Category: Google

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Huge Change in Google Algorithm Coming in December/January

Not to worry, Google has said that they will hold this huge algorithm update until after the holidays, but except a new algorithm called Caffeine to roll out late December early January. Huge updates and strategic changes end up with names. The last really massive one that turned webmaster’s world upside down was called Florida and it was infamous. In fact the changes were so big that with all the squawking after the update Google actually tweaked it and softened the impact. But needless to say many sites had their organic placement take a huge nose dive.

I just read this article and I think it is the best one in regards to explaining in fairly simple terms what webmasters think will happen with this update. You can read the full article here. The author Titus Hoskins supposes what will be in the update, but I have to say I could not agree more.

One of the biggest takeaways from this is that we suspect Google is changing how they value links as a factor for organic search placement.

Hoskins says, “The major question here is this: has the importance of backlinking been downplayed in this new index in favor of the keyworded domain and onsite content and optimization? Has there been a major shift to listing more quality content rather than relying on the number of backlinks a site is receiving, even from important related themed sites? The major problem and question to Google is this: if links can be bought, how do you keep your organic results democratic and fair, which was the original intention of Larry Page and Sergey Brin when they started Google in 1998.”

This is a very valid point. Hoskins goes on to propose that the new update will more heavily weight social bookmarking which is much more difficult albeit nearly impossible to scam. Interesting supposition considering that not everyone is using social bookmarking tools.

We can predict some things as Google has rolled Caffeine out to one data center so far and allowed webmasters early sandbox review of the new algorithm in an unprecedented rollout several months ago.

1. Links are devalued but to what extent we are not sure.

2. Content is again king and now becomes even more important.

3. Load speed of your website may now be a factor. Google has rolled out several speed clocking tools and has really put the word out on the Matt Cutts blog that speed is Queen next to content being King.

4. It appears that keyword domains will rank better in the new update.

5. On page factors will be more important than previously, Hoskins states, “‘OnPage Factors’ to play a much greater role in Google Caffeine. Quality unique content, page design, good navigation, title, meta tags, description, keyword density, alt tags, page views, bounce rate, traffic numbers, time spent on page, and the number of social bookmarks may play an increased role in achieving high rankings.” I would agree several patent disclosures ago Google stated that it was watching these figures and I could see that in the long run click and traffic activity would be coming in to play and it appears that Caffeine is the update where these factors finally are being considered.

6. Social bookmarks may be considered key organic factors. Here, I am not sure, but it does make sense. Social bookmarking is like a vote for content or popularity. You cannot buy this kind of traffic it happens naturally. It makes sense that Google who likes to level the playing field and reward performance not scamming would consider this important.

Take some time to read this excellent article so you will have a good understanding of what will be happening with your website most likely in late December to early January.

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What is Google Base?

Setting up a Google Base account is the first step you must take to have your items for sale to be shown in Google Products. What exactly is Google Base? Let’s explore that a bit is easy terms.

First here is the link to set up your Google Base account.  When you load your products and you will do this in a very special syntax your products will then have the opportunity to be shown on Google Products pages as well as in the organic results under a listing called Shopping.

Sometimes a pay per click customer will see a competitors item shown with an image in the organic results and think that this is an AdWords vehicle and that if they set up AdWords image ads there images of products will show in the organic results of Google.com, this is not the case. Google Base is unique and another free search vehicle and is not associated with participation in Google AdWords, although Google AdWords text ads may show on the Google Products shopping page but only as text ads.

You can submit your product listing to Google Base as either a tab delimited text spreadsheet or as an XML data feed. I personally like the XML data feed. For more information on the specifics of how to do this and the format, please visit this Google Base information page on data feeds.

Once your feed is created, you will load the feed using FTP to a special location that Google provides. After that it is up to Google if they will show your products, images, pricing and information when it matches a search.

For e-commerce sellers Google Base provides another great way to showcase your products using Google.

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Can You Ever Remove Personal Information From Google?

I had a client call me the other day and wanted to know how to remove information about herself from Google.com. She told me she went on a date and her date knew everything about her from doing a Google search including family member names. She wanted the information removed.

Wow, most people want more information on Google not less. Here is my answer in a nutshell, once Google has it in their archive, there is no removing it. If the information resides on other websites you simply cannot remove the information. This is the same for both good and bad news about you. Once something is in the public domain it is available forever and to anyone who looks online this includes dates and employers.

Fortunately for this client all the information was good. She is a celebrity in her own right and just now getting high media exposure and is shocked at how much about her life is available on the Internet to those who know how to search. She even mentioned that information that was in a family obituary popped up identifying her place with family members which was a personal concern to her.

If you are an expert in your field, a celebrity, or high profile person, you will never be able to control the message and reviews or comments that other people post or say about you online. Welcome to the world that Brittany Spears lives in! Even if the information is awful you cannot remove it once it is on the search engines. If the information is bad, you may be able to push it down the search results page with reputation remediation, but remove it entirely – not a chance.

It is important that you be careful of where you allow your name to be used. Who would have thought that an obituary posted online by a newspaper would end up in Google’s index. All of this is an excellent lesson for young people. In this time, where kids post pictures and comments online, not once do they think that this information will be searchable and may pop up under their name in 10 years when they go to apply for a job and the HR staff does a Google search and finds them in a compromising situation.

For this particular client I told her – welcome to the world of celebrity and now’s the time to get a pair of dark sunglasses and Google your own date before you first meet next time.

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Google Maps Placement Revisited

Google AdWords has done away with the local business ad that allowed you to specifically target Google Maps with your ads. For some AdWords programs we had set up separate campaigns just to feed results to the sponsored ad section on Google Maps with great results for some clients. With this important change for Google Maps, organic placement of your Google maps listing is now even more important, but just how do you improve your local organic Google Maps placement? This article may very well help you. You can visit this article on our website at: http://www.mccordweb.com/e-newsletters/instructions/google-maps-placement.php

“Why is my competitor the top site in Google Maps? How can I get there too?” Google has been pretty closed mouthed about their Google Maps algorithm and there really does not seem to be a lot of information on the Web about how to garner top placement. I decided that I should dig into this topic to try to find out what can be done to try to improve Google Maps placement for you.

First, it is important to understand that Google Maps will return the businesses that are in closest proximity to the center of the search query location. For example if I enter a search query in Google Maps for web design Waldorf Maryland, my own site appears in the number two position and one of my competitors appears first. She is located very close to the geographic center of Waldorf, has a site similar to mine and has been in business for a while. I am actually located about 9 miles or so out of Waldorf yet appear in a higher position than other sites that are located actually in Waldorf.

Screenshot showing Google Maps listings appearing just above organic listings and under paid sponsored ads.So, it appears that proximity is important to the center point of the search query, but Google is also taking into account other key factors when sorting the results. As I analyze my own situation, I see that my competitor has links from several very specific community sites that I do not have such as a link from the Chamber of Commerce, The Southern Maryland Tech Council, and a local business directory. Specifically, in my case I have nearly two times the amount of inbound links to my site than my competitor does, but I do not have the Chamber or County resource links. Clearly links from local directories and resources are more important for ranking in Google maps than the amount of content on a site and possibly even the number of inbound links to a site. Google Maps is very heavily weighting certain local factors in regard to determining top Google Maps position.

Additionally, in my case, reviews do not seem to be an important issue for my own Google Maps position, but they can be helpful for many businesses. In regard to Google Maps position and service reviews, you will not necessarily take a position hit for reviews or lack there of unless your competitor has several reviews and you have none.

The amount of information that your Local Business listing for Google Maps does not seem to be a big factor either for top Google Maps placement. In my case, I have a depth of information my competitor has literally no depth of information in her Google Maps listing. So depth of information although important and helpful to readers does not impact Google Maps placement.

In my case the only clear difference that is impacting Google Maps placement is the type of local authority links that my competitor has. As I did further research on this topic, I did find some helpful tips that I would like to share with you that may help you as you work to raise your Google Maps position.

  1. Get links from other local resources. If you are a member of the Chamber of Commerce make sure that they have linked to your website from theirs. Consider other authoritative local listing sites, but stay away from link farms. Other local sites might include the Yellow Pages, local business associations, and local review sites.
  2. Make sure to include your street address, and at least your city and state on each page on your website in text versus in an image.
  3. On your contact page repeat your full address with the city and even list the local areas your service by name.
  4. Add as much information as you can to your Local Business listing such as hours driving directions, areas served, consider adding a local coupon or discount.
  5. If you do not have a Google Local Business listing which will show in Google Maps, you can get one free from Google. You will need to create a Google account in order to do so.

If you don’t think that you should be thinking about your own Google Maps position, you may want to think again. In many cases Google is now showing Google Map listings on top and above all organic listings. Improving your own position on Google Maps is doable and can help improve your overall visibility on the Web.

If you like this article you may find more that you will find helpful in our instructions section or white paper section on our website.