Beanstalk's SEO News Blog

For those of you who haven't noticed - there's an update going on over at Google. It's lasted about a week and I first reported it back on Tuesday.

What appears to be happening is that they're trying to react to some aspect of backlinks but unfortunately the house of cards is teetering and cr@p results are climbing to the top for many search queries. I liken it to pulling a loose thread on a sweater only to find that that threat was holding together the entire cuff.

Basically - it appears that a small adjustment in the algorithm has created undesired affects elsewhere. Let's use an example of how this happens though admittedly - I don't know or even have a good guess yet on what they changed in this case - this is JUST AN EXAMPLE. I am NOT suggesting that this is the change or even the logic behind the change, In fact, I can guarantee it's not.

OK - now that that's out of the way - let's say for example that Google wanted to decrease the value of reciprocal links and in doing so setup an internal filter that checked for links to domains and from domains and where there was a positive match that the domains each linked to the other - that in such a case the value of those links would be zeroed out. This seems like a logical way to negate recip links HOWEVER if a Harvard professor find a thesis document posted on the MIT website valuable and links to it and an MIT student in their blog finds a research paper on the Harvard site to be relevant to their subject - should these links be negated and if we devalue both the Harvard and MIT websites - will the results for queries relevant to these studies be better?

This is just an example but a clear one as to how efferts to address one area can have undesired affects in others and of course - at this stage in their evolution they've got far more subtle aspects to their algorithm and so very many of them that a tweek in one area can have totally unpredictable affects on other areas.

At the end of the day however the results are worse than they were previously and thus, a change will come. I will put myself out there and predict further updates this evening or tomorrow (Friday) that will likely last through the weekend as Google works to address whatever issue they were originally working on but reducing and/or eliminating the undesired results in the form of lackluster sites improving in the rankings.

I will be monitoring and blogging about this update as it unfolds.

I should also note that I don't get an email from Matt Cutts letting me know when these updates happen (no really - it's true). My guesstimates are based on past patterns and thus - I may be off by a bit but Google tends to follow a similar pattern about 70 to 80 percent of the time.

Enjoy the ride and have a great long weekend !!!

Labels: google update

I just wanted to make a special notice to all our clients and website visitors that we will be closed tomorrow for the July 1st holiday. It's Canada Day up here in the great white north (which isn't all that white now as we hover around 21 degrees (that's about 70 degrees to those of you south of the border). :)

So to our Canadian friends - Happy Canada Day and to our American friends - we look forward to serving you upon our return.

Labels: canada day

Just wanting to put out a general head's up that there appears to be some massive fluctuations going on in the Google SERPs and from what I can see - at least some form of the algorithm is garbage producing, to say the least, entirely lackluster results.

As we all know - this happens from time-to-time and I can't blame them, they have so many updates that sometimes it's just not going to work out. So - before madly ransacking your results and tearing apart your site based on the current results (never a good idea anyways) just wait a couple days. We'll let you know here also when it appears to be stabilizing.

Also - don't download the new Firefox update just yet. A lot of the extensions aren't working on the new version yet. And sorry to Daryl here for having to be the guinea pig. :)

Labels: firefox, google update

In preparation for today's show on Webmaster Radio I did my obligatory ransacking of the web for SEO news. Of course - I do this on a regular basis but on Thursdays I dedicate a solid couple hours to just this one task as opposed to the "when I get a chance" aspects of most other days.

Today I found a few interesting stories and so rather than report of something we've discovered or putting my spin on some news I'm going to simply list of a number of interesting news stories, perhaps a bit of a summary on why they're important (in my humble opinion) and a link to the radio show where I discussed them in more detail.

First - let's look at Google.

Didn't get to this on the show (week-after-week we run out of time) but they're pushing hard to get broadband into more regions of the world and get fast wireless access to cover more areas.

Of course they're only looking out for us right? Wrong. As Greg Sterling rightfully points out over at Search Engine Land in his post, "Google Wants The Web To Go Faster", Google's motives here are purely driven by self interest. That said, their self interest coincides nicely with the interests on most tech companies and with consumers so it seems that having the budget and interests on Google on our side just might get things rolling in our favor.

And for those of you who might have missed it the first 83 times they said it - here's a video from Matt Cutts (Google Guru) on quality directories vs paid links:


All right - now on to Bing.

Our regular readers will know that I'm getting sick-and-tired of reporting more positive news on Bing. Well today I get a mixed bag which is better than nothing.

On one hand - Bing's share of paid links has increased by 13% since it's launch. Let's remember - this is where search companies make their money so this statistic is HUGE. You can read more about this on WebProNews.

Now the fun part for me - SE Round Table has brought a discussion to light that Microsoft has increased the traffic they're sending in the form of bots looking for suspicious websites. Alright - that sounds good HOWEVER this traffic may well be skewing their referrer stats that all the previous good news is based on. The amount of traffic to some sites is up ten fold since the switch to Bing which is huge for traffic and could well amount to much of the search market share increases being reported.

I haven't looked far into this at this time and so I don't really have a side of the discussion however it's definitely a story to follow. You can read the article and follow a discussion on the subject over at SE Round Table here.

Obviously there's a lot of other news out there. Today I high recommend visiting Search Brains. They're always good but today I was especially impressed with the quality and diversity of news.

Labels: bing, direcory, google, market share, matt cutts

If all three search engines agree ... it must be true right? If that's the case then Beanstalk SEO is composed of the nicest staff and people you'll meet. For our regular blog readers you'll remember that last Friday I decided to run a test when I found that "polite seo" was actually a searched term to see how long it would take us to rank. 3.5 hours later it was ranking top 3 on Google for the phrase, then disappeared and early in the week the page was ranking #1 (woohoo ... WE ROCK ... secured a #1 ranking for a phrase with ~1 search/day :)

Well I just checked today and now we've got #1 on all three engines which means (since they can't all be wrong right?) that Beanstalk SEO is the most polite of SEO firms. That's all for now my good ladies and gentlemen. Please do excuse me whilst I end this blog post though I do hope you don't take it as an insult that I'm not taking more time. I must sleep to serve you in the manner you so richly deserve.

With sincere best wishes and kind regards ...

Labels: polite seo

I've refrained from joining the plethora of mobile web users so far due to the fact that I've never wanted to surf the web on a squished cell phone screen at near dial-up speeds, but online hand held devices are becoming larger and more user friendly all the time with bigger displays, better software, and increased network speeds. Meaning that the time is "now" to catch the wave (and the gravy train) of the mobile web boom.

We're already seeing incredible growth in the number of people using mobile devices to surf the web all around us. I think this is just the foundation for the exponential growth that is going to take place over the next few years and it will be one of the next great booms and revolutions of the internet. Entrepreneurs will find new services for mobile web surfers that we didn't know we needed.

Up until last week I would've probably asked the same question many of you will ask. "Who needs a mobile website?" Who would surf the web on that tiny screen with that clunky interface at those terrible speeds?

That is until I heard that Panago (a pizza shop here in Victoria BC) has their menu on a cell phone friendly webpage and that if I were driving through an unfamiliar town I could find some good grub without even pulling over to find a phonebook. Even better, wouldn't have to go to the restaurant or find a wireless access point for my laptop to even look at a menu? Alright, you've sold me. Now the question is, "Who doesn't need a mobile website?"

Imagine you go into Walmart and have a look around but wonder if Target has the item for cheaper. Well if you're one of the current mobile web surfer geeks who is ahead of the curve you're going to be frustrated that the rest of the world hasn't caught up with the convenience and services that businesses could be offering you online via mobile-friendly websites. But in a short time you'll be able to walk down the isles of one store and on an impulse, pull out your smart phone and compare prices with other nearby stores.

In the near future providing mobile websites and services for your customers will be a must. There will be new conveniences to offer and new expectations from consumers. Businesses that don't keep up with the conveniences may find themselves losing customers to more tech-friendly competitors. Businesses that do should see a lot of extra attention considering it doesn't cost much to build and maintain a mobile website in comparison to daily business operations and advertising expenses.

I imagine this will be the next big .com style boom. The borders of yet another digital land of intrigue and opportunity are in front of us. Welcome, once again, to the Wild West.

Labels: mobile seo, mobile website

I'm going to be honest, in playing with some Firefox extensions for an article I'm writing on, well, Firefox extensions I clicked a link to the search results for "seo" and discovered (to my surprise) that "polite seo" is actually a searched phrase. Now, I don't know if I'm polite by the standards of the Queen (I'm Canadian so that reference some how comes up in the context of our parents' lecture, "Be polite - would you eat that was if the Queen was at the table?")

The answer - of course not however they probably wouldn't have made leftovers either. ;) Sorry - that's not polite either.

Now the point of the story - I decide to run a quick (and polite) SEO test on fruit that hangs that low to see if I could rank a simple blog post for such a phrase with no external link building.

Sincerely I'm hoping that I'm not stepping on any toes and that there isn't someone out there trying desperately to rank for "polite seo" to capture the 30-odd searches/month it gets. The competition seems pretty low and I don't really get who's searching for it. Are there really that many SEO's out there that are so rude that an entire industry may spring up for polite SEO's. I know the domain is registered. Maybe someone will start an organization of polite SEO's. :) Of course - when I went to it I got a very un-polite popup for ClassMates.com so ...

At any rate - I will stop rambling but I will check back to see if this page ranks for "polite seo" anytime in the near future. :)


Note: When checking for this post to be cached I discovered that the page ranks #3 on Google for "polite seo" after just 3.5 hours. Not very competitive I suppose. :)

Labels: polite seo

I love Friday's (and who doesn't). Today there's a bit of news from the SEO realm for you and I'll add a bit of humor at the end just to make the end of your day (or weekend) a bit more entertaining. :)

First let's discuss Bing (oh God not again). Annoyingly - I have more good news for Webmasters from Bing. For why this is annoying you can reference yesterday's post. But here we go anyways.

A few days ago Bing released a PDF for webmasters and publishers on Bing the basically outlines some of the core differences between Bing and those "other engines" (read: Google). If you really searched on Bing you'd figure this stuff out fairly readily however it's a worthwhile read. You can download the PDF from their download center here.

I came across the document when I read Vanessa Fox's analysis of the document on Search Engine Land at http://searchengineland.com/microsofts-search-engine-optimization-advice-for-bing-21152. Both are recommended reading but if you only have time for one - stick with Vanessa'a take.

And now I get to smile a bit as I have some "bad news" on Microsoft. They're bribing Australian users to switch from Firefox back to IE with a contest for $10k. Basically, they have "hidden" some money on the web and are giving tips away on Twitter. The first to find it gets to keep the cash but it won't work if you're using Firefox.

My tip to Microsoft would be to just build a better browser and I'll just switch. You don't need to bribe me. :)

You can read more about the bribery on the Australian site at http://www.microsoft.com/australia/ie8/competition/default.aspx.

And last but not least - the humor I promised you. So turn down your speakers or slap on your headphone (unless your at home in which case feel free to enjoy over your full surround system if you feel so inclined) and enjoy. The following is a clip from comedian Louis CK from his appearance on Conan O'Brien. You've got a very good grasp of this generation Louis. :)

Labels: bing, comedy, firefox, microsoft

Alright - I'm actually starting to get tired of reporting on good news from Bing and there's now a part of my looking forward to slamming them for some stupid mistake they're making but today is not that day. For anyone who's followed the Beanstalk blog you'll know that thus far I've been very impressed with Bing and the first successful attempt Microsoft has made in challenging Google. It's been successful tot he point where Google is actually paying close attention and responding to what's going on.

Rumor has it (as reported in the New York Post article "Fear Grips Google") that "[Google] co-founder Sergey Brin is so rattled by the launch of Microsoft's rival search engine that he has assembled a team of top engineers to work on urgent upgrades to his Web service." Really? Do they fear Bing THAT much? Their sudden launch of their "Explore Google Search" page might indicate that they're playing catchup. As Danny Sullivan points out however - Google is constantly launching new features and tools so this *may* be a coincidence of timing. I agree that they were likely working on it previously however the timing sure is suspicious.

And to make matters "worse" for Google - The folks over at Microsoft earlier today announced the launch of new malware filters that go beyond their "Drive-By-Detection" systems and adds additional detection that Doug Caverly of WebProNews.com refers to as "Ahead-Of-The-Curve" filtering. As security and safety are (and should be) huge concerns and as Google battled this very issue just a few month's back.

To top things off, our friends over at Ask.com (remember them?) is now indexing over 300 million questions and answers from numerous sources to provide what they consider to be a great database that sorts through the generic clutter of the web and get people the answers they need if only they "Ask" (my pun - not theirs so you can blame me for the cheese). I know my eldest son will just love this as he's always using Yahoo! Answers for video game tips (yes - we're all geeks in my house) but he prefers using Ask.com as an engine so I know he'll be happy when I get home and tell him about this launch.

And on the note of clutter on the web, I'm going to end this post with what I consider to be a very humorous ad by none other than Bing (them again?). It plays on this very thing.
(ironically I'll be drawing the video from YouTube - a Google property)

Labels: ask, bing, brin, google, malware

Well it appears that it's Christmas in June Bing. For the second consecutive week it has "stolen" marketshare from the other two major engines. comScore reports that Bing is now at 12.1% market share which is up from the 11.3% they were at last week which was up again from the 9.1% Microsoft had prior to the launch of Bing.

In search penetration (% of users who have used the engine - this number can surpass 100% as users (like yours truly) can use multiple engines) they've seen further gains at 16.7% last week which was up from 13.7% prior to Bing.

So it appears that Microsoft might have finally done something right in the world of search. They've built an engine that is far superior to their previous attempts in both function and results. While they still have algorithmic advancements to be made to bring their system up to the level of results of Google - they are well situated to finally take a shot at the search pie.

Personally - I wish them luck but I've got to say - it feels odd to cheer for Microsoft as the "little guy" (especially given that that have enough to just buy Google). :)

Labels: bing, marketshare, microsoft

Our friends over at Joomla Shack recently gave us a copy of this books second edition printing. I was a bit surprised at how easily it read. The book covers the major points a techie would need to know to quickly introduce himself to Joomla including installation, understanding Joomla's document and menu hierarchy, user hierarchy, its approach to css templates and setting up a test area for yourself with Wamp. (A simple bundle for Windows that sets up Apache, Mysql, and PHP. The software ingredients necessary to run a Joomla website on your own computer for testing and development purposes)

What surprised me was that this book was a very elegant and easy read that I found to be straight forward enough for the average user. But at the same time it covers all the right points to serve as a quick introduction to Joomla for a techie. I will be recommending this book to clients of ours who are Joomla users and would recommend this to anyone out there who is setting up a new Joomla site or anyone who wants a better understanding of the Joomla site they're already running. I'd also recommend this book to any techies who aren't familiar with Joomla or who have gotten confused after installing Joomla and asked "how do I make this thing look like my clients website?".

This book won't slow you down with long winded explanations about quantum physics and how the web came into being. It focuses strictly on the topic at hand and its highlighted sections with the caption "The least you need to know" tell it like it is in as few words as is reasonably possible. Again I'm still quite surprised to find a book that's a good quick overview for techies and manages at the same time to be a potential holy grail for average users who need to manage a Joomla site.

Kudos to Barrie North at Joomla Shack for this fine piece of work.

Labels: barrie north, joomla, Joomlashack