Google Analytics via New Status Dashboard

"Google Analytics processes huge volumes of data for websites around the world everyday, thanks to Google’s globally renowned infrastructure," Yi Wang from the Google Analytics Product Team, wrote.

"While we never stop focusing on system reliability and scalability, we also want to make sure our users have an easy way to get the latest updates from us should there be a problem," he added.

"Today, we’re pleased to announce that we have launched the Google Analytics Status Dashboard. Now anyone can visit this Status Dashboard to check on the current status of components of the Google Analytics system," he announced.

The new Dashboard should give an overview of the main components of Google Analytics, Data Collection, Web Report and the GData API.

Data Collection indicates whether the analytics data is being gathered correctly from the websites. The Web Report indicator shows if the users can log into their Analytics account and view the data being gathered. Finally, the GData API indicator shows whether the Analytics APIs are working.

Like with the similar Google Dashboards, there are some caveats. The data is not real-time, and is likely updated just a few times a day. What's more, it only shows global availability so it's only of use in the event of a major failure.

"The Status Dashboard is the best place to check for service availability of Google Analytics anywhere in the world," Google says, indicating that the data may be localized in some way, though.

Still, while the global Dashboard may show that everything is working properly, there may be issues locally preventing Analytics from either gathering or displaying the data at any one given time.

source: softpedia

About Google Instant Search

Google Instant is a new search enhancement that shows results as you type. We are pushing the limits of our technology and infrastructure to help you get better search results, faster. Our key technical insight was that people type slowly, but read quickly, typically taking 300 milliseconds between keystrokes, but only 30 milliseconds (a tenth of the time!) to glance at another part of the page. This means that you can scan a results page while you type.

The most obvious change is that you get to the right content much faster than before because you don’t have to finish typing your full search term, or even press “search.” Another shift is that seeing results as you type helps you formulate a better search term by providing instant feedback. You can now adapt your search on the fly until the results match exactly what you want. In time, we may wonder how search ever worked in any other way.

Benefits

Faster Searches: By predicting your search and showing results before you finish typing, Google Instant can save 2-5 seconds per search.
Smarter Predictions: Even when you don’t know exactly what you’re looking for, predictions help guide your search. The top prediction is shown in grey text directly in the search box, so you can stop typing as soon as you see what you need.
Instant Results: Start typing and results appear right before your eyes. Until now, you had to type a full search term, hit return, and hope for the right results. Now results appear instantly as you type, helping you see where you’re headed, every step of the way.        

Top 25 Free High Rank Backlinks and Profile Sites

Here is a list of 25 high page rank web sites where you can post your content, create profiles, and link-up your site’s URL without any reciprocal link from your site. Once you create these high page rank backlinks, profiles, and accounts, they will be a source of web traffic for you. These sites are also great for reputation management campaigns. The sites will normally create a good ranking profile for your company name that in most cases willl appear witin Google’s search results pretty fast.

1. eHOW.com Write how to articles or videos. Post your link in your profile. Also a good source of information if you want to know how to do something.

2. WikiHow.com Same as eHow but you can edit existing wiki pages or create your own. Cleverly put your link in “Sources and Citations” section

3. 43Things.com You have to sign up for participation. Post your own goals or reply to posted “to do” list. Occasionally, insert your own link as a resource.

4. Squidoo.com This is one of my favorite. Build your lenses and you can add links to your site, embed your YouTube videos and flickr photos.

5. AssociatedContent.com You can add your link in your profile. Not a favorite of mine.

6. HubPages.com Another site like Squidoo and AssociatedContent. You can put links to your sites in the content you create here.

7. Digg.com The most popular news ranking site. If you have good blog posts you can post them here. If your article goes to the home page, you will attract thousands of high page rank backlinks and tens of thousands of visitors for a short period. Be prepared for handle the load otherwise you will bring down your server.

8. Reddit.com Another news popularity site. Same as Digg. Post your blog articles here but don’t submit your entire site.

9. Answers.yahoo.com Ask questions and post answers to others questions. You can post links to your site in your answers.

10. Xanga.com A community blog. Crete keyword rich contents and links to your sites in the posts.

11. Kiva.org A microfinance site. You lend to and borrow from individual entrepreneurs. Create a profile page and link to your site from your profile page.

12. Geocities.com One of the oldest site. Create a few mini websites and links to your web sites from the geocities pages.

13. Twitter.com Create an account using a keyword and post your link in your profile.

14. Propeller.com Another news popularity site. Put you site’s link in your profile page.

15. Tradebit.com A site where you can buy and sell digital contents. If you ebooks, your own recorded music, etc., put your keywords in listing pointing to your site’s URL.

16. Angelfire.com Another old site like Geocities. Create your mini sites and put links to your site on the mini site pages.

17. Weebly.com A web 2.0 site where you can create your own mini sites like Geocites. Use the same technique you use for Geocites and Angelfire for back links to your sites.

18. Blogowogo.com A blog aggregation site. If you are running a blog, add your RSS feed to their site and any time you post new articles in your blog, your page at Blogowogo will be updated.

19. Tumblr.com Post and share your photos, articles, links, music, and videos. Use you site’s link in the profile page.

20. StumbleUpon.com Discover great web pages and share with your friends. You can submit your site and individual pages to StumbleUpon.

21. eZineArticles.com The most popular article directory. Submit your articles with author’s box under each article. You can use up to two links to your site in each article.

22. Flickr.com The most popular photo sharing site. You can drop your site’s link on the profile page.

23. MyBlogLog.com Share your online activity on a single page. Link to your sites from the profile page.

24. FastCompany.com If you are passionate about business idea, you should sign up with this very respected site. You can use anchor text in your profile page to link to your web site.

25. YouTube.com The most popular video sharing site. If you don’t have an account with YouTube, you should sign up immediately. Upload interesting and funny videos. Create your profile and link to your site

Link Building SEO: Correct way to use links to your site

Link building is the gasoline that powers Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). Its job is to build a site's value in the eyes of a search engine.

There is a lot of misunderstanding around the subject of link building. As a result, most people build links that don't help improve their search engine ranking.

SEO Link Basics

A link is a connection between one web page and another. A person who clicks a link on one web page will be taken to the page being linked to.

Search engines regard a link from one web page to another as a vote in favour of that page. As a general rule of thumb, the more links a web page gets the higher it will rank in search engines.

In a search engine's 'mind' links are not created equal. The value of a web page that links to your site is taken into account. If your site has nothing but low value links, it won't necessarily help you rank higher in search engines. Of course, it won't hurt either.

Link Tips

A link will normally only convey SEO value to your site if it's a one-way link (from them to you). If you're merely swapping links with friends, the two links will essentially cancel each other out.

To gain SEO value, you'll need to find ways to generate one-way links to your site. Click on my author profile below for 66 different link building ideas.

It's also worth noting that links between different pages on your site also count. In fact, I recommend you examine your site structure and look for ways to increase the links you send to key pages.

2 Ways to Convey SEO Value through Links

There are 2 ways to convey SEO value through links. They are...

1. Link juice
2. Contextual links

Link juice is a term that imagines SEO value to be a liquid, and describes its flow from one web site to another. For example, imagine that the BBC linked to you from its homepage (we all live in hope).

Link juice is said to flow through the link and land on your site. The more valuable a site is in the eyes of a search engine, the more link juice it has to send to your site. This directly impacts on your own search engine ranking.

A contextual link is one that contains a keyword phrase. That is, the clickable text in the link is a search term. For example, the following is a contextual link: Dental Root Canal Treatment.

A search engine creates an association between the keyword phrase in the link and the web page its linking to. This association helps the web page being linked to by improving its ranking for that particular keyword phrase.

The best kind of link is a contextual link from a high value site because it sends plenty of link juice (i.e. SEO value), and it creates a keyword association for the page being linked to.

Think Deep

Most non-professionals think about link building in terms of a site's homepage. But search engines are interested in the entire site, and assess its overall value. If you only get links to your site's homepage you'll struggle to fully realize the potential of SEO to send visitors to your site.

Each key pages on your site should have its own keyword focus. This then provides the keyword phrases required to create contextual links.

When generating links to sub-pages on your site helps improve the SEO value of the entire site. This is partly due to the principle that 'all ships rise on a rising tide', and is also the result of the way link juice flows throughout your site.

If you do happen to secure a link from a high value site such as the BBC, the resulting SEO value arrives at the page on your site being linked to. If that page links to other pages on your site (as it should do), link juice will spread to those pages and benefit your entire site as a result.