February 16,
2005
In
This Issue:
1. Try Out TurboScout
2. In the News - SE Ratings, Mapmakers
3. More News Headlines
4. This Week's Q&A - Finding New Content
5. Wrapping It Up
_________________
Try Out TurboScout
I would rarely use this "top story" space to plug a
new product or tool, but considering what the past week has been
like for me ... this thing is worth the attention. I've spent more
time in the past week comparing SERPs on Google, Yahoo, and MSN
for clients than I care to think about. But this is early 2005,
and we now have three major search engines fighting for our attention,
so I suppose there's a good chance many of you will also be spending
more time in the future comparing your own company's or your own
clients' rankings across those three SEs (and others), too.
Here's a tool that makes comparing easier. Forget having to go
to Google.com and running a search, then opening a new window
for search.yahoo.com and running a search, and repeating the process
again for search.msn.com -- nevermore! Enter TurboScout:
http://www.turboscout.com/
Type your search term once to run a search. It defaults to Google,
unless you click the name of a search engine first. But when
you get your SERPs, TurboScout places a "toolbar" at the
top of the page that has your search term and then the names of
more than a dozen other search engines and directories. Just click
a name and your search is shown for that engine. In three clicks,
you can compare Google, Yahoo, and MSN results. Why didn't someone
think of this sooner? (Maybe because it's been a while since we've
had three major search engines competing....)
_________________
In The News
Latest Search Engine Ratings
Search Engine Watch has posted the latest ratings for the major
search engines, which continue to show Google leading the way as
the most popular search engine with a 35% share of searches, but
Yahoo ranks a close second at 32%, according to numbers compiled
by comScore. The Nielsen/NetRatings figures measure "audience
reach" -- the percentage of internet users estimated to use
a search engine at least once during a month. Those numbers show
Google reaching 45% of internet searchers, and Yahoo second at
32%. Both ratings charts were done in December, before the new
MSN Search launched.
comScore Ratings
Nielsen/NetRatings Ratings
Mapmakers
We talked about Google Maps last week, and how it compares with
Yahoo's map service. Ever wonder how those maps are put
together with such detail? And who does it? MSNBC/Newsweek has
a current
article about the mapmakers. Not exactly business-related,
but interesting for a look behind-the-scenes at the technology
the
search engines (and others) are using.
It's the Road Now Taken
_________________
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.
Copywriting & Bidding
Tips to Improve Your Overture Campaign Results (Note: Different
From Google)
February 15, 2005 - Marketing Sherpa
Good article for advertisers who use both Overture and Google
AdWords.
Avoiding Search Engine Woes with Multiple Domains and Websites
February 15, 2005 - Search Engine Watch
Creative marketing destruction: Add water and blog
February 15, 2005 - ClickZ.com
Far beyond their role as personal diaries and scoop-laced news
journals, blogs provide easier ways to create and manage
Web sites and site content, in a highly sticky, almost addictive
manner.
More headlines: http://www.owtweb.com/news/
_________________
This Week's Q&A
Matt,
Our company web site has been online a while now, but we haven't
done much updating since it launched. We want to follow some
of the ideas you've discussed in terms of adding new content
and keeping the web site "fresh", but we really don't
even know where to begin. How do other people come up with ideas
and a plan to expand their web sites? We're looking for things
that will help us get more search engine traffic.
Chris
Hi Chris --
Remember, it's not just content you want to add -- but quality
content. Adding a new scenic photo, or a staff picture, etc.,
to your site every now and then doesn't serve much purpose.
What you're
looking for is informational articles about the products and
services you provide.
Some ideas include:
- A weekly or monthly newsletter detailing the latest company
news, product updates, how-to or support-related briefs,
etc. Kinda like
our Net Gains newsletter, actually. The more often you
do it, the better. Monthly is good, weekly is better.
- Full informational articles offering how-to and other educational
material about your products and services. Kinda like the "Articles" section
of owtweb.com, where we talk about how to build search
engine-friendly web sites, the difference between search
engines and web directories,
etc. These are are great content with lots of relevant
key words and phrases people might use to find a web development
or search
engine optimization company like OWT.
Not sure what to write about? Write about what you KNOW.
Also, look through your web site traffic logs. If you find
that 10%
of your visitors come to your site looking for information
about red
widget repairs, make sure you have plenty of good information
about red widget repair. Those traffic logs are a great
way to get ideas
for expanding your web site. The logs tell you what customers
are looking -- now you just have to expand your site so
they get what
they want!
(Have a question? Email questions@owtweb.com)
_________________
Wrapping it Up
Welcome to the new subscribers who've just joined us. Busy week
here, so back to work for me. See you next week!
Thanks for reading,
Matt McGee
The OWT Newsletter is a weekly service offered free to anyone
interested in learning more about web development, search engine
optimization/marketing, and just about anything else related to
running a business web site. You don't need to be an OWT client
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Subscribing and unsubscribing can be done online at OWTweb.com.
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