Category: Google

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What’s Google Got In Store for 2014? Part One

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McCord Web Services is a Google Partner.

Getting or keeping search placement on Google is a fulltime job! In a wonderful and insightful review of what Google has in store for 2014 by Dr. Peter Myers for the Moz Blog in an article titled “Future SERP: a Glimpse at Google 2014” you’ll learn what he thinks Google has in store. I have to say I think that this is one of the very best articles I have read about what Google is doing.

Here are a few tidbits from the article interspersed with my own insights .

1. Google is focused on mobile. With smartphone use way up, Google’s got to find a way to monetize mobile to continue to build profits. As the mobile user reacts with search differently on their device than when using a desktop, Google is doing strong testing to identify what works and is relevant to mobile users. Expect to see the things that are being tested in mobile move to the desktop arena in the near future. For clients, this means location specificity in your content and on your website pages is very important as are location extension use in Google AdWords. Having a mobile responsive designed website is also becoming important.

2. Google is expanding the Knowledge Graph using more informational topical content from authoritative website in their organic search results to answer search questions. Questions about topics cover about 10% of all Google searches. This allows for wonderful opportunity for your own content to place in Google when you write a blog post or have content on your website that helps to education or answer a question.

3. Google is testing new ad formats that blur the line between organic and paid ads. If you’ve searched recently with your smartphone, you’ve seen some of these new formats. Some are colored the same as the organic results with a small goldenrod colored ad box in front, others are interspersed within the actual organic results. No longer are ads on mobile necessarily at the top of bottom of the page.  It is very important to know that this testing is mainly happening on mobile right now, but will move to the desktop when vetted. One of the big reasons for interspersing ads into the organic results, especially for mobile, is that there are only two ad slots using the old format for mobile – but there are more advertisers!

Visit our post on Wednesday November 20th for part two in this series.

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Google is Focused on Mobile Search Are You Making It Important?

What Google considers important, you’d better take seriously especially if you want to place in Google’s search results without having to pay to play. What Google is considering very important at this point in time is fully embracing mobile. And not just mobile advertising, but a whole range of mobile options:

  • Mobile advertising using Google AdWords
  • Responsive website design – smartphone viewing capability
  • Location specificity in your content
  • Pricing strategies to combat showrooming

To fully understand Google’s focus on the mobile space, make sure to review Google’s new Mobile Playbook.

Not only does Google consider the implementation of showing your AdWords ads in the mobile space important, but it considers having a mobile responsive website important to place organically. This brave new world of a multi platform dimension is a whole new mind set and a revolutionary way to integrate your users web experience across multiple devices.

As Google states “Mobile changes everything.”  The Mobile Playbook will help you to understand the value of mobile customers so that you can address your content strategy, in-store pricing strategies, and implement new advertising strategies as well as tips such as creating exclusive product lines to prevent price shopping. Google provides an excellent road map with case studies for the forward thinking executive’s review to help them understand that for Google, mobile is a game changer.

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Not Provided Keyword Data in Analytics Requires Out of Box Keyword Discovery

Searching for keywords in an alternative way
Searching for keywords in an alternative way

In Google Analytics almost all organic search activity is being returned with a “not provided” tag masking the actual keywords used to find your content. If you are not advertising in Google AdWords, you may be totally in the dark as to what keywords visitors are using to find your web page content.

If you are looking to improve website visibility and popularity of your website, you may be struggling to figure out what keywords you should use for a landing page, topic for an e-newsletter or for that matter even the topic for a blog post.

Here are a few tips on how you can discover keywords and opportunities to incorporate into your content creation program by thinking outside the norm.

1. Use Google.com’s predictive text insertion to identify top search terms to see if you are covered. Click in to some of the searches you like and look carefully at the returned results. Do you see businesses like yours there or do you just see PDFs from colleges or government entities. Make sure the words you use for your final cut match with your business based on the returned results.

2. Use YouTube.com’s predictive text insertion in the search field to identify possible keyword variations you may not have considered. If you are video minded and see a possible keyword opportunity, consider making a video to fill that niche and place on that topic.

3. Use the Google AdWords Keyword Planner tool to do a reality check and see what type of competition you may face and look for alternative keyword variations.

4. Make sure to review your Google Analytics beyond the first page of results where you see the “not provided” as further down the page and back you will be able to see some of the actual keyword terms used to find you.

5. Make sure to review your Google Webmaster account to see what terms Google is showing as your query results. Although you may not see all the terms used to find you, you will be able to glean very specific insight as to city name, combinations, and top activity.

If you feel you need professional help, we provide consulting services to help identify areas of opportunity.