SEO for Large Organizations Part 1

For any large organization, an appropriate search engine marketing strategy is crucial. It is important to have the right plan of action in place to beat the competition. For achieving the targets of your SEO campaign the following pointers need to be kept in mind -

• You have to focus on simplifying the decision making process, otherwise the search engine experts in your organization have to get things approved by various departments including customer experience, marketing, legal and sales. Let everyone know what their responsibilities are and also make them understand the proper process for successful implementation of the search engine optimization plans.

• Make sure that people associated with search engine processes are aware of the nuances of the internet world. Whether they are the shareholders or the clients, all you need to ensure is that they have complete knowledge about the results of SEO activities. Information should be properly disseminated to everyone linked with internet marketing process.

• The search engine marketing process in a large organization can actually become a challenge for you. The responsibility for improving the traffic to your website through search engine activity should belong to any one specific department or should preferably be outsourced to an SEO firm.

• Define clear KPIs so that the search engine efforts can easily be measured.

• If you are planning to do all the things by yourself then think again because it is beneficial to follow some of the best practices. It is advisable for you to use a project management system which will help you manage client item number, source, date, status, hours to implement and include various other information.

• Your budget will decide the scale of implementation & that is why you should explicitly define your budget for the search engine marketing activities.

Building links in e-commerce website – part 1

For your search engine marketing success, you should understand the importance of building links.There should be a focus on finding ways to build deep links for your e-commerce website. Following are some of the ways to build deep links to your e-commerce website -

• For your SEO benefit, try and put Linkbait on product detail pages. You have a great chance to use PDP as your landing page without actually distracting it too much from the selling aspect. You can get some good links by including a cool product demonstration. When you include the video in your product detail pages. Make sure that you offer free download to the visitors as this will help you get deep links to the e-commerce website. Include the download option for games, ebook or some other application on product detail pages and not on the landing page. In your website, include infographic and the link you will receive from it is going to be beneficial for your search engine marketing.

• Have you ever thought of providing something extra than your competitors do? Well you must try this as it will help you get better deep links to your website. You have to think about an extra edge which is going to benefit your website at the end of the day. Anyone can describe a product simply in one paragraph but you have to try out something different. Suppose you are selling solar panels, then include a special tab called installation tab in which you can tell people how to install these panels with ease at their homes or any other place. With all this you are surely benefiting your search engine optimization results. A step by step introduction to any product will also be a great idea for your e-commerce website.

• Introduce interesting gift options and give-aways to get some of the best links for your website. Instead of simply giving away the gift on commenting, you should ask the person to again visit your site and tell one thing which they learnt about that particular product. By doing this, you will ensure that visitors will visit your website again and explore it. This kind of search engine optimization costs almost nothing and will get you great amount of deep links. After receiving feedback from the customers, you can also improve your product description which will further help us accomplish your SEO goals.

SEO for Large Organizations Part 2

As a smart SEO expert, you have to ensure the successful implementation of all your search engine efforts so that you can get the desired results. Usually, the process is complicated for large organizations, therefore if you want to ensure a successful marketing campaign, the following tips will help you in the long run -

• You should represent the SEO recommendations in a proper manner to the client so that he can approve of the strategies and marketing techniques. Then further the client will forward it to the higher concerned authorities for further approval. You can also estimate the range of additional revenues depending on various scenarios.
• Any organization would have a lot of expectations from the search engine optimization operations. From your efforts, a high ROI is always expected and only then you can call it a successful game.
• It is important for you to integrate the optimization activities in the website design. You have to start it from the very beginning, so that it can give you the desired results in the due course of time.
• In order to get the best possible search engine marketing results, you need to have a tested methodology. This method will ensure that everything in your website is going through a rigorous check which will help you get the most from your website.
• Do not stick to only one SEO strategy, keep on tweaking it as you have to use the most recent and updated technique for your website. Stay technically updated.
• Try and set various check points so that your search engine optimization activities can be reviewed from time to time. For this you can try and introduce some activities like public relations, marketing, keywords and advertising.
• It is important to be transparent with all the search engine results which have been achieved after the implementation of certain search engine efforts.
• You have to look for quick wins. A simple change to your website can help you get some of the most desired SEO results.
• Make sure that your search engine activities are ethical. If you are looking for long term results, then you have to follow the white hat search engine marketing practices.
• Get smart with choosing the right information architecture for your website as it will help you achieve your business goals much faster.
• You cannot ignore the conversion rate from your website. Focus on the conversion, usability and the business

Avoiding a JCPenney like SEO Fiasco

The internet age has brought in several new additions to the English language – Google has gone from being a noun to officially being a verb, Facebooking has become a word recognized and repeated by millions and referring to an image that is Photoshopped is no longer the domain of only Geeks. However, after the New York Times story on J. C. Penney and their SEO fiasco, the first addition for 2011 (and I suspect that there will be many more) may be “getting JCPenneyed”.
So what caused it?
Before I get to that, let me explain to you what links are and what they do.
Let’s take a real world example. A really famous actor will have more people in his social circle than a small time SEO consultant right? More people will talk about him and want to be associated with him.
Now, let’s take this online.
The Google algorithm uses this real world similarity as one of the more important factors to determine more important sites that should be pushed up on their search engine ranking pages. So, a more famous site will have many more people blogging about it and discussing it compared to a site belonging to a mom and pop store. Hence, it will have more links and should have better rankings compared to a relatively unknown site.
So what is the problem here? Well, it seems that the folks working on the J. C. Penney SEO forgot that neither are links the only factor that will affect them positively in the longer term nor that there is a caveat that Google puts out with regards to incoming links. Google wants them to be from related sites and primarily targeted at users.
What does that mean? Well, it means that you should get incoming links from sites that are in related fields and whose users will benefit from clicking on it and coming  to your site. Further, for publishers, it means that you need to link only to sites where you want to send your users and you shouldn’t hide these links in some corner of your page or mask it using a similar color as your background.
From an SEO standpoint one should also remember that link building it only one of the many factors that affect rankings. You need to concentrate on building content pages that have original content, complete with the clean code, a good Title, meta description, Heading tags, etc besides working on an easy to use navigation structure.
This episode will hopefully have many search engine optimization consultants revisiting their roots and relooking at the more labor intensive but more permanent methods of on-page optimization.
Lastly, for all the people outsourcing their SEO process out there, next time you push your consultant and he/she tells you to slow down, listen to them. Being overly aggressive and taking shortcuts for short term gains may lead to your downfall in the long term.

SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION

Search engine optimization services provided by Convonix Inc. are customized to fit your requirements keeping in perspective long term business goals. We work hard to maximize your return on investment in internet marketing and search engine optimization.

Our Search engine optimization methodology includes:

1. Website Review
To rank on Google or any other search engine, a site needs to be indexed first. Hence, the first step in the process of search engine optimization is to ensure that your site pages can be crawled and indexed by the search engine spiders. In this step we analyze your code and identify possible spider stoppers in a website. These may include broken links, missing tags, complicated link structure and other subtle factors that may have been overlooked when the site was designed.

2. Goal Analysis
Why are you indulging in SEO services? What do you expect to gain from your SEO campaign? Do you have practical search engine ranking targets that you would like to achieve?

It is important to have goals clearly defined in an SEO campaign. These goals can be in terms of an increase in revenue from organic search engine traffic, increase in ROI, increase in traffic or just rankings for branding. We listen to you and understand your goals during this stage of the SEO process. Keeping your goals in perspective, we customize and present the best SEO strategy possible given the time-frame, resources and other practical constraints.

3. Competition Analysis
This step involves studying what your competition is doing. Websites of competitors, which have undergone search engine optimization, offer valuable keyword and optimization insights. Analyzing an already optimized site allows us to determine their lead over your site with regards to rankings. We can also determine SEO optimization techniques being employed and the segments being targeted actively on search engines. After this step, we will be able to tell you exactly what your competitor is doing and what you should do to beat them on search engines.

4. Keyword Identification
Many online businesses, despite having great search engine rankings, either do not get enough traffic to their site or do not convert enough visitors. A major reason for this is because the keywords that they are targeting may not be the keywords that are being searched for on the search engines. Keyword identification is a very important part of search engine optimization and includes researching keywords that will not only get great traffic but are also most relevant to your business.

5. On Page Optimization
This step in the process of SEO involves the actual optimization of your web pages. Here, pages will be optimized with regards to tags, link structures, images, body text, and other visible and invisible parts.

6. Building Incoming Links
Good incoming links are often the difference between good rankings and great rankings. Our link building campaigns are well planned according to your site's requirements and your budget, so that you get the maximum out of them. Incoming links can be reciprocal links or one way links from directories, articles and news releases. Our link popularity campaigns are human powered and completely manual.

7. Search Engine Submissions
Manual Submissions to search engines and directories is a process often referred as search engine submissions. Many advertise a quick and simple software or service which helps submit to over 1000 engines for a few dollars, but few tell you that it is the top 10 engines that command over 85% of the internet's search engine traffic.
Our search engine optimization campaign involves systematic submissions, done manually, to the top search engines and directories. Further, we use XML sitemaps that are now supported by major search engines like Google & Yahoo.

8. Analysis and Tweaking
Search engine optimization is a long-term solution to your traffic woes. Our comprehensive seo services involve continuous fine tuning of the website based on traffic trends and ranking trends. Search engines often change their algorithms... We tweak your website to compensate of the changes, hence enabling you to stay on top.

Web analytics is the study of website visitors

Web analytics is the study of website visitors. It involves collecting data from a web site and then interpreting the collected data to determine various trends. Web analytics helps answer questions like which is the most profitable marketing initiative, which search engine sends the most traffic, which is the most converting keyword, etc. Convonix provides web analytics consulting, which involves Identifying the best web analytics solution for you Identifying which metrics to track Implementing the web analytics solution Interpreting numbers thrown back by the web analytics software and drawing conclusions Why do you need a web analytics consultant? Web analytics software is relatively easy to install. Just paste some code on every page and you're done! However, pasting the code does not mean that you will get all the right stats. It is extremely important to first determine which stats are useful to you. E.g. - The time spent by visitors from each source on a site may be an extremely important factor to track for news websites. In contrast, for an ecommerce website selling stuff, total sales for each marketing campaign/source. It is also important to be able to interpret the figures thrown back at you by the web analytics software in the right way. You need to understand what a bounce rate of 45% means in the context of your website and how you can use this figure to improve your conversion rate. Our web analytics consultants use their immense experience and expertise to interpret your web analytics data and then help you apply this data to improve your website's conversion rate. So get in touch with web analytics experts at Convonix and let them help you improve your site's conversion rates and return on investment. "We would highly recommend Convonix. Vishal has done a great job of search engine optimization for our ecommerce site. He has continued to follow up and provide updates, and is always responsive." Paul Taylor OEM Auto Parts

The Royal Wedding Google Pegmen

Google Maps has a special pegman for the royal wedding. The pegman is a bride and a groom, aka Prince William of Wales and Catherine (Kate) Middleton, as the pegman.
Google's Twitter account tweeted it this morning saying:

Best wishes to the royal couple from Street View's Pegman & Pegwoman - look for them in maps of London today http://goo.gl/SsZZ3

Try it out yourself at http://goo.gl/SsZZ3.

June 1st The Google Base API Is Shutting Down

This is just a reminder to those who are still utilizing the Google Base API. In about a month, June 1, 2011, the Google Base API will be shut down.
We warned you about this in December, with our post named Google Sunsetting Base API For Two Shopping APIs. As I said then, Replacing the Base API will be two new Shopping APIs, the Content API and Search API.
Google sent out a reminder about this change this week via the Google Merchant Center Help forums. Ronald from Google said:

Back in December, we announced that on June 1, 2011, the Google Base Data API will be decommissioned and it will no longer be possible to submit or access content through the Base API.To replace the Base API, we've introduced two new Shopping APIs: Content API and Search API. If you currently use the Base API for managing your products on Google Product Search, you should prepare for the June 1 change by migrating to the new APIs as soon as possible.
Please visit the Google Merchant Blog for more details.

So if you are still using the Google Base API, you only have a month to start using the other APIs.
Forum discussion at Google Merchant Center Help.

Video From 1999 Of Google's TGIF Staff Meetings

Want a blast from the past?
Here is a video from a month before Google hired Matt Cutts. It is a video of what Google called "TGIF." They were Google's weekly all-staff meeting. It was used to introduce new hires, birthday wishes, and discuss Google's growth, plans, projects and so on.
The video was taken in December 1999 by Doug Edwards who worked at Google between 1999 and 2005. He posted the video on his blog this past week. Here it is:

Google Logo For John James Audubon

Today on the home page of Google is a special birthday logo for the 226th birthday of John James Audubon.
John James Audubon was born on April 26, 1785 in Les Cayes, Saint-Domingue and died on January 27, 1851 in Manhattan, New York at the age of 65.
He was a French-American ornithologist, naturalist, and painter mostly known for his paintings of birds.
As you can see from the Google logo, his style of paintings were around birds. This specific logo is around his Birds of America paintings and illustrations. The book was a series published between 1827 and 1838, in Edinburgh and London. It consisted of hand-coloured, life-size prints, made from engraved plates, measuring around 39 by 26 inches.
For more information, see Wikipedia.

Google Offers Now Live

As expected, the Groupon Google Clone, Google Offers is now live.
I personally signed up for deals of 50% off or more in the New York City regions. Google told me:

Thanks for subscribing to Google Offers BETA - NYC Midtown! Weâre excited that you've joined us as we partner with some of the best local businesses in your area to bring you great deals at 50% off or more. Once Google Offers is available in NYC Midtown we'll send you regular emails letting you in on amazing offers in your area.
Weâll be in touch.
-The Google Offers Team

Portland is the first city to have active offers, but more will come soon. You can read the full Google Offers FAQs here.
If you are a business that would like to participate in Google Offers, fill out the form over here.
Will this be the end of Groupon? I am not sure, who knows, maybe Google's attempt at this business will fail like many of their other projects?
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
This post was written earlier and scheduled to be posted today.

Results: 20% Of SEOs Actively Exchange Links With Competitors

About a month ago we polled you guys asking if you exchange links with competitors.
In our older poll only 14% said they would link to competitors. This poll is different in asking would you exchange links with competitors, not just link to them.
Our results of 130 plus responses shows almost 20% of you would exchange links with a competitor. 50% said you would never ever exchange links with a competitor. But 27% said you most likely wouldn't but would do so on rare occasion.
Last week we published a poll saying Most SEOs Say There Are Penalty Proof Paid Links.
In any event, I find the results of this poll on target from my expectations.
Forum discussion continued at WebmasterWorld.
This post was written earlier and scheduled to be posted today.

Who is making the news?

A press release should be short, sweet, and to the point. It only needs to address five points, in fact: Who, What, Where, When, and Why.

Who is making the news?

What is the newsworthy item or event?

Where does it happen or become available?

When does it happen or become available?

And Why should anyone care about it?


An opening paragraph for a press release should summarize the main points:

Houston, TX -- April 24, 2005 -- This Sunday, April 24, Michael Martinez pontificates on yet another subject in the High Rankings Forum. SEO advocates and opponents alike are sick of reading this motor-mouth's rantings, but he refuses to go away. Friends and family gather at local disaster shelters to await news of impending riots.

You see the point, I think.

The very first sentence in the press release has to identify what the press release is all about: it has to say Who, What, When, Where, and if possible Why. If you cannot get all five into the first sentence, they have to be touched on in the first paragraph.

Superlatives need to be filtered out. Never say things like, "We proudly announce" or "are proud to announce" or "is the finest", "have the best", "bring you the most", "provide the sweetest", etc.

All you want to do is provide the dreary facts.

To be honest, I don't really see anything in your first draft that works for a press release. A press release is NOT a sales pitch. It is an informative, brief article which encapsulates important facts. It is only supposed to pique people's interest, not persuade them to take any action (other than to request more information).

Here are some excellent resources on writing press releases:

http://www.stetson.edu/~rhansen/prhowto.html

http://www.press-release-writing.com/10_essential_tips.htm

http://www.stetson.edu/~rhansen/press.html

http://www.frugalmarketing.com/dtb/press.shtml

Good luck.

few people I know to look over it this week

I'm planning on sending out my first press release this week and want to get some tips before I do so.

You can look at the rough draft of the press release I plan on sending out at [http://www.droplistpro.com/press-release_04-24-05.htm]

I'm going to give it to a few people I know to look over it this week, but I would love some feedback from as many people as possible, so if you can please let me know what you think.

I plan on using prWeb to send out the press release and I have a couple questions:

1. Because this is my first press release should I use the FREE option and save the paid option for later or is it best to start with $200 option that allows keyword embedded links?
2. Should I only submit to prWeb or should I submit to as many free options as I can find?
3. My press release is about 800 words. Should it be longer/shorter?
4. Do you have any suggestions on getting the article picked up by news sites?
5. Should the press release be more facts or story?
6. Is it OK to do it from a first person narrative?

It's not an article

I'm moving this thread to the Public Relations Forum as that's a better fit for your questions.

You'll also want to read this thread about other places to distribute your press release and tips about free vs. paid.

To answer your questions:

1. Because this is my first press release should I use the FREE option and save the paid option for later or is it best to start with $200 option that allows keyword embedded links?

See link above to other thread.

2. Should I only submit to prWeb or should I submit to as many free options as I can find?

See link above to other thread.

3. My press release is about 800 words. Should it be longer/shorter?

Much shorter. A press release is almost never over 500 words.

4. Do you have any suggestions on getting the article picked up by news sites?

It's not an article, it's a press release (big difference). Creating an optimized press release will help with this.

5. Should the press release be more facts or story?

A press release, by nature, consists of facts. It is not an article or an advertisement. See this article for more information about writing a press release.

6. Is it OK to do it from a first person narrative?

No, you'll want to have a good understanding of what a press release is and isn't or you'll be wasting your time and money with any distribution efforts. A press release is not done in first person and is not a narrative. It is an account of who, what, when, where and why that is written in order to inform a reporter of why what you're about to say is important to their readers.

Think about what you're going to write. Then pretend you've told the information to a reporter of a newspaper/magazine/site. He/she asks you, "Why would my readers care?" That's the question your release has to answer.

I do like the set-up fee

Thank you all for your continued feedback. I do like the set-up fee that will be credited when work was implemented.
And it will be practice to find that balance. Knowing when to halt on more information than necessary.
And I agree that the focus should be on the benefits to the clients and less on the services - when speaking to them.
No, it is not difficult. But it can be very time consuming. I love educating people - infact I gave a talk this weekend -successfully.
Maybe part of making that living - is creating workshops/speaking engagements to companies who want to implement their own SEO. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink1.gif)

As long as the main process is understood

I find this to be a problem with web design - and I like the response of using the consultation fee as part of the package. At least you are paid for your suggestions!

I started doing SEO work last summer for an existing company that has employed a programmer and a webdesigner - after paying for keyword research however, this client cannot get his web designer to implement the changes! At least I have been paid for the tremendous amount of work involved (followed Jill's lynda.com class very closely and appreciate adding it to my toolbox!).

My encounters with this first customer - someone who does not understand SEO - were a bit different,

1. I absolutely refused to 'teach the web designer who is interested in SEO' anything - and in return told the client that I would not make code changes on the web designers work (although now I am wondering if that was a good idea - this guy wants to redesign the website while it is live and is really dragging his feet on any organic SEO changes....arrrgg!). However, by making it clear in the beginning that I do my SEO work alone, it has saved me a ton of problems. The web designer has still made an attempt to coerce the client into PPC - before any of my SEO research was implemented, and the client learned how expensive that can be - actually went into debt by following this designers advice. I want the HTML code and phrases in place before PPC - and the client made the decision on his own after listening to a 'get top ratings quick' person during the first month I was working on keyword research - before I turned anything in to the client.

2. Clear contract with explanations and understanding signed by both me and the client before I did any work. I sat down and explained what I did (not the steps, but the work) and the outcome for the client to expect - what I needed from the client, etc. Now, I got many 'I understands' - it took a few times to explain that everyone enters a different sequence of words when they do an internet search, but he understands that. However, no matter how many times/ways I explain it - I STILL get the remark ' hey - I am number 1 already when I type in xyz' - and xyz happens to be the exact word for word sentence in the first line of the client's web page.....so even though I always explain this to the client - there are some pre-concepts formed that are very hard to conquer. As long as the main process is understood - this client/any client will be happy with your work.

There is one point I am still trying to figure out - and I think it is a legitimate concern - my client wants absolute confidence that any 3rd party program I use is confidential. He wants to know that any information scanned on his site will not be public information for his competitors. I hadn't anticipated that question but did explain that there are some online tools that are open and public for anyone to use. I have no control over those, but I sure do look under rocks of every program/website I consider because of this. Does anyone have any thoughts about this?

don't do SEO

I don't do SEO (at least not for anyone other than myself), but in my business I'm also in a position in which some prospective clients try to "fish" for info and ideas that they can then go implement themselves. In an nutshell, they come to me for detailed marketing communication (marcom) plans, with the understanding that if they like what I propose, they'll hire me to execute it. The problem I faced was that to deliver a plan strong enough to compel them to hire me, I had to include insight and details that went beyond just the tip of the iceberg. The solution I came up with (after a few years of being burned) was to charge a fee for creating and delivering my marcom plans -- a fee that I would apply as a credit towards any work I did for the client if they subsequently hired me.

Works great to weed out the "fishers," and saves a lot of time that used to be wasted working for free.

During the sales call, the focus should be on the value of your services

I deal with this pretty frequently. I've learned that if the prospective company has their web developer/designer in on the conversation, you'll want to be more careful. That person is likely familiar with most of the concepts you'll be discussing. If you're dealing with the execs or marketing team, you can let your guard down (while still not giving away specifics).

During the sales call, the focus should be on the value of your services, and less on the strategy for success. I usually don't mind giving a couple of tips, but you can usually tell when they're culling for information because the questions are less about your services and more about what you recommend. At this point I usually offer an SEO playbook that includes page specific recommendations that their team can implement, for a fee.

I also make a point of talking about both the the hazards of SEO (drawing irrelevant traffic, getting delisted, etc), and the number of tools involved. I don't mention specific products, but point out that we have tools for keyword research, reporting, analytics, conversion optimization, click paths, etc, and that we draw on all of this information to bring them targeted traffic.

SEO isn't difficult and there are no secrets, but it is work. Most SEOs that I know LOVE educating people on how to achieve success, but we have to make a living, too.

how much information to provide a prospective client, not an actual client,

I think you're asking how much information to provide a prospective client, not an actual client, correct?

Personally, I don't give anything until I have a check in hand. But I don't have to prove myself with potential clients as I've been doing this SEO thing for 16 years.

For someone in your position who's just starting out, it's a bit different. When I first started, I used to do full site audits for free! Perhaps a 10th of those who I did them for would sign on to have me do their SEO, but that was okay with me, it was a way to get some business.

Unfortunately, there are many people out there who pretend they want to pay people for services and all they really are doing is fishing for information. What's even more unfortunate is that a lot of those who do that are from really large companies!

I think you have to do whatever you're comfortable with. If you feel that providing some free information shows your expertise, then go ahead and do it. Many people have no intention or desire to try to do things for themselves, they'd rather pay you. But if you feel someone's just taking advantage of you, then tell them that you'll be providing them with the answers to those questions during the research phase of the SEO campaign. Most understand that you can't provide them with a complete strategy until you've researched things.

SEO on-site and off-page

Hi,

Just starting out SEO services for a client. How much information do you initially give a client?

I checked out her site. Offered her preliminary keywords and recommendations of the tasks to be completed.

Example: I said local optimization - adding your site to directories. She then wanted a full list of the sites I was talking about.
Told her there was some minor on-page fixes recommended. She wanted to know what they were (thats part of my service - offering you the analysis/recommendation report of the changes needed to be implemented for optimization)
She did her own keyword search and then compared against my list. But I only gave her excerpts of the key phrases to be use. Not the exact I had in mind. She then gave me a more narrow location she wants to target. Then I finally told her that there are valuable keywords I can target for that and if she would be interested...

The point: It boilded down to she decided she will do most of the work - article writing/blog posting. Doesn't want links built, etc. Decided to hand out most of what I offered to her current assistants.

I finally told her that for a one time deal - if she was interested - I would provide a list of competitive keywords she and her team could target. Would offer recommendations for SEO on-site and off-page.

It came down to - I felt I did most of the research prior to her signing a contract.

Learned: I need to figure out if I am going to do a package deal or custom packages. Being the first client - I don't mind the trouble. Gives me insight into what logistics I need to fix.

Question: How far do you go to telling a client about the keywords your plan on working with? Or do you tell them at all? how do you deal with this?

Or maybe the question is: how do you deal with a client that you feel is going to take your initial hard work, not sign the contract and do it all on their own.

Poll: How Much SEO Advice Do You Give Before Asking For Money?

A HighRankings Forum thread asks a really nice question on how much SEO advice and guidance do you give away for free before asking the prospective client to sign a contract or pay you?
I know some people who will give up to 15 minutes of their time for free, while others give zero time. I know some that will not charge for SEO help at all.
Clearly, those who have made a name for themselves in the industry do not need to give away free advice to land new contracts. But those who are new or do not have a proven track record will need to give away some tips before earning the trust of their clients. The question is how much?

SEOs Give Away A Lot Of Free SEO Advice

About a month ago, we polled you guys asking How Much SEO Advice Do You Give Before Asking For Money?
We had about 315 responses and I wanted to share the nice results with you.
Most of you are willing to give away SEO advice for free.
Only 2.5% of those who replied said they never give any free SEO advice, not a stitch of it. Most do give some level of free SEO advice prior to asking for money. However, 3.8% of you give away all SEO advice for free. So more SEOs give away all their advice for free than withhold it all.
Here is the break down on how much SEO advice do you give away?

• 56% give away a little advice
• 24% give away half of their advice
• 10.5% give away most of their advice
• 3.8% give away all their advice
• 2.5% don't give away any advice

Forum discussion continued at HighRankings Forums.
This post was written earlier and scheduled to be posted today.

Poll: SEO Certification & Standards Needed?

Sphinn has an excellent discussion taking place on if the SEO industry needs certifications and standards.
To be honest, there are various certification programs out there. None of them are backed by a centralized non-profit agency such as SEMPO. There is SEO training with certifications led by SEO companies and SEO conferences but not a accredited SEO certification from an organization that represents the SEO industry.
At the same time, there are no real standards for the industry as well. There are best practices, mostly laid out by Google but no standards to say what is allowed or not allowed.
The question is do we need them for our industry? Some may say we do and some may simply not want it for good reasons.
Here are two polls asking if we should have SEO certification and SEO standards. They are two different questions and thus require two different polls:

Do We Need SEO Certification?

YesNoOther:

VoteView ResultsShare ThisPolldaddy.com

Do We Need SEO Standards?

YesNoOther:

VoteView ResultsShare ThisPolldaddy.com

65% Of SEOs Want SEO Standards

Earlier this month we asked you to take two polls in one post, we asked do you want SEO certification & standards.
I wanted to share the results from the Do We Need SEO Standards poll today and then share how the results differ from the Do We Need SEO Certification poll tomorrow.
We had about 150 responses to this poll and the results were that most SEOs do want SEO standards.
65% of the SEOs out there said yes, we SEOs need SEO standards. The rest pretty much said no, we do not need any SEO standards.
SEO standards is a controversial topic for the industry. Since there is a lot of black and gray hat techniques, having standards kind of rubs them the wrong way. At the same time, some would say Google's webmaster guidelines are a form of SEO standards.
Like I said, I will share the other poll "Do We Need SEO Certification" tomorrow.
Forum discussion continued at Sphinn.
This post was written earlier and scheduled to be posted today.

55% Say There Is a Need For SEO Certification

Earlier this month we asked you to take two polls in one post, we asked do you want SEO certification & standards.Yesterday I posted the results of the SEO standards poll, which showed most SEOs want SEO standards. As we covered yesterday, 65% of the SEOs out there said yes, we SEOs need SEO standards.
But when it comes to SEO certification only 55% of SEOs feel we need it for our industry. About 43% said we do not need SEO certification in the SEO industry. The results are pretty different from when we asked about the SEO standards need in the industry.
You would have thought the results would have been similar but no, SEOs do make a distinction between having standards versus an industry standard for certification.
Forum discussion continued at Sphinn.
This post was written earlier and scheduled to be posted today.

Testing Google AdWords Sitelinks

Google launched ad sitelinks back in November of 2009. Since then we learned the impact they have on organic results, at least on click throughs.
But how does Google determine which ad sitelinks to show? As you may know, advertisers can enter up to 10 sitelinks into the ad system. Google asks you enter the most important sitelinks first but Google will show only up to 4 of those links at any given time.
So how does Google decide which of four of the ten links to show?
James Carswell posted an ad sitelink experiment saying that Google basically does not pick the four based on the search query but likely based on the CTR of those links.
He said, "Doing a little testing we can see that there doesn't seem to be any relationship here." So what is it based on? He believes "it looks like Google may be testing for things like CTR of the individual sitelink entries."
He ran dozens of tests, which you can see on his blog. Did you test this? If so, let us know.

Google Instant Previews For AdWords

In November 2010, Google launched instant previews for the search results. The concept behind this feature was not new and many called Google a copycat for launching the feature.
Either way, the feature has stuck, and it still works in the search results.
Google has recently been testing these instant previews in the AdWords ads. Matt McGee reported at Search Engine Land that these instant previews give searchers a chance to view the ad's landing page prior to clicking on the ad.
It is unclear if and when Google will launch it.
I have to assume that clicking on the preview feature does not cost the advertiser any money.
Here is a picture of this in action by @ZeonSearch:

Personally, I'd like to see this feature added to the ads.
Forum discussion at Sphinn.
This post was written earlier and scheduled to be posted today.
Update & Official: This is now official:

Now, we're bringing the same benefit to ads with Instant Previews for Ads. Starting today, the Instant Previews icon will appear next to ads on Google.com allowing users to preview the ad's landing page. With Instant Previews, your customers are able to quickly preview a page to see if its content matches what they're searching for.By allowing potential customers to preview your site before they arrive, Instant Previews helps you get even more highly-qualified traffic to your site. Even better, Instant Preview clicks are free of charge -- you're only charged if a user clicks through to your actual landing page.

Google Not Underlining Search Result Titles

For the past few weeks I have been hearing reports of Google not underlining the titles of the search results.
That conversation recently seemed to have spiked up and more and more people are now seeing, well - not seeing, the underlined titles in the Google search results.
@andrewchen were some of the few to tweet about this and include a screen capture.
Google search results without underlines:

Google search results with underlines (like most people see them):

At first it I thought this might be some type of extension removing the underlines from the title but with the number of reports I am now seeing, this has to be some type of limited Google usability test.

Jumbo Sized Google Sitelinks

Google Sitelinks is nothing new, we've been reporting on it since 2006 and Google has changed the layout and number of sitelinks displayed in the search results over the years.
The latest layout I have been seeing reported over the past few months were a form of jumbo sized sitelinks. We saw sitelinks with descriptions last month but check out the screen shot below.
Here is a screen shot posted in WebmasterWorld. Some people are saying they can replicate the 12 sitelinks, that take up most of the search results real estate for navigational queries such as Amazon, BBC and so on. Here is that screen shot:

What do I see for those navigational queries? I see normal sitelinks:

Personally, I really do not like the jumbo sitelinks. Do you?
One person in the WebmasterWorld said, "That looked so much like a parked page. Hope this is not the future of G!"

Google Finally Downplays PageRank In New Google Toolbar

A couple weeks ago, Google announced the release of a new Google Toolbar. It appears that with this release it is harder to see the PageRank indicator and even make it part of the standard bar options.
A WebmasterWorld thread has one searcher explaining that the only way to see the PageRank indicator is to click on the "more" link in the toolbar.

Furthermore, he said the indicator "cannot be dragged onto the main display." I am not sure if that is true or just user error or a bug - but still, hiding it under "more" it a nice step.
Wow! I didn't try this myself but if this is true then wow!
We know that Google's Matt Cutts has always wanted PageRank removed from the toolbar. Adam, back then "mini-Matt" asked for feedback on the removal of PageRank from the toolbar. Plus we know, many SEOs want it gone from the toolbar. There were rumors in 2008 that Google was removing it and it 2009 they removed the data from Webmaster Tools.
So as you can see, this is a major change to the toolbar at least from a public relations and SEO history perspective.
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: April 29, 2011

This week on the Search Engine Roundtable, I cover the past week in search on the Royal Wedding Day. Google's new Toolbar hides the PageRank indicator. We are now spotting more huge Sitelinks on Google. Google continues to test non-underlined titles in the search results. Google launched instant previews for AdWords. We posted an experiment on AdWords Sitelinks. Our polls for the week included SEO certification versus SEO Standard need. We also showed that most SEOs give away a lot of free advice. And SEOs do not actively exchange links with competitors. Google launched Google Offers, a Groupon clone, in Portland. Google had a special logo for John James Audubon. And today is the Royal Wedding and Google, Yahoo, Bing, Ask, AOL and others have special Royal logos. That was this past week at the Search Engine Roundtable.
Make sure to subscribe to our video feed or subscribe directly on iTunes to be notified of these updates and download the video in the background. You can also watch this live and ask questions during the show, typically Friday mornings around 9:30 (EST) at seroundtable.com/live, follow @rustybrick to be notified when we air. Here is the YouTube version of the feed:

The Royal Wedding Search Engine Logos

For those of you who do not live under a rock, today is the Royal Wedding. Prince William and Catherine (Kate) Middleton are getting married as I write this. In fact, you can watch it live on YouTube at The Royal Channel.
We covered the special Royal Pegman this morning in our Search Picture of the Day but I wanted to share with you all the special logos from the search engines for the Royal Wedding day. We have logos from Google, Yahoo, Bing UK, AOL, and Ask UK.
Google's Royal Wedding Logo:

Yahoo's Royal Wedding Logo:

Bing UK's Royal Wedding Logo:

Ask UK Royal Wedding Logo:

AOL Royal Wedding Logo:

YouTube Royal Wedding Logo:

Which is your favorite?

The Royal Wedding Search Engine Logos

For those of you who do not live under a rock, today is the Royal Wedding. Prince William and Catherine (Kate) Middleton are getting married as I write this. In fact, you can watch it live on YouTube at The Royal Channel.
We covered the special Royal Pegman this morning in our Search Picture of the Day but I wanted to share with you all the special logos from the search engines for the Royal Wedding day. We have logos from Google, Yahoo, Bing UK, AOL, and Ask UK.
Google's Royal Wedding Logo:

Yahoo's Royal Wedding Logo:

Bing UK's Royal Wedding Logo:

Ask UK Royal Wedding Logo:

AOL Royal Wedding Logo:

YouTube Royal Wedding Logo:

Which is your favorite?

The Royal Wedding Search Engine Logos

For those of you who do not live under a rock, today is the Royal Wedding. Prince William and Catherine (Kate) Middleton are getting married as I write this. In fact, you can watch it live on YouTube at The Royal Channel.
We covered the special Royal Pegman this morning in our Search Picture of the Day but I wanted to share with you all the special logos from the search engines for the Royal Wedding day. We have logos from Google, Yahoo, Bing UK, AOL, and Ask UK.
Google's Royal Wedding Logo:

Yahoo's Royal Wedding Logo:

Bing UK's Royal Wedding Logo:

Ask UK Royal Wedding Logo:

AOL Royal Wedding Logo:

YouTube Royal Wedding Logo:

Which is your favorite?

The Royal Wedding Search Engine Logos

For those of you who do not live under a rock, today is the Royal Wedding. Prince William and Catherine (Kate) Middleton are getting married as I write this. In fact, you can watch it live on YouTube at The Royal Channel.
We covered the special Royal Pegman this morning in our Search Picture of the Day but I wanted to share with you all the special logos from the search engines for the Royal Wedding day. We have logos from Google, Yahoo, Bing UK, AOL, and Ask UK.
Google's Royal Wedding Logo:

Yahoo's Royal Wedding Logo:

Bing UK's Royal Wedding Logo:

Ask UK Royal Wedding Logo:

AOL Royal Wedding Logo:

YouTube Royal Wedding Logo:

Which is your favorite?

3 months on, IAS couple still not charged for graft

BHOPAL: More than three months after the income tax department submitted a 7,000-page report to the Madhya Pradesh government and Lokayukta on the IAS couple Arvind and Tinu Joshi, they are yet to be chargesheeted. On Wednesday, their suspension from service for possessing unexplained assets worth Rs 380 crore was extended by another 180 days.

It's for the fourth time that their suspension has been extended. The Joshis were suspended from service soon after the income-tax raids on their official residence in the first week of February 2010. They continue to live in their plush government accommodation in the 75 Bungalows area earmarked for ministers, MPs and senior bureaucrats.

In December last year, the Lokayukta conducted its own raids on Joshis' house and filed an FIR under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Lokayukta PV Naolekar said that the department is conducting physical verification of the ownership of assets. In January, a week after the income-tax report was submitted to the government, the chief secretary had said action would be taken after the 7,000-page report was read and analysed. A hundred days have passed but the government is still to complete the reading.

"It clearly shows that the state government is sheltering Arvind and Tinu Joshi," said Madhya Pradesh Congress legal cell chief J P Dhanopia. "If you've earned money which was not disclosed, it means it came from unknown sources. Criminal charges should have been pressed and a criminal case registered against them by now," Dhanopia added.

Notices were also served to Arvind Joshi's NRI sisters Vibha and Abha purchase of 100 acres of agricultural land in MP in violation of FEMA and Reserve Bank rules.

3 months on, IAS couple still not charged for graft

BHOPAL: More than three months after the income tax department submitted a 7,000-page report to the Madhya Pradesh government and Lokayukta on the IAS couple Arvind and Tinu Joshi, they are yet to be chargesheeted. On Wednesday, their suspension from service for possessing unexplained assets worth Rs 380 crore was extended by another 180 days.

It's for the fourth time that their suspension has been extended. The Joshis were suspended from service soon after the income-tax raids on their official residence in the first week of February 2010. They continue to live in their plush government accommodation in the 75 Bungalows area earmarked for ministers, MPs and senior bureaucrats.

In December last year, the Lokayukta conducted its own raids on Joshis' house and filed an FIR under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Lokayukta PV Naolekar said that the department is conducting physical verification of the ownership of assets. In January, a week after the income-tax report was submitted to the government, the chief secretary had said action would be taken after the 7,000-page report was read and analysed. A hundred days have passed but the government is still to complete the reading.

"It clearly shows that the state government is sheltering Arvind and Tinu Joshi," said Madhya Pradesh Congress legal cell chief J P Dhanopia. "If you've earned money which was not disclosed, it means it came from unknown sources. Criminal charges should have been pressed and a criminal case registered against them by now," Dhanopia added.

Notices were also served to Arvind Joshi's NRI sisters Vibha and Abha purchase of 100 acres of agricultural land in MP in violation of FEMA and Reserve Bank rules.

Sai Trust set to pick its new boss

PUTTAPARTHI: Amid growing apprehensions about a protracted struggle to control the powerful Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust, the trustees on Thursday tried to present a united front saying that a new chairman would be elected soon as Sathya Sai Baba had neither left a will nor named any successor. Two Trust members would also be given the power to sign cheques in place of the 'godman'.

Addressing their maiden press conference in 20 years at the Sathya Sai Indoor Stadium here, the trustees also played down reports about Baba's ill-health saying there was nothing to suggest that anything was "extraordinarily wrong" prior to March 28 and that he was in his full senses till admission to the super-speciality hospital. They also sought to bury the casket controversy with Trust member Venu Srinivasan (ex-CII boss) asserting: "The casket arrived only after the Baba had passed away. We never ordered any casket in the first place."

On the future course of action, Srinivasan said: "The election of the chairman may happen next week when the trustees and the council of management meet in Puttaparthi." Baba's nephew R J Rathnakar — the only one from the Baba's family who is on the Trust board — also said that a decision on this would be taken soon. But the trustees ruled out adding more members to the Trust, including Baba's caregiver Satyajit, who, the trustees said, was just an employee picked by the 'godman' to attend to his personal needs. "Baba never took a decision to induct Satyajit into the Trust," Srinivasan said.

Srinivasan also sought to drive home the point that all Trust members were on the same page and no one had any personal agenda. "There are certain vested interests who are trying to defame the trust and its functionaries," he alleged. Srinivasan also dismissed the allegations levelled against the Trust by ex-TTD chairperson D K Adikesavulu Naidu saying that he had no locus standi. In between, Trust's "powerful" secretary K Chakravarthi said that the Baba wanted him to be the secretary. "I am not a trustee. I am only a facilitator to carry out welfare schemes," he said.

'Family members support Rathnakar': Despite the assertion of unity, Baba's family members seem to be backing Rathnakar — inducted into the Trust last year — to have a bigger say in the ashram's affairs even if he is not appointed as Baba's successor. Member of the council of management and Supreme Court advocate S S Naganand, however, said the Trust deed executed by the Baba himself has clearly specified the role of each trustee.

"Last year, the Baba himself expanded the trust by appointing five trustees and four members of the council of management. The trustees will take care of the Trust activities as enshrined in the Trust deed," Naganand said. Refuting reports that none of Baba's family members was allowed into the ICU, Rathnakar said he was with him during all the 27 days. "Several members of the family had darshan in the ICU," he said.

Asked as to who had decided to remove the ventilator, he said it was never removed. While Srinivasan said: "In the hospital, he was treated by doctors like any other patient. They did not treat him as God." He agreed that Baba's frame was slender but refused to comment on reports that his weight had dropped to 35 kgs before hospitalisation. On allegations against Satyajit, Srinivasan said: "He was with the Baba for 20 years. If he wasn't taking care of the Baba, he would have been sent away immediately." While Rathnakar dismissed reports of differences with Satyajit and said that he shared a "good relationship" with him. Senior trustees — former justice P N Bhagwati, Indulal Shah and S V Giri — along with member of council of management T K K Bhagvat were also present at the presser. "When Baba was alive we never had an occasion to interact with the media," Srinivasan said.

725 applications for return of Kashmiri militants from PoK

NEW DELHI: Keen to avail last year's special surrender and rehabilitation policy, 725 Kashmiri families have approached the Jammu and Kashmir government to facilitate the homecoming of their relatives who crossed over to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) during 1989-2009 to embrace militancy.

Sources in the home ministry said a high-level committee, comprising representatives of the state government, ministry of home affairs, Army and others will scrutinize the applications and verify the antecedents of the militants who want to surrender and live a peaceful life.

"If everything goes well after the double screening exercise, we expect the first batch of militants to return home by June-end," a source said.

The high-level committee is expected to hold its meeting immediately after the ongoing panchayat polls in J&K. The special surrender and rehabilitation policy covers all people (and their dependents) who crossed over to PoK between 1989 and 2009 to embrace militancy and now want to return to lead a peaceful life.

Sources said these militants had given up arms long ago due to a change of heart and were willing to return to the state.

The scheme includes identification, screening, travel, debriefing, rehabilitation and reintegration of the militants willing to give up arms. It will be implemented by the state government with active support of the Centre.

The issue of return of Kashmiri youth from PoK shot to prominence in 2006 when a delegation of leaders from J&K, including chief minister Omar Abdullah and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, went to Pakistan. Several Kashmiris in PoK met them and urged them to facilitate their return, saying they were "homesick".

Sai Trust set to pick its new boss

PUTTAPARTHI: Amid growing apprehensions about a protracted struggle to control the powerful Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust, the trustees on Thursday tried to present a united front saying that a new chairman would be elected soon as Sathya Sai Baba had neither left a will nor named any successor. Two Trust members would also be given the power to sign cheques in place of the 'godman'.

Addressing their maiden press conference in 20 years at the Sathya Sai Indoor Stadium here, the trustees also played down reports about Baba's ill-health saying there was nothing to suggest that anything was "extraordinarily wrong" prior to March 28 and that he was in his full senses till admission to the super-speciality hospital. They also sought to bury the casket controversy with Trust member Venu Srinivasan (ex-CII boss) asserting: "The casket arrived only after the Baba had passed away. We never ordered any casket in the first place."

On the future course of action, Srinivasan said: "The election of the chairman may happen next week when the trustees and the council of management meet in Puttaparthi." Baba's nephew R J Rathnakar — the only one from the Baba's family who is on the Trust board — also said that a decision on this would be taken soon. But the trustees ruled out adding more members to the Trust, including Baba's caregiver Satyajit, who, the trustees said, was just an employee picked by the 'godman' to attend to his personal needs. "Baba never took a decision to induct Satyajit into the Trust," Srinivasan said.

Srinivasan also sought to drive home the point that all Trust members were on the same page and no one had any personal agenda. "There are certain vested interests who are trying to defame the trust and its functionaries," he alleged. Srinivasan also dismissed the allegations levelled against the Trust by ex-TTD chairperson D K Adikesavulu Naidu saying that he had no locus standi. In between, Trust's "powerful" secretary K Chakravarthi said that the Baba wanted him to be the secretary. "I am not a trustee. I am only a facilitator to carry out welfare schemes," he said.

'Family members support Rathnakar': Despite the assertion of unity, Baba's family members seem to be backing Rathnakar — inducted into the Trust last year — to have a bigger say in the ashram's affairs even if he is not appointed as Baba's successor. Member of the council of management and Supreme Court advocate S S Naganand, however, said the Trust deed executed by the Baba himself has clearly specified the role of each trustee.

"Last year, the Baba himself expanded the trust by appointing five trustees and four members of the council of management. The trustees will take care of the Trust activities as enshrined in the Trust deed," Naganand said. Refuting reports that none of Baba's family members was allowed into the ICU, Rathnakar said he was with him during all the 27 days. "Several members of the family had darshan in the ICU," he said.

Asked as to who had decided to remove the ventilator, he said it was never removed. While Srinivasan said: "In the hospital, he was treated by doctors like any other patient. They did not treat him as God." He agreed that Baba's frame was slender but refused to comment on reports that his weight had dropped to 35 kgs before hospitalisation. On allegations against Satyajit, Srinivasan said: "He was with the Baba for 20 years. If he wasn't taking care of the Baba, he would have been sent away immediately." While Rathnakar dismissed reports of differences with Satyajit and said that he shared a "good relationship" with him. Senior trustees — former justice P N Bhagwati, Indulal Shah and S V Giri — along with member of council of management T K K Bhagvat were also present at the presser. "When Baba was alive we never had an occasion to interact with the media," Srinivasan said.

725 applications for return of Kashmiri militants from PoK

NEW DELHI: Keen to avail last year's special surrender and rehabilitation policy, 725 Kashmiri families have approached the Jammu and Kashmir government to facilitate the homecoming of their relatives who crossed over to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) during 1989-2009 to embrace militancy.

Sources in the home ministry said a high-level committee, comprising representatives of the state government, ministry of home affairs, Army and others will scrutinize the applications and verify the antecedents of the militants who want to surrender and live a peaceful life.

"If everything goes well after the double screening exercise, we expect the first batch of militants to return home by June-end," a source said.

The high-level committee is expected to hold its meeting immediately after the ongoing panchayat polls in J&K. The special surrender and rehabilitation policy covers all people (and their dependents) who crossed over to PoK between 1989 and 2009 to embrace militancy and now want to return to lead a peaceful life.

Sources said these militants had given up arms long ago due to a change of heart and were willing to return to the state.

The scheme includes identification, screening, travel, debriefing, rehabilitation and reintegration of the militants willing to give up arms. It will be implemented by the state government with active support of the Centre.

The issue of return of Kashmiri youth from PoK shot to prominence in 2006 when a delegation of leaders from J&K, including chief minister Omar Abdullah and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, went to Pakistan. Several Kashmiris in PoK met them and urged them to facilitate their return, saying they were "homesick".

Booking last minute? Get ready to pay a bomb

NEW DELHI: If you are planning to fly at short notice by any domestic airline, get ready to pay through your nose. The massive cancellation of Air India flights has resulted in the airline booking seats in bulk for its passengers on other carriers. With their own advance bookings and AI's passengers, airlines have very few seats available off the counter. The ones up for grabs fall in the premium category and burn a hole in the pocket.

This impact of the AI strike on last minute travelers was revealed when the Directorate General of Civil Aviation sought a report from airlines on fares charged by them on Tuesday, on the first day of the AI strike. Airlines have also been asked to give a chart of the fares charged on those routes a day earlier as well so that a comparison can be made.

"The fares are on the higher side but within the price bands that airlines have to give for each route. While there has been no cranking up of fares to encash on the strike, pre-booking and the accommodation of AI passengers has meant that very few seats are left for spot selling. These are going for the highest price bands set for those routes," said an official.

Airlines have 12-14 price brackets for each route with the first few tickets on sale being the cheapest. Fares keep rising as more tickets get sold. The last few seats are sold in the highest price band. Airlines had to start publicising the fare bands on their websites after the government pulled them up for charging exorbitant rates during the Diwali last year.

If one were to check tickets online, they would see that most flights have either few tickets left or have are left with premium class tickets. In some cases flying international is more reasonable than flying international. The starting fare for most metro sectors is over Rs 6,000 and going up to a massive Rs 15,000-Rs 25,000. The highest fare for a direct flight between Delhi and Chennai for Friday was Rs 25,530. Compared to this, the ticket for a direct flight to Bangkok cost between Rs 12,000 and Rs 17,000.

Aniruddha Agarwal, a software engineer who reached the IGI Airport on Thursday afternoon to purchase a ticket for Mumbai said: "My eyes popped out when I was told that no tickets were available till the evening and the only ticket in the evening was also worth Rs 24,000. I had no option but to buy it as I have to attend the meeting. Also since my office will take care of the expenses it really doesn't affect me but I hope there are no family emergencies that happen as these fares are prohibitive," he said.

Booking last minute? Get ready to pay a bomb

NEW DELHI: If you are planning to fly at short notice by any domestic airline, get ready to pay through your nose. The massive cancellation of Air India flights has resulted in the airline booking seats in bulk for its passengers on other carriers. With their own advance bookings and AI's passengers, airlines have very few seats available off the counter. The ones up for grabs fall in the premium category and burn a hole in the pocket.

This impact of the AI strike on last minute travelers was revealed when the Directorate General of Civil Aviation sought a report from airlines on fares charged by them on Tuesday, on the first day of the AI strike. Airlines have also been asked to give a chart of the fares charged on those routes a day earlier as well so that a comparison can be made.

"The fares are on the higher side but within the price bands that airlines have to give for each route. While there has been no cranking up of fares to encash on the strike, pre-booking and the accommodation of AI passengers has meant that very few seats are left for spot selling. These are going for the highest price bands set for those routes," said an official.

Airlines have 12-14 price brackets for each route with the first few tickets on sale being the cheapest. Fares keep rising as more tickets get sold. The last few seats are sold in the highest price band. Airlines had to start publicising the fare bands on their websites after the government pulled them up for charging exorbitant rates during the Diwali last year.

If one were to check tickets online, they would see that most flights have either few tickets left or have are left with premium class tickets. In some cases flying international is more reasonable than flying international. The starting fare for most metro sectors is over Rs 6,000 and going up to a massive Rs 15,000-Rs 25,000. The highest fare for a direct flight between Delhi and Chennai for Friday was Rs 25,530. Compared to this, the ticket for a direct flight to Bangkok cost between Rs 12,000 and Rs 17,000.

Aniruddha Agarwal, a software engineer who reached the IGI Airport on Thursday afternoon to purchase a ticket for Mumbai said: "My eyes popped out when I was told that no tickets were available till the evening and the only ticket in the evening was also worth Rs 24,000. I had no option but to buy it as I have to attend the meeting. Also since my office will take care of the expenses it really doesn't affect me but I hope there are no family emergencies that happen as these fares are prohibitive," he said.

Savings accounts to offer higher interest?

The RBI discussion paper said that savers would benefit from deregulation as rates are likely to rise.

MUMBAI: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has finally set the ball rolling on the issue of deregulating interest on savings accounts —- a move which large banks like SBI and HDFC Bank fiercely oppose and lenders like Yes Bank look forward to.

Deregulation would essentially give banks the freedom to set interest rates on savings accounts, which is currently fixed at 3.5%. Theoretically, a consumer could get a higher interest rate on a savings account due to the move, but it all depends on the RBI's final decision.

On Thursday, the central bank floated a discussion paper highlighting the pros and cons of deregulation, seeking public opinion on whether rates should be freed. The central bank has also pointed out that real interest rates — interest rates adjusted for inflation — have been largely negative for savings account holders. It said that savers would benefit from deregulation as rates are likely to rise. It has also said that freeing of interest rates would improve transmission of monetary policy by pushing up interest rates on savings accounts whenever the central bank raised policy rates.

In the past Aditya Puri, MD, HDFC Bank, and Shikha Sharrma, MD, Axis Bank, had said that savings rate should not be deregulated when there is a liquidity shortage and interest rates are rising. Former SBI chairman O P Bhatt had also said that deregulation would not benefit small depositors as banks that offer high interest rates would also seek a higher minimum balance to make up for transaction costs. Similarly, former RBI governor Y V Reddy was strongly opposed to savings rate deregulation stating that common people don't have time to apply their mind and shift money from one account to another and was strongly in favour of a uniform savings rate.

However, the extent to which deregulation will benefit small depositors is not yet clear. So far banks have been offering around the same return on 7- to 15-day term deposits which they pay on savings deposits (3.5%). But bankers say that this cannot be an indication. Although interest on savings deposits is calculated on a daily basis, savings accounts tend to be more 'sticky' than term deposits as savings accounts form the core of the retail customer's relationship with the bank.

Following the recent liquidity crunch many banks have realized the importance of having a higher share of current and savings account deposits (which are termed CASA deposits by the industry). Banks such as Yes Bank and IDBI Bank have been making all-out efforts to raise their share of CASA deposits and are seen as most likely to offer higher rates following deregulation.

"The effect on competition is still nebulous. It may be noted that movement of savings deposits and associated schemes amongst banks is constrained by inertia on the part of savers and barriers in the system in terms of minimum lock-in periods, penal interest rate, etc," said Madan Sabnavis, chief economist, Care Ratings. While banks would be induced to raise interest rates to mobilize savings deposits, funds may not flow freely as there would always be scepticism about changes in the interest rates structure unlike term deposits where the rates are fixed for a tenure, he added.

The questions asked by the RBI include: Should savings deposit interest rate be deregulated at this point of time? Should it be deregulated completely or in a phased manner, subject to a minimum floor for some time? How can the concerns with regard to savers (senior citizens, pensioners, small savers, particularly in rural and semi-urban areas) be addressed in case savings deposit interest rate is deregulated? How serious are concerns relating to a possible intense competition amongst banks and asset-liability mismatches if savings deposit interest rate is deregulated? Should higher interest rate be paid on savings deposits without a cheque book facility?

Bankers point out that even in the current environment savers have alternatives to savings deposits such as sweep-in accounts (where funds are transferred to FDs on a daily basis). There are also liquid funds where investors can park funds for a couple of days. Considering that the per capita savings deposit is around Rs 7,767, a one percentage point increase would add only Rs 6 per month on an average.

Savings accounts to offer higher interest?

The RBI discussion paper said that savers would benefit from deregulation as rates are likely to rise.

MUMBAI: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has finally set the ball rolling on the issue of deregulating interest on savings accounts —- a move which large banks like SBI and HDFC Bank fiercely oppose and lenders like Yes Bank look forward to.

Deregulation would essentially give banks the freedom to set interest rates on savings accounts, which is currently fixed at 3.5%. Theoretically, a consumer could get a higher interest rate on a savings account due to the move, but it all depends on the RBI's final decision.

On Thursday, the central bank floated a discussion paper highlighting the pros and cons of deregulation, seeking public opinion on whether rates should be freed. The central bank has also pointed out that real interest rates — interest rates adjusted for inflation — have been largely negative for savings account holders. It said that savers would benefit from deregulation as rates are likely to rise. It has also said that freeing of interest rates would improve transmission of monetary policy by pushing up interest rates on savings accounts whenever the central bank raised policy rates.

In the past Aditya Puri, MD, HDFC Bank, and Shikha Sharrma, MD, Axis Bank, had said that savings rate should not be deregulated when there is a liquidity shortage and interest rates are rising. Former SBI chairman O P Bhatt had also said that deregulation would not benefit small depositors as banks that offer high interest rates would also seek a higher minimum balance to make up for transaction costs. Similarly, former RBI governor Y V Reddy was strongly opposed to savings rate deregulation stating that common people don't have time to apply their mind and shift money from one account to another and was strongly in favour of a uniform savings rate.

However, the extent to which deregulation will benefit small depositors is not yet clear. So far banks have been offering around the same return on 7- to 15-day term deposits which they pay on savings deposits (3.5%). But bankers say that this cannot be an indication. Although interest on savings deposits is calculated on a daily basis, savings accounts tend to be more 'sticky' than term deposits as savings accounts form the core of the retail customer's relationship with the bank.

Following the recent liquidity crunch many banks have realized the importance of having a higher share of current and savings account deposits (which are termed CASA deposits by the industry). Banks such as Yes Bank and IDBI Bank have been making all-out efforts to raise their share of CASA deposits and are seen as most likely to offer higher rates following deregulation.

"The effect on competition is still nebulous. It may be noted that movement of savings deposits and associated schemes amongst banks is constrained by inertia on the part of savers and barriers in the system in terms of minimum lock-in periods, penal interest rate, etc," said Madan Sabnavis, chief economist, Care Ratings. While banks would be induced to raise interest rates to mobilize savings deposits, funds may not flow freely as there would always be scepticism about changes in the interest rates structure unlike term deposits where the rates are fixed for a tenure, he added.

The questions asked by the RBI include: Should savings deposit interest rate be deregulated at this point of time? Should it be deregulated completely or in a phased manner, subject to a minimum floor for some time? How can the concerns with regard to savers (senior citizens, pensioners, small savers, particularly in rural and semi-urban areas) be addressed in case savings deposit interest rate is deregulated? How serious are concerns relating to a possible intense competition amongst banks and asset-liability mismatches if savings deposit interest rate is deregulated? Should higher interest rate be paid on savings deposits without a cheque book facility?

Bankers point out that even in the current environment savers have alternatives to savings deposits such as sweep-in accounts (where funds are transferred to FDs on a daily basis). There are also liquid funds where investors can park funds for a couple of days. Considering that the per capita savings deposit is around Rs 7,767, a one percentage point increase would add only Rs 6 per month on an average.