Google Vs Bing Vs Yahoo - Which Is Better?

Of the three top contenders, Bing vs Google vs Yahoo, which is the best? Where should an internet marketer focus their efforts for maximum results?

Results are not necessarily identical on the three top contenders. It is important to understand that a high Google ranking make generate a poor ranking on Yahoo or Bing and vice versa.

GOOGLE. Google is the most used of all the search engines. It is used by millions of visitors each month and for free.

Its popularity is due to the fact that it delivers well. Highly relevant results are returned almost immediately.

Search results are updated daily to ensure that content stays fresh and current.

If you make a Google inquiry using a longtail keyword phrase, you are v assured of finding what you want on the first page of a Google responsive page.

As a result, most internet marketers toil hard to maximize their Google results, believing that their energies will deliver maximum returns. Many use Google alone.

BING. Bing employs a sitemap similar to Google's.

Bing responds to same match domains through inbound links, just like Google.

Bing shopping costs, unlike Google.

Bing uses a manual system for its best matches, unlike Google's which is based on algorithm applications.

Bing's ranking criteria is based on importance and the relevance of site content. As a general rule, it is harder to get a higher ranking on Bing than on Google.

Bing also gives more higher rankings to theme oriented links than Google and places greater emphasis on domain age than Google does.

Still, in the competitive process, Bing is a contender and will continue to make changes to assure that it becomes an even stronger presence. You can expect to see changes that will make it more user friendly. Don't count Bing out yet.

YAHOO! Yahoo used to be Avis, in second place. It has been overtaken by Bing.

Some webmeisters feel that Yahoo takes too long to update its search indexes. Yahoo employees are working overtime to make changes to this perception.

Be attentive to all of the rules governing each site as you don't want to get slapped by any.

This is important because, while Google may presently be king, there is no assurance that this status will continue forever. You want to remain active in all of them as you never know when the game will change.

Just as Facebook is becoming a strong contender in its Google face-off, the possibility remains-powerfully so- that Yahoo and/or Bing will make a change that is game changing as well.

What gives a top result on Google today may not be the case tomorrow. Continue to employ keyword strategies and relevancy in your content. That premise is one absolute that is constant in today's frenzied efforts to get top rankings.

The three top search engines don't necessarily yield identical results but none of them should be dismissed as ineffective or useless. Working all three is your best strategy.

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By Lauren B Botney

What You Need to Know About Long-Tail Keywords

Have you heard the phrase Long-tail Keywords? Do you know what they are or how to use them? If you are an online marketer you really need to understand the impact long-tail keywords can have on being found through search engines.

Long-tail keyword searches are often used when someone is trying to look for a specific thing. They might type a question into a search box with their keyword phrases within the question. (ex., Where can I find a pink polka dot bikini?) Pink Polka Dot Bikini is a long-tail keyword. Typically people will search for just the generic keyword term, bikini, if they are only interested in bikinis in general. However, if they are ready to buy a pink polka dot bikini, that's the phrase they will use for their search.

Internet Marketers have been using these keywords and keyword phrases for awhile now to help rank in the search engines and get their websites positioned in that #1 spot. What this does is help them better answer the question their potential customer is asking. By using the keyword phrase, pink polka dot bikini, when someone searches for the exact term, it's a perfect match for the person searching and will most likely result in a sale.

The more specific you can make a keyword phrase, the better chance you have for someone to find you with that phrase. When you decide to target long-tail keywords, you are positioning your site to be found by those who are typing in a more specific targeted search. If you are trying to rank high with other more popular keyword phrases and are aiming to get on the top spots in the search engines with the more common or generic keywords, you could possibly be losing out on these more specific searches.

However, if you want to be found by those people who are ready to buy when finding exactly what they are looking for with the long-tail keywords, this method works much better. According to Wikipedia statistics recent long-tail keyword research has found that long-tail searches often exhibit a higher conversion rate by up to 200% compared to short tail (generic) keywords, and can be extremely profitable for search engine marketers in terms of a lower cost per action and higher return on investment.

If you are a marketer who is interested in using Pay Per Click as one of your advertising methods, choosing long-tail keyword phrases could end up saving you money. By using the more popular keyword phrases since they are more in demand can cost you a pretty penny. By targeting long-tail keyword phrases, you not only have less competition, but have a better chance of reaching the exact target market you would like that will end up purchasing your product.

Doing your keyword research to find these long-tailed keyword phrases is crucial to determine which ones are the best phrases to use. Wordtracker is a great program that will enable you to type in various keywords and find the best long-tail phrases that are being searched for within that niche. Also, Google's keyword tool is another good resource. You should always track your results when using keyword phrases so you can see which ones are producing better sales and views. Once you have found a few long-tail keyword phrases that have desirable statistics, you can then use these for other marketing methods to gain as much as you can from your advertising efforts.
By Terri Brooks

Using Google Analytics To Increase Sales

Google Analytics can help boost the amount of sales through your website. This is done by means of tracking the number of visitors to your website, as well as tracking the behaviour of your visitors, so that you can focus on improvement.

By installing a Google Analytics account, you will be installing a tiny tracking code called the Asynchronous Google Analytics Tracking Code (GATC) into the head section on each page of your website. You can either add this code on to every page of your site, or just the pages that you would like to track out.

Once this is done, there are conversion goals inside analytics, that you can set up to measure your key performance indicators. This means, you can set which website page you will count as a goal. For example, some people would view a confirmation page or a contact us form as a goal page, which could mean that either they have a new customer or a new lead.

Once the tracking code is set up and once the conversion goals have been defined, you will be able to track with ease the behaviour of visitors to your site. It normally takes a couple of weeks before noticeable results start to be seen.

Once you get on track with Google Analytics, you can use this tool to track loads of data within it. Some of the things that you can do is, you can track out what are the common keywords or key phrases that people are searching for and in the process reaching your site. You can analyse which of these users become paying customers, and you can further use SEO to streamline your business.

Apart from data analysis, you can also monitor which pages of your website are be best landing pages. This means, you can analyse which are your pages that are most frequently viewed, and also how long people spent on each page. You will also know how many of your visitors visited other of your web pages and how many left your site with viewing only one page. Based upon this last point, you can analyse whether the information was incorrect or whether the page was the wrong one that they landed up on. As far as bounce rates are concerned, these too can be monitored through this tool. However, as these are not all that important, it is wise not to pay too much attention to bounce rates.

George Venables is a leading expert in Google Analytics Training in the United Kingdom.

Accessibility in E-Learning

The Disability Discrimination Act currently states that every business operating website should offer the basic accessibility requirements, same as in physical premises. With the user becoming more and more the focus of the online world, it was only a matter of time before such an amendment was issued. Applicable in e-learning, this means that the user/learner receives the attention he needs to make the training more effective.

Because the audience of an e-learning course is so diverse, the content should be delivered in different manners, according to the various needs. In the end, everyone should have access to the same information as everyone else. The learning environment should have the ability to adjust to the needs of all the learners in order to be fully accessible. In the end, improving accessibility will lead to a more usable website for the entire learning community.

The problem of accessibility doesn't only refer to users with disabilities. For example, if a website only works on Internet Explorer, but its target audience may be using both IE and Mozilla Firefox or Chrome, then the site is not accessible to a part of the group. Other such issues include the usage of Flash or Java Script for certain applications, which may be inaccessible to some. The same applies to people who have a slow Internet connection or a text-only screen, those who have difficulties with reading comprehension or have their eyes/ears/hands busy temporarily. From the earliest phases, those of design, a website should be created keeping accessibility in mind. Focusing on this matter in the development phase will definitely be more cost effective than doing so later on.

If you want to see the level of accessibility of a website, there are some tests that you can perform:

• Turn off images - This will reveal whether adequate alterative text is provided for every image, which will come in aid of the visually impaired. Note: When uploading images to Moodle, for example, a warning pop-up window appears if you haven't filled in the alt text section.


• Turn off sound - This will show whether audio content is available through text equivalents, which is an important feature for people with hearing impairment as well as those working and learning in a noisy environment.


• Vary font size - Using the browser's controls of text size, the font should change on the screen accordingly, keeping the page usable even at large sizes.


• Test screen resolutions - Resizing the browser window or using different screen resolutions should not require horizontal scrolling. If horizontal scrolling is implied, it could be a disadvantage for people with motion deficit. An efficient screen size tester can be found here.


• Gray scale - Turning the display color to gray scale should result in adequate color contrast. Using different colors in text should be distinguishable for the visually impaired as well.


• Keyboard navigation - To check whether people with mobility impairment can navigate without using the mouse, use Tab, Home, End, Pg Up/Dn. All links should be accessible and navigation should be as smooth as possible.


• Voice browser - The information of the graphic user interface should have equivalents available in voice or text browser, which has to sound meaningful when read by e.g. Microsoft Narrator.

These tests can show you the weak points of your website, so you can begin to make improvements. Make sure that there is at least one alternative available for every potential disability. Even if you implement these accessibility guidelines in the initial phase of the project, you can still use the tests as check-up when the site is up and running.

Are you looking for more resources to help you create training materials, hosting online training, or tips for rapid development of online training?

Visit http://www.vtrainingroom.com today. There are articles and tips may help you solve your problems and get new ideas you can implement in your training programs.

Basics of SEO and Reputation Management

If you own a business or company, and you're looking to get noticed and to increase traffic to your website, you're probably considering thousands of options. You could advertise on the radio, or on the TV, or you could stand on the streets handing out flyers if you really have nothing better to do with your time. More and more people, though, are realising the advantages of an alternative - search engine marketing.

Rather than spending money and time on expensive advertisements, search engine marketing will let you target the people you want to. A TV advert could be seen by thousands of people, and only ten of them could show an interest in what you're selling. Effective search engine marketing will ensure that the people who see you are the people who want to see you - they search for keywords, your result shows up, they click through to your site, and those views will convert to sales in no time.

To effectively market yourself on search engines, you'll need SEO skills. SEO, or search engine optimisation, is the art and science of using keywords, key phrases and background coding and design to create websites that rank highly in online search engines including Google. It can take years to become knowledgeable at SEO, and with the web climate constantly changing the things learned yesterday may not be relevant today. It's important to constantly stay on top of the latest developments, and to keep your own content fresh and unique. Otherwise, you could see your website dropping down in search results, or it could disappear completely. Done right, search engine optimisation can be the most powerful marketing tool imaginable. Done wrong, it could break your company in weeks.

As well as appearing in organic searches, an effective search engine marketer will want to create artificial appearances on search engine results. Google AdWords, for example, will allow you to pay for advertisements to show up when people search with relevant key words or terms. Even if your website's not showing up in the main Google search results, it can appear at the side or the top to grab attention. Paying for marketing through Google AdWords can increase your website's chance of being viewed, and can offer a fantastic return on investment when you target your campaigns effectively.

To be the best at search engine marketing, you'll also want to pay plenty of attention to the world of online reputation management. It doesn't matter how much you show off your product or your service on the internet, the web holds a power through the millions of other users spending time on it every day. For every word you use on your own website, and for every promotion you put out, there'll be someone forming an opinion of your business, your product or your service. Word-of-mouth marketing might be the most important form in the world. Impress people, and the message will carry. They'll recommend you, and you'll be receiving orders faster than you can blink. Make a mistake, and a complaint can carry far and wide to give your company a bad image. You'll want to work hard to make customers feel happy with what you offer - in the end, that'll result in positive reviews and word-of-mouth-marketing that can only serve to strengthen your company.

To keep your online reputation in top form, you'll want to regularly monitor where you appear in search engine results, and what you appear for. Also keep an eye on relevant online review sites, to see what's being said about you, and search for your business or company regularly on Twitter, Facebook or Google Plus to see what people are discussing. Also search for your own name regularly in Google, in case people are discussing your brand on forums or blogs. It's important to keep a strong online presence in situations such as these. Signing up to social networking sites will offer a unique chance to address consumers and potential consumers, worldwide, as has never been possible before. Now, when people comment or make a statement about your company, you can respond to address their issues. Always take the time to tell someone you're glad they liked your service, and that you'd be happy to see them again, if they post a positive review. Likewise, do your best to help someone and address any concerns they might have if you want to keep them on your good side. The more publicly you can do this, without revealing their personal details, the more people are likely to see what great customer service you can offer.

Online reputation management works in the opposite way to search engine optimisation. In SEO, you want to make sure you rank highly and positively. When you manage your online reputation, you want to push negative comments down so they don't appear when people search. It's as much of a skill as SEO is, and it requires you to keep on top of what people are saying at all times. Promote any positive reviews and testimonials as much as possible, and address any issues with speed to avoid a negative image.

It's important to make sure that you're appearing in all the right places on the internet, with a message that's positive to gain the maximum number of customers. Whilst some websites will allow you to formally request for any negative reviews to be removed, other sites will keep their content up to give a well-rounded view of your company. Ultimately, the best way to ensure that you've got the right online reputation is to serve your customers and consumers well, and to promote yourself positively on search engines. It takes time and effort, but SEO and ORM are the two most vital skills in the running and promotion of a modern-day business.
Helmut Lotti