On an international sense, Ballmer concedes that Bing has a long way to go before it can seriously compete with Google. Ballmer was speaking on Wednesday at the annual IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates energy conference, where amongst other things he highlighted how crucial the Yahoo partnership was and also hinted that the Kinnect gaming platform may be used for other purposes.

Google has needed a serious challenger for a good long time, and as the months and years roll by, Bing looks more and more like a contender for the search crown. When SEO marketing, it’s crucial to take all search engines into consideration. Google may have an enormous percentage of the global search market, but the industry shifts on a consistent basis. The playing field will level out more and more as time goes on, so it’s critically important to have all of your bases covered when marketing with SEO services.

But, more than anything, you need to make your website user-friendly and attractive to organic visitors to ensure that they come back to use your services time and time again. Optimising for search engines is important, yes, but delivering a user experience that’s head and shoulders above your competition will see long-term success.

A tweet posted by the India office of the Microsoft Developer Network cites a March 24 release date for Internet Explorer 9, whilst rumour is currently reaching fever pitch that it may land earlier on March 14.  Whatever the date, it seems pretty certain that the browser will be in the public domain before the end of the month.

So what can we expect from Internet Explorer 9? It’s going to have a Tracking Protection feature which will offer users more options about how they are tracked, and an ActiveX filter to block the program should you so wish. The beta has been available since September 2010, and Microsoft estimates that it’s been downloaded approximately 36 million times worldwide.

Different browsers can sometimes display different SERP results when it comes to search engine optimisation, but whichever browser people use is entirely a matter of personal choice. Quite a few people have been jumping the Internet Explorer ship though thanks to the rise of browsers such as Mozilla’s Firefox and Google Chrome.

Is Internet Explorer 9 a make-or-break for Microsoft’s browser future? Not really – it still commands a very large slice of the market, and this update looks as though they’ve listened to their users’ concerns on how to improve the platform. Will it attract more people back to using Internet Explorer, and making it their browser of choice again? We’ll let you know on our search engine optimisation blog!

At Searchengineoptimisation.co.uk we work hard to ensure that the campaigns we pursue are focused and flexible. Unlike the average site owner, we have the skills, the time and the other resources required to keep in touch with the latest developments in the world of search.

Research and monitoring is in part a matter of knowing where to look. It is important to ensure that one is up-to-speed with Google’s latest pronouncements. This is especially the case in relation to the shape and maintenance of Google’s ethical framework. The guidelines on what constitutes ethical SEO have altered down the years so it can be a boon to keep a close eye on these developments.

However, just paying attention to Google is insufficient. In the first place, the other major search engines like Yahoo! and Bing need watching. It is also the case that the advent and evolution of the new social media networking sites means that there is a lot to do. Inexperienced individuals will not be able to swiftly get in touch with a target audience that will assist them to main contact with fresh developments in the world of search.

In addition to this, the fact that the remarkable popularity of Facebook and Twitter has made the major search engines sign deals with them adds an extra layer of complexity to it all. It can be very tricky for novices to search out where the latest wage of change is coming from and what it means. For instance, the implications of the development of mobile search were not grasped by all SEO firms, never mind ordinary site owners.

It does take a huge chunk of time to get involved in research and monitoring in a continuous way. There is not much point in dipping in and out of observing things, interesting as that might be to the amateur. What is needed is constant vigilance. Given the multiple directions from which change can flow, it is important to get monitoring correct. It is also true that the speed of innovation means that change can come from entirely unexpected predictions.

As well as skills and time, other resources are required if SEO news are to be observed in a prudent manner. For example, the retention of skilled professionals with the time to undertake the task properly takes capital. Fortunately, SEO professionals who practice SEO are researching their sector as they proceed, limiting costs slightly.

It is easy for a company to monitor how many URLs are indexed by using SEO tools such as the Google site command. This will inform you how many versions of your homepage Google has indexed. It is worth noting that the advice from Google is that having multiple URLs indexed is not a bad thing, and in some cases it isn’t, however it is crucial that any company understands what it means for their website and how users can consume the information.

Quite often a website will have two or more practically identical web pages. This can occur within basic web optimisation or updates and is very easily done. Sometimes companies will do it on purpose to give them a better chance of ranking with SERPs and sometime enabling them to rank more than once with each version of the page. If all versions of the homepage are exactly the same as each other, then it can be a positive thing, as the likely outcome is that the link gets ranked more within search results, which in turn leads to more users clicking through to your website.

The problems occur however, when there is more than one of the same page, however only one is up to date. Dormant pages or out of date versions of pages are bad news, as although users may still get through to your website, they could be presented with one of the alternative indexed pages which could include inaccurate information or not be fully complete. If this happens then it is usually a good idea to get rid of the unused pages.

Another popular method is to create a 301 redirect from the alternative indexed pages through to the most up to date page you want your users to read. This is a technique used by many a SEO agency to allow links to more versions of your web page to be displayed within the search results, yet all users are sent to the correct page which you want them to see. It is worth running this by your SEO agency however, as it can be deemed as black hat by some, depending on the nature of the dormant page and the way in which it is done.

When any SEO company talks about online searches then it is rare for the word ‘Google’ not to be mentioned. Of course there are many other search engines out there also and the fact that it is such a competitive industry makes us wonder even more how we ever lived without them. Search engine optimisation services have become a popular offering, as every company strives to get their web pages noticed within search engine results pages (SERPs) in an attempt to drive more traffic to your website.

The question which we hear a lot however, is how essential are search engines? The World Wide Web as a whole is massive and much bigger than one search engine, so it seems absurd that it cannot survive without them. However, it appears that we do need them, in more ways than one.

The basics of a search engine are to find and seek information, which is without a doubt their primary function. However, as search engines such as Google have developed and responded to consumer needs, they have become a much more integral part of our online world than simply just an information source. Search engines are like a trusted friend you can call upon to offer you trusted results which you know are highly likely to meet your needs. Google, amongst many other search engines, has made no secret of the fact that it is putting stricter terms and criteria in place in order to rank websites. Google Sandbox prevents new and unknown websites being ranked immediately which provides more confidence from consumers as they know that Google has the users’ best interests at heart.

To back this up even further, we have seen many forum discussions over the past year regarding spam letters and sites, quite often revolved around ‘get rich quick’ schemes. These letters tell you that their URL will not be displayed in search engines, which causes immediate concern. The fact that the general public are trusting Google over other communication sources is a huge thing and shows what a major part of our decision making the search engines are.

There is a danger of search engines taking a little too much control over our thoughts and decisions and there is a fine line between offering a service and turning us into lazy web users. Quite often, even when we know the name of the website we want to visit many people continue to type it into a search engine input field rather than in the browser URL box, just to make life easier. Search engines are without a doubt an essential part of the web.

From a social point of view, one of the most controversial things to happen was when Google began showing Twitter and Facebook links in their results pages. Some people thought this was great, whilst others looked on in aghast at the thought of random social networking comments becoming top in terms of page ranking, when there is a lot more useful and structured information to be found on the web. The fact is however, that the world of online search is determined by its users. Ultimately it is their demands and needs which drive the nature of search, and if they want tweets and status updates from around the world to be displayed within their search results, that is what they shall have.

From a business point of view this can work to your advantage, as if you are posting something relevant and informative regarding your company, which of course you should be, then posting it in real time can be a good angle to your social media optimisation. The trick to doing this is to know what you are doing already in terms of social marketing and be really on the ball when it comes to posting information. If you want people to link to your web pages then you need to be first to post information and it needs to be something which your consumers want to read about.

News feeds are one of the ways you can really get your pages into real time searches. In order to do this you do need to submit your news feeds to Google and Bing and there are certain criteria such as specific archive duration and a certain quantity of articles. It is a good idea to have a strong design on your news pages and ensure the content is very good quality. It is worth remembering that in order to get search engines to display your news feeds you need to request it from them, and in terms of Bing you do actually need to get an invitation from them, which again can be requested.

The most important thing to remember with news feeds is that you should only create one of your site is worthy of one. If the nature of your industry generates a lot of daily news and interesting information then a news feed can work wonders in terms of driving additional traffic to your website, however just having a news feed for the sake of it will not portray a good image and could end up damaging your business in the long run.

When people first started using Bing there were complaints that it simply was not as good as Google. There were obvious sites missing if you ran the same search within both the search engines, so people deemed Bing as the poorer site which was not picking up on all the sites that Google could. Companies did not pay too much attention to creating search engine optimization strategies for Bing on its own, as there seemed to be little chance that it would become the preferred search engine overnight. Whilst Google still remains on top, there are a lot of perceptions regarding Bing which are changing. At SearchEngineOptimisation.co.uk, we can tailor your SEO strategy for both search engines.

As people became more curious or stumbled across Bing more and more, they discovered that the different search results which appeared within Bing were not necessarily poorer than the ones displayed within Google; they were just different. In fact, there have been quite a lot of comments on how Bing somehow manages to filter out wasteful or spam sites and that actually, the sites it does offer are very relevant and applicable to your search. Perhaps Bing is making the decisions after all.

One of the more recent developments which took the online world by storm was the news earlier this year that the iPhone would be having an app for Bing, and was in fact including Bing as a search engine to use on the phone. There was, and still is, a lot of speculation surrounding the fact that Apple were favouring Microsoft and that Google would soon be out. There appears to be no truth in this and the real story was that Bing was simply another choice of search engine for the iPhone, not an alternative to Google. Still, it must have pushed Google’s nose out of joint a little bit.

So now that we know Bing is set to stay, it is even more important that we are tailoring our search engine optimization techniques towards Bing in some way. Bing, like most search engines, favours natural content and most of all, trusted domains. The way to look at Bing is to think of it as a search engine in a serious mood. It is not in the habit of messing you around, it simply wants to offer its services as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Google should never be forgotten and Google also has the added strength that it offers a lot additional services, its own range of SEO tools, and not to mention strong links with social networking. Google is still king in most people’s eyes, but it does appear to have a close follower.

SEO experts do know that the algorithms are staggeringly complex, and it’s probable that most of the designers, mathematicians and coders at Google don’t know all the ins and outs of the ranking algorithms. Google do sometimes release notes about major algorithm changes, although details are not usually included. Minor changes happen all the time, about 400 times a year on average. It’s no wonder the SEO blog writers are so busy!

Let’s start with what SEO consultants do know for sure. One of the easiest things to evaluate is what information a search engine crawler collects when it scans a website. Content is key. By identifying which keywords are discussed on each page of your site, Google and the other search engines will decide which searches your site is relevant to. That is the first step- being relevant, and identifiable as relevant.

Once a search engine knows which pages relate to which search phrases, they have to decide which sites will provide the best results for their users. How do they decide if one site is better than another? One way to do this is to examine the links that come into a particular site. Link building is an important part of any SEO campaign, and the aim is not to generate thousands of links from any site that will give them to you. It’s to get links from quality sites. Think of it like hiring a plumber who is a friend of a friend- you are more likely to trust someone that a friend of yours knows. Search engines think the same way. If your site is friends with a site that Google knows to be high quality and trustworthy, that will give your site a measure of trust through the relationship.

We also know they are looking towards social media these days. If your website has a lot of fans on Facebook or a lot of people are talking about it on Twitter or Digg, the search engines know that it must be pretty good. Directories like DMOZ, who are quite picky about who they include and who they don’t, also confer a certain level of trust that your site meets quality requirements. In this way search engines decide where your site should appear in the results pages.

Techniques of marketing

If you do a search online for internet marketing, you are bound to discover that there are more ways to market your website than you may have known about. There is a lot of confusion on how to market your website, what techniques to use and how much to spend on an advertising campaign. Unlike store front businesses, website businesses need to vie for a spot on search engines among millions of websites. Knowing how to make your website stand out and get good rankings can make the difference between succeeding and not being seen online. Among the many techniques that you can try to advertise your web site, SEO is one of the best and it really can work if you use it well.

Creating a website that correctly uses search engine optimisation can help you to get good rankings with search engines but it can also help you get the traffic that you want to your website. First you need to find out what kinds of keywords you should be using and how you should place them in your website. Content is one of the best ways to use SEO and one of the easiest. It can take time and you need to make sure that it is good content. Filling the pages of your website with nothing but space and empty fill is not what you want. Find the best information and resources that your users are going to be interested in and incorporate the use of SEO into that content.

Get the information you need from users

Getting the contact information from users on your website is key. Regardless of which way you choose to do it, make sure that you get the email addresses of users for target marketing purposes. One of the ways that you can do this is to place contact information on each of the pages that you are advertising. Create a form or link that encourages users to enter their email address. Offer them something for signing up on your website and use the emails that they provide you. This can be one of the easiest ways to create email marketing strategies based on people that have already been to your website.

You don’t want to post multiple requests for contact information on a page. Limit it to one request per page so that you are not pushing the users to enter their information. Offer them something with each of the contact links that you place. Have them sign up for a free download, newsletter or other marketing strategy that entices them to want to sign up.

Create newsletters

Newsletters are a great internet marketing technique because they give something to users who sign up and give you their contact information. The newsletters do not have to be long or sent out frequently, but they do need to convey a good message that applies to your website and promotes your business. The newsletters should be clear and easy to read. The format should easy to read by the different browsers and email accounts. Include specials and incentives to get people to your website and encourage them to keep signing up for sales, notices and other information that will keep them coming back to your website. You may want to create more than one newsletter to appeal to different markets. Be sure to send out the newsletters to everyone who has signed up to receive them. You should include follow up contacts and interactive features that allow the readers to keep reading the newsletter and a good incentive to go to your website and promote your business.

Getting indexed

Websites get indexed by search engines and the process of being indexed can take a while. Some new websites may take a while to get crawled by the search engines and may not appear in the search results as quickly as the website owner might expect. The more organised and clutter free the website is, and the clearer the site map, the faster that it can be crawled and indexed. Not only do search engines look through the website to see what content is available and if the keywords that were submitted are present, it also looks to see the structure and how the website is linked. Having a website that is well organised with a sound site map is one of the most important things that you can do to get your website indexed.

Using SEO

Another method that search engines use to scour the internet for websites is by the use of SEO. We all use SEO if we are doing an online search and knowing what keywords are being searched most frequently can help a website better know how to use the SEO.

In order for a search engine to give out good rankings, there are a number of things that need to be found on the website when it is being scouted by the search engines. One of those is the structure of the website. Before submitting any links and keywords to search engines to get listed and indexed, double and triple check your website structure. If a search engine is not able to easily navigate through your website, you are not going to see the rankings that you want. Make sure that whatever links you have on a page in your website are going to the right pages or websites and that everything is easy to navigate.

Sitemaps and SEO

When designing your website, do not forget about creating a site map. This is an important part of building a website and for getting good search engine results. Site maps make it easy for the search engine to easily get around your website and find the links and pages that contain the search engine optimisation keywords that have been submitted. Use the keywords in your pages that you have submitted. Make sure that they are related to the content and information that your website is providing. Be sure to include the keywords on the right links and pages.

If you have created a website and submitted your listings but are not being indexed by a search engine, there could be a number of factors that are slowing down the process. First, you should know that it can take a while for a search engine to find your website and get it indexed. If you continue to see no results, it may be because your website does not have a site map or there is an error with the structure of your website and site map. Next, check out the site map and follow it to make sure that all of the links and pages are right and that you are able to easily get to the right places.

Check the links to external websites from your website to make sure that they are not being blocked by a search engine, as that can cause your website to also be blocked. Be sure you are familiar with the other websites that have links on your pages and carefully construct a solid structure and site map for your website to boost your rankings and get indexed by search engines.