The Objective Blog

Keep up with what we're thinking, reading, and doing.

Google Analytics Improvements

December 13th, 2007 - by Brett Derricott - Salt Lake City, Utah

Mashable! reports that Google Analytics has added a much-needed comparison feature. Comparing analytics data from two different date ranges can be very helpful.

From the Mashable! article:

So far the new feature does include the ability to compare several data points for your own site, including page views, unique page views, time spent on the page, bounce rate, % exit, and $ index.

Read more at Mashable!

Google Buys FeedBurner, Enters RSS Ad Space

May 23rd, 2007 - by Brett Derricott - Salt Lake City, Utah

Michael Arrington at TechCrunch is reporting that the rumored Google/FeedBurner deal is now confirmed.

FeedBurner is immensely popular among bloggers and Google is wise to add this great service to its portfolio of products. With FeedBurner in the bag, Google now has an instant outlet for advertising in RSS feeds.

Google to Buy FeedBurner?

May 18th, 2007 - by Brett Derricott - Salt Lake City, Utah

It’s only a rumor at this point but it’s being reported that Google is buying FeedBurner.

FeedBurner is a great service for bloggers and others who create content they want delivered via RSS feeds. FeedBurner manages the subscriptions for the RSS feed and provides a lot of valuable statistics about feed readership, etc.

FeedBurner also allows advertisers to insert ads into RSS feeds, which explains Google’s alleged intent to acquire them. Getting ads into feeds is critical because many subscribers to a feed may not actually visit the website but read the articles via a feed reader like Google Reader instead.

It is, at this point, just a rumor however. We’ll see if it plays out.

New Terminology: Link Baiting

April 25th, 2007 - by Brett Derricott - Salt Lake City, Utah

Technology is always on the move and the resulting flurry of acronyms and phrases can be a little bit daunting, especially for those who don’t spend all day buried in it!

Link Baiting, a phrase worth knowing, is mentioned increasingly in SEO conversations around the Web. Essentially, link baiting is the process of creating content which compels others to create a link to it. Because the quality and quantity of inbound links has such a potent effect on search engine rankings, tactics which increase inbound links are at the forefront of SEO. Link baiting is a strategic approach that pays long run dividends.

The great thing about link baiting is that it’s a tactic built on sound principles and not an underhanded attempt at gaming the search engines. If I want to convince others to create links to AgencyByte.com I need to figure out what type of article would compel them to want to do so. If your client wants more inbound links, help them create content that others want to link to.

For more on link baiting, take a look at the following link:

Wikipedia: Link Bait

Updates to Sitemaps.org

April 12th, 2007 - by Brett Derricott - Salt Lake City, Utah

Most of you know I’m a fan of the sitemaps.org project. I love that the major search engines (Google, Yahoo, MSN, and now Ask) are all collaborating on supporting this standard.

Google just announced that there have been some important updates to the project. Most notable to me is the fact that they’ve added another method of notifying the search engines of your sitemap XML file’s location.

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