So we’ve given them one: Big Search Data.

You will have heard of Big Data, so this is the search sub-set of it, and includes all the search expressions that are submitted to search engines, and which can be acquired through services such as Experian Hitwise. So, consider it coined.

N.B. The phrase did exist in Google in one article at the time of writing, but is a hyphenated compound adjective not used in quite the same way, so we don’t think it counts.

Watch this space while we continue our pondering. If you have an opinion please feel free to tweet me about it.

Steve Johnston

Many of you will be familiar with our evangelism of the search intelligence data from Hitwise, and our extensive use of it in our client work when improving the relevance of websites to demand from users. We have worked more and more closely with Hitwise during the last couple of years and our relationship has culminated in this exciting partnership. Under the Search Services banner, Hitwise will be introducing Search Johnston to its client base when the combination of their data and our methodologies and experience are likely to provide value.

Our founder Steve Johnston says of the partnership “We are delighted that our difference in this growing and crowded market has been recognised by Hitwise. We have worked hard, in the service of our clients, to find genuine and applicable insight from the mass of data Hitwise provides and we are delighed that our innovative approach is going to reach a wider audience. This is an important day in our company’s history.”

Please read the Hitwise release for further details.

When measuring the success of our SEO advice we often make use of Google Analytics segmentation and custom reporting features to measure:

• increase in natural search traffic (visits)
• increase in natural search traffic value (revenue)
• increase in search variation (number of keywords)
• maintainance of relevance to customers needs (bounce rate)

Setting up a custom GA report for SEO

Next, we change the segment to one of the default segments provided by analytics - non-paid search (that’s organic or natural search to you and me).

The resultant report keeps track of the key SEO KPIs - namely:

• Is the number of visits coming in from organic (non-paid) search increasing?
• Is the number of variations of search terms that you are ranking for increasing?
• Are you still getting the right kinds of visitor in the door (is your bounce rate steady)?
• Are you making more money?

Keep a steady eye on these, and you will get a regular picture of the love Google has for your website.

Ideally this tagging will be done at the point of conversion from the source document. The usefulness of the tags is, however, dependent upon creating well structured source documents. In the case of MS Word, for example, this implies the consistent use of styles for adding presentation and document structure; use in-built header styles (you can modify the styling), use the in-built column and tables features rather than tabs or spaces; use in-built image captioning options to give text information about images.

Preparing source documents for best results

Use simple and straightforward layouts for best results in terms of accessibility both to bots and humans. Documents will be optimized for accessibility if the following guidelines are followed:

• Provide alternative text for all images using format > picture > web.
• Any wrapping apart from ‘inline’ will place the image in the reading order after all other objects on the page.
• Similarly, all Text boxes are placed in the reading order after all other objects, like paragraphs and headings on each page.
• To create a table, use the Insert Table Command, or Draw Table tool. (Tool bar>Table) Don’t use tabs and spaces to create tables. Avoid tables if possible.
• Avoid using multiple columns if possible. Don’t use tabs and spaces to create columns.
• Use common fonts: Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Georgia, Times New Roman. Avoid symbols and special fonts.
• Avoid overlapping text and graphics.
• Avoid watermarks and background images.
• Avoid blank lines. Use paragraph formatting space before and after instead.
• Use the following styles and do so properly:
  • Hyperlink
  • Lists
  • Headings
  • Chapters
  • Tables of contents
• Add document summary information

The document summary information is particularly important. you can add this information in Word 2007 using Prepare > Properties, and providing a Title (at least) and a Subject (can’t hurt).

Saving Google-Friendly PDFs from MS Word

Word 2000 or later supports the creation of accessible Adobe Acrobat PDFs. In Word 2007, for example, simply save as ‘PDF or XPS’ (you may need to download an add-on to allow you to do this). Select the Minimum Size option - although bear in mind that this may result in a lower quality print out, so you may want to try with and without and judge for yourself - and then select the Options button.

In the Options dialog window, select Page Range of All, then under Include non-printing information select Create Bookmarks Using: > Headings and Document Structure Tags for Accessibility. Under PDF options select ISO 19005-1 compliant to enable users with older versions of Acrobat Reader to access the pdf.

Open the resultant PDF in Acrobat and select View > Navigation Panels > Bookmarks. You should now see the structure of your document elegantly laid out as a collapsible/expandable tree.

Voila!

• Title: Strategic SEO: get the most out of Google

• Date: Friday 6th November 2009

• Venue: Hilton Green Park, Half Moon Street, London

For full details and booking visit the Kinetic web site.

We see the Visibility and Content legs as laying a sound optimisation foundation, with the Reputation leg being the part of the methodology that can often deliver the cream, in terms of the improvements in natural search performance that clients seek. Stretching the tripod analogy a little, it’s a bit like the Reputation leg has more muscle than the other two legs.

We’ve been working with Reevoo now for a number of months, working simultaneously on all parts of the tripod, and we’re delighted to announce that Reevoo have just launched an initiative (that came entirely from within the company) that comes straight out of the Reputation part of our methodology: Reevoo’s feel-like-love machine

Reevoo provides customer reviews from real shoppers who review their product once and only once they’ve actually bought it (so not just any old reviews). Reevoo’s feel-like-love machine enables visitors to the website to find reviews by the emotions shoppers have expressed when actually reviewing the product they’ve purchased.

For example:

• “love”: i love the use of bags, and the fact it swivels, great hoover
• “feel”: When set up correctly gives very good print quality. I get the feeling that people who get banding havent set it up correctly. good value for the price I paid
• “like”: When I bought the first pair as a new customer I sent my old discontinued glasses and said this is what I wanted and I was correctly told which pair I would like

Many of us, when buying things are heavily influenced by our emotions, and this taps directly into that: it provides a useful and helpful alternative way to finding customer reviews of products

Additionally, Reevoo have provided a little widget enabling you to include this content on your own website:

© reevoo.com | more »

And don’t forget the saucy version too ….

So why does all this help the Reputation of the Reevoo website?

• It’s an innovative way to view customer reviews, directly meeting how many people buy products - through their emotions - and ‘innovation’ builds real Reputation
• It’s entertaining, different and interesting, but draws on and idea from the Twitterverse; Twistori, which is likely to generate additional discussion
• And finally, it provides some engaging content that people can include on their own website - for free - that includes a link back to Reevoo

All of which help shift perceptions, generate online discussions and further promote the Real Reputation of the Reevoo business and the Google Reputation of its website.