Google has made two further tweaks to how it calculates the Quality Score of each Google Adwords ad that appears in the search results. The tweaks are likely to significantly affect which ads appear at the top of the search engine results pages (SERPs).

The first change is a welcome acknowledgment of the fact that top-placed ads naturally get a boost in click-through rates (CTRs) by virtue of their position… while the reverse is true of lower-placed ads that may be as ‘relevant’ as those above them. Google is taking this discrepancy into account, which should result in higher quality scores for lower placed ads.

Secondly, Google is now making it easier for ads to occupy the positions above the natural search results. Previously, only ads with the highest ad rank and a minimum Quality Score would be placed here; now ads can be placed here if they meet the minimum Quality Score without having to be first in terms of Ad Rank.

Both of these changes should be welcome news to Google Adwords advertisers… but let’s not kid ourselves. As TechCrunch points out, the moves are also calculated to boost Google’s ad revenues. More ads above the organic search results means more clicks… which means more revenues for Google.

Source: Erick Schonfeld, “Google Tweaks AdWords To Reward “Quality” (And Juice Revenues)”, TechCrunch, October 31, 2008

For anyone using or planning to Google’s keyword tool to select keywords for search engine optimization (SEO) purposes: DON’T.

In a recent blog post, Michael Van De Mar points out that Google’s Keyword Tool External (https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal) is designed to help people select appropriate keywords to target for pay-per-click (PPC) advertising purposes, but the keywords generated do NOT necessarily reflect what keywords people are searching on in general.

He drew this conclusion after optimizing his webpages for the words suggested by the Google tool. Indeed, he achieved high rankings in the natural search engine listings on both Yahoo and Google, but got minimal clicks. His conclusion: Google’s keyword tool may indicate which keywords are worth targeting for PPC purposes, but NOT for SEO purposes.

The reasons? Firstly, the words generated by Google’s Keyword Tool External are based on data on Google’s search network, which includes everything from Ask.com to parked webpages, not on what people are searching on using the Google search engine, much less any other search engine. Secondly the keyword tool gives worldwide, not regional, numbers.

I agree with Mr Van De Mar. I don’t recommend using Google’s keyword tool for choosing keywords for which to optimize your webpages. Certainly not when there are better tools available, such as Wordtracker and Keyword Discovery. However, the tool CAN be useful for REFINING your SEO strategy. For example, if you know what keywords are being highly contested (indicated by high bid prices) that’s a sign that there is value in those keywords.

Source: Michael Van De Mar, “Why The Google Keyword Tool Is Useless For SEO, Even With Exact Numbers”, Smackdown, July 15, 2008

Amit Singhal, Google Fellow in charge of the ranking team at Google, has just issued a blog post explaining Google’s approach to ranking sites in its organic or natural search engine listings.

The three principles underpinning its approach are:

1. Best locally relevant results served globally.
2. Keep it simple.
3. No manual intervention.

According to Mr Singhal, the first principle is that every user query should generate the most relevant results. The second principle is that despite the temptation to let complexity creep into the system, Google should strive to keep its system simple without compromising on the quality of results.

The third principle is that the final ordering of the results should be decided by algorithms using the contributions of the greater Internet community, not manually by Google. Google also believes that any need to manually adjust results is symptomatic of a greater need to improve its algorithm, and that if improving the algorithm improves one query, it will also improve an entire class of queries. The only scope for manual intervention relates to sites that violate Google’s policies (i.e. policies relating to such matters as legal compliance).

Not sure that Amit’s post adds much to our general understanding of how Google’s algorithm works… but he has left a carrot dangling: he has promised to explain the technologies behind Google’s ranking, and give examples of several state-of-the-art ranking techniques in action, in a later post.

We’ll keep you posted right here in Kikabink News.

Source: Amit Singhal, “Introduction to Google Ranking”, Google Blog, July 9, 2008

In an interview with US Today magazine, Google’s high profile engineer and blogger Matt Cutt’s has revealed his top 5 tips for ranking higher in Google.

Useful advice but if you’re an SEO pro be prepared to be… underwhelmed. Cutts’ top 5 tips are:

1. Use search terms on your webpages. You want your webpage to rank higher for a given phrase? Make sure it’s actually on the page!
2. Fill in the Title and Description tags with your targeted terms… but give the Keywords tag a miss (Google practically ignores it).
3. Get back links from other sites – back links are given a higher weighting than any of the 100+ data pieces considered by Google’s algorithm when determining a site’s natural search results ranking. (To the search engine marketing firm that continues to mislead its clients into believing that on-page factors are still the most important of all: Google has just spoken.)
4. Launch a blog, post to it, and post often. Blogging allows you to easily create content (more search engine spider food), are more frequently visited by the search engines, and facilitate links back to your website.
5. Register for free tools, such as Google’s webmaster tools. Whether giving you information about who is linking to your site, or how often Google visits your site, such tools will help you attain greater search engine visibility for your site.

Source: Jefferson Graham, “Google’s Cutts: Good directions drive traffic to your website”, USA Today, June 22, 2008