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Hundreds of millions of Websites exist today. As far as domain names and new pages of content go, they’re off the charts as well. Statistics from August of 2001 listed 513.41 people on-line worldwide according to Alexa Internet Worldwide, there were 1.5 million sites born every day in 1998. Alexa also indicated that about half of all internet traffic that year was steered toward the top 900 sites available.

Gregory Gromov, in an on-line piece about the history of the World Wide Web, reported that internet traffic grew more than 100% in 2001. Gromov’s report (“Roads and Crossroads of Internet History” on http://www.netvalley.com/) also includes a staggering chart detailing the exponential growth of the net over the last thirty years. In 1969, when the internet was just a concept Al Gore was working on, there were just four hosts by Gromov’s count. By July of 2001 that number had grown to 126 million hosts. Gromov’s chart estimates that there were 30 million domains in 2001 and 28,200,000 Websites. Compare that to 1998 numbers of just 4,300,000 domains and 4,270,000 Websites.

Why? Is human knowledge expanding this quickly in the information age? Well, yes, and no. Human knowledge is of course expanding, but maybe not as quickly as the exchange of products and services for cold cash. E-commerce is skyrocketing along with the number of hosts, users, domains, and Websites. Trillions of dollars change hands over the internet in a calendar year these days. That’s nothing new, either. At Networld 98, industry analyst Nicholas Lippis announced that online commerce would generate USD1.5 trillion of US GDP by 2002.

With Broadband connections taking a serious role in so many American lives (Broadband use has already eclipsed 50% of the US on-line population), the access to human knowledge is expanding more than the actual knowledge itself. While service providers are the big winners in this marketplace of interconnected sites and search engines, garnering the lion’s share of on-line profits, new business sites are popping up every single day.

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“Information is the currency of the internet. As a medium, the internet is brilliantly efficient at shifting information from the hands of those who have it into the hands of those who do not.” (Levitt & Dubner 2005 p.68)

What economist Steven Levitt and journalist Stephen Dubner are talking about here in their wildly popular book Freakonomics, is the empowerment of the consumer via the availability of information. Typically within specialized industries or disciplines there are experts and then there are the consumers who need the expert advice. The experts are considered such due to their experience and the information they’re privy to. With the advent of the internet, this imbalance of information or what economists call ‘information asymmetry’ is no longer so.

Professional search marketers absorb an excessive amount of daily data via blogs, campaign results, and traffic logs in an effort to stay up to speed with search engine performance changes and to stay ahead of the competition. However, the search marketer is constantly at a disadvantage since the search engine programmer is the only one with absolute knowledge pertaining to their search engine’s mechanics. In a strange twist, the internet, in all its grand execution of information deliverability can only shed a dim light on the full scope of search engine functionality. (more…)

What’s a search marketing professional to do when their vertical of choice becomes completely flooded? Or, more accurately, what’s a search engine marketing professional to do - period? When the low-hanging fruit is a fond memory, it’s time to break out the 24 foot extendable ladder.This article didn’t tell me anything I didn’t already know, but it’s a good shortcut for the newbie. In a nutshell, find the more obscure phrases that people use to find what you’re selling. When it comes to PPC, locating these “sweet spots” is what SEM firms spend hours doing every day across the globe. But how many people are building pages that are focused specifically on terms like “discount blue baby bedding”? The longer the keyword phrase, the less people are likely competing to optimize for it.

Yes, we all already knew this. But when applied to page creation as opposed to PPC - it got my brain working. Stay tuned for my brand new site: www.brightredrubberpickuptruckfloormats.com.

Obtaining top rankings in the search engines has resulted in numerous methods and rules on accomplishing this task.

When one refers to SEO, one usually refers to natural or organic rankings.  There is another way in dealing with search and that is with Pay per Click (PPC).   PPC is less powerful as far as credibility with people surfing the Internet even though a larger number of companies use this because a PPC campaign can be up and running in just a matter of minutes generating results while organic rankings may take three to four months to generate any results and those results have no guarantee of lasting.

Natural or organic search engine optimization (SEO) has drawbacks as well as advantages. They are as follows:

Search Engine Volatility

Your ranking on any of the major search engines whether high or low can change at any time.  This is due to the fact that as a site gains high rankings for search engines such as Google, Yahoo, or MSN  today does not mean you can count on those same rankings next month, or next week for that matter. To achieve top ranking requires as much work and effort as does maintaining that ranking.

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According to Juniper Research, over 85% of all Internet surfers are directed by search engines and with over $300 billion worth of eCommerce in the year 2006, making it tempting for many companies to enter the online sector. Having an effective SEM Campaign is essential for getting listed among the top search engines today. Using the techniques described in this article will greatly improve the chances of your website getting listed on search engines.

A search engine is an online service that can aid a user in finding a web page that contains particular content the user is looking for. There are many different search engine services on the web. They are primarily distinguished from each other by the way they gather their information. Searching these engines only requires a small text command, and there are many ways to narrow down your searches. According to new research conducted by Jupiter Research, 62% of search engine users click on a search result within the first page of results, and a full 90% of users click on a result within the first three pages of search results. In this article, I will examine the techniques that can help to get your website rank well among the top search engines.

A Meta tag is a small piece html code used by a website to control what a search engine categorizes and stores the site as in their database. It basically tells the search engine what you want your page listed as. Search engines are used by millions of people around the world on a daily basis. They are the easiest and most user-friendly way to find content on the Internet. They provide an invaluable service to the Internet user by providing a huge database of websites that the user can quickly search through.
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Tim O’reilly recently wrote an article in his blog about paid links. Many people have commented about this article including Matt Cutts of Google. The gist of the article is how advertisers pay not only for the click throughs, but also for the Google Page Rank. I’ll leave aside the philosophical debate on if paid links are good or bad. The one thing that caught my attention was Matt’s comment about how Google does not trust certain sites when passing on link popularity. To quote Matt, ‘just because a site shows up for a “link:” command on Google does not mean that it passes PageRank, reputation, or anchortext’.Bottom line is that you have to be careful when buying links, why do you want a specific link? If it is for the potential click through or brand management in the field, go right a head. However, if the only reason for you buying that link is Page Rank and increased position in the search results, make sure you do your homework before paying for it.

Performance SEO recently sent out an online press release (info on file) claiming some revolutionary new pricing model. “trademarked pricing model consists of a standard 6 month agreement during which payments are broken out evenly. An optional maintenance program is then offered”. I have not looked into the trademark, but it does not seem to new to me.

Peaking my interest, I visited their website. The first thing I noticed was that their Google Page Rank is 0. A quick search on Google, show some 16 pages indexed, meaning the PR 0 was not due to a penalization. A domain whois check showed the domain was only registered in July (3 months ago) – yet the press release claims they have “28 years of combined experience”.

I then browsed through the site, to look at their pricing. They have a page labeled pricing and the whole press release goes on about their pricing model, so I thought I’d take a peak. The page has some text, a graph with representing their work, your results and your costs. At the bottom of a page there was a link to contact them. I understand that special jobs require custom quotes and contracts, but you’d think that after all the hype they would at least put in some basic prices so that one could compare them to the rest – silly me.

That’s three strikes in my book (brand new domain, no Page Rank and no prices where you would expect them). I hope they are not waiting for me to click the contact link at the bottom of that page to contact them, because they will just be waiting in vain.

Search Engine algorithms are constantly evolving so that the most relevant sites end up with the highest page ranks. An algorithm is a set of rules that an engine uses to rank the listings contained within its index, in response to a particular query. Google makes algorithmic changes more frequently than leading competitors such as MSN and Yahoo - and it is a constant battle of wits between search engines and search engine marketers. Webmasters and marketers want to know how to manipulate and maintain high page rankings, while search engines strive to make sure the pages with high ranks are the most relevant possible and are filled with valuable content for searchers. Relevancy is one of the biggest perceived differentiators between the main search market share holders.One of the most important ways to improve your site’s ranking is through link building. Not only will the search engines see links to your site as increasing its relevance, but links from outside sites will always lead to more direct web traffic. Search engines see incoming links as an endorsement or vote for your site. Would you link your website to one that you did not appreciate? In addition, a search engine will think that your site is really important if you are linked to by sites with autonomous link popularity. This gives your website authority and engines will perceive you as a reputable resource.

The term “link popularity” refers to the number of indexed inbound links to your website. Simply put - the more websites that link to you the more “popular” your site becomes. Link analysis of this sort evaluates which sites link to you, and what text is being used in the outgoing hyperlink itself. This text should contain keywords that accurately tell search engines how your site should be ranked in relation to the information contained within. For example, if your website sold pottery, ideally sites that link to your domain would contain that keyword: Buy Pottery Online. (more…)

The world of ecommerce is often times baffling as to the specifics of how everything works. Frequently, one successful strategy in a certain scenario fails to make a dent in another. Although there are no absolutes in this business, there are some helpful guidelines that can boost your conversions. First of all, 1% conversion is roughly the standard in the business. It may seem like a small number, but considering the volume of traffic that goes through a site; a conversion rate of 1.9% as reported by Shop.org in 2004 is average.

There are many fine touches one can make in order to improve conversion rates; however, three key areas to focus on are website simplicity, humanization, and security. Nothing is more frustrating for an online shopper than a complex website with excessive scrolling, a navigation system that takes you everywhere except where you want to be, or intrusive pop-up windows. By keeping everything organized and making the shopping experience as intuitive as possible, potential buyers just may take that extra step and become a customer. This idea of keeping it simple holds true especially during the checkout phase because nothing will make you pull out your hair quicker than a lost sale during checkout. Make prices of products big and bold and post shipping rates upfront or possibly consider free shipping on selective products altogether.

Once you’ve managed to organize and simplify your website, then next phase is to bring a human element. The internet is a cold world of anonymity and in order to bring a more enjoyable experience to a potential buyer; they need a sign of reassurance that you’re not just another faceless corporate company. By developing an in-depth “about us” page citing company history, a bond of trust is instilled within the user. Another little touch is posting real pictures of employees past customers or even testimonials, all of which adds a bit of warmth.

With so much news about hackers, identity theft, and viruses floating around the internet these days, security is a big issue especially with ecommerce. Subscribing to a knowledgeable online security company and posting the logo prominently on your website is a big plus with consumers. Utilizing SSL and making sure to let users know it within your privacy policy also helps. With the knowledge that they are safe from the prying eyes of online intruders, potential buyers feel free to unlock that safe they stash their credit cards in.

By no means are these guides the only way to improve conversion rates; however they are a good starting point. In the end, the key ingredient within the relationship between buyer and seller is and always has been trust. Once you’ve gained that bond, you must strive even harder just to maintain it.

The competition in the SEO/SEM/SMO arena is quickly becoming saturated with industry leaders, medium-sized optimization firms, boutiques, and start-ups. Everybody wants a piece of the action, be it the SEO service provider or the business owner looking for the SEO. Business owners who are looking to place their website in the hands of an SEO firm may find that their options are as confusing as the industry lingo. Here are some things to consider when choosing a firm that’s right for you.

How does the SEO/SEM firm operate?
SEO/SEM firms operate in varying ways using varying techniques to push your website. The most important things to look for are link building, original content generation, site compliance, and their ability to properly format your website’s title and meta tags.

Link building is one if the most important aspects of SEO. Part of a website’s validity and quality is measured by the number of links from other websites pointing back to yours. The major search engines use this number as part of a larger algorithm to rank your website against the other billions of websites out there. When shopping for SEO firms, make sure you ask them how they handle this. Link building can be done manually or automatically in-house, or outsourced. There is no perfect scenario for implementing this but make sure you ask your SEO for a record of where the link building is being done. Sites that link back to yours should contain content that’s relevant to your content. If you sell lampshades and you have 10 websites that link to you that sell ping pong tables then those 10 links aren’t worth much.

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