Monday, 11 May 2009
Friday, 13 March 2009
Search Google like a Pro! (Simplify Edition 14)
In one of our last editions 'You've been spidered, how do search engines work?', we looked into some of the 'mechanics' how an Internet based search actually works.
Today, let's take a look at how you can better search for the needle in the haystack... Here are some useful tips how you can search Google just like a Pro!
There are roughly 500 million searches performed every day. 88% of that traffic comes from the top 4-5 search engines, Google, Yahoo, Ask and MSN. Did you know that 11 times more websites are found through search engines than magazine ads?
Google is a very sophisticated search engine, but most users don't use its full potential. There is a better way to search; one that generates a smaller, more targeted list of results. All you have to do is implement a few simple tips, and you'll soon be generating more and better Google search results.
Click here for some examples how to better find what you are searching for, save time wading through millions of Google search results and how to get focused in your search.
Read this article here.
Today, let's take a look at how you can better search for the needle in the haystack... Here are some useful tips how you can search Google just like a Pro!
There are roughly 500 million searches performed every day. 88% of that traffic comes from the top 4-5 search engines, Google, Yahoo, Ask and MSN. Did you know that 11 times more websites are found through search engines than magazine ads?
Google is a very sophisticated search engine, but most users don't use its full potential. There is a better way to search; one that generates a smaller, more targeted list of results. All you have to do is implement a few simple tips, and you'll soon be generating more and better Google search results.
Click here for some examples how to better find what you are searching for, save time wading through millions of Google search results and how to get focused in your search.
Read this article here.
Labels:
Google,
Simplicity,
simplify
Monday, 9 February 2009
Tweet. Tweet. Twitter For The Small Business. (Simplify Edition 13)
At Simplicity (@SimplicityTweet), we started using Twitter a while ago and over time gained a friendly flock of followers who take an interest in what we do, think or write about, and even provide invaluable feedback to questions we may pose out there into the Twitterverse. In this edition we look at why a small business should consider Tweeting along.
Twitter was born about three years ago in South Park, San Francisco. With everybody from Jonathan Ross, Stephen Fry or Barack Obama on Twitter, it is safe to say the social networking platform has gone mainstream. What is this 'next big thing' all about? Twitter is about person-to-person communication. It is a 'micro blogging' platform which allows you to publish short messages or posts which are called 'Tweets' of less than 140 characters through different mediums like instant messenger, mobile phones, desktop applications and the web.
UK Internet traffic to Twitter has increased tenfold over past last 12 months, according to Hitwise. For the week ending 17/01/09 Twitter ranked as the 291st most visited website in the UK. On average, the amount of time that people spend on Twitter has more than trebled from less than 10 minutes a year ago to half an hour now, what sounds about right for us at Simplicity. Twitter initially gained popularity amongst the younger generation, however, the fastest growing age group of users is 35-44 year olds, who now account for 17.3% of UK visitors.
So what's in it for you as a small business? Well, Twitter gives you an experience of opinions stated, events, news, ideas or feedback. Twitter also allows you to learn how people think and feel. At Simplicity (@SimplicityTweet), we started using Twitter a while ago and over time gained a friendly flock of followers who take an interest in what we do, think or write about, and even provide invaluable feedback to questions we may pose out there into the Twitterverse. We believe that Twitter is a manageable process that can be adopted by any small or start-up business. You just need to integrate it within your normal workflow. It can be addictive but once you understand how to use it, Twitter can be a very effective tool indeed.
How to get started? Read here how you can get rolling...
Follow us on Twitter for more updates...
Twitter was born about three years ago in South Park, San Francisco. With everybody from Jonathan Ross, Stephen Fry or Barack Obama on Twitter, it is safe to say the social networking platform has gone mainstream. What is this 'next big thing' all about? Twitter is about person-to-person communication. It is a 'micro blogging' platform which allows you to publish short messages or posts which are called 'Tweets' of less than 140 characters through different mediums like instant messenger, mobile phones, desktop applications and the web.
UK Internet traffic to Twitter has increased tenfold over past last 12 months, according to Hitwise. For the week ending 17/01/09 Twitter ranked as the 291st most visited website in the UK. On average, the amount of time that people spend on Twitter has more than trebled from less than 10 minutes a year ago to half an hour now, what sounds about right for us at Simplicity. Twitter initially gained popularity amongst the younger generation, however, the fastest growing age group of users is 35-44 year olds, who now account for 17.3% of UK visitors.
So what's in it for you as a small business? Well, Twitter gives you an experience of opinions stated, events, news, ideas or feedback. Twitter also allows you to learn how people think and feel. At Simplicity (@SimplicityTweet), we started using Twitter a while ago and over time gained a friendly flock of followers who take an interest in what we do, think or write about, and even provide invaluable feedback to questions we may pose out there into the Twitterverse. We believe that Twitter is a manageable process that can be adopted by any small or start-up business. You just need to integrate it within your normal workflow. It can be addictive but once you understand how to use it, Twitter can be a very effective tool indeed.
How to get started? Read here how you can get rolling...
Follow us on Twitter for more updates...
Labels:
Simplicity,
simplify,
small business,
Twitter
Saturday, 31 January 2009
Follow us on Twitter (@SimplicityTweet)
Follow our Tweet here: @SimplicityTweet
Labels:
Simplicity,
Twitter
You've been spidered. How do search engines actually work?
Did you know that 80% of traffic to most websites comes from search engines? You may have heard the terms “spiders”, “crawlers” or “robots”… but what do these little crawly spiders do? What is a search engine? How do search engines work?
The search engine. According to Wikipedia, "a search engine is designed to search for information on the World Wide Web. Information may consist of web pages, images and other types of files. Some search engines also mine data available in newsgroups, databases, or open directories. Unlike Web directories, which are maintained by human editors, search engines operate algorithmically or are a mixture of algorithmic and human input."
Crawlers, spiders, bots. Search engines (such as Google or Yahoo) use automated software programs known as those little crawly 'spiders' or 'bots' to crawl the web and build their databases - which is similar to a 'memory bank'. Imagine little ants who crawl the web constantly looking for 'food' (food being your website content). Once they find food, they will carry their goodies back to their home where this is stored (memory bank). These little 'crawlers' are constantly hungry and keep 'crawling the web'.
Getting 'spidered'. Basically, a search engine spider is an automated program that reads web pages, grabs the content ('food') and follows any links to other pages within the site. This is often referred to as a site being "spidered" or "crawled". Data collected from a web page is then added to the so called search engine index ('memory bank') which contains a copy of every web page and file that the spider finds ('food'). As per figures released by Google, the size of these indexes is approx 8 billion pages. The spider returns to the sites in its index on a regular basis, scanning for any changes and updates. How often the spider returns is up to the search engines to decide.
'In order of importance'. When you enter a query at a search engine site, your input is checked against the search engine's index. The search engine then ranks your search results in an order that it believes is most relevant. Now you might wonder how a search engine decides on the importance and relevancy of your search results. Each search engine has developed a set of rules and mathematical equations, known as an 'algorithm', which it uses to set the order of its rankings. Exactly how a particular search engine's algorithm works is a closely-kept secret, but some general rules are clear that are often used to increase a website's ranking performance. This is referred to as search engine optimisation (SEO). We shall address this topic in another edition of our simplify series.
It sometimes takes a while for new pages or changes that the spider finds to be added to its index. Thus, a web page may have been "spidered" but not yet "indexed." Until a page is indexed, spidered pages will not be available to those searching with the search engine.
Read the full article here.
Learn more about Simplicity, click here.
The search engine. According to Wikipedia, "a search engine is designed to search for information on the World Wide Web. Information may consist of web pages, images and other types of files. Some search engines also mine data available in newsgroups, databases, or open directories. Unlike Web directories, which are maintained by human editors, search engines operate algorithmically or are a mixture of algorithmic and human input."
Crawlers, spiders, bots. Search engines (such as Google or Yahoo) use automated software programs known as those little crawly 'spiders' or 'bots' to crawl the web and build their databases - which is similar to a 'memory bank'. Imagine little ants who crawl the web constantly looking for 'food' (food being your website content). Once they find food, they will carry their goodies back to their home where this is stored (memory bank). These little 'crawlers' are constantly hungry and keep 'crawling the web'.
Getting 'spidered'. Basically, a search engine spider is an automated program that reads web pages, grabs the content ('food') and follows any links to other pages within the site. This is often referred to as a site being "spidered" or "crawled". Data collected from a web page is then added to the so called search engine index ('memory bank') which contains a copy of every web page and file that the spider finds ('food'). As per figures released by Google, the size of these indexes is approx 8 billion pages. The spider returns to the sites in its index on a regular basis, scanning for any changes and updates. How often the spider returns is up to the search engines to decide.
'In order of importance'. When you enter a query at a search engine site, your input is checked against the search engine's index. The search engine then ranks your search results in an order that it believes is most relevant. Now you might wonder how a search engine decides on the importance and relevancy of your search results. Each search engine has developed a set of rules and mathematical equations, known as an 'algorithm', which it uses to set the order of its rankings. Exactly how a particular search engine's algorithm works is a closely-kept secret, but some general rules are clear that are often used to increase a website's ranking performance. This is referred to as search engine optimisation (SEO). We shall address this topic in another edition of our simplify series.
It sometimes takes a while for new pages or changes that the spider finds to be added to its index. Thus, a web page may have been "spidered" but not yet "indexed." Until a page is indexed, spidered pages will not be available to those searching with the search engine.
Read the full article here.
Learn more about Simplicity, click here.
Labels:
search engine optimisation,
SEO,
Simplicity,
simplify
Sunday, 25 January 2009
Simplify your web design and marketing
Simplify is our monthly newsletter to share with you how you can simplify your marketing initiatives to grow and position your business.
We'll let you know some tricks of the trade... All you have to do is sign up to receive your copy straight into your email box. It's that simple.
Click here to sign up now.
We'll let you know some tricks of the trade... All you have to do is sign up to receive your copy straight into your email box. It's that simple.
Click here to sign up now.
[Posted via iPhone]
Labels:
newsletter,
Simplicity,
simplify,
small business,
Web design
Wednesday, 21 January 2009
What's in a name? How to choose your domain name.
Choosing a website domain name (also know as a website address or URL) is an important consideration when developing your online presence.
But what should you consider when selecting the right name for you? Here are some pros and cons to consider when selecting the right domain name for your online presence.
If you are looking to create an online presence... one of the first steps you should take in order to create your online appearance is to choose a domain name for your website. In business, branding is the representation of what a company stands for. This is no different for a website, the domain name is an essential part of any website. There are approximately 120-130 million domain names registered worldwide and choosing the right domain name can be a tricky business. Do not get discouraged from that fact, but rather try to be creative!
What should you really consider when choosing your domain name?
Choose a name that suits your business. Keep in mind your brand, what you offer, your unique selling point and the implications of being alphabetically listed.
Make it memorable. The easier people remember your site, the better.
If possible, go with a .com domain name. People tend to assume that a website always has a .com or if you are in the UK, a .co.uk extension.
Have keywords in your domain name. Try to register a domain which contains a popular keyword applicable for your industry. Having your exact keywords in your domain name will help with search engine optimisation.
Country specific domain extensions. If you are targeting a country specific audience it would be safe to register a country specific domain name (yourname.co.uk) along with the domain name with the yourname.com extension.
Hyphenated domain names. The non-hyphenated form may no longer be available. By inserting a hyphen, at least this way, you still get the domain name you want. Disadvantage: It's easy to forget a hyphen when typing a name. Advantage: Search engines can distinguish your keywords better and thus return your site more prominently in search results for keywords occurring in your domain name.
Easy to spell. Make sure it passes the phone test: if you were to say the domain name of your website to a customer over the phone, would your customer be able to spell it correctly?
Long or Short Domain Names? Domain names can be of any length up to 67 characters. Shorter domain names are easier to remember and type, and far less susceptible to mistakes.
Confusion with "0" or is it an "O"? Don't register a domain containing the digit "0" in it, unless it is going to be part of a recognizable word (like 1000 or 2000). This is because the digit "0" is often confused with the vowel "O". Also, try to avoid using domains that contain "2" for "to", "4" for "four", "u" for "you". Your customers will easily get confused.
Same letter combinations. If you use more than one word, do not end and start words with the same character. For example, www.intelligenttelephones.com.
When setting up in business... it is important to think of your domain name availability early on. Don't attempt to 'retro-fit' your domain name to your business or website. Read our latest Simplify Edition here for some tips and tricks on how to choose a domain name for your business. Click here.
To learn more about Simplicity, follow this link.
But what should you consider when selecting the right name for you? Here are some pros and cons to consider when selecting the right domain name for your online presence.
If you are looking to create an online presence... one of the first steps you should take in order to create your online appearance is to choose a domain name for your website. In business, branding is the representation of what a company stands for. This is no different for a website, the domain name is an essential part of any website. There are approximately 120-130 million domain names registered worldwide and choosing the right domain name can be a tricky business. Do not get discouraged from that fact, but rather try to be creative!
What should you really consider when choosing your domain name?
Choose a name that suits your business. Keep in mind your brand, what you offer, your unique selling point and the implications of being alphabetically listed.
Make it memorable. The easier people remember your site, the better.
If possible, go with a .com domain name. People tend to assume that a website always has a .com or if you are in the UK, a .co.uk extension.
Have keywords in your domain name. Try to register a domain which contains a popular keyword applicable for your industry. Having your exact keywords in your domain name will help with search engine optimisation.
Country specific domain extensions. If you are targeting a country specific audience it would be safe to register a country specific domain name (yourname.co.uk) along with the domain name with the yourname.com extension.
Hyphenated domain names. The non-hyphenated form may no longer be available. By inserting a hyphen, at least this way, you still get the domain name you want. Disadvantage: It's easy to forget a hyphen when typing a name. Advantage: Search engines can distinguish your keywords better and thus return your site more prominently in search results for keywords occurring in your domain name.
Easy to spell. Make sure it passes the phone test: if you were to say the domain name of your website to a customer over the phone, would your customer be able to spell it correctly?
Long or Short Domain Names? Domain names can be of any length up to 67 characters. Shorter domain names are easier to remember and type, and far less susceptible to mistakes.
Confusion with "0" or is it an "O"? Don't register a domain containing the digit "0" in it, unless it is going to be part of a recognizable word (like 1000 or 2000). This is because the digit "0" is often confused with the vowel "O". Also, try to avoid using domains that contain "2" for "to", "4" for "four", "u" for "you". Your customers will easily get confused.
Same letter combinations. If you use more than one word, do not end and start words with the same character. For example, www.intelligenttelephones.com.
When setting up in business... it is important to think of your domain name availability early on. Don't attempt to 'retro-fit' your domain name to your business or website. Read our latest Simplify Edition here for some tips and tricks on how to choose a domain name for your business. Click here.
To learn more about Simplicity, follow this link.
Labels:
Business Start-Up,
Simplicity,
simplify,
website
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