I thought I would share something I use with SEO clients in Portland that like a DIY game to play to see how I am helping them rank well in organic search results. Practice using Google’s Chrome Browser, Downloadable Here, alongside TyBit’s Search Engine Toolbar Downloadable Here.
The main reason I use Google Chrome to conduct targeted keyword searches for clients that want me to focus on certain phrases, is that Chrome immediately returns updated results from Google’s search engine before either Firefox or IE. I’m serious. Conduct your favorite search (or use a search for one of my clients, like “harvester repair” [csiequip.com], “portland computer repair” [1201.com], “Oregon coast excavating” [salmonrivercontractors.com], “Chinese food Portland” [szechuankitchen.com], “Portland sports bar” [cidermillpdx.com OR fryertuckchicken.com], “fried chicken in Portland” [cidermillpdx.com OR fryertuckchicken.com], or “Portland SEO” [streethelper.com]) in both FF and IE and you will see vastly different organic search results. Now do the same search in Google’s Chrome browser and you will get more recent search result rankings because Chrome clears out and refreshes your cache at a more regular and frequent rate (the precise rate is top-secret, but rumors report that the browser does this every twelve hours by default, and more often based on how often you conduct searches.).
Ok, now move on to phase two of this game. After you know your up-to-the-minute Google ranking, you will want to see where you rank in the other leading engines. You COULD do this by searching each engine individually, OR you can use TyBit to search all of the 16 most popular (except Google, but including MSN, Yahoo and Bing) engines at once and see the overall average returns and rankings for organic search results.
Try it. If you wonder if your SEO Company in Portland (or anywhere for that matter) is working for you, this is one way to check on their progress.