SEO: Yandex, a New Search Choice?
When you need to look for something on the Web, what do you do?
For me, I just type my search query into the address bar of my Firefox web browser, and because I have selected Google, I get results back from Google. I can
also search Amazon, IMDB (Internet Movie Database), Wikipedia, Bing, Yahoo, or GoDaddy, and I can add and subtract from those search spots using the Firefox add-on "Omnibar." It's great, but usually, I have my search set for Google.
I rarely bother with Yahoo or Bing, though Bing is pretty cool, but unless I'm searching for specific information at one of the other sites mentioned, it's always Google. If I have to type a search engine into another computer or a public computer (which I never do, but if I did…) it would be http://Google.com. Google is just the most efficient way for me to find the information I'm looking for.
But there's a new and very interesting search engine on the rise, and it's just coming to computers in the U. S. and other parts of the globe outside Russia. The Russians have been using it for quite some time, and now, Yandex is available globally. It's about having choices, isn't it? I mean, if something comes along to rival Google, I'm all for it. I mean, before Google, I was an avid Alta Vista search fan, and though it's still around, there's no question that Google is just better.
But I toddled on over to Yandex today to check it out because of a story I saw in Search Newz today, "Could Google Have Some Real Competition?" by Matthew Elshaw. According to the article, Yandex actually gets more search volume than Facebook or Ask.com. It's 7th overall in the world of search. How could I not check it out?
So, I typed in the exact match phrase "list building." I was curious to see how different the results might be….Here's what I got at Yandex:
I get six results before I need to scroll down, and there's not a single ad, top or right sidebar. Very clean results.
Now, here's what I got with Google. Same exact match search:
I got three results that weren't PPC ads and the rest of the stuff on the page is all paid advertising. That doesn't mean that paid is bad. We all use PPC, and paid ads can sometimes be just as good or better than the organic results that show up, but still…
Do you see the difference? It's HUGE!
One other thing I found interesting about Yandex is that it not only tells you how many pages there are for that keyword, but at the bottom of the SERPs page, it gives you how many searches are done per month. That would rock out loud, except that it breaks the words down to individual terms, even when you do an exact match search. Sucky. That doesn't tell you much, unless you're using a 1-term keyword, which is not recommended.
Anyway, if you're searching and just not getting what you want, try Yandex. It's clean and the results are quite different. You could be finding your perfect niche-centric info in Russia. Pretty cool.
