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What is contemporary global nomadism and how does it affect materialism?
Is John Lennon's line "imagine no possessions" not as idealistic as it once seemed? According to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research, globalization has led to a new class of "global nomads" who are less attached to material objects. "No one has studied contemporary global nomads and their relationship to possessions, and we can learn so much about how deterritorialization affects consumer culture from this unique and growing group of people," write authors Fleura Bardhi (Northeastern University), Giana M. Eckhardt (Suffolk University), and Eric J. Arnould (Bath University). "As possessions are seen as bumps on the road during geographical movement, the nomadic perspective challenges our existing views of possessions as central to consumer identity."
The authors conducted in-depth interviews with "elite global nomads," most of them from the United States, but several from the United Kingdom, Canada, Turkey and Romania. According to the authors, these nomads travel more than 60 percent of the year and tend to work for global institutions like the UN, IMF, World Bank, and global NGOs.
"Global nomads tend to form situational attachments to objects, appreciate objects primarily for their instrumental use-value, and value immaterial or 'light' possessions as well as practices," the authors write. And they need their possessions to be portable, like portable electronics. They also value objects that help them stay connected to networks, like e-books and digital photos. "It is not the object per se that is valued, but rather its accessibility. Thus, possessions are replaceable and are not salient or part of the individual's extended self." Unlike migrants and expatriates who long for a home and relationships they left behind, global nomads are liberated from emotional, social, and physical obligations.
"Globalization theorists argue that global nomadism will become more prevalent in the future, and thus the liquid relationship to possessions that we identify will become an important lens in which to understand the new role of objects in people's lives, as consumers will seek to temporarily access objects rather than own them over long periods of time," the authors conclude.
Source: University of Chicago Press Journals
Other sources
- What is contemporary global nomadism and how does it affect materialism?from Science DailyMon, 16 Apr 2012, 14:30:36 EDT
- What is contemporary global nomadism and how does it affect materialism?from PhysorgMon, 16 Apr 2012, 12:32:10 EDT
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Intuitive Update Heading For DC Universe Online
DC Universe has experience a massive increase on population in recent months, mainly down to the transfer over to the free to play revenue model, but we've also got to give SOE a bit of credit as they're still pumping out the updates. This latest update includes some really fresh approaches to dealing with the common issues that plague today's MMORPG games.
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1. More free ebooks : http://fast-file.blogspot.com
Praise for The Art of SEO "Roll up your sleeves, buckle your seat belt, and take your foot off the brake. You are about to go on a journey from the very basics to the very high-end, enterprise level, and then into the future of the art of SEO. These four authors have been involved in Internet marketing from the very start and have hands- on experience. These are not pundits in search of an audience but practitio- ners who have actually done the work, know how it's done, and have the scars to prove it. This is a dynamite primer for the beginner and a valued resource for the expert. Clear, concise, and to the point, it may not make you laugh or make you cry, but it will make you smart and make you successful." —JIM STERNE, PRODUCER OF THE EMETRICS MARKETING OPTIMIZATION SUMMIT (WWW.EMETRICS.ORG) AND CHAIRMAN OF THE WEB ANALYTICS ASSOCIATION (WWW.WEBANALYTICSASSOCIATION.ORG) "In your hands is a definitive collection of SEO knowledge from four leading practitioners of the art. This book is required reading for my company, and we're also recommending it to our clients." —ADAM AUDETTE, PRESIDENT, AUDETTEMEDIA, INC., AND LEAD SEO FOR ZAPPOS.COM "The Art of SEO will give you the opportunity to learn from all the people who taught me what I know today. Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned vet- eran, this is the most informative resource on the search marketing industry. An extremely important read for the ever-growing and fast-paced online mar- keting world." —TONY ADAM, SEO PROGRAM MANAGER AT YAHOO! "If you have a business online, you should be looking for ways to develop traf- fic from search engines. That being the goal, your next stop should be a quiet corner, a tea or coffee, and a fresh copy of The Art of SEO. Seriously, this book can shave years off the learning curve for anyone thinking of delving into the world of search marketing. The Art of SEO walks you through the most impor- tant steps in planning and executing a top-flight program. Easy to understand and well written, this book walks you through everything you need to under- stand to be successful with your own SEO campaigns. The authors of this book are trusted individuals whose repeated, proven success working with SEO marks them as leaders in the field. Read now, prosper now." —DUANE FORRESTER, AUTHOR OF HOW TO MAKE MONEY WITH YOUR BLOG, SENIOR PROGRAM MANAGER (SEO), AND MICROSOFT SEMPO (SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATION) BOARD MEMBER More free ebooks : http://fast-file.blogspot.com
"In an increasingly search-driven world, where the majority of all search engine traffic is driven by natural listings, implementing an effective SEO pro- gram is critical for leading brands. The Art of SEO is essential reading for adver- tisers who want to understand effective SEO strategy and execution to drive consumer engagement and response. This book will help advertisers win through SEO." —NICK BEIL, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, PERFORMICS"The Art of War isn't about Chinese pottery, and The Art of SEO isn't a paint-by- numbers kit. This 500-page book is a comprehensive guide to search engine optimization strategies and tactics written by four SEO experts: Eric Enge, Stephan Spencer, Rand Fishkin, and Jessie Stricchiola. The chapters on key- word research, developing an SEO-friendly website, creating link-worthy content and link marketing, and tracking results and measuring success are must-reads for anyone interested in mastering search engine optimization." —GREG JARBOE, PRESIDENT OF SEO-PR, AND AUTHOR OF YOUTUBE AND VIDEO MARKETING: AN HOUR A DAY"In The Art of SEO, industry luminaries Stephan Spencer, Rand Fishkin, Eric Enge, and Jessie Stricchiola successfully translate their deep collective knowl- edge into a straightforward and engaging guide covering it all—fundamentals, advanced techniques, management strategies, and an array of useful tools and tips. It's required reading for anyone looking to maximize search engine traffic to their site." —MARK KAUFMAN, ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT, CNET FINDABILITY, CBS INTERACTIVE"Collectively, Rand, Eric, Jessie, and Stephan know more about SEO than any- one else on the planet. You want to master SEO? Listen to this dream team!" —AVINASH KAUSHIK, AUTHOR OF WEB ANALYTICS 2.0 AND WEB ANALYTICS: AN HOUR A DAY"Watching a movie with my 16-year-old, we saw a detective in a library searching through Microfiche! (My daughter had no clue.) This was a sharp reminder of how far search has come in such a short period. No book has yet been written that so completely educates web marketers on this critical and rapidly advancing tool." —CHRIS BAGGOTT, CO-FOUNDER AND CEO, COMPENDIUM SOFTWARE, CO- FOUNDER, EXACTTARGET More free ebooks : http://fast-file.blogspot.com
"You may know enough about search engine optimization to be dangerous, but The Art of SEO will make you formidable." —CHRIS PIRILLO, INTERNET ENTREPRENEUR, CHRIS.PIRILLO.COM"This is a valuable and comprehensive treatment of fundamental and complex SEO topics. The authors intelligently cover an impressive array of diverse tac- tics and essential skills that range from practical to strategic. A section on test- ing provides process examples for research and analysis, an often-ignored requirement in an industry where the target is always moving. The Art of SEO is the kind of book that ends up highlighted, dog-eared, and coffee-stained." —ALEX BENNERT, CHIEF SEARCH STRATEGIST, WALL STREET JOURNAL"The Art of SEO is the perfect complement to the science of conversion optimi- zation. This book is a must-read volume by four highly regarded industry veterans." —BRYAN EISENBERG, NEW YORK TIMES BEST-SELLING AUTHOR OF CALL TO ACTION AND ALWAYS BE TESTING"This book covers everything an SEO needs to know. Not only a great introduc- tion to the field, The Art of SEO encompasses the most current and most advanced strategies and tactics to deliver measurable results. Perhaps of even greater value, the reader is sure to glean insights into launching highly profit- able SEO campaigns today and well into the future." —RICHARD ZWICKY, FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT, ENQUISITE"Businesses online face unprecedented competition for the time and dollars of consumers. The authors have captured their deep knowledge of patterns and best practices in search, and made it accessible to anyone with a stake in driv- ing traffic and bottom-line results. This book is packed with information, yet still an easy read. It will take the mystery out of search engine marketing and empower you to build a successful business online." —JEREMIAH ANDRICK, ONLINE CUSTOMER ACQUISITION MANAGER, LOGITECH, AND FORMER PROGRAM MANAGER FOR MICROSOFT BING"An essential guide to best practices and cutting-edge tactics that belongs on the desk of all search marketing professionals." —CHRIS SHERMAN, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, SEARCH ENGINE LAND More free ebooks : http://fast-file.blogspot.com
"The Art of SEO is really about the science of SEO. This detailed and practical guide to SEO mastery, from a panel of all-star practitioners, will give you the edge. Get it before your competitors do!" —TIM ASH, CEO OF SITETUNERS.COM, AND AUTHOR OF THE BEST-SELLING LANDING PAGE OPTIMIZATION: THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO TESTING AND TUNING FOR CONVERSIONS"There are no better names in the search marketing industry to write a book on the art of SEO than these four authors. Each author has gems of knowl- edge to share individually, and all of them teaming up to create a single book is like discovering a treasure." —BARRY SCHWARTZ, NEWS EDITOR, SEARCH ENGINE LAND, AND EDITOR, SEARCH ENGINE ROUNDTABLE"I've known and followed the authors for years, each a bona fide expert in their own right. Their collective wisdom in one book is truly a gift to the industry. This has to be the #1'must-read' SEO book ever written." —ERIC WARD, A.K.A. LINK MOSES"This book dashed any thought I had of writing my own SEO book. The funny thing is, I am ecstatic because it is everything I could have hoped for—and more—for anyone interested in SEO. First, it was written by a veritable dream team of SEOs who are known as the best in class, and second, it is jam-packed with not just the golden rules of SEO but also some great tips and techniques that are sure to make this a desk-side reference for everyone." —ROSS DUNN, CEO/FOUNDER, STEPFORTH WEB MARKETING, INC."The Art of SEO is a masterpiece in search engine optimization techniques. Whether you're technical or creative, whether a coder, a designer, a copy- writer, or a PR professional, you need this book." —ANDY BEAL, CO-AUTHOR OF RADICALLY TRANSPARENT, FOUNDER OF TRACKUR, AND FOUNDER OF MARKETING PILGRIM"The utmost compliments go to the team that pulled together The Art of SEO. As a professional educator, I can attest to the extreme difficulty of making SEO understandable and interesting. This is a must-read for every entrepreneur, marketer, and Internet professional to understand the fundamentals and importance of SEO to their business." —AARON KAHLOW, FOUNDER, ONLINE MARKETING SUMMIT More free ebooks : http://fast-file.blogspot.com
"The Art of SEO moves deftly from the search engine basics to the latest in cutting-edge tactics. The authors have distilled the breathtaking complexity of search ranking factors and SEO workflow into immediately usable informa- tion for practitioners. Until now, there has been no single definitive guide to recommend to newcomers in the field. Finally, it's here." —ANDREW GOODMAN, FOUNDER AND PRINCIPAL, PAGE ZERO MEDIA"As a co-author of a book people refer to as the 'Bible of Search Marketing,' you might think that I wouldn't recommend other search books. Not so. But I recommend only excellent search books written by outstanding search experts. The Art of SEO easily clears that high standard and is a must-read for anyone serious about organic search success." —MIKE MORAN, CO-AUTHOR OF SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING, INC., AND AUTHOR OF DO IT WRONG QUICKLY"More than just a 'how to do SEO' book, The Art of SEO gives even the uniniti- ated a sense of the overall search industry, its technological importance, and an insider's view of how to strategically leverage search for marketing success. That being said, this is not a fluffy marketing book—it's a practical, tactical manual that should be required reading for anyone responsible for their com- pany's web reputation. I was particularly impressed at how the book helps readers think more about valuing and leveraging a wide range of business assets that companies have already invested in and probably don't even real- ize it—and how to fully empower these assets to drive engagement and ulti- mately revenue. There's a reason why SEO remains a top priority for today's most successful companies." —DANA TODD, CMO OF NEWSFORCE, AND PAST CHAIRPERSON OF SEMPO (SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATION)"The Art of SEO provides the nuts and bolts of SEO and beyond. This book gives you the tools you need to grok and apply a wide range of strategies immediately—giving you the plans to build, and to remodel when necessary—and it assists with hammering and painting, too. SEO is more than just keywords, copy, and layout. The authors deftly guide you through the constantly evolving search engine landscape, in all its aspects. Does SEO permeate throughout everything you publish online? It should. Make each page, each word, each link count. It doesn't matter whether your site is for lead generation, sales, or reputation building. Every web master or marke- teer needs a copy of this book on the shelf—or a stack of them to distribute to their team." —KELLY GOTO, FOUNDER AND CEO, GOTOMEDIA More free ebooks : http://fast-file.blogspot.com
"Written by in-the-trenches practitioners, The Art of SEO is a well-written step- by-step guide providing sensible and practical advice on how to implement a successful SEO program. The authors have created a readable and straightfor- ward guide filled with concise and easily adopted strategies and tactics any online business can use. I now have a great resource to recommend when people ask, 'Know any good books on SEO?'" —DEBRA MASTALER, PRESIDENT, ALLIANCE-LINK AND THE LINK SPIEL BLOG"An amazingly well-researched, comprehensive, and authoritative guide to SEO from some of the most well-respected experts in the industry...highly recommended for anyone involved in online marketing." —BEN JESSON, CEO AND CO-FOUNDER OF CONVERSION RATE EXPERTS"In The Art of SEO, Eric Enge, Stephan Spencer, Rand Fishkin, and Jessie Stricchiola have taken on the daunting task of compiling a comprehensive, step-by-step walk-through of what it takes to rank well on search. They go well beyond the usual tactical aspects, addressing fundamental challenges like understanding user intent, integrating an SEO culture within your organiza- tion, properly measuring success, and managing an SEO project. This is a deep, deep dive into the world of organic optimization, and you couldn't ask for better guides than Spencer, Fishkin, Enge, and Stricchiola. Clear a place on your desk, because this is going to be your SEO bible." —GORD HOTCHKISS, PRESIDENT, ENQUIRO SEARCH SOLUTIONS"The Art of SEO will delight and inform the next generation of skilled SEO prac- titioners. The author lineup is the search industry equivalent of the classic musical supergroup—think the Crosby, Stills, Nash, Young of search." —DAVID SZETELA, FOUNDER AND CEO, CLIX MARKETING"The disciplined and scientific practice of natural search engine optimization is critical to brand awareness and new customer acquisition. The Art of SEO has transformed what has historically been a misunderstood and mystical market- ing strategy into an easy-to-comprehend, actionable guide to understanding and navigating the inner and outer workings of SEO." —SETH BESMERTNIK, CEO AND CO-FOUNDER, CONDUCTOR More free ebooks : http://fast-file.blogspot.com
"If you do a search in Google for 'search engine optimization,' 'SEO,' or any similar term, you will find countless outdated articles that promote practices that are not very useful these days—website submissions, link exchanges, altering meta keyword tags, etc."These seemingly useful tactics do very little for the ultimate goal of an effective SEO campaign—to drive meaningful traffic. Because search engines have changed significantly in the last 10 years, many of these practices are no longer necessary, while some, like massive link exchanges, are actually considered search engine 'spam.' If these are what you are expecting from The Art of SEO, you will be positively disappointed. Sure, this book is about everything you will ever need to know about SEO now and in the near future, but after my personal technical review of all its merits, I can guarantee you that I couldn't find a single piece of nonsensical advice. If you only want one book, get this one. You can start from zero and become a SEO master in record time." —HAMLET BATISTA, PRESIDENT AND CEO, RANKSENSE"In The Art of SEO, these four industry leaders have left no stone unturned in their quest to deliver one of the ultimate resources on search engine optimiza- tion that has ever been published." —CHRIS WINFIELD, PRESIDENT AND CO-FOUNDER, 10E20"DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK. Please. I beg of you. If you compete with us or any of our clients, do not buy this book. It's become our go-to source for any- thing—and everything—we need to know about successful search engine optimization." —AMY AFRICA, CEO, EIGHT BY EIGHT"The Art of SEO is an extraordinary book chock-full of the most current wisdom on the constantly changing world of search. This is the one resource you need to help you build a strong foundation for success with SEO." —DANA VANDEN HEUVEL, FOUNDER AND CHIEF THOUGHT LEADER AT MARKETINGSAVANT"There are no better guides through the world of SEO—the combined experi- ence of these authors is unparalleled. I can't recommend highly enough that you buy this book." —WILL CRITCHLOW, CO-FOUNDER, DISTILLED More free ebooks : http://fast-file.blogspot.com
"Regardless of whether you're a beginner or an expert search marketer, The Art of SEO delivers! From keyword research and search analytics to SEO tools and more!" —KEN JURINA, PRESIDENT AND CEO, EPIAR"Rarely does a work so thoroughly deconstruct the art and science of SEO: what it is, how it works, who makes it happen, and why it is important to the modern firm." —SARA HOLOUBEK, CONSULTANT AND COLUMNIST, AND SEMPO PRESIDENT THROUGH APRIL 2010"This must-have book by industry heavyweights is a milestone. The material is convincing and compelling. Most important of all, the ideas make powerful strategies for successfully marketing sites online." —DISA JOHNSON, CEO, SEARCHRETURN"Finally, a guide to the perplexing world of SEO by some of its most accom- plished practitioners. The Art of SEO has become my bible of search. Full of clear examples, cutting-edge research, and smart marketing strategies, this is a fun read that can help get your site the search ranking it deserves." —HOWIE JACOBSON, AUTHOR OF ADWORDS FOR DUMMIES"Fantastic read! This is a must-read for anyone in our industry. This book is a veritable textbook, and almost certainly will become part of any curriculum on the subject." —JEFF QUIPP, CEO, SEARCH ENGINE PEOPLE"There is an art (and science) to search engine optimization. It's not always easy, it's not always obvious, and the results depend a lot on what the major search engines are tinkering with under their own hoods. Thankfully, there is a book like The Art of SEO to shine a light, give you some clues, and help you get ahead of your competitors." —MITCH JOEL, PRESIDENT OF TWIST IMAGE, AND AUTHOR OF SIX PIXELS OF SEPARATION More free ebooks : http://fast-file.blogspot.com
"Search engine optimization continues to evolve in exciting ways. This book provides one of the most comprehensive guides to planning and executing a full SEO strategy for any website. It will be an important reference for SEO professionals, business owners, and anyone who wants to succeed in the SEO field." —KHALID SALEH, PRESIDENT, INVESP"Presenting the inner mechanics of search engine optimization is a daunting task, and this book has accomplished it with flair. The book reveals the closely guarded secrets of optimizing websites in a straightforward, easy-to-under- stand format. If you ever wanted to unravel the mysteries of the most enig- matic discipline on the Internet, this is the book you want as your guide. This book is so comprehensive and well written, it just might put me out of a job." —CHRISTINE CHURCHILL, PRESIDENT, KEYRELEVANCE"Search is becoming increasingly important for marketers to understand. Busi- nesses that don't include organic search as a core component to their market- ing efforts risk being left behind as their competitors and their customers move forward. This book covers a lot of ground—it's full of stats, advice, and tools to equip marketers in their organic search efforts." —VANESSA FOX, AUTHOR OF MARKETING IN THE AGE OF GOOGLE"This book has it all—SEO tactics, history, and articles to back up their writing (which are great for forwarding via email), combined with how to create and execute an SEO program. It's the ultimate reference guide for any SEO." —JESSICA BOWMAN, SEOINHOUSE.COM More free ebooks : http://fast-file.blogspot.com
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The Art of SEOEric Enge, Stephan Spencer, Rand Fishkin, and Jessie C. Stricchiola foreword by John Battelle Beijing • Cambridge • Farnham • Köln • Sebastopol • Taipei • Tokyo More free ebooks : http://fast-file.blogspot.com
The Art of SEOby Eric Enge, Stephan Spencer, Rand Fishkin, and Jessie C. StricchiolaCopyright © 2010 Eric Enge, Stephan Spencer, Rand Fishkin, and Jessie Stricchiola. All rights reserved.Printed in the United States of America.Published by O'Reilly Media, Inc., 1005 Gravenstein Highway North, Sebastopol, CA 95472.O'Reilly books may be purchased for educational, business, or sales promotional use. Online editions are alsoavailable for most titles (http://my.safaribooksonline.com). For more information, contact our corporate/institutional sales department: 800-998-9938 or firstname.lastname@example.com: Mary E. Treseler Indexer: Margaret Troutman ZaigProduction Editor: Loranah Dimant Cover Designer: Mark PagliettiCopyeditor: Audrey Doyle Interior Designer: David FutatoProofreader: Katie Nopper DePasquale Illustrator: Robert RomanoPrinting History: October 2009: First Edition.Nutshell Handbook, the Nutshell Handbook logo, and the O'Reilly logo are registered trademarks of O'ReillyMedia, Inc. The Art of SEO, the image of a booted racket-tail hummingbird, and related trade dress aretrademarks of O'Reilly Media, Inc.Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed astrademarks. Where those designations appear in this book, and O'Reilly Media, Inc. was aware of a trademarkclaim, the designations have been printed in caps or initial caps.While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher and authors assume noresponsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information containedherein. TM This book uses RepKover™, a durable and flexible lay-flat binding.ISBN: 978-0-596-51886-8[M]1255027183 More free ebooks : http://fast-file.blogspot.com
I'd like to dedicate this book to Beth, Rob, Valerie, and Kristian, who are, without question, the principal joys of my life. I'd also like to thank the countless people in the SEO community who have helped me along the way. —Eric Enge I dedicate this book to my beautiful daughters, Chloë, Ilsa, and Cassandra, for their love and support, and for tolerating my workaholic tendencies. They are wise beyond their years. They keep me grounded. —Stephan Spencer I'd like to dedicate this book to the SEO community and note that, like Einstein, if I have had any success, it's because I've stood on the shoulders of giants—to all those who practice, evangelize, and support SEO, thank you and keep up the great work. I'm also immensely grateful to Geraldine DeRuiter, love of my life, and the most talented writer this side of Hemingway. —Rand Fishkin I would like to dedicate this book to my late aunt, Anna Oliynik, who gave her tremendous love, support, and encouragement during the writing process, and who was taken from us before her time during the writing of this book. May your spirit be flying with the hummingbirds. I would also like to give my grateful thanks to Rosemary Garrison and to my mother, Robin, for all their love and support. —Jessie C. StricchiolaMore free ebooks : http://fast-file.blogspot.com
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CONTENTS FOREWORD xix PREFACE xxi1 THE SEARCH ENGINES: REFLECTING CONSCIOUSNESS AND CONNECTING COMMERCE 1 The Mission of Search Engines 2 The Market Share of Search Engines 2 The Human Goals of Searching 2 Determining Searcher Intent: A Challenge for Both Marketers and Search Engines 5 How People Search 9 How Search Engines Drive Commerce on the Web 14 Eye Tracking: How Users Scan Results Pages 14 Click Tracking: How Users Click on Results, Natural Versus Paid 16 Conclusion 222 SEARCH ENGINE BASICS 23 Understanding Search Engine Results 24 Algorithm-Based Ranking Systems: Crawling, Indexing, and Ranking 30 Determining Searcher Intent and Delivering Relevant, Fresh Content 41 Analyzing Ranking Factors 49 Using Advanced Search Techniques 53 Vertical Search Engines 65 Country-Specific Search Engines 74 Conclusion 783 DETERMINING YOUR SEO OBJECTIVES AND DEFINING YOUR SITE'S AUDIENCE 79 Setting SEO Goals and Objectives 79 Developing an SEO Plan Prior to Site Development 84 Understanding Your Audience and Finding Your Niche 85 SEO for Raw Traffic 91 SEO for E-Commerce Sales 91 SEO for Mindshare/Branding 92 SEO for Lead Generation and Direct Marketing 93 SEO for Reputation Management 93 SEO for Ideological Influence 95 Conclusion 964 FIRST STAGES OF SEO 97 The Major Elements of Planning 97 Identifying the Site Development Process and Players 100 Defining Your Site's Information Architecture 101 xv More free ebooks : http://fast-file.blogspot.com
Auditing an Existing Site to Identify SEO Problems 106 Identifying Current Server Statistics Software and Gaining Access 116 Determining Top Competitors 118 Assessing Historical Progress 122 Benchmarking Current Indexing Status 124 Benchmarking Current Rankings 126 Benchmarking Current Traffic Sources and Volume 127 Leveraging Business Assets for SEO 131 Combining Business Assets and Historical Data to Conduct SEO/Website SWOT Analysis 132 Conclusion 1345 KEYWORD RESEARCH 135 The Theory Behind Keyword Research 135 Traditional Approaches: Domain Expertise, Site Content Analysis 136 Keyword Research Tools 138 Determining Keyword Value/Potential ROI 166 Leveraging the Long Tail of Keyword Demand 170 Trending, Seasonality, and Seasonal Fluctuations in Keyword Demand 176 Conclusion 1796 DEVELOPING AN SEO-FRIENDLY WEBSITE 181 Making Your Site Accessible to Search Engines 181 Creating an Optimal Information Architecture 187 Root Domains, Subdomains, and Microsites 201 Optimization of Domain Names/URLs 207 Keyword Targeting 211 Content Optimization 222 Duplicate Content Issues 226 Controlling Content with Cookies and Session IDs 234 Content Delivery and Search Spider Control 238 Redirects 254 Content Management System (CMS) Issues 263 Optimizing Flash 268 Best Practices for Multilanguage/Country Targeting 275 Conclusion 2787 CREATING LINK-WORTHY CONTENT AND LINK MARKETING 279 How Links Influence Search Engine Rankings 279 Further Refining How Search Engines Judge Links 289 The Psychology of Linking 295 Types of Link Building 296 Choosing the Right Link-Building Strategy 309 More Approaches to Content-Based Link Acquisition 314 Incentive-Based Link Marketing 319 How Search Engines Fight Link Spam 319 Social Networking for Links 321 Conclusion 3308 OPTIMIZING FOR VERTICAL SEARCH 333 The Opportunities in Vertical Search 333xvi CONTENTS More free ebooks : http://fast-file.blogspot.com
Optimizing for Local Search 338 Optimizing for Image Search 346 Optimizing for Product Search 352 Optimizing for News, Blog, and Feed Search 355 Others: Mobile, Video/Multimedia Search 366 Conclusion 3729 TRACKING RESULTS AND MEASURING SUCCESS 373 Why Measuring Success Is Essential to the SEO Process 374 Measuring Search Traffic 376 Tying SEO to Conversion and ROI 388 Competitive and Diagnostic Search Metrics 397 Key Performance Indicators for Long Tail SEO 435 Conclusion 43710 DOMAIN CHANGES, POST-SEO REDESIGNS, AND TROUBLESHOOTING 439 The Basics of Moving Content 439 Maintaining Search Engine Visibility During and After a Site Redesign 444 Maintaining Search Engine Visibility During and After Domain Name Changes 445 Changing Servers 447 Hidden Content 448 Spam Filtering and Penalties 455 Content Theft 467 Changing SEO Vendors or Staff Members 470 Conclusion 47211 HONING THE CRAFT: SEO RESEARCH AND STUDY 473 SEO Research and Analysis 473 Competitive Analysis 482 Using Search-Engine-Supplied SEO Tools 487 The SEO Industry on the Web 500 Participation in Conferences and Organizations 504 Conclusion 50612 BUILD AN IN-HOUSE SEO TEAM, OUTSOURCE IT, OR BOTH? 507 The Dynamics and Challenges of Using In-House Talent Versus Outsourcing 507 Solutions for Small Organizations 509 Working with Limited Resources/Budget 511 Solutions for Large Organizations 514 Hiring SEO Talent 517 The Case for Working with an Outside Expert 519 Selecting an SEO Firm/Consultant 521 Mixing Outsourced SEO with In-House SEO Teams 528 Building a Culture of SEO into Your Organization 529 Conclusion 53013 AN EVOLVING ART FORM: THE FUTURE OF SEO 531 The Ongoing Evolution of Search 532 More Searchable Content and Content Types 538 Search Becoming More Personalized and User-Influenced 541 CONTENTS xvii More free ebooks : http://fast-file.blogspot.com
Increasing Importance of Local, Mobile, and Voice Recognition Search 546 Increased Market Saturation and Competition 552 SEO As an Enduring Art Form 554 Conclusion 555 INDEX 557xviii CONTENTS More free ebooks : http://fast-file.blogspot.com
FOREWORDM ORE THAN A DECADE HAS PASSED SINCE THE W ORLD W IDE W EB HAS RISEN TO prominencein nearly all aspects of our lives, but as with nearly all significant technology-driven shifts inour society, most businesses have been slow to react. If you've already put your business onlineand begun the journey that is your ongoing, online conversation with customers,congratulations!But if you count yourself as one of those still in the slow lane, fret not. There's never a badtime to get started, and with this book in hand, you're already well on your way.In fact, starting now might even be to your benefit—over the past decade or so, much has beenlearned, and many mistakes have been made. New technologies have risen to prominence(Facebook and Twitter come to mind), and old ones have fallen by the wayside. The web is farmore mature, and the rules of the road are a bit clearer. In addition, an entire industry ofprofessionals in search optimization and marketing has also matured, and stands ready to help.Just five years ago a hotshot startup with a funny name went public and, armed with acustomer based in the hundreds of thousands and a user base in the tens of millions, proceededto grow faster than any company in history. In less than a generation, Google has become acultural phenomenon, a lightening rod for controversy, and a fundamental part of anyintelligent businessperson's customer strategy.But Google is really a proxy for something larger—a new, technologically mediated economyof conversation between those who are looking for products, services, and information, and xix More free ebooks : http://fast-file.blogspot.com
those who might provide them. The vast majority of our customers, partners, and colleaguesare increasingly fluent in this conversation, and use it to navigate their personal andprofessional lives.The shorthand for this interaction is "search," and like most things worth understanding,learning to leverage search takes practice. In fact, it's more accurate to put it this way: learningto leverage search is a practice—an ongoing, iterative practice, a process that, once begun,never really finishes. Your customers are out there, asking Google and other search enginesquestions that by all rights should lead them to your digital doorstep. The question is, are youready to welcome them?Think of search as another way to have a conversation with a good customer or prospectivecustomer. The skills you naturally have—at describing your business and its merits relative tocompetitors, your approach to service, the ecosystem in which your business lives—are skillsyou should translate to the practice of SEO. It can be daunting and frustrating, but then again,so is starting and running a business. Those who are willing to do the extra work will prosper.Those who stay on the sidelines risk failure.The days of putting an ad in the Yellow Pages and waiting by the phone are over. With search,everyone's number is listed—if they have a web site, that is. But not everyone will show upas an answer to a customer query. Learning how to make sure your business shines is no longeran option—it's table stakes in a game you've already decided to play, simply by hanging out ashingle.So why not play to win? Even if you decide you don't want to go it alone—and who couldblame you?—and you hire an expert to guide you through, understanding the art of SEO willmake you a better client for whomever you hire. Speaking from experience, there's nothingbetter than working with someone who understands the basics of your practice.Make no mistake, at the end of the day SEO is an art, one informed by science, experience,and a healthy dose of trial and error. The sooner you get started, the better you and yourbusiness will become. The book in your hands is a meticulous volume written by some of thebrightest minds and most experienced hands in the SEO industry. Read on, and enjoy thejourney! —John Battelle Ross, California, September 2009xx FOREWORD More free ebooks : http://fast-file.blogspot.com
PREFACET HE BOOK BEFORE YOU IS DESIGNED TO BE A COMPLETE AND THOROUGH EDUCATION on searchengine optimization for SEO practitioners at all levels. Think of it as SEO 101, SEO 102, andSEO 103.We were inspired to create it because we have not previously seen a comprehensive work onthe topic of SEO, and we believe that it is very much needed in our industry. Our goal has beento help simplify a very complex, layered topic and to make it easier for people to grasp, as wellas to make it easier to focus on the most important aspects of SEO for individual businesses.As a group we have over 30 years experience working on SEO projects. This means that wehave seen how SEO works over a relatively long period of time, across thousands of differentweb sites. Any one of us could have written this book individually (in fact, one of us tried to),but we discovered that by working together we have been able to create something of muchgreater value for you, the SEO artist.Who Should Read This BookPeople who are involved in SEO at any level should consider this book invaluable. This includesweb developers, development managers, marketing people, and key business personnel. If SEOis not your profession, then this book may serve primarily as a reference. However, if you areor want to become an SEO practitioner, you will likely want to read it from cover to cover. xxi More free ebooks : http://fast-file.blogspot.com
An experienced SEO veteran will find this volume useful as an extensive reference tosupport ongoing SEO engagements, both internally, within an in-house SEO group or SEOconsultancy, and externally, with SEO clients. Finally, the book will serve as a refresher coursefor working SEO practitioners, from the novice to the professional.How to Use This BookAfter reading the entire text, a new SEO practitioner will have been exposed to all aspects ofthe art of SEO and will have laid the necessary groundwork for beginning to develop his SEOexpertise.Conventions Used in This BookThe following typographical conventions are used in this book:Italic Indicates new terms, URLs, email addresses, filenames, and file extensions.Constant width Used for program listings, as well as within paragraphs to refer to program elements such as variable or function names, databases, data types, environment variables, statements, and keywords.Constant width italic Shows text that should be replaced with user-supplied values or by values determined by context.Using Code ExamplesThis book is here to help you get your job done. In general, you may use the code in this bookin your programs and documentation. You do not need to contact us for permission unlessyou're reproducing a significant portion of the code. For example, writing a program that usesseveral chunks of code from this book does not require permission. Selling or distributing aCD-ROM of examples from O'Reilly books does require permission. Answering a question byciting this book and quoting example code does not require permission. Incorporating asignificant amount of example code from this book into your product's documentation doesrequire permission.We appreciate, but do not require, attribution. An attribution usually includes the title, author,publisher, and ISBN. For example: "The Art of SEO by Eric Enge, Stephan Spencer, Rand Fishkin,and Jessie C. Stricchiola. Copyright 2010 Eric Enge, Stephan Spencer, Rand Fishkin, and JessieStricchiola, 978-0-596-51886-8."xxii PREFACE More free ebooks : http://fast-file.blogspot.com
If you feel your use of code examples falls outside fair use or the permission given above, feelfree to contact us at firstname.lastname@example.com® Books Online Safari Books Online is an on-demand digital library that lets you easily search over 7,500 technology and creative reference books and videos to find the answers you need quickly.With a subscription, you can read any page and watch any video from our library online. Readbooks on your cell phone and mobile devices. Access new titles before they are available forprint, and get exclusive access to manuscripts in development and post feedback for theauthors. Copy and paste code samples, organize your favorites, download chapters, bookmarkkey sections, create notes, print out pages, and benefit from tons of other time-saving features.O'Reilly Media has uploaded this book to the Safari Books Online service. To have full digitalaccess to this book and others on similar topics from O'Reilly and other publishers, sign up forfree at http://my.safaribooksonline.com.How to Contact UsPlease address comments and questions concerning this book to the publisher: O'Reilly Media, Inc. 1005 Gravenstein Highway North Sebastopol, CA 95472 800-998-9938 (in the United States or Canada) 707-829-0515 (international or local) 707-829-0104 (fax)We have a web page for this book, where we list errata, examples, and any additionalinformation. You can access this page at: http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9780596518868The authors also have a companion website at: http://www.artofseobook.comTo comment or ask technical questions about this book, send email to: email@example.com more information about our books, conferences, Resource Centers, and the O'ReillyNetwork, see our website at: http://www.oreilly.com PREFACE xxiii More free ebooks : http://fast-file.blogspot.com
AcknowledgmentsWe would like to thank comScore, Hitwise, and Nielsen Online for contributing volumes ofdata to the book. Others who contributed their time or support to our efforts include:Hamlet Batista—reviewJohn Biundo—reviewJessica Bowman—in-houseJim Boykin—tools/training accessMatt Cutts—reviewGeraldine DeRuiter—outline development and editingJon Henshaw—tools accessBrian Klais—metricsJill Kocher—reviewChris Smith—local/mobile searchSEOmoz staff —PRO guidesJeremy Schoemaker—tools accessDanny Sullivan—for his role in launching this industryDana Todd—witty wisdomAaron Wall—tools/training accessRichard Zwicky—metrics and tools accessxxiv PREFACE More free ebooks : http://fast-file.blogspot.com
CHAPTER ONE The Search Engines: ReflectingConsciousness and Connecting CommerceS EARCH HAS BECOME INTEGRATED INTO THE FABRIC OF OUR SOCIETY . With more than 12 billionsearches being performed each month as of January 2009 (according to comScore),approximately 400 million web searches are performed every day. This means that on averagemore than 4,500 searches are performed every single second of every day.As Google owns approximately 65% of the search market share, Google's search technologyhandles more than 2,900 searches per second. In addition, users have grown to expect that theresponses to their search queries will be returned in less than one second.Now people can obtain information in mere seconds—information that 20 years ago wouldhave required a trip to the library, a search through the Dewey Decimal System, and a footsearch through halls of printed volumes, a process that could easily have consumed two hoursor more. Through the new channel of search, people can also conduct much of their shopping,banking, and social transactions online—something that has changed the way our globalpopulation lives and interacts.This dramatic shift in behavior represents what investors like to label a disruptive event—anevent that has changed something in a fundamental way. Search engines are at the center ofthis disruptive event, and having a business's website rank well in the search engines whenpeople are looking for the service, product, or resource it provides is critical to the survival ofthat business. However, like most paths to success, obtaining such prime search result real 1 More free ebooks : http://fast-file.blogspot.com
estate is not a simple matter, but it is one that this book aims to deconstruct and demystify aswe examine, explain, and explore the ever-changing art of search engine optimization (SEO).The Mission of Search EnginesSearch engines generate revenue primarily through paid advertising. The great majority of thisrevenue comes from a pay-per-click (or cost-per-click) model, in which the advertisers payonly for users who click on their ads.Since web searchers are free to use any of the many available search engines on the Web tofind what they are seeking, the burden is on the search engines to develop a relevant, fast, andfresh search experience. For the most part, search engines accomplish this by being perceivedas having the most relevant results and delivering them the fastest, as users will go to the searchengine they think will get them the answers they want in the least amount of time.As a result, search engines invest a tremendous amount of time, energy, and capital inimproving their relevance. This includes performing extensive studies of user responses to theirsearch results, comparing their results against those of other search engines, conducting eye-tracking studies (discussed later in this chapter), and conducting PR and marketing campaigns.Because the search engines' success depends so greatly on the relevance of their search results,manipulations of search engine rankings that result in non-relevant results (generally referredto as spam) are dealt with very seriously. Each major search engine employs a team of peoplewho focus solely on finding and eliminating spam from their search results. This matters toSEO practitioners because they need to be careful that the tactics they employ will not be seenas spam by the search engines and carry the risk of resulting in penalties for the websites theywork on.The Market Share of Search EnginesFigure 1-1 shows the U.S. market share for search engines in January 2009, according tocomScore. As you can see, Google is the dominant search engine on the Web in the UnitedStates.In many European countries, the disparity is even greater. However, in some markets Googleis not dominant. In China, for instance, Baidu is the leading search engine. The result is thatin most world markets, a heavy focus on SEO is a smart strategy for Google.The Human Goals of SearchingThe basic goal of a human searcher is to obtain information relevant to her inquiry. However,searcher inquiries can take many different forms. One of the most important elements tobuilding an online marketing strategy for a website around SEO and search rankings is2 CHAPTER ONE More free ebooks : http://fast-file.blogspot.com
FIGURE 1-1. Search engine market sharedeveloping a thorough understanding of the psychology of your target audience. Once youunderstand how the average searcher, and more specifically, your target market, uses searchengines, you can more effectively reach and keep those users.Search engine usage has evolved over the years, but the primary principles of conducting asearch remain largely unchanged. The following steps comprise most search processes: 1. Experience the need for an answer, solution, or piece of information. For example, the user may be looking for a website (navigational query) to buy something (transactional query) or to learn something (informational query). We will discuss this in more detail in the following section. 2. Formulate that need in a string of words and phrases (the query). Most people formulate their queries in one to three words. ComScore data from March 2009 shows an average query length of 2.9 words. A more detailed look shows the following percentages of searches per word length (see Table 1-1). TABLE 1-1. Searches by query length (comScore) Words Percent of searches 1 25.32% 2 24.96% 3 19.80% 4 13.17% 5 7.53% 6 4.04% 7 2.15% 8 1.19% THE SEARCH ENGINES: REFLECTING CONSCIOUSNESS AND CONNECTING COMMERCE 3 More free ebooks : http://fast-file.blogspot.com
Data from Hitwise for this book shows a similar distribution of search query lengths (see Table 1-2). TABLE 1-2. Searches by query length (Hitwise) Percentage of U.S. clicks by number of keywords Subject February 2008 January 2009 February 2009 Year-over-year % change One word 21.04% 20.29% 20.48% –3% Two words 24.73% 23.65% 23.47% –5% Three words 21.84% 21.92% 21.68% –1% Four words 14.53% 14.89% 14.98% 3% Five words 8.29% 8.68% 8.72% 5% Six words 4.38% 4.65% 4.71% 8% Seven words 2.29% 2.49% 2.51% 10% Eight or more words 2.90% 3.43% 3.47% 20% Note: data is based on four-week rolling periods (ending February 28, 2009; January 31, 2009; and March 1, 2008) from the Hitwise sample of 10 million U.S. Internet users. Source: Hitwise, an Experian company 3. Execute the query, check the results, see whether you got what you wanted, and if not, try a refined query.When this process results in the satisfactory completion of a task, a positive experience iscreated for the user, the search engine, and the site providing the information or result.Who Searches and What Do They Search For?ComScore reported that the number of search queries performed on the Web wasapproximately 12.6 billion across all engines in December 2008.ComScore data shows that just under 79 million people in the United States were using a searchengine on a given day in January 2009. Search engine users were slightly more likely to bewomen than men (50.4% versus 49.6%). According to comScore, Internet usage increaseswith household income, as per the data shown in Table 1-3 for January 2009.TABLE 1-3. Internet users by household income Household income Internet users $15,000–$24,999 5,792 $25,000–$39,999 16,1084 CHAPTER ONE More free ebooks : http://fast-file.blogspot.com
Household income Internet users $40,000–$59,999 39,716 $60,000–$74,999 20,947 $75,000–$99,000 28,995 $100,000 or more 44,627You can find additional data from studies, surveys, and white papers on Search Engine Land'sStats & Behaviors page.All of this research data leads us to some important conclusions about web search andmarketing through search engines. For example: • Search is very, very popular. It reaches nearly every online American and billions of people around the world. • Google is the dominant player in most world markets. • Users tend to use short search phrases, but these are gradually getting longer. • Search covers all types of markets.Search is undoubtedly one of the best and most important ways to reach consumers and builda business, no matter the size, reach, or focus.Determining Searcher Intent: A Challenge for Both Marketersand Search EnginesGood marketers are empathetic. Smart SEO practitioners and the search engines have acommon goal of providing searchers with results that are relevant to their queries. Therefore,a crucial element to building an online marketing strategy around SEO and search rankings isto understand your audience. Once you grasp how your target market searches for yourservice, product, or resource, you can more effectively reach and keep those users.Search engine marketers need to be aware that search engines are tools—resources driven byintent. Using the search box is fundamentally different from entering a URL into the addressbar, clicking on a bookmark, or picking a link on your start page to go to a website; it is uniquefrom a click on the "stumble" button in your StumbleUpon toolbar or a visit to your favoriteblog. Searches are performed with intent; the user wants to find something in particular, ratherthan just land on it by happenstance.What follows is an examination of the different types of queries, their categories,characteristics, and processes. THE SEARCH ENGINES: REFLECTING CONSCIOUSNESS AND CONNECTING COMMERCE 5 More free ebooks : http://fast-file.blogspot.com
Navigational QueriesNavigational searches are performed with the intent of surfing directly to a specific website. Insome cases, the user may not know the exact URL, and the search engine serves as the "WhitePages." Figure 1-2 shows an example of a navigational query.FIGURE 1-2. Navigational queryOpportunities: Pull searcher away from destination; get ancillary or investigatory traffic.Average value: Generally low, with the exception of navigational searches on the publisher'sown brand, where the value is very high as these types of searches tend to lead to very highconversion rates.Informational QueriesInformational searches involve a huge range of queries—for example, local weather, maps anddirections, details on the latest Hollywood awards ceremony, or just checking how long thattrip to Mars really takes. Informational searches are primarily non-transaction-oriented(although they can include researching information about a product or service); theinformation itself is the goal and no interaction beyond clicking and reading is required.Figure 1-3 shows an example of an informational query.Opportunities: Brand searchers with positive impressions of your site, information, company,and so on; attract inbound links; receive attention from journalists/researchers; potentiallyconvert to sign up or purchase.Average value: Middling. Note, though, that informational queries that are focused onresearching commercial products or services can have high value.6 CHAPTER ONE More free ebooks : http://fast-file.blogspot.com
FIGURE 1-3. Informational queryTransactional QueriesTransactional searches don't necessarily involve a credit card or wire transfer. Signing up fora free trial account at CookIllustrated.com, creating a Gmail account, paying a parking ticket,or finding the best local Mexican cuisine for dinner tonight are all transactional queries.Figure 1-4 shows an example of a transactional query.FIGURE 1-4. Transactional queryOpportunities: Achieve transaction (financial or other).Average value: Very high.Research by Pennsylvania State University and the Queensland University of Technology (http://ist.psu.edu/faculty_pages/jjansen/academic/pubs/jansen_user_intent.pdf) shows that more than THE SEARCH ENGINES: REFLECTING CONSCIOUSNESS AND CONNECTING COMMERCE 7 More free ebooks : http://fast-file.blogspot.com
80% of searches are informational in nature and only about 10% of searches are navigationalor transactional.The researchers went further and developed an algorithm to automatically classify searches byquery type. When they tested the algorithm, they found that it was able to correctly classifyqueries 74% of the time. The difficulty in classifying the remaining queries was vague userintent, that is, the query could have multiple meanings. Here are some URLs that point toadditional academic research on this topic: • http://www.sigir.org/forum/F2002/broder.pdf • http://www.strategynode.com/how-to-determine-if-a-search-query-is-navigational-informational -or-transactionalWhen you are building keyword research charts for clients or on your own sites, it can beincredibly valuable to determine the intent of each of your primary keywords. Table 1-4 showssome examples.TABLE 1-4. Sample search queries and intent Term Queries Intent $$ value Beijing Airport 980 Nav Low Hotels in Xi'an 2,644 Info Mid 7-Day China tour package 127 Trans High Sichuan jellyfish recipe 53 Info LowThis type of analysis can help to determine where to place ads and where to concentrate contentand links.Hopefully, this data can help you to think carefully about how to serve different kinds ofsearchers, based on their individual intents, and then concentrate your efforts in the bestpossible areas.Although informational queries are less likely to immediately convert into sales, this does notnecessarily mean you should forego rankings on such queries. If you are able to build arelationship with users who find your site after an informational query, they may be morelikely to come to you to make the related purchase at a later date.One problem is that when most searchers frame their search query they provide very limiteddata to the search engine, usually in just one to three words. Since most people don't have akeen understanding of how search engines work, they can often provide a query that is toogeneral or in a way that does not provide the search engine (or the marketer) with what itneeds to determine their intent.8 CHAPTER ONE More free ebooks : http://fast-file.blogspot.com
For this reason, general queries are important to most businesses because they often get thebrand and site on the searcher's radar, and this initiates the process of building trust with theuser. Over time, the user will move on to more specific searches that are more transactionalor navigational in nature.If, for instance, companies buying pay-per-click (PPC) search ads bought only the high-converting navigational and transactional terms and left the informational ones to competitors,they would lose market share to those competitors. During several days, a searcher may startwith digital cameras and then hone in on canon g10, and buy from the store that showed up fordigital cameras and pointed her in the direction of the Canon G10 model.Given the general nature of how query sessions start, though, determining intent is quitedifficult, and can result in searches being performed where the user does not find what shewants, even after multiple tries. An August 2007 Foresee/ACSI Report for eMarketer foundthat 75% of search engine and portal users were satisfied with their experiences. In abreakdown by property, 79% of Yahoo! users, 78% of Google users, and 75% of both LiveSearch (Microsoft's web search property, which has since been renamed to Bing) andAsk.com users reported being satisfied.Based on this later study, more than 20% of users did not find what they were looking for.This suggests that there is plenty of room to improve the overall search experience. As an SEOpractitioner, you should be aware that many of the visitors that you succeed in attracting toyour site may have arrived for the wrong reasons (i.e., they were really looking for somethingelse), and these visitors are not likely to help your business goals.How People SearchSearch engines invest significant resources into understanding how people use search, enablingthem to produce better (i.e., faster, fresher, and more relevant) search engine results. Forwebsite publishers, the information regarding how people use search can be used to helpimprove the usability of the site as well as search engine compatibility.Data from comScore provides some great insight into what people actually search for whenthey perform a search. Table 1-5 shows a breakdown of many of the major categories thatpeople's Internet searches fall into, based on comScore data for October 2008. THE SEARCH ENGINES: REFLECTING CONSCIOUSNESS AND CONNECTING COMMERCE 9 More free ebooks : http://fast-file.blogspot.com
TABLE 1-5. Searches by market segment Parent category name Percent of total searches Directories/Resources 16.60% Retail 11.86% Entertainment 11.54% Services 6.63% Education 4.59% Conversational Media 4.04% Government 3.87% Health 3.38% Games 3.26% News/Information 3.06% Hobbies/Lifestyle 3.05% Business/Finance 2.94% Travel 2.21% Community 1.94% Regional/Local 1.87% Sports 1.78% Technology 1.73% Automotive 1.67% Real Estate 1.43% Career Services and Development 1.12% Telecommunications 0.78% Auctions 0.57% Portals 0.56% ISP 0.38% Gambling 0.27% Business to Business 0.25%This shows that people search across a very wide number of categories. Search engines areused to find information in nearly every portion of our lives. In addition, user interactions with10 CHAPTER ONE More free ebooks : http://fast-file.blogspot.com
search engines can be a multistep process. Witness the user search session documented byMicrosoft and shown in Figure 1-5.FIGURE 1-5. Merrell shoes user search sessionIn this sequence, the user performs five searches over a 55+ minute period before making afinal selection. The user is clearly trying to solve a problem and works at it in a persistent fashionuntil the task is done.However, it is increasingly common that search sessions of this type can take place over days.A 2007 study of e-commerce sites by ScanAlert showed that 30% of online transactionsoccurred more than 24 hours after the initial search (http://searchenginewatch.com/3626363).This means people are thinking about their tasks in stages. As in our Merrell shoes example inFigure 1-5, people frequently begin with a general term and gradually get more specific as theyget closer to their goal. They may also try different flavors of general terms. In Figure 1-5, itlooks like the user did not find what she wanted when she searched on Merrell shoes, so shethen tried discount Merrell shoes. You can then see her refine her search in the process, until shefinally settles on Easy Spirit as the type of shoe she wants.This is just one example of a search sequence, and the variety is endless. Figure 1-6 showsanother search session, once again provided courtesy of Microsoft.In this search session, the user has a health concern. This particular user starts with a five-wordsearch, which suggests that she may have some experience using search engines. At 3:01 hersearch on headache pregnant 3rd trimester leads her to Answers.yahoo.com. After visiting thissite, her search suddenly gets more specific. THE SEARCH ENGINES: REFLECTING CONSCIOUSNESS AND CONNECTING COMMERCE 11 More free ebooks : http://fast-file.blogspot.com
FIGURE 1-6. Health user search sessionShe begins to focus on gestational diabetes, perhaps because something she saw onAnswers.yahoo.com led her to believe she may have it. The session culminates in a search forfirst signs of gestational diabetes, which suggests that she has concluded that this is quite possiblythe issue she is facing.The session stops there. It may be that at this point the user feels she has learned what she can.Perhaps her next step is to go to her doctor with her concerns, prepared to ask a number ofquestions based on what she learned.Our next search session example begins with a navigational search, where the user simplywants to find the site for the travel website Orbitz (see Figure 1-7). The user's stay there isquite short, and she progresses to a search on Cancun all inclusive vacation packages. Followingthat she searches on a few specific resorts but finally settles on cancun riviera maya hotels, afterwhich it appears she may have booked her hotel—the final site visited on that search isBookings.occidentalhotels.com, and the direction of her searches changes after that.12 CHAPTER ONE More free ebooks : http://fast-file.blogspot.com
FIGURE 1-7. Travel user search sessionAt that point, the user begins to look for things to do while she is in Cancun. She conducts asearch for cancun theme park and then begins to look for information on xcaret, a well-knowneco park in the area.Users traverse through countless different scenarios when they are searching for something.Search engines do a lot of modeling of these scenarios to enable them to provide better resultsto users. The SEO practitioner can benefit from a basic understanding of searcher behavior aswell. We will discuss this in more detail in Chapter 2. THE SEARCH ENGINES: REFLECTING CONSCIOUSNESS AND CONNECTING COMMERCE 13 More free ebooks : http://fast-file.blogspot.com
How Search Engines Drive Commerce on the WebPeople make use of search engines for a wide variety of purposes, with some of the mostpopular being to research, locate, and buy products. Even with the recession that (officially)hit the U.S. economy in late 2007, and which continues through the publication date of thisbook, e-commerce sales reported by the U.S. Census Bureau were a healthy $31.9 billion (http://www.census.gov/mrts/www/data/pdf/08Q4.pdf) through 2008.It is important to note that search and offline behavior have a heavy degree of interaction, withsearch playing a growing role in driving offline sales. A Yahoo! study from 2007 (http://searchengineland.com/yahoos-robo-study-search-has-big-impact-on-offline-purchases-11832) showedthe following: • Online advertising drives $6 offline (in stores) for every $1 spent online. • Search marketing has a greater impact on in-store sales lift than display advertising—three times greater, in fact.There is also a significant amount of interaction between search and local offline commerce.WebVisible and Nielsen produced a 2007 report on local search (http://searchengineland.com/survey-search-now-top-resource-for-local-information-12396) that noted: • 74% of respondents used search engines to find local business information versus 65% who turned to print Yellow Pages, 50% who used Internet Yellow Pages, and 44% who used traditional newspapers. • 86% surveyed said they have used the Internet to find a local business, a rise from the 70% figure reported the year before. • 80% reported researching a product or service online, then making that purchase offline from a local business.Local search is an increasingly important component of SEO, and one which we will explorein detail in Chapter 2.Eye Tracking: How Users Scan Results PagesResearch firms Enquiro, Eyetools, and Didit conducted heat-map testing with search engineusers (http://www.enquiro.com/research/eyetrackingreport.asp) that produced fascinating resultsabout what users see and focus on when engaged in search activity. Figure 1-8 depicts a heatmap showing a test performed on Google. The graphic indicates that users spent the mostamount of time focusing their eyes in the top-left area where shading is the darkest.Published in November 2006, this particular study perfectly illustrates how little attention ispaid to results lower on the page versus those higher up, and how users' eyes are drawn tobold keywords, titles, and descriptions in the natural ("organic") results versus the paid searchlistings, which receive comparatively little attention.14 CHAPTER ONE More free ebooks : http://fast-file.blogspot.com
FIGURE 1-8. Enquiro eye-tracking resultsThis research study also showed that different physical positioning of on-screen search resultsresulted in different user eye-tracking patterns. When viewing a standard Google results page,users tended to create an "F-shaped" pattern with their eye movements, focusing first andlongest on the upper-lefthand corner of the screen; moving down vertically through the firsttwo or three results; moving across the page to the first paid page result; moving down anotherfew vertical results; and then moving across again to the second paid result. (This study wasdone only on left-to-right language search results—Chinese, Hebrew, etc. results would bedifferent.)In May 2008, Google introduced the notion of Universal Search. This was a move from simplyshowing the 10 most relevant web pages (now referred to as "10 blue links") to showing othertypes of media, such as videos, images, news results, and so on, as part of the results in thebase search engine. The other search engines followed suit within a few months, and theindustry now refers to this general concept as Blended Search.Blended Search, however, creates more of a chunking effect, where the chunks are aroundthe various rich media objects, such as images or video. Understandably, users focus on theimage first. Then they look at the text beside it to see whether it corresponds to the image orvideo thumbnail (which is shown initially as an image). Based on an updated study published THE SEARCH ENGINES: REFLECTING CONSCIOUSNESS AND CONNECTING COMMERCE 15 More free ebooks : http://fast-file.blogspot.com
by Enquiro in September 2007, Figure 1-9 shows what the eye-tracking pattern on a BlendedSearch page looks like.FIGURE 1-9. Enquiro eye-tracking results, Blended SearchUsers' eyes then tend to move in shorter paths to the side, with the image rather than theupper-left-corner text as their anchor. Note, however, that this is the case only when the imageis placed above the fold, so that the user can see it without having to scroll down on the page.Images below the fold do not influence initial search behavior until the searcher scrolls down.This study is a vivid reminder of how important search engine results pages (SERPs) really are.And as the eye-tracking research demonstrates, "rich" or "personalized" search, as it evolves,will alter users' search patterns even more: there will be more items on the page for them tofocus on, and more ways for them to remember and access the search listings. Search marketersneed to be prepared for this as well.Click Tracking: How Users Click on Results, Natural Versus PaidBy now, you should be convinced that you want to be on the top of the SERPs. It never hurtsto be #1 in the natural search results.In a bit of contrast to that, data shows that you may not want to be #1 in the paid search results,because the resulting cost to gain the #1 position in a PPC campaign can reduce the total netmargin on your campaign. A study released by AdGooroo in June 2008 found that: Bidding for top positions usually makes financial sense only for high-budget, brand-name advertisers. Most other advertisers will find the optimal position for the majority of their keywords to lie between positions 5–7.Of course, many advertisers may seek the #1 position in paid search results for a number ofreasons. For example, if they have a really solid backend on their website and are able to makemoney when they are in the #1 position, they may well choose to pursue it. Nonetheless, thedata from the survey suggests that there are many organizations for which being #1 in paidsearch does not make sense.16 CHAPTER ONE More free ebooks : http://fast-file.blogspot.com
Even if your natural ranking is #1, you can still increase the ranking page's click rate by havinga sponsored ad above it or in the right column. The AdGooroo survey showed that a prominentpaid ad on the same search results page makes your #1 natural ranking receive 20% moreclicks.Distribution of Search Results and TrafficTo start breaking this down a bit, Figure 1-10 shows the screen real estate occupied by the twotypes of search results.FIGURE 1-10. Paid and natural search resultsThis example from Google shows how the paid results appear above and to the right of thenatural search results. Note that Google often does not show paid results above the naturalresults, in which case the paid results show up only on the right.Your position in the results has a huge impact on the traffic you will receive. Here is some dataabout that: • An April 2006 study by iProspect and Jupiter Research found that: — 62% of search engine users click on a search result within the first page of results, and 90% within the first three pages. — 41% of search engine users who continue their search when not finding what they seek report changing their search term and/or search engine if they do not find what they're looking for on the first page of results; 88% report doing so after three pages. — 36% of users agree that "seeing a company listed among the top results on a search engine makes me think that the company is a top one within its field." THE SEARCH ENGINES: REFLECTING CONSCIOUSNESS AND CONNECTING COMMERCE 17 More free ebooks : http://fast-file.blogspot.com
• A study on data leaked from AOL's search query logs in August 2006 (http://www .webuildpages.com/jim/click-rate-for-top-10-search-results/) reveals the impact of position on the search results on the percentage of clicks received, as shown in Figure 1-11. In addition, the first 10 results received 89.71% of all click-through traffic; the next 10 results (normally listed on the second page of results) received 4.37%; the third page 2.42%; and the fifth page 1.07%. All other pages of results received less than 1% of total search traffic clicks.FIGURE 1-11. Click-through rate by SERP positionWhy are searchers blind to relevant results farther down the page? Is this due to the "impliedendorsement" effect, whereby searchers tend to simply trust the search engine to point themto the right thing? Or is it just the way humans are wired, to make snap decisions, as MalcolmGladwell insightfully explains in his book Blink (Little Brown)?According to the study, 72% of searchers click on the first link of interest, whereas 25.5% readall listings first and then decide which one to click. Both effects (implied endorsement and rapidcognition) most likely play a role in searcher behavior.Different Intents and Effects of Listings in Paid Versus Natural ResultsThe AOL data in Figure 1-11 demonstrated that natural results get the lion's share of clickresults. Further data from the Enquiro, Didit, and Eyetools eye-tracking study shows whichresults users notice when looking at a search results page (see Table 1-6).18 CHAPTER ONE More free ebooks : http://fast-file.blogspot.com
TABLE 1-6. Visibility of natural search results Rank Visibility 1 100% 2 100% 3 100% 4 85% 5 60% 6 50% 7 50% 8 30% 9 30% 10 20%Table 1-7 shows the percentage of participants looking at a listing in this location in the paidresults.TABLE 1-7. Visibility of paid search results Rank Visibility 1 50% 2 40% 3 30% 4 20% 5 10% 6 10% 7 10% 8 10%Notice how the visibility of a listing in the natural results is double or more (up to six times)of the visibility of the same position in the paid results. For example, in position 5 only 60%of users ever even notice the natural search result. But the paid search results fare even worse,with only 10% of users noticing the result in the fifth position.Here are some additional takeaways from the Enquiro et al. study: • 85% of searchers click on natural results. THE SEARCH ENGINES: REFLECTING CONSCIOUSNESS AND CONNECTING COMMERCE 19 More free ebooks : http://fast-file.blogspot.com
• The top four sponsored slots are equivalent in views to being ranked at 7–10 in natural search in terms of visibility and click-through. • This means if you need to make a business case for natural search, then (assuming you can attain at least the #3 rank in natural search for the same keywords you bid on) natural search could be worth two to three times your PPC results.It is interesting to note that in spite of this data, companies are much more likely to spendmoney on PPC than SEO. For example, on June 30, 2008, Jupiter Research released a report(http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-9980927-93.html) showing that search advertising shouldcontinue to be the largest category of online ad spending, growing from $9.1 billion in 2007to $20.9 billion in 2013. That is significant growth.During the same period, SEMPO data via Massimo Burgio shows that spending on SEO was$1.3 billion, with 11% of search-related budgets going to SEO and 87% to PPC (with another1.4% to PPC technologies and <1% to paid inclusion).Clearly, the PPC model is easier for companies to understand because it is more similar totraditional direct marketing methods than SEO is. The ROI of PPC can be tracked anddemonstrated more reliably than SEO; thus, to date it has been considered more accountableas a marketing channel. However, as budgets are tightening and the focus is shifting to thehighest ROI search investments, the focus is increasingly on SEO.Interaction Between Natural and Paid SearchICrossing published a report (http://www.icrossing.com/articles/Search%20Synergy%20Report.pdf )that showed a strong synergy between natural and paid search. The study shows what happenswhen you incorporate natural search into an existing paid search campaign and compare itsperformance to the performance of the sole paid search campaign. Figure 1-12 summarizes theimprovement in the results.The marked improvement in click-through rate intuitively makes sense. For years marketershave known that the number of impressions a consumer is exposed to will have a dramaticeffect on metrics such as retention and likelihood to buy.A search page provides you with more than one opportunity to put your name in front of theuser. You should take advantage of this if you can. It is also useful to understand the differencebetween natural and paid search. Although some users do not understand the distinctionbetween natural search results and paid search results, it is a well-accepted belief in the industrythat the majority of users recognize paid search results as advertisements.Other Factors to ConsiderThere are many other aspects to consider when thinking about search and your business. Hereare some interesting examples:20 CHAPTER ONE More free ebooks : http://fast-file.blogspot.com
FIGURE 1-12. Interaction between natural and paid searchNumber of visits before purchase A May 2007 study by ScanAlert showed that only 43% of users who made a purchase on a site made that purchase within an hour of their initial visit to the site. So, to translate that a bit, only 43% of users were likely to have made their purchase upon their first visit to the site. In addition, 26% of purchasers made their purchases after three days or more! This suggests that it is very important for publishers to plan on more complex interactions with users across multiple visits to the site.Presentation changes made by the search engines In February 2008, Yahoo! announced its SearchMonkey platform. This platform allows publishers and developers to directly influence the search results shown when your web pages are included in those results. Figure 1-13 shows a sample search result that demonstrates this. Notice how the third listing (Yelp) looks different from the rest of the results. The difference in the look of the results really catches the eye, and can significantly impact click-through rates. And it works, as Amit Kumar of Yahoo! recently stated: "Our tests uncovered that users found these apps useful; in fact, in some cases, we saw a lift in click- through rate of as high as 15 percent." THE SEARCH ENGINES: REFLECTING CONSCIOUSNESS AND CONNECTING COMMERCE 21 More free ebooks : http://fast-file.blogspot.com
FIGURE 1-13. Yahoo!'s SearchMonkeyConclusionSearch has penetrated the very fabric of global society. The way people work, play, shop,research, and interact has changed forever. Organizations of all kinds (businesses andcharities), as well as individuals, need to have a presence on the Web—and they need thesearch engines to bring them traffic. As our society moves ever closer to a professionalconsumer ("prosumer") economy, the ways in which people create, publish, distribute, andultimately find information and resources on the Internet will continue to be of greatimportance. This book will investigate further just how search, and therefore search engineoptimization, is at the center of the Web and is your key to success in the new web economy.22 CHAPTER ONE More free ebooks : http://fast-file.blogspot.com
CHAPTER TWO Search Engine BasicsI N THIS CHAPTER , WE WILL BEGIN TO EXPLORE HOW SEARCH ENGINES WORK . Building a strongfoundation on this topic is essential to understanding the SEO practitioner's craft.As we discussed in Chapter 1, people have become accustomed to receiving nearlyinstantaneous answers from search engines after they have submitted a search query. InChapter 1 we also discussed the volume of queries (more than 4,500 per second), and Googlereported in July 2008 that it knew of about 1 trillion pages on the Web (http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/07/we-knew-web-was-big.html).Underlying this enormous data processing task is the complex nature of the task itself. One ofthe most important things to understand about search engines is that the crawlers (or spiders)used to visit all the web pages across the Web are software programs. Software programs areonly as smart as the algorithms used in implementing them, and although artificial intelligenceis being increasingly used in those algorithms, web crawling programs still don't have theadaptive intelligence of human beings.Software programs cannot adequately interpret each of the various types of data that humanscan—videos and images, for example, are to a certain extent less readable by a search enginecrawler than they are through the eyes of humans. In the section "Vertical SearchEngines" on page 65, we will discuss how advances in image and video search have enabledsearch engines to inch even closer to human-like understanding. 23 More free ebooks : http://fast-file.blogspot.com
Understanding Search Engine ResultsIn the search marketing field, the pages the engines return to fulfill a query are referred to assearch engine results pages (SERPs). Each engine returns results in a slightly different format andwill include vertical results (specific content targeted to a query based on certain triggers in thequery, which we'll illustrate shortly).Understanding the Layout of Search Results PagesFigure 2-1 shows the SERPs in Google for the query stuffed animals.FIGURE 2-1. Layout of Google search resultsFigure 2-2 shows Yahoo!'s results for the same query.Figure 2-3 shows the layout of the results from Microsoft's Bing.Each unique section represents a snippet of information provided by the engines. Here are thedefinitions of what each piece is meant to provide:Vertical navigation Each engine offers the option to search different verticals, such as images, news, video, or maps. Following these links will result in a query with a more limited index. In Figure 2-3, for example, you might be able to see news items about stuffed animals or videos featuring stuffed animals.Search query box All of the engines show the query you've performed and allow you to edit or reenter a new query from the search results page. Next to the search query box, the engines also24 CHAPTER TWO More free ebooks : http://fast-file.blogspot.com
FIGURE 2-2. Layout of Yahoo! search resultsFIGURE 2-3. Layout of Bing search results offer links to the advanced search page, the features of which we'll discuss later in the book.Results information This section provides a small amount of meta information about the results that you're viewing, including an estimate of the number of pages relevant to that particular query (these numbers can be, and frequently are, wildly inaccurate and should be used only as a rough comparative measure). SEARCH ENGINE BASICS 25 More free ebooks : http://fast-file.blogspot.com
PPC (a.k.a. paid search) advertising The "Sponsored Results," to use Yahoo!'s terms, are text ads purchased by companies that use the various search ad platforms—Google AdWords, Yahoo! Search Marketing, and Microsoft adCenter. The results are ordered by a variety of factors, including relevance (for which click-through rate, use of searched keywords in the ad, and relevance of the landing page are factors in Google) and bid amount (the ads require a maximum bid, which is then compared against other advertisers' bids).Natural/organic/algorithmic results These results are pulled from the search engines' primary indexes of the Web and ranked in order of relevance and popularity according to their complex algorithms. This area of the results is the primary focus of this section of the book.Query refinement suggestions A relatively recent feature, query refinements are now offered by all three engines. The goal of these links is to let users search with a more specific and possibly more relevant query that will satisfy their intent. In March 2009, Google enhanced the refinements by implementing Orion Technology, based on technology Google acquired in 2006. The goal of this enhancement is to provide a wider array of refinement choices. For example, a search on principles of physics will display refinements for the Big Bang, angular momentum, quantum physics, and special relativity.Be aware that the SERPs are always changing as the engines test new formats and layouts.Thus, the images in Figures 2-1 through 2-3 may be accurate for only a few weeks or monthsuntil Google, Yahoo!, and Microsoft shift to new formats.How Vertical Results Fit into the SERPsThese "standard" results, however, are certainly not all that the engines have to offer. For manytypes of queries, search engines show vertical results, or instant answers (which Googlecollectively refers to as onebox results), and include more than just links to other sites to helpanswer a user's questions. These types of results present many additional challenges andopportunities for the SEO practitioner.Figure 2-4 shows an example of these types of results. The query in Figure 2-4 brings back adirect map with an address and the option to get directions. This result is drawn from a GoogleMaps search and attempts to provide the user with the answer he is seeking directly in thesearch results.Figure 2-5 shows another example. The Google search in Figure 2-5 for weather plus a cityname returns a direct answer. Once again, the user may not even need to click on a website ifall he wanted to know was the temperature.26 CHAPTER TWO More free ebooks : http://fast-file.blogspot.com
FIGURE 2-4. Local search result for a businessFIGURE 2-5. Weather search on GoogleFigure 2-6 is an example of a search for a well-known painter. A Google search for the famouspainter Edward Hopper returns image results of some of his most memorable works. Thisexample is a little different from the "instant answers" type of result shown in Figures 2-4 and2-5. If the user is interested in the first painting shown, he may well click on it to see thepainting in a larger size or to get more information about it. For the SEO practitioner, gettingplaced in this onebox result could be a significant win.Figure 2-7 shows an example from Yahoo!. A query on Yahoo! for chicago restaurants bringsback a list of popular dining establishments from Yahoo!'s local portal. High placement in theseresults has likely been a good thing for Giordanos Pizzeria.Figure 2-8 is an example of an instant answer result from Yahoo!. Searching Yahoo! to findthe number of pounds in a ton brings back an instant answer of 2,000 pounds. Microsoft's Bingalso presents vertical results and instant answer results. SEARCH ENGINE BASICS 27 More free ebooks : http://fast-file.blogspot.com
FIGURE 2-6. Google search on an artist's nameFIGURE 2-7. Yahoo! search for Chicago restaurantsFIGURE 2-8. Yahoo! instant answer resultFigure 2-9 is an example of a celebrity search.The results in Figure 2-9 include a series of images of the famous actor Charlie Chaplin. As alast example, Figure 2-10 is a look at the Bing search results for videos with Megan Fox.At the top of the search results in Figure 2-10, you get a series of popular videos provided.Click on a video in the results and the video begins playing right there in the search results.28 CHAPTER TWO More free ebooks : http://fast-file.blogspot.com