If you are wanting to buy something, then fine, a list of shopping sites is very useful. If, on the other hand you want information,then they are not the answer to your search enquiry.

Yahoo! has just released a beta version of a tool that puts a new slant on the search engine theme. Called mindset (http://mindset.research.yahoo.com/), the idea is that you use a sliding scale to tell Yahoo! whether you are interested in shopping or information, or a combination of both. It is still in development and the results are not perfect but we think it has a great future.

MSN has also been working on a similar theme, we understand, so no doubt the other players will follow suit as quickly as they can.

You will have to wait for another snippet to see how this development will affect optimisation strategies!

WEB ANALYTICS - THE WAY OF THE FUTURE

Do you know what is working/not working with your web site?

Do you know if you're getting a return on investment from your
paid advertising?

Do you know how your visitors behave once they are on your site?

If you don't, we're ready to reveal all this and more at the
ClickTracks web analytics training event on 20th July at the Novotel
Hotel,Hammersmith.


Details of fees are available on our website at
http://www.searchengineworkshops.co.uk/click.htm

You can register here:

http://www.searchengineworkshops.co.uk/registration.htm

Don't delay! Space is very limited!

I came across a very interesting article earlier this week that highlighted the problems that websites encounter when a major change is imposed upon them. All too often, the manager responsible for implementing the new website is ignorant of, or simply ignores for whatever reason, the impact this will have on the visibility of the site.

The classic case is the introduction of a new CMS, (content management system). These wonderful things can have calamitous effects on traffic if the seo implications of the new structure are not taken into account.

Page names will inevitably change. Google will still continue to rank the old page, so that is where visitors will be sent. A well thought out redirection strategy is essential if all your natural search visitors are not to be confronted by a ‘page not found’ 404 error message – not a good user experience to use some jargon!

Even Pay per Click ads are not immune to the changes. All the landing pages for all your campaigns need to be changed, and that’s just for starters.

The moral is always to consult your SEO expert and to consider the SEO implications before you implement major (or even minor) changes to your website. It could end up saving a lot of money – and even your entire business.

I've been here and done this and unravelling the mess makes for both an unhappy website manager and SEO consultant!

For more on the Law of Unintended Consequence, go to
http://www.clickz.com/experts/search/opt/article.php/3507091
by P J Fusco.

We are already taking bookings for the ClickTracks web analytics
training event on 20th July at the Novotel Hotel, Hammersmith.

Details of fees are available on our website at
http://www.searchengineworkshops.co.uk/click.htm

Set yourself out from the rest and really get to understand what is
happening with your website and visitors by registering for one of
these training events at:

http://www.searchengineworkshops.co.uk/registration.htm

Don't delay! Space is very limited!

We were horrified to read recently that a survey carried out by SafeBuy,(we mentioned them recently, they run a web-based assurance scheme)indicated that over 60% of their members run PPC campaigns, but two thirds of this number do not track PPC costs against sales!

(Fuller details of the survey are available at http://www.searchengineworkshops.co.uk/articles.htm.)

What is even more frightening is that the survey group were spending something like £2000 per month on their PPC campaigns. That is an awful lot of money that at worst is not being monitored properly and at worst being totally wasted. If you don't monitor your PPC traffic, how can you be sure you are spending your money wisely?

The SafeBuy Editor's comment regarding the 66% of members that do not track their PPC costs against sales was 'blimey'! Enough said!

Search Engine Workshops is all too aware of the need to measure return on investment including measuring PPC costs against sales. So much so we have teamed up with ClickTracks, the Award winning web analytics software and are now presenting ClickTracks training events in London. The first will be on June 7th, when we are delighted that John Marshall, the CEO of ClickTracks, will be joining us. Can you afford to miss it?

Further dates and details of fees, the venue etc, are available at http://www.searchengineworkshops.co.uk/click.htm and follow the link to our registration page.