New: Google Disables Starring Results On Search Results

Google has disabled the ability to star search results from within the Google search results page.

As you may remember, Google replaced SearchWiki with starring results back in March 2010, about 16-months after Google launched SearchWiki. Now that Google has re-introduced a way to block sites in Google, Google has determined you no longer need to star search results from the search results page.

This does not mean that you can no longer see stars in your Google search results. It does however mean that you will no longer be able to star results directly from the search results. Instead, you now need to go Google Bookmarks and add a bookmark there for a star to show up in your search results. Read more at searchengineland.com

Out with the old ways of designing a website where there is a traditional landing (home) page and more basic interior pages.  We all know that search engines have been ranking individual pages rather than core domains for a long time now. So why are we still designing sites with static interior pages?

Our interior pages, posts, archives, download pages, login pages, including anything and everything on your site has to be more dynamic and be ready for direct traffic from users.

If you’re running a frequently updated site (blog, news site, etc…) a user is probably among the minority if they arrive on your homepage.  Instead they are arriving at your site either from searching a specific topic or asking a specific question which gets answered by a post you’ve written or someone they know / trust is sharing a link with them.  Either way they are bypassing the homepage.

Internal linking strategies, widgets, related posts lists and more all strive to help us find the next best thing on the site.  Give me as many non obtrusive reasons to stay on your site, show me interesting articles, or what other people are commenting on and I will be more than happy to stay on your site all afternoon.

They aren’t, because homepage is an arbitrary term. In the past we went “home” to find our way back to the content we were looking for.  Now I can arrive at a site and spend minutes on it (in internet time that’s like hours) without every going to the homepage.

See more at www.searchenginejournal.com

New report from GroupM and comScore indicates that search engine marketing and social media combined has a huge impact on consumers’ purchasing decision online. It’s worth reading the entire report to understand how SEO and social are interdependent in driving conversion rates. GroupM and comScore looked at consumer behavior associated with purchase decisions in the electronics/telecommunications and consumer packaged goods categories. While a whopping 86 percent of consumers say search engines are very important in their buying process, social media plays an equally critical role in influencing their decision.

Forty percent of consumers who use search in their path to purchase are motivated to use social media to further their decision making process.

More than a quarter of those surveyed (28 percent) said sites such as YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter help them learn about new brands and products.

Thirty percent said they used social media to eliminate brands from contention.

Two most important influentials in social media affecting purchases are user reviews and category blogs, rather than Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Read more at www.livingstonbuzz.com

While Microsoft’s Bing and Google have just added social media to their search engines, Facebook appears to have upgraded its own search: the site now groups query results under category headings. Previously, search results would show up in the drop-down menu without any organization, but now Facebook organizes them by category headings, as you can see in the screenshot to the right. This change saves you from having to click on “see more results from search,” followed by “show results from everyone.” It’s not clear whether the site has a predetermined order for listing categories. Read more at www.allfacebook.com

Google announced they have added Google Instant to Google Shopping Search view within the web results.

If you are on Google.com, search for a product and then filter your search on the left hand side by “Shopping”, Google Instant will allow you to search for new products. Interestingly enough, this does not seem to work off the Google Product Search home page. Read more at searchengineland.com

With all the talk about social media these days, you might think that the key to marketing your business and even driving sales lies entirely with sites like Facebook and Twitter, but, if you market your product or service online, harnessing the power of Google for your small business is still important. By this, of course, we mean search marketing, the general focus of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and, while there are other search engines to consider, SEO expert Aaron Wall reckons Google still makes up about 75 percent of the search market. Here are some things every small business owner planning to market online should know to capture it. Read more at smallbiztrends.com

Yesterday, I highlighted the necessity of compelling, call-to-action list building activities that scale beyond the realm of simply offering a newsletter.  While placement of these offers can be based solely on opportunity, most of the time you’ll want to isolate this type of list building on landing pages.  Whether you’re currently using landing pages or just beginning to implement this strategy, use my checkup list to guide you.

One call to action. Landing pages are designed to compel the reader to take one action–subscription, purchase, etc.

Focus. Landing pages eliminate distractions and noise, helping you keep your reader focused on one topic.

Targeted tracking. Landing pages are an excellent way, when setup appropriately, to target the success or failure of specific campaigns and offers.

Compelling offer list building. You’ll want to use landing pages for any of your second level list building activities, those that make an offer beyond your newsletter and target specific lead generation to sales funnels.

Social media custom landing pages. My clients have achieved great success creating custom landing pages for social media traffic, converting into deeper connections and list building.

Search engine landing pages. When building search traffic never dump people from the search engines onto your homepage or other obscure page.   You’ll want customer landing pages, specific to the search terms/activities in which the searcher found you.

Advertising landing pages. The same theory behind custom landing pages for search engines applies to advertising (such as AdWords).  You’ll optimize your results by customizing and directing advertising traffic to landing pages. Read more at websuccessdiva.com

Danny Sullivan of Search Engine Land, has obtained information from Google and Bing regarding their use of social signals to help rank search results.  Meaning, are they using data from the social graph of sites like Facebook and Twitter to calculate rankings.  The answer:  yes and no.

Marketing Takeaways for SMBs

Social search is here to stay and evolving. There can be no denial that social powered aspects of search are only going to increase.  If you’re hesitant to find the value in social media sites like Twitter, you’re missing an opportunity that will grow as time goes on.

Optimize for social search now. Social search will require optimization in the same way SEO does–social media optimization.  Ensuring your content (at every point) is optimized for search and social sharing, will be important in link building and leveraging of any social signals Google and  Bing may use. Read more at websuccessdiva.com