As mentioned two weeks ago, Google is currently updating its ranking algorithm. Webmasters have given this ranking algorithm update the name 'Jagger'.
The Jagger update is currently in its third stage which means that it will soon be over. If your rankings on Google fell over the last month, you website has probably been affected by this ranking algorithm change.
During a call with a client today an interesting question was posed: Is there any value in submitting a Google Sitemap?
For those who don't know, Google now offers users a way to submit an XML based sitemap of their website to help encourage Googlebot crawling. Yahoo offers similar functionality by looking for a text file called urllist.txt which contains a list of all your site's URLs. Yahoo! will then look for this list as it comes to index your site.
So if the search engines offer you a way to list all your URLs why would you want to bother with traditional SEO efforts like improved navigation and HTML sitemaps?
Google's upcoming service Google Base shows a clear trend: search engines try to make their search results and ads as targeted as possible.
Search engines want to customize their results for the individual user based on the interests and the local region. It's likely that local search features are going to become more important than it is today.
You have probably noticed that Google is currently updating its ranking algorithm. This seems to be a major update because many webmasters have seen big changes in their rankings.
The PageRank of www.MSN.com dropped to PR2 in this latest update so there really seem to be some big changes in the new algorithm.
It is no secret that Google and Yahoo are on a continuous battle to win our hearts and get everyone to convert, but is converting someone really a matter of the quantity or the quality?
Let's take a look at some top key searches and compare them with some search engines online. I will outline a few things for each search result:
Each of us has been faced with the problem of searching for information more than once. Regardless of the data source we are using (Internet, file system on our hard drive, data base or a global information system of a big company) the problems can be multiple and include the physical volume of the data base searched, the information being unstructured, different file types and also the complexity of accurately wording the search query. We have already reached the stage when the amount of data on one single PC is comparable to the amount of text data stored in a proper library. And as to the unstructured data flows, in future they are only going to increase, and at a very rapid tempo. If for an average user this might be just a minor misfortune, for a big company absence of control over information can mean significant problems. So the necessity to create search systems and technologies simplifying and accelerating access to the necessary information, originated long ago. Such systems are numerous and moreover not every one of them is based on a unique technology. And the task of choosing the right one depends directly on the specific tasks to be solved in the future. While the demand for the perfect data searching and processing tools is steadily growing let's consider the state of affairs with the supply side.
Not going deeply into the various peculiarities of the technology, all the searching programs and systems can be divided into three groups. These are: global Internet systems, turnkey business solutions (corporate data searching and processing technologies) and simple phrasal or file search on a local computer. Different directions presumably mean different solutions.
If you follow Google at all then you know that they recently released a fairly major upgrade to the Desktop Search application.
But what you may not know is how much this new application, and others from Google, affects the competitiveness of the company. This is primarily due to the new sidebar which the search application comes with.
Some co-workers just came back from the SES in San Jose and one thing that they said that made me take notice was how much the search engines were pushing verticals.
Now before I get too far I should mention that what you and I may consider vertical isn't necessarily what they consider vertical.
For example, I consider verticals to be industry specific, i.e. a legal search engine dedicated to legal services, or a travel search for travelers. But search engines have expanded this definition and are moving in a new direction.
Having greatly benefited from my relationship with Google in the past several years, I am dedicating this article to the search engine superstar.
I have to be brutally honest and relay that our friendship hasn't always been rosy. I got to know Google several years back, when it was just a small fish in a big pond. I started to analyze its every move and realized that Google is a fickle, clever and extremely mysterious being. Still, I decided to get more acquainted.