Search Engine Positioning

[KGP]

A few months back Google threw a curve ball that resulted in re-ranking websites to search terms (at least in my industry), and now what shows up for commonly used search terms for my industry are not so relevant webites. We have no problem with using the pay-by-click stuff (Google Adwords and Overture), but it's getting a bit ridiculous as we are paying up to $7.00 per click for some terms. Talking thousands per month! So, the question is: Who are some of the REAL, competent positioning companies out there who can assist in free position rankings? Two years ago it was a breeze, but not any longer.

 

[NeoNSX]

Since we're b!tching about Google, have you tried searching for ANYTHING with "mpeg" in it? The top sites are all porn sites abusing meta-tags.

I was trying to find some Military Video's yesterday, and gave up... nothing but porno crap.

 

[matteni]

Well - I am not an industry expert - but there are companies that possition 1 site and then they sell their own advertising on that site at a much more reasonable rate then Google.

For example - our industry's top search is:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=project+management+software

At or near the top (always 1 or 2) is this company's site:

http://www.project-management-software.org

It is completely dedicated to selling advertising to our industry under the sham that it is an independent review and industry organization site.

I have a top position and a rotation in their site, paid reviewers, etc and I only pay 1/4 the cost of an equivelent AdWord (which I maintain anyway).

I hope this helps you find effective advertising / good luck / post back if you find something that works well with your exisiting site.

 

[lemansnsx]

from the searcher's point of view

Google has gone completely to heck... for common search terms it is one step away from totally useless. How did they let this happen?

Example: Try searching for PCAnywhere - the first "hits" will be nothing more than ads for Go to My PC - useless.

 

[matteni]

Re: from the searcher's point of view

Google has gone completely to heck... for common search terms it is one step away from totally useless. How did they let this happen?

Example: Try searching for PCAnywhere - the first "hits" will be nothing more than ads for Go to My PC - useless.

I just did a search on PCAnywhere and the top links were from sales sites and the manufacturer?

AdWords can be targeted any anything as long as you pay the $$$ / click AND have the responses.

 

[Vytas]

Give these search engines a try:

http://www.teoma.com
http://vivisimo.com
http://www.lasoo.com
http://webcrawler.com

Multi-search engines:
http://www.mamma.com
http://www.metacrawler.com
http://www.profusion.com
http://www.search.com
http://www.planetsearch.com
http://www.linkmaster.com
http://www.isleuth.com

This is an excellent search engine for domain names. See how many websites that contain NSX are on the net!

http://www.netcraft.com

 

[lemansnsx]

Re: Re: from the searcher's point of view

I just did a search on PCAnywhere and the top links were from sales sites and the manufacturer?

AdWords can be targeted any anything as long as you pay the $$$ / click AND have the responses.

Sorry - the example was supposed to be PCAnywhere and another term which I've forgotten - probably Linksys or something like that - anyway, not important. The point was that Google is no longer as valuable as it was in searching for information and that's a big disappointment after using it for several years.

 

[PHOEN$X]

Google has been experimenting with its search algorithm lately. Perform a search for "Google SERP" (Search Engine Results Position) in Google and the Usenet and you will see you are not alone. I think it's gotten a little better in the past couple of days though, as recently as last week I was getting top results that were nothing but other directory searches.

 

[KGP]

Fraudulent Pay Per clicks

I have no doubt that competitors routinely abuse the pay per click systems (overture, google adwords, etc.), and have always wanted a way to track or prevent such abuse. Came accross www.whosclickingwho.com, and it looks like exactly what I want. Check it out if you spend a lot on PPC's or fear fraudulent clicks.

 

[lemansnsx]

as recently as last week I was getting top results that were nothing but other directory searches.

Yes that is precisely what I was getting.