Search engine marketing and search engine optimisation (SEO) have created abundant conferences and events to attend (Search Engine Strategies and Search Marketing Expo are just two examples).
There is no shortage of presentations and workshops in which participants can hear about the latest changes and strategies for improving their clients' exposure and placement on search engine result pages (SERPs). SEO practitioners can then use the information to advise their clients on website creation.
What sort of information are we talking about? Attendees at such events might hear about a change at Google, which is now blending image, video, and news results into its general search engine results.
Google has also added a feature to keep searchers on its site longer and potentially increase exposure to its ads. If you run a search to locate popular sites such as Wikipedia or Financial Times, a search option appears that allows you to run a keyword search of those sites from the Google results screen.
The two main search engines are also encouraging users to sign up to services that keep track of searches conducted and sites visited if clicked on from search results. These types of services fall under the title of'personalised search'.
Yahoo has My Yahoo while Google offers a 'web history' option if you log in via the login link in the top right-hand corner of its search page.
Google also offers iGoogle, which allows users to create their own Google homepage that includes links to services including bookmarks and RSS feeds.
Another direction search functions are heading in is social search, which is set to make use of user-generated content to influence search engine results.
CPA Australia members are encouraged to contact the knowledge networks team with their experiences of Web 2.0.
If you are maintaining a blog, or a MySpace or FaceBook page, have uploaded items to YouTube, have written or contributed to wiki pages, or are using any other web services, we would like to hear from you. Email: knowledge@cpaaustralia.com.au
Further information
Reference: June 2008, volume 78:05, p. 18
