I received the strangest email from the Google Adsense team an hour ago…Santa Search Tips. Basically it is a simple game designed by Google to help you understand some of Google’s search basics SEO Tips. The site is a .co.nz, so it is possible that the email only went out to New Zealand Adsense publishers. It is all good stuff. I have gone through the pain of finding all 15 of the tips for you:
Tip #1 If you’re unsure…
if all your pages are being seen by Google, search for your site’s address after the command “site”, ie site:yourwebsite.com. When you see your pages in the results, check your snippet content and page titles. Include information that matches the product or category of products on a particular page. If anything is missing or you want more details, you can also use the Content Analysis Tool in Webmaster Tools.
Tip #2 Did you know?
if you upload new products faster then Google crawls your site, you should submit a Google Sitemap to include a refresh rate.
Tip #3 Remember to…
label your images appropriately. Don’t miss out on potential customers because of [001.jpg] instead of [NintendoWii.jpg] Images Search is one of the largest search properties out there, so take advantage of it.
Tip #4 Make sure you…
manage your Sitelinks. Your most valuable links may not be the ones that Google chooses as Sitelinks, so remember to remove any that you don’t think will benefit your users.
Tip #5 Don’t forget to…
check for error and keyword traffic in Webmaster Tools. See our diagnostics checklist.
Tip #6 It’s important to…
serve accurate HTTP status codes. If you’re permanently out of a product, serve a 404. I you have permanently moved a product to a new page, serve a 301. The more we know about your old pages, the better.
Tip #7 Consistency is key…
if your website directs customers to a brick and mortar store, make sure you double check you business listing in Google Local.
Tip #8 Take a few minutes…
to test the usability of your checkout process. Ask yourself if a user can get from product page to checkout without assistance? Is your checkout button easy to find?
Tip #9 There’s no doubt about it…
users and search engines like fresh content. We recommend original product descriptions or a product review section on your site.
Tip #10 Have you thought of?
reading our recently released SEO Starter Guide?
Tip #11 Would you like an overview of our top tips?
Watch our Tutorials for Webmasters.
Tip #12 You can always…
find out what information Google has about your website in Webmaster Tools.
Tip #13 For even more tips…
get the latest updates from the Webmaster Central Blog.
Tip #14 You can always…
answer your other questions in our Webmaster Help Center.
Tip #15 It’s never too late to…
ask your last-minute questions in the Webmaster Help.
ArnoWingen from Studenten Lenen
Pretty cool tips. I haven’t received these. I’m an Adsense publisher based in Europe, so I think you’re right about them sending it to Adsense publishers in your region.
Kevin from Great Wall of China Facts
Thanks for the great tips. I haven’t heard many of these before.
Ian Brodie from Sales Blog
As you’d expect, most of the tips are pretty obvious & well known. I hadn’t thought that image keywords were so important though.
The 404 for an out of stock product is madness though. No real online store is going to serve up a 404 for a discontinued product line. They’re going to want to redirect to an explanation and list of similar products or alternatives.
Ian
Robin from ecommerce SEO
I am an adsense publisher too, but didnot receive the mail. Anyway thanks for the share.
tony from Best cheap web hosting.
I use the first 9 tips all the time. Some of the others i use sometimes. I have to see if they sent me the email i have not checked email today.
I see so many sites not use tip number 3 all the time. Everyone should use it and alt tags.
Jordan from swimsuit coverups
these are some great tips, when i was searching i didn’t think this would be a post focused on the other side of commerce but i got a lot of good info out of it anyhow. thanks.
Cashmere Lashkari
Hi,
Thanks for all the great tips. Have recently got my own blog and am not aware of all the things that I can do to push its popularity.
This list will help.
Cashmere from Pedestal Dining Table
I’m still a bit lost with Web Master Tools. This will give me an idea about what I really need to do. Thanks for sharing the amazing tips.
Desktop background
I strongly disagree with the number 9. SEs don’t gave a damn about fresh content, look at many high PR websites (e.g. Google.com is the best example).
Jerry
Thanks for the great tips. I think this is very suitable for a business site, that sells merchandise online, however there is some great info out there for the rest of us.
Sarika from diode laser hair removal
Now this is a post I will be returning to after the new year. Lots of useful information. Thanks for sharing. Have a great 2009!
Jeff from Nashville Properties
Thank you so much for the awesome tips that I might use in my business. Great share.
samasamon
these are some great tips, when i was searching i didn’t think this would be a post focused on the other side of commerce but i got a lot of good info out of it anyhow. thanks.
Neil from Bartul
It’s interesting that they came out with those tips. Still, it’s a bit strange. I wonder what the thought process there was. I wonder if there’s any misdirection involved here.
Justin from Airsoft Rifles
I played that game for so long, it was pretty fun. Thanks for getting all the tips so I didn’t have to keep playing. The last six aren’t even tips, just links. I would’ve expected a little more effort from Google.
ArnoWingen from sleutelverklaring
Whatever happened to Google being sort of ‘against’ SEO? Reading the comments on this post, I also think someone’s trying some misdirection by using the Google name…
greg from glasses on line
Thanks for sharing the tips. The little present throwing game was fun too although the farthest I got was 147.
mmo
Interesting, nice to see they at least want to help people succeed by showing them where to start.
Andy from onlinechristianbusiness
Thanks for the great resource. It seems like The Big G (no the other Big G) is trying to give us hints as far as what we need to do to get the most out of the system. At least I hope so and it doesn’t turn out to be red herrings.
Music Man
thanks for sharing all the great tips.
Fred
Thanks for the list of tips. They all sound great and very useful. Google is full of good SEO advice if I take the time to search it out. This list will save a lot of time.
Jamie from Auckland Air Conditioning
I am also an Adsense publisher in NZ but never got the email…
Some real nice tips though, thanks for sharing!
Joe from Spokane South Hill Properties
Thank you so much for sharing a cool tips that I might use. Keep up the good job.
Spot from Shuttle D10
On tip#1 you mentioned checking to see if Google is seeing all of your pages. Well, what do you do if Google is missing a page? Do you have tips for “forcing” Google to look at it?
Simon
@Spot: Ping them….if it is a blog: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/10/got-blog-will-ping.html
Richard from Littman Bros.
Good tips. Thanks for condensing them for us. These are things everyone should be keeping track of.
Oly from Amsterdam web design
Thank u for sharing, there are some tips i wasnt familier with. these tips come in handy when u create a new website.
Kevin from Nashville Properties
Thanks a lot for the awesome tips that I might use next time. Keep it up.
James from Discount Codes
What Desktop backgrounds has said is true – for now. This will probably change significantly as Google moves more to basing results on LSI.
Karen from Blazing Minds
I use several of these tips already, but there are a few which I will have to implement.
Tatiana from blog about our life
Great tips, I do like them, thanks for sharing and keep up your good work.
Krishna
Well thanks for sharing such nice tips. Hope it will surely help all the bloggers.
Gesunde Ernährung
Great, really great tips. Although it’s already January, your santa tips make my day. I took notes of your tips and gladly apply those – NOW.
Janet Bondrucker
Thanks for the tips and for summarize it.
alaska fishing
That first Google tip doesn’t really work for me. I can find pages that it doesn’t return from the querie with a simple Goggle search. Weird.
ebay
Wow, this list is good. Number 8 is very important. It would be a shame to build a site and have people not be able to find their shopping cart. We have all been to some of these sites. Fortunately this aspect seems to be improving of late.
Jeff from Springfield IL Mortgage
I am kinda late to know about this. But, I want to say thank you for the tips that I might use next Christmas.
Charles from Las Vegas Homes
Some of these tips I haven’t seen before.
“Tip #9 There’s no doubt about it…
users and search engines like fresh content. We recommend original product descriptions or a product review section on your site.”
That can be applied to any time of site, not just ecommerce. Fresh content will keep Googlebot coming back to your site. Plus the more content you add, the great potential to draw in more visitors.
Theresa
Great tips. You surely have given me lots of things to do with my site. But I’m looking forward to the results.
Ann Arbor from Web Design
I disagree with you desktop background. People do care for the content they put up. Google more than anyone else.
Cashmere from Contemporary Dining Chairs
Long time no new posts. Looking forward to some nice blogs from you.
john Niedersachsen
Thank you for sharing this information with us!
It´s always a good thing to remind us all the Basic SEO Tips.
Cheers!
Stu from Pasta Machines
Never, ever, knowingly serve a 404, EVER!!!!
Either leave the page there with an explanation that you no longer stock the item, 301 it to a related product page, or 301 it to your home page.
Never, ever, ever…
Mark from Odzyskiwanie danych
Thanks for the tips, Santa
Google is a great tool but one needs to know how to use it efficiently. This will really help 
Jeffrey from Property Tax Audit
I’ve never seen or heard this tips before.. Thank you so much for sharing. I know that I will gonna use it.
Joe from Walnut Properties
Thanks for sharing a very useful tips. I will surely use it.
Chris from DominateIM
Nice set of tips Simon. I never remember to label my images correctly so I’ll start trying to do that from now on.
Michael from Charter Yachts
Nice set of tips. Many people are still unaware of this search tips. These will get search results a lot more effective for the users.
Chelle from Addiction Help
Aw I missed this one from Google – either I’m not signed up for their emails or they didn’t send it to US publishers.
I’m really curious about the sitelinks – I’ve noticed them on some sites but none of mine. They don’t show up when I search for my site – I’ll have to see if I can figure out a way to get them for my sites.
Khaled from Car Number Plates
Thanks for all the great tips I wasn’t aware that Google provided so much support for helping new webmasters develop their sites.