Hi All,

Welcome to the second part of our three-segment series on Google updates and the effect on Affiliate marketing.

In Part II we will be taking a brief look at Google Caffeine.

Caffeine is the name of Google’s latest algorithm updates and, like all things Google, Caffeine is somewhat of an unknown quantity. Until it has been fully launched the affiliate world will be waiting with baited breath to fully comprehend the changes…however, td Search has made the following observations:

Google Caffeine is, like Real-Time Search, aimed at giving users the best possible experience in terms of relevance. This makes all of the age-old truths of SEO even more important. For example, if you are currently appearing in third position in the natural results, however, you are not utilising any social media tools or uploading any fresh content, then you are running the gauntlet of the Google ‘slap’ and risk being dislodged by a competitor that is following basic, but necessary, SEO practices:

• Present original content
• Ensure you have clean meta-tags and optimised titles for your landing pages
• Do not over load your site with content that will slow the load time
• Add quality in-bound links
• Minimise the duplication of content
• Utilise social & and rich media to enhance your site’s brand presence
• Timely maintenance of broken links

What we are seeing from Caffeine (in the affiliate sense) is a demand from Google to significantly improve the quality and relevance of the sites we, as an industry, build. So, does this mean affiliate sites will get knocked out of the park by the changes Caffeine will bring on?

Not necessarily.

Most affiliates cannot sell effectively without an understanding of the products and brand they is are selling. This is where affiliates have always, and will always, excel. By building deep, content-based sites using the knowledge affiliates have on what sells for a merchant (displayed on a page that adds true value to the merchant’s proposition) and educates the user’s purchase decision, we can work to ensure affiliate sites are sufficiently ranked over and beyond the algorithm change.

Speak to your TradeDoubler account managers and ensure you are receiving as much product information as possible on the affiliate programmes you are promoting. Make sure you are signed up to the newsletters and are aware of all the latest news regarding the merchant with a view to creating unique content that will aid the user’s buying cycle.

Part III: Google Personalised Search will be posted on the 4th January.

Sanjit Atwal

Publisher Development Manager | TradeDoubler UK |

Twitter.com/TradeDoubler_UK |

Sanjit.Atwal@TradeDoubler.com | Twitter.com/SanjitAtwal |

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This post forms part two of a three-part series of blog posts on Google changes. Please also see:

Part I :  Google Introduces Real-Time Search

The affiliate reaction to all three Google updates can be summarised in one sentence: Make every attempt to add value to the users original search whilst balancing the need to monetise your inventory.

For a more in-depth discussion on how our SEO team can help you over the coming months, please email Sales.UK@TradeDoubler.com.

Happy New Year from all at td Affiliate and td Search!

Hi All,

As I’m sure you are aware Google has been hard at work to improve their indexing of sites and is rolling out three key changes to the engine over December and early January. As the overwhelming market leader in UK search engine traffic this will, of course, have an impact on the affiliate space.

In response, the TradeDoubler Affiliate and Search teams have joined forces to bring you the following series of blog posts documenting the changes and subsequent knock-on effects the affiliate industry can expect from a publisher point of view.

Part I: Google introduces real-time search

Part II: Google Caffeine

Part III: Google personalised search

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Part I: Google introduces Real-Time Search….How to get a grip on SEO and social media

Twitter, MySpace and Facebook status updates….for years social media has been at the forefront of pioneering the application of ‘micro-blogging’. This (alongside significantly increased uptake of Instant Messenger/Microsoft Communicator-like tools) has led to users becoming addicted to instant communication. Twitter is obviously a great example of this. Forecasted to have over 18 million users by the end of 2009, Twitter has proven that short, sharp, lightspeed like updates are the way of the future.

Twitter will have one massive asset in 2010 and that is size. These days it’s getting increasingly more difficult to go to your favourite sites without seeing a small blue bird asking you to follow it. This trend of ‘eOrnotholgy’ will continue and a by-product of its tremendous size is a vast reservoir of (constantly updated) content. From AA Gill tweeting about shooting a baboon to Stephen Fry tweeting about, well….everything, Twitter (and Twitter-like applications) will become a major source of new content.

This hasn’t gone unnoticed by the powers that be at Google…

Google has already begun the process importing real-time updates from blogs, news feeds and services such as Twitter. For example, if I were to search for my own name in Google we can see inclusion from my tweets mixed within the organic results (see below for example).

Real-time search will go further than this to give the user live data and information from a variety of sources. Considering the above points on the amount of content diversity, it could provide massive enhancements to the user’s experience. We can see the new placements appear below the top ranked natural results as a new content box (example below) that complement the rest of the natural results.

So what does this mean for affiliates?

Well, apart from being able to read my opinion on next season’s Formula One line-up, potentially a problem… If you are used to appearing positions 4-10 on the first page of results then the real-time search content box may push your site far below the fold.

In the below example you can see that is exactly what has happened to the QI website, which has been pushed to the bottom of the page below the real-time search box:

Continued SEO optimisation is certainly recommended to rank highly – however, these new changes also present an opportunity to contribute to Google’s real-time results. By using social tools such as news feeds and Twitter alongside fresh content, you can potentially appear in the real-time results as an authoritative part of Google’s user experience.

If you have a site selling laptops, then ensure that you are not only uploading the latest Dell Netbook but also securing news and reviews from your users. This will improve your relevancy to the Google user’s original search for ‘Dell Netbooks’. This method also has the added benefit of increasing your likelihood to convert your traffic as users are actively seeking information to aid their purchase decisions.

Part II:   Google Caffeine & Affiliates will be posted on the 31st December.

Sanjit Atwal

Publisher Development Manager | TradeDoubler UK |

Twitter.com/TradeDoubler_UK |

Sanjit.Atwal@TradeDoubler.com | Twitter.com/SanjitAtwal |

————————————————————————

This post forms part one of a three-part series of blog posts on the Effect of Google Updates on Affiliate Marketing. Coming soon are:

Part II:   Google Caffeine

Part III:  Google personalised search

The affiliate reaction to all three Google updates can be summarised in one sentence: Make every attempt to add value to the users original search whilst balancing the need to monetise your inventory.

For a more in-depth discussion on how our SEO team can help you over the coming months, please email Sales.UK@TradeDoubler.com.

Happy New Year from all at td Affiliate and td Search!