Google has announced that over the coming weekend it would be implementing their Google Suggest suggestion feature on the main page of Google. Suggest in essence feeds you propositions for a search term in real-time as and when you type. It is indeed an exhilarating and innovative feature; with many an implication to Search Engine Optimization as exists today.
The ‘long tail keywords’ is what is going to effect a change on Search Engine Optimization in a big way. Long-tail keywords are characteristically 4 to 6 keywords in length. And these are words that in all probability will not come into sight on Google Suggest. Google will only show comparatively popular keywords based on what was recently typed.
Google love — i.e., good rankings that lead to abundant traffic — is what most webmasters and bloggers struggle to get. And I’m sure that most of them have already learned what it takes to achieve it: they must ensure that their blogs and sites are good resources which will benefit web surfers in some way, hence generating the backlinks that Google values so much.
Since most — if not all — webmasters and bloggers are aware of this, why so many insist in using “dirty tricks” to build links? (more…)
The date range operator is one of those great yet little-known, rarely used Google search strings. As a webmaster/blogger, you shouldn’t ignore it though.
How does Google’s date range search operator look like?
Here it is:
desired search term daterange:2007 january-2008 june
Of course, you must replace the phrases and dates by the ones you want to research. For instance, if you want to search for SEO tips published between Jan/2005 and Dec/2006, type the following on Google’s search box:
seo tips daterange:2005 january-2006 december
Now choose a topic and try it for yourself. (more…)
When Google started displaying search volume numbers on its famous AdWords Keyword Tool, I thought things could hardly get any better. It seems I was wrong though.
This week Google announced the release of a brand new tool. It’s called Google Insights for Search.
How is Google Insights for Search like?
I see it as a sort of Google Trends on steroids. This is due to the fact that with Google Insights for Search you can not only analyse regional trends — which are shown in maps for easier visualisation — but also view other data, such as related search terms and rising searches. Besides, this new keyword popularity tool lets you choose the desired comparison criteria: search terms (the traditional option on Google Trends), locations or time ranges. (more…)
I know it’s hard to believe, but for a long time I thought Google didn’t like blogs.
Some years ago, I read on an Internet marketing site — I can’t remember its address — that blogs were falling out of favour from Google and wouldn’t rank well, if at all. That piece of (mis)information had been written by a man who looked like an authority in site traffic, so I just assumed he was right and, unfortunately, I decided to ignore blogging. How silly I was.
Misinformation on blogging is still spread on a regular basis
Nowadays, just when you’d think blogs have gone mainstream, you’ll still stumble upon articles meant to classify blogging as a major waste of time. Their authors will tell you to avoid blogs if you want to succeed on the Internet. What’s worse: most of this (bad) advice is directed towards business owners. (more…)
Did you notice that Google and Digg have been sharing several headlines lately? Take a look at blogs, news sites and forums on our industry and you’ll find several references either to Digg’s acquisition by Google or to Google’s experiments with a Digg-like SERP interface.
Despite the fact that Google gave up on the Digg deal (for good or only temporarily?), the googlesphere is still excited about this topic. But…
Does Google need Digg?
Is Digg an essential tool for Google’s Internet dominance arsenal? It doesn’t seem to be the case.
* Google is already used by the vast majority of websurfers. Digg, despite its popularity, still looks like a small club dominated by a few privileged members.
* Digg lacks diversity; most links on it are of a geek-oriented nature. Google, on the other hand, can lead users to any type of site they want to see. This efficiency is the reason why it rules the search engine market.
Do Google users need Digg-like features?
How would those impact our search experience? Would such features give us the power to find more (good) sites in less time?
* Perhaps Google intends to use our own votes as a basis to bring us more customised results over time. However, isn’t it what our search history is for? At least, this is what’s been implied by a post at Google’s Official Blog.
* If you think a social voting system could effectively reduce manipulation of search results by suspicious webmasters… forget it. All social media sites are manipulated in some way (bury brigade anyone?). Why would a “social Google” be different?
Let’s see how the whole Google-Digg (or “Giggle,” as suggested by some good-humoured guys out there) case will evolve — if at all. Whenever I find any substantial news on this thought-provoking subject, I’ll write more about it.
Everyone has been saying that Knol is the new Wikipedia. But is this comparison fair — or at least accurate?
I’m going to tell you what I think.
Knol is the new Squidoo
Let me tell you why I think so:
With so many similarities between Knol and Squidoo — and so many essential differences between Knol and Wikipedia –, I must return to this post’s title: why is Knol compared to Wikipedia? And why isn’t it compared to Squidoo instead? (more…)
