Search engine optimisation (SEO) is essential for websites developed to be accessed by mobile devices, an expert has said.
Speaking at the EyeforTravel Mobile Technology in Travel seminar, Mobile Commerce chief executive Steve Page noted that a number of major brands are failing when it comes to search engine visibility.
He pointed to a mobile Google search for British Airways (BA), which brought up listings for the airline's full site and a website belonging to rival bmi ahead of BA's mobile site, TravelMole reports.
Mr Page commented: "We know that web users on mobiles tend to use a search tool like Google or Yahoo! to find what they want rather than going direct to the website they need, so it's incredibly important that people are properly directed to your site once they have searched."
Online search is used by 25 per cent of mobile internet users in Europe, according to statistics from Nielsen Mobile.
This placed search second behind email in terms of the most popular mobile web activity.... read full details »
Microsoft's Live Search toolbar has been bundled with Sun Microsystems's Jana Runtime Environment as a result of a new agreement between the two companies.
The toolbar, which was first launched in January 2004 as a beta product, offers one-click access to search, email, instant messaging and MSN content services from Internet Explorer (IE).
US users of IE can now take the option of downloading the toolbar whenever they choose to obtain Java from Sun Microsystems.
The deal came several months after Microsoft signed a similar deal with HP, which will see the Live Search toolbar included on new PCs shipped to US and Canadian users from January 2009.
Commenting on the Sun Microsystems deal, Microsoft's Yusuf Mehdi said: "With the vast array of Java software-based web applications that are downloaded every month, this deal will expose Live Search to millions more internet users and drive increased volume for our search advertisers." ... read full details »
Internet marketing professionals may want to check whether their incoming links come from a website hosting malware in order to avoid falling search rankings, an expert has suggested.
Search Engine Journal editor Loren Baker advised businesses to use Google's Safe Browsing Diagnostic Checker tool to assess the websites that link to their own sites, despite the fact that Google has previously indicated incoming links do not result in ranking penalties.
He said that he had heard from search engine optimisation executives who have reported lower rankings as a result of bad links and urged marketers to check whether specific sites have been classified as malware hosts by Google.
Mr Baker remarked: "If Google feels that the site is malicious, chances are linking to these bad sites, or building links from them, can hurt your rankings - which in the long run, can damage your business."
Quality inbound links can be gathered by implementing engaging content that is worth linking to on a company's website, according to comments made by marketing expert Jill Whalen to Entrepreneur.com earlier this year.... read full details »
More needs to be done by businesses to make their online marketing campaigns as engaging and relevant as possible, Yahoo! has suggested.
This is because web users are becoming increasingly overloaded with online information - much of which is irrelevant to individual consumers, the company said.
Its Return on Attention study revealed that the majority of web users feel suffocated by the amount of internet data they are required to sift through to find what they want, with many simply blocking out unneeded information out of habit.
In addition, consumers expressed a preference for marketing messages that offered something of value in return, according to UTalkMarketing.
Kristof Fahy of Yahoo! Europe stated: "Online marketers need to think hard how to better target and engage with their time-poor audiences.
"Successful marketers will develop innovative strategies to help people filter their already overstretched attention."
Britons now spend 24 minutes a day on the web on average, compared with six minutes a day in 2002, according to figures published by Ofcom earlier this year.... read full details »
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