Give us a Google Map, Google!

This is just a quick post to recognize a glaring shortcoming in the new (and old, for that matter) Google Analytics. Weeks ago, on the spur of the moment I decided to use both Google Analytics and Statcounter, another free analytics service, to track visitors on this blog. One feature I enjoy thoroughly is the visitor map, which displays the locations of visitors on... a map.

Here's the Google version of the visitor map:



And here's the Statcounter one:



Notice that the Statcounter version is actually a Google Map! However, Google is for some reason incapable of allowing us to use the very functionality that they created! Statcounter's version is a Google map, and therefore has most of the functionality of the Google map service. The Google Analytics version, however, is useless by comparison, as it has none of this functionality. There's no zooming in, no satellite photos, and no click-and-drag of the map. What is this?!

This is all said with a certain amount of surprise, given Google's apparent commitment to innovation and excellence. I would bet that a Google map feature will be available sometime in the near future within the Analytics service. It's probably just a matter of time. Such an addition would greatly improve any already useful analytics service.

Matt Cutts: Gadgets, Google, and SEO » Tip of the hat, wag of the finger

Matt Cutts: Gadgets, Google, and SEO » Tip of the hat, wag of the finger

I apologize for the recent silence. I have been up to my ears in spreadsheets, databases, and VBA. For now, this is a link to what I'm reading during a brief break.

More soon.

The Death of SEO?

A very interesting article by Mike Grehan over at ClickZ:
SEO Is Dead. Long Live, er, the Other SEO

Mike waxes for a while in this one about the "death" of SEO, or, more specifically, the death of SEO as we know it. Perhaps this "death" will also be a way for SEO to catch up with the technology of the current day. Mike points to Ask.com several times in this article, saying that their 3-column approach has basically turned the SERP into a virtual portal on the information searched for. He's right, and he may also be right about this being the future of SERPs.

If it is, then we may see Google follow suit and ditch the adwords column on its SERP in favor of a 3rd column displaying more universal search (US) results. However, since Google rarely seems to follow trends that it didn't start in this industry, I wouldn't hold my breath. It's just possible, that's all I'm saying.

One question to ask is, if Google and other SEs did go to the 3-column SERP, what would be the future of adwords-type advertising? Where will it go on the page? If you view this Ask.com SERP, you can see only one sponsored link, for Target.com, who obviously paid a lot of money to get their link right in the center of the page. If you actually go to page 2 and following, it's at the top of each page.

I've actually thought that Google's layout for US SERPs was lacking something, and now that I've taken a decent look at the Ask.com SERPs, I think the 3-column approach is where they should go if they want to improve it. I look at this SERP from Google, and I have to say that Ask has the upper hand. I see a lot of white space - that could be used just to drive revenue (adwords), if not for US results. The US results are there, but it's at the expense of traditional results, which I don't think is the answer.

The Google Privacy Debate Rages On

Relevant articles:

Dave Naylor a UK SEO » DaveN » Google and Privacy
Google Blog: How Long Should Google Remember Searches?
Int'l Herald-Tribune: The Face Behind AOL User 4417749

I could go on posting links, but I'm not a link farm, and I only have so much time. OK. Enough with the silly business here. Google is coming under some serious fire these days, and I don't believe that they are worthy of such scrutiny. In light of the IHT article especially, they've shown themselves to be up to the task that has tripped up other big players - namely AOL. At this point, internet use, though so common, is still a choice. Use of Google's services is a further choice beyond the choice to use the internet.

I think it is like driving a car. The standard that people are setting up for Google and other ISPs is like trying to make car manufacturers prevent all accidents on the road. Obviously, in the case of cars, different people out there are going to misuse their Ford Mustang, play chicken, customize it too much, make mistakes while driving, and unintentionally make themselves vulnerable to wrecks. There are others out there who are going to take their F-350 and ram it into a Walgreen's store, hook it up to the ATM inside, and drive off with the ATM in tow. The laws of the land don't hold car manufacturers accountable for wrecks that are the result of misuse. However, they do hold the manufacturer liable for things that result from blatant mistakes in construction of the cars. This is when a recall is issued.

Basically, I'm trying to say that the reporters out there are holding Google to a standard that is too high. Google is not a bank, and while they have an obligation not to make mistakes that would compromise the privacy of millions of users, they have definitely, in my opinion, shown themselves to be up to the task.

Even the Little Guys Can Influence The World of SEO

Google Updates Analytics

I just wanted to point out, as I've seen everyone else already do, that Google has again updated Analytics, this time adding a feature that I called for on this blog several weeks ago: quicker reporting.

I think this is an indicator that anyone can have an effect on those big giants of the internet game - even little guys like me, trying things out and then blogging about what they like and don't like. Honestly, though, this is probably the result of hundreds of hours of review and development on Google's side, since they seem to be just as perfectionistic (is that a word?) as the rest of us. This is a great improvement.

The other great improvements in this new edition of Google Analytics are clickable URLs and the ability to cross-segment reports by network location. This adds a lot of functionality to the already redesigned interface, making it even better than before.

However, some questions have been raised about the entire Analytics service, and why in the world it has been offered for free. I will be blogging about this very interesting caveat soon.

Web 3.0

A humorous but surprisingly insightful post at the O'Rielly Radar

http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2007/03/the_future_of_w_1.html

Over 100 visits

This blog is in the middle of its fourth full week of existence, and I'm proud to say that I've now received over 100 visits. The number must remain approximate because of the nature of web statistics, and also because I missed about a week of data around Memorial Day. I made changes which deleted my tracking code right before leaving town for 4 days (silly me). To all of you out there who check this blog from time to time, I extend my thanks.

BTW, be sure to check out the link to ConverStations on the blogroll. Mike Sansone is completely right about the importance of frequent posting in the blogging world. I made no posts yesterday, and consequently received no visitors. However, today I received 2 visitors within 30 minutes of making a post about Ask.com.

Thanks again to all you out there who read this blog. The blog is only a month old, and its growth has been pleasing to see. Feel free to comment, if you have any ideas about things I ought to pay attention to in my posts. Take care.

Ask.com: The better marketer

Take a look:

ClickZ News - Yahoo Shows Off Panama
PC World - Yahoo Opens Access to Panama
SEW Blog - Ask.com: The Other Search Engine

Does anyone see a dichotomy here? What we have is a whole bunch of people that want to throw Google off of their thrown. We've got different news stories, all asking the question, "Is this going to be the thing that enables [Insert Company Name] to catch up with Google?"

However, the story about Ask.com is very interesting, because it shows a company that seems to be openly embracing its standing in the marketplace, behind Google and the other search engines out there. They're not content with their standing, but in order to move up in the world of search, they are openly acknowledging that they are not number one, or even number two for that matter. Perhaps this line of thinking will help them better identify with the majority of users out there, who also designated Google as the SE to beat. Ask.com seems to further feed this line of thinking by advertising on YouTube, a Google-owned property.

Yahoo, on the other hand, like Microsoft, is continuing with the more traditional approach of pointing people to itself as the best search engine out there. Of course - why wouldn't they want people to think they are the best? The problem with that is, most people don't. They've got a larger network, perhaps more tools, and a different ad platform now, but everyone still says Google is better. That perception doesn't seem to be changing soon, either.

This is all to say that, while Yahoo and Microsoft seem to be taking the old, traditional approach to marketing themselves, it doesn't seem to be working, and Ask.com's approach seems to be more in line with the users out there.

Purpose of Bread Crumbs

This post is basically a "c'mon, people!" post.

Above we have a screenshot of Dell's page for purchasing Limited Warranty and Service Extensions - a page that you would think Dell wants to be highly accessible for Dell computer users. Today I was there, trying to find the page where I could purchase a warranty extension for our company's server.

After about 20 minutes of fruitless clicking around the Dell website, it was only by going to Google's incredibly useful Web History feature that I was able to finally find the pages I was looking for. I ran a search in my history for [Dell warranty], and was able to find the path I had followed last week.

However, after looking at the Dell page I found, I thought, "no wonder!" Look at the bread crumbs:

You are here: USA > Small Business

I could have been anywhere in the Dell Small Business portal!

Dell is using a common device known as "bread crumbs" to help users navigate through the site. But here is the problem: BREAD CRUMBS ARE USEFUL ONLY IF THEY ACTUALLY HELP SOMEONE FIND OUT WHERE THEY ARE IN THE SITE!

You students of web usability out there may be able to give an even better solution than this, but here's my suggestion for an alternative bread crumb system:

You are here: Small Business Services > Service & Warranties > Warranty Extensions

Some other thoughts on bread crumbs, with Dell specifically in mind...

• The presence of "USA" in the bread crumb trail is of absolutely zero use to me as an American user. I'm betting that the case would be the same for a UK user viewing the UK Dell website. Perhaps the webpages could display the American flag elsewhere, with some statement like, "This is the Dell USA website. Click here for another country." Imagine that for usability.
• I understand the presence of the "Small Business" designation, but as it is currently, this is also of zero use to me, as a small business user. More descriptive classifications would greatly help the usability of the website. For example, is there a need for separation of "small business products" from "small business services"?
• Besides the issue of bread crumbs, there is the issue of making the account homepage more useful. Granted, there is probably some way in which my company could have used the Dell website in the past that would have made it easier for me to find the computer in question and purchase the needed services. But it is also likely that doing so was not obviously useful enough to go through the necessary steps. It's got to be obvious for us! Dell, you've got the time and the people - give us a website devoted to current accounts. Make it all-inclusive for us, like a bank website, so that it's obviously the place where we view ALL of our past Dell purchases, make new purchases, and manage our warranties. Dell ought to be able to use computers just as well as banks can.
  

Those are my thoughts. If Dell disagrees, well, then... they're wrong.

The Value of PageRank

Paul Barrett's post at Apple Pie & Custard about Google PageRank:
http://www.sitevisibility.co.uk/2006/10/google-page-rank-update.html

It's early, so I figured I'd comment on this article, since it's short and to the point, and commenting on it would not take too long. PageRank is something that has baffled me for a while, as another one of those things in the field of SEO that is good to have, but is not exactly essential to good visibility. The crazy thing is, we know that it is part of the mix somehow, but we don't really know exactly how - it just another one of those weird puzzle pieces to SEO. We know it fits, but we don't always know just where. For example, the Google blogger page that I'm using to write this post has a PageRank of 7, but each page in my website at work a PageRank of 3, even though the site hundreds of pages of content, all interlinked, with several inbound links from outside sources. We've never been able to raise the PageRank, even though I've been able to increase in SERPs considerably over the past year.

So, I guess I'm just saying that I wish there was an A+B=C equation in this business for something, mostly so that I could go show my boss something that is certain, and he could say, "well, I'm glad you found that out..," or something like that.

That's my ramble for the morning. Enjoy.