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This podcast discusses the announcement of Cuil.

Cuil is a new search engine from former Google engineers.  It has been under development for about two years.

Cuil uses a different approach to indexing.  Out of the gate, they claim to have indexed 120 billion web pages. 

Cuil is indexing content based on content and displaying other relevant keyword.  Their monetization strategy is not apparent.

They are using a semantic approach by helping the user with similar keywords.  For many search results, cuil displays a table to the right with suggested categories to consider in the search.

Cuil is displaying results in a magazine style using three columns across.  Each page is not limited to 10 listings.  Most listings displays a graphical image such as a company logo.  Graphical images are being pulled by their algorthm.  Cuil makes being on the first page even more compelling. 

From a user experience standpoint Cuil seems friendly and easy to use. 

It remains to be seen in the long run if Cuil will gain market share.  Google is the king of search engines. 

We are focused on understanding the impact of Cuil on search engine optimization (SEO). 

Will Google legally challenge Cuil?

Stay tuned for more on Cuil.

What do you think of Cuil?

Tags: Cuil, cuil.com, Google, search engine, SEO

Two highly respected former Google engineers have launched a new search engine called cuil, pronounced “cool.” 

I don’t know for sure, but perhaps the name is a reference to the more visually appearing interface design.  You be the judge. Apparently, this new search engine project has been under development for a couple of years. 

Cuil claims to have indexed more than 120 billion web pages. Google doesn’t disclose how many pages their index contains. 

Cuil’s indexing method claims to index web pages based on semantic methods considering how keywords are related to each other.  Cuil lists results three across a page, rather than ten down like Google.  Each listing also contains more summary text than Google and also includes an image which is often the logo of a business if the listing is a business. 

Cuil is accepting submissions for websites which it has not crawled.  It is still a little buggy.  When searching on a keyword phrase we track for a client, I found the client’s listing on the first page, just the same as Google.  Then, a few minutes later cuil said it didn’t find any listings for the same keyword phrase.

I wonder how they can launch a competing search engine to Google without violating a non-compete, or intellectual property copyrights. Let’s watch closely over the coming days, weeks, months to see if Google takes any legal action. 

I’m sure we’ll be writing about cuil more in the future.  We’ll watch it to monitor the impact it has on the search industry, and the extent to which we need to do SEO for cuil for Find and Convert clients.

Tags: Cuil, search engine, search industry, SEO

Twitter is a free micro-blogging service.  It’s similar to instant messaging.  You type your message, limited to 140 characters.  Unlike instant messaging, your message is published to all those who are “following you.” 

The premise of Twitter is answering the question “what are you doing now?”  Many people using Twitter for personal reasons use it to post random thoughts. 

You can set up a public network or private network of followers in Twitter.  In a public network you can use Twitter’s search function to find people you want to follow.  Type keywords to find people whose profile includes your keyword and browse and select people to follow.  Each person you select to follow will be notified and they can check out your profile and optionally choose to follow you.

You can use Twitter from your computer and from your mobile phone. 

I have been using Twitter about six months now.  I have some observations and ideas to share here.

I have noticed that those who use Twitter, really use it a lot!  When you post a comment, your are “Tweeting.”  Hey, I didn’t make this up!

Personal use of Twitter can be very entertaining.  People leave random thoughts about whatever (including yours truly).  But, people also leave comments with links to useful content.  Do you want to follow a celebrity?  If he/she has a Twitter profile, you can.

The greatest value in Twitter is the instant pushing of a message to a community of followers.  While, many people are not yet even aware of Twitter, its popularity is growing like crazy.  In fact, Twitter is known for having frequent outages, usually not lasting long.

Here are some ideas to consider for using Twitter in productive business applications:

Customer Support
Your customer support manager can invite customers to follow him or her in a private community.  As events unfold throughout the day posts can be made and customers can follow and respond.  Good conversations can unfold.  Most importantly, the customer appreciation for the community development can strengthen loyalty and future sales potential.

Sales Support
A sales manager can set up a private community of sales reps, and the supporting cast - product managers, sales engineers, select executives, etc. For sizeable sales teams spread geograhically around the country or globally, a Twitter community can provide real time responses to sales situations.  Using computers and mobile devices, Twitter conversations can provide really useful and timely sales support. 

Marketing Support
Similar to customer support, a marketing team needs input from the market.  Input from selected customers, sales people, suppliers, etc., can be an ongoing communication process using a private community in Twitter.

Technical Support
Most product development teams have some technical members.  A private Twitter community allowing those members to share thoughts in real time can foster community and provide valuable input.

Thought Leadership
Executives, consultants, authors, speakers and anyone with subject matter expertise in a discipline can enjoy a Twitter community.

How is Twitter different than blogging?
It is much more real time than blogging.  Each entry is limited to 140 characters.  But, it is a form of blogging.  That’s why it’s called micro blogging.  Twitter access through your mobile device is a big difference which really allows productive, real time communication.

Whatever you do, don’t get on Twitter and promote yourself, your products, your company or anything!  An occasional link to your own content is ok, as long as it’s good content, not shameless self promotion.

Are businesses using Twitter?
Yes. While I don’t have an exhaustive list of businesses to share.  Here are three just to paint a picture (one is a municipal government agency). 
http://twitter.com/apple_news
http://twitter.com/Oracle
http://twitter.com/LAFD

Recommendation

Go to Twitter and register youself or your company.  Search for companies or people using Twitter.  You never know what you may find.  If you don’t find what you’re looking for, try again in the future.  Remember that Twitter is still young and growing.

Here are some Twitter tools:
Tweetdeck: http://www.tweetdeck.com/beta/
This Adobe Air application helps to organize your Tweets and makes it very easy to do direct replies to people, and track your replies. 
Twhirl: http://www.twhirl.org/
This Adobe Air application allows you to use Twitter the same as you use Instant Messaging.  As your Tweets come in, you see them in the lower rigth of your screen.  You can add Twitter posts here, rather than going to Twitter.

Expect to see more Twitter applications as it continues to grow.

Are you using Twitter yet? 

Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/berniebay
 

Tags: micro blogging, Twitter

One of the most common questions we get from B2B clients is “how can a blog help my SEO strategy?”  Follow up discussions include questions like, “What would we blog about?”  “How often do we need to blog?” 

This usually leads to a discussion around blogging strategy and social media strategy.  I point out that a blog may or may not be the right social media strategy for a B2B marketer.  I try to get the point across that a blog really should be part of a bigger strategy.  Some are reporting that B2B blogging is on the decline.

A big mistake to avoid is to start a blog just because it seems like a good idea.  A social media strategy should focus on the most effective ways to foster multi-levels of communication among the communities of people in your market place. 

There are many social media strategy avenues available and blogging is just one of them.

If a blog is a desired part of your social media strategy it’s important to have a well defined goal for the blog, along with a commitment of resources to the blog. 

Let’s look at each of these questions:
How can a blog help my SEO strategy?
Depending on your objective(s) it may provide several benefits.  One of them is if you don’t have a good blog and most of your competitors do, then you are possibly disadvantaged.  But, if you don’t have the resources to start a blog, even this reason isn’t a good one.  Find other ways to compete.  A good blog most often benefits a business by providing a friendly platform for your communities to gain insights into your company or industry that are not otherwise available.  A good blog will also provide link value for your SEO strategy.

What would we blog about?
You can blog about a lot of things.  What are the issues facing your industry?  What are the issues facing your customers?  What are some ideas you have (that aren’t confidential) that you want to express? Think in terms of product, environment and customer.  Write about things your community will have interest in and invite them into the conversation.

How often do we need to blog?
Often enough to show consistency. We blog about once per week. The frequency should be determined partly by your blogging resources and by the activity that takes place on your blog. But, if you start a blog with frequent posts, then it tails off to very infrequent blogging, you are likely to lose your audience.  Show consistency and listen to your audience.  You may need to blog more often if that’s the feedback you get from your blogging audience.

Don’t be surprised if your audience doesn’t join the conversation.  Depending on the size of your company and the size of your community, your blog may not generate a lot of conversation.  But, if it is well read, it can create another face to your business that can give you an edge, not easily duplicated eleswhere.

What are your thoughts on blogging?
Bernie

Tags: Blogging, SEO strategy, social media strategy

Have you ever tried to hang a picture on the wall and realized that the only tool you had access to was a screwdriver?  You laugh, but deep inside, you know you tried to use it as hammer, didn’t you?  Marketing a website, hanging a picture, same rules apply. If we try a tool that is cheap, free or is just absolutely wrong to accomplish the job, we usually end up with a broken screwdriver or a few extra holes in the wall.

I find that it isn’t the size of the project or even the grand scale of what you are trying to accomplish, it’s what kind of tools are you using and how you are using them. Personally, I would rather work smarter than harder any day of the week by using the right tools from the get-go. It might take a little longer, but in the long run, it was the right thing to do.

It used to be that when a website was made, the “thing to do” was to submit your site URL to hundreds of search engines and hope that they get picked up.  Unfortunately, even still today, there are unscrupulous Internet scammers that prey on the new and unsuspecting site owners who sell list after tired list and software submissions after tired submissions that do nothing to get your site into the search engines.  After that hard lesson on money-down-the-drain is learned, the site owner looks to find a better way. 

A better tool…

This brings us to the most valuable set of tools that should be in your toolbox arsenal when you are launching a website.  Google has mastered the Internet search world, no surprise here, and their ultimate objective is to create the most relevant search result to the end user.  They provide webmasters the tools needed to help you achieve exactly this in your website.  The Google webmasters tools are the first and foremost steps that anyone should utilize to properly get their website indexed in Google. 

There are two very important steps on how the Google Webmasters tools can help you.  First, they help you get your site verified.  This means that you are indeed the owner of your site and are authorizing Google to have access to information on how people are looking for your site. This, in and of itself, is priceless information from a marketing standpoint.

The second is called a sitemap.  An XML sitemap to be more specific.  This is a very powerful tool that helps feed the spiders.  Google is a very hungry spider and loves to find new, juicy tidbits of content on websites.  Unfortunately, if you do not have the right entry way to all of your pages on your site, the spiders are left out and they move onto other more enticing sumptuous offerings to nosh on.  An XML sitemap is exactly that doorway needed to help them find each and every page that you have on your site.

Coupled with the Google Analytics and Website Optimizer programs, the Google Webmasters tools is the strongest foundational tool to have in your toolbox. Additionally, we do not wish to leave all our eggs in one basket.  Both Yahoo, and now more recently MSN, have also created their versions of webmasters tools that are used to build indexed pages in their respective search engines as well.

We use these tools as an SEO foundational architecture with our clients’ sites day in and day out.  This is what we do.  We feed spiders!

Stay tuned for more tips on how to get your Google Webmaster tools and how to create an XML sitemap to feed the search engine spiders!

So tell me now… what’s in your toolbox?

Dianna F. Kersey
Internet Marketing Analyst
CIW Webmaster

Tags: google webmasters tools, msn webmasters tools, search engine marketing, search engine optimization, SEM, SEO, spider food, xml sitemaps, yahoo webmaster tools

Matt Cutts is considered the face of Google which I think is brilliant because he is such a regular, unassuming guy and gives Google the persona of an approachable person.  Just brilliant!

In the video interview below with Jefferson Graham from USA Today, Matt Cutts answers questions about the “common sense” things you can do to have your website found in Google.

Below is a summary of Matt’s responses to Jefferson’s questions and my commentary:

Matt Cutts: In response to what is the #1 thing you can do to be found in Google: Use keywords in your website content which are actually being searched by people.

Bernie Borges: Duh…Absolutely!  But, this is a bit oversimplified.  First you must research keywords.  You shouldn’t assume your keywords are good.  You may be too close to your business to know which keywords are searched most frequently.  Additionally, some keywords are very competitive.  Keyword research will tell you which keywords are more and less competitive.  Often, the Long Tail keywords are the most effective.

Matt Cutts: Title Tags Matter.  Users see the Title tags first in the search results.  But, the description tag actually describes your web page listing in Google.  The description tag should be short but very well written about your web page.

Bernie Borges: Absolutely! But, many marketers make the mistake of using the same Title tags on each page.  Each page should have a unique Title tag and a unique description tag.  Optimizing many web pages will increase your chances of being found by Google. 

Matt Cutts: Links are Important: There are many ways to get legitimate links.  One of the best is to start a blog and participate in the conversations on the web.  A blog doesn’t have to be fancy.  You can talk about your customers, why you started your business, things about your business.  People will learn more about your business.  Give people compelling ideas from your blog and you will get links. Also, participate in other social media sites. 

Bernie Borges: I generally agree, but Matt makes this sound easy and it’s not.  Starting a blog requires development of a strategy, which requires research and planning.  Once you start a blog, you must be committed to it, or you’ll lose credibility for starting and stopping a blog.  Matt didn’t mention other link building strategies such as syndicating content, or SEO optimizing press releases.  Social media marketing can be very effective in link building, but it requires strategy, commitment and resources.  Not all businesses are able to make and follow through with this committment.

Matt Cutts: The most common misconception is that you have to pay Google to get listed in the organic listings.  Not true.  Google crawls web sites for free.  Another misconception is that the PPC (pay per click) listings will help your organic search engine rankings.  Not true.  PPC has no affect on your “editorial search results.”

Bernie Borges: This is aka “separation of church and state.”  Matt’s referall to organic listings as “editorial search results” is terrific.  Media firms have always maintained separation between advertising and editorial.  This is exactly the same principle.  This is 100%, indisputably accurate!

Matt Cutts: In response to: Does it take 3 to 6 months to get your website crawled?  No.  Google updates their index monthly and crawls all websites it can find for free.  Google also provides a free tool called Google Webmaster which allows you to list all your URLs to be found there in days, not months.

Bernie Borges: Absolutely!  We use Google Webmaster with our SEO clients.  It is a valuable tool which gives a lot of insight into how Google sees your website, including identifying broken links which you may not even know you had.

Bernie Borges Final Commentary:

While everything Matt Cutts said in this interview is 100% accurate, it is a bit oversimplified.  It’s a little like saying if you want to compete in a marathon, all you have to do is train 5 miles a day for 3 months, then 11 miles a day for 1 month prior to the marathon event.  The execution of such recommendations takes discipline, coaching and just plain hard work.

SEO is hard work!  I’m sure this sounds a little self serving, given that we provide SEO services.  My argument is that the details associated with these valid suggestions are plentiful.  A successful Internet marketing strategy requires planning, execution and measurement by resources with the know how and availability to get the job done.  Matt Cutts’ suggestions, while accurate, are also just a portion of an overall SEO strategy, for example, he made no mention of the importance of the technical architecture of your website, along with other important factors. 

Oh, one more thing.  I take exception with people who say that SEO is a one time process and once you’ve completed it you are done (Matt Cutts did not say this).  Whoa!  That is so far from the truth.  That’s like saying today is sunny and therefore I assume everyday going forward will be sunny…Others are doing SEO in your keyword space and you will lose ground if you stop working at it.  I will agree there is more effort required on the front end, but you should not just walk away from an SEO plan or you will see declining results, unless perhaps if you are a in very unique niche with little competition for your keywords.  

Your thoughts?

Tags: Bernie Borges, blog strategy, Google, Link Building, links, long tail keywords, Matt Cutts, PPC, SEO, social media marketing

Google has done it again.  If there is one thing Google has proved they can do is develop sophisticated algorithms.  Now, in cooperation with Adobe, Google has announced a new algorithm that can read the text content of Flash files.  This is a big deal for SEO results.

For years, those of us in the SEO industry have known that Flash content was not able to be indexed by search engines.  So, we’ve always recommended against heavy use of Flash in websites, at least in part for good SEO rankings.  Of course, there are other reasons for caution against the use of Flash in a website.

For the record, our website uses Flash files.  We think our use of Flash is not excessive in terms of the user experience.  Of course, that is our opinion.  If you feel differently, please drop us a comment in this blog.

Besides the user experience, our use of Flash is balanced by keyword-rich, text content on the topics important to Find and Convert, namely SEO, PPC and Social Media strategies.

This announcement is indeed a significant one both for Google and for Adobe.  But, most notably it’s a big deal for marketers who have Flash websites, or who like to use Flash in their websites.

I offer a caution on this announcement.  First, note that Google makes the statement: “we’ve greatly improved our ability to index Flash.”  I wouldn’t bet on this until some evidence is in and I wouldn’t be surprised if this achievement will evolve in its effectiveness. 

Secondly, I especially caution against over use of Flash in a website.  Remember that in addition to the SEO impact of Flash, your user experience is where the rubber really meets the road.  After all, if you work hard to drive traffic to your website through blogging, other social media strategies, organic SEO or paid search strategies, the last thing you want to do is distract your visitors with excessive Flash content. 

Allow your Flash content to work for you.  Complement your text content with Flash.  Don’t put all your messaging into Flash content.  If you don’t get it right (from your visitor’s perspective) you could be betting it all on your Flash content and you could lose that bet.

So, while this announcement from Google and Adobe is good news, I advise marketers to proceed with caution.  I’ve always been a fan of doing things incrementally so we can test, measure and react.

What do you think about this announcement?

Tags: Adobe, Flash, PPC, SEO, Social Media strategies