Most people wouldn't be aware that Google has a main search result database and a supplemental database (I'm using the term database rather than index, to help keep the explanation simple).
When you search for something in Google, it will generally only return results from its main database. If your query is obscure or there are not many results, Google may dip into its supplemental database to give you a few more results.
The supplemental database has had negative connotations within the search engine optimisation community. Often sites, that have been penalised by Google will have their web pages dumped into the supplemental results database. Other reasons can relate to lack of quality back links to those pages making them less important than other pages. Either way, it's not considered a good thing because your pages are unlikely to be shown in normal query results.
The problem is that your website is at the mercy of Google - if they decide that your pages should be in the supplemental index, then that's it. Don't panic though, it's not necessarily permanent. Generally new web pages will start out in the supplemental database, which is also often referred to as 'the sandbox'.
Results coming from the supplemental database have an additional note in their listing within Google - "supplemental result".... well at least until a few weeks ago.
Labels: a-better-google-ranking, Search-Engine-Optimisation, SEO, Web-Design-Melbourne, Web-statistics
Posted on Monday, August 20, 2007
In the past, it was easy to get confused about web stats. You could find websites that would talk of having 250,000 "hits" a month, hits being a wildly inaccurate way to monitor traffic....why? Because if I have a page with some text and five images, when you load that page in your browser it counts as six hits, one for the page and five for the images.
Nielsen NetRatings' (a global marketing company that records large site traffic) then moved to looking at page views. This moved away from hits and took into consideration how many pages were viewed by a visitor. Unique visitors (my page views as opposed to yours) then started to be termed as your sites 'Reach' and would separate unique visitors and their page views, using these two as the main statistical measurement out there.
It helped large sites understand how many people were visiting. Whilst reach and page views gave advertisers an ability to sell online, underpinning the first dot-com boom and still being a massive resource today. In Australia alone, online advertising spend topped $1 billion in 2007.
With the arrival of new web technologies like Ajax, the page itself doesn't reload but the content still changes. Thus making page views obsolete (see example here - click on any of the tabs across the top of the page, same page, new content). A visitor can look at dozens of new content sections, but the page they're visiting remains the same! To help combat this, Nielsen has just released 'Total Time' counts, which account for how long a visitor spends on a page and has removed or killed off page views. Total Time is better than anything before, but still....how many times do you browse to a page, get distracted, go to a meeting or lunch and and leave the browser open?
I don't know if there is a fair way to monitor web traffic perfectly but I think it's getting better. Regardless of some of the failings, people should be looking at their statistics. It's really important to look at your site past the date of launch. At Efront, we try and work with our clients past the launch of their store, site or blog to make sure they are getting the best return they can from it. This includes making sure that the content is updated regularly, utilising marketing tools like email subscription services and checking back on their statistics. All of the hosting services we offer include comprehensive statistical information that make this easier and let our clients tailor their content and their message to suit their audience.
My rant for the day is over :) Get in touch if you've got any questions or if you'd like to see how we can help you get more out of your online presence...
All the best,
Mark
Labels: Online-Stores, statistics, Web-Hosting, Web-statistics
Posted on Wednesday, July 18, 2007