Local Search Results vs. Global Search Results

Posted: Thursday, April 19th, 2012 by | Filed under: , , , ,
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A common question raised among our clients is “how do the search engines determine between local search or global search?” In other words, how do search engines know what you’re looking for? Do they really know the difference between “wedding” and “wedding nj”?

Google Search

If your keyword can be identified as global or local, the next thing search engines will look at is your intent. If your search is localized or can be considered localized, the search engine will deliver local results. If you’re searching “wedding,” the search engine may go either way, delivered local results in the Google local section, but maybe delivering broad websites in organic results.Well, one of the first things search engines look into at is your location. Search engines will identify your location and whether or not your keyword combination has any local intentions. In Google, you can set your location settings accurately or to where you intend on have a “wedding.” If you set your location settings to a more broad setting (ie: United States) you will get more broad results.

Search engines will also crawl data and reference other searches you’ve conducted to try and relate them to your current search. Aside from your search history, search engines will aggregate information and data from other users to try and best pinpoint what your intent is. How frequent is your keyword combination used? Are other users looking for local or global results? How many clicks on Google local were there based on this search combination? And so on and so forth. Read more …

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Hit By Google Panda 2.5 Update?

Posted: Monday, November 21st, 2011 by | Filed under: , , ,

Google Panda 2.5 update made its way through their web universe this past October.  Google Panda is known as Google’s algorithm for determining which website to rank in the top of search engines based on specific searches. This particular update left SEO experts scrambling for answers.

It turns out that Google Panda’s new update is primarily focusing on quality websites. Google sees that there are too many spam and “junk” websites appearing at the top of search engines. In an effort to change the way Google ranks these sites, Google Panda (update) 2.5 is heavily focused on unique, lengthy, quality website content.

Aside from quality content, Google is also focusing on social interaction outside of websites. Web socialization is important in the internet world these days, so it’s important to interact outside of your website.

If your website was affected by the Panda update, there are a few things you can do: Read more …

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What is Google Panda 2.5?

Posted: Thursday, November 17th, 2011 by | Filed under: , , ,
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The Google algorithm, also known as Google Panda recently released their latest update, Google Panda 2.5. Panda’s last update was about 7weeks prior, which is one of the largest gaps they have had in their update schedule so far.  So what is Google Panda? Think of it as a complicated math equation. Google uses hundreds of different factors to determine who and which websites to rank in their search engine. So, when you see results appear on page one, it’s the result of Google’s algorithms. The Google Panda update involves changes to this complicated math equation, which often changes the ranking amongst many different search combinations.

Google Panda

Google Panda

Now, more than ever is Google focusing on quality web content and websites overall. Unique, keyword-rich content will help your website appear in search results, but if you’re recycling content, re-writing someone else’s website content or even plagiarizing, you won’t be appearing in search results any time soon. Read more …

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SEO Keyword Strategy

Posted: Monday, October 10th, 2011 by | Filed under: , ,

A lot of factors go into search engine optimization, including the design of your website. Check out the following checklist to see if your website needs a few touch-ups to get the most SEO benefits. Are you making sure that you’re…

1) Using the best SEO keywords on your web pages?

2) Using keyword-rich title tags?

3) Minimizing your reliance on Flash?

4) Optimizing your homepage for web marketing purposes?

Let’s talk about the first checkpoint. All SEO companies will tell you that keyword research is a crucial preliminary step towards improving your search engine ranking. However, a lot of times people that are new to internet marketing get distracted by the immediate data offered by keyword analysis tools.

For example, say you just opened your own boutique store and are interested in working content marketing into your business plan. If you care about improving your SEO, then using a keyword analysis tool is definitely a step in the right direction. However, the tool itself is only half of the equation. You, or the SEO company that you hire, make up the other half. Tools such as Google Adwords Keyword Tool can provide you with lots of useful information about your competition as well as how many global/local searches are made for those keywords. But it is up to you (or your SEO) to figure out what keywords to type in and analyze. If you type in “jewelry boutique shop,” you’ll find interesting data about the competition for that keyword, but it won’t be very helpful to you because 1) the competition for that keyword is very high, making it unlikely that you’ll be able to rank on the first page in a semi-timely manner, and 2) you’re better off targeting other keywords that are more likely to lead to conversion. After all, someone searching for “gold custom bracelet milburne, NJ” is probably more likely to convert and make a purchase than someone who looks up “jewelry boutique shop.” The point of SEO is not to attract more traffic to your site for traffic’s sake. The point is to drive in the right type of traffic that will lead to conversion and more revenue for your business. Read more …

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