GEO TARGETING AND SEO
Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2008 11:24 pmGEO TARGETING AND SEO
Providing geographic metadata in Web sites and syndicated feeds can provide users with the ability to search easily for services and articles based on location and proximity.
Geolocation by IP address enables statcounter applications and Web sites to determine users' locations automatically in order to provide specific location-based services to users and members of an on-line community. Such data also helps in combating internet fraud and ip is one of many details recorded by our payment processors 2checkout and Paypal. Recording ip also helps Newswriter target expired domain traffic campaigns according to the clients customer audience. In this article, we present various methods by which Web sites can provide their geographic locations to static pages and syndicated feeds, in the form of meta information or geotags. Put another way, geolocation by IP address is the technique a Web site uses to determine where users are located; geotagging is the technique users employ to find out where a Web site is located. In addition we will look at the SEO value of such services including the results of our recent study into ICBM.
Geotags typically locate the Web site's principle location on the Earth. This information can contain a number of elements. Some geotagging contains latitude and longitude information enabling a webmaster to pinpoint an exact location. Additional tags can name cities, regions and country stats for general locations. Web services, applications and users then can query this information to obtain directions (how to get from here to there), locality (what's near there) or context (where was this article written). Geotags differ from a simple address in that they usually are encoded in metadata and are not visible as part of the Web page. In the case of Newswriter our geo targeting is hardcoded on the server and not visible. By following a standard, other services easily and reliably can find these geotags. Various semantic Web projects still are solidifying geospatial tagging standards, but several techniques already have become common and supported. This article presents these current techniques.
Why Geotag?
Providing a geographic location is beneficial particularly for retail and service businesses, tourist attractions and entertainment venues. If you want to locate a local veterinary center or a hotel near a particular landmark this can be achieved through geotagging. Geographic link directories, such as A2B and Multimap, can index these services by location and allow users to search geographically as well as by service type. Currently, many of these services limit users in their selection of available services. But, it would be possible to allow for more complex queries, such as searching for "Thai restaurants within 2 miles of Central London". Or, when using automatic geolocation, one could ask for "directions from my current location to the nearest theater".
Current location-based services rely on the Web site administrator registering with an on-line index and specifying its location. Some of these services charge a fee, and many are not used commonly, nor are they cross-referenced. Google runs Google Maps a free engine that allows users to search for location-based services using complex queries such as the examples above. Google Maps is an excellent example of how providing geographic information on a Web site greatly can enhance its visibility and usefulness to potential customers and users.
Geographic metadata also is useful for bloggers and photographers. Traveling writers, travel writers and reviewers can give context to their articles by supplying specific geographic information about where they are writing from or where the business they are reviewing is located. Are you travelling to Thailand?. A geo targeted Thailand article can put content infront of those that are looking for it.
By embedding a geographic location in the metadata of the Web site, applications and Web-based services quickly and reliably can determine the site's location relative to search criteria. Using metadata prevents the confusion of an automated search bot having to determine the location from the site's text. Geotagging has been around for some time. Yet only a minority of people know of its use and fewer still utilise the benefits of geourls. The rest of this article discusses the techniques used for embedding geographic information in your Web site or syndicated feed.
Geotagging a Web Site
For a Web site, several means of geotagging are available. In this article I will focus on meta tags for geo targeting. Below is a copy of the meta tags used on a domain of our parent company:
<meta name="ICBM" content="40.746980, -73.980547">
<meta name="DC.title" content="Watch Live Football">
<META NAME="geo.position" content="40.746990, -73.980537">
<META NAME="geo.placename" CONTENT="New York">
<META NAME="geo.region" CONTENT="USA">
The problem with ICBM is its original acronym is Intercontinental Ballistic Missile. The meaning for ICBM in turns of Geo Targeting is:
The form used to register a site with the Usenet mapping project, back before the day of pervasive Internet, included a blank for longitude and latitude, preferably to seconds-of-arc accuracy. This was actually used for generating geographically-correct maps of Usenet links on a plotter; however, it became traditional to refer to this as one's 'ICBM address' or 'missile address', and some people include it in their sig block with that name. (A real missile address would include target elevation.)
ICBM tags are limited to latitude and longitude and do not include other regional information, such as city or country. The syntax is as follows:
<meta name='ICBM' content="latitude, longitude" />
This tag would be included in your Web page's section.
Another means of embedding geographic metadata is through geo-structure tags. These geo-structure tags can include latitude and longitude information as well as regional information and an extra placename. The placename could contain the specific address of the person or business. Or, it could be useful for providing a location that may not have a specific point but covering a broader region, such as a city or district. The following example is for the Museo Nacional Del Prado, in Madrid, Spain
<META NAME="geo.position" content="40.746990, -73.980537">
<META NAME="geo.placename" CONTENT="New York">
<META NAME="geo.region" CONTENT="USA">
Regards
Sathish
Providing geographic metadata in Web sites and syndicated feeds can provide users with the ability to search easily for services and articles based on location and proximity.
Geolocation by IP address enables statcounter applications and Web sites to determine users' locations automatically in order to provide specific location-based services to users and members of an on-line community. Such data also helps in combating internet fraud and ip is one of many details recorded by our payment processors 2checkout and Paypal. Recording ip also helps Newswriter target expired domain traffic campaigns according to the clients customer audience. In this article, we present various methods by which Web sites can provide their geographic locations to static pages and syndicated feeds, in the form of meta information or geotags. Put another way, geolocation by IP address is the technique a Web site uses to determine where users are located; geotagging is the technique users employ to find out where a Web site is located. In addition we will look at the SEO value of such services including the results of our recent study into ICBM.
Geotags typically locate the Web site's principle location on the Earth. This information can contain a number of elements. Some geotagging contains latitude and longitude information enabling a webmaster to pinpoint an exact location. Additional tags can name cities, regions and country stats for general locations. Web services, applications and users then can query this information to obtain directions (how to get from here to there), locality (what's near there) or context (where was this article written). Geotags differ from a simple address in that they usually are encoded in metadata and are not visible as part of the Web page. In the case of Newswriter our geo targeting is hardcoded on the server and not visible. By following a standard, other services easily and reliably can find these geotags. Various semantic Web projects still are solidifying geospatial tagging standards, but several techniques already have become common and supported. This article presents these current techniques.
Why Geotag?
Providing a geographic location is beneficial particularly for retail and service businesses, tourist attractions and entertainment venues. If you want to locate a local veterinary center or a hotel near a particular landmark this can be achieved through geotagging. Geographic link directories, such as A2B and Multimap, can index these services by location and allow users to search geographically as well as by service type. Currently, many of these services limit users in their selection of available services. But, it would be possible to allow for more complex queries, such as searching for "Thai restaurants within 2 miles of Central London". Or, when using automatic geolocation, one could ask for "directions from my current location to the nearest theater".
Current location-based services rely on the Web site administrator registering with an on-line index and specifying its location. Some of these services charge a fee, and many are not used commonly, nor are they cross-referenced. Google runs Google Maps a free engine that allows users to search for location-based services using complex queries such as the examples above. Google Maps is an excellent example of how providing geographic information on a Web site greatly can enhance its visibility and usefulness to potential customers and users.
Geographic metadata also is useful for bloggers and photographers. Traveling writers, travel writers and reviewers can give context to their articles by supplying specific geographic information about where they are writing from or where the business they are reviewing is located. Are you travelling to Thailand?. A geo targeted Thailand article can put content infront of those that are looking for it.
By embedding a geographic location in the metadata of the Web site, applications and Web-based services quickly and reliably can determine the site's location relative to search criteria. Using metadata prevents the confusion of an automated search bot having to determine the location from the site's text. Geotagging has been around for some time. Yet only a minority of people know of its use and fewer still utilise the benefits of geourls. The rest of this article discusses the techniques used for embedding geographic information in your Web site or syndicated feed.
Geotagging a Web Site
For a Web site, several means of geotagging are available. In this article I will focus on meta tags for geo targeting. Below is a copy of the meta tags used on a domain of our parent company:
<meta name="ICBM" content="40.746980, -73.980547">
<meta name="DC.title" content="Watch Live Football">
<META NAME="geo.position" content="40.746990, -73.980537">
<META NAME="geo.placename" CONTENT="New York">
<META NAME="geo.region" CONTENT="USA">
The problem with ICBM is its original acronym is Intercontinental Ballistic Missile. The meaning for ICBM in turns of Geo Targeting is:
The form used to register a site with the Usenet mapping project, back before the day of pervasive Internet, included a blank for longitude and latitude, preferably to seconds-of-arc accuracy. This was actually used for generating geographically-correct maps of Usenet links on a plotter; however, it became traditional to refer to this as one's 'ICBM address' or 'missile address', and some people include it in their sig block with that name. (A real missile address would include target elevation.)
ICBM tags are limited to latitude and longitude and do not include other regional information, such as city or country. The syntax is as follows:
<meta name='ICBM' content="latitude, longitude" />
This tag would be included in your Web page's section.
Another means of embedding geographic metadata is through geo-structure tags. These geo-structure tags can include latitude and longitude information as well as regional information and an extra placename. The placename could contain the specific address of the person or business. Or, it could be useful for providing a location that may not have a specific point but covering a broader region, such as a city or district. The following example is for the Museo Nacional Del Prado, in Madrid, Spain
<META NAME="geo.position" content="40.746990, -73.980537">
<META NAME="geo.placename" CONTENT="New York">
<META NAME="geo.region" CONTENT="USA">
Regards
Sathish