Google announces a new feature – the Trend service
http://www.google.com/trends
What is it?
"You can compare the world's interest in your favorite topics. Enter up to five topics and see how often they've been searched for on Google over time. Google Trends also displays how frequently your topics have appeared in Google News stories, and which geographic regions have searched for them most often."
How it works:
"Google Trends analyzes a portion of Google web searches to compute how many searches have been done for the terms you enter relative to the total number of searches done on Google over time. We then show you a graph with the results — our search-volume graph — plotted on a linear scale. "
It seems that there is a hot discussion going on about Google changing the way they will be providing results starting today with The Universal Search.
The Universal Search will provide results spanning images, videos, maps, books, and traditional Web sites into a single search. I have to wonder what the impact will be to the SEO work performed and what it may have to change to.
Here is a link to digital trends that expands more about the topic – Digitaltrends.com
Other noticeable changes in Google are with:
Google Analytics – to see provide more online reports
Google Book Search – to instantly search the full text of over a million digitized books
You must be careful with this technique. Redirection can be very useful, but at the same time if done improperly can ruin a page ranking.
The safest way to redirect to another web page is using a server side 301 redirect in the htaccess file. Depending on the search engine, the results will be evaluated based on the algorithms of that search engine. Some search engine will not recognize the web page any longer. The 301 redirect tells the search engines that the web page has moved permanently.
Example:
Redirect 301 /directory/filename.html http://www.domain.com/newfile.html
If you are using a redirect technique using metatags in a web page you submit to a search engine – it will be ignored or your web page will loose rankings. Too many people over the years use to use that techniques for doorway pages or other to setup a domain to point to another domain and the search engines caught on.
This is an example of a redirect I do not suggest to use:
<META HTTP-EQUIV=Refresh CONTENT=”3; URL=http://www.somewhwere.com”>
You will get severely penalized, so I feel it’s a total waste of time.
I have seen Javascript redirects, but again I feel you get nailed for that as well.
If you have to do a redirect, use the server side method.
-=Smitty=-
I hate automatic pop up pages but the search engines seem to ignore them. I do not see any indication that Javascript initiated auto pop up web pages are flagged by the search engine spiders, so I feel it may not impact a website rankings.
More than anything else most visitors hate them. That fact alone should make people stop using them. Many web browsers offer the option to automatically block pop up web pages.
So will the automatic pop up ads effect your rankings, I sadly feel it does not, but I still would not use them.
-=Smitty=-
In the past, doorway pages were heavily used to help web site rankings, but the search engines have gotten more complicated and those web pages are not supposed to work any further.
Doorway pages are designed to have text intensive content with unusually high keyword content and links back to a web site. Usually doorway pages are stand alone web pages that link to the web site, but the web site does not link to it.
Search engines consider doorway pages as spam so avoid using them. It's better to put the effort into building your web pages with the proper content with a balance of images. Most importantly – update or add new content on a regualr basis. Give your customers and the spiders something to come back to.
-=Smitty=-
Too many images and not enough text will never get a web site found.
You must have text on the web page for the search engines to digest. Images offer nothing for the search engine spiders to read. Although the use of image alt tags are recommended for all images, the alt tag does not carry the same weight as text, bold, italic and especially hyperlinked due to web designers stuffing the alt tags with keywords and information that has nothing to do with the web page.
If you use an image, you need an alt tag.
Balance the images and text on every web page. Your content will be the primary factor in your rankings. You need to ask yourself "Does your web page convey a message?" Ask yourself what the message is? If you can answer it from what you read off your web page then you are on target.
-=Smitty=-
This is the biggest website design mistake that will effect the marketing and search engine ranking of almost any website – FRAMES!
The search engine spiders will hit the main frame usually the index.html and see nothing – just the html code on the page and move on. The core information is usually on the pages being drawn into the frames, but the frame commands have been abused in the past. Drawing web pages from other websites into the site owner's frames, as if the content is owned by the site drawing it in. This is a huge no-no with the search engines.
Site owners wanted to maintain control of the visitor – similar to the way about.com operates. But those web pages will not get indexed.
In the light of keeping things short and easy to read – The only other thing I want to say is – avoid frames – end of story.
-=Smitty=-
This is a must read article – be aware and use your spyware and antivirus all the time…
Hackers set traps on broad websites
By Jon Swartz and Byron Acohido, USA TODAY
SAN FRANCISCO — Ordinary websites are fast-becoming a top security threat for PC users.
Tainted Web pages first appeared in late 2005. Now, they're turning up as Google advertising links, on Wikipedia and elsewhere, "from top-tier names to mom and pop bakery shops," says Dan Hubbard, vice president of security research at Websense.
Cybercrooks are corrupting Web pages by the tens of thousands. By tapping holes in the Internet Explorer browser, they implant tiny programs that connect the PC of anyone who simply clicks on the tainted page to a "mother ship" server, often in Russia or China.
That central server collects data typed into online forms — banking log-ins and shopping cart transactions, for instance. It also hijacks the captured PC into a network of compromised PCs, known as "bots," to spread spam.
The Rest of the story
HOW TO AVOID VIRUSES AND BOTS:
- Use Anti-virus software and keep it up to date.
- Maintain security patches for Internet Explorer (if you use IE).
- Use a router with firewall protection or firewall software.
- Use software that scans for Spyware and alerts you to intrusions or changes
(Example – CounterSpy by Sunbelt Software)
Did you want to try to figure out how Google conducts it's Ranking process? Well no one outside of Google really knows, but there is information online about the factors they consider.
This is truly and long and complicated process for Ranking information by Google, but it is on line: Google's Patent on Search Engine Website Ranking
Each factor is weighted, but we will never know how.
