Attention everybody: it’s time to take out your thesaurus.

We’ve known for sometime how Google uses synonyms to determine the context of the search terms entered by search users. Recently Google Software Engineer Steven Baker brought back the importance of synonyms to focus in his post “Helping Computers Understand Language”. There he discussed how Google recently analyzed just how well their synonyms system works.

According to Steven Baker 70% of search queries made in Google are actually affected by their synonyms system. However, most of the time we don’t even realize it because everything happens in the background. We tend to take the relevance of the results we get for granted, not realizing that a lot of analysis takes place to narrow down the index and spew out those results.

Furthermore Steven baker also said that they found out that out of every 50 queries made that are affected by Google’s synonyms system, only 1 returns a truly bad synonym. That makes for pretty good search results, don’t you think?

However, how should this information affect your SEO approach? Simple. As I said earlier its time to take out your thesaurus and start using more synonyms. Don’t get stuck with technical terms and use laymen’s terms in the same page. This will not only help Google contextualize your pages’ contents but also provide more keywords and key phrases, hence, increasing your pages’ searchability. So don’t get stuck using the same term over and over, expand your vocabulary and do better in SERPs at the same time.

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You might be quite happy with your current pagerank in search engine results pages (SERPs) but have you given consideration to your mobile presence? If you haven’t now is the time to act. We all know how rapid mobile web’s popularity is growing so think of all the opportunities you are missing out on by having no or limited presence in the mobile web.

If you are going mobile though keep in mind that you will need to go back to the drawing board. Phones and other mobile devices are very different from desktop/laptop computers, which makes mobile web design as well as mobile SEO also different. The difference in mobile SEO is, however, not as glaring as the problems faced by web designers because you will still need to stick to the basic SEO rules like the use of keywords, accessibility (both by users and search engine spiders), link building, etc. However, what you need to be more aware of is that mobile users have very different habits from desktop users. These differences are the very things that make mobile SEO challeging.

A couple of the things that you will need to adjust to when doing mobile SEO include:

• targeting lesser and shorter keywords – You need to be more picky with your target keywords because mobile users like to type a lot less than desktop users, which really affects the kind of search terms they enter.
• regionalization – Make sure you really pay attention to location-specific queries. The reason for this is that mobile users are usually location and/or task oriented. They go online for a very specific reason, which is why you want those in your business’ locale to be able to search you on their mobile devices.

There are lots more to consider when it come to mobile SEO. I’ll discuss them in future posts.

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When Google Insights was introduced last year we told you just a bit about, I think it’s high time for those who didn’t really look into what it has to offer to know just what you can get out of it.

As the tagline says Google Insights lets you “see what the world is searching for.” Basically it is the same as Google Trends in this respect but the great thing about Insights is that it lets you compare search volume patterns by category, seasonality or time frame and geographic region

It is very easy to do this as well since you only need to tick the circle that corresponds to how you want to compare the search terms volume pattern, enter the search term, and choose your filter, then click on the search button.

For example I wanted to see how the search volume pattern of the search term “seo” in the United Kingdom. What is returned to me is the search volume from 2004 to 2008 which shows a steady increase in search volume. Regional interest results in the search term shows that if you want to target specific areas the best areas to target would be England first then Wales and Scotland. Forget Northen Ireland, Isle of Man, and Channel Islands because those regions don’t show any search volume for the term SEO!

As for your keyword research you’ll be glad to know that Insights also lists the top 10 related keywords and the top 10 keywords that are rising in search volume. With SEO the top rising related terms searched are “wordpress seo”, “what is seo”, “seo tool”,”seo tips”, and “seo jobs”.

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Ann Smarty just wrote a real smart (I know the puns corny but I couldn’t resist!) post about comprehensive keywords analysis. There she outlined some ways that will help you do a more in depth keywords analysis sans the usual keyword research tools.

Some of the tools she mentioned included”

• Dictionaries;
• Lexicons;
• Twitter search; and
• Synonym listing tools such as Google Adwords External and Synonym.com.

In the post she described how each tool can be used to come up with a more comprehensive list of keywords that will make for richer content.

Obviously this type of keywords research is only for those that are really committed to learning more about their own content AND doing the best possible SEO job. The great thing about this is that you will not only be relying on popular user data but will actually be learning about the words meaning, synonyms, and context. Due to the exhaustive nature of the research Ann does not advice that you do this for each and every keyword you wish to target but only for the core keywords in your site, the ones that you have already deemed to be most important.

In the end even if you do not end up optimising your site at least you’ll be smarter with all those words and their origin crammed in your head. ^_^

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Admit it or not, there are some aspects in SEO that can be classified as traditional.  These are the practices that have been established from the beginning and are considered to be the building blocks of all SEO activities. These are ideas which have withstood the test of time and that everyone takes for granted to be the “ultimate truth.”

Take the use of keywords for one.  We all know that in order to optimize our web sites, we need to choose those keywords which most people are using when they search for information.  For a certain niche, there is a group of words or phrases that are most commonly employed by people who want to find out more about that niche.  And these are the words that we want to use most in our web sites in order to rank well in the search engine results.

Now how about if we diverge a bit from that traditional way of thinking?  Let us say that we try to use other keywords which may not be as popular?  Non-traditional indeed but it just might give good results in the long run.  Come to think of it, this concept is not that new.  We have heard of the argument which pits short-tail keywords and long-tail keywords against each other so many times.  In essence, using the not so popular keywords mean using long-tail keywords, right?

Experts say that SEO is going to enjoy a modest boost in 2009.  Perhaps it is time to be part of that success and try other less common methods – such as using less popular keywords.  What do you think?

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Are you in a situation wherein you feel that you have been doing everything that you can for your SEO campaign and yet you are not seeing the fruits of your labor? Perhaps you may be missing out on some things. I read an article by E. Branter talking about reasons that your SEO campaign may be failing. Let us take a look at these possible reasons.

Wrong Keywords- One reason your SEO efforts might be falling short is the keywords you’re targeting aren’t the right ones. Keyword selection is a difficult process that requires a deep knowledge of SEO. If you choose a keyword that is too popular, you’ll be unable to compete with the others targeting the same phrase. On the other hand, if you target a keyword too obscure, no one will ever search for it. The key is to find long tail keywords with little competition but decent search volume.

We have many articles on keywords in this blog. If you are not sure about your keyword campaign, try re-evaluating what you are doing. You may not be using “wrong” keywords but you may be missing out on the better ones. Remember, there are many tools available today that can help you figure out the best keywords for your blog or web site. All you need to do is define clearly what you want to target and then find the appropriate keywords for it.

(to be continued)

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Trust Google to come up with something new and useful for countless users all around the world. We have talked about the Google Keyword Tool and Google Alerts in previous posts. This time, they launched a new tool called Google Insights.

So what is new about this tool? Computer World reports:

Google Inc. yesterday rolled out a new tool that it said can help marketing and advertising users better analyze Internet search patterns, while also adding new tools such as a “heat map” for graphically displaying search volumes and other data.

Google Insights for Search is an extension of the updated Google Trends tool that the company launched in June. Like Google Trends, the Insights software lets users type in search terms and then see search volume patterns over time as well as the top related and rising searches, Google said in a blog post. But it added that with the new tool, users also can compare volume trends across multiple search terms, vertical industry categories, geographic regions and time ranges.

Insights for Search is designed to be used by advertisers, small business owners, academics and others, Google said, noting that it provides added “flexibility and functionality for advertisers and marketers to understand search behavior.”

So basically, if you are looking for more specific information on what people are searching for online, you can make use of Google Insights. The added details that users can input make this tool very useful. In addition to this, the graphical user interface can also make the tool easier for those who are more visually inclined.

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I just learned something new today.  After writing the post on long tail keywords, I tried to do more reading on keywords in general.  What I discovered was quite surprising, though.  I have always been a Google fan.  Despite the fact that they are way too harsh on paid posts (at least in my opinion) I think that they still deliver pretty good products.  So I thought that the Google Keyword Tool would be really good and useful.

According to Smackdown, though, it is not really that useful.  How so?  Here is an excerpt from the post:

Recently there was a bit of a hubbub surrounding Google’s Keyword Tool External (the keyword suggestion portion of AdWords that was made public a couple of years back). It started when a few people, like Barry Schwartz from SERoundtable, noticed that the tool was showing specific numbers for search terms instead of just green bars. Even though at first the numbers only appeared intermittently for people, the official Inside AdWords blog reported the change as a permanent one later that night.

The problem is, however, that those numbers are meant for people doing research into PPC traffic. The numbers shown have very little to do with what people actually search on using Google.com. I learned this the hard way about a year and a half ago, when I decided to try and use AdWords (the internal tool, the one that would actually show me estimated clicks based on position) to pick keywords that I might want to try and optimize for. I identified 3 phrases that I figured would be fairly easy to rank for (which they turned out to be). According to Google, being in the top 3 ad spots (which is as narrow as Google will estimate) I would get an estimated 141 to 180 clicks per day from all three phrases combined. Since natural serps get a slightly better CTR than ads usually do, I figured I would be golden if I could SEO my site to the top for those phrases. Not a ton of traffic, but with the conversion ratios I had on that site for targeted traffic, it would be more than worth it to spend the effort required to get those three phrases to the top.

What does this mean for us?  Perhaps we shouldn’t rely too much on this tool then.  Maybe Word Tracker is better?  Share your thoughts on this?

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We all know how important keywords are to SEO.  Even though they may tend to be abused and overrated, they still hold a crucial place in the world of search engines.  What most of us are familiar with, however, are short tail keywords.  At least, I am speaking for those of us who are not “experts” in the field.

So what is the difference between short tail and long tail keywords anyway?

Basically, short tail keywords are those words which are the most popular.  They are the ones which are highly competitive.  So for example, if you use one of those SEO tools to determine which keywords are the most used for your niche, you will find the short tail keywords.

On the other hand, long tail keywords are those which are less popular.  Another thing about long tail keywords is that they are normally 3 to 6 words in length, as opposed to short tail keywords which are usually 1 to 2 words.

You might be asking, why should anyone interested in SEO practices waste their time on keywords which are not popular?  Isn’t that quite the opposite of what we are trying to achieve anyway?

The fact is that though long tail keywords are not that popular, they are still being used by a good number of users all around the world.  This fact is what SEO practitioners should focus on.  The fact that long tail keywords are not as popular means that not too many web sites are trying to target them.  This means that using this long tail keywords can help you rise to the top of SERPs in this regard.

Photo courtesy of SoloSEO

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I have a disclaimer before I say anything else – I am not that knowledgeable when it comes to Google Alerts. Oh, I have used this feature every now and then but I have not really played around with it much. I think that it is my loss – especially after reading about how Google Alerts can help you a lot when it comes to SEO.

So what is Google Alerts anyway? Google says:

Google Alerts are email updates of the latest relevant Google results (web, news, etc.) based on your choice of query or topic.

Some handy uses of Google Alerts include:
• monitoring a developing news story
• keeping current on a competitor or industry
• getting the latest on a celebrity or event
• keeping tabs on your favorite sports teams

Basically, you will automatically be updated on the areas of interest that you indicate when you create your account. At this point, you should already be seeing the potential that Google Alerts brings from an SEO standpoint.

Let’s say you want to monitor the web sites that mention your own web site, blog, or product. You can do so by using specific key words and letting Google Alerts do the job. For your web site, for example, simply indicate in your search term your URL or domain.

Another aspect would be monitoring your competitor. If your web site or blog is about your business, then you can find out what they are up to using Google Alerts.

Based on the data that you receive, you can then work out your SEO plan even more efficiently.

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