IndexPing: A Useful Thing

January 6, 2011

Short honk: A reader sent me a link to IndexPing.com. The free service will send an email to a Web master each time the Googlebot nuzzles that Web site. Quite helpful because, despite the chatter at conferences about the utility of Web logs, not too many people pay attention to them. An arts-and-craft Web traffic report is today’s preferred way to keep tabs on a site’s exit pages.

IndexPing is easy to set up. Plug in your name, email, and Web site. Then within a half hour, maybe less, you will start getting emails that tell you when the Googlebot shows up. I contacted the developer of the site and found him enthusiastic and responsive, two qualities that other tech companies might do well to cultivate.

How does the site make money? You get a couple of sites free, then you pay. The goslings here in Harrod’s Creek were impressed with this useful service. Navigate to www.indexping.com and give it a whirl.

Stephen E Arnold, January 6, 2011

Freebie unlike the SEO crowd’s graphically rich reports about baloney

Buzzword Advice for LinkedIn Users

January 5, 2011

I know that quite a few professionals are excited about LinkedIn.com, the “real” social network for job seekers. But my heavens, advice from a real journalist about buzzwords. Computerworld commands, “Don’t Abuse These Buzzwords on LinkedIn.” Computerworld never uses buzzwords, do they? No, no, never.

Actually, writer Angela West is reporting on a list compiled by LinkedIn of the ten most overused terms in 2011 LinkedIn profiles. “Creative” is number one, and “effective,” “motivated,” and “innovative” also feature prominently. West admits that a couple of the entries, like “problem solving” and “dynamic” can be used effectively in certain situations. The write up summarizes:

Most of the terms on the list fail because they are too general. Remember that your LinkedIn profile is your opportunity to showcase yourself as a unique snowflake, not to blend in with the rest of the job-seeking hordes. Be specific about what you can do, make sure to fill out your LinkedIn profile as thoroughly as possible, and let the hiring gods take care of the rest.

Not bad advice. However, it isn’t any smarter to reject these terms out of hand just because they are popular; some are popular for a reason. Users could find themselves unwittingly opting out of potential employers’ keyword searches if they avoid all the buzzwords. Here at Beyond Search we are too busy to hunt for “real” jobs like “real” consultants. Also, we try to use as many buzzwords as possible. A “real” consultant told us search engine optimization, fancy talk, and building online relationships is the next best thing to a hot fudge sundae with whipped cream and a 1,200 calorie cherry on top.

Cynthia Murrell, January 5, 2012

Sponsored by Pandia.com

A Web Traffic List Lovers Delight

December 31, 2010

This is the final post of 2010. Quite a year. I want to wrap up with a sure fire way to get your Web page indexed with maximum impact. Now you don’t have to struggle to whip up key words which humans use again and again in the searches. Navigate to “2010 Updates List of Top 500 Search Keywords on the Internet.” Now some of these key words won’t be much help to Beyond Search. We don’t write about the many “tubes” or “pumpkin face patterns.” Some search engine optimization wizards may suggest matching key words to content. Others? Heck just use the top terms anyway. Enjoy and have a good 2011. For the “real” search consultants experts: Keep on the bamboozle route. There’s another year of tom foolery ahead.

Stephen E Arnold, December 31, 2010

Freebie

SEO Apologia with a Trust Me as Spice

December 30, 2010

I chuckled when I read “SEO Events Help Seal The Legitimacy Of The Industry.” The write up contained better jokes than those told by a part time juggler entertaining in last night’s hotel cabaret. Example:

But what really gets me is that these events are less about the learning and more about the industry and the community. What makes people in our industry grow in their profession both financially, practically and intellectually are these conferences.

The “events” referenced are conferences that purport to teach people how to get traffic to their Web sites. Today this boils down to finding ways to get Google to put a Web site high in a search results list. However, there is increasing interest in using Facebook as away to generate sales leads or just make sales.

So, the “events” are really about teaching people to bend Google to some degree to the purpose of the marketer, not to the purpose of the person looking for an answer to a question.

But the real hoot came from this passage:

So even if you know it all, trust me, you will learn something. Even if you know everyone, trust me, you will make a connection that will become golden in the future. And if that doesn’t do it for you, then help make this industry something special by coming out and supporting your colleagues.

At age 66, the reason one goes to a conference or does work is to cope with our pal Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Altruism kicks in after some other needs have been met. I enjoy “trust me” statements and assurances that for fee events are not about money derived either directly or indirectly.

Ho ho ho. Yep, trust those search engine optimization experts to get a Web site traffic. Ho ho ho. (This last “ho ho ho” is the sound of a person laughing on the way to the bank.) Does SEO yield traffic? Spend some money and find out. Our approach is content centric, not so much SEO. Objective search results: going the way of the dodo I fear. If SEO works so well, why is online advertising thriving in a lousy economy? The SEO crowd has an answer, of course. Do SEO. Do online ads. How is that working out for you?

Stephen E Arnold, December 30, 2010

Freebie

Microsoft Innovation

September 12, 2010

Short honk: A reader sent me a link to the Microsoft “Beyond Search Award”. Great name. I wonder if I was inspired by the phrase or if I was a me-too goose. You can access a list of the “winners” at this link. I would have named the award differently, but I am an addled goose and closely associated with the phrase “Beyond Search.” Nothing like a search engine optimization tip of the hat from the Redmond innovators. Honk.

Stephen E Arnold, September 12, 2010

Freebie. Wait. I will pay myself for writing this item.

Fair Search Rankings: SEO and Its Sins Come Home to Roost

September 7, 2010

You will be reading a lot from the search engine optimization crowd in the coming weeks. SEO means get a site on the first page of Google results no matter what. The “no matter what” part means tricks which Web indexing systems try to de-trick. Both sides are in a symbiotic relationship. The poor goofs with Web sites that pitch a pizza parlor have zero chance to get traffic. An elaborate dance takes place among the engineers who tweak algorithms to make sure that when I enter the query “white house”, I get the “right” white house.

A 1,000 calorie plus Krispy Kreme burger of Texas indigestion is on the menu for the Google if the Associated Press’s story is spot on. Source: http://new.wxerfm.com/blogs/post/bolson/2010/aug/06/krispy-kreme-burger/

You know the one with the President of the country where Google and Microsoft have headquarters. If you are another “white house”, you can hire some SEO azurini and trust that these trial-and-error experts can improve your ranking in Google, Bing, Ask, or other search system. But most of the SEO stuff does not work reliably, so the Web site owner gets to buy ads or pay for traffic. Quite an ecosystem.

Now the game may be officially declared the greatest thing in marketing since the invention of the sandwich board advertising bars in Times Square or be trashed as a scam on hapless Web site owners. The first hint of a potential rainy day is “Texas Opens Inquiry into Google Search Results.” I don’t quote from the AP. The goose is nervous about folks who get too eager to chase feathered fowl with legal eagles. I also am getting more and more careful about my enthusiasm for things Googley.

I don’t have much of a comment and I have only one observation. Add one more Krispy Kreme sized problem to the Paul Allen patent extravaganza, the Oracle dust up, the Facebook chase, and the dissing of the Google TV. I thought Google’s lousy summer was over. Is September 2010 going to trump Google’s June, July, and August 2010? It may. Quite a Labor Day in a state noted for its passion for justice Texas style.

Stephen E Arnold, September 7, 2010

Freebie

New Blog with ArnoldIT.com Content

August 18, 2010

A new Web log and information services débuts today (August 18, 2010). Redefining Monitoring, owned by IGear Corporation, provides news, information, and commentary about cloud-centric monitoring. IGear’s technology embraces numerically-controlled machines and production systems as well as other business processes. IGear’s cloud technology makes it possible to “take the pulse” of smart machines, systems, and complete production operations 24×7. The IGear dashboard provides an intuitive, graphical display. Access from mobile devices, netbook computers, or desktop systems is supported. You can access the Web log at www.redefiningmonitoring.com.

In a statement released by IGear today, the company said:

IGear, a leader in the monitoring industry, has launched Redefining Monitoring at www.redefiningmonitoring.com, a blog that covers news and information about monitoring and the latest in cloud computing technologies.

“We decided to launch the blog after much discussion with clients, colleagues and staff. There are many exciting issues and options which come across my desk every day, and this is a great way to share them as well as our thoughts about their impact with a broader group of people. We can add some ‘color and shading’ to the disciplines involved in monitoring a range of production equipment and manufacturing systems, among others,” explained Don Korfhage, president of IGear.

One of IGear’s principal backers said, “we are experiencing a new era in monitoring driven by advances in cloud and wireless technologies along with the desire of people to have information at their fingertips, 24×7”.

Redefining Monitoring has several standard sections, including news, features and recent posts. Anyone interested in updates can subscribe to the blog through Feedburner and comments are welcome.

IGear serves as the foundation of numerous OEM equipment builder private label offerings. Since 1986, IGear software has been the foundation of reliably collecting critical data from thousands of machines globally.

IGear provides valuable information and alerts to OEMs and their customers enabling them to make better decisions and operate in a lights-out capacity. With IGear, OEMs more proactively service equipment, isolate problems, and optimize their service technicians – the result – a quicker resolution and more satisfied end-user customer.

“I/Gear – Always On” – ushering in a new era in monitoring.

For more information, navigate to the IGear Web site at www.igearonline.com.

ArnoldIT.com provides content for this news and information service. If you are interested in focused, professional content with high impact, write seaky2000 at yahoo dot com. The ArnoldIT.com Overflight system generates content for www.taxodiary.com, www.theseed2020.com, and the Beyond Search blog. Beyond Search’s content pushes beyond SEO.

Kenneth Toth, August 18, 2010

Sponsored post

Endeca Pursues Search Engine Optimization

April 24, 2010

Text search is, in my opinion, losing its oomph. Endeca, long a favorite for eCommerce, is now taking steps to help licensees with their search engine optimization tasks. The idea is to help eCommerce licensees drive sales and raise their Web presence. Endeca has introduced a new feature to their platform – search engine optimization. You will want to read “Endeca Enhances SEO Capabilities with Key Partnerships” and get the full story directly from the company. Endeca is offering services that help a licensee improve its SEO. Is this a new feature or a shift of focus for Endeca? Partnering with consultants is an interesting move. Endeca’s “guided navigation” seems to perform this task automatically. Perhaps not?

Melody K. Smith, April 24, 2010

Post was not sponsored.

DomainWhiz Identifies Potential Domain Names

April 17, 2010

Need a nifty domain name? You can try DomainWhiz.net’s new search utility. I learned about the system in “DomainWhiz Introduces Doman Name Search Tool.” The idea is that the system makes it easier to locate potential domain names. The write up said:

DomainWhiz’ domain name search technology is supported by Natural Language Processing technology that has the ability to generate alternative names that are either synonymous with or highly relevant to keywords entered by an end user. The technology goes one step further by checking the availability of each alternative name, and notes its availability, expiration date or whether it is up for sale. The service is available now in English and the alternative names that come up are SEO friendly.

You can give the system a test drive at http://domainwhiz.net/. When you locate a suitable name, a click on the “pricing” links sends you to GoDaddy.com.

image

DomainWhiz says:

DomainWhiz combines the power of machine learning techniques, large natural language databases, and manually crafted linguistic rules to search the vast space of Semantic Network and extract only those domains that the end user intends to search.

Applied Semantics (formerly Oingo) offered similar capabilities to licensees prior to the firm’s acquisition by Google. Other domain registrars offer similar functions; for example, Register.com. If my memory serves me, Oingo / Applied Semantics offered a similar service via its licensees before the company was gobbled by Google and lashed to advertising tasks.

Stephen E Arnold, April 17, 2010

An unsponsored post.

Search Vendors Should Focus. Okay, Mom

March 28, 2010

Internet Evolution ran a story called “Search Vendors Should Focus on Real Enterprise Needs.” I like the “should” write ups. These are parental and provide the type of inputs that my mother used to offer me when I was a child in Campinas, Brazil. My mother would say, “Be careful.” We lived adjacent a jungle in which resided poisonous snakes, wild pigs, and various spiders that could drop from the tree canopy and chow down. A dip in a pond would allow leeches to burrow into my fat, 12-year old body like truckers eating waffles at the International House of Pancakes. Yep, “Be careful.”

Mother never left the house. She stayed behind the 10 foot walls topped with glass, secure with the maid, the gardener, and the cook. She wanted to be back in the Midwest where shopping for groceries did not involve watching the butcher kill the cow in the back of the store and bring in fresh meat in response to her request for prime rib. Right, “Be careful.” We drank “filtered water”, delivered each week by a local vendor. Drinking the stuff from the tap when water flowed was an invitation to serious misery.

So, “Search Vendors Should Focus on Real Enterprise Needs” reminded me of my mother’s attempt to enforce so weird Midwestern behavior on a kid who was trying to figure out the wild, wonderful world of Brazil in the 1950s. My world was not her world, and I think the author’s world is not the world of the company that develops, markets, and supports enterprise search systems.

The main idea of the write up is that enterprise search vendors are focusing on unreal needs. The only problem is that the write up talks about eCommerce, which is a subset of search. Enterprise search is a subset of search, and although one can integrate search and eCommerce search in one system, I try to keep the two systems apart.

This passage caught my attention:

Search today depends on human action. No matter the level of sophistication we choose, Google’s splash page includes perhaps the best phrase for our expectations: “I’m Feeling Lucky.” We poor end users have no idea what is going on in the algorithms of Google, Yahoo, or Microsoft. We still feel in awe that anything remotely like what we are looking for manages to show up in the search results. We also feel like information delivery is stuck on some Web 2.0 treadmill, content to just react to our queries with a mundane lists of URLs.

The write up shifts to the weird world of search engine optimization. Now I agree that search depends on human action, because humans build systems and humans want information. However, many systems perform automated functions to reduce the cost of delivering information a human wants or may want.

The article concludes with this statement:

I feel a bit like the panel of judges on American Idol. I can see the potential, but the implementations are all a bit karaoke. They all peaked early and haven’t really given us a recent moment. The first credible vendor that changes the dialog from search to information that finds me — and then delivers — will be my American Idol, even if they hail from England, China, Israel, or Brazil.

Okay, let’s back up.

First, the type of search discussed in the Internet Revolution write up is not “behind the firewall search”. The author is throwing around a phrase without defining it so I know what’s what. Second, the introduction of eCommerce search is another false start. Finally, the shift to the need for information to find a user is a good point, and it is a subset of search.

Three observations:

  1. The reason there is so much confusion about search is due to messy, careless writing. Defining terms is a pretty useful exercise when a common phrase has many possible meanings. I don’t think vendors of enterprise search are ignoring real needs. The Exalead search enabled application is a good example and just one from many I could identify.
  2. eCommerce search is a work in progress. A range of methods are in use to make it possible to connect a buyer and a seller. Amazon’s approach is one method; eBay’s is another. Google’s is a third path. None work particularly well, and each company is trying to improve. But eCommerce search has specific requirements and these are different from the requirements for locating information in a customer support system or from a mobile device when one is lost in Lexington, Kentucky.
  3. The idea that end users want search to be easy was true in the 1970s and it is true in the 2010s. The problem is that search is a difficult problem. The companies are doing their best within the limits of their resources. Even companies with abundant resources like Google and Microsoft are quick to point out that search is a work in progress.

My recommendation is that anyone writing about search step back and ask, “Have I defined my terms?” and “Have I provided actionable information?” If the answer to these questions, is “Gee, I don’t know”, then save the parental approach for your children. I ignored “shoulds” when I was 12 and I still ignore them today.

Stephen E Arnold, March 28, 2010

No one paid me to write this commentary. I will report non payment to the Bureau of Prisons where “should” is not an operative work. Hey, some prisoners get paid for their work too.

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