Google today announced the completion of its new index algorithm called Caffeine. According to Google “Caffeine provides 50 percent fresher results for web searches than our last index, and it’s the largest collection of web content we’ve offered. Whether it’s a news story, a blog or a forum post, you can now find links to relevant content much sooner after it is published than was possible ever before.”  Read more about this here: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/our-new-search-index-caffeine.html

Many speculate that Google created this new algorithm to compete with Twitter’s growing search share. Twitter delivers real time results for very current news, raising searcher’s expectations about the timeliness of results. Google also said they created the new algorithm in response to the growth of Internet content and different media like video, images, news and real-time updates. With this new media, the average webpage is much more complex. One Google blogger said, “Searchers want to find the latest relevant content and publishers expect to be found the instant they publish.”

Prior to Caffeine, Google indexed web pages every couple of weeks, analyzing the entire web before refreshing the index. The new Caffeine will analyze continuously update the index in small portions globally. As pages are found they will be immediately added to the index, no matter where it was published.

What this means to your website is that there may be a period of change in your rankings as Google results adjust to the new algorithm and also that the results you see when you search may not be the same as the results another person searching the same phrase will see at any given time. In addition, fresher content will probably be indexed above legacy pages in some cases, like when news is searched. Continue to make updates in blogs and social media, continue to add video and podcasts to your pages and video repositories on the web. You will be rewarded with better search rankings for your fresh content.

The Yahoo! Search engineering teams are rolling out updates to crawling, indexing, and ranking algorithms.  Similar to previous updates, you may notice some ranking changes and page shuffling during the process, which we expect to complete over the next few days

Yahoo! Announced last search update to its search index and ranking algorithms on 10th March, 2010.

I think that latest update may be the implementation of real time search results. Even I didn’t find much discussion about this latest Yahoo! search update on Webmaster Forums; however we may shortly expect some significant changes over there.

Welcome to the latest edition of the deals a few of our clients are currently highlighting on their websites. Please check them out! Perhaps you’ll find some hidden gems and save yourself some money. We are always happy to help out our clients with some additional advertising so if I missed your deal, then what are you waiting for? Please email me and I’ll put them into our next edition. We want to hear from you.

Check out these Deals:

KcupKoffee - The clear choice for Green Mountain K-Cup Coffee, Tea and Hot Cocoa. We offer the most competitive prices on the web on Green Mountain K-Cup coffee, only $10.50 for a box of 24 K-Cups. Plus we offer free shipping on orders over $50!!

CoffeeCakes - We offer ongoing specials celebrating our 15th Anniversary. You gotta try one of our cakes. Mother’s Day is right around the corner. We have an ever-expanding product line of specialty cakes, food and gourmet gift items.  

TheCPAPShop - We are the premiere source of quality and affordable sleep-aid products and services designed to make life easier for those suffering from sleep apnea. Check out our site for ongoing specials. We also offer free shipping on orders over $99 in the U.S. 

Clean-Flo - Spring Special…Buy any beneficial bacteria or enzyme product and get the second one for half price. SPRING HAS SPRUNG AND WEEDS AND ALGAE HAVE JUST BEGUN. Be prepared to rejuvenate your water body when the water temperature warms to 55 degrees f.

CJsHomeDecor - Select From A Wide Variety Of Hearth And Home Products. Shop online or visit our 3,000 square foot showroom with over 100 displays for your viewing pleasure, located on 21701 Route 6, in downtown Starbrick, PA, 16365. Currently offering 10% off selected products

We hope you or someone you know can benefit by us sharing these specials, products or services. So please, forward this information to your friends and contacts as well. As always, let me know if you want to be included in our next edition. We’d love to hear from you.

Sincerely,

Sue McCrossin
Boomtown Internet Group
610-458-8040

888-454-3330

“We are pleased to receive this recognition,” says Sue McCrossin, CEO. “Boomtown Internet Group continuously strives to provide excellent customer service by conducting a complete business analysis prior to starting website design and development. This analysis enables our team to pinpoint key website goals and functions as it relates to usability, visibility, and ultimately customer conversion.”

Boomtown Internet Group, headquartered in Glenmoore, PA works with clients across the country. Their business model is set up to keep client costs down while providing excellent web design and web programming services by employing virtually, with employees who work from their homes and communicate via web cam and chat. All web design employees are residents of the United States, striving for a greener working environment. Boomtown’s expert knowledge of Internet Marketing has been proven to help clients enhance their online presence and reach new levels of online business.

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For more information, contact:
Sue McCrossin
Tel: 888.454.3330
Website: http://www.boomtownig.com

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See This News Published on Media:

• aFreeGo

Click the link to watch:  SEO Internet Strategies for 2010

Sue and I discuss 5 hot Internet Marketing trends you can expect to see in 2010:  Universal Search, Google Caffeine, Social Media, Video Phones, and the new FTC changes.

If you have any questions or comments regarding the webinar, email us at sue.mccrossin@boomtownig.com or erica.ronchetti@boomtownig.com.

Our next webinar will discuss Google Analytics!

Boomtown Internet Group is pleased to announce Phone Tracking is now available for all pay-per-click advertising campaigns!

With the ability to track the phone calls you receive through your pay-per-click advertising, it is easy to determine the effectiveness of the advertising outlet and/or of the advertising landing page.

Here’s how it works:

A dedicated toll free or local number will appear on your landing page or website in place of your regular phone number whenever and ONLY when a searcher clicks on your pay-per-click ad.

If a searcher chooses to call, the call is tracked and all data is gathered into a reporting system. Monthly reports will be provided which contain the number of calls answered, gone to voicemail, and hang-ups.

Each client has the option to review their account throughout the month, as well as review recorded calls.

Clients may choose to associate a different toll free or local number with each of their advertising outlets, if they prefer.

The cost per month is $50.00, which includes the phone number and 200 minutes.  There is an additional charge of $ .10 per minute which applies when the initial 200 minutes are exceeded.  The one-time set up fee is $75.00 and includes the phone tracking account creation, choosing the toll free or local number, and the website programming.

Start Up Promotion

Receive 250 minutes per month for the first three months of the program with a 6 month contract.

To get started today or if you have any questions, please feel free to contact Kristin Kovalick directly at 1-888-454-3330, Ext. 5
or via email at Kristin.Kovalick@BoomtownIG.com

Happy New Year!

When most people visit websites, they assume the animated material is Flash.  That’s not always the case.  Due to the growing popularity of JavaScript frameworks, there are now a variety of exciting options for incorporating animations and animated material into your website that don’t involve Flash, which can’t be read by search engines.

You want your website to be creative and interactive, but you also want to show up in the SERPS.  You don’t have to sacrifice any optimization with jQuery.  It serves as an excellent tool for front-end developers to present information to the end user in more interesting ways.  The fact that jQuery website animation uses JavaScript to manipulate DOM objects, (represented with HTML and styled with CSS) makes it easy to stay SEO friendly because you can reveal and hide content from the user with effects, but still keep the same page markup for search crawlers.

If you’re interested in jQuery animation for your website, check out these 6 cool website animation techniques:

1.   jQuery Cycle: http://malsup.com/jquery/cycle/

A great way to display your images!

This useful plugin can be used to create slideshows of images without the need for Flash.  You can use this to display a gallery of images and choose the manner you’d like the images to transition.  Effects include Shuffle, Zoom, Fade, Turn Down, Curtain, and Scroll.

Boomtown uses this jQuery animation here: www.boomtownig.com

2.   jQuery Accordion: http://jqueryui.com/demos/accordion/

Manage your content.

The jQuery Accordion can help you display lots and lots of content in a condensed form that’s still visible to search engines, but doesn’t overload users’ senses. 

RCD Technology uses the accordion plugin to successfully manage their content:  http://www.rcdtechnology.com

3.  Form Validation: http://jquery.malsup.com/form/

Doing client-side form validation is made much easier with the jQuery forms plugin.

Widely regarded as one of the best jQuery plugins, Form Validation involves doing things like checking that all required fields were filled out and, if so, were they filled out to a required specification (e.g. correctly formatted phone numbers or dates), enabling you to get the information you need.

4.   Superfish: http://users.tpg.com.au/j_birch/plugins/superfish/#examples

Create a cross-browser multi-level horizontal or vertical navigation.

The jQuery Superfish plugin is great for managing drop down and multi-level navigation.  With the Superfish navigation plugin, you’ll be able to showcase and direct visitors to the many webpages your site has to offer.

It’s used for the navigation in the orange top menu of the Boomtown site and blog:  www.boomtownig.com

5.   Subtle Animation Effects: http://www.rcdtechnology.com/rfid-applications/partners-customers/

Create subtle animation effects for page items and images. (You can view these by mousing over the partner logos).

The creation of these effects for page items adds different movement to images.

6.   Or you can use any of the widgets in the jQuery UI to enhance user experience:
http://jqueryui.com/demos/

We hope these 6 tools will inspire you to explore all that jQuery has to offer—there are numerous other plugins and website animation techniques as well.  Learn more about jQuery and what it can do for your website!

Some of our clients are concerned that they are not in compliance with the new FTC “marketing disclosure” regulations.

If your website or blog features testimonial ads or endorsements, you should be aware it is now necessary to disclose all “material connections” (payments or free products) between advertisers and endorsers.

These are often connections that consumers would not expect.  For instance, the post of a blogger who receives cash or payment to review a product is considered an endorsement.  Following the new FTC guidelines, bloggers who receive endorsements must disclose the connections they share with the seller of the product or service.

So consider putting a disclaimer on your blog or website.

The FTC guide suggests:

“Results not typical” or the stronger “These testimonials are based on the experiences of a few people and you are not likely to have similar results.”

It’s good to stay informed.  A PDF of the Endorsement Guide document can be viewed or downloaded here.  It offers multiple case studies and many examples.

Or simply read a brief overview here.

Click Newz has recently published a helpful article “FTC Compliant Endorsements & Testimonials” that you may wish to read for further information.

Boomtown Internet Group is continuing the Boomtown Referral Program giving our valued customers, associates and friends an incentive to recommend our services and earn additional income.  The program will offer a 10% commission payment based upon the first year total revenue for an executed website design and/or internet marketing agreement. You provide a qualified lead and we will do all the selling. It’s that simple. The exciting aspect of this program is that virtually every company nationwide is an internet prospect.

If you are ready and able to seize the enormous growth potential of the internet and take advantage of additional income, please contact us for a copy of the program details.

Sincerely,

Jeff Kovalick
Boomtown Internet Group
jeff.kovalick@boomtownig.com
888-454-3330 x21