April 20,
2005
In
This Issue:
1. Yahoo's new index
2. In the News - LSI & links, Search cost per lead
3. More News Headlines
4. This Week's Q&A - Misspelled domains
5. Wrapping It Up
_________________
Yahoo's new index
As we mentioned in last week's Net Gains, Yahoo recently took
the unusual step of pre-announcing that it would be updating its
index -- the database of web pages that are used when you search
on Yahoo. It's not unusual for an index to be updated, but it is
new to have such an update be announced and save all of us search
geeks and webmasters the trouble of asking on mailing lists and
message boards, "Did Yahoo update yesterday?"
Openness aside, what really matters is whether the new index
is any good. How good are the SERPs it produces? The main thing
I've
noticed so far from searching through Yahoo for a couple different
clients and industries, is this: In competitive industries the
new Yahoo is much less relevant than it was before the update.
For example, consider the query "Richland WA real estate." To
know if the SERPs are any good, you have to know what the user
is searching for. In this case, it's pretty safe to assume that
someone searching for "Richland WA real estate" is
looking for real estate listings, or a real estate agent, in
Richland.
But the Yahoo
SERPs for that search are
filled with things like Yellow Pages and directory pages, and
even real estate attorney pages. In fact, as I write this, only
two
of the top 10 listings -- the #8 and #10 spots -- are for local
real estate agents. 20% is not my definition of a relevant search.
The same
search on Google is
far from perfect, but it's much better: six of the top 10 are
local real estate agent pages.
On less competitive searches -- fiber
optic lighting,
for example -- Yahoo's SERPs are much more relevant, with providers
making up the first seven, and nine of the top 10 listings.
In the end, Yahoo looks a lot like Google did in 2004. Google's
most recent update, Allegra, eliminated a lot of the directory
junk that was dominating certain industries (like real estate),
and it seems Yahoo will have to make some changes to do the
same.
_________________
In The News
LSI and link popularity
Please read the article linked below. It's a good and not-too-difficult-to-understand
snapshot of what's been happening lately with Google. In a nutshell,
Google is now analyzing inbound links differently, especially the
anchor text of those inbound links. Too many inbound links with
the same exact word or phrase are an alert to Google that your
site might be benefiting from an unnatural link structure. As
author Andy Hagans says, "Rather than seeking to only obtain
links using their main keyword, webmasters should include synonyms,
variations and related words."
LSI and link popularity
The "Gold Mine" of search
Reuters had an interesting article over the weekend detailing
the incredible rise in search advertising over the past couple
years,
and how Google, Yahoo, and MSN are cashing in on the increased
business. But the most interesting numbers in there are from
Piper Jaffray, comparing the "cost per lead" of search vs.
other forms of advertising: $8.50 for search, $20 for yellow pages,
$50 for online display ads, $60 for e-mail and $70 for direct mail.
No wonder businesses big and small are rushing into the search
advertising space!
Reuters: Gold Mine Found in Web Searches
So Long, Overture
Speaking of search advertising, Yahoo has officially made the
switch. Overture has been renamed as Yahoo!
Search Marketing.
Google.org
Just launched: "This will be the future site of Google.org
-- the philanthropic arm of Google. We are currently working on
staffing as well as defining the goals, priorities, and principles
of Google.org."
http://www.google.org/
_________________
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.
Search giants court TiVo
April 18, 2005 - News.com
TiVo is in talks with Internet search giants Google and Yahoo
over a possible deal aimed at bridging television and the Web.
Closed-loop internet marketing
April 18, 2005 - Search Engine Guide
When asked about the goal of Internet Marketing campaigns, most
marketing personnel and senior executives quickly state --
REVENUE! Well, that is very shortsighted to say the least.
Creating a site design plan
April 14, 2005 - Digital Web
More headlines: http://www.owtweb.com/news/
_________________
This Week's Q&A
Hi Matt,
Our domain name is our company name, but the name can be difficult
to spell. There are some common misspellings we always see,
and those words are also available as domain names. Should we buy
them to help get more web site traffic?
Diane
Hi Diane --
If your site gets a lot of type-in traffic, and your primary
domain name is ripe for misspelling, then it certainly
can be worth it
to buy the misspelled domains that people might be (or
are) typing. Domains are cheap, so why not? Just do a 301 redirect
from the
misspelled domain(s) to the correct one. That way, anyone
typing the misspelled domain will get sent to the actual
domain
right
away.
(Have a question? Email questions@owtweb.com)
_________________
Wrapping it Up
I'm out of the office next Monday and Tuesday, so don't hold
your breath waiting for a newsletter on Wednesday. I'll be too
swamped catching up, so see you in two weeks.
Thanks for reading,
Matt McGee
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