Latent semantic analysis

I heard an interesting term today that applied to the evolution of search engine technology called latent semantic analysis. The application of latent semantic analysis applies groupings of terms or variables to a concept, rather than a more traditional one-on-one relationship.

Although the technology has its flaws, it appears to be the next wave in the evolution of search engine technology. No longer will the Googles and Yahoo!s of the world be dependant on keyword density or incoming link anchor text, but rather on the concepts and information of your website and those of websites that point to yours.

Ultimately, this is just one more argument against trying to game search engines for higher rankings. Those wishing to sustain their websites over the long hall should focus on providing quality, useful material for their audience in a way that is easy to understand.

For more information on latent semantic analysis (LSA) here are some good resources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latent_Semantic_Indexing
http://lsa.colorado.edu/
http://lsa.colorado.edu/papers/dp1.LSAintro.pdf

Online Business Starter Kit

Here are some resources for businesses looking to build an identity quickly and get on the road making money. I’ve used all of these resources at one time or other:

Boxedart.com – A great resource for graphics from logos to corporate identity kits. They’re a great way to get a low cost logo for a website, business card or company. I used them for the logo on HowToAdvertise.net

HostGator – My preferred webhost provider.

Danifer Web Services – For website design and online marketing. They helped build this website and also run my mailing list.

Text Link Ads – Get $100 in in text link ads to quickly build credibility for your site.

Alertra – For webserver and device monitoring.

Words that Have TLD (Top Level Domain) Endings

Here’s a fun little tool from HowToAdvertise.net to help you choose your next domain name. the website del.icio.us has sparked the trend of using the trailing two or three letters of a domain name (the .com, .net, .org, etc.) also known as the top level domain to form a whole word.

If you’re looking for a word you can use in a similar way, our tool lets you search for words that end in the the TLD of your choice along with a more general search to limit the number of results.

Try out the top level domain tool or take a look at a couple of sample searches:

Your customized keyword proposal from Google AdWords

I received the email below from Google AdWords for an unprompted tuneup of some of my advertising campaigns from adwords-optimization@google.com. I’m opted-in to receive notifications and updates from the Google AdWords team, so I’m fine that they emailed me some suggestions. When I went to approve/disapprove their suggestions, however, I was surprised at the overall lack of quality.

The AdWords campaigns they had chosen to review were for two of my new sites – Croptastic! and ImportAssist.com. Both of the campaigns are built around broad match keywords that appeal to would be bloggers and have a general tie-in to the site’s over all theme – scrapbooking blogs for Croptastic! and international trade blogs for ImportAssist.com.

The suggestions I received included the addition of a large number of keywords – 90% of which had little to do with my marketing strategy. The keywords that Google chose for me did not meet this criteria. Most were broad match search terms related to blogging, and almost all involved an increase in my cost per click. Once I logged in, I also noticed that there was no easy way to pick and choose portions of the proposal that I would like to implement.

If you get this email from Google, exercise caution. We’re seeing more and more of this type of thing and it’s becoming apparent that Google’s marketing efforts are focused first on increasing their own revenue stream and second on improving their customer’s product experience.

Here’s a copy of the email:

From: adwords-optimization@google.com
Date: Thursday, October 19, 2006 10:14 AM
Subject: Your customized keyword proposal from Google AdWords

Hello,

Google AdWords is committed to helping you create and maintain
effective advertising campaigns within your budget. We noticed that at
least one of your campaigns has the potential to receive even more
targeted traffic, so we’ve looked at your keywords and designed a
proposal to bring you an increase in clicks — without an increase in
your budget.

To view your proposal and accept or decline the changes, visit
https://adwords.google.com/select/campaignsummary.

This complimentary proposal includes:

– 132 new keywords to target your ads more effectively to users
– 34 cost-per-click (CPC) adjustments to maximize your ad exposure

If you have any questions, please reply to this email. We look forward
to providing you with the most effective advertising available.

Sincerely,

The Google AdWords Team

Your AdWords account number: xxx-xxx-xxxx

——————————

Our keyword and ad text suggestions are designed to help you improve
the performance of your Google AdWords campaign. You should always
check that the form and content of your advertisements meet the legal
and compliance requirements that are applicable to your campaign as
these are not assessed by Google as part of our suggestion process.

——————————

Unsubscribe: The AdWords Optimization Team sends complimentary
optimization offers and suggestions to selected AdWords customers who
have been identified as strong optimization candidates. If you wish to
unsubscribe from this mailing, please follow the steps below:

1. Visit
https://adwords.google.com/select/EditCommunicationsPreferences.
2. Log in to your AdWords account.
3. Uncheck the box titled ‘Account Performance Suggestions.’
4. Click ‘Save Changes.’

Google
1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Mountain View, CA 94043