Here are examples of “natural” or “organic” search results vs. “paid” search results on Google:

The orange boxes indicate paid search results. Google marks these as Sponsored Links. Sponsored Links always appear at the top or on the right side of search results pages. Businesses pay Google to be listed here. These are also called text advertisements, “paid placement” ads or “pay per click” ads.

The green box indicates a natural (also called “organic”) search results listing. As of today, October 23, 2007,  McBuzz is at the top of local search results for “seattle marketing communications”. McBuzz does not pay Google to appear in this spot.

It’s worth noting that since this post was created, Google has done away with local search listings for “seattle marketing communications”, and McBuzz is no longer featured in this top position. Try “wordpress websites seattle” instead.

Yahoo! and MSN.com search results pages have a similar format — with both paid and natural search listings.

Google Indexes Pages Much More Frequently Than Before
Here’s an interesting sidebar. I created the post you are reading right now at 10:16 AM today, October 23. Looking at the Google search results page just now (at 10:30 PM the same day), I see that this post has already been indexed by Google, meaning that it shows up on page one (in the number 10 spot at the bottom of the page) for the same keyword.

Why is this important? Because it shows just how quickly new content on your website can affect its performance in search results.

The post you are reading right now was indexed by Google and listed on page one of serch results for “seattle marketing communications” the same day it was created! What does this tell us? When you apply basic search engine optimization techniques — including making frequent updates to your site with keyword-rich headlines, bullet points and text — you can see immediate results and bring in more customers.

You may recall the days when you had to wait three to four weeks, sometimes longer, for updates to your website to show up in search engine results pages. If you optimized your site, it might take at least that long to find out if what you did worked or not.

As this example shows, those days are long gone — provided you are doing the right things with your website. And that’s a significant qualification. What are the right things? Exactly what we talk about on mcbuzz.com, like following our Web Marketing Tips — and the fact that you should use content managment or “blogging” software like WordPress to build and maintain your site rather than old-fashioned, “static” format HTML. (The latter includes sites created with do-it-yourself, “site builder” tools you find on GoDaddy.com, Network Solutions and Yahoo! web hosting.)

Let me know what you think!

McBuzz Web Marketing Tips
#1: Use “site:url” to Find Out If Your Website Is Indexed by Google

#2: Use XML Sitemap Generator to Get All Your Website’s Pages Indexed by Google

#3: Submit an XML Sitemap to Google

#4: Use Keywords in Web Page Titles

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Page titles are a critical and often overlooked part of web marketing and search engine optimization. If you have ever tried to find a business on the Web by typing the name of the business into Google or another search engine only to be confronted by dozens of pages that refer to that business — with none of them actually providing a link to the business’s website — then you are familiar with missing or weak page titles.

Many web pages have default values like “Untitled Document” or “New Page 1″ as their title. The title displays along the top of your web browser. Few people even notice it. But search engines definitely notice page titles. The title is one of the first places a search engine like Google looks to determine what a web page is about.

The page title is one of the first things search engines look at to determine what a web page is about. Many web designers forget or don’t know about the importance of page titles, hence the prevelance of (totally useless) default page titles like “Untitled Document” and “New Page 1″.

If a business’s website does not show up on the first page of results when you type the business name (and the city the business is in if it’s a common name) into a search engine, the business name is probably not in the title of the website’s home page.

If you don’t know how to change your website’s page titles, see Web Marketing Tip #5 (coming soon) or comment on this post and I will get to it right away!

If you are using a website building tool on a service like Register.com or Yahoo! Geocities that makes it difficult to change page titles, then it’s time to get a new hosting setup! Your new customers will thank you.

Web Marketing Tip #4 is “Use Keywords in Web Page Titles” because the name of your business is obviously not the only thing people search for when looking for businesses like yours. If yours is a local brick and mortar business, put your address in the page title of your home page, or at least the city, state and Zip code. If you are the business owner and you want people to find your business’s website when they search for your name — put that in the title as well.

For example, note that “Mark McLaren” is in the title of my McBuzz Communications website home page and my McBuzz Communications blogspot blog. If you Google “mark mclaren”, you will find both sites on page one. (Search results vary from week to week. Right now I’m on page one.)

Don’t use the same title for every page in your site. Tailor page titles to the content of each page. One of the great features of WordPress is that it creates page titles for you automatically. Put keywords in the titles of your posts and they appear in your page titles as well.

If you have a local business in a particular neighborhood, use that neighborhood name in your page titles. In many cases, this will do wonders for your position in search results.

Of course, you want to use keywords in lots of other places besides page titles, but — first things first — page titles are a great place to start.

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MySpace is seen as a viable alternative to buying web hosting and a domain name for some businesses, according to an article in Honolulu’s Pacific Business News.

Local Web designers face competition from MySpace.com
Pacific Business News (Honolulu) - May 25, 2007

On the face of it, this is a good counter-argument to my post about Free Web Hosting and Blog Services vs. Buying Web Hosting and a Domain Name. It seems that some small business owners are using MySpace as a way to create a website for their business — for free — and they are getting good results in the form of new customers and purchases. One business featured in the article is a clothing boutique.

It makes sense that people who might be looking on MySpace for things to buy would be interested in fashion and shopping for new clothes. And there are lots of other businesses that would appeal to the same MySpace demographic: coffee shops, skateboarding shops, surf shops, music stores…

Part of the appeal of MySpace is that people don’t necessarily go there looking for things to buy. They go there to talk to friends, share stuff they find interesting or funny, etc. But the fact that someone may find a store on MySpace that sells cool clothes, and then go to the brick-and-mortar store and have a great shopping experience, well, that’s huge, of course, because they are likely to talk about it on — duh — MySpace.

Obviously, if you are selling something like legal services or rare books, then MySpace may not be for you. However, if you have a business that appeals to 16-24 year olds, then setting up a free MySpace page might just be a no-brainer.

The Business News article sets up a false dichotomy — a choice you don’t really have to make — between creating a small business website on MySpace and buying a full-blown, professionally designed website for, as they say, anywhere from $5,000 to $20,000.

My point is, you may want to spend $5K to $20K, on a business website. You may need some serious eCommerce capabilities, or cutting-edge graphic design, or pages and pages of product samples or whatever. Most very small businesses should not pay anything like $5,000 for a site these days. There are just too many good low-cost options available — using WordPress, for example. But, regardless, there’s no reason you can’t have a site on MySpace in addition to a dedicated business website with your own hosting and domain name, and then link the two together.

The same is true for a listing sites like MerchantCircle.com. Check out the McBuzz Communications listing on MerchantCircle. These are free, easy to set up websites, and they are just one more way to increase the visibility of your business on the Web.

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Web Markting Tip #2 told you how to use the free XML Sitemap Generator service to create an XML Sitemap of your website. Once you have your sitemap file, you need to create a Google Webmaster Account, then add your website to that account, and submit the XML Sitemap file. Google makes this process pretty easy.

1. Go here to create a Google account.
2. Login to your account.
3. Click on the Webmaster Tools link under Services.
4. You will see the Webmaster Tools Dashboard. It looks like this (below - click for full size image), without all the sites listed, of course. You will add your first one.

5. Put the address of your site in the Add Site box and click OK.
6. Now click Add a Sitemap for that site.
7. You will see the following (click for full size image).

8. Choose Add General Web Sitemap.
9. Now you need to upload your XML Sitemap file to the “root directory” of your website. (”Root directory” just means the location of your homepage file.) Most website hosting services allow you to do this using the “Control Panel” for your account. If you need any help with this, just add a comment at the end of this post. Be sure to tell me who your hosting service is (for example: GoDaddy or Network Solutions or whatever the case may be).
10. Once the file is uploaded to your website’s root directory, enter that location into the “My Sitemap URL is” box. As noted, this will be http://www.example.com/sitemap.xml where “example.com” is the name of your domain.
11. Click the Add Web Sitemap button.
12. Done!

Let me know if you have any questions.

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Choosing a Domain Name? Don’t even bother with a “.net” domain.

A”.com” domain name is usually worth 10 to 20 times as much as the same name ending with “.net“, according to Ron Jackson, editor and publisher of the online magazine Domain Name Journal - The Domain Industry News Magazine.

Cobb.com domain name worth at least $45K, experts say
Jacksonville Business Journal - May 11, 2007

Jackson attributes the difference in value to the fact that people are conditioned to type “.com” rather than “.net” in an address. But it also seems fairly clear that a “.com” address carries more weight and respectability. I would be willing to bet there are no Fortune 1000 companies with a “.net” domain for their website — except for communications companies like Verizon, Comcast, Adelphia and Cox.

This is because the “.net” top level domain was intended for use by Internet service providers (ISPs) and other companies involved in Internet infrastructure, just as “.org” is for non-profits and “.gov” is for US government agencies.

When it comes to marketing on the Web, what’s good for Fortune 1000 companies may not always be good for smaller businesses and organizations, but in this case it is, because it’s a matter of branding your business: conveying an image of professionalism and permanence.

Do you think that the market value of a domain name — .com vs. .net — is an accurate indicator of its worth to a company’s brand? I do. Let me know if you disagree!

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