There is a pretty prevalent problem in Search Engine Optimization that deserves some serious attention. And it’s causing us all to think that our own sites are ranking a LOT higher then they actually are.
It’s called Google Personalized Search. Here’s a bit about it:
Google has released a new version of Google Personalized Search, this time in a format intended to constantly monitor what people select from search results and shape future queries based on their choices.
The new service is linked to the My Search History feature that Google unveiled last April (see our Google My Search History Personalizes the Web for more on the feature). Google Personalized Search uses My Search History data to refine your results based on your searching habits.
-From SearchEngineWatch
There is nothing wrong with Google Personalized Search by itself. The problem arises when we check out rankings for different keywords.
I’ll show you an example of what can happen…
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Client: “OK, so my main site is doing well. We’ve got a bunch of links, some age on the domain name, a decent pagerank, and a couple hundred indexed pages. But the domain name itself doesn’t have our main keyword(s) in it. And I see a bunch of the highest rank websites have the equivalent of a “vanity URL”… it’s chock full of keywords. So what do we do?”
SEO: “Well gee, it depends” (aka: The SEO’s Standard Response)
It’s a question that all of us SEO’s have had to answer at one time or another. And there isn’t a whole lot of agreement across the board (so I invite anyone with expert experience in this department to chime in below in the comments section.) Until we have a tested answer to the question, I’ll wildly speculate on the best approach.
The Problem: Let’s re-phrase the question with an example to make sure we are all on the same page:
Let’s say Ying’s Teahouse and Yum Yum is trying to rank for “Columbus Chinese Food.” And Ying bought www.yingsteahouseandyumyum.com when she started the business 5 years ago and has added a bit of content slowly over the last five years. The domain is five years old and is getting steady traffic and has picked up some decent links along the way.
But now Ying is thinking that maybe buying www.columbuschinesefood.com will get her higher in the rankings. And to boot, she also bought up clintonvillechinesefood.com, centralohiochinesefood.com, ohiosbestchinesefood.com, and a handful of other keyword rich domains. So what do we do now?
My Opinion: Google’s search algo. is constantly searching for a balance in the importance of keywords in the domain name. About a year ago, domain name keywords didn’t have a whole lot of importance, but lately there seems to be a good deal more importance placed on the keywords in the domain. Who knows where it will be in 6 months? [click to continue…]
I’ve never promised that my design sense is all that great. I’ll leave that to the specialists who could run circles around me in Photoshop, Fireworks, or Illustrator.
But, if you come by this blog much, then you likely noticed that a redesign silently took place.
It was time: I’d heard the last design was everything from “offensive”, “childish”, and downright terrible. The sad thing is- I agreed.
So I finally made time to redo everything. Inspiration awards go out to Dive Into Mark, colourlovers, and the entire redesign was powered by Gala Apples and Chipotle.
Until today, I wasn’t sure if the design was doing-it-for-me. That was, until about 30 minutes ago. [click to continue…]
When the economy goes into recession, a good many business owners tighten their wallets and get ready to weather the storm (and for good reason). Often times, the first thing to get cut from the budget is advertising.
But strangely, my Search Engine Optimization business has really taken off lately. So I started asking myself “why?“.
It seems SEO is different from regular advertising in many ways. Good SEO just works in a down economy where other types of direct advertising fail. Let’s take a look at..
5.5 reasons why SEO is the choice a lot of business owners invest in while pulling back the reins on traditional advertising.
1. Track your EXACT Return on Investment (ROI)
Traditional advertising is a “throw it against the wall and see what sticks”. I don’t know about you, but that isn’t the way I want to spend my advertising dollars when every penny counts.
Search Engine Optimization is different. With SEO, you can literally track almost every aspect of how you were found, the keywords that were used, and even if they eventually purchased something from you. With that knowledge, you can continually improve your strategy to jive with the market. Try doing that with traditional advertising. [click to continue…]
Do you have a website that is on the verge of taking off, but you can’t quite get it past the tipping point?
Are you about to launch your business, but need some grassroots online marketing to help it take off?
Do you have a brick-and-morter business and need someone to handle everything online?
There are so many great ideas out there just waiting to get the audience they deserve. If you find yourself or your new business searching for that audience then you know the challenges that we all face online. It can be difficult to get noticed, get links, and get in the search engines. Of course, you could pay someone thousands and thousand of dollars to get you the customers you need, but you either don’t have the money or can’t allocate it on that.
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My name is Brad and I love to help people drive traffic and make great blogs. Thanks for coming by. If you like what you see here then check me out on 
