The Maine SEO Blog

Thanks to Barry Schwartz and Keri Morgret from Search Engine Roundtable for taking the time to live blog many of the SMX West sessions!  Here are a few of my notes from Wednesday, Day 2…

Google’s SearchWiki, Customized, and Personal Search

(Archived version from SE Roundtable)
(Personalized and Customized Search from SMX East)

• For SearchWiki research, Google has actually gone into people’s homes to see what they’re searching for; not only on their computers but on notes around their computer!
• How Google thinks SearchWiki will help people:
  - Bookmarking
  - Improve specific name searches
  - Collect information for a task
  - Look at the RIGHT sites
  - Refinding hard-to-find info
• SearchWiki = explicit tool, Personalized Search = implicit tool (Google does work for user)
• Personalized Search: privacy-sensitive, transparent, show searcher is on and has ability to turn OFF
• Google Preferred Sites – add preferred sites with Google experiments (bases SERPS off of this)
• What does this mean for SEOs?
  Bad news:
  - Hard to collect metrics
  - See how page ranks
  Good news:
  - Easier for people to find you
  - Easier to retain customers who prefer your business
  - Top position no longer means winner takes all!
• From Google, how to deal with these new forms of search: “Make a good website.” (Ingenious.)
• To control personalized search
  - Use search details
  - Disable by appending &pws=0 in URL
  - Log out of your Google account
  - Look for extensions
• Google isn’t PRESENTLY using SearchWiki to change search results
• Not a large percentage of search results are personalized – most are simply due to geographic location
• Both SearchWiki and Personalized Search do NOT have a role with Ads
• There is still an opportunity for newcomers to be found: simply by making your site valuable to users and it will come up
• Get around localized results by changing location, specifying the location you’re looking for
• Right now, SearchWiki is meant for personal use
• Someone leaves a negative SearchWiki comment on your site? Give the comment a thumb’s down and/or flag as inappropriate – feedback is taken into consideration
• As soon as a comment is flagged as inappropriate, it is removed until reviewed
• Personalized results may even happen without your logging in (using IP address)

(more…)

Make a difference, go vote!!!!

Social media has a thing or two to say about politics and the two major presidential candidates’ stake in the race.  Putting aside Facebook, MySpace, and other indicators of who is winning the internet war, Twitter has proven to be an interesting gauge of this race.

Obviously Obama’s staff stays far more up-to-date on his Twitter profile.  Not only that, but take a look at the difference in followers.  Needless to say, I think this proves a fundamental difference between Democrats, Republicans, and their web use (or maybe just Twitter use).

Nevertheless, a cool tool called twInfluence shows exactly how much influence a Twitterer (or is it Tweeter?) has on fellow Twits/Tweetees (sorry, getting carried away with all of the names I can make).  BarackObama is #1 on this list, while JohnMcCain doesn’t show up in the top 50.

At first, this doesn’t seem all that fantastic or interesting.  You may be thinking: “So what, Obama supporters like Twitter more. Big deal.”  The interesting part comes in when Googling both of their names (and by the way, I turned off my personalized settings when I made these searches).

Barack’s profile turns up #10:

McCain’s profile took a little longer to find, down on the 5th page, #58:

Oh wait a second.  That’s not John McCain’s official Twitter account.  Guess I have to keep looking…oh here it is! 8th page, #82:

Whether Twitter has a significant role in this race, I highly doubt it.  However, search may very well have a large part in it:

Nicki Hicks
Vote for Twitter