Google has cracked down on major online retailer Overstock.com after perceived underhand search engine optimisation (SEO) tactics, according to the Wall Street Journal.

While Google’s policy dictates that it does not comment on individual cases, the problem is rumoured to lie with Overstock offering a discount to students and educational institutions in exchange for embedding keyword links on their sites. According to experts, the .edu domain names of these academic institutions websites have enjoy greater prominence in Google’s search engine results pages (SERPs), since they are deemed more likely to display ‘authoritative’ content.

In addition, sites fare well in Google’s rankings if a significant number of other sites contain links to them – a manifestation of the crucial principle behind PageRank, Google’s original ‘scoring system’ for websites.

After recent criticism about the falling standard of Google’s search and its slow response in dealing with content farms, is this move as much a statement of intent as a decision to penalise a company that contravened Google’s guidelines?

Also, given the extensive publicity of the case, is the consequent media attention numbing the effects of Google’s penalties? Overstock has been relegated in Google’s SERPs, but the media attention may be driving more traffic than their search results ever did. Then again, it’s probably not the kind of publicity most companies want …

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and Pay Per Click (PPC) campaigns should be incorporated into an efficient whole to maximise a company’s online profile. According to the Online Marketing Summit held last week in San Diego, there has been a shift in balance between paid and unpaid listings in Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs)and this has changed the playing field.

Given the now greater prominence of PPC adverts on SERPs, paid search ads are competing with organic listings more than ever and may deflect attention from natural results and relegate them further down the page.

This recent development in how PPC ads are displayed more or less amounts to a new set of market rivals, and businesses – especially those that compete in dense keyword fields – should bear this in mind when looking at their SEO analysis.

Businesses with smaller budgets may concentrate on one or the other through necessity, and both marketing forms have advantages in their own right – PPC is a great option for boosting a company’s online profile in a competitive keyword field, for example. But having a paid ad on a SERP increases the conversion-rate from the traffic brought about by an SEO listing – the perfect way in which SEO and PPC work together.

The two methods are also closely linked by choosing accurately targeted keywords – this approach fundamentally underpins both SEO and PPC – and, given the new-found prominence of PPC adverts, the significance in being among the top of the organic listings has intensified.

It’s a question we hear a lot  – mainly from clients that we’re building a “first” website for.

Why is my website not in Google yet?  Something must be wrong…

While all us experts may laugh at the naivety of such a question, for many clients the relationship between Google and their site isn’t so obvious.  Many people think Google IS the web..  and that if a site isn’t on Google, it’s not on the web.

In reality – Websites do NOT enter google automatically…  They enter Google because Google Discovers them, and “indexes” them.  Until then, your website can be alive and well, but only discoverable by typing it directly into your web browsers address bar. 

In most cases, Google can take days, weeks, or months to “find” new websites, and so they won’t appear in Google until then.  You can speed this up in 3 ways..

1. Submit the site directly to Google.  See: http://www.google.co.uk/intl/en/submit_content.html
2. Signup to Google Webmaster Tools, and submit an actual “sitemap” for all the pages on your site.  See: http://www.google.com/webmasters/
3. Get other sites (which are already listed in Google) to link to your site.  Google will then “follow” that link next time it “spiders” the other site.

Doing any (or all) of the above should see your website  listed in the Google results within a few weeks at most…  Getting it listed HIGH UP the results pages depends on how optimised your site is for specific keywords and phrases.  Search Engine Optimisation and understanding search keywords is an effort in itself, but you should be able to easily cover the basics of SEO yourself.  We’re always here to help if you need us!