Then Google’s new algorithm took hold and they took a slight dip.   Then Google learned about how they were managing their SEO and manually intervened… essentially burying them from search engine results.

A lesson in why to avoid SEO practices or vendors that seem too good to be true.  A must-read for all site owners, marketing professionals and we folks alike:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/13/business/13search.html?_r=1&pagewanted=1

While it has become second nature to webmasters and designers to include sitemaps in their site files, many amateur site builders or site owners who lack a useful webmaster don’t necessarily know how important a sitemap is.

XML Sitemaps are a protocol allowing site owners to inform the search engines about the pages on their website.  In addition to listing the pages that you would like the search engines to know about you can also specify some additional information such as the time a page was last updated, its importance relative to the rest of the site and how often the page is expected to change.

Accessible via the Google Webmaster Tools, you can tell Google that something has changed simply by prompting Google to re-download your sitemap.  Even if you don’t perform the prompt, Google (and other search engines we pretend to care about) will download the sitemap every time they re-index your site.

Why do we care about Google knowing we have updated a page?

Well, one of the most important ranking factors in the Google algorythm is how fresh your content is.   A site that has frequent updates to content is considered a trustworthy site that someone is taking care of.  In a world where content is king, it is crucial to let the search engines see update is changing as soon as possible.

While using a sitemap does not guarantee that the search engines will index all pages of a site, they provide better information for the search engines to make use of when they do come visit.

And now for the best part of all… Making a sitemap is easy thanks to automated sitemap generators like the one here:

Automatic Sitemap Generator

Google today announced the release of their new search index, called Caffeine.

This is not an update to their existing system but rather a completely new system.

The biggest change with Caffeine is that Google no longer separates the indexing of the web from the updating of search engine results. The previous Google index would crawl the entire web (or close to it) and store the results in a massive series of databases. Periodically, this stored index would then be used to update the search engine results. This resulted in a noticeable delay in getting new sites indexed and changes noted.

The new system will crawl the web in chunks and offer near immediate updating of the search engine results. News sites, twitter feeds, blogs etc will all be crawled with more frequency and the results made live very, very quickly. Web sites with rapidly changing content will also be noted and crawled with more frequency.

So the big question is “what does Google Caffeine mean to site owners?”

Essentially this is yet another instance of Google catching up to what they have been telling us for a long time. For the past few years Google has been hammering webmasters with the claim that they value fresh, relevant content over static, irrelevant, or downright neglected sites. While their actual index algorithm sometimes said otherwise, it appears that Caffeine is the proof of their intentions.

In short, this new release by Google means that the focus on well-maintained, constantly updated sites is finally here. While there has been no announcement regarding the level of preference Google will show fresh content in the search engine results, common-sense would dictate that the algorithm behind the system will be more heavily weighted towards the ‘new’. If anyone has noticed the new tools and ‘side wiki’ on Google’s search pages, you’ll see that they are making a real push to be more useful at finding social media updates, twitter updates, etc.

So finally, let’s look at what you can do to harness the power of this new index.

1. Include some content on your page that updates with some regularity.   This can be a blog, a ‘latest news’ feature or a rotating content section.
2. Make sure that your site uses a sitemap, that it is properly formatted and is updated as your content changes.
3. Harness the freshness of other sites.  If your site is listed in Google Business Center, Yelp or other highly rated directories, make sure that your site links directly to your page on these sites.  This will help Google note the most useful updates on multiple sites as quickly as possible.
4. Share your updated content with the world via twitter, LinkedIn or facebook pages.

Today Google announced that they have addded site speed as a part of their ranking algorithm.
This has been expected for quite some time and Google states that they are concerned with site speed as an indicator of improved user experience on the web.

“Speeding up websites is important — not just to site owners, but to all Internet users. Faster sites create happy users and we’ve seen in our internal studies that when a site responds slowly, visitors spend less time there. But faster sites don’t just improve user experience; recent data shows that improving site speed also reduces operating costs” – Google

It is still unknown exactly how much of a factor site speed will be on your site’s rankings, Google has indicated that it will lag far behind site relevance yet it can still have an effect.. .especially for users with bargain-basement hosting plans on crowded, shared servers.

If you are a site owner, webmaster or a web author, here are some free tools Google has suggested to evaluate the speed of your site:

* YSlow, a free tool from Yahoo! that suggests ways to improve website speed.
* WebPagetest shows a waterfall view of your pages’ load performance plus an optimization checklist.
* In Webmaster Tools, Labs > Site Performance shows the speed of your website as experienced by users around the world.

By now everyone hopefully has noticed that Google is working hard to give geographical relevancy to search results.  This is done through the local search listings that now appear at the top of the search results, along with a map, when a searcher enters a search phrase that includes a geographical descripter, most usually the name of a city or municipality.

These local listings are a tremendous tool for both searcher and website owner.  Here is how to use this feature for your website:

Focus Your Efforts:

• on links and presence on local search engines and directories
• on building geographical data on your website

Step 1: Get Listed

1. Submit your site to Google Local Listings, Yahoo and Bing.  All use a similar approach.
2. Enter all informaton they ask for including images, hours, etc.  Make sure you use the map to plot your business, moving the marker if Google gets it wrong on their map.
3. Submit to any regional directories, yelp.com, superpages.com and yellowpages.com.   There are more directories out there so look around.   This isn’t just for links, Google and the other search engines keep tabs on these sites and it seems they may use it as a geographical relevancy check on their own rankings.

Step 2: Get Help

Once on the local listings, get your friends and customers to provide reviews directly from those results.  More reviews equals greater strength in the local listings when they come up.

Step 3: Optimize Your Site

1. Put your company’s physical address in the footer of your site (address, phone number and postal code)
2. Use your geographical tag in the title of the index page of your site as well as ensure that you mention your location in a few headers and in the content of your pages.
3. Make sure your contact page displays all address and phone information.
4. Use the embed function of Google Maps to embed your location on your contact page.  This is a great tool allowing searchers to find easy directions to your location.

Helpful Links

Google Local Listings: Add your business

Yahoo Local Listings

Bing Local Listings

Recently we have received numerous questions concerning link building for new websites.

The word is out that Google likes to see inbound links to web sites when deciding how well you will rank for a particular keyword.  This is certainly true, but client requests that we help them build as many links as possible are wide of the mark.

When trying to keep up on Google’s ranking algorithms, we have to accept that Google doesn’t necessarily give us the whole truth.  Often we hear Google speak of what is, yet they are actually speaking of what they wish was the truth.  Linking is one such issue.

For quite some time Google has told us that they value high-quality, relevant links far more than simply spamming huge numbers of links around the internet.   They tell us that if we build the quality content, the quality links will take care of themselves and all will be right in the Googleverse.   Yet we continue to see sites rewarded by creating massive volumes of low-quality, irrelevant links.

So is it safe to spam away?  well… no

Recent changes have seen Google devalue link farms, low-quality directories and paid links.  Increased value seems to be applied to sites of related content with fewer links of greater page rank.    While a huge number of links will still have a positive effect (the sheer numbers overpower any few negative link penalties), we can see that Google is continuing to try to move towards what they keep telling us.  Eventually, they will get there.. or something close to it.

With all that being said, the important question becomes how should a new site plan a link building campaign?

1. Slow and steady. Regardless of whether you believe the Google sandbox is real (the effect is, if not the intention.  New sites are not easily indexed for important terms) there is ample evidence that Google is steadily moving towards a natural link model.  This means that they expect links to be accumulated gradually, not a boatload all at once.  If you go too crazy with new links tpo quickly, expect to be penalized
2. Do your homework.  You know your industry, and Google is trying its best to know it also.  They will try to determine what subject matter is relevant to your site / product / keyword.  This means you should accumulate websites that relate to your business / product / industry.   These are the sites you want to get links from.  Not only will this help with your future Google ranking, it can also help drive traffic directly from these sites to yours.
3. Think Geographically.  Most businesses need to focus on a particular region to be successful.  It is not enough to sell service x.  You need to focus on being the most visible provider of service x in a particular location.  So look for chambers of commerce, trade associations, local business groups or city directories.  Get your links on these sites.
4. Anchor Text.  Anchor text is the words that make up the physical link to your site.  Pick your most important keyword and have it act as your anchor text about 75% of the time.  Take your next 2 or 3 keywords / phrases and use them as the remainder of your anchor text.
5. Get active.  Participate in in active content production on both your own site as well as relevant forums, discussion groups, etc.  Where allowed, and relevant include your link in your posts on other relevant sites.  When writing content for your own site, make it useful for others in the industry so that they may wish to link to it.  Make it very easy for them by including a link to this article section at the bottom that includes your link with anchor text.
6. Aim to get 2 to 3 links a day, most work days.
7. Do not pay for links.  Google is already devaluing these links and will continue to do so.
8. Try to avoid links from huge link farms or useless directories.
9. Spend while you wait.  In the first few months of your site you may want to consider Google Adwords for advertising.  This can help drive traffic to your site while waiting for Google to show you some natural ranking love.

There are a huge number of additional options for building links and generating traffic but the above list are the basics that should get you a good jump whether you do this yourself or expect your SEO provider to be taking care of links for you in the course of their ongoing work.

A note of warning to close out this post:

If an SEO firm offers to give you a top ten ranking right away via thousands of links, be afraid… they are going to cause you and your site some big problems down the line.  A company that is honest will tell you you need a comprehensive plan that will take some time to do right.  Time is not the same as labour however, a few hours a week over the course of a few months is the right recipe for success for most sites.

Ben Lewis

What’s the reasoning?

Well, we are coming up on the 20th anniversary of the Tianenmen Square massacre.  It is thought that there may be additional demonstrations, remembrances or other gatherings that the Chinese government does not want to see get out of hand.

The official line on 20 years ago….. nothing.  There is no mention of the deaths in any Chinese approved media, including the internet.  To make sure this continues to  be the case the government is blocking access to social networking sites such as Twitter, hotmail, wordpress, blogger, Flickr, etc.

So why does this warrant mentioning in a web design blog?

It speaks to the nature of the new web as represented by sites like Twitter and Facebook.  The internet today is no longer a passive medium where we separate the passive viewer from the active presenter.  The web is now an interactive place where the user creates and shares their own content with other users.  We are all producers of media content as well as consumers.

This shift has happened quickly and the effects have become profound.  More and more users are receiving live content on their laptops, notebooks, blackberrys and Iphones.  They are constantly in touch with and contributing to a continually increasing vault of knowledge, opinion and marketing.

The same thing that makes the new web (please don’t make me say web 2.0) such a powerful force for social networking (and let’s face it, advertising) in our society makes it a scary, scary thing for a tightly controlled country like China.  Strict controls over traditional media are impossible to pull off in an environment where participants in a live event can send out updates instantaneously as to what is happening for the good or the bad.

Imagine yourself as a iron-fisted government that controls what is considered newsworthy and decides for itself what the citizens are allowed to learn about one another. The last thing you need to be dealing with is teeming masses of people with mobile devices telling each other, live, about the huge number of people who are out with you remembering something the goverment refuses to admit even happened. Imagine hundreds of thousands of people updating each other about what is happening on the ground, violence… civic disobedience…

While this banning of new media in China is a sad event, it should remind us of just how powerful sites like Twitter can be to our own media and marketing efforts here. The fact that the Chinese government is so scared of the power on instantaneous social networking may just end up being the best advertisement Twitter has had in months.

Update:  deja vu all over?

Bounce rates are that percentage of your website visitors who leave your page after viewing only the entrance or landing page.

Some recent web discussions have focused on whether Google may now be using bounce rates as part of your site ranking for particular terms.  The evidence, while intriguing is still rather flimsy.  Yet the discussion continues to miss an important potential confound:  Bouncing is the result of visitors not finding your site useful to their needs (needs indicated by their search terms)

Bounce Rates should concern you because of what they represent about your site relevancy and usefulness of your content.   A high percentage of ‘bounces’ indicates that visitors are not finding your content relevant enough to continue navigating through the site. Google has consistently claimed that they continue to refine their search algorithms such that fresh, relevant content will always be the key.  A high bounce rate indicates that your content is either not useful in relation to the term being searched for, or your product/service is not competitive compared to your online competition.  Thus, regardless of whether Google considers your bounce rate or not, the results on your seo efforts will be the same.

Troubleshooting a high bounce rate:

Should you notice a high bounce rate on your site check the following information to troubleshoot the problem:

• Check the most frequent keywords/terms that send visitors to your site.  Are they truly relevant to the content and purpose of your site?
• Is the content of your landing page relevant and useful to a visitor who lands there using your most popular search terms?
• Compare your site to your competition.  If you are offering a product or service are your rates or offerings out of line when it comes to value/cost/usefullness?

Like many other issues with web sites and search engine rankings, the efforts you put into ongoing statistical analysis are just as important as the efforts put into the site content.  In fact, the two go hand in hand.

Someone needing a website in Vancouver, for instance, will often ask whether they should be using a .com extension or .ca (the canadian domain extension).

Here’s how it all works:

.ca .uk .au and other 2 letter extensions are ccTLDs.  Or, ‘country code top-level domains’  the rules for registering one of these domains vary by country but they are generally reserved for companies or individuals who are citizens of that particular country.

It used to be that registering one of these domains helped ensure that Google gave regional preference to your site.  For example, having a .ca domain meant that google.ca would weigh your site heavier in search results.  This was in addition to server location, page language and inbound links from other sites.

However, this changed last year with the addition of Google’s Geographic Target tool.   This component of their webmaster tools allows site owners with any domain extension (.com, .org, etc) to specify a particular region or country to be associated with.

If you own a ccTLD you cannot specify a geographical preference.  However, for those with .com or other classic domain extensions this feature helps you give your site a bump without the need to purchase localized or regional hosting.

The most exciting part is the ability to set a preference to a sub-domain.  What this means is that you could own one site, let’s say yourname.com.  You could build a regional preference into unlimited sub-domains and target each towards a different country.  For example, france.yourname.com , england.yourname.com, canada.yourname.com.  Each subdomain could hold pages specific to a particular country with all files being hosted on one hosting plan in one location.  This is a tremendous time-saver for international organizations.

There still appears to be a preference for server location built into the search ‘pages from…’ option on Google that will look toward server location.  This is still worth considering for highly competitive areas.

The downside? Once you have a ccTLD you are locked into the region represented.