Google and Jagger's Aftermath

I found this geat article by Jason Oconnor that gives insight into google's last big algorhythm change(Jagger) and useful notes of what to do and not to do on your website.

Things That Could Possibly HELP You More In Jagger's Aftermath
Aged Domains - Sites with domains that are older rank better now - the older the domain, the better its rankings with all other things being equal. (This is probably true to some degree).

Very Relevant Links - IBL (inbound links) and OBL (outbound links) relevancy is more important after Jagger. This means that if you point to related sites or you get links from other sites that are related to your website, you may rank better after Jagger with all other things being equal. (This is probably true to some degree as well).

Links From Trusted Sites Help - TrustRank (or a similar concept) is more important than ever after Jagger. TrustRank is a concept that says if you get a link pointing to your site that is highly trusted by Google (trusted either programmatically or by human editors), then you will rank better with all other things being equal. (See http://www.vldb.org/conf/2004/RS15P3.PDF).

Variety of Links - Links from .edu and .org websites are good for increasing your rankings and are more important than ever. (It\'s vital to get links form a wide variety of websites. Just like your investing, you need to diversify your IBL\'s. (This has probably been true even before Jagger).

Aged Links - The older the link that points to your site, the more weight it\'s given now. (This also has probably been true even before Jagger).

Embedded Links - Links that are embedded in sentences and paragraphs instead of stand-alone links are weighted more heavily now. (This may be true soon if not already).

Article Links - Articles are what directories had been a year or two ago for link building. Links from the author by-line or within the article that point back to your site will positively affect your rankings. (And this is one reason I\'ve chosen to write this article).

Fresh & Unique Content - Now, more than ever, regularly updated and added ordinal content will help your rankings. (This is almost definitely true.)

Be a Big Guy - If you are a big behemoth site like Wikipedia, Yahoo, AOL, Ebay, Amazon, etc., you will rank better than you did before Jagger.

High Traffic & Stickiness - User popularity statistics now, or will soon, affect rankings. In other words, user actions on your website, like how long they stay (stickiness), how many pages they visit, and even how many people visit your site in a given period, can all affect how Google ranks your site. (This may be true soon if not already).

Read full article and other tips that may no longer help your website post Jagger at site-reference.com

Meta Data is Mega Important in 2006

As we move into 2006, with our respective digital marketing strategies, meta data -- content that describes content -- will become extraordinarily important to the digital marketer.
...
I'm talking about a different kind of meta data than what we're used to.
We've known about meta data as it applies to search engine optimization for a few years. How many of us populated our websites with keywords trying to boost our level in the search engines? But the practice of meta data creation from an organic SEO standpoint has ironically become counter-productive as the search engines (especially Google) began penalizing websites that tried to trick the system. And thus, on the eighth day, the internet industry begat the SEO consultant.
Meta data is becoming increasingly more important for the digital marketer -- not from a search engine perspective, but rather from a content identification perspective. As the internet and the amount of information on it evolves into overwhelming proportions, filtering content and providing users with an easier way to locate that content will be a hugely necessary task.
As you start your next website re-design or content strategy, strongly consider putting significant thought and strategy around your meta content: content that identifies and describes content. If you're a publisher it means identifying titles as 'titles,' articles as 'articles' and authors as 'authors.' If you're an ecommerce provider, it means identifying your products and the particulars of those products. | read full article by Rob Rose at iMediaConnection

Nivi : The Trillion Dollar Web 2.0 Matrix

This is not related to SEO but nevertheless a great read.
Nivi : The Trillion Dollar Web 2.0 Matrix: "personal expert social world"

Google's Newsletter for Librarians

How does Google collect and rank results?
One of the most common questions we hear from librarians is 'How does Google decide what result goes at the top of the list?' Here, from quality engineer Matt Cutts, is a quick primer on how we crawl and index the web and then rank search results. Matt also suggests exercises school librarians can do to help students. - Read full article

GOOGLE-AOL ALLIANCE GIVES TWO BROADEST AD REACH ON WEB

The AOL and Google deal, sealed yesterday, gives the two advertising power and reach that no other entity on the Internet possesses. It will also give AOL what appears to be a preferred position among Google partners. And it gives Google and its ad clients access to rich content through AOL programming.

AOL and Google finally wrapped up details on a business partnership yesterday that will create cross-marketing opportunities for both companies. Under the terms of the pact, Google will pay AOL parent Time Warner $1 billion for a 5% stake in AOL.

The cross-marketing aspects of the deal give AOL advertising clients a chance to bid for search ad sponsored links through Google's contextual-advertising AdSense program. AOL sales staff can also sell sponsored links across AOL search. AOL search will continue to be powered by Google, a cooperation that has existed since 2002 and which brings in about 10% of Google's revenue. Also, Google's ad clients will be able to purchase display ads, of the sort that AOL sells, across Google's network.
'We will build a system for AOL whereby AOL will be able to sell into search for AOL search and those same advertisers will be able to sell into Google AdSense advertiser network,' said Patrick Keane, director of sales strategy, Google, in an interview late last night. He added that details have yet to be hammered out. But that the focus of the partnership 'means a greater inventory of ads,' he said. 'There are going to be interesting relationships and cross-selling across all the inventory.'

Some, however, are already grumbling that the deal will give AOL preference over other Google clients. "It's an extension of the partnership," Mr. Keane said. He added that there will be no special placement or preference for Google's algorithmic, natural search results. | source: NEW YORK (AdAge.com)

SEO Overkill Can Destroy Your Site

Are you using search engine optimization tactics that lead to SEO overkill? You may not think so, but according to several SEO experts at the Search Engine Strategies conference held recently in Chicago, Illinois, you might be using what is called "SEO Overkill". Michael Murray from Fathom SEO, Matt Bailey from The Karcher Group, and Heather Lloyd-Martin from SearchEngineWriting.com all discussed SEO Overkill.
According to Mark Murray of Fathom SEO, SEO is not a shopping spree. You need website traffic, but you need to pace yourself --even sound practices may fail if they're rushed.
source: SEO Overkill Can Destroy Your Site
By Bill Hartzer - December 21, 2005

Search Marketing Book Reviews

Search Engine watch has compiled a list of books for "search technology". While reading this latest article I came across another list that I think are extremely beneficial for this audience. Below is a collection of reviews relating to search marketing and search engine optimization. I personally like to read various newsletters and blogs but think it's a great idea to check out these books as well. Many of the authors names featured in these collections I recognize are frequent speakers at the SES conferences and are well respectively as experts in the field. | source: SearchEngineWatch.com

Search Marketing Book Reviews
Use the alphabetically arranged links below to go directly to a review. Scroll down the page for a reverse-chronological listings and a brief description of each book review.
The Buyer's Guide to Search Advertising Agencies, Marketing Sherpa
The Buyer's Guide to Search Engine Optimization Firms, Marketing Sherpa
Call to Action, Bryan & Jeffrey Eisenberg
The Keyword Research Guide, Wordtracker
Maximizing Search Engine Visibility, Shari Thurow
Search Engine Advertising, Catherine Seda
Search Engine Marketing, Inc., Mike Moran & Bill Hunt
Successful Search Engine Copywriting, Heather Lloyd-Martin
The Search Engine Marketing Kit, Dan Thies
Winning Results with Google AdWords, Andrew Goodman