In economics, supply and demand describe market relations between prospective sellers and buyers of a good. (wikipedia.org)
In search engine optimization, we can use the supply and demand model to describe the relationship between the people searching for specific keywords (the demand) and the people creating content to meet that demand (the supply).
The following is a simplified explanation on how to visualize the supply and demand of keywords.
The more information you can gather when determining your most valuable keywords for SEO and SEM, the better. With IceRocket’s Blog Trend Tool, you have the ability to find out what is most popular in the blogosphere and view the trends for any keywords (comparing up to three at a time).
Google has a similar tool called Google Trends (see: Keeping Ahead of your Competition With Google Trends). However, Google’s tool focuses mainly on the search volume and news stories for keywords.
IceRocket.com now has a trend tool which allows you to see the popularity of your keywords over a period of time within the blogosphere.
At the end of this article, I give examples of how to use the two together.
If you do, or if you hire someone that does, you may reconsider after reading this post.
I’ve struggled with this for years. Deep down I tell myself that if I don’t build a site or web app from the ground up, then I’m probably going to regret it in the future.
However, as the internet develops and standard models emerge, there are some “tools” that are becoming the basis of almost every site I work on these days.
1-800-Goog-411 has recently graduated from Google Labs to become a full-fledged Google product. It’s a free service that allows anyone to call in and find local business information.
However, what becomes more important than the service itself, is how to make sure your business is listed.
If you have been wondering how other businesses appear on Google Maps or in the search results when you are searching for a specific location, then the Google Local Business Center is your answer.
Local listing is the next frontier for the search engines. They have the game down pat for web-wide searching, but when it comes to finding something in your area, they do not perform as well.
However, Google is trying to stay the leader of the pack by introducing new technologies and products that relate to local searching.
What this means is you have additional ways to be found, outside of natural and paid search advertising.
I can’t honestly remember the last time I used a phone book, before I looked something up online first. …And I can guess that I’m not the only one.
Here’s an example: Yesterday I needed to buy a mattress (true story), and I did a search for “mattress store san diego.” There were three local search results that came up with a Google Map at the top of the search listings. Guess which one I picked? That’s right. The one that was closest to me with enough information and pictures on their site to make me feel comfortable knowing that I would be happy shopping there.
Because that mattress store was listed on Google Local Listings, they made an additional $530 that would not have come in otherwise.
The point is that times are changing, and local search is coming to the web. Either you get there first or your competitors do. It’s free and easy to set up, so no matter which way you look at it, it’s a good idea.
When you think of search engines like toddlers, the concepts for search engine optimization (SEO) get much more simple.
With young children, you need to make things extra easy in order for them to understand. Take children’s books for example. They usually consist of a few words per page and cut right to he point.
The same thing applies to search engines. You need to make it crystal clear what each page is about, and when they understand what each page is about, they know how to rank you. The more clear, the better chance of top rankings.
Seth Godin wrote a great post today on his blog regarding how the search engines have “broken the world into little tiny bits.”
I think it’s a great observation, and it’s not just search engines. It’s social media as a whole! Whether your site got stumbled, you have traffic coming in from your RSS feed subscribers, or your latest article just made the Digg front page, it’s becoming less and less common that all traffic starts at your home page and explores your site from there.
Below, is the way a typical site is laid out. Everything starts with the home page, you have your main navigation off that, and finally you get to the pages that contain the specific information visitors are looking for.
Claims were made against Target stating that their web site was inaccessible to the blind, and a federal judge in California has certified a class action lawsuit.
By not making their site accessible, Target is said to have violated federal and state laws prohibiting discrimination against the disabled. The National Federation of the Blind is included as one of the plaintiffs.
Using alt and title attributes (in hyperlinks) should be part of your best practices no matter what. Not only do they help make your web site more accessible to people with disabilities, they also makes your site more accessible to the search engines.
If laws are passed, web site owners and companies may be forced to make these changes.
First off, read up on the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). Then, make sure you are using Alt and Title attributes in your site at the very least. You will be making your site more accessible to both your visitors and the search engines.
Here are 10 Quick Tips
to make your site more accessible from the WAI:
