Today Yahoo! released an option-packed email program to all Yahoo! Mail users throughout the USA and 18 markets around the world. The press release provides a glimpse into what this new product offers Read more…
Webmaster tools are becoming a hot topic in the major search engines these days. It is becoming increasingly obvious to search engine companies that they need to begin listening to webmasters and provide more tools to ensure future brand integrity. It is about time! I have been waiting for the search engines to wise up and over the past couple of years both Google and Yahoo have begun to prominently feature such tools. This article is devoted to Yahoo’s Site Explorer tool and how you can harness it to help you improve your search engine rankings and improve your odds for online success.
THEN: September 29th, 2004 
Yahoo! officially launched Yahoo Site Explorer (see release). This new tool was designed to promote feedback between webmasters and Yahoo search staff. Ever since Yahoo! launched and became the powerhouse it is today it has had a rather bleak reputation for responding to customer search inquiries and ranking or directory complaints; this is another great step they took to change public opinion. Read more…
Over the years we have answered many a phone call where a prospective client is frustrated with the poor performance of their website(s). Obviously the business profile for each website is unique, but common to many of conversations is the following scenario that we would like to share with you. For the purpose of this example we will use a site owner by the name of Sam.
The question from Sam (the caller):
“ My site is 2 years old and well established online; it is well indexed on the major search engines and has a couple rankings here and there. Unfortunately after so many years of work on the site the rankings and traffic for the website are still not where I need them. I am just not sure if I should commit my limited budget to reworking a website that has been so difficult to promote; it is becoming a bigger money hole than my boat. Should I continue to invest in my current website or try launching another site with slightly different content and a new domain?” Read more…
One of the most frequently asked questions readers and clients email StepForth Placement’s SEO staff, revolves around how websites can be best optimized to meet the algorithmic needs of each of the major 4 search engines, Google, Yahoo, MSN and Ask.
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Though there have been wide sweeping changes in the organic search engine landscape over the past six months, the fundamental ways search engines operate remains the same. Read more…
Founder Bill Gates will be stepping away from the bulk of his duties at Microsoft in two years time. Starting in July 2008, Gates, aged 50, will devote the majority of his time to the management of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the world’s largest charitable organization.
Gates made the announcement yesterday afternoon at a news conference held after the markets had closed for the day. Gates will remained involved as Chairman of the corporation and will retain his vast stock holdings. “I always see myself as being the largest shareholder in Microsoft,” Gates told reporters. He holds about 9.5% of all Microsoft stocks, estimated to be worth $21.6 Billion. Read more…
Search engine optimization, as a practicing sector of the greater search engine marketing industry, is seeing an upswing in business over the past few months. This trend is fueled by a number of concurrent factors, the least of which is the actual effectiveness of organic search placement.
Today’s search marketing metaverse is made up of a multiplicity of mash-ups. Paid and organic results now appear in any number of venues beyond the traditional SERPs that are directly or indirectly associated with a branded search engine or social network. While search has been big business for over five years, a growing sophistication is entering the marketing space as creative people find intelligent and interesting ways to get a growing number of applications to work together. Read more…
Links are the primary arteries of the Internet, the underlying connectors between different places. Links are the transporters that take you everywhere on the web. You likely came to this space via a link and are as likely to follow one out again. Links keep you going online, hopefully to places you want or need to get to.
Google created the most successful information retrieval device of all time based on sending spiders to follow each and every link they can find on each and every web document they come across. Yahoo, MSN, Ask, and all the other search databases have acquired the vast amounts of information they contain in similar fashion. Links play important roles in the ranking formulas of all search engines, especially Google, by providing numerous pieces of data for their algorithms to chew through. Read more…
Yahoo and eBay have formed a strategic partnership in order to tie up a number of loose ends both firms feared losing to Google. The agreement, announced earlier today, will see the each firm provide functions and services to each other and each other’s users in areas ranging from search results, graphical advertising, online payments, the creation of a co-branded toolbar and an opportunity for both firms to explore “pay-per-call” advertising options. Read more…
Yahoo! has given itself a cosmetic but functional facelift that blends most (if not all) of Yahoo!’s subscriber based products and features with a sleeker, easier to use layout.
Yahoo! remains an information dense portal but good use DHTML and Ajax in designing an expanding menu system makes finding your way around the vast array of options much simpler. Yahoo! has also introduced a number of personalized information tools that present emails, messages, and music options, along with localized content such as movie reviews, playtimes, local traffic and local weather. Read more…
