Google's Importance to Webmasters

But isn't Google just a search engine web site like any other? Actually, its reach is far greater than that. Google partners with other sites to use the Google index results, including the likes of heavyweight properties AOL and Yahoo!. Not to mention the multitude of sites out there making use of the Google API. So when you think about potential visitors from Google's search results, you have to think beyond traditional search site borders.

It's becoming ever more important what Google thinks of your site. That means you're going to be sure that your site abides by the Google rules or risk not being picked up. If you're very concerned about search engine traffic, you're going to have to make sure that your site is optimized for luring in Google's spiders and being indexed in an effective manner. And if you're concerned that Google should not index some parts of your site, you need to understand the ins and outs of configuring your robots.txt file to reflect your preferences.

SEO value of URL keywords could change, Google says

The SEO value of the keywords place in URLs looks set to change, according to Google.

Up until now, a website’s domain name was hugely important to it’s SEO ranking but that could all be about to change according to the search engine’s principal engineer Matt Cutts.

According to a report featured on searchnewz.com, Cutts said: “Some people have complained that we’re giving a little too much weight for keywords in domains.

“So, we have been thinking about adjusting that mix a little bit and sort of turning the knob down within the algorithm, so that given two different domains it wouldn’t necessarily help you as much to have a domain with a bunch of keywords in it.”

It has been suggested that the changes will be particularly favourable to branded websites whose URL features the company name rather than the service they provide.

The changes, which come on hot on the heels of the ‘Panda’ update aimed at reducing content farming, are unlikely to be last tweaks of the algorithm in the near future.

In an interview with Search Engine Watch, Cutts claimed that staff at Google were looking forward to improving the quality of their searches even further.

He said: “There is definitely still room for improvement in the space of low-quality content – or in trying to reward higher quality content.”

Source: SEO value of URL keywords could change, Google says | Search Engine Marketing News

I'M BACK

Hello Friends ...

Its been a long time since my last post . I was not in town . From now I will post two articles every week and I hope you enjoy your reading again ..

Thanks

Chasing the Changing Demographic

Look into a mirror sometime: You are the future of Facebook. Young, middleaged,elderly, male, female, Hispanic, Caucasian, African American, Asian,Indian — no single defining demographic represents Facebook members. Ifyou thought you were too old, guess again. Facebook is experiencing its fastestgrowth among women 55 and older. Furthermore, teenagers now make up a paltry 12 percent of the Facebook audience. Overall, however, the fastest growing group by total users is still age 26 to 34. So why are adults flocking to Facebook in droves? Could it be the desire to reconnect with old friends, former co-workers, and family separated by time and distance? That pull is strong within most of us. Or, is it the basic human need to be part of a community, recognized for one’s contributions and right to express thyself? One thing’s for sure, Facebook is no longer a fad and is not to be ignored by marketers, big or small. Facebook opened to non-students in May 2006. Since then, Facebook has grown to become much more than a social network. According to Facebook, it is the largest online depository of photos, with more than 850 million images uploaded to the site each month. Additionally, Facebook is available in 35 languages(another 60 languages are promised) with more than 70 percent of users coming from outside the U.S.

The Facebook factor

The astounding growth rate of Facebook continues More than 50 translations are available on the site, with more than 40 in development More than 70% of Facebook users are located outside the United States Platform More than one million developers and entrepreneurs from more than 180 countries are creating applications for the Facebook Platform More than 350,000 active applications are currently available on the Facebook Platform More than 200 applications have more than one million monthly active users More than 15,000 Web sites, devices, and applications have implemented Facebook Connect More than 95% of Facebook members have used at least one application built on the Facebook Platform Mobile More than 30 million active users who access Facebook through their mobile devices People that use Facebook via their mobile devices are almost 50% more active on Facebook than non-mobile users There are more than 150 mobile operators in 50 countries working to deploy Facebook mobile products to amaze. Below are some stats provided by Facebook as of February 1, 2009. For updated stats, visit the Facebook statistics page. Scroll to the bottom of your Facebook screen, click the About link, and at the top of your screen, click the Press tab to access the Latest Statistics link. General Growth More than 250 million active users More than 120 million users log on to Facebook at least once each day More than two-thirds of Facebook users are outside of college The fastest growing demographic are people 35 years old and older User Engagement Average user has 120 friends on the site Users spend more than 5 billion minutes on Facebook each day (worldwide) More than 30 million users update their statuses at least once per day More than 8 million users become fans of Pages each day Applications More than 1 billion photos are uploaded to the site each month More than 10 million videos are uploaded each month More than 1 billion pieces of content are shared each week More than 2.5 million events are created each month More than 45 million active user groups exist on the site International Growth More than 50 translations are available on the site, with more than 40 in development More than 70% of Facebook users are located outside the United States Platform More than one million developers and entrepreneurs from more than 180 countries are creating applications for the Facebook Platform More than 350,000 active applications are currently available on the Facebook Platform More than 200 applications have more than one million monthly active users More than 15,000 Web sites, devices, and applications have implemented Facebook Connect More than 95% of Facebook members have used at least one application built on the Facebook Platform Mobile More than 30 million active users who access Facebook through their mobile devices People that use Facebook via their mobile devices are almost 50% more active on Facebook than non-mobile users There are more than 150 mobile operators in 50 countries working to deploy Facebook mobile products Take a closer look at Facebook’s recent demographics, as reported by notedFacebook blog, Inside Facebook, in February 2009. Clearly, the site’s appeal is both broad and growing, highlighted by the following: ✓ Facebook is growing in every age and gender demographic. Fastest growing segment: Women over age 55, up 175 percent over the previous 120 days. ✓ Facebook is growing faster with women than men in almost every age group. Women comprise 56 percent of Facebook’s audience, up from 54 percent in 2008. ✓ In Facebook, 45 percent of the U.S. audience is now 26 years of age or older. Facebook offers you the opportunity to get your message to all these demographics for free. What an efficient way to reach out and expand your customer base

What the Heck is Google Analytics .. Gooosh Pls Tell me ...?

In late 2005, Internet giant Google purchased a leading web analytics firm, Urchin, and began offering the service free of charge to certain well-placed technology publications’ web sites. Not long after that, Google launched the Google Analytics service based on the Urchin software, offering it to the general public as a completely free service. Response was incredible—overwhelming—and a quarter of a million new accounts were created overnight, with an estimated half to three-quarters of a million web sites tracked.All of this caught Google unprepared, and people had to be turned away because there weren’t enough resources to support everyone who wanted an account. Google began taking e‑mail addresses for interested webmasters who couldn’t be accommodated at launch. How did this happen? How did Google so grossly underestimate the demand for Google Analytics? After all, at $200/month, Urchin did okay—it had good software and a relatively low price point for the industry, but it wasn’t exactly inundated with clamoring customers. Apparently, assessments based on Urchin’s sales weren’t exactly accurate. The demand for real analytics is huge, and the price tag of free is exactly the price tag that draws in the masses. But what are analytics? Most webmasters know enough to realize that they need analytics. But do they know how to read them? How to use them? Are analytics just site stats on steroids, or can they be used by the average webmaster, who is a layman and not a professional, to improve the performance of a web site? The answer is that, with Google Analytics, the average webmaster can use analytics to improve the performance of a site. And well over a half-million users have figured this out, using Google Analytics. So many users have turned to Google Analytics and begun to make suggestions about the program that the design team at Google decided it was time to implement some new features and make the application user friendly. And that’s how the Google Analytics 2.0 application was born. Then, continuing in that vein, Google Analytics has consistently been changed and updated as features have been added, changed, and removed. The purpose of this post, about Google Analytics, is to explain the concepts behind analytics and to show how to set up Google Analytics, choose goals and filters, read Google Analytics reports and graphs, and use that information to improve your web-site performance. Advanced information about topics such as filtering, goal setting, and e-commerce tracking, and more in-depth explanations of some of the theories of analytics, are among the new features added. i will provide numerous examples of the ways companies use these reports to do business better, and I illustrate how some of the functions of Google Analytics works down the road .