Tamar Search Blog | Search Engine News

The Tamar blogs are moving! Please update your feeds...

We're moving the Tamar blogs to a new sub-domain - we can now be found at http://blog.tamar.com/

Please update your bookmarks and subscriptions accordingly, as these blogs will no longer be used.

Thanks!

toys.com redirect

Why is it still on a 302?

After ToysRUs purchased the domain name www.toys.com a couple of months ago I am left wondering why this is still 302'd to http://www.toysrus.com/shop/index.jsp?categor yId=2255956?

Seems like a wee bit of a waste of $5.1m?

10 reasons why The Apprentice is like SEO

As an avid fan of the BBC's finest show - The Apprentice - I regularly tune in to watch the latest goings-on in Sir Alan Sugar's boardroom, and last night was no exception. But whilst watching, I was suddenly struck by the parallels between SEO and the firings and hirings of Britain's "finest business minds"l...

For any American's that might be reading this, I should point out a couple of Apprentice basics to help you translate the analogy: First up, Sir Alan Sugar is the UK's version of Donald Trump, except without the ridiculous hairstyle. He is ably assisted by his legal advisor and PR man, Margaret Mountford and Nick Hewer. That's about all you need to know really.

So here is my run-down of 10 reasons why The Apprentice is like SEO:

1. It's all about being number 1 - everyone is clamouring for it, most of them will do anything to get there, and once you're at the top you're going to get a lot of attention... At least until the next young up-start comes along.
2. Having said that, sometimes coming 2nd and 3rd can have it's benefits too. I remember hearing interviews before the current series with runner-up Claire and a few older 2nd and 3rd placers - all of whom did at least a brief period of work with one of Sir Alan's many businesses. Just like being 2nd and 3rd in the search rankings, you might not get the glory but you're sure to be making a fair wodge of cash still.
3. Being a flash git isn't going to help - We all know what Sir Alan thinks of posers or the overtly-flash - it's not going to wash. You've got to be a good honest (?) hard-worker to get to the top, and no amount of bling or flashiness is going to help you con your way to the top. Is Google any different? Not really...
4. Making friends is key - in the last five series at least, the winning candidate has *never* been one of the less popular ones, and a lot of the time their connections and friendships within the group have worked massively in their favour. It's exactly the same for SEO - you've got to make links and connections to succeed, and the more influential your friends, the better you will generally do.
5. The quiet man never succeeds. As Nooral proved last night, and countless fence-sitters before him, staying quiet and hoping you get rewarded for being "nice" is not going to get you anywhere - and it's the same with websites. In many years of SEO, I've heard sooooo many people whine about how their site being "fair" and "nice", and bemoaning why that doesn't seem to get them the rankings they want. But I've rarely seen anyone ranking well for a competitive term where I've thought "Hey, they look like they're keeping quiet and playing fair, good on them!"...
6. The boss is always watching! You might sometimes get away with pulling the wool over the eyes of Sir Alan (or the big G) if he really likes you, but Nick and Margaret (I was going to make a Matt Cutts analogy here, but wasn't sure which he would be!!) will sure as hell be keeping an eye on progress too, and you can usually rely on them making sure that the fakes and cheaters get their come-uppance...
7. Even after all this time, it's still not completely clear what it takes to get to the top! I've lost count of the times that I've seen a candidate crash and burn despite a great performance, and Google is no different. Sometimes you've got to trust your instincts, and understand that when you're playing in somebody else's playground, you've got to play by their rules.
8. Patience is a virtue. I've yet to see the series where Sir Alan decides he's spotted the best candidate in the first week (and let's face it, that wouldn't make for very exciting viewing would it?!) and SEO is no different - if you want to get long-term results, you've got to put in the graft at the start.
9. Sir Alan (and the big G) is always moving with the times. As he'll be the first to tell you, Sugar made some mistakes along the way but he's consistently moving with the times, and if you don't stay current you won't keep up. Google are exactly the same (i.e Google Base?) and keeping up with changes and innovations is going to put you in the Big G's good books.
10. Shouting about your success can be a risky business. Just like the way Google knows your complete site history, Sir Alan has a copy of your CV in front of him at all times, and crowing on about your success ("That's why I got a scholarship to Sandhurst...") Is just as likely to get you slapped-down as it is to get you respect with your peers. Don't be a bragger, or it's very likely that one of your fellow candidates is likely to let slip one of your past indiscretions while sat in the boardroom...

So there we have it - hopefully I haven't lost you with too many tenuous analogies, or worst still, spoilt last night's show for those that haven't seen it yet!

What the Premier League can teach us about SEO

Footie and SEO - never the twain... till now

Ahead of the all important, not to me mind, Champions league matches it suddenly occured to me that there are a lot of similarities between the Premier League and SEO. So I thought I would dive in and see just what we can learn from the Premier League.

Lets look at the League Table first up. It's all about being number one. And unfortunately for us the wrong team is at ranked #1 on the first page of the SERPs. (This is the right team but I digress, and dream)

But how did they get there? Well lets do some basic SEO. Offsite and onsite. And I know I am taking liberties but roll with it OK?

So onsite. Let's think about the content, or the players. They have the best, they all have a clearly defined role (except Tevez as he seems to run all over the shop), it's refreshed regularly, well as often as the transfer window (IT Support) will allow, but the old content (Giggs, Scholes) is also kept in the there as it still performs really well, albeit not as well and not as often.

Think about the site, (club). Is it well run (structure), how old is it (domain) has it performed well and consistantly over the last few years (sadly yes) - all of these help  give the search engines pointers as to why it may rank well.

What about on the field? So for tactics, think how Sir Alex uses his subs (grrrrrrr, too well) and think of this as some PR sculpting. Making sure that the key pages (players) are used tactically for greater impact and success.

And what about influence with the referrees (Search Engines)? Having established trust and authority perhaps they can afford to be more aggressive and push the Search Engines further and harder?   

But its is not all, thankfully, about Man Yoo. There is still some great gains to be had from ranking below the #1 position. After all Liverpool were European Champs and not Premiere League champions at the time.

So the key is to be at least above the fold or in the Chamipons League spot. That at least will drive buckets of (TV) revenue your way.

And for those below the fold, think of the income you can generate from the positions (make sure you offer a great deal, snippets) and focus on ranking higher to at least get into the new Europa League.

But of course there is offsite influences to think about as well. So let's look at the backlink (fans) profile of the top clubs. Of course their fans have a long history and have been built up over the years (nice profile). And for the really successful clubs there are lots of them, and all bang on theme (misguided loyalty in most cases).

But beware, for those clubs that get too successful too quickly there is always a chance or relegation (penalty) and of course we have in mind Wimbledon. But as we have seen you can bounce back (play offs) and sometimes a new domain (Wimbledon AFC or even two, Milton Keyne Dons) can get you back through the leagues again. Just don't overcook it this time!

And what of those on page 2 (mid table mediocrity) of the SERPs (table)? Well, they need to get better players (content), more fans (links), make sure their manager (SEO agency or internal) are clear about what they want and need in order to deliver.

And of course the prize that awaits those who get to and stay above the fold well it is of course greater brand awareness and of course the Champions League! 

I am sure I missed out on a few decent analogies but I am off to watch Chelsea vs Barcelona. And I don't often say this but come on Chelsea! And for tomorrow night best of luck to the best red team in north London against the second best team in Manchester.

Google street view. Whats your view?

This week saw the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) reject a complaint from Privacy International  over the right to show images of people accidently caught on camera by Google Street view, so the search giants latest toy is no longer under threat. This is great news for those who want to find their house on streetview and shout loudly 'I live there!' in the office, or for burglars or snoopers, but for the rest of us - I'm wondering if there is a slightly more serious undercurrent to all this.

Search engines, and other online entities, have always had a problem with trust. It comes from being a victim of one's own success - lots of fingers in many online pies means that they have exposure, and capture data, in all aspects of peoples lives. It is possible to avoid this if you are committed enough, by being very careful where you submit your details online, who you submit them to - or just staying away from the internet all together (extreme and pretty impossible).

Now, Google has got right in everyones face (literally) with the introduction of streetview. So its not just an online issue anymore - they have unleashed the possibility of being concerned for your own information to everyone. Its opt-out now, rather than opt-in, and this is what I think is the crucial difference.

For me, I'm not too fussed by the street view complaints. No one can see anything more outside my house than you can if you were to drive past. However - I am concerned that in pushing the boundries of technology, data capture, and media - Google may have pushed trust a little far. Search engines tread a fine line of trust anyway - Google actually dropped out of the most trusted companies list in the back end of 2008 according to the San Fransisco Chronicle. Before street views introduction, but it still shows the way things might be going.

I think it's a massive win for Google this week. David Evans, the ICO's senior data protection practice manager stated that it would not be in the public interest to "turn the digital clock back". This is a massive vote of confidence for Google and the work that they do, and should instill some trust back to the cynics.

What do you think? have the ICO made the right decision?

Is Google immune from the recession?

n every recession recorded in modern history there has always been one company or organisation that’s seems to escape the negative growth cycle. In this current recession it seemed that Google would escape the brunt of the recession. In its 10 year existence Google has never reported a quarterly loss, until now that is.

Google reported a 3% drop in earnings from Quarter 4 2008 to Quarter1 2009. This is significant when one considers we’re talking billions of dollars. Having said this, it needs to be stated that they still exceeded forecasted earnings for the quarter and still achieved one of the best ad revenue results in online marketing.

CEO Eric Schmidt remained confident in the search business and had the following to say; "Google had a good quarter given the depth of the recession -- while revenues were down quarter over quarter, they grew 6 percent year over year, thanks to continued strong query growth," Schmidt said in a statement. "These results underline both the resilience of our business model and the ongoing potential of the Web as users and advertisers shift online."

So it seems that Google on the whole seem to have steered clear of the effects of the recession.

Google Launches Analytics API

Google anounced on Tuesday that they have released their Google Analytics API to the public at large. Here is what was written on the Google Analytics Blog:

What's so exciting about an API? The API will allow developers to extend Google Analytics in new and creative ways that benefit developers, organizations and end users. Large organizations and agencies now have a standardized platform for integrating Analytics data with their own business data.

Developers can integrate Google Analytics into their existing products and create standalone applications that they sell. Users could see snapshots of their Analytics data in developer created dashboards and gadgets. Individuals and business owners will have opportunities to access their Google Analytics information in a variety of new ways.

This is a really exciting development for website marketers and it is certainly going to be interesting to see the new applications that are going to make use of this new API.

By George it's St George!

Google Logo features St George

See below:

What is interesting is that when clicking through I totally expected to be greeted by a Wikipedia entry, but no! Kudos to rugbyleagueonline for promoting their new England Rugby League kit in the sponsored results, good thinking. And below the Google news feed well done to the Woodlands Junior School in Tonbridge for creating some St Georges Day content which is being viewed all around the world - cool!

Just goes to show, add some good useful content and people will come!

Update

Wikipedia obviously wanted to be first so pressed a button and now are when you click on the St George's Day logo. No fair!

Video Optimisation in Google

How quickly does video rank in Google?

I am running a test (so cannot show you the results yet!) but I wanted to give you a heads up and let you know just how quickly and easy it is to get rankings and why you should get invloved.

So I ran a test, shot a 50 second video which wobbly and unedited, put it on a web page (nothing super powerful, new in fact), added some text, submitted to You Tube, added some sound, got the page indexed and bingo! (eight days door to door)

The video now ranks top 20 for a pretty good search term in the general SERPs and #1 on video search. And once we get a better video that will get some reviews (important that) I know we will rank a lot better. We are also going to aggregate the video across a number of other sites as well.

Why did I do this? Well, I wanted to see how quickly a video could be listed and ranked, how much work was required and what a basic, and I mean really basic, level a video could achieve.

I have been really impressed with how this video has perfomed and we are already getting some traffic back from You Tube and video search. Not much out of the SERPs as yet.

But this is such a great way to interact and engage with users in a different way. I tried it and I think you should too!

ps I also cretaed a 'channel' on You Tube - took about 30 seconds!

Ask.com brings back Jeeves the butler

I was one of the many people who were disappointed when “Ask Jeeves” dropped the butler to become just “Ask” and what used to be a popular method of search became just another search engine.

There was even a few campaigns from fans and users who wanted the butler reinstated when the news broke in 2005.

Nevertheless, it seems that Jeeves is coming back from his early retirement to appear in the corporate branding. In April 2009 the search engine was once again rebranded as "Ask Jeeves" in the UK, with a new 3D character and logo. Jeeves will not be coming back to the US in the near future due to many different reasons, but users can still see Jeeves in the US by going to askjeeves.com instead of ask.com.

The return of Jeeves is more like a corporate representative and is something a lot of people said the company should have done in the first place.