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Issue #114: Google Backlinks
----------------------------------------------------------------- SearchReturn Discussion List "Understanding Internet Search Technology" ----------------------------------------------------------------- Moderator: Published by: Disa Johnson SearchReturn http://www.searchreturn.com ----------------------------------------------------------------- February 06, 2007 SearchReturn Issue #114 ----------------------------------------------------------------- SEND POSTS: ----------------------------------------------------------------- Refer a friend: http://www.searchreturn.com/subscribe.shtml ----------------------------------------------------------------- .....IN THIS DIGEST..... // -- FEATURED POST -- // "Title Length" ~ Terry Van Horne // -- NEW DISCUSSION -- // "SearchReturn Tips" ~ Ron Walker // -- ESSENTIAL NEWS -- // "Google Backlinks" ----------------------------------------------------------------- // -- FEATURED POST -- // ----------------------------------------------------------------- ==> Title Length From: Terry Van Horne <> Hi All! Often less is more, however, lets consider also that SE's are not the only users of your title. The <Title> is not just important for ranking. When I put my marketing hat on I change focus and the title, in many cases, is now my CTA (Call To Action). The Title is the element that stands out most in the SERP ie is the most visible CTA in your listing, is often used by reactive linkers (someone links to you unsolicited). So yes the title length is important for ranking; but, as most of us know when you make that your chief concern you may not get the full value from the title elsewhere ie: from directories that index the site and display the title as the text in the link and reactive linkers so you've degraded the back link text indexed by SE (they may not weight it all, but... no one but a SE engineer knows that for sure). So, if you only consider SE's then you've cheated yourself elsewhere with shorter CTA's written ***only*** for SEs. SEO is all about trade offs. Know what your goals are for the page and adjust the title to fit the goal. I would also like to share some research that Bob Gladstein (Qwerty) did (a year or two ago, so maybe not so relevant now) that indicated Google actually weighted more than what it displays. To the best of my knowledge this still seemed to be the case last time I checked. Bob's research indicated it wasn't a character count algo but perhaps one based on the number of words. His research seemed to indicate the first ten words were weighted heavier. Those after the first ten words were still weighted but less than the 10 preceding them but likely as heavy as other words found elsewhere in the page. If that is the case then it is entirely possible that the short concise title is not utilizing the title fully. IMO, the <title> is the Father in the SEO Holy Trinity so... when you put less in it then... Unless you're doing the Titles with |, > and other SEO over-optimizing techniques, then, getting all the terms you want to optimize a page for is complicated because the title will be longer than 65 characters. Remember being in the top ten is useless if you don't get clicked! If you don't get clicked all you've really got is bragging rights and nobody can take that to the bank. How compelling is: Gibson electric guitars > Gibson acoustic guitars > Gibson dealer in a SERP with: Gibson Electric & Acoustic Guitar Dealer: All Models In Stock! If SE's actually do weight **only** the first 55-65 characters in the title differently then... All your bases are covered and maybe you can avoid a trade off because you've got the best of both worlds. Which gets clicked or stands out more? The SEO's keyword centric unimaginative <title tag> or the marketers compelling <title CTA>? As to the problem of truncation of titles by SE's... simply make the first 65 characters be the message/CTA. It's not like your title will be the only truncated listing in the SERP and I rather doubt a user cares whether the link text ends with ... or . as long as it is **coherent and readable** I doubt it matters much if at all. That just seems like a bit of a stretch to me. IMO, users just aren't paying that much attention and don't give it a second thought. SEOs may, but... we make our living from noticing the little things in a SERP that go right over a users head... Best Regards, Da' Tmeister ----------------------------------------------------------------- // -- NEW DISCUSSION -- // ----------------------------------------------------------------- ==> SearchReturn Tips From: Ron Walker <> Disa, Love the idea of including informative texts and tips in SearchReturn. There is way too much information on SEO available today, since much of it is uninformed speculation. We don't have the time for that anymore. Our team concentrates on information from credible sources like you. Thanks for all your help. Best, Ron --------- Ron Walker http://www.AllAboutVision.com Media kit: http://www.AllAboutVision.info ----------------------------------------------------------------- // -- ESSENTIAL NEWS -- // ----------------------------------------------------------------- ==> Google Backlinks http://searchengineland.com/070205-165836.php Essentials: Partly resolving a major issue for the search marketing community, Google via Webmaster Central now supplies verified webmasters with truer backlink reference reporting. Danny has an excellent post up about how it works, and if you've verified to Google's Webmaster Central, you will now have access to much more backlink info than available before. Webmasters long wished for Google to report this information, which to those in the search marketing community find invaluable. As a practitioner, you have greater incentive now to recommend that your clients sign up for - and verify - for Google Webmaster Central aka Sitemaps. They can export data for your review, or you may even have permission to access it directly. Comment? mailto:digest@searchreturn.com?subject=Google ----------------------------------------------------------------- Stay Tuned. Got feedback?: http://www.searchreturn.com/feedback.shtml Archives: http://www.searchreturn.com/digest-archive.shtml Alternate formats: http://www.searchreturn.com/info-formats.shtml Manage Subscriptions: http://www.searchreturn.com/help/manage-subs.shtml Problems unsubscribing? Contact the postmaster: mailto:postmaster@searchreturn.com Information on how to sponsor this publication: http://www.searchreturn.com/help/advertise.shtml Published by SearchReturn http://www.searchreturn.com Website Membership: http://www.searchreturn.com/register.shtml The contents of the digest do not necessarily reflect the opinions of SearchReturn or Disa Johnson. SearchReturn and Disa Johnson make no warranties, either expressed or implied, about the truth or accuracy of the contents of the SearchReturn Digest. Copyright 2007 Disa Johnson. All Rights Reserved. -----------------------------------------------------------------