Sunday, November 26, 2006

 

Search Engines Hate Sites with Contextual Ads

 
Major Search Engines Caught Penalizing Sites Displaying Contextual Ads, According to RankingMeasures.com Survey

Reverse engineering software discovers undeniable negative ranking correlation for sites displaying contextual ads from the search engines' own advertising networks. Sites displaying these Pay Per Click (PPC) ads consistently rank lower than those monetizing their web properties through other means.

Raleigh, North Carolina (PRWeb) November 16, 2006 -- RankingMeasures.com has just finished conducting a monthly study of nearly a million search engine results for 15,000 popular keyword phrases. The most notable finding concerns a strong negative correlation discovered in the big three search engines.

Sites displaying contextual PPC advertising are consistently ranking lower than similar sites without these ads. These ads are taken from the search engines' own advertising networks -- the same sponsored ads displayed along with traditional search engine results. When such ads are clicked, the website owner is given a cut of the profits.

RankingMeasures.com has found that for over 75% of searches, sites with contextual advertising from the search engine network are more likely to rank lower in the natural results. For example, on one major search engine 816 sites with contextual ads were found in search engine ranking position one while 1,356 sites were found in rank position 20.

"If the search engines providing the contextual ads are distancing themselves from the revenue stream, webmasters might want to do the same," advises RankingMeasures.com founder Chris Crompton. "To the search engines, one warning sign of a 'spammy' website is the presence of contextual advertising."

The amount of spam websites has been increasing exponentially from the time search engines made it simple for site owners to capitalize on PPC advertising. A sure sign of a spam website is junk content with PPC ads everywhere. Could it be that to preserve the relevancy of searches, the big three search engines have introduced a negative hit to websites displaying contextual ads? This certainly appears to be the case.

About RankingMeasures.com
The full data is available as part of a complimentary report recently released by RankingMeasures.com.

RankingMeasures.com hosts software designed to find ranking correlations on an increasing number of factors. To learn more visit Ranking Measures SEO Software.

###

Press Contact: Chris Crompton
Company Name: RankingMeasures.com
Email: email protected from spam bots
Phone: 919-633-5783
Website: http://www.RankingMeasures.com

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# posted by (hris @ 4:52 PM 0 comments

Friday, November 10, 2006

 

SEO Firm Trouble: Yes and No

Times Are NOT Troubled For SEO Firms
 
by Joshua Palau, Friday, November 10, 2006
 
I WOKE UP MONDAY MORNING to find it was 2001 and the bubble was bursting again. Panicked, I updated my resume, prepared to reach out to my clients to try and get to the safe haven of corporate America, and finally dusted off my good interview suit.
 
What sent me into this tail-spinning panic? An article titled "Troubled Times for SEO Firms."
 
Disclaimers:
--I do not know, nor have I ever met, the author of that article. This is not a personal attack on him or his company.
--This article is the opinion of Joshua Palau (yeah, I went third person). The views expressed here may or may not be shared with my company.
--These are not the ramblings of someone who is simply trying to protect the underworld of SEO. I advocate being engaged in both paid and organic search.
 
The "Troubled Times" article references the just released Search Marketing Guide and speculates that SEO firms are in trouble because clients believe SEO:
--Is not rocket science;
--Is a once-only-and-then-done solution;
--Can lead to penalties if you push the envelope.
 
"There are 3 kinds of lies--Lies, damned lies, and statistics." Homer Simpson once told a reporter "People can come up with statistics to prove anything. Forty percent of people know that."
 
The benchmark guide is exactly that--a guide--and the data delivered can be interpreted in different ways. If you simply look at year-to-year growth, the numbers look flat, but that doesn't tell the whole story. The report says "getting a handle on SEO spending is unusually inexact... the costs of SEO are hidden inside of other budget items... assuming SEO takes only half their time, 40k - 50k doesn't sound free." (p. 35). Based on this and my experience, I don't think the number is as flat as it appears in a bar chart.
 
Nothing is rocket science, except rocket science. I work with smart clients who have more acronyms at the end of their names then I do. They are capable of comprehending and executing an SEO strategy. Yet when you add SEO to a list that includes additional responsibilities, employing a specialist makes sense.
 
I've watched an SEO engineer reads patent filings to see what can be learned about possible algorithm changes. I've seen him look at two clients in the same industry, pinpoint the issue and devise a solution that worked. Web development, usability, paid search, and creative development are not rocket science, but there is value in leaning on a resource that plays in the space full time.
 
SEO--set it and forget it. This only works for Ron Popeil and his incredible Rotisserie Oven. Still, I agree with it to varying degrees. A one-time solution may work for a small site or one that is very niche because of its limited keyword universe. Since clients continue to tweak their sites, I think that SEO needs to be in the conversation. If you have a page that ranks but does not convert, you may add more conversion words. This tweak may alter your keyword density and thus compromise the rankings.
 
This idea also assumes that everyone understands all the factors that affect your results. Many are aware of keywords and content, but what about changing your CMS, appending URLs with tracking tags, or changing web servers? Taking this a step further, how many of these decisions are the sole responsibility of the marketing department?
 
The SEO penalty box. If it's not rocket science, it's not that hard--so I should know the boundaries, right? There certainly are penalties that exist--which underscores the importance of an expert.
 
I applaud the "troubled times" article for pointing out the factors that lead people to shy away from SEO. I swear there is not some conspiracy to make SEO too ambiguous and difficult, but in some ways it just can be--just like paid search, usability, and all the other marketing tactics. We just need to work with clients to help them understand what aspects of SEO make sense.
 
So fear not, SEOers. The world is not as bleak as described--at least not today. 
 
Joshua Palau is strategic search manager at Avenue A | Razorfish.
 
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[ Editor's comments:
 
Business has never been better for our company... :-)
 
(hris ]

# posted by (hris @ 7:08 PM 0 comments

Thursday, November 09, 2006

 

Companies Know Monthly SEO Charges Bogus

 
Companies Getting Savvy About Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Search engine optimization survey results show high levels of awareness and implementation of SEO campaigns. The results also hint at an overall negative view of unethical SEO firms and marketing methods.

Salt Lake City, UT (PRWEB) November 09 2006 - MWI, a web design and SEO firm based in Utah, recently completed a survey asking respondents about their awareness of search engine optimization (SEO), their companies' practices regarding it, and costs they would expect to pay for certain SEO services. The results from 124 respondents, posted on MWI's organic SEO blog TheOrganicSEO.com, were both positive and negative, with some surprising findings.

Sixty-five percent of the respondents already knew the acronym "SEO" stands for "search engine optimization." "This alone was a much higher percentage than we would have expected," said Joshua Steimle, CEO of MWI. "If we had asked the same question two years ago there's almost no doubt the answer in the affirmative would have been less than ten percent."

Other results were equally interesting. The survey showed that roughly 66% of respondents' companies had direct experience with SEO, either by doing it in-house or by hiring an outside SEO firm. 35% of the total respondents were actively engaged in an SEO campaign, and 31% had run an SEO campaign in the past but had stopped it for some reason.

There were some results that were perhaps less positive for the SEO industry. More than half of the respondents who said they would pay for SEO services and chose a specific price range said they would be willing to pay between $500 to $1,000 per month, the lowest price range available for selection on the survey. Not exactly a ray of sunshine for an industry where prices for monthly SEO services often climb to thousands, if not tens of thousands, of dollars per month. On the other hand, perhaps this is an opportunity for a low-priced SEO service provider.

When respondents were asked an open-ended question about their experiences and feelings regarding SEO some responded saying that "SEO is not rocket science" while other expressed feelings of confusion and doubt about whether SEO is effective or whether SEO firms can be trusted to work ethically. A common thread was the desire to work with SEO firms that are compensated under a "pay for performance" model. Most respondents perceived SEO as important and capable of delivering results if the right SEO firm was employed. "I have not used any SEO firms as of yet" wrote one respondent. "I have heard many stories about incompetent/expensive/not-worth-it SEO firms and have been gunshy about hiring SEO firms in general. However, I do think that it will be a necessary component of my website promotion."

Another challenge facing SEO firms are clients who wonder about the potential for positive ROI. Although respondents saw SEO as being important and beneficial, they had doubts about whether it was worth the expense. "Most firms I have worked with are priced way beyond reality" wrote a respondent. "SEO firms want 50k to optimize a site selling 19.95 merchandise."

A not-too-surprising commonly voiced bit of criticism had to do with a perceived lack of ethics and stability in the relatively new and therefore somewhat unknown SEO industry. One respondent wrote "Seems like a lot of firms promise a whole lot... making me not very inclined to trust them. I guess I am a little suspect of anyone promising everything." Another respondent had issues with trust after a negative experience as an employee of an SEO firm. "I worked for a company that tried to do SEO and they went under after only being around for just over a year."

Overall we see these survey results as positive for legitimate and ethical SEO firms. Increased awareness, understanding, and perceived value surrounding SEO services will cause growth in the industry. Firms that are unethical or do not provide true value in their services will be marginalized as the consumer becomes more savvy.

What is Search Engine Optimization or SEO?

SEO can be defined as "all tasks necessary to improve the rankings of a website for certain keywords," however, the term SEO is often used to describe other services related to search engines and marketing. For more information, read our Frequently Asked Questions about Search Engine Optimization.

About MWI Inc.

MWI SEO provides web design, search engine optimization, application development, content management, and branding & design services from offices in Salt Lake City, Utah to clients across the United States, including California, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, New York, Massachusetts, and Virginia. Notable clients include 3Com, Altiris, Brighton Ski Resort, California Pools, Garage Technology Ventures, FranklinCovey, Hubble Homes, Winder Farms, and Zions Bank.

###

Press Contact: Joshua Steimle
Company Name: MWI Inc.
Email: email protected from spam bots
Phone: 801-495-4110
Website: http://www.mwi.com


# posted by (hris @ 8:20 AM 0 comments

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