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Yesterday, we shared a post discussing Secure Search and SEO and the affects that could have on keyword data gathering and content development for websites.

To piggy back that post (and play a little devil’s advocate) I thought I would share an article released by NPR discussing the “Do Not Track” Web browser option. The article discusses the possibility of browsers adding a “do not track” button on their home screens to give people the option for more privacy from the websites they visit. There is much debate between both sides of the coin of privacy settings and I honestly think I agree with arguments on both sides. As a consumer, I’m sometimes annoyed by seeing all of the ads pushed my way because of websites I’ve visited, so a “do not track” button would be nice. But being a marketing professional, those clicks from site to site help me do my job better when helping develop content for websites and designing online ads.

So, here’s the question:

If you could define what “do not track” means, what would it be? Do you think these privacy settings will help or hinder online activity?

I am a very curious person to start with, if I don’t know the answer, my usual response is “let me find out” and off to Google I go. I will say that over the years I have learned that successful web searching is an art. You cannot simply type in  “Everest” and expect to find out immediately that plant life stops growing at approximately 3,700 feet.

Now you probably think that I’m going to launch straight into a post on SEO and web copy, which in theory I should. But it’s Monday, everyone is still tired from the weekend and trying to figure out how a one hour time change can throw one off so much, so I decided we start the week out lightheartedly with a new “game” Google has launched for the month of March.

Go to: http://agoogleaday.com, where you will find a daily puzzle, which you solve, using Google’s search engine. (They have set one up specifically that will filter searches to make sure you don’t accidentally stumble across the solution.) It is meant to help you develop your search skills.

I will warn you though, these searches are not easy, and it is quite addictive when Google tells you “Nope, try again”, but who knows, you could use the fun things you learn along the way on Jeopardy one day!

Happy Searching!

According to Google, “Fresh” is the new black. Google made a couple more tweaks to its search algorithm to ensure that they always deliver the latest, relevant content.

Here is a snippet from their blog post: “If I search for [olympics], I probably want information about next summer’s upcoming Olympics, not the 1900 Summer Olympics (the only time my favorite sport, cricket, was played). Google Search uses a freshness algorithm, designed to give you the most up-to-date results, so even when I just type [olympics] without specifying 2012, I still find what I’m looking for.”

What does this mean for you? Fresh content is key! We can no longer rely on keyword stuffed pages to get great results. Users are looking for content that is relevant and up to date, and the easiest way to do this is to incorporate a blog or a newsroom on your site and post articles to it regularly.

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While writing this post, Ozzy Osborne’s – “Changes” keeps going through my head (Yes, webbies have impeccable music taste).

Personally I’m all about change, especially if it’s for the better. There is nothing wrong with switching things up a little bit, but one of Google’s latest changes made me realize that I might be a bit of a control freak.

Google announced a week or so ago that they are making some changes to the Google Analytics data. In an attempt to “Make Search More Secure” Google will hide search queries from Analytics. When a Gmail user is logged in to their Gmail account, any search query they use on Google will not be shown on your Analytics report.

What does this mean? Less accurate data from Google Analytics regarding which terms people are using to find your site, which in turn makes it harder to see if your organic SEO efforts are paying off. Google says it’s an attempt to protect the user’s privacy, but ironically enough, the only thing analytics ever showed was the search phrase, no other information about the user has ever been made available.

And so the SEO cat and mouse game with Google continues…

How involved are you in controlling the content on your website?

Unless you have been under a rock for the last few years then you already know that the best way to get your website listed on search engines is to have content that not only pertains to your keywords, but also to update that content regularly so people will come to your site often and hopefully use those posts in their social media and sites. Since this is an important component of Search Engine Optimization it should be high on your list to add new exciting new content to your site. Whether you do this yourself or delegate it to someone in your organization, at some point the words must arrive on your actual site and to do this you either engage an external company to update it for you or use a Content Management System to allow you to do it. Depending on the nature of the CMS this can be a headache or a seamless experience. WordPress has been the leading CMS system for some time, however there are others as well as custom solutions developed by various hosting companies that allow you to handle updates to your site.

How do you perform this? Which CMS do you or your company use? Do you even have a website? If not you should contact us at Willow to help you set one up!