The search landscape is changing so fast that half of what we knew a year ago about se optimization and marketing is now obsolete, reports Greg Jarboe in his SEO-PR Newsblog. Jarboe is just 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 news search has only come about within the last few few years. Based on Nielsen/Net ratings, in June 2004 CNN.com was still the #1 online news source with Yahoo not too much behind. By January 2005 Yahoo rose to #1 with 23 million readers monthly and by June 2005 they were pulling out in front with 29 million readers monthly, dominating the web news ratings.
News search is playing a larger and bigger role in online marketing. Google features a news search section, as does AOL, MSN and Alta Vista. Sites like Topix are drawing viewers looking for great local trend press news. Recent studies reveal that 77 percent of Internet users get their news online and it's the top selection for news in the 18 - 54 year old age group. People go online and search the news engines by topic and keyword. The LA Times reported on the trend, saying that veteran journalists are looking to the PR field for work, given that so many readers are reading their news online.
When there is a relevant and timely article in Google News, Google will last up that news item in the Google 'One-Box' above the #1 position when you do a web search on a keyword or phrase. Yahoo News now indexes blog posts in response to the clear trend that early adopters look to blogs for news. Having your message out in the news search has emerged as an essential part of one's se optimization and marketing strategy.
Optimizing press releases and news articles is no more a 'nice-to-do one day' idea or 'something we should try.' It's a proven strategy you need to be implementing right now. Put these articles into an RSS feed and you'll start showing up in the absolute most unexpected places!
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