November
23, 2005
In This Issue:
1. Reciprocal Links are Dead?
2. In the News - Google Analytics down, AdWords
below SERPs, Identifont
3. More News Headlines
4. This Week's Q&A - Keyword research
5. Wrapping It Up
_________________
Reciprocal Links are Dead?
The consensus from Google's recent "Jagger"
update is that -- among other things -- a main
target of change in the algorithm was the practice
of trading links. You link to me, and I'll link
to you, and Google will like us both better because
we have more links. Not anymore. The idea of collecting
all the links you can, and linking back to anyone
and everyone who links to you is pretty much dead,
at least where Google is concerned. It should
come as no surprise, really, aside from maybe
just how effective they were with the latest update.
For years, Google has been taking aim at any unnatural
behavior that a web site does in order to improve
ranking. Trading links with any and every site
under the sun, as long as that site links back
to you, is unnatural.
Which is not to say you should remove every outgoing
link on your site, nor should you ask all other
sites linking to you to stop. Linking is the foundation
of the WWW, and if you have a site that sells
red widgets, and your visitors will be interested
in another site about red widget repair -- link
to it. That's not unnatural. And if they link
back to you? Not unnatural. But you do need to
be more careful now than ever before. Don't link
if you're just doing it for better rankings.
Danny Sullivan recently wrote a real brief overview
of how linking continues to change, which I'll
link here.
Moving
To Trusted Links & Change The Link Election
Model
_________________
In The News
Google Analytics Shuts Down (or,
How Not to Launch a New Service)
After about only a week online, Google Analytics
has already shut its doors. This is the free web
traffic analysis service we mentioned last week.
Apparently, Google had no clue Joe Siteowner would
be interested, and now when you try to create
a new account, this is the message Google gives
you:
"Google Analytics has experienced extremely
strong demand, and as a result, we have temporarily
limited the number of new signups as we increase
capacity. In the meantime, please submit your
name and email address and we will notify you
as soon as we are ready to add new accounts. Thank
you for your patience."
Google AdWords Everywhere!
I haven't seen it myself, but Google is reportedly
testing a new SERP display which has AdWords ads
appearing on the top and right of the organic
listings ... AND at the bottom, too.
Font Identifier
Net Gains reader Katryn tips us all toward Identifont,
which aims to solve a problem I bet every designer
reading this has faced: "What font is THAT?!?"
Identifont asks a series of questions and presents
possible font(s) answers based on what you tell
it. Thanks Katryn.
Identifont
_________________
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.
Google
allows separate bidding on search, contextual
ads
November 22, 2005 - ClickZ.com
Google
offers 'advertise on this site' feature
November 18, 2005 - Reuters
Organic
Search Rankings on the Move, or Pink Hats Meet
Green Hats
November 17, 2005 - Traffick.com
More headlines: http://www.owtweb.com/news/
_________________
This Week's Q&A
Hello Matt,
We are doing a little bit of research on the keywords
people might use when searching for the services
we offer. We're using the Overture keyword tool
and a few others to figure out the actual phrases
people use. The problem we're having is that the
numbers we're getting back are so different from
one tool to the next. Who or which one is the
one we should use?
Thank you,
Alan
Hi Alan,
There are a lot of keyword tools out there, too
many for me to keep up with! I can't really say
that one is better than another -- some are free,
some you pay for, etc. Some offer a quick snapshot
and others go very deep in the stats they provide.
It depends what you're looking for, so you might
just keep trying until you find the one that gives
you what you're looking for.
That said, my advice would be this: No matter
which keyword tools you use, don't consider the
numbers absolute. Instead, look with an eye toward
relative comparison. Don't be bothered if Tool
A says "red widget store" gets a lot
more searches than what Tool B says. Instead,
consider each tool individually on relative terms
-- i.e., Tool A says "red widget store"
gets about 4x more searches than "red widget
for sale", and go from there. When looking
at what Tool A suggests, ignore what Tool B says.
(Have a question? Email questions@owtweb.com)
_________________
Wrapping it Up
Happy Thanksgiving to all, and happy holidays
for you and your business.
Thanks for reading,
Matt McGee
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