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The White Whale of Online Search - How to make it easier

by Jimmy Marks

I'm here today to confess something about the Internet. I've already admitted the Internet is eating me by taking up more of my non-work time and invading my world more and more each day. The thing that still throws me is the sheer size of the beast itself. 

According to a survey from April 2009, there are around 232 million websites online. Our websites - the home site for the company and both outsider blogs - make up about 500 pages. I gave up trying to find out how many exact web PAGES there are online, but the Wayback Machine holds the records of 160 billion pages. Our 500 out of 160 billion means we're occupying .00005 % of the Internet. Wow. That ain't much. And part of my job is trying to get our site(s) noticed at that size. *Gulp*.

Not to fear - I resolved when I started this job a year ago that I'd bring our search results up and drive our loss-rates down. Our overall traffic and bounce-rates have improved, but our results could always be better. Search engine optimization and higher search returns for everything within my domain (pun intended) have become my white whale. I have the means and the knowledge to make it work for me, it's just a matter of making smart changes in the way Google and other search engines find and account for my sites. I've vowed that, in the coming months, I'm going to slay this whale...or die trying.

Hit 'em where they live

Part of boosting your search traffic is knowing how Google looks at your pages. If you sign up for Google's webmaster tools, you can start verifying your site right away and finding out what Google sees when it peeks in on your day-to-day operation. Some big things to consider that Google can expose:

The Internet is Eating Me.

by Jimmy Marks

My mom got a free iPod Touch with her computer when she bought it about seven months back. She loves her MacBook, she's getting better with putting picture albums and email together. She's one of a growing number in her generation that's only getting more computer savvy as they age, and I'm quite proud of her. But the iPod Touch was just a bit much; if you've just grown used to CDs as your means of music, something with as much functionality as the Touch can be more frustrating than satisfying. 

(Brief sidebar: My mom, back when we had a cassette player in the car, bought the Bible as read by James Earl Jones. We listened to the book of Jeremiah four times, because the tape player flipped the tape automatically and mom kept flipping it manually. I love you, mom.)

So, long story short, we're switching iPods. She's getting my old 40 gig with some of her favorite albums on it. I'm just getting used to the Touch. Love it. Now, I can get email, Safari, maps, my calendar, YouTube, and I plan on downloading Twitterific for it so I can tweet on the go. 

And today, it hit me: the Internet is eating me.