Top Web Hosting Reviews
Top Web Hosting Provider of The Month:
Top Web Hosting
Visit Bluehost.com | Read Bluehost Review

>> Web Hosting Geeks // Web Hosting Articles // SEO - Search Engine Optimization  


Search Engine Algorithm Quandaries








Before you make drastic changes to your website after a rocky search engine update, take time to study your web server logs, changes in traffic to your site, and your ranking in the search engines.

Making Changes Before Analysis

Making rash decisions when you are hearing one thing then another from forum postings and articles is not the best choice to make. Much of the talk about fluctuations in the search engine rankings is just that--talk. Cold hard facts come from established tests of what is going on and why. Don't jump ship before examining what is going on with your website first. Panic will lead you nowhere.

Let's talk about basic search engine fundamentals you need to know.

Search Engine Rankings Fluctuate

First, you need to know that search engine rankings fluctuate; that is just the way it is. Google is a prime example of ranking changes happening throughout the day. The best way to find out how you are faring is to study the traffic coming to your site over time. Nope, not just a day or two, try a week or two at least to see if your rankings return. A search engine update may last a week before finishing and the rankings settle. Most importantly, are you receiving traffic at your website? Are you still making sales? Okay then, something is working. Don't jump on the "change everything" bandwagon. Pay attention to what is true in regard to your website.

No One Knows Algorithms Like The Search Engines

The truth is much of the talk about organic (natural) search engine marketing information is speculative. The people who know exactly what the search engine is doing are the engineers who created it, and they are not going to give away their secrets. This means that understanding what happens when updates occur may be difficult to pin down. Keeping tabs with leaders in the industry through articles, forum postings and blogs may give you a general idea of what is happening. Take that information and then apply it to what is actually happening with your website traffic and sales.

You Need A Log Statistics Program

If you do not take anything else away with you from this article be sure you heed this advice: you need a log statistics program in place. With a good log statistics program you will be able to see various reports showing the number of unique visits taking place on your website, what keyword phrases visitors use to find your pages, what pages are being visited, which search engines are being used to find your website, and much more. Knowing what the "normal" website traffic of your website is will give you a good idea of what may be actually changing over time when updates do occur.

Resubmitting Doesn't Help

Don't resubmit your web pages in the crush of an update. Search engines have crawlers, known as search engine robots or spiders, that are able to pick up a web page through links in order to add it to the search engine databases. For this reason you do not need to submit your pages to search engines anymore. Even if you mysteriously go from "top ten" to number 500 in the rankings, the fact that you are still listed means that you are still in the search engine's database, and you do not need to resubmit. Watch search engine robot activity in your server logs and you will be able to see when your web pages are being revisited by the robots.

Google PageRank Should Not Rule Your Life

So many people fixate on Google's PageRank. I suggest you should be more concerned about the traffic coming to your website, sales, the amount of content on your site and the number of on topic or directory backlinks you have acquired. PageRank is part of a much bigger equation of over 100 ways in which Google evaluates your website. Don't forget about the traffic that comes from the other search engines as well. Google may not always be the leader in search engines, keep current with the other major search engine players in the industry.

Common Sense Makes Sense

Use common sense. If you are a small business you can ill afford to make changes that may adversely affect your bottom line. Observation and patience will gain you more than quick fixes. In my experience, the true test of an update is watching the search engine results settle over at least a week or two worth of time. Let the dust settle, analyze the situation, and see what happens from there.

Moderation may be helpful, whether in gaining backlinks, making website changes or your reactions to changes. Don't panic. If it isn't broken...don't fix it.

Daria Goetsch is the founder and Search Engine Marketing Consultant for Search Innovation Marketing, a Search Engine Optimization company serving small businesses. She has specialized in Search Engine Promotion since 1998, including three years as the Search Engine Specialist for O'Reilly Media, Inc., a technical book publishing company.

Copyright © 2002-2005 Search Innovation Marketing.
http://www.searchinnovation.com
All Rights Reserved.

Copyright Permission Information:
Permission to reprint this article is granted if the article is reproduced in its entirety, without modification, including the bio and reprint information. Please include a hyperlink to http://www.searchinnovation.com when using this article in newsletters or online.


MORE RESOURCES:

guardian.co.uk

BBC invests in SEO
Last Click News
BBC News announced that it will invest in search engine optimization (SEO) for its website, giving it stronger visibility in search engines. ...
BBC bows to SEOguardian.co.uk
Understanding Orienting Search Behaviors For SEO & ConversionsSearch Engine Land (blog)
Search Engine Optimization Company-SEO Company India-SEO Company UKPR-inside.com (press release)
Kingpin Webmaster News -PR-Inside.com (Pressemitteilung) -Search Newz
all 24 news articles »


BigNews.biz (press release)

Businesses in smaller cities could see bigger benefits from SEO
Brafton
Search engine optimization (SEO) can help boost the localized online search profile of any business, and being one of a few rather than one of many makes ...
Best SEO Book - Votes Are InPR-inside.com (press release)
TRAVEL MARKETING AGENCY NOW OFFERS SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION SERVICEPressReleaseNetwork.com (press release)
Google's new algorithm consider On Page Optimization more | SEO IndiaBigNews.biz (press release)
PR-Inside.com (Pressemitteilung) -PR.com (press release) -Search Engine Land (blog)
all 69 news articles »


Combining SEO with Social Media Marketing: What NOT to Do
Drop Ship (press release) (blog)
Combining SEO with social media marketing for your ecommerce business must be done correctly in order to be effective. There are social media “purists” who ...
Social Media 101: Combining Blogging, Social Media and SEO for ResultsPractical Ecommerce

all 2 news articles »


Fliqz adds video SEO service
CNET News
According to the company, SearchSuccess "addresses many of the common flaws in existing video SEO strategies." Rather than submit a video to YouTube to ...
Fliqz service optimizes videos for search resultsFierceOnlineVideo
Fliqz Launches Service to Drive Video Content to Top of Google SearchBNET
Driving Video Content To Top Of Google SearchMediapost.com
FierceOnlineVideo
all 10 news articles »


msn's SEO And Content Teams Standardize Efforts
MediaPost Publications
The senior program manager of SEO for MSN at Microsoft in the Americas says management wants to get more involved in the process, since having companies ...



Top 10 Adwords Profit Strategies -- Free Webinar by Dan Kennedy's SEO & PPC Expert
Online PR News (press release)
So I've invited a real Search Marketing and SEO expert – Gareth Owen – to show us just how effective some of his simple Adwords campaign strategies can be ...

and more »


Mar dh'ionnsaicheas tu seo a leughadh an trì mìosan
Scotsman
Ach faodar a bhith cinnteach gu bheil fios aig an dà ùghdar seo dìreach dé tha iad a' dèanamh. Cha ghabh cànan ionnsachadh ceart ann an trì mìosan, ...



Small Business SEO and Online Marketing
BigNews.biz (press release)
SEO is an important online marketing strategy as it offers long-term success for your small business on the Internet. Some of the most recognizable and ...
Travel PR has changed #2: search engine optimisation (SEO)Tips from the T-List
Social Networking from Rub The Web SEO IndiaBigNews.biz (press release)

all 6 news articles »


The Tech Herald

SEO scam unveiled
Last Click News
Cyveillance says that it has uncovered a search engine optimization (SEO) poisoning campaign that has affected more than 260000 websites. ...
Giant black-hat SEO campaign funnels victims to scareware sitesMX Logic
Attackers Abuse Google to Push RoguewareeWeek
Thousands of web sites compromised, redirect to scarewareZDNet (blog)

all 27 news articles »


Oil Field: emailwire.Com SEO Press Release Distribution Services and ...
Emailwire
Emailwire.com™ is a online press release service with experience in SEO press release distribution and newswire services. Emailwire.com™ uses Web 2.0, ...


Google News





 
 
 

© 2004 - 2008 "Web Hosting Geeks" | Web Hosting Reviews | Customer Reviews | RealMetrics Reviews | Hosting Articles | Directory | Partners | Contacts
Over 7000 articles: web hosting, web development, domain names, ecommerce, web design, site promotion, ppc advertising, seo, site promotion and many others.
Web hosting reviews, ratings and awards are not based on any incentives or commissions. Names and trademarks are the properties of their respective owners.
A direct link to Web Hosting Geeks (http://webhostinggeeks.com) must be provided in order to use any of the above information. Contact us for more info.

Partners: Hosts by speed, Cheap Website Hosting, Free Website Hosting, Cheap Web Hosting, Top 10 Web Hosts, Top 10 Web Hosting Deals, Best Website Hosting, Free Web Hosting, Free Web Hosting, Dedicated Server Hosting, Adult Web Hosting, Web Hosting Discussions, Dedicated Server Reviews, Best Web Hosting, Web Hosting Discounts, HostProfessor.com, rsuog, halyava, PHP Website Hosting Services, Web Hosting Reviews, Hosting Uptime, Best Web Hosting Reviews, Cheap Webhosting, Web Hosting, Flash Templates, CMS Templates, Web Hosting Reviews, Website Hosting Reviews, Web Hosting Providers, Best Web Hosting, Top Web Hosting, RSUOG Web Hosting