Now, immediately after conducting a search, you can see live updates from people on popular sites like Twitter and FriendFeed, as well as headlines from news and blog posts published just seconds before. When they are relevant, we’ll rank these latest results to show the freshest information right on the search results page.

Google real-time search does exactly what it says on the can by returning some really impressive real time results from a variety of news sites, blogs and social media sites like Twitter, FriendFeed, Facebook, MySpace and Identi.ca (although Facebook and MySpace updates are yet to implemented). 

Apart from its highly accurate real time relevancy, the real appeal of Google’s real time search results to me is the natural flowing integration it has with Google’s other static search results.

How Can You Access Google Real Time Search?

At this moment Google’s real time search cannot be accessed directly on google.com or google.co.uk. It can however be accessed by using this URL:

http://www.google.com/webhp?hl=en&esrch=RTSearch

Here is an awesome video showing real-time search in action:

Post from: Fuzz One Media

I’m not sure if you’ve seen this but my fav Sesame Street characters – Bert and Ernie are on today’s Google home page. I know it might be a bit of a mundane topic to blog about but I absolutely love them and appreciate the impact Sesame Street had on my education earlier on in my life that later gave me an edge in life. Happy 40th Birthday Sesame Street.

Post from: Fuzz One Media

Achieving a ‘decent’ PageRank is still part of most SEO campaigns for newly launched websites. ‘Decent’ in my opinion could be termed as a PageRank of 3 and above. I have to say I’ve seen websites with PRs of 1-3 rank No.1 for highly competitive key phrases.

So if you are a PageRank junkie or just an SEO whose client requires a decent PR as a key performance indicator (KPI) for their project, here is a nice PageRank Calculator table that guides you on approximately how many links you would need to acquire to get your desired PageRank

So to get a PR5 for a newly setup website, you would need only 1 PR7 link or 101 PR4 links. And to get a site up to PR6, you would need 19 PR6 links or 4 PR7 links or a massive 555 PR4 links.

The moral of the story here is if you are into getting a high PR for your site, you are probably better off spending your time acquiring fewer higher PR links than trying to acquire hundreds and in some cases thousands of low PR links – imagine, you would need about 3,055 PR4 links for get a PR7 and only 4 PR8 links to get your website to a PageRank of 7. Some sites get the best of both worlds i.e. massive amounts of low PR links and high PR links via link baiting.

A Point of Warning!

The above calculations are based on the assumption that the webpage in each scenario has only one to three outbound links (which in reality is hard to come by). As an example, the value of link from a PR7 webpage with 50 outbound links on it already is sure to pass a PR6 or less to the sites it links to but a PR7 webpage with a single link on it would pass the full PR7 value to that single link. If you have a reasonable understanding of calculus, you can read the original Google paper – The Anatomy of a Large-Scale Hypertextual Web Search Engine and this Wikipedia article on PageRank.

Post from: Fuzz One Media

Another PageRank toolbar update is in progress at the moment. I think it would take a few more days to fully update across the web. Although web page / website PageRank updates are not as important as actually ranking for your key phrases of choice, it is still a well accepted parameter of a good website in the webmaster community.

Some site’s of mine & my clients have had their PR increased, some other websites’ PR have remained static and others have actually dropped. I have however doublechecked their organic search referral traffic and their Google rankings; they all appear to be normal. It’s yet more proof that PR does not have a huge impact on traffic and rankings.

Lets just sit tight and wait for the update to propagate.

Photo credits: DannySullivan via Flickr

Post from: Fuzz One Media

I unfortunately could not personally test it as it is gradually being rolled across the U.S. first before it hits this side of the pond. But here is a video that shows what it can do.

I am keen to know if Google would be selling or collaborating with music stores like iTunes to actually sell music.

Also What would Google Music do to combat music piracy? I mean as much as they say on their blog that you would be provided key links to tracks from Green Day’s new album when you search for “21st century breakdown” (their new album title), do they know when you search for “21st century breakdown rar” you get search results with downloads of pirated versions of the “21st century breakdown” album?

And really in this day and age, if I want to sample music, I head straight to Spotify first.

It’s still smart idea to make music related searches richer though.

Post from: Fuzz One Media

The summary of the two articles was that:

• Online advertising expenditure in the first half of 2009 was £1.75 billion
• TV advertising over the same period (H1 2009) was £1.6 billion

It’s not a huge margin but considering that the entire advertising industry contracted by 16.6% in H1 2009 and TV advertising declined by 17% in H1 2009 (year on year); online advertising proved to be a recession buster with 4.6% year-on-year growth in the first half of 2009. Freaking amazing…I’ll say!

Lets dig a little deeper to find out the sectors in online advertising that actually tick:

Paid Search

Paid Search a.k.a Google AdWords  -  Yes you guessed it, grew by 6.8% in H1 2009 (year-on-year)

Paid Search now accounts for a massive 59.8% of online marketing spend with a total of £1.05bn spent in H1 2009

Paid Search which is clearly dominated by the almighty Google via its Google AdWords platform probably accounts for over 80% of £1.05bn spend in H1. Google actually recorded revenues of a total of £973m in H1 2009 – which is about 92.6% of H1 2009 UK Paid Search spend. Paid search provides a direct response advertising platform with very measurable results.

Classified Advertising

Advertising on classified sites actually recorded the highest growth of 10.6% in H1 2009 (year-on-year)

Classified advertising now account for 22% on all online marketing spend with a total of only £385m spent in H1 2009

It looks to me that over the course of the recession, advertisers woke up to the reality that newspaper classified ads were not working for them and then started to migrate to online classified advertising for lower costs and it’s reach. Only time would tell whether this trend would be on the up 12 months from now. A 10.6% year-on-year growth is none the less pretty impressive.

Display Advertising

Display advertising was the upset of the lot, with a H1 2009 year-on-year decline of 5.2%.

Display advertising accounted for about 18.1% of online advertising spend in the UK, at £316.5m in H1 2009

Display ads have not always met marketers expectations for sales and lead generation. They are akin to newspaper advertising as they are mainly used as branding tools. In a recession, marketers want fast measurable results, but display ads unfortunately do not deliver like Paid Search.

Conclusions

With plans for broadband in every UK home by 2012, I see advertisers pouring more and more money into online advertising. 70% of UK households currently have internet access, so there is room for an increase in online advertising spend to cater for the remaining 30%. I am in no doubt that the online advertising industry is still a growth sector and that paid search would emerge as the winner before the online marketing industry starts to mature. I can’t wait for H2 2009 results!

Post from: Fuzz One Media

As you probably already know, Google announced not just an algorithmic update but an entire architecture re-write of its web search called “Google Caffeine” a few day’s back. The head of Google’s Webspam team, Matt Cutts actually made a comparison of the Caffeine update to the infamous “Big Daddy Update” back in 2005.

The big question at the moment is what does the Google Caffeine update mean to SEOs? Here are seven things every SEO expert should know about Caffeine:

1. Test Caffeine

Caffeine is available for all to test on http://www2.sandbox.google.com/. This is a preview interface and is still work-in-progress. So expect changes in the SERPs as well as some downtime when it is under-going updates. You would notice it is a whole lot faster than the current version of Google

2. Do not Panic

SEO’s tend get into a frenzy whenever Google announces updates of any sort – be it PageRank updates or algorithmic updates. The advantage of Caffeine is that you can test it as well as give Google feedback. Just scroll to the bottom of the search result page that says “Dissatisfied? Help us improve.” Click on that link, type your feedback in the text box and then include the word caffeine somewhere in the text box in your suggestion or observation.

3. Link building – focus on quality not quantity

I ran some tests on a couple of the sites I manage with higher proportions of either high or low profile backlinks. Sites with a higher proportion of low profile backlinks in comparison to sites with a higher proportion of medium and high profile backlinks, I found were not fairing too well on Caffeine but getting still decent page one rankings on the current Google search.

My advice to SEO’s kicking off new projects or managing existing SEO campaigns would be to focus on link quality rather than quantity. Ramp up your acquisition of high profile backlinks to stand a chance of getting decent rankings on Caffeine.

4. Test Caffeine based on location & language

Although http://www2.sandbox.google.com/ is Caffeine’s URL, using query parameters, you can view results based by language & your geographic location. The parameters are as follows:

hl = language
gl = country code

As an example:

Viewing UK results you would need the “gl=uk” parameter: http://www2.sandbox.google.com/search?gl=uk

Viewing French language results in Canada, you would need parameters;
“hl=fr” and “gl=ca”:
http://www2.sandbox.google.com/search?hl=fr&gl=ca

5. Fix all your site’s Crawlability Issues

Fundamentally, Caffeine is a re-write of Google’s indexing system. Improvements have been made on Google’s crawling, indexing speed and result relevancy. The fact that Google has improved each of these key indexing elements means it is ever so important for webmasters and SEOs alike to make their sites more crawable and easier to index. Ensure you check your crawl stats, crawl errors and XML sitemap stats on Google Webmaster tools. Also ensure your house is in order to get your site is fully indexed. This way you can focus on link popularity.

6. Speed – Your Page Load Times

There is no question that page load times are important for crawling and indexing. Ensure that your site has decent page load times to get the best of Caffeine and to maintain a high crawl rate. I have noticed a slight drop in the SERPs on Caffeine for some of my slower loading sites – this is speculative and might be down to some other factors but I have nevertheless noticed.

7. Real Time Search

With the current advances in the real time search arena i.e. Facebook’s acquisition of Friendfeed and Twitter search, there is no doubt that Google’s architecture overhaul via Caffeine is geared towards real time indexing and real time search. At the time of writing this post, Caffeine’s SERPs were not too different from Google’s, but I expect to see more news, blog and social media a.k.a. twitter results to feature upon its full release. If you have tested Caffeine, you would have noticed how fast it results are (at least for the time being).

On the whole, exciting times albeit challenging times lay ahead for SEOs. Social media is going to play a more important role in SEO campaigns and Google would rely more and more on quality links to determine relevancy. If you have been practising good SEO, then there is really no need to worry about Caffeine as you would have noticed when you checked your site out.

Photo credits: D’Arcy Norman via flickr

Post from: Fuzz One Media

This is a WebProNews interview with Matt Cutts about Google Caffeine, an über major Google update that has meant a complete re-write of Google’s web search architecture. The Caffeine update means improved crawling, faster indexing and more relevant search results. I would be writing about its impact on SEO in a subsequent post. In the meantime, enjoy the video!

Check out Caffeine on: http://www2.sandbox.google.com.

Post from: Fuzz One Media

I came across this Webinar video presentation this morning when doing some research on the landing design best practises and have to say it is the best I have come across as yet. It was presented by Tim Ash, author of the book, Landing Page Optimization and the CEO of sitetuners.com for the official Google AdWords blog, Inside AdWords.

I have to say, it is a really long video, with a duration of about 1hr 15mins. For that reason, I have summarised the key salient points from his presentation. Hope you enjoy it!

• Sin #1 – Unclear Call-to-Action
• Sin #2 – Too many Choices
• Sin #3 – Asking for too much information
• Sin #4 – Too much text
• Sin #5 – Not Keeping Your Promises
• Sin #6 – Visual Distractions
• Sin #7 – Lack of Credibility & Trust

Sin #1 – Unclear Call-to-Action

Question Visitors’ Ask: What do they want me to do on this page?
Answer: Strengthening Call-to-action

Common Issues

• Spend precious time deciding what to do
• Get confused and frustrated

The Fix:

• “Call-to-action” should be clear & draw the eye
• Placement of call-to-action should be “about-the-fold”
• Competing calls-to-action should be de-emphasized

Sin #2 – Too Many Choices

Question Visitors’ Ask: What do I do next?
Answer: Get them closer to their goal

Common Issues

• Too many choices cause paralysis
• Can’t find the right link to get closer to desired goal

The Fix:

• Don’t present detail too early in the process
• Group choices into a small number of categories
• Use visual shortcuts to reduce reading

Sin #3 – Asking for Too Much Information

Question Visitors’ Ask: Is this information absolutely necessary to complete the transaction? (Form fill test)
Answer: Simplified Forms

Common Issues

• Each extra form field makes the process more imposing
• Information asked for is inappropriate or too personal
• Have you earned the right to get my email?

The Fix:

• Ask only for absolutely-required information
• Collect additional information at a later date
• Shorten label and unclutter form layout (use usability tricks)
• You can break one pages forms into multiple phases

Sin #4 – Too Much Text

Question Visitors’ Ask: Do you really expect me to read all of this?
Answer: Shorten Your Text

Common Issues

• Short attention span – people don’t read on the web
• Information overload – hit the “back” button

The Fix:

• Use clear headlines and headings
• Put important stuff first – write in “inverted pyramid” style (Jakob Nielsen)
• Do not write in complete sentences – use short bullet lists
• Ruthlessly edit and shorten your text
• Cancel all subject speak make you

Sin #5 – Not Keeping Your Promises

Question Visitors’ Ask: This page is not what I expected
Answer: Keep Your Promises

Common Issues

• Disconnect from “upstream” ad promise
• Promised information is not on the landing page
• Mismatching the searchers intent

The Fix:

Repeat the ad-text or keywords on your page

Provide clear access to information from the ad

Sin #6 – Visual Distractions

Question Visitors’ Ask: Where am I supposed to look on this page?
Answer: Make it More Boring

Common Issues:

• Visual assault is extremely annoying
• “Gratuitous graphics” unrelated to product/service
• No clear separation of content and navigation
• Time wasted on looking at the wrong stuff

The Fix:

• Don’t compete with the call-to-action
• Remove colourful page elements and animation/motion
• Replace generic photos with specific relevant images
• Don’t use image unless they are directly relevant to your product

Sin #7 – Lack of Credibility & Trust

Question Visitors’ Ask: Why should I trust & buy from you?

Common issues:

• Lack of endorsements
• No “social proof” (testimonials)
• Trust symbols are not prominent
• Assurances are presented too late in the process

The Fix – Borrow & Solidify Trust:

• Feature well-known symbols/logos/brands prominently
• Use client logos/brands/media coverage as “badges”
• Remove anxiety with generous policies & guarantees

Recommended Reading

• Permission Marketing – Seth Godin
• Don’t Make Me Think – Steve Krug
• 24 Immutable Laws of Marketing – Al & Laura Ries
• Landing Page Optimization – Tim Ash

Remember multi-variant testing i.e. A/B testing to test your landing pages. You can use Google’s Website Optimizer for free.

Post from: Fuzz One Media

Online News

Managing PR content on corporate websites as a tactic was short-lived and not sufficient enough in the ever changing internet. With the sheer speed of information on the web through news sites, PR professionals had to figure out how to also grab attention from ‘authoritative’ old and new media news websites.

Online PR & SEO

The major seismal change for PR was the emergence of professional ‘online PR’ sites and Search Engine Optimisation. Online PR sites like PR Web & i-Newswire are the new ‘wire’ PR professionals send announcements through to in order to grab the attention of journalists, their industry and the web in general. PR professionals have had to figure out how to use these PR websites to their maximum capabilities. This is where the SEO/PR crossover has taken place.

As you know, Search Engine Optimisation is a collection of methodologies and processes aimed at improving the search engine rankings of websites. PR sites work well with the search engine optimisation process because they improve the link popularity of websites they promote. Because of this change, PR Professionals have had to either work with SEO professionals who undertake keyword research in order to discover popular, more commonly used keywords and help with link placements or have had to learn SEO themselves. I remember I used to provide our PR department with a set of keywords to use for press releases they sent through PR websites.

Blog

The next major wave to hit the PR industry was blogging. The advent of blogging empowered masses of people to have an opinion. The blog publishing industry tree has hundreds or perhaps thousands of branches of subjects and genres with loyal followers. Blogs have meant more specialisation on topics in the publishing industry. There are obvious quality issues in the blogosphere but there are also established authoritative blogs in every industry. PR professionals not only have to think about getting their brands out on Top notch blogs but also need to build somewhat authoritative blogs for their brands. Corporate blogs at the moment are the medium through which of PR departments can self-publicize the brands.

Twitter

Like blogging was not enough, micro-blogging has arrived. With roughly about 2.5 million users, Twitter is the defacto micro-blogging platform at the moment and is an area PR professionals and brand managers need to adapt to. It’s brevity is its strength and its potential to reach thousands of people must not be overlooked. Twitter can take your brand to another level if your PR strategy is well thought through. Business owners might have to look for Social media professionals to work with the public relations and marketing team to get the most out twitter. Its probably not the last platform PR professionals would have to adapt to but its certainly the current platform garnering huge attention at the moment. Social media in general should be watched really closely.

I will be blogging about tips on marketing on twitter and social media in general.

For further reading read…

The importance of Online PR (slideshow)

Post from: Fuzz One Media