The search landscape is changing so fast that 1 / 2 of what we knew a year ago about search engine optimization and marketing has become obsolete, reports Greg Jarboe in his SEO-PR Newsblog. Jarboe is really a regular presenter at the Search Engine Strategies (SES) conference and web search versus vertical search (in search areas like news) was one of the new search trends featured at the San Jose SES.
The growth of the headlines search has only come about within the last few years. Based on Nielsen/Net ratings, in June 2004 CNN.com was still the #1 online news source with Yahoo not too far behind. By January 2005 Yahoo rose to #1 with 23 million readers monthly and by June 2005 these were taking out in-front with 29 million readers monthly, dominating the online news ratings.
News search is playing a more impressive and bigger role in online marketing. Google includes a news search section, as does AOL, MSN and Alta Vista. Sites like Topix are drawing viewers trying to find great local trend press news. Recent studies show that 77 percent of Internet users obtain news online and it's the top choice for news in the 18 - 54 year later years group. People go online and search the headlines engines by topic and keyword. The LA Times reported on the trend, saying that veteran journalists are looking to the PR field for work, now that so many readers are reading their news online.
If you find a relevant and timely article in Google News, Google will serve you up that news item in the Google 'One-Box' above the #1 position once you do a web search on a keyword or phrase. Yahoo News now indexes blog posts in reaction to the clear trend that early adopters look to blogs for news. Having your message out in the headlines search has emerged being an essential part of one's search engine optimization and marketing strategy.
Optimizing press releases and news articles is no more a 'nice-to-do one day' idea or 'something we must try.' It's a proven strategy you ought to be implementing right now. Put these articles into an RSS feed and you'll start to show up in the most unexpected places!
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