally based on search engines, SEO work is at the mercy of major search engines like Google. Many SEO companies tried to secure customers with guarantees that they cannot fulfil, resulting in lawsuits or customers getting burned for hiring their SEO services.

What an Internet Marketer can offer

In short, an Internet Marketer oversees that your website is built properly for visibility and promoted with the best dollar spent on your internet marketing campaign. It is no good having a website and not appearing in internet searches. Your website has to magically appear before buyers when they need products and services. Internet Marketers deploy search engine optimisation techniques to make your website visible and targeted to internet users.

Internet marketing requires research and analysis effort for individual website, followed by optimisation of website. Hundreds of hours may be spent on each website, depending on the size of your targeted market. You are essentially paying for the amount of effort involved, effectiveness of your internet marketer and daily sales tracking of your website.

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Pixel Advertising Online

Monday, March 7th, 2011

Whether you are checking your email, shopping on a website or just searching for information, online ads are everywhere! A new marketing landscape, the Internet offers a new and cheaper advertising space, as compared to traditional spaces like print, television, radio and outdoor advertising. It’s a revolution of sorts and small and home business owners are making the most of it.

For a home based start up, online Pixel advertising from Tiredmouse is a potent tool that can maximize visibility, drive traffic to the company’s website, up the sales and build a solid brand in the process. Going to an expensive advertising agency to run your campaign would most definitely burn a hole in your pocket. The good news is you don’t have to do that. Just remember to focus on what you want and have a strong dose of imagination; and you’ll be on your way.

Take the guesswork out of online advertising

Online advertising is not a function of elaborate guesswork and a myriad of hits and misses. Like the traditional offline version, online advertising must also follow some basic rules. Know what you want you’re advertising to do, where to get it and what to do with it once you have it.

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Pixel Ads ins and outs!

Tuesday, March 1st, 2011

It’s true, the pixel advertising phenomenon seems to have reached almost everywhere in Internet Marketing, but what is it that separates the good pixel sites from the, uh… not so good? There are two things that will increase a pixel site’s ability to interest advertisers. The first is traffic, and the second is uniqueness.

Without either of these things, putting your pixel on a pixel site is akin to just sticking up a web page and not telling anybody it’s there. The pixel site owners need to promote their pages heavily in order to bring traffic to their site, and thus, your ads. This can have added benefits for everybody: it increases the alexa rank and page ranking of the pixel site which in itself will help to increase the traffic.

A higher page rank for the site that has YOUR link on it also means better search engine placement for you. Of course, we all want to attract visitors and see lots of “clicks” on our ads, but improving your site’s ranking in the search engines will also increase your visitors, so indirectly, pixel advertising can still be a huge benefit even if you don’t seem to be getting “clicks” on your actual ads. In effect, traffic promotes more traffic, and having links on sites with higher traffic can eventually lead to more traffic for you too.

For advertisers: To make the most of your pixel ad placement, there are some things to keep in mind. Don’t just enter any old description to use as your “hover” or descriptive text. Make sure your description actually includes the keywords that are important to your site. This will help with search engine placement. If you’re considering spending more than just the minimum block amount at a site — you don’t have to place one large ad with only one link. It’s beneficial if you have lots of smaller pixels advertising the same link — creating more backlinks for your site. And they don’t have to be next to each other; they could be placed diagonally or with different images or carefully crafted to appear like a continuing image, whilst actually having a number of separate images and separate links.

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