AVG:Free and Google Search Work Well Together!
Okay, you’re most likely wondering what I’m referring to via the title of this short Monday am post, and here’ s the skinny. First, I usually hate adding anything 3rd party to apps, to change the planned/designed user experience value. That is, I’d rather have to think and click, than use an add-on to “add” value to a website or desktop application.
AllTOP SEO: We made the list!
Well, as a nice way to start this am morning reading of my hundred or so usual overnight emails — I see that there is one from AllTOP, the Guy Kawasaki news aggregator that offers up the latest news, all aggregated for your own reading pleasure. Basically, it’s like having a set of URLs that you click on, hundreds of those URLs that provide the title of each story, and a rollover with more info to allow you to decide if you want to read same.
Use LinkedIN to get new Targeted Biz Traffic!
I’m checking our analytics for our client roster for the past month yesterday, and I’ve noticed — as I’m sure others have — that a Company Profile setup on LinkedIN brings traffic! This may not be “new” in the sense that LinkedIN has been around now for a few years, but what is “new” is the tactic of getting your own website Company pages up and running!
Google.ca loves Fish and hates FIFA!!!
There. I said it. It does appear though, that I am correct….here, let’s look at this.
Everyone else in the world (least all the clicks I did on google’s myriad of sites) got the FIFA icon up top….as the World Cup launched their series of games today in SA….
‘Cept us canucks. We got a Jacques Cousteau icon….of a nice looking reef scuba diver and some fish and some kelp and stuff….all very nice indeed!
So, here’s the story from the AFP wire –
Google honors Jacques Cousteau(AFP) – 3 hours ago WASHINGTON — Google paid tribute on Friday to Jacques Cousteau on what would have been the French undersea explorer’s 100th birthday. The Internet giant replaced its colorful search page Google logo with a drawing of a scuba diver. Placing the cursor over the drawing reveals the phrase “Happy 100th Birthday Jacques Cousteau!” Cousteau, who died in 1997, would have been 100 years old on Friday. Cousteau was well known in the United States for his TV programs and his ship called Calypso used for diving and filming the underwater marine habitat.
Hrmph! Okay….so, like when will we get a hockey icon? Now THAT’D be a swell one, eh?
What Google.ca are you today?
Yup, got in early today and yes, the pix shown is what I see when I go to google.ca!
Not google.com, mind you…for that screen I continue to get the same pure white background….but as you can see, you’re now allowed to use a photo to background your google home search page, a la BING, eh!
Not bad, google lads…now all I gotta do is find some pix to use….down in the bottom left hand corner btw, is the text button to change same, fyi!
If you ‘see’ sumthin different, would love you to post same too….as a sort of a google.ca survey type thingy….
YPG now to offer SEO to it’s Advertisers???
Okay, just found this new video over at youtube…and if you do any yellow pages advertising then you need to click that link and go for a look/see, eh! You really do, honest…to see this attempt to salvage ad dollars, eh!
It appears that the folks over at YPG, have noticed that their advertisers are dwindling…that they’re buying less page space and even opting out all together!
You will also perhaps need to know that the YPG just recently have also changed their printing mandate for the old-school yellow pages themselves and have made the white pages with all our residential phone numbers NO LONGER sent to every single household.
Canadian Directory Links: What’re they worth, eh?
Okay, the whole directory value question may need some ‘splaining…but here’s our take on the “value” of a link from a canuck directory site to your own site…least in our experience, eh!
Based on our own true belief that the “formula” that drives an SEO Campaign to the top of the rankings….is based on the fact that you need links, or rather “back links” from other sites to combine with your own superb content, to rank nice and high on a search engine. Simple and easy to understand and neither simple nor easy to accomplish. Hence the variety of serps that the world sees for their websites.
Canuck Searches for Loans, CreditCards & Rental Housing are UP!
Latest findings on searches that we Canucks are doing, have indicated that for many of us, we’re looking for cash, for credit and rental housing too as financial strains abound!
And how much, you ask? Considerably, we respond!
The folks over at Experian — and Heather Hopkins, Senior Online Analyst who wrote the piece over at Hitwise — with their HitWise Research, have recently posted blog entries that show that for these categories at least, we Canucks are searching for more and more help in what I’d call a financial category…and here’s a pullquote from their Housing Searches report…and as you can see, the increase in rental searches by far outweighs the increase in home purchasing searches!
What’s a Google #1 Ranking Worth Anyways?
The simple answer, according to the latest Chitika Research study is — a ton! A FULL TWICE what the #2 ranking offers! In order to track same, the folks over at Chitika tracked their own traffic and it’s referrers and learned that almost 35% of that traffic came from the #1 ranking spot — almost as much as the numbers 2 through 5 slots combined, and more than the numbers 5 through 20 (the end of page 2) put together!
So….a #1 ranking brings new traffic, that’s not news, but the size of the lead of the #1 spot over all the rest is somewhat surprising, eh!
YellowPages.ca now offers Videos for your Canuck Website!
First, I’m not a bit surprised at this reaction to what we think is a dwindling yellow pages advertisers market…that the YPG folks have found that offering up custom produced video for their advertisers might reduce the advertisers who are leaving their business solutions.
I’ve already blogged here quite a few times on the YPG and their marketing of the yellow pages and their online directories to Canadian SMBs here and here and here too. If you need some background then on this kind of corporate BIG firm thinking from a marketing viewpoint, then I’d suggest maybe that you click those links to read up on same.
To make my point here, I’d offer up the following evidence….
We're in the Globe!
We're in the current Canadian Dealer News Magazine!
