Will The Real Search Engine Blog Please Stand Up?

Earlier today I read the The 2007 Paid Links War, In Review post on Search Engine Land and clicked through to the links within the article. After reading, clicking, and reading some more, I realized I had spent a solid 20 minutes on the post and had visited 12 different sites. Wow.

I came away with two things as a result:

1. I appreciate the time and effort it took Vanessa Fox to write the article, it's a huge amount of work and I think sites like SEL, Search Engine Guide, SER and SEJ provide a tremendous information service to the SEO community and/or anyone wanting to learn about the world of search marketing. And...

2. I have to wonder how does a small business person - or anyone outside of the SEO circle find the nuggets of information being shared by search engine representatives on individual, private commercial blogs?

Why isn't information like this (see below) being added to the official search engine blogs? How would anyone in the small business community know to look on this blog, scroll through the mounds of comments to find a significant statement like this one made by Google Engineer Matt Cutts on paid links:

I think quoting me as saying "ALL links inside of any sponsored post should carry the no-follow tag period, regardless of whether they are required, not required or even link to the advertiser paying for the post" is different than our conversation. I believe that I said that adding nofollow to all links in paid posts would certainly be safe.

Bold mine. I wonder why this wasn't blogged about on an official search engine vehicle with links to the originating story/comments? The host blog would still get some attention, the search engine would make their point clear and official and the rest of us only have to visit one place. Win, win win.

Come on guys, you want us to follow your webmaster rules then make it official by posting them in one place, on your company blogs. Let's get rid of the FUD, the crude, and the mud associated with near-miss comments by people trying to share.

I'm not suggesting the information you're dropping around isn't helpful - it is - but it's damn hard to follow when it's left all over the blogesphere.

Fetch / Sphinn

It's Prime Time To Get A Video Link

I've been following the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike since an old high school friend is a member. She's been writing for a popular police drama for a number of years now so I set my alert services to bring back tidbits on the strike and her writing group in particular.

This morning I got an alert from the Center for Media Research with a survey recap from the Online Testing Exchange with some interesting numbers as they relate to the way people will watch TV (or not) as the strike goes on.

Seems 44% of the people surveyed stated they'll continue to watch their favorite show even if they're repeats and 26% said they'd probably watch more reality TV since those types of shows aren't likely to be affected by the strike. (I love you Simon!)

But the most interesting number IMO was this one:

16% said they'll watch more original content on the Internet as a way to keep themselves entertained during the strike.

The OTX only surveyed 3100 people for this opinion poll but still...... 496 of them said they'll go online for original content. The fact they KNOW to go online means they're already aware it's there and will just do more of it. Don't let the statistic fool you, that little drop in the bucket represents a huge possibility if you think about the millions of people with Internet access.

If you've thought about creating a video now might be the time to get it going. With universal search the topic du jour and the writers strike possibly re-channeling people online, you stand a pretty good chance of being seen -- and linked to.

Surveys, Pity Parties and Links.

Over on Search Engine Land this week I had a post about customer surveys and how I use them to build links. I wasn't too happy with the way the piece turned out, it lacked "flow" and was a little choppy in some places. On top of that, I managed to leave out a couple of points I wanted to make and didn't elaborate on the survey tools I use. Doh!

In fairness, I was in bed with a fever of 102 when I wrote it but still - no excuses as I know well in advance when it's due yet always wait until the 11th hour to write it. Thankfully Chris is a great editor!

Anyway, here's the couple of things I forgot to mention:

1. Survey's with the greatest return are those that offer an incentive. When we tell people up front they'll get a special offer at the end for taking it, the completion percentage grows substantially.

You can expand on this idea and ask the respondents to opt into a list of continuing survey takers. You'll have a ready made list of people to take additional surveys, focus groups and opinion polls.

2. Keep the survey short, then shorten some more. Five questions is about right, over 10 is too many. Always include a spot for people to write comments.

3. I've been more successful in getting surveys filled and returned when they are included at the end of the confirmation email or anytime up to 3o days after the product has been shipped. This gives people time to use it and if satisfied, praise it.

Or not. Even negative comments have value.

4. Keep a list of the customers that have taken the survey and re-reward them during the holidays with a special note and discounts on your merchandise. Always suggest they link to your website in addition to using the discounts/treats you've sent their way.

5. Send the survey results to your list of survey takers. People like to see outcomes.

Which survey tools do I use? There are a couple I like for various reasons but I tend to go with SurveyMonkey because it's easy to set up and monitor.