The Axandra newsletter archive
8 October 2002
WEEKLY SEARCH ENGINE FACTS
http://www.Axandra.com
Issue #24 - October 1, 2002
Copyright 2002-2003 Axandra / Voget Selbach Enterprises GmbH
Welcome to a new issue of the Search Engine Facts newsletter.
This week we're informing you about important Google news and
we're giving you tips for finding good link partners.
1. Facts of the week: Google modified its ranking algorithms
Google has recently made changes to its ranking algorithms. There are no offical words from Google but it seems that the changes has been made to fight two phenomena that worried Google:
- "Google bombing"
- selling advertising based on Google PageRank
"Google bombing" means that a lot of Web pages link to the same Web page with the same link text. For example, if you searched Google with the phrase "go to hell", the number one result was microsoft.com because many Web pages linked to microsoft.com with that exact phrase. With the latest Google update, searching for "go to hell" no longer takes you to microsoft.com.
Then there are sites that sell text ads and links where the prices are determined by the Google PageRank of the sites. This means that you'd pay for a link to your Web site depending on the Google PageRank of the other site.
Google doesn't like it. Links are not placed because the linked site has important content but because the linked site has money. If many sites would sell their links, then Google's PageRank algorithm wouldn't work.
So what has changed in Google ranking algorithms? There are some hints:
- To stop Google bombing, Google now seems to check link texts with the link Web site. If the link text doesn't appear in the linked site, then the link is ignored or degraded.
- To stop PageRank monetization, Google seems to put lower value to link texts if the linked pages don't have a high PageRank.
Some people claim that the algorithm changes degraded the quality of Google's search results. This Web page provides examples.
Wired article about the news:
http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,55597,00.html
More about Google bombing: http://uber.nu/2001/04/06/
2. News of the week: Many news about Google
Almost daily, there are important news about Google. We're trying to catch up to the latest news.
- Google AdWords now available in the UK
The popular pay per click text ad service is the same as the US version except for the fact that the prices are in Pounds Sterling. According to Google, the UK version of the advertising program reaches 7.7 million UK users.
The official press release:
http://www.google.co.uk/press/pressrel/adwords_uk.html
Google AdWords UK:
https://adwords.google.co.uk
Google UK:
http://www.google.co.uk
- Google's index got even bigger
After the last Google update, Google's homepage now says that Google searches about 2.4 billion Web pages. Unfortunately, it seems that this number is inflated by many Web pages that are only partially indexed.
"Partially indexed" means that Google didn't visit the Web page itself. It knows about the page because of a link from an indexed Web page. As a result, Google is able to return more Web pages to a search but the overall quality of the search results may be lower.
The number of Web pages can be found on the homepage .
- Google is considering to charge users
In a recent interview, Google's senior vice president Omid Kordestani indicated that Google is considering charging users for using some of its services. You can read the interview here .
- New features in Google's corporate search
Google updated its corporate search appliances. Among the new features is searching for password protected content ( the official press release ). Google Search Appliance homepage: http://www.google.com/appliance/
3. How link popularity can help your rankings, part 3 of 5
How can you obtain high link popularity and a good PageRank so that your Web pages get a high ranking on Google and other popular search engines? Our 5 part series will help you.
Part 3: How to find good potential link partners
As explained in the last issues of our newsletter, it's important _who_ links to your site. Web sites that have a similar topic as your site are more important than Web sites with different topics.
In addition, if you can convince Web sites with a similar topic to link to your site, you'll also get targeted traffic from these sites.
People who visit your topic partner sites are usually interested in what you have to offer. They are more likely to come to your site and to buy something. It's the quality of the traffic that counts, not the quantity.
But how do you find good potential links partners? There are several ways:
- Search the most important search engines for your most important keywords.
Among the search results, you'll usually find Web sites that don't compete directly with your site. These Web sites are very good potential link partners.
They have a good listing on search engines under your important keywords. This means that they get a good amount of traffic from people who are interested in what you have to offer.
If such a site links to you, you'll get high quality targeted traffic from them. In addition, their link to your site also increases your link popularity and your search engine rankings.
- Find out who links to your competitors.
Web sites that link to your competitors are probably Web sites that should link to you. If a Web site links to one of your competitor sites, it's a strong hint that it could be a very good link partner to you.
First, the webmaster of that site has shown that s/he is willing to link to other sites. Second, those Web sites are often related to what you have to offer. You'll get targeted traffic from them while increasing your search engine ranking.
Unfortunately, both ways are very time-consuming and it's hard to do it for many sites.
Instead of manually searching for good potential link partners, you could also use a software tool like ARELIS to save time .
ARELIS is a commercial tool that quickly finds sites that link to your competitors as well as other potential link partners. It presents the found sites in a clearly arranged list that can be sorted by different criteria. It even helps you to build link pages and to check for broken links.
You can download a demo version here .
In the next issue we'll explain how to contact potential link partners so that you'll get a positive reply.
In addition to ARELIS, we recommend the free link popularity tool " Link Popularity Check ". It checks and compares your link popularity on different search engines.
4. Previous articles
If you want to publish one of the above articles on your Web site, you're allowed to do so! However, you must not change the contents in any way. Also, you must keep all links and you must add the following two sentences with a link to www.Axandra.com: "Copyright by Axandra.com. Internet marketing and search engine ranking software ."
Please recommend this issue to anyone you know who is interested in search engine facts. It's a good way to stay in touch with your clients, too.
If you're receiving this issue as a forward, and would like to get your own free subscription, visit
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Copyright 2002-2003 Axandra / Voget Selbach Enterprises GmbH
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