89% Find Search Engines Do Good Job Finding Information, But “Noise” Is Issue

Has Google’s relevancy gotten worse? A recent opinion poll suggests not, while at the same time confirming a concern that’s been rising in anecdotal accounts — there’s too much “noise” surrounding the “signal.”

Rasmussen Reports surveyed 740 adult Americans on January 4-5 about a variety of search engine related issues. The key question that caught my eye?

“In terms of finding what information you need, how do you rate today’s Internet search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing …excellent, good, fair or poor?”
Most Rate Search Engines Well

In total, 89% found that search engines do a good or excellent job in finding information. Here’s the full breakdown:

    * 47% – Excellent
    * 42% – Good
    * 10% – Fair
    * 0% – Poor (technically between 0% and 1%, but specific figure not given)
    * 1% – Not sure

Does that mean Google itself is gaining such high marks? Maybe these are all Bing users? Unlikely. The survey didn’t ask which search engine people used, which was unfortunate. It did ask if people used more than one search engine at the same time. Few did:

“Do you generally use the same Internet search engine all the time?”

    * 78% – Yes
    * 19% – No
    * 3% – Not sure

Since Google is by far the most popular search engine in the US, it’s reasonable to assume that the overall satisfaction numbers indicated overall satisfaction with Google.

But Noise Is An Issue

If search engines are doing such a great job in general, and Google in particular, why have we seen a spate of posts recently suggesting that Google’s gotten worse? I think the answer is in another question from the poll:

“Which is a bigger problem when you use an Internet search engine – that you can’t find what you need or that your query generates too much irrelevant data?”

    * 70% – That your query generates too much irrelevant data
    * 13% – That you can’t find what you need
    * 18% – Not sure

Only 13% say they can’t find what they’re looking for. The answers are there, the “signal” that people want to tune into. They’re just surrounded by a lot of noise.
Another Poll With Seemingly Conflicting Findings

I think you see a similar frustration in a poll that Lifehacker just ran. This gathered nearly 10,000 responses to the question:

“Have Google’s Search Results Become Less Useful To You?”

    * 43.8% – Kind of/sort of, but it’s still the best way to get at the good stuff
    * 33.8% – Absolutely. The spammers have gained a significant foothold
    * 11.2% – I haven’t really noticed a change
    * 7.1% – I’d say no, or not to the point where it matters, at least
    * 3.6% – No, and actually, my results have been better and more convenient lately
    * 0.6% – Other

The headline on Lifehacker’s poll results story was “Over 77 Percent of Lifehacker Readers Say Google’s Search Results are Less Useful Lately,” which combined the two most popular responses, one that is totally negative and one that can be read either way (results are less useful, but Google’s still the best way to find things).
For more info- http://searchengineland.com/89-find-search-engines-do-good-job-but-noise-is-issue-61064

Why On Page Optimization in SEO is So Important

 

The goal is to have web pages on the top positions of search results. In order to achieve this goal you have to optimize every page. The optimization is done for particular keywords or search phrases and is divided into two categories: on-page and off-page. Off-page optimization means creating backlinks to your website. Each link will increase the reputation of your site--links (their quantity and quality) are very important for ranking in search results. But the basic element of optimization is the page itself. On-page optimization is needed to clearly describe the content of the page and to emphasize the main keyword you are optimizing for.

Optimization of any web page starts with keyword selection. You need to find search phrases that are related to the content of your website, have high search volume and low competition. In general, you should optimize each page for only one keyword. The purpose of optimization is to emphasize one particular keyword in order to tell human visitors and search engines what this page is about. But the final goal is to reach top position in search results for this keyword. On-page SEO is not a rocket science; in fact it is only an extension of optimization for normal, human visitors.

Web page SEO is done by putting the main keyword or search phrase at relevant visible and invisible (meta) page elements. The best approach is to create a nice, easily readable page where visitors will quickly find the information they are looking for. This is simply done by creating quality content that is focused around the target keyword. Quality, unique content is a prerequisite for any web optimization. Once you have the text written all you have to do is to create a page title which contains the target keyword, to add few header tags (h1, h2, h3, etc.) to label sections or paragraphs, to create right meta description which, of course, contains the keyword and finally, to check word frequency to avoid excessive use of particular word phrases.

Once the web page is optimized for normal, human visitors it will not only look clean and easy to read, but it will be automatically optimized also for search engines. This is because search engines, in particular Google, like clear pages that are informative and easy to navigate. Easy navigation can be achieved with a simple menu from which you can reach any page on the website with only one or two clicks.

The purpose of any web page optimization is simply to explain to everybody, including search engines, what the page is about.

On-page SEO becomes very simple once you start optimizing for human visitors. Optimization for search engines is only a small extension of common activities to make the page attractive.
For more info- http://ezinearticles.com/?Why-On-Page-Optimization-in-SEO-is-So-Important&id=4307553

10 Ways to Mess Up Your SEO

I see it and hear it all the time. I speak with potential clients that claim everything was going great and then all of a sudden everything hit the fan. Rankings gone, traffic gone and business down.

Here are 10 ways to royally mess up your SEO:

1. Not asking enough questions
When you hire a search engine optimization company make sure to ask questions on process. Find out to make sure there are no black hat methods being used.

2. Dangerous Linking
A link is good but not everywhere. Linking to the wrong types of websites could land you in the hot seat very quickly. For instance, always strive to have relevant incoming links that could generate visitors to your website, not just a link for the sake of a link.

3. Forgetting to read guidelines
The search engines have strict guidelines they like all websites to follow. Does that mean that some things slip through the cracks? Yes but not for ever. Read through the search engine guidelines to understand what type of approach they like to see.

4. Black hat tricks
Don’t fall prey to cutting corners on your search engine optimization because you could find yourself in a heap of trouble. You may get some sort of search engine penalty, if you do by accident fix it. If the black hat technique was not by accident, then please stop reading this list now!

5. Having disgusting URL structures
Many times people forget to remember about their structure of their URL’s on their website. Don’t forget to keep them as clean as possible.

6. Blanketed meta info
Your meta info for each page should always be nice and unique. Blanketing the same meta title tag across the board is not going to help you long term.

7. Not enough good content
Search spiders are readers not thinkers. If you don’t have enough text they will simply skip over your website. Always have some text for them to grab onto, but always focus on the visitor experience of your site and create good quality content for your visitors.

8. Not enough link building
Link building is something that should be occurring every single month without question. Link building is what gives a website that power it needs to really start climbing through the search results.

9. Image tags
Don’t forget that there is an opportunity to show up in image search on all three search engines and your images need to be optimized for this opportunity.

10. Not using a keyword research tool
You really don’t want to sit there and try to come up with keywords yourself without using a tool because I can guarantee you will not see any search engine optimization benefits. Use a keyword research tool, such as the Google keyword research tool.

These to me are some of the more important areas to watch out for when conducting search engine optimization otherwise you could find yourself going backwards.

For more info-  http://www.searchengineoptimizationjournal.com/2010/11/16/10-ways-to-mess-up-your-seo/

A Breakdown of the Google Webmaster Guidelines

Have you ever actually stopped and taken a moment to really look through what Google has to say is good and bad when it comes to how you conduct yourself online from a communication and business standpoint? You should always be following Google Webmaster Guidelines when marketing your business online to ensure the utmost safety of your website. The purpose of this post is to summarize a breakdown of some of the important areas within the Google webmaster guidelines and as they pertain to search engine optimization.

“Avoid tricks intended to improve search engine rankings. A good rule of thumb is whether you’d feel comfortable explaining what you’ve done to a website that competes with you. Another useful test is to ask, “Does this help my users? Would I do this if search engines didn’t exist?”

This is great because people still feel that performing tricks in the search space is good solid search engine marketing and this couldn’t be further from the truth. You should never worry about performing any sort of tricks online when it comes to spreading your website message.

“Hiding text or links in your content can cause your site to be perceived as untrustworthy since it presents information to search engines differently than to visitors. Text (such as excessive keywords) can be hidden in several ways, including:

• Using white text on a white background
• Including text behind an image
• Using CSS to hide text
• Setting the font size to 0”

Oldest trick in the book that is guaranteed to get you un-indexed in the search engines. This is a black hat trick that Google hates and will reprimand your business if you are caught using it.

“Keyword stuffing” refers to the practice of loading a webpage with keywords in an attempt to manipulate a site’s ranking in Google’s search results. Filling pages with keywords results in a negative user experience, and can harm your site’s ranking. Focus on creating useful, information-rich content that uses keywords appropriately and in context.”

Don’t stuff your pages with keywords because not only does Google really dislike this but the user experience becomes extremely tainted. You want your content to flow naturally so your readers can read the information easily.

Take the time to really understand Google’s webmaster guidelines before you start marketing your business so you can ensure the safety of your livelihood for the long term. In addition to reading and understanding the Google webmaster guidelines, I also recommend that you read the SEO section at Google as well.

For more info- http://www.searchengineoptimizationjournal.com/2010/11/17/google-webmaster-guidelines/