Bharati Ahuja

Matt Cutts, Ben Gomes and Amit Singhal From Google Give You An Inside Look On How Search Works

This video is about Google's search leaders Matt Cutts, Ben Gomes and Amit Singhal who give you an inside look on how search works, they share stories on what it has been like to work together over the past decade, and discuss where they see search heading in the future. Moderated by Search Engine Land's Danny Sullivan.It is a must view for all the people who are passionate about search and want to have an insight about how Google deals with search and search algorithms.

Some of the points discussed in the video are:

Amit Singhal introduces himself and says that academically he has done Masters In Search and a PhD in search – (Well he says yes there is such a thing but this back when search was the sleepy domain for the librarians)

Ben Golmes shares that when he joined Google his previous Boss had asked him “Do you think Google will ever be 1/10th size of Altavista?”

Matt Cutts introduces himself and says that he was a graphics guy and wrote the first version of safe search at Google and in the process found out that there are bad guys on the internet and since then he has been dealing with them now as the head of the web spam team of Google.

We take simple principles of how language behaves and build algorithms based on those principles in an environment of the modern web.In the real world these algorithms are challenged with all its complexities and the most relevant pages have to be produced for the query made by the user.

Danny Sullivan asks Google how do you decide what is not working and what is broken and how to fix it?

Amit Singhal says all their algorithmic changes are based on one principle that is - So what is best for the user, they develop science around it and then measure what is best for the user.

He further says that there is rigorous testing done before they finalize on any ranking algorithm update. There are approx. 500 changes to algorithm every year and Google runs around 20000 tests every year.

The answers to the following questions are considered along with many other considerations before deciding to go ahead with the new algorithm.

Is it good for the web eco system at large?
Would it benefit authors?
Would it benefit high quality content?
Would it keep the Google system simple so that it can be maintained much longer?

Ben Golmes adds that being very rigorous for testing is essential to the speed of moving fast so that they are constantly sure that they are the best for the users at any given point.

Matt Cutts says that at times under certain circumstances they may take manual action.

Matt says at Google we are obsessed about speed and we would like to give the most relevant result as fast as possible to the user.

All search in the future seems to be mobile and Danny Sullivan adds that we will not even be searching but it will be happening to us.

Bharati Ahuja

Google / SEO - 08/12/2011

Is There A Limit To How Many 301 (Permanent) Redirects I Can Do On A Site? Video - By Matt Cutts

Matt Cutts recently posted on Google+ that Google has recently recorded ~30 new in-depth videos and ~60 new quick-answer videos. This is the first in-depth video, and it's about 301 (permanent) redirects.

Is there a limit to how many 301 (Permanent) redirects I can do on a site?

According to this video:

There is no limit to the no. of 301 redirects that a site can have.
Instead of redirecting every 301 to the root it should be redirected to the actual URL of the new site.
Its ideal to do a redirect in one hop instead of having more no. of hops as the bot may lose track
Use this 301 redirect only if the URL shift is permanent. If it is a temporary one and you would like to get back to the previous URL after some time then the 302 redirect is the correct option.

SEO - 08/10/2011

Having A Schedule And Being Organized – A Personal Perception

Author : Bharati Ahuja

I work as an independent entrepreneur and have a very different approach towards having a team. Instead of developing a team in-house I prefer co.ordinating with professionals and execute the project by allocating the relevant aspects of the project to the identified experts in that field.

And over a period of time some professionals become a necessary part of your organization. This way you get to work with professionals who are passionate about their work and the clients also get high quality results.

One does not have to bother about the team management issues and one can focus on upgrading the quality of service so that satisfied customers generate a WOM which accelerates business opportunities without much direct marketing methods. This in a way encourages entrepreneurship further.

I do not have any qualms about a 9 to 5 job but to each his own. As a job entails a different set of responsibilities and demands a different approach to work as compared to working as an entrepreneur.

Just the other day a business associate after observing my way of working asked me so you do not have any schedule for the day?

The chuckle in his voice made me think – Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

After giving thought to it I realized that yes if you are working 9 to 5 then you need to have a schedule as you are a part of the team and reaching at a fixed time and having a certain way of working according to the systems of the company become very important.

But as an entrepreneur even if you do not have a schedule does not necessarily mean that you are disorganized as the priorities of the day become your schedule.

· If you have a presentation then everything else may take a back seat.

· Especially when you are in online business the working hours can be 24/7 .

· If you need to give quality time to your children at a certain time of the day due to their busy schedules then that day working till late at night becomes something unavoidable.

· That is the plus point of working independently as you decide what is the priority of the moment and work according to the need of the hour which gives a lot of spontaneity of thought and eliminates the element of the boredom which arises due to having a strictly fixed schedule.

· Of course the challenge is of meeting deadlines by repeatedly working on the progress of the project and co-ordinating efficiently with proper communication becomes the focus of every decision .

· As Liz Strauss has mentioned in her article http://www.successful-blog.com/1/be-irresistible-the-7-key-steps-to-becoming-your-own-boss/ It takes commitment to become your own boss — a commitment to yourself, to the people you serve, and to the value of what you offer. That commitment has been in every success you’ve won. Make the commitment and you’ll become an irresistible force.

Others - 08/02/2011

Setting The Purpose Of Your Social Media Presence - Social Media Marketing V/S Social Media Optimzation

Author : +Bharati AhujaImage via Wikipedia

Every online marketer today is harping on the social media mantra but everyone is still experimenting with this media for getting the outreach, visibility and that extra mileage which is possible from this marketing platform but there is no sure shot formula to achieve these objectives.

Hence, it is highly important to focus on the purpose of using the social media sites and have a strategic plan else it is very easy for your voice to go unheard inspite of you putting in so much time, effort and resources.

I am sure every one who has experimented with this media has made mistakes, got carried away with the tweeting and realized the futility of just having a presence on blogs, Twitter, Facebook and now Google+ and not achieving anything out of it despite all the efforts and time which has been invested by them.

Every SEO recommends that the company should have a social media presence and thats a valid suggestion indeed, because the search engines have integrated the social data and signals with search results to add more value, quality and are also adding the preferences of your social network to the search results.

So The Questions That Need To Be Answered By Businesses Are –

what is the purpose of our presence on social media sites?
Is our target to create more klout on the social media site in our niche industry or to make our search presence stronger using social media as one of the options?

The Difference Between Social Media Marketing And Social Media Optimzation

Social Media Marketing is usually creating content and distributing content by sharing it on the social network for maximum out reach. It is usually in the form of a corporate message for its targeted audience which if effective gets shared further just like an advertisement. Its like pushing the message across to more and more people .

Whereas in Social Media Optimization is sharing the content usually in the form of a link so that it gets further shared and people come back to the site so it pulls the targeted visitors to your site via the social media platform.

The selection of the social media platform entirely depends on this purpose .

Social Media Marketing focuses mainly on:

· Advertising

· Direct Selling

· Customer Support

· Public Relations

· Branding

· Communication

· Direct Marketing

· Sales Promotion

· Publicize An Event By Using # tags To Make It A Trending Topic

Social Media Optimization Focuses Mainly On Driving Inbound Traffic From Social Media Sites By:

· Having URL Links For The Content In The Posts So It Can Generate Inbound Traffic

· The Content Can Be In The Form Of Images, Infographics, Videos, News, RSS Feeds, etc.

· Sharing Content Related To Your Industry – Which In A Way Promotes Your Company Beliefs And Value

· Connecting To Communities

· Make Sharing Content Easy So That It Becomes Viral

· Having Rewards For Sharing The Content

· Setting Up The Social Media Profile With A Focus on Linking To The Other Web And Social Media Presence Of the Company To Create Corelation And Improve Quality External Linking.

· On The Proper Bio Description On The Social Media Site In Order To Establish Online Identity And Also Link To The Relevant Site, Blog Or Profile.

Hence , depending on the purpose of your presence on the social media platform the efforts have to be focused on that particular activity to achieve the right objective of either marketing directly or get inbound traffic .

Every business activity needs to have a plan and a purpose , engaging on social media for a business purpose without planning the task is a sheer waste of time and other resources and may harm the social business image of the company rather than heal it and leverage it.

SEO / Social Media - 07/30/2011

20 Questions Which Help You Judge The Progress Of The SEO Campaign Without Facing The Meteors Of Metrics

Author : Bharati Ahuja

Image by FindYourSearch via FlickrSearch Is Changing. As A Website Owner, Has Your Attitude, Approach And Expectations From An SEO Campaign Adapted To The Change? Do You Look Beyond The Ranking Report?

Search Marketing has evolved and has more to offer in terms of quality and quantity in the local and global arena. Every search marketer keeps on harping on the fact that search is beyond rankings and is more about quality web presence and having a good inbound web marketing strategy.

You may not be an expert at statistics and analytics and may not like to delve into the metrics and analytics. You may not have time for SEO reports but I am sure you want to judge and get an idea about whether the SEO campaign is on the progressive path in your own way . Especially when you are paying a huge sum for it.

The answers to the following 20 Questions will help you to ascertain your quality footprints on the web which can ensure Quality Inbound Traffic and Long Term Web Presence and also give you an idea about the progress of the SEO campaign.

1. Does your business have a local presence.(Listings in Google Places And Google Maps)?

2. Does your company have a blog?

3. Do people read and comment on the blog posts?

4. Do the images from your website and blog get listed on the image search?

5. Have you uploaded videos about your products, company , etc. on YouTube or on your own server?

6. If you have videos on your server then has a video sitemap been submitted to Google?

7. Do the videos rank in SERPs and Video Option Search Results for the targeted keywords?

8. Which are the major 15-20 search queries (Head &Long Tail) for which the site ranks on Page 1?

9. Are these search queries directly related to your company, product or service?

10. Do people fill the form on your website to contact you?

11. Are these inbound mails from the site increasing?

12. On which country domains is your website ranking?Is this in sync with your geographic target?

13. Are the rankings stable for more than a quarter?

14. Does your website rank for branded and non-branded terms?

15. Does Your Website rank for local intent keywords on organic search (for e.g SEO Ahmedabad)

16. Do the page titles give an idea about what the page is about to the user?

17. Can the user share the content of the page easily to his social media site?

18. Do the images have Alt text which tell more about the image to the user?

19. Does the website have a sitemap for the user?

20. Is the content useful for the user and not stuffed with keywords by the SEO?

The answers to all these above questions give you a quick idea about the progress of your SEO Campaign and overall web presence of your website.

If you want to go by the metrics that matter and want numbers to monitor the progress read the post on the following link:

http://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-analytics-metrics-monitor-the-seo-progress/25493/

SEO - 07/26/2011

The Current Evolutionary Phase of SEO - Its All About Quality Web Presence And Over All Web Strategy

Author : Bharati Ahuja

Image by @boetter via FlickrSEO as we all know is about optimizing your website so that it ranks in the search results for your website targeted keywords. In early 2000 when search was all about keywords and rankings alone it resulted into spam of very high degree for which Google had to introduce the PageRank Technology to fight the spam and maintain quality search results.

The PageRank Technology which gave importance to inbound links initially improved the quality of search results but eventually gave rise to a link building industry and a link spam which again polluted the search results. Apart from inbound links the content aspect is also given a lot of importance from the search engines from the very beginning and this also gave rise to many sites and a lot of content which was added to the web in various forms from the SEO benefit by content spammers.In order to fight the link spam and the content spam Google came up with the Panda Update in Feb. 2011 which penalizes and bans sites with low quality content .

The ranking factors and the importance given individually and jointly to these factors keeps on changing but one thing which has remained constant is the importance given to your overall quality web presence or the quality footprints that you create over a period of time in the web journey of the website has always a considerable factor.

The search algorithms are becoming very sophisticated and so is the search behavior as the searcher now know that he has options and when online buying is increasing and it is even becoming more mobile a website owner now not only needs to rank on the search engines but needs to analyze and understand the search metrics like the Click Thru Rate , Bounce Rate, Conversion Rate, GEO Targeting, Local Search Queries and any other metric which maybe specific for the progress of that particular site keeping in mind the objective of the website.

Keeping the present scenario in mind the SEO needs to help create an overall quality web presence for the website and inter link the already existing quality website foot prints intelligently so that the website gets the benefit from the past existence on the web.

Currently An SEO Needs To work on :

· Optimizing On Site And Off Site Factor To Get High Rankings

· Keep a Track Of Important Metrics That Matter

· Analysis and Action There upon of Those Metrics Which Need Attention

· Keep An Eye On The Algo Updates

· Tune and Tweak The Website As Per The Algo Updates

· Help and Advice On How To Get Quality Inbound Links

· Educate The Owner About The Digital Assets Which Are Being Created As a Part Of The SEO Campaign For His Company

· Keep The Client Updated About The Latest Development In The Search Industry

The SEO Periodic Table http://searchengineland.com/download/seotable/SearchEngineLand-Periodic-Table-of-SEO.pdf clearly mentions that

“Some factors influence more than others, and No single factor guarantees top rankings. Several favorable factors increase odds of success. Negative "Violation" and "Blocking" factors harm your chances “

Hence, the SEO needs to keep working on the improvement of the favorable factors and continuously increase the potential for overall SEO success and at the same time go on negating the violation and blocking factors. In order to have this approach you cannot have a standard SEO formula for every website. Each and every website is different as per their web presence and needs to be managed individually and as per the plus points and minus points of that website. Hence Rand Fishkin Of www.seomoz.org has rightly said that the role of an SEO has transformed into one of that of a web strategist .

SEO - 07/23/2011

Google Plans To Support Brands, Businesses, and Beyond. Google+ Business Profiles For All

Author : Bharati Ahuja

Google+ and Google’s plans to support brands, businesses, and beyond. Google+ Business Profiles For All

Image by Sean MacEntee via Flickr

Googler Christian Oestlien discusses the interest in Google+ for businesses and how the company is soon going to have Google+ Business Profiles For All

With business profiles it is highly essential to have a person identified to represent the business.

Marissa Mayer Reveals The Surprising Origins Of Google

Author : Bharati Ahuja

Google's first female engineer Marissa Mayer reveals the surprising origins of the popular search engine's iconic logo in this sneak peek of the primetime special, "Martha Stewart Presents: Women with Vision." Premieres July 18 at 8 p.m. ET on Hallmark Channel. For more info, go to http://www.marthastewart.com/women-with-vision.

Marissa's career advice: "Find something that you're passionate about and that you just love. Passion is really gender-neutralizing."

Google - 07/19/2011

Why Is Your Google+ Profile Important From The Search And Social Media Perspective?

Author : Bharati Ahuja

Google has finally embarked the social media journey with full promise and poise.

Google now has access to its own data related to social signals and Google is very much focused on search and according to me the Google+ initiative is mainly aimed at enhancing the quality of search results which is very much affected due to the mal practices because of link building and content spamming.

As my main focus is on search as an SEO I think , it is imperative to be active on Google+ from the web presence perspective due to the following reasons:

· Google+ social signals are going to affect the search results in Google undoubtedly

· Google is also experimenting with business profiles

· These business profiles have a full possibility of being integrated with Google Places affecting local search. http://searchengineland.com/google-pages-coming-for-businesses-83985

· Google+ has the feature of circles by which categorization becomes easy and simple due to which you can manage the personal family and friends circle along with the professional and business circle via the same platform and social media profile.

· Google has introduced the rel author tag and Google clearly mentions on http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=1229920 that you need to add the link to your author page in the list of links on your Google Profile so the co-relation with the rel attribute and the profile of the author can be set and verified.

· Google Plus is already mobile

· Visits to your site from Google+ can be viewed in Google Analytics Reports . You can go to any tab, any report in Google Analytics and see Google+ traffic side by side with your regular traffic, just by selecting the Google+ traffic segment

· Google clearly has mentioned that ,”Our vision is to have google.com/realtime include Google+ information along with other realtime data from a variety of sources.” Hence once the Real Time Search option is active again on the search page the Google+ posts will be listed on it.

In short having a Google+ profile and using it actively will add a plus to the organic SERPs, local search, blogger profile via the rel author tag, real time search option and you will be able to track and measure the Google+ data via Google Analytics.

Though I agree this gives more power to Google to monopolize the search platform but according to me Google very much deserves it and this is one monopoly which may have the maximum market share but keeps on working hard on innovation and keeps competing with its previous results at the same time offers value to the user in the form of information and knowledge in many ways at no extra cost.

1. What more can a user ask for?

2. Do you think your Google+ profile can be neglected as a social media platform or from the search and overall web presence perspective ?

3. Is there any other point you would like to add in the above mentioned list of reasons for having a Google+ Profile?

Google / SEO / Social Media - 07/18/2011