I have lost count of the number of times I have been speaking to a client on the phone and while we are reviewing their online rankings what they can see is very different from the results shown on my computer.

This is easily explained and fixed by removing Google Web History, but how many people are actually aware that this feature is enabled on their Google accounts and their computers by default?

What is Google Web History

If you often think that your search results are overly tailored then they probably are.  Google collects information on your browsing habits every time you do a search enabling them to serve up more personalized results to suit you.

The simple fact is Google shows you what they think you want to see.  You may find that your regular visits to your own website or competitors websites are skewing your search results.

From an online marketing perspective this functionality is very misleading.  When researching how you are positioned in Google you need to see a standard set of results, similar to what your potential customers are viewing, not tailored to your search habits.

If you are using the online arena to generate leads and traffic to your website it is essential to make sure you disable Google Web HIstory.  Otherwise how to do you benchmark how you are actually performing in Google with this personalization distorting your view?

I can see many of you throwing up your hands in horror at this 'big brother' aspect of Google.  However it is a function that is here to stay and can be viewed as good or bad depending on what angle you look at it.

How Do I Disable Google Web History?

Google keep a track of your search history if you are signed into a Google account as well as when you are not.  These are slightly different and can trip you up if you are not aware.

One method of generating more incoming links to your web site is to list it in directories on line.  There are various groups of directories, which could be summarised as:

1. Free Listings
2. Listings requiring reciprocal links
3. Paid listings

We normally avoid paid listings, unless of course they are highly relevant to what you do and proven to generate traffic to your site.  So many do not, and the money is best spent elsewhere.  There are so many good directories where payment is not required that you can be very choosy about paying for listintgs.

On this page we will build a list of some of the directories that you may use, suggesting that by building listings in more and more your web site wil lbegin to rank more highly for search, and your visitor traffic will increase.