New research suggests that Google is giving big brands greater prominence in its organic search listings.
A study conducted by Aaron Wall of SEOBook shows that a growing proportion of front page results for key items such as watches and auto insurance are now accounted for by large brands.
Mr Wall noted that the changes seem to have occurred following an update to Google's algorithm on January 18th.
"There are thousands of other such examples across all industries if you take the time to do the research, but the trend is clear - Google is promoting brands for big money core category keywords," he explained.
Mr Wall also quoted a recent comment by Eric Schmidt of Google that seemed to suggest focusing on brands could do much to clean the "cesspool" of the internet.
The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising recently published research findings indicating that pay-per-click costs branded keywords have risen significantly on Google, while click-throughs have declined.... read full details »
The recent Search Engine Strategies London conference provided some insight into how marketers can get their news stories into Google News.
Placing images within articles can give a boost to the prominence of the stories in search listings, as well as potentially increase click-throughs, reports SEOptimise.
Furthermore, those with the highest number of clicks are likely to remain listed on Google News for longer, it was suggested.
It is also beneficial for website owners to ensure that their news pages are regularly updated and contain articles by multiple authors, marketers were advised.
Another way to use Google News for online PR purposes is to set up sector-specific alerts and target journalists who seem to specialise in that particular area.
About 30 per cent of all UK visits to news aggregator sites go to Google News, according to Hitwise.
Other popular aggregators include sites such as NewsNow, StumbleUpon, Digg and Ezine Articles.... read full details »
There are a number of search engine optimisation (SEO) benefits for businesses that have links to other sites from their website, a blog has suggested.
According to the SEOmozBlog, there are many misconceptions about linking, with some organisations worrying that links could damage their reputation or encourage users to leave their web page to visit other sites.
However, many of these concerns are unfounded, with blogger Rand Fishkin asserting that links can make a site a more relevant and valuable resource.
The blogger added that linking allows websites to better track their traffic and attract attention from other high-quality sites.
"It certainly pays to consider the links you've earned, looking at the links you send can be an equally usable and useful signal of quality - low quality sites tend to link to a far greater share of junk, while great sites typically link to other great sites," he wrote.
Meanwhile, Eric Enge of Search Engine Watch suggested this week that web developers may wish to keep an SEO log detailing all changes made to the site. He explained that these records can help to identify the cause and effect of each SEO changes.... read full details »
Businesses are set to flock to search engine marketing during the downturn as they seek to focus more on attaining new customers, it has been claimed.
According to eMarketer, spending on search engine optimisation in the US is likely to rise from $1.5 billion (£1.05 billion) in 2008 to $1.8 billion this year, before increasing further to more than $3.85 billion in 2013.
Meanwhile, paid search advertising will rise from $7.7 billion in 2008 to $14.7 billion in 2013, with contextual advertising to increase from $2.1 billion to $3.6 billion, eMarketer predicted.
David Hallerman, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the report, explained: "While paid search traditionally has gotten most of the attention and money as they seek to acquire new customers, marketers are increasingly turning to SEO."
UK paid search spending reached £981 million in the first six months of 2008, according to figures released by the Internet Advertising Bureau last year.... read full details »
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