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: : : SEMLogic™ Research Series

Study Overview, Part II, Part III

 

Part I

 

Keyphrase Analyzed: "laptop"

 

Search Engines Analyzed: Google™, Yahoo™, MSN™

 

Sample Size: Top 100 search results

 

Date Analyzed: June 30th

 

 

Executive Summary SEMLogic Findings

As part of our study to examine the differences in the competitive landscapes among the top three search engines, Fortune Interactive is using its proprietary SEMLogic technology to analyze competitive keyphrases and outline its findings. Here is what we've discovered for the keyphrase "laptop" and various on-page and off-page factors that influence success across Google™, Yahoo™, and MSN™. Keep in mind that these are keyphrase-specific findings. The various factors are listed according to the degree of relative influence in Google™ for the keyphrase. (Wherever you see verbiage like "a search engine is said to assign importance to" a particular factor, it should be understood to mean "the keyphrase-specific competitive landscape exhibits that level of importance for" the factor.)

(The aim here is studying the competitive landscape not reverse engineering algorithms. The latter is not only impossible but it is not necessary for the task at hand, nor would it be sufficient.)

In-Bound Link (IBL) Quality . This is a measurement of key elements on the page containing an in-bound link which, in combination, influence the link reputation for the target of the link. This is the only factor that had the same level of relative influence across the search engines and happened to be the most influential in all cases.

In-Bound Link Relevance . This is a proprietary measurement of the topic/keyphrase relevancy of the content on the page containing the in-bound link. Yahoo™ and MSN™ place the same level of importance on this factor but not as much as Google™.

* In-Bound Link Title Keyword Density . All three search engines differ on the level of importance placed on this factor. Google™ assigns more importance than the others, followed by MSN™ and then Yahoo™.

* In-Bound Link Anchor Keyword Density . Google™ and Yahoo™ assign the same level of importance here. MSN™ places more importance here than the others, the second most important overall among its other factors.

In-Bound Link Quantity . Yahoo™ and MSN™ place equal importance on this factor, but still to a lesser degree than Google™ does. It is worth pointing out that not only is IBL Quality of most relative importance among off-page factors across the board, but IBL Quantity is of least relative importance among the off-page factors across the board.

Title Keyword Density . This is the most influential on-page factor for the competitive landscape in Google™ as well as in MSN™. Yahoo™ assigns the same overall relative degree of importance to it as MSN™.

* The score used here is not the raw value for the measurement, but rather a proprietary formula based in part on the raw values for the keyword density.

 

Ask us how SEMLogic can help your company dominate the search results. Using SEMLogic we can understand the important optimization factors for each of your keywords. Forget hunches and guesswork, it's time for the Future of Search Marketing.

Analysis of Competitive Landscape Differences Between the Top 3 Search Engines

A clear picture is developing that reveals how much the relative importance of various on-page and off-page factors can differ for the same keyphrase across search engines. (It is important to point out that these are not the only factors SEMLogic analyzes, but these are sufficient to demonstrate the point.)

The table below illustrates the relative degree of influence for various factors across the search engines. (Blank cells are inserted to visually convey the degrees of difference both between factors and across search engines.)

We not only know the order of importance but also the degree of relative importance for on-page and off-page factors in a competitive landscape. The graph and table below relay information about the landscape for Google™. You can see for example, how the factor with ID #13 (IBL Quality) has substantially more influence than ID #14 (IBL Relevance).

The table below shows numerically some of the information from the graph above. We can see that IBL Quality is 42 times more important than IBL Quantity. It is roughly 3 ½ times more important than IBL Relevance.

This is very useful actionable intelligence when you're trying to streamline and focus the efforts of your search engine optimization strategy. When deciding which factors to work on, you can know not only what is going to make a difference but also how much difference it will make.

Cross-Engine Optimization: The Coveted Trifecta

Another interesting and well known phenomenon is how a page can do well in one search engine but not in the others. Trying to gain high visibility across multiple search engines in multiple competitive landscapes can be a considerable challenge. In the table below, we have examined some pages that are in the Top 10 in Google™ which are also found in at least the Top 20 in either Yahoo™ or MSN™.

In each case, the pages which have achieved this coveted trifecta (or at least 2 out of 3) have strong values in at least the two most important influential factors for each search engine respectively even if they have weaker values in other areas. A strong value is a score for a particular factor that falls within the statistically optimal range for its competitive landscape.

Therefore, if you understand what the relative importance is of on-page and off-page factors by search engine and by keyphrase, you can target the two most important factors for each and achieve the coveted trifecta for a page.

Summary of "Laptop" Analysis

Many will develop a marketing campaign for natural search utilizing only general guidelines. These guidelines often contain a list of important on-page and off-page factors in some order of importance for various search engines. That order is typically assumed to hold true for a search engine in all cases.

These guidelines also will contain information regarding optimal ranges of values for each factor in a search engine. Those ranges are also typically assumed to hold true for a search engine in all cases.

Our research has shown that such an approach is much too general and is based on faulty assumptions. This is not just a difference between using rules of thumb versus more detailed research. This is an issue of a common approach to natural search being based on false premises. The data argues against those premises because of the following:

• The weight or relative importance of on-page and off-page factors varies in natural search not only across search engines, but across industries, and even from keyphrase to keyphrase.

• The range of optimal values for a factor varies across search engines and the optimal values for a factor will vary even down to the keyphrase level.

For the keyphrase "laptop", we have seen the following:

• IBL Quality is the most important factor across the board.

• IBL Quantity is of least importance relatively among the off-page factors across the board.

• Achieving the coveted trifecta of ranking well across the search engines requires strong values in the two most important influential factors for each search engine.

Ask us how SEMLogic can help your company dominate the search results. Using SEMLogic we can understand the important optimization factors for each of your keywords. Forget hunches and guesswork, it's time for the Future of Search Marketing.

: :  About the Study

This study was conducted using Fortune Interactive's SEMLogic technology and was led by Michael Marshall, co-founder and vice president of technology. Any questions relating to the details of this study can be directed to Cindy Akus at cakus@fortuneinteractive.com.