January
4, 2006
In This Issue:
1. SEO in 2006
2. In the News - Google PCs? Cutts on site checking,
Word of mouth
3. More News Headlines
4. This Week's Q&A - Backlinks in Google
5. Wrapping It Up
_________________
SEO in 2006
Welcome back to Net Gains. I hope you all had
a great holiday break. Time to get back to work,
isn't it?
I'm preparing a lengthier article for OWtweb.com
about this topic, but it seems appropriate to
mention it briefly here, in the first newsletter
of the year. It's about SEO (search engine optimization,
for you newcomers), and the main point boils down
to this: In 2006, and presumably beyond, the old
way of gaining search engine visibility is out,
and a new, more traditional way is in.
What I mean by that is this: It used to be enough
to build your web site, choose some appropriate
keywords and phrases to target, write a couple
pages of good content employing those keywords
and phrases, trade a few links with other sites,
and voila - instant search engine visibility.
That plan can still work in non-competitive industries,
but there are very few such industries in this
day and age. Today, SEO isn't enough. It's still
necessary, but it can't be done alone. If you
really want search engine visibility -- more importantly,
if you really want online success in the form
of sales, conversions, etc. -- you need to tackle
the big picture with an overall marketing plan.
SEO, the process of making pages more search engine-friendly,
is still part of that - but it's just one aspect.
You'll do better if your overall plan includes
paid advertising (online and offline), press release
distribution and similar public relations tactics,
and even blogging on your own company web site
(to engage your customers and encourage word-of-mouth
discussion).
It's a new year, and a new landscape. Google,
Yahoo, and other search engines continue to adapt
how they rank pages and you and I, as web site
owners or webmasters, have to adapt.
_________________
In The News
Google PCs?
The LA Times this week ran a story looking ahead
to 2006, and spread a rumor that Google will soon
introduce low-cost PCs to be sold at Wal-Mart
and other retailers. The "Google Cubes",
as financial analysts have named them, would run
an operating system created by Google, not Microsoft's
Windows. The Times article speculates the announcement
will come as soon as Friday of this week. Google
denies the reports.
Cutts: Check your own site first
It's so basic, yet it still needs to be said time
and time again. Google Guy Matt Cutts posted over
the holiday about the need to check your own site
first when you realize you're no longer ranking
in Google. He has what you'll say is an obvious
attempt at search engine spam, yet the site owners
that do this never seem to think of it as spamming.
Or, worse, the web developer or SEO they've hired
doesn't tell them what kind of tactics they're
using to get rankings. So a good reminder to make
sure your own house is clean before you start
looking for reasons why Google doesn't like you
anymore.
Matt Cutts: SEO
Mistakes: Not checking your site
Word of Mouth on the web
Dave Evans writes a good article about the growing
importance of engaging your customers as part
of your marketing plan - not just sending one-way
messages to them, but letting them be part of
the conversation, too. It's a big part of the
changing landscape for online success, and worth
your time to read.
ClickZ.com: Word
of Mouth: Advertising 2.0
_________________
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.
SES
hints at coming convergence, increased complexity
December 30, 2005 - ClickZ.com
There's a coming convergence of SEM and mainstream
advertising. Here's why.
SEO
overkill can destroy your site
December 21, 2005 - Search Engine Guide
More headlines: http://www.owtweb.com/news/
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This Week's Q&A
Hi Matt,
We check every now and then to see how many sites
are linking to us, and no matter which site we
use to do this (including the "Link Popularity
Checker" on your web site), it always seems
that Google doesn't count all the links that are
coming from other sites to us. The Google number
is always substantially smaller than what Yahoo
or MSN lists as incoming links to our site. Is
there an explanation for this? Is Google broken?
Thanks very much,
Dan
Hi Dan,
No, Google's not broken - at least not relating
to what you're asking! For some time now, Google
has chosen not to display the entire collection
of inbound links that it knows about. This actually
goes back a year or two now, and maybe could be
seen as a fore-runner to their most recent algo
update which puts the focus on quality of links
not quantity of links.
So when you're looking at incoming link counts,
just ignore what shows up for Google because they're
purposely not showing what they know. And also
keep in mind that, in today's linking game, it's
becoming more about quality of incoming links
than it is about quantity. We've talked about
that in some fairly recent newsletters, and I'm
sure it'll be a big theme in 2006, too.
(Have a question? Email questions@owtweb.com)
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Wrapping it Up
If you enjoy this newsletter, I invite you to
share it with a friend or co-worker and encourage
them to sign-up, too. The more readers we have
who submit questions, the more good content we
can include in Net Gains and make it as valuable
as possible to business owners, webmasters, marketers,
etc.
Thanks for reading,
Matt McGee
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