The Inmates Are Running The Search Engine Asylum

For
search engine marketers and clients to communicate effectively, they must
utilize a shared, common vocabulary. Some search engine marketing terms and
concepts are easy to explain, such as query terms, commonly referred to as
keywords or keyword phrases.

And some concepts require a little more clarification. For example, it might take me weeks or months to undo the preconceived notion that PageRank (PR) is a number between 1 and 10, because so many amateur search engine marketers base their link-building services on the Google Toolbar feature.

Unfortunately, one of the reasons we search professionals have difficulty establishing and using a common vocabulary lies with the search engines themselves. If a representative from Yahoo or Google uses a term and shows supporting documentation on the search engine’s site, their words are as good as gold. In the meantime, I sit there with a furrowed, brow, clenched teeth, and an eye roll that I could only learn from a teenager, and think, "Greeeeaaaat…here is another search engine hype thing for me to deal with."

So, to help my fellow search engine optimization (SEO) professionals, here are my top three easily misunderstood terms and concepts created and propagated by search engine reps. Before I begin, I want to establish a frame of reference.

Click to continue reading…

The Inmates Are Running The Search Engine Asylum

For
search engine marketers and clients to communicate effectively, they must
utilize a shared, common vocabulary. Some search engine marketing terms and
concepts are easy to explain, such as query terms, commonly referred to as
keywords or keyword phrases.

And some concepts require a little more clarification. For example, it might take me weeks or months to undo the preconceived notion that PageRank (PR) is a number between 1 and 10, because so many amateur search engine marketers base their link-building services on the Google Toolbar feature.

Unfortunately, one of the reasons we search professionals have difficulty establishing and using a common vocabulary lies with the search engines themselves. If a representative from Yahoo or Google uses a term and shows supporting documentation on the search engine’s site, their words are as good as gold. In the meantime, I sit there with a furrowed, brow, clenched teeth, and an eye roll that I could only learn from a teenager, and think, "Greeeeaaaat…here is another search engine hype thing for me to deal with."

So, to help my fellow search engine optimization (SEO) professionals, here are my top three easily misunderstood terms and concepts created and propagated by search engine reps. Before I begin, I want to establish a frame of reference.

Click to continue reading…

We’ve been
assured that just because content sits on Google’s Knol site, it won’t
gain any ranking authority from being part of the Knol domain. OK, so a day
after Knol has launched, how’s that holding up? I found 1/3 of the pages
listed on the Knol home page that I tested ranked in the top results. I came
away feeling that being on Knol does indeed give pages an advantage they
might not get if they’d been hosted on some other brand new web site.

Click to continue reading…

When Microsoft made its investment in Facebook I always had thought that Live Search would come to the site, together with search monetization. Later it appeared that search wasn’t part of the deal. Facebook’s competitors all have web search, including Google’s much publicized deal with MySpace.

Well today Microsoft announced that Live Search will be coming to Facebook, together with paid search ads.

Click to continue reading…

The Inmates Are Running The Search Engine Asylum

For
search engine marketers and clients to communicate effectively, they must
utilize a shared, common vocabulary. Some search engine marketing terms and
concepts are easy to explain, such as query terms, commonly referred to as
keywords or keyword phrases.

And some concepts require a little more clarification. For example, it might take me weeks or months to undo the preconceived notion that PageRank (PR) is a number between 1 and 10, because so many amateur search engine marketers base their link-building services on the Google Toolbar feature.

Unfortunately, one of the reasons we search professionals have difficulty establishing and using a common vocabulary lies with the search engines themselves. If a representative from Yahoo or Google uses a term and shows supporting documentation on the search engine’s site, their words are as good as gold. In the meantime, I sit there with a furrowed, brow, clenched teeth, and an eye roll that I could only learn from a teenager, and think, "Greeeeaaaat…here is another search engine hype thing for me to deal with."

So, to help my fellow search engine optimization (SEO) professionals, here are my top three easily misunderstood terms and concepts created and propagated by search engine reps. Before I begin, I want to establish a frame of reference.

Click to continue reading…

The Inmates Are Running The Search Engine Asylum

For
search engine marketers and clients to communicate effectively, they must
utilize a shared, common vocabulary. Some search engine marketing terms and
concepts are easy to explain, such as query terms, commonly referred to as
keywords or keyword phrases.

And some concepts require a little more clarification. For example, it might take me weeks or months to undo the preconceived notion that PageRank (PR) is a number between 1 and 10, because so many amateur search engine marketers base their link-building services on the Google Toolbar feature.

Unfortunately, one of the reasons we search professionals have difficulty establishing and using a common vocabulary lies with the search engines themselves. If a representative from Yahoo or Google uses a term and shows supporting documentation on the search engine’s site, their words are as good as gold. In the meantime, I sit there with a furrowed, brow, clenched teeth, and an eye roll that I could only learn from a teenager, and think, "Greeeeaaaat…here is another search engine hype thing for me to deal with."

So, to help my fellow search engine optimization (SEO) professionals, here are my top three easily misunderstood terms and concepts created and propagated by search engine reps. Before I begin, I want to establish a frame of reference.

Click to continue reading…

I live blogged the Yahoo keynote so forgive the grammatical errors and typos.

Frazier Miller: Rise of the Local Web, A Perfect Storm.

Miller gave an engaging keynote that covered both online and mobile, user demand and advertising. Miller defined local in terms of four Yahoo properties: Search, Yahoo Local, Yahoo yellow pages, Upcoming.

Interestingly Miller didn’t include Yahoo’s verticals, real estate, autos, maps, etc.
Miller said that over 100 million uniques visit Yahoo with some sort of local intent (search and browse). When discussing “browse” behavior, he did reference the vertical properties.

Click to continue reading…

We’ve been
assured that just because content sits on Google’s Knol site, it won’t
gain any ranking authority from being part of the Knol domain. OK, so a day
after Knol has launched, how’s that holding up? I found 1/3 of the pages
listed on the Knol home page that I tested ranked in the top results. I came
away feeling that being on Knol does indeed give pages an advantage they
might not get if they’d been hosted on some other brand new web site.

Click to continue reading…

The Inmates Are Running The Search Engine Asylum

For
search engine marketers and clients to communicate effectively, they must
utilize a shared, common vocabulary. Some search engine marketing terms and
concepts are easy to explain, such as query terms, commonly referred to as
keywords or keyword phrases.

And some concepts require a little more clarification. For example, it might take me weeks or months to undo the preconceived notion that PageRank (PR) is a number between 1 and 10, because so many amateur search engine marketers base their link-building services on the Google Toolbar feature.

Unfortunately, one of the reasons we search professionals have difficulty establishing and using a common vocabulary lies with the search engines themselves. If a representative from Yahoo or Google uses a term and shows supporting documentation on the search engine’s site, their words are as good as gold. In the meantime, I sit there with a furrowed, brow, clenched teeth, and an eye roll that I could only learn from a teenager, and think, "Greeeeaaaat…here is another search engine hype thing for me to deal with."

So, to help my fellow search engine optimization (SEO) professionals, here are my top three easily misunderstood terms and concepts created and propagated by search engine reps. Before I begin, I want to establish a frame of reference.

Click to continue reading…

The Inmates Are Running The Search Engine Asylum

For
search engine marketers and clients to communicate effectively, they must
utilize a shared, common vocabulary. Some search engine marketing terms and
concepts are easy to explain, such as query terms, commonly referred to as
keywords or keyword phrases.

And some concepts require a little more clarification. For example, it might take me weeks or months to undo the preconceived notion that PageRank (PR) is a number between 1 and 10, because so many amateur search engine marketers base their link-building services on the Google Toolbar feature.

Unfortunately, one of the reasons we search professionals have difficulty establishing and using a common vocabulary lies with the search engines themselves. If a representative from Yahoo or Google uses a term and shows supporting documentation on the search engine’s site, their words are as good as gold. In the meantime, I sit there with a furrowed, brow, clenched teeth, and an eye roll that I could only learn from a teenager, and think, "Greeeeaaaat…here is another search engine hype thing for me to deal with."

So, to help my fellow search engine optimization (SEO) professionals, here are my top three easily misunderstood terms and concepts created and propagated by search engine reps. Before I begin, I want to establish a frame of reference.

Click to continue reading…