November 14th 2005
When Google first appeared on the scene its relevant results and word of mouth advertising quickly propelled the search engine the top of the search engine heap. The media caught on to this as well and the gushing stories about Google solidified its position. Continue Reading »
November 2nd 2005
Google is once again in the middle of a major update – this one has been dubbed “Jagger” and the good folks at Google have been kind enough to tell us that Jagger is actually being rolled out in 3 parts. As of this writing, we are still waiting for the completion of Jagger2.
This update did not just begin – the changes some are seeing now have been happening for several weeks now as Google has been incorporating new backlink and PR updates into the indexes. The update was just recently given a name but probably has been underway for many weeks. Continue Reading »
October 1st 2005
I was just going through some of my website statistics and was surprised to find that over 30 percent of visitors are now using a browser other than Microsoft Internet Explorer. This is a very large increase in the past year and it is important that website owners and webmasters understand that websites do not display the same in all browsers.
If you design your website (especially if you use a Microsoft product to do so) and never check to see how it displays in some of the more popular non-Microsoft browsers like Firefox and Netscape you may be interested to know that your website may look horrible to 30% of your website visitors. In some cases it looks so bad that visitors will leave immediately.
It is probably not a good idea to be turning off a rapidly increasing number of website visitors!
If you only check your site in one other browser -I would suggest you do so in Firefox which is available for free at http://www.mozilla.org/. Firefox and Netscape display pretty much the same as far as I can tell and those two browser’s make up the lion’s share of MSIE’s competition.
June 2nd 2005
Google began another major update of it’s search results about two weeks ago and according to Googleguy (a Google representative who posts at Webmasterworld Forums) this update is incorporating “3.5 improvements to search quality” and they have not finished yet. The last improvement is slated for next week and then there will be an adjustment period where search results still are not settled. That could last an additional week or two going by past experiences.
Googleguy says to take a rest from checking your site positions until then because you may go crazy watching the major fluctuations. I would agree with that- no point in getting all worked up until you know for sure how it all ends up!
May 24th 2005
Some agents are concerned that their website content is being copied by others and are looking for a solution. Various website providers and webmasters have been recommending and implementing a so-called solution that prevents web surfers from accessing the menu that is seen when the right mouse button is clicked.
This is done because when that menu is accessed one of the choices is “View Source” which allows the code to be seen. The thinking is that if you can prevent the code from being seen then you can prevent it from being copied. A nice thought but most webmsters and anyone but a web “newbie” knows this to be total fantasy. Continue Reading »
April 1st 2005
In a new patent application filed in December 2003 and made available to the public today, Google gives clues to the changes that began with the Florida Update in November 2003.
The Document is titled “Information Retrieval Based On Historical Data” and basically outlines all the ways Google would like to use your site’s past history in determining its present ranking. The document also makes clear that Google now takes a whole site into consideration when ranking unlike PageRank which just considered individual pages.
Some quick points that I jotted down include… Continue Reading »
March 31st 2005
Where I live, this week has been Spring Break and the kids are off school and in need of activities to keep them occupied and out of mischief. So, I figured it would be a good time for my pre-teen son and I to head up to the family camp along the shores of the Winnipeg River in North West Ontario and take care of some work that needed to be done there.
The lengthy drive was quiet and peaceful – because “modern times” allowed my son to watch DVDs on my laptop the whole way (with head phones on as a bonus for dad!). Once we arrived at our destination, we found that there was still a couple of feet of wet snow in the bush so had to put on snowshoes and make the trek through the bush on a trail we shared with deer carrying our gear with backpacks and hands full. It took two trips to pack all our gear in – You would be amazed at how heavy a notebook computer becomes when carrying it through two feet of snow! Continue Reading »
February 22nd 2005
Google is no longer the search engine it once was. It no longer returns the search results that led people (including myself) to proclaim that it was the best search engine on the planet.
Lately, I often do not find what I am searching for on Google so I check the new MSN Search and guess what? The information I am looking for is there – right in the top few results! This is becoming a habit for me and I suspect it will for a lot more people too as I hear rumblings from friends that “Google isn’t very good anymore”.
Give MSN Search a try – I think you may actually like it.
February 19th 2005
Google’s Allegra Update is still going on – this is the longest update in recent memory. Aside from the disappearance of vast swathes of websites, this update also includes an algorithm change which is not index wide but seems to be placed on specific keywords just the way the Florida Update was in 2003.
Google’s results are still changing frequently and when it will all settle down is anyone’s guess. With the Florida Update they applied their algorithm change to sets of keywords and then added more to the list in the following days and weeks. I suspect that is what is happening with Allegra as well. Continue Reading »
February 10th 2005
As I am writing this Google is in the middle of scrambling their index once again – some have called it an “update” although I would not agree that anything at all has been actually updated. You need to see an improvement in search results in order to call it an update in my view.
The folks over at Webmaster World began giving Google updates a name a few years ago and called this one “Allegra”. This is the first “update” in about a year to receive that honor if my memory serves me correctly.
This change in Google is receiving nearly as much attention in various search engine forums as the Florida Update did in 2003 – and that says a lot! Alas, the attention is not good however. Some webmasters are lining up and threatening to quit the business much the same way as stockbrokers leaped out of windows in the Great Depression! Continue Reading »
January 22nd 2005
The practice of redirecting one domain or website to another does have some serious problems. It is commonly preached that as a way of increasing your internet business it is a good idea to have lots of domains – perhaps targeting different keywords or market areas – all pointing at your website. The reality is that this can actually cause you serious grief. Continue Reading »
January 8th 2005
When building a website it is always a good idea to look at other successful sites and see what they have done so you can find clues as to what you can do to be just as successful. Some decide that the easy solution is just to copy some of the content or duplicate the meta tags. Those that try the unscrupulous and illegal route will be very disappointed!
It is not that there may be a risk of being caught – it is 100% certain that you will be caught. Not only will you eventually be caught and face the potential embarrassment of having your crime publicized throughout the internet where anyone searching for your name and/or business will find that you are an unethical crook – the tactic does not work. Continue Reading »
