The Highland Marketing Group
Google
 
Web thmg.com

Affiliate Revenue

Domain Names E Books Email Marketing Ezine Marketing

Ezine Publishing

Internet Marketing Marketing PPC Advertising SEO

Site Promotion

Traffic Building Web Design Web Development Web Hosting

Microsofts New Search Engine


I tried out Microsoft's new search engine (beta version) the other day. They have been working on it quite secretly now for almost a year. It has been rumored to be a Google killer once in full public release. They say its accuracy and ability to return relevant results will far surpass any other search engine on the Internet. That remains to be seen. I tried various combinations of single, double, and triple word/phrased searches to inspect the results.

To the casual observer I suppose a certain percentage of the results would seem to be accurate, but upon closer inspection and with a trained eye, the results for the most part ranged from poor to outright terrible.

I then attempted a series of searches on the same combination of words. "custom designed screen printed t-shirts" I was attempting to determine how much the results and rankings changed (or did not change) within the same set of query words. I searched with a variety of spellings on a particular keyword In this case, I selected the word "T shirts" then t-shirts (with a dash) and finally "tshirts" (no dash, all one word)

One web site had very consistent results across all three spelling methods. This intrigued me so I clicked on the link to analyze the site. i.e. Why was this one so well optimized or more specifically why did this new Microsoft beta search engine find this web site so tasty.

The site was completely broken. None of the graphics loaded properly. (in Internet Explorer) It was devoid of any contextual content on the home page and scarcely little throughout the rest of the pages. Some scrolling Java script overlapped the button for a drop down menu. No outside links. Nothing. Excuse the pun but this was not a pretty site. How then could Microsoft possibly rank this site one, two and three for completely different keyword phrasings and spellings on a soon to be major release for a search engine?

The answer revealed itself as soon as I took a look at the web site's HTML source code.

Guess what folks, meta tags are back! At least as far as the Beta version of Microsoft's new search engine is concerned, especially the keyword Meta Tag. Above all, this tag seemed to account for the heaviest weight in determining the aforementioned rankings. I will err on the side of caution here and assume that Microsoft has not finalized all their algorithm parameters yet, but the keyword tag was definitely what their spider had been eating.

The problem However, (beside the horrible site) was that this particular keyword tag, by all SEO standards, was an abomination! Nearly every rule and guideline we've come to know and love ALL thrown out the window! It looked like a tag from 1995. Multiple repetition. Too many characters, way too many words, broken lines, poorly weighted keywords, bad spacing, and completely useless keywords. What's a "rinsger" anyway?

Have a look for yourself. Here it is. (Without formatting changes)

KEYWORDS CONTENT="tshirts, tees, tee shirts, tee-shirts, printed t-shirts, blank t-shirts, eshirts, ishirts, short sleeves, sweatshirts, long sleeve, v-necks, tank tops, jerseys, screenprintings, screen-printings, custom t-shirts, custom designs, custom printing, custom embroidery, michigan, fraternitys, sororitys, sportswear, artwork, typesetting, imprints, engraves, emboss, stamps, pocket tís, ts, rinsger tiís, ringers, ladieís tís, designs, designing, apparel, clothing, clothes, screens, printers, silkscree embroidery, embroidered, customs, fraternities, sororities, golf, towels, logos, promotional, fundraisers, personalized, company, tailgates, formals, footballs, blocks, carnivals, circus, pledges, bid, day, rush, halloween, christmas, easter, thanksgiving, halloween t-shirts, christmas t-shirts, easter t-shirts, thanksgiving t-shirts, floors, dormitory, churches, clubs, sports, sport teams, choirs, schools, businesses, fundraisers, intramural, hanes, jerseys, fruit of the looms, universities, michigan state university, MSU, msu, university of michigan, U of M, UofM, u of m, eastern michigan university, EMU, emu, western michigan university, WMU, wmu, central michigan university, CMU, cmu, colleges, universitys, universities, shrits, tshrits, t-shrits, desings, te-shirts, teshirts, sirts, shits, shitts, custums, screan"

Yup, pretty darn ugly, but the Microsoft Beta search engine seems to be eating it up. Granted this engine is still in beta version but let's review. Broken, useless site. Broken useless tags. Number one ranking! What's wrong with this picture?

Most search engine users will try a new search engine only a few times. When they do not get the search result accuracy and relevance they expect, they will soon dismiss it and move along. Beta version or no beta version, one thing is for certain. The Microsoft coders have plenty of additional work to do before releasing this search engine to the general public. Google coders, take the weekend off.

About The Author

Robert McCourty is a founding partner and the Marketing Director of Metamend Software and Design Ltd., a cutting edge search engine optimization (SEO) and web site promotion and marketing company. http://www.metamend.com/


MORE RESOURCES:

Earthtimes (press release)

Search Engine Optimization low cost marketing strategy
TMCnet - Nov 24, 2008
Well, know that writing a press release for search engine optimization is crucial for promotion of a business. With internet business, a great approach ...
SEO Inc. Accepts Request to Remain at UCSD International Business Times
SEO Inc. Accepts Request to Remain at UCSD MarketWatch
all 10 news articles


Search Engine Optimization Firm ArteWorks SEO Ranked #1 SEO Site ...
MarketWatch - Nov 18, 2008
The SEO company rankings published by TopSEOs is the trusted guide used by those seeking the best in the internet marketing and search engine optimization ...


Cheap SEO – Possible?
BigNews.biz (press release), MA - 7 hours ago
On the other side, due to more and more websites in each sector, there is an increasing cost of search engine optimization. That is to ensure that the ...


Sydney Morning Herald

Is Personalized Search Really Ending Search Engine Optimization?
Promotion World (press release), CA - Nov 25, 2008
Fear not my good web marketer, for search engine optimization is not dead, it’s simply being upgraded. The changes in Google’s personalized results have ...
Getting Search Engine Optimization Right Law.com
Can Google`s SearchWiki Help SMBs? eWeek
Google’s ‘SearchWiki’ Customizable Search Results Are Here eFluxMedia
PC Magazine - Wall Street Journal Blogs
all 372 news articles


Keyword Research for Search Engine Optimization
Search Engine Watch - Nov 25, 2008
By Mark Jackson, Search Engine Watch, Nov 25, 2008 There are so many factors that go into a successful SEO effort that many people don't know where to begin ...

Search-Engine-Optimization - Google News

Affiliate Revenue

Domain Names E Books Email Marketing Ezine Marketing

Ezine Publishing

Internet Marketing Marketing PPC Advertising SEO

Site Promotion

Traffic Building Web Design Web Development Web Hosting
Home | Site Map

| 1000 Free Places for Ads! | Free Classified Ads | Free-For-All AdsReciprocal Links | Search Engines |
| Award Sites | Webmaster Tools | Free Giveaways | Get Paid to Surf
| Free Business Classifieds | Auction Tips | Debt Consolidation Tips | Become a Notary Public |

Copyright © 2006-2007. The Highland Marketing Group. All Rights Reserved.