December 15,
2004
In
This Issue:
1. Yahoo Local Opens Listing Service
2. In the News - Google: Suggestions and Library Project
3. More News Headlines
4. This Week's Q&A - Is the client always right?
5. Wrapping It Up
_________________
Yahoo Local Opens Listing Service
I try to avoid focusing on the same company (or "thing" or "event")
in consecutive newsletters, but what Yahoo has recently done with
its Yahoo Local service is too good not to get top billing this
week. So here's the 3rd straight week with Yahoo leading the table
of contents.
Only our newest subscribers will have missed the drum-beating
I've done in the newsletter this year about local search. Google
and
Yahoo have been upping the ante in this effort to get people
to skip the yellow pages and go online to search for local business
information. If you're a business owner who sees the value in
being
found by local searchers, the main question no one has answered
yet is How do I get or fix a listing in Yahoo/Google Local Search?
Yahoo finally answered last week by opening up their Yahoo Local
listings to anyone who wants one:
Yahoo Local Listings
They offer a "Basic Listing" for free, or an "Enhanced
Listing" for less than $10/month (introductory rate). You'll
have to have a Yahoo account to sign-up for either type of listing,
and once you get started the process is as simple as completing
a few standard web forms. When you're done, Yahoo indicates that
your listing will be reviewed within a few days before being added
to Yahoo Local.
The benefits? Well, once you get a listing in Yahoo Local,
it's another opportunity to be found by searchers. Yahoo Local
is
already a main component of the overall Yahoo experience --
it's one of
the main "tabs" above the search box on Yahoo's home
page, for starters, which provides great visibility. And when you
use Yahoo Search, Yahoo will promote Yahoo Local if it believes
your search query would be best served with local listings.
In short, whether you use the free Basic Listing or the low-cost
Enhanced Listing, this is something worth jumping on.
_________________
In The News
Google Has Some Suggestions
Meanwhile, over at Google there's plenty of new things happening,
too. An interesting one is the introduction of a search suggestion
tool in the Google Labs area. It's called Google Suggest, and here's
what it does: As you type a search query, a drop-down list of suggested
terms will appear, and you use the arrow keys on your keyboard
to choose the term you want (or you can ignore it and continue
typing). If you type "dig", for example, you get a list
of terms that includes "digital cameras", "digital
camera reviews", "digestive system", "digimon",
and a few more. It's an interesting tool, and I like it because
it may make people smarter searchers. Too many searchers type in
1-2 word terms that are too broad to produce good results, then
they get angry at the search engine! Google Suggest can take broad
terms and offer some more specific suggestions that should help
people find what they're looking for more quickly. And for you
webmasters and web site owners, it's also a nice, little tool for
suggesting new keywords!
Google Suggest
Google Goes to the Library
Also in the news this week, Google announced a program aimed
at digitizing seven of the world's largest and most important
libraries
-- actually scanning in the books and making the content available
to web searchers. This is a monumental effort/program! Google
is going to work with the New York Public Library, along with
the
university libraries at Harvard, Oxford, Stanford, and the
University of Michigan. The project is likely to take ten years.
CBS News
on Tuesday called this "the largest change in the library
system for the next 500 years." Let me clip some of what John
Battelle says about the magnitude of this development:
"
The implications here are significant. First, the idea that the
world's knowledge, as held through books and libraries, is opening
up to all via a web browser cannot be understated. It's one thing
to have the an original copy of The Origin of Species on the shelves,
where students and interested parties have to travel to find it.
It's another to have it available to everyone via a search index
and your web browser."
Here's the rest of Battelle's analysis, and then a link to
the Reuters news article about the program.
John Battelle: Google Library - Talk About a Long Tail
Reuters: Google announces search deal with seven libraries
Desktop Search
And lastly, Yahoo, Microsoft, and Ask Jeeves have all introduced
new Desktop Search software. In fact, it seems that
OWT will soon be the only company NOT offering a desktop search
tool soon. Links
to news coverage about the announcements are below.
_________________
More News Headlines
Here are a few news headlines worth your time to read.
These are just some of the headlines we've posted
to OWTweb.com in recent
days.
Firefox surpasses 10 million download mark
December 13, 2004 - News.com
MSN joins the Desktop Search fray
December 13, 2004 - Search Engine Watch
Yahoo to begin testing desktop search in January
December 10, 2004 - Reuters
More headlines: http://www.owtweb.com/news/
_________________
This Week's Q&A
Matt,
I'm a web designer, and wonder if this happens to you, too -
I create an attractive site for my customer, one that follows the
basics of "good design", but the customer doesn't like
it, and instead wants me to create something that is either just
plain old ugly, or for some reason is considered a bad idea.
I'm sure this happens to every web designer, so how do you handle
that?
Debbie
Hi Debbie --
I think this does happen to everyone who builds web sites, and
it probably also happens to home builders and many other "creative
types." And it can be frustrating for sure when you know better,
but can't seem to convince the client of that. You asked how we
handle it, which I think is a question of whether or not we tell
the client why their ideas are bad, or do we just do exactly what
they tell us.
As a web development shop, I believe our expertise and knowledge
is what we sell just as much as, or maybe even more than the
actual hands-on ability to do the work. Really, the actual
building of
a web page isn't difficult. But the knowledge of how to create
a web site that's user-friendly, search engine-friendly, converts
visitors to customers, extends the client's brand, etc. Those
things are what separates professionals from the kid down the
street who
has Dreamweaver and calls himself a web designer.
So yes, we do speak up when we feel a client's ideas can be
improved. Most clients appreciate being able to understand
a little better
what works on the web and what doesn't, and why something is
a good or bad idea. The client is, of course, free to ignore
our
advice and we've had to build "bad idea" sites because
the client insisted. But at least we explained the problems and
the risks involved. To me, that's about all you can do in these
situations: Share your knowledge with the client, and if they choose
to do it their own way, explain the risks involved up front.
(Have a question? Email questions@owtweb.com)
_________________
Wrapping it Up
If you're interested in using blogs for your business web site,
and are free Thursday at 11:00 am PT (2:00 pm ET), you may want
to take part in a free "webinar" (a seminar conducted
on the web) called "Blogging for Business." All you need
is a web browser and a phone. Here's the link to reserve your spot.
Blogging for Business
(If that link wraps in your email software and doesn't work,
use the link in the online version of this newsletter.)
Thanks for reading,
Matt McGee
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