Handpicked Search Industry Headlines And Posts
Issue #021: SES Recap
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"Understanding Internet Search Technology"
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December 13, 2005 Issue #021
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.....IN THIS DIGEST.....
// -- FEATURED POST -- //
"Google Fantasy"
~ Debra Mastaler
// -- CONFERENCE RECAP -- //
"Day One"
"Day Two"
"Day Three"
"Day Four"
// -- ESSENTIAL NEWS -- //
"Yahoo! Buys Del.icio.us"
"MSN AOL Close At Hand"
"New AdWords Quality Score Factor"
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// -- FEATURED POST -- //
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==> TOPIC: GOOGLE FANTASY
"Debra travels as much as most SEOs, so we are reasonably sure
her comment was in good fun as was the rest of the post. As we
understand it though, she is looking for Google to provide
access, not a GoogleSpace for test running their product line."
From: Debra Mastaler
......lol...... yes, the travel comments were all in good fun and
prompted by my experiences this summer/fall being delayed in
airports while traveling on SEO business. But! While my original
post was supposed to be a light hearted jab at airports and
Google being do-gooders, I was trying to make a point - if Google
is considering providing WIFI at no charge in public places, the
airports would be a great place to start.
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// -- CONFERENCE RECAP -- //
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==> TOPIC: DAY ONE
Chicago SES day one saw these subjects we were able to attend:
Searcher Behavior Research Update
Search Term Research & Targeting
Advanced Search Term Research Tools
The primary take away from the first panel on searcher behavior
was an update on the eye tracking triangle, where Google
specifically has a hot spot where eyes begin looking at the SERP
roughly were the search box and button are located on the
previous page. Attendees asked a few questions that led to
discussions regarding click through statistics, and Jakob
Nielsen's position study was cited which indicates a strong bias
towards the top position.
Chistine Churchill and Dan Thies presented on tools and tactics
for keyword research for the next two panels. The difference
between these panels and search term research panels of the past
was the wide adoption of KeywordDiscovery replacing WordTracker
as a favorite tool. We could easily begin threads on this highly
important topic. As published last week, the other big takeaway
is to view log entries to ascertain specifically what queries
were used as opposed to relying on reporting from your accounts.
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==> TOPIC: DAY TWO
Chicago SES day two saw these subjects we were able to attend:
Fun With Dynamic Web Sites
Link Building Basics
Meet The Blog & Feed Search Engines
The morning with dynamic sites is one way to clear the cobwebs
from your mind to get ready for the rest of your day. This panel
has transformed from the title Dealing With Dynamic Sites, to Fun
With Dynamic Sites for good reason. There are several advantages
available to those who develop dynamic sites. With some serious
warnings about the usual problems regarding indexing, the panel
covers things you can do when you have competitors looking at (or
scraping) your site. Once you discover them, serve them what you
want e.g. 403 access forbidden etc., or fake higher prices.
For Link Building Basics, we really get a treat listening to Eric
Ward make the case for link building with virtually no regard for
search engines. Eric has been doing link building since before
search engines were important (early nineties) and his advice may
be the most underrated set of gems lost on the crowd who thinks
of links purely in terms of how they help search engine rankings.
There is no substitute for natural link building. The increase of
people that learn of your site through a link that search engines
may never know about, a Yahoo! Groups entry for example, can
serve to increase natural links by the readers of that post when
handled correctly. We missed Debra on this panel and look forward
to her next appearance.
Meet The Blog & Feed Search Engines turned into a rabble rousing
event from what started as a search engine promotion line dance.
After the search engines were satisfied with themselves for
having promoted their site adequately, they began in on a
discussion regarding blog spam, or splogs. The subject was kicked
off by attendees, and the engines inter-argued about what
facilitates splogs to what to do about it. They all agreed that
the problem is severe and they plan to work together to fight it
more diligently in the future. The discussion lasted well past
the panel where they could be seen in the exhibit hall continuing
their conversation. Amanda Watlington in attendance was a key to
making sure the discussion maintained a focus on relevancy for
search users, and a real value to attendees.
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==> TOPIC: DAY THREE
My SEM Toolbox
Working As A Team
Search Engine Q&A On Links
Converting Visitors Into Buyers
The tools that were listed during My SEM Toolbox, included a
laundry list of things you could use for a variety of tasks
related to search marketing. Beyond keyword research tools,
interesting new additions included FireFox extensions geared for
the SEO. An audience poll indicated almost everyone in attendance
uses FireFox, in some cases lured by inventive extensions such as
those described. The sheer length of the list of tools that were
highlighted caused one in attendance to ask the panelists to list
their single favorite tool.
With Working As A Team, the take away included several things to
think about for running an enterprise-sized project. There were
stories from the front lines of getting buy-in for SEO across
departments, especially bridging marketing and IT. Jessica Bowman
of Enterprise Rent-A-Car really put it in perspective describing
small successes with the challenge. She related a story trying to
get a content developer to consider search terms in her copy. She
refrained from feeling frustration with a lack of action, and was
ultimately rewarded when the content developer came to her. She
considered it a small victory even if nothing was accomplished up
to that point.
The search engines answer your questions on links turned into one
panel that was hard to manage. There were some questions about
links, and a lot of attendees wanted their questions about
indexing answered. This was the session that was billed in
earlier link building sessions as: "The session where the search
engines will tell you not to buy links." Interesting that Greg
Boser has a blog entry about Jeremy Zawodny now selling links.
The take away from this session had more to do with what was not
said. Google was steadfast in saying inbound links for which you
have no control will not harm your site in Google. This was with
the understanding that you aren't purchasing links. Tim Mayer was
notably silent during this part, as if to assume that if you have
such links that it can be cause for removal anyway. Matt Cutts
also regularly asks site owners questions like: "why is this site
pointing to you?"
You risk a number of things when you are not converting your site
visitors at a satisfactory rate. The converting session focuses
entirely on converting search users specifically. Heather Lloyd-
Martin presented tips regarding your message *starting from the
SERPs*, and Mike Sack discussed lessons about measuring your
search traffic and testing lessons for better conversions. If
your message doesn't immediately resonate with users coming into
your site, abandonment can be especially high with search users
and you suffer higher costs and fewer conversions. Unfortunately,
too many focus solely on rankings at the expense of smarter
strategies for targeted traffic and converting.
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==> TOPIC: DAY FOUR
Measuring Success Through Phone Calls
SEO Overkill
There is no disputing the fact that Pay-Per-Call, which has
enjoyed a strong debut with the search industry, wishes PPC were
not already taken. Ingenio and Who'sCalling both had case studies
presented on their behalf after their initial presentation of
features and business focus. These companies have little in the
way of competition, and the only folks who question their methods
include people that believe branded numbers, such as 1-800-
Flowers, are eroded by dynamic 800 number insertion. The
compelling story is that businesses can track phone calls back to
search marketing, including high resolution detail which can
include keywords.
The final panel of the day, the final panel of the conference for
us, was one that followed the Buddy Guy night. Yeow. Heather
Lloyd-Martin is one of those dynamic speakers that always manages
to appear upbeat, and she presented several hilarious examples of
sites taking the search marketing thing way too far. Everything
from pages with so many links that there is no way to know what
to do, to sites with horrid optimization of misspelled words.
Matt Bailey brought the whole point in focus using a screenreader
for the visually impaired to read aloud the list of keywords in
stuffed content. He also warned that what may be hidden text in
most browsers, is often plainly displayed on mobile devices.
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// -- ESSENTIAL NEWS -- //
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==> Yahoo! Buys Del.icio.us
http://www.ysearchblog.com/archives/000223.html
Essentials: Del.icio.us tagging is all the rage, and Yahoo! has
designs on competing in the search space with a strength of
social strength. The match of MyWeb and other community-oriented
social offerings owned by Yahoo! make this a strong play for the
future of search.
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==> MSN AOL Close At Hand
http://www.searchreturn.com/digest/refs021.shtml
Essentials: Although Google should not be counted out until the
decision is announced, it appears that MSN is trying to close the
deal before the end of the year. Will Google be left standing
when the music stops?
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==> New AdWords Quality Score Factor
http://www.searchreturn.com/digest/refs021.shtml
Essentials: Google considers the value of your landing page for
calculating its Quality Score. The factors involved now are bid,
CTR, and Landing Page relevancy according to Google.
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