Yogi Land

This is the sixth edition of Web Analytics TV with with a dash of Nick and Nash! In this series you share your most burning questions via the Google Analytics Google Moderator site and we answer them! And, here is the list of last weeks questions.

Easy ways to determine if search engines can find your site

If search engines can’t find your site, it may as well be the Invisible Man. Search engines like Yahoo!, Google, Bing and others are often a primary source of traffic and determine your ranking. Unfortunately, publishing your files to the Internet does not guarantee that the search engines are going to find them. 

Search engines crawl the Web, indexing pages and following links to find more pages. That’s their job. Pages that are newly published can appear in a search engine’s index (and in search results) within minutes, but sometimes it takes hours or even days.

This article will help you to get an idea of whether the search engines are finding your site, and what they see. In the examples below we’ll look at Yahoo!, Google and Bing, the three search engines with the highest market share in the U.S.

How to tell if your pages are being found by search engines
To determine if your site is indeed being indexed, do this simple search in the search box on any of the search engines by putting “site:” before your URL. Specific instructions like this are called “operators.” By typing that before the URL, you’re using what’s known as the “site operator.”

Example: site:yoursite.com

Don’t leave any spaces in the query. It should look like this:

The results will bring back pages from that site only. If you do not see any results from a site:yoursite.com search, then the search engine is not finding your site. 

Google does not show duplicate pages in these results, but it does allow you to see what’s been filtered. In order to see all pages, including ones Google deems as duplicates, look for a link after your very last search result listing that says, repeat the search with the omitted results included.  Click on that link to see all pages that Google considers duplicates of the ones listed in the initial query results. 

Or simply add &filter=0 to the end of the URL in your browser address bar and hit enter.

If you don’t see the “repeat the search with the omitted results included” link or do not see any changes when you add &filter=0 to your URL string, then you don’t have any previously filtered duplicate pages. This is a good thing because duplicate pages can split your in-link value among many landing pages instead of one, potentially hurting the rankings of your canonical landing page.

Is your content being crawled by search engines?
Search engines may find your page URLs when they crawl the Web following links, but they may not have the content of your pages indexed. To determine what search engines are actually indexing, you can click on the “cache” link on listings in search results.

If you’re looking for any page on your site–You can use the same site: operator referenced above.

If you’re looking for a specific page on your site–You can do a search for the page by entering the exact URL in the search box.

If you’re looking for specific content on your site—Enter the site: operator followed by an exact phrase in quotes in the search box (no spaces).

 

 

 

 

 

 

To check what each search engine has cached, click on the cache link under the result you’re interested in.  Here are screenshots of the cache link on Yahoo! (Google and Bing look pretty much the same).

When you click on the cached page, you will see the content that the search engine has actually indexed. Compare that to the page you see in your browser when you visit the page itself.  Do you see any content missing?

Note the content may have changed since the last time the search engine crawled your page. Search engines also sometimes choose not to index “noise” on a page such as advertisements. What is important to look for here is that the topical content of the page at the time the crawler visited was indeed indexed. If there is important content missing, there could be various reasons why.

Read the Search Engine Guidelines referenced below for more information, and stay tuned for the next SEO article where we’ll discuss steps you can take to make sure you’re doing everything you can to help the search engines index and crawl your content. 

Search engine guidelines for webmasters

• Yahoo! Search Content Quality Guidelines
• Bing guidelines for successful indexing
• Google Webmaster Guidelines

—Laura Lippay, Director of Technical Marketing

(Image courtesy ‘J’, via Flickr, CC 2.0)

Ecosystem 2.0 conference explores profiting from interactivity

All the big names in online advertising are surfing to Southern California for Ecosystem 2.0, which this year is focused on the theme of “Revenue: The Next Wave.” The annual conference brings together the smartest and most influential of online advertising’s kahunas, so naturally Yahoo! will be there hanging ten when it kicks off on Sunday, Feb. 21.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), the event’s main sponsor, says the focus will be on figuring out how to deliver on the profit potential promised by interactivity.

Award-winning event
We’re particularly proud that Yahoo! is receiving the award for “Most Innovative” interactive media sales organization. Seth Dallaire, Yahoo! Vice President of Mid-Market Sales, will accept the honor on behalf of everyone at Yahoo! whose hard work combined inventive ideas about content, advertising solutions and data usage to create new, long-lasting revenue streams for its advertiser and publishing partners.

Another highlight of Ecosystem 2.0 is “The Great Debate” on Feb. 23. This annual spotlight brings together the guiding lights of online advertising to share their expert opinion on every aspect of a hot topic, which this year is: “RESOLVED: I Own the Data.”

The debate’s four speakers include Yahoo! Vice President of U.S. Partnerships, Ramsey McGrory. He’s really involved in how Yahoo! gathers, handles, utilizes, analyzes and protects incredible amounts of digital data, so he’s the perfect person to explain how we’re delivering value for Yahoo! advertising and publisher partners while retaining respect for privacy and addressing other concerns.

Yahoo! is adding some special touches to lunch on Feb. 22, too—as if three days at the La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad isn’t special enough! Just don’t forget the sunblock and surf wax.

What: IAB’s Ecosystem 2.0
When: Feb. 21 to 23, 2010
Where: La Costa Resort and Spa, Carlsbad, Calif.
Why: Because you look a little pale and could use some sunshine

—Chris Marlowe

(Surfer image courtesy mikebaird via Flickr, CC 2.0)

 

How the Yahoo! and Microsoft Search Alliance works for advertisers

Yahoo! and Microsoft have received U.S. and E.U. regulatory clearance for their search transaction. The Yahoo! and Microsoft Search Alliance will provide a competitive search platform that we believe will drive innovation in search and search advertising, offer a more engaging and personalized experience for consumers, and create greater value for advertisers and publishers. It will not immediately affect your account.

How this benefits you
Once implemented, the Yahoo! and Microsoft Search Alliance will allow advertisers to:

Reach more customers—The alliance will help you reach up to 150 million searchers and get approximately 62 percent more search volume* than on Yahoo! alone through a new, unified search marketplace combining the Yahoo! and Microsoft networks. We’ll continue to innovate and enhance the search experience on our leading Web properties, driving even more search volume.

Save valuable time and effort—Once implemented, you’ll be able log into one place—Microsoft’s adCenter—to manage all your campaigns, for greater efficiency and a better return on investment. You’ll also be able to reach users on both Yahoo! and Microsoft sites, as well as other premium partner sites.

Benefit from rapid innovation—Yahoo! is continually delivering new features and innovations  to the world’s favorite online destinations, content, and Web products used by hundreds of millions of consumers to connect to the people and things that matter to them most. That innovation will only accelerate under the new alliance. Microsoft will continue to develop the underlying technologies that drive high quality algorithmic and paid search results, while we will use our resources to improve the advertiser and consumer search experience.

We expect advertisers, publishers and consumers to benefit from this alliance. By establishing a more competitive paid search marketplace, publishers (our affiliate partners) will also benefit through potentially better monetization and stronger innovation, while end users will benefit by our increased focus on creating even more engaging and personalized experience for our users.

What should I do now?
Nothing. There will be no immediate changes to your account. Both companies are committed to making this transition as seamless and beneficial to you as possible. Our aim is a high quality transition of advertisers and partners in at least the U.S. prior to the 2010 holiday season. However, we may wait until 2011 if we determine this will be more effective.

Continue to stay tuned to this blog and your account alerts for news and information on the Yahoo! and Microsoft Search Alliance.

For more on the Yahoo! and Microsoft Search Alliance, visit:

• The Yahoo! Transition Center.

—The Team

*Sources:  comScore custom data, December 2009 and comScore qSearch December, 2009, respectively

This week, the US federal General Services Administration (GSA) has approved listing Google Analytics in its apps.gov web site, which is a place for government agencies and services to find approved cloud computing applications. It's goal is to drive innovation and adoption of cloud-based apps in the government, and Google and the GSA have worked together to ensure that Google Analytics is compatible with the needs of US Federal agencies (e.g., Department of Homeland Security, NASA, FCC, and others).

Advertising beyond the Super Bowl;  does social really sell?; Right Media’s future, and more

Advertising the Super Bowl, and beyond
Mitch Spolan, our VP of North American field sales, has just posted a point-of-view commentary on MediaPost, on how digital advertisers are seeing gold in big-ticket events like the Super Bowl, which have traditionally been dominated by TV, radio and print. “Cultural events like the Super Bowl still matter,” says Mitch. “The good news for online marketers is that people are increasingly turning to the Internet for coverage of these events, and audience size and engagement is beginning to reach—and sometimes exceed—that of the original broadcast.” That goes whether you’re a search or display advertiser. To see how advertisers are making the shift online and get some tips for yourself, click over to MediaPost.

Social’s fine, but does it sell?
With all the hype around social media marketing and how it’s good for your brand and customer support, the question arises, “Fine, but does it sell?” AdWeek’s Brian Morrisey asks that question, and adds, “What’s a Facebook friend worth?” He answers with two telling case studies.

Retargeting 101
Search Marketing Standard’s Chris Stiner offer a quick, concise what-is-it? /  how-do-you-do-it? on retargeting for both search and display. “Ad agencies and ad networks all offer some sort of retargeting,” he says, “and the common reason for doing this is clear.” It sure is.

Socialize your website with Yahoo! Apps
Web advertisers are also web publishers. You kind of have to be if you want your customers to land somewhere after clicking on your ads. The Yahoo! Application Protocol, or YAP, lets your developers create apps to socialize your content on your users’ Yahoo! homepages. For a real-life example, see Chris Marlowe’s article on the Huffington Post’s new socializing “YAP app” over at the YPN blog.

Advertiser, regulate thyself
Regulation has been on the Fed’s docket since the financial meltdown. That’s not surprising. But here’s the deal, says MediaWeek’s Mike Shields: In digital advertising, over-regulation could damage innovation. Advertisers can either regulate themselves, or the government will likely step in. The Internet Advertising Bureau is lobbying for the former, but in order for that to work out, advertisers need to commit, become more transparent, and allow consumers more choice.

Right Media looking forward
It’s kind of Darwinian. Ad markets change and ad networks change with them. At the fore of that evolution is Right Media, Yahoo’s ad network exchange. “Right Media is actively addressing the needs of the differentiated ad networks, direct advertisers, and global agencies to enable brand safety in our premium marketplace,” say Right Media’s Brooke Wyard and Megan Pagliuca. To see how Right Media’s evolving, and how that evolution may affect exchange advertisers, click over to the Right Media blog.

— Michael Mattis

SearchSpeak 2010 video spolights Yahoo! search initiatives

Earlier this week we blogged about SearchSpeak 2010, an event that took place at our Sunnyvale campus. At SearchSpeak, some of the smartest and savviest Big Cheeses at Yahoo! took folks through the search and search marketing innovations we’ve introduced over the past six months, and some of the innovations we’re working on for the future. This short video provides a synopsis of the coolest things that are going on here at Yahoo!

For more, visit the Yahoo! Search blog.

—The Team

Yahoo! media event spotlights search innovation

Because we’re constantly working to make the search experience more relevant, we also want the world to understand what we’re up to in the search business. That’s why today we hosted a media event, SearchSpeak 2010, to help the media know what’s going on.

The event, at our Sunnyvale, Calif. headquarters, featured our new senior VP of search products, Shashi Seth, David Pann, VP of search advertising, and a slew of other executives. Shashi told the audience about consumer search innovations, and talked about the importance of search to Yahoo!, even in light of our potential partnership with Microsoft. “Yahoo has been in search, is in search, and will continue to be in the future,” Shashi said. “We’ll continue to drive innovation. It’s our stake in the ground.”

 

David talked about our latest innovations in paid search [link to latest search matters post], including our network distribution feature and the Yahoo! Search Marketing Desktop. “We’re focused on three key areas for advertising,” David said: “Better value, transparency and control, and innovation.”

Here’s an example of what the press is saying about Yahoo! search after today’s event:

All Things Digital: “[They debuted] a new mobile search app that uses a kind of Etch-a-Sketch type drawing technology–using fingers and not keywords–to help users find stuff.”

USA Today: “Yahoo executives are spending most of this morning outlining the company’s ambitious search plans.”

Dow Jones Newswires: “A senior Yahoo Inc. executive said Wednesday that the Web giant hasn’t exited the Internet search market, despite the company’s decision to strike a search pact last year with Microsoft Corp.”

TechCrunch: “Yahoo has been in search, is in search, and will continue to be in the future.”

Mashable: “The point seems to be: ‘We’re a pretty damn good search engine, you can’t ignore us!’ And in many respects, they’re right.”

—The Team

New Yahoo! Mobile blog; making the Internet safer; digital marketing trends for 2010, and more

Yahoo! Mobile blog launches
If you read Paul Cushman’s excellent entry “Demystifying Mobile, Part I” on the Yahoo! Advertising blog yesterday, you’re probably interested in mobile marketing. Well now there’s a new Yahoo! blog just for you. The Yahoo! Mobile blog will cover all aspects of mobile marketing, including case studies, new Yahoo! mobile features and products, and industry trends. Check out the La Quinta case study and see how you, too can up your mobile marketing ROI.

Safer Internet day
Safety first, right? On February 9, people and organizations around the world—including Yahoo!—took a moment to recognize the importance of safety on the Web. Visit Yodel Anecdotal to learn more.

Digital marketing 2010 trend round-up
CMO.com’s hard working editors have put together a page of trend pieces on digital marketing for the coming year. Based on the Society of Digital Agencies’ recent report, “SoDA 2010 Digital Marketing Outlook,” CMO.com editors asked some of advertising’s heavy hitters to respond. You’ll find both the report and the responses illuminating. Not to be outdone, iMedia Connection’s Michael Sprouse offers his own round-up.

Creative spotlight: Super Bowl ads redux
It’s not only the biggest sports day of the year, it’s also the biggest day for ad agency creatives, the day when advertisers spend up to $3 million for 30 seconds of air time. There have been some real classics in the past. This year? Maybe not so much. But there has been controversy—you know what we’re talking about—and that is always interesting. The kids over at the free TV/film site, hulu.com, have been kind enough to put together a special page where you can review all of the ads from Sunday’s big game. Want to see the ads that didn’t make the cut? Check out Spike’s rejected ads page. Who really won the battle of the brands on Super Sunday? You can score it by the tweets.

— Michael Mattis

Feras Alhlou, president and principal consultant of E-Nor, a Google Analytics Authorized Consultant, will be conducting a Google Analytics workshop at SMX West on March 5, called "Using Google Analytics to Improve Your Online Marketing & Business." Register here and get 10% off with this discount code: GA@SMX

Many organizations, large and small, struggle to go beyond basic web metrics of visitor counts and pageview volumes. In this workshop, senior consultant Feras Alhlou will walk you through what you need in order to drive your online marketing strategy ahead of your competition. I've had the pleasure of sitting in on Feras' workshops in the past, and it was the one of the main reasons we were so proud when E-Nor in the Bay Area joined our Google Analytics Authorized Consultant network. His clear, engaging and energetic teaching style will make the day fly by as you learn. It's time well spent.