Google’s Click or Treat gets an A+
There’s no laurel-resting at Camp Google. After last month’s UFO mystery caught our attention, they’ve gone for the details yet again with today’s Click or Treat.
Love it.
Does your website have a quirky underbelly to amuse and reward visitors that pay attention?
Mine does. I blatantly reference 2 of the best movies ever made on pages of my main site. I’ll give you a prize if you find them. (And I’ll even tell you the movies – Jurassic Park & Bring It On – but don’t you dare disagree on their cinematic perfection).
When SEO goes slightly haywire…
Yesterday I let you inside my Google Analytics for a peek at what’s frustrating my visitors the most. Running with this behind-the-scenes theme, here are a few more of my all-time favourite visitor keywords.
Things I can help you with:
- “stickies widget that dont look stupid”
- “make your own scattergories game“
- “steps for proofreading“
- “define ballywick“
- “desk plant benefits“
- “kids white socks that stay up” (vindicated!)
- “canadian slang for urinate” (I’d go with “piss” or the more polite “pee”)
Things I can’t:
- “bailiwick tattoo supplies” (should I branch out?)
- “ballywick apple sauce” (you only have to ask…)
- “incest pit”
- “college drunk oops” (try Facebook?)
- “how should i hold the strings while raving” (um…. in your fingers?)
Google keyword rank checks – Part 2 – the weaponry
Yesterday I wrote about this taboo game. Want to play?
In order of preference, here are 5 free tools that do the trick. Testing them yesterday, my results for the same keyword varied by a margin of 20. So the opposition’s right, Google rankings are always in motion.
My favourite by far. Clean site and encouraging comments on each result listing. Distinguishes between Google U.S. and UK and provides a direct link to the search result.
Ranks for: Google, Yahoo! and MSN and their UK versions
Positions: Up to 25 pages
Keywords at a time: 1
Places your site (if it ranks) amongst the keyword’s top 40 results. Measures keyword strength in title, URL and domain name.
Ranks for: Google, Yahoo and MSN
Positions: #1-40
Keywords at a time: 1
Plots your results in a handy chart. A bit slow.
Ranks for: Google and Yahoo!
Positions: #1-100 only
Keywords at a time: A few, but if you make it do too much it tries to force a registration.
Not the prettiest site, but displays your search history in a grid for easy comparison.
Ranks for: 6 search engines, DMOZ and Yahoo! Directory.
Positions: #1-100 only
Keywords at a time: 1
Despite its name, you can’t check your Google rankings on this site unless you have a “SOAP API” key that Google stopped issuing 3 years ago. Still, you can check up to 1,000 Yahoo! results (in case you care).
Ranks for: Yahoo!, MSN, Ask
Positions: Up to 1,000
Keywords at a time: 1
Google keyword rank checks – let them be your dirty secret
Google keyword rank checks – do they sound innocuous? Sorry, matey – on this playground they’re a contentious issue indeed. The big kids have told us:
It’s time wasted, you’ve got better things to do, it doesn’t mean anything, it’s fluid, you’ll be duped into false security…
Yep, all true. Might happen. Positive rankings don’t imply success. Got it?
Checking your keyword ranking is like weighing yourself – taken alone, the number has no bearing.
So why own a scale? While more useful data – your BMI, diet, blood pressure and fitness level – are needed to confirm your health, weight remains part of the assessment.
Few hop on the scale daily, but a casual check every so often confirms all’s well. When you don’t like the number, you’ve got new motivation to make positive changes.
I check my rankings as a weekly ritual. They’re sobering proof that if I get lazy with SEO, things slide.
When I get Google keyword results I like, it doesn’t mean I’ve won. It doesn’t mean I can stop marketing or that my business will be any more successful. It doesn’t even mean to expect more traffic.
So why check? Because doing so…
flags unexpected, lukewarm results. When a “B+” result pops up out of nowhere, it’s a signal to get going; there’s not much distance between a B+ and an A-, then an A. The message is, “for now, something’s working so keep it up.”
suggests next steps. My site was stuck on page 3 for a back-of-the-pack, afterthought keyword I hadn’t used to great effect. Now I’ve got a little science project to work on in my spare time. It’s just for fun, but good practice.
is encouraging for new sites, small sites or for those just starting to dabble with SEO. If your trek begins in total obscurity, a weekly check-in provides a good growth chart. Won’t your mummy be proud!
might just boost your ego. As I tell my clients, “it has to be fun or you’ll go crazy.” Make a game of it, bet with yourself and enjoy the up & down ride.
Nothing wrong with the occasional indulgent dabble, so say I.
Help for the computer averse – how to get your Google on
As with a lot of expats, dinner conversation with family friends often turns to their villa or rental properties spread around the globe. Over a few bottles of wine the truth is guaranteed to come out.
“That $@*#$&% house!” A recent comment floored me.
The friend continued, “we picked the worst possible name for our bloody house. The worst! No one types it into Google – it’s a made up word! We’re screwed.”
This from the galavanting dynamo who’d practically built the property herself. She didn’t “do” computers. Somehow, she’d missed the internet’s biggest secret: the addiction of SEO.
I often tease my mum as she types with two fingers. She’s brilliant – a research scientist and general genius – computers aren’t her thing, either.
I wonder how many similar, computer-averse types have given up on their abysmal Google results, certain that’s their lot. They’d stick to paper and pen if we let them.
Is this you?
“Search engine optimisation” is the term you need to Google now. Run, don’t walk.
What is it? A slow and steady application of a few basic principles – not an exact science. Make it a game and it can be fun.
For a lot of people (who love, love, love computers), SEO is their very reason for being. From them, we can learn a lot. Some of my favourite, friendliest sites for learning the basics are:
-
- About.com’s introduction to SEO page
- Site-Reference.com
- SEOmoz.org
- Winning the web
- And, of course, there’s a Search Engine Optimisation for Dummies
Is this your friend or family member?
Mention “keyword meta tags” and the blank stare you get in return will tell you all you need to know. I’m going to be asking my people, those I suspect might be missing out on their Googley goldmine. Do the same and help a friend out!