“While Google remains the dominant player among small business advertisers, Yahoo! and Bing (formerly MSN) have gained significant market share since the third quarter of 2008, as much as 5 percent. [...]

Additionally, the report shows click-through rates (CTR) improved year over-year across all the engines, with the biggest improvement on Yahoo!, where CTR improved 123 percent from Q3 2008 to Q3 2009.”

Related: Microsoft’s Bing gets ’stickier,’ grabs more local dollars.

Tweet This Post

“Google usually shows a green web address, or URL, at the bottom of each search result to let you know where you’re headed. Today we’re rolling out an improvement that replaces the URL in some search results with a hierarchy showing the precise location of the page on the website. The new display provides valuable context and new navigation options. The changes are rolling out now and should be available globally in the next few days.”

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/new-site-hierarchies-display-in-search.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot/MKuf+(Official+Google+Blog)

Tweet This Post

In July, Google upgraded AdWords to allow advertisers to add the full address to their search ads through location extensions. It appears that they are now testing a new ad layout similar to the one developed for Local Listing Ads.

http://blumenthals.com/blog/2009/11/20/is-google-adwords-testing-a-new-local-adwords-display-type/

Tweet This Post

Google Images has indexed billions of images. If your image can be found for the right keyword, then you will get targeted visitors to your website.

Why images can help you to get more visitors

Depending on the search query, Google displays several images above the regular search results. For example, try this search for German Shepherd Dog:

The images can be found at the top of the search results and they are linked with web pages. If someone clicks on the image, the person will be taken to the web page that shows the image.

How to optimize your images so that they can be found

If you have a website about German Shepherd dogs, then wouldn’t it be great if an image from your website was listed above the regular results? You’d get many additional website visitors then.

There are several things that you can do to improve the position of your images in Google Image Search:

1. Use a file name that contains the keywords for which you want to be found. In this example, the file name german-shepherd-dog.jpg would be a good idea. Separate the words with a hyphen.
2. Use a descriptive Image Alt attribute text. It usually makes sense to use the same keywords that have been used for the file name. In this example, the Image Alt Attribute would be “German Shepherd Dog”:

   <img src=”german-shepherd-dog.jpg” alt=”German Shepherd Dog”>

3. In the same way, you should use the Image Title attribute:

   <img src=”german-shepherd-dog.jpg” alt=”German Shepherd Dog” title=”German Shepherd Dog”>

4. The textual content on the web page before and after the image also impacts the position of your image in Google’s Image Search. In this example, the text “German Shepherd Dog” should appear close to the image.
5. Bigger images seem to get featured more often on Google’s first result page. The bigger your image, the easier it is to get at the top of Google’s regular result page. Include the Width and Height attributes in your image tag to show search engines the size of the image:

   <img src=”german-shepherd-dog.jpg” alt=”German Shepherd Dog” title=”German Shepherd Dog” width=”600″ height=”400″>

6. If the complete web page has been optimized for a keyword then it is easier to get good listings for images that are on the page.

Make sure that the image that you optimize for your keyword also looks attractive. If no-one wants to click on the image then it won’t help your website if the image can be found on Google’s first result page.

Tweet This Post

The links that point to your website are one of the most important factors that influence the position of your website in Google’s search results. The better the links to your website, the higher the position of your website in Google’s results.

High rankings without good inbound links?

It is possible to get high rankings with only a few links if you want to be listed for keywords that don’t have much competition. As soon as more than one website competes with you for the same keywords, the website with the best inbound links will outrank the other websites.

If you want to get high rankings for competitive keywords, you have to go out and encourage people to link to your website. It’s not necessary to get as many links as possible. It’s necessary to get better links than your competitors.

Relatively easy: finding the right websites for link building

The Internet has plenty of websites for every category. The following websites can be good link partners:

1. Websites that are listed for the keywords that you are targeting can be good link partners. If a website has high positions for the keywords that you are targeting and if the website is not a competitor, you should contact the owner of that website.
2. Some websites have content that is related to your keyword. If these websites have no examples or references, they could link to your website.
3. There can be many websites that contain a review or a comment about your company without linking to your site. These websites will often link to your website if you ask.
4. If another website links to your website and only uses your domain name to link to your website, ask the owner of the other website to link to your website with your keyword.
5. Blogs that deal with the topic of your websites are often willing to link to your website.
6. If a website links to one of your competitors, it is likely that they will also link to your website if you offer a similar product or service.

Easy to screw up: asking for a link

Finding websites that could link to you is the easy part. The difficult part is to convince the owners of the other websites that they should link to your site.

Contact the right person and use a personal salutation. Be polite and professional in your email message. Use a non-freemail email address and include your full contact information in the email message.

Focus on the benefits of the recipient (for example, that the webmaster will offer his website visitors a good resource if he links to your site and explain why).

Tweet This Post