November 18, 2009 by IBI · Leave a Comment
Bing.com is Microsoft’s new “decision” search engine. Bing’s homepage is brilliantly colored with a new background picture with interesting facts from all over the world. But what truly stands out about Bing.com is it’s design for the purpose of aiding decision making.
The “Tour Bing” link in the top left corner of the home page is a great place to start for first time users and those who want to find out all the features and shortcuts Bing offers. Since many features are specifically for Microsoft account users, those who do not have a Live account may find it useful to create one. Other first time options are available in the preferences, located in the top right corner. Users can make adjustments to their location, security settings, and result listings.
Bing offers categorized search options on the home page from the left column. When clicked, these categories, such as “Shopping” or “News, expand to more subcategories to further narrow the search.
Any search performed on the main search bar at the top will include related searches, sponsored links, and search history on the left column. Some searches produce related subcategories at the top of the column. Here are a few examples:
* Subcategories for “computer” include: Images, Shopping, and Local
* Subcategories for “Myrtle Beach” include: Weather, Hotel, and Map
* Subcategories for “Nike” include: Coupons, Catalog, and Jobs
Bing offers more than just search results. Many popular searches, most of which are related to buying decisions, have detailed information that will help users make the right choice and save money without spending hours on every website comparing prices and other features. A search for “laptop”, for example, will display a “Shop for laptop” link at the top of the search results. Users can limit the results by brands or prices, view buying guides, and compare laptops on ratings like speed and ease of use. The search results show the image, price, and description of the laptops that match the requirements chosen.
Users can also research and compare compare businesses, like hotels, restaurants, and stores. The keywords “restaurant cincinnati”, for example, will display “Listings for restaurants near Cincinnati, OH” above the search results. A map of Cincinnati on the left shows the location of each restaurant with a corresponding number to the list of restaurants to the right. Each restaurant lists their phone number and links for the restaurant’s website and directions. The name of each restaurant links to a short description including reviews, prices, amenities, and more contact information, etc.
Bing.com offers a variety of shortcuts accessed by typing certain keywords into the main search bar. “Traffic” and “weather” will show local information as the first result. Flights and packages can be tracked by typing flight or shipping number. A sequence of several ticker symbols followed by the word “quote” will list stock information for each symbol in a small table. Basic math questions and conversions, like “how many liters in a gallon” will display the answer at the top of the search results.
Bing has several interactive features that are convenient to users. The websites listed in search results have a hover icon along the right side of the entry which brings up a summary and related links. Images will display their size, name, and a “related images” link when users hover on them, and videos listed in Bing results will begin playing when hovered.
Some users will find Bing.com and its features more helpful than others. Bing’s many features will only display for popular searches, and basic information, and it becomes just another search engine when more obscure, unique or research-related searches are performed. Like any other search engine, Bing.com shows search results of related websites, so it is still useful when features aren’t shown. As it’s nickname, “the decision engine” suggests, Bing.com is most useful for shopping, traveling, and other decision-related searches.
Written by Hannah Miller, Director of Online Marketing and Customer Service Rep, Copper.net.
Copper.net is a nationwide Internet Services provider that is all-American owned and operated. Call today, 1-800-336-3318 or sign up online. Check out my blog for this and more great articles! http://www.copper.net/wire
November 9, 2009 by IBI · Leave a Comment
Impossible, right? Not really worth the time, right? Wrong on both accounts.
Many times while entering phrases into Google, I find a lot of somewhat related sites, but hardly ever anything exact. So why bother on getting these supposedly un-searched terms? …..
Because there is a perception that having your site in the #1 spot in Google means that your site is an authority on that particular subject. As any experienced user knows, this is most often not the case, but perception is reality.
Granted, some of the phrases that you can get ranked on may not be very popular, but you never know what a user is going to enter into the search box, or do we ever know at what point of information gathering they are at.
One of the most common traits of searching is that when a user firsts begins a search, they use a broad term, but as they get further along into their search, the phrases become more precise as they themselves filter out the un-related sites.
This is the same concept of which a successful PPC campaign can be run. While it may be great to get tons of traffic for the keyword “shoes”, if a user is really looking for “Nike running shoes”, the site has wasted money on that search.
Another curious stat that web analytics reveal is that a consumer that comes to a site through PPC is not a life-time customer. They are usually interested in the quick fix, or easy solution. Compared to a user who arrives through organic search engine optimization, they are more likely to be lifetime consumers since they tend to trust a company that has “earned” it’s way to the top of the rankings.
By the time a user has a four to five keyword phrase entered in for their search query, chances are that they have already eliminated the “noise” and are focused on the “signal” i.e. the product or service that your site is offering.
One final item to remember is that if you have an exact phrase that is not common to a search engine query, once it gets indexed, it will most like appear in the number one position since the search engines always try to find an exact match when other factors aren’t available
SEO Master is a part time articles writer. Specialized in SEO technique.
October 26, 2009 by IBI · Leave a Comment
Are you a victim of Twitter Squatting? If you’re not careful, you will be. Twitter is one of the fastest growing social sites on the planet, and usernames are disappearing fast. Even if you’re not a “guru”, another person with your name or favorite username can easily beat you to the punch and deny your twitter position.
According to PC World, “Is there evidence of Twitter squatting (squitting?) Let’s check. Yup, every single-letter TwitID is taken. Some are legitimate (Check out “S” for instance, that is a cool personal email assistant service) but X, Y, and Z are place holders. How about common words? Garage, wow, war, warcraft, Crisco, Coke, Pepsi, Nike, and Chevrolet are all taken. My guess is that Twitter squatters have grabbed all of these in the hopes that they will be worth selling in the not too distant future. Of course the legitimate holders of brands can sue for them and Twitter can just turn them over if asked. But, because the investment and risk for the squatter is zero, you are going to see the rapid evaporation of available Twitter IDs.”
The solution, you ask? Back to PC World: “How to protect your own brand? Immediately go to Twitter.com and determine if your name is available. Get it while you can.”
Even if you have no idea what Twitter is, or how you would use it, there’s no reason to not go there and simply set up a free account, just to lock up your name. Don’t you wish you registered your name or brand back in the 90’s, when domain names were free and easy to get? The same thing is happening with Twitter right now.
Not convinced that Twitter is for real? According to Compete.com, twitter traffic is up an astounding 752% in 2008, from 500,000 unique visitors in January to 4.43 million in December.
Whether you love it, hate it, or don’t even know about it, twitter is a powerful social force, so you might as well grab your “real estate” there now, and ask questions later!
Dave Sherwin is an online marketing expert and co-founder of the Lighthouse Marketing System.
Learn some of the coolest, free social marketing tactics by following him at:
