Google Rolls Out “Search Options”

On Tuesday Google rolled out a new feature which they call “Search Options.” This feature gives visitors the opportunity to narrow down their search to help them find exactly what they are looking for. Now, after you type in a query on Google you will see a link called “Show Options.” When you click this link the options will appear on the left hand side of the page. The options are as follows:

Here is a video from the Google blog that walks you through the new feature.

I find the options to be incredible helpful and am very happy that Google put out this new feature!

New Search Engine: Wolfram|Alpha

On May 18th a new search engine is scheduled to launch called Wolfram|Alpha. This search engine differentiates itself from Google and the other top search engines by being a “computational knowledge engine.” In a nutshell, you can ask factual questions and the search engine will compute the answer for you. This is very different then the results you get from Google and even Wikipedia.

This new search engine is the buzz online, and I can’t wait to try it out in a few days. Wolfram|Alpha might change the way we search!

Doodle 4 Google: Vote for your Favorite Google Doodles

Doodle 4 Google is a competition for children in grades K-12 to use their artistic and creative sense to come up with their own version of the Google homepage logo around the theme “What I Wish for the World.”

You can vote online between May 11th - 18th from the regional winners. On May 21st the winner will be announced on Google.com.

To vote for your favorite Doodle, vote here!

Google Attacked By Forbes.com CEO Jim Spanfeller

Forbes CEO Jim Spanfeller claims (without proof) that Google makes $60 million off the Forbes brand and boosting “quality publishers” like Forbes would help Eric Schmidt’s web sewage problem. This is from the publication that sells paid links that helps the sewage rise in Google?

Danny Sullivan has written an insightful piece about this over at Search Engine Land.

Danny Says Google sends Forbes and other publishers millions of visits for free. Usually smaller publishers complain if for some reason they lose that traffic due to a ranking change. Newspapers and magazine publishers seem unique in being upset that getting all those free visitors simply isn’t enough. Perhaps Google itself isn’t being properly compensated?

Danny goes on to say “If they’re going to attack Google, then I want an attack that’s organized, that can’t be so easily shot full of holes and which warrants serious attention. Or I want them to stop attacking Google so it can be attacked, when it deserves it, on far more serious issues without such distraction.”

Does the Age of your Domain & it’s Expiration Really Matter for SEO?

There are many factors that make up Google’s algorithm. Two factors that many people overlook is the age of your domain name and when your domain name expires. Although they may sound minor, Google does take into account these factors. The reason for this is because they are looking for sites that have been around for a while and plan on staying around for the long run. If your domain is going to expire in a short period of time, Google might think that you aren’t going to renew your domain once it is up. With so many spam sites nowadays, Google is looking for a site that isn’t going be created today and taken down one month later.

Here is an analogy an old colleague once gave me in regards to when your domain expires. If you know that a business’ lease on their office is going to expire in one month, aren’t you going to be skeptical working with them, not knowing if they are going to be closing at the end of that one month. Well, this is similar to your domain name and when it is scheduled to expire. So be sure to push out your domain name for up to 5 years. If you are going to create a new site, search for domain names with some history. They might cost a bit more money, but will definitely be beneficial in the long run for your SEO rankings.

When is the best time to start Search Engine Optimization?

Sooner than later! I hear this question quite often, and really the optimal time to start SEO is during the web design/redesign process. The reason why this is the best time is because the Search Engine Optimization Company can then work with the web designer to ensure the website is built SEO Friendly. The SEO Company will ensure that the designer is building a site with SEO Friendly URLS, crawlable site navigation, clean code, etc. If they work with the designer at this stage, then the website and SEO can go live at the same time. This will save time for both parties, and can get your website ranking faster.

But, if you have a current website and have been thinking about optimizing to increase your rankings for a specific holiday or time of year, the best time to start is as soon as possible. Since no SEO company has direct control over the search engines, it can take anywhere from 3 months to a year to start seeing results, depending on the competitiveness of the keywords selected.

So start optimizing today. There is no time better than the present!

Use Google Alerts to Monitor your Name

If you regularly Google your name, instead of having to manually go search for your name on Google you can create a Google Alert. A Google Alert is an email update that is sent to you when there are new Google results for your keywords. So, for example, you can setup a Google Alert to automatically email you either once a week, once a day, or every time there are new results for your name.  This takes less than a minute to setup, and will save you time during your day. You also have the option to select which type of alerts you wish to receive. The options are News, Blogs, Web, Video, Groups or Comprehensive. I always opt for Comprehensive so I am sure not to miss out on anything!

Click here to setup Google Alerts: http://www.google.com/alerts

Google Offering Free Google Profile Business Cards

Last week I wrote a blog post titled, “Do you ever Google your Name?”, and I discussed Google Profiles. Now, Google has a special offer where they are giving away a set of 25 Google Profile business cards to the first 10,000 people who claim them. All you have to do is confirm the information on your card, enter your shipping/email information, and you are good to go. The cards are completely free! (They aren’t even charging for shipping costs.) I just ordered mine this morning and should receive them in the next 10-12 days.

So if you are interested in ordering these business cards for free, act fast today! Here is the link to order them: http://www.google.com/profiles/me/bizcards

Here is a screen shot of what mine will look like:

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