Google is looking those interested in becoming a Google Small Business Advisor to assist Google’s small business community. Google made the announcement yesterday on Google+. There is a short turnaround for applications. Google is only accepting applications through January 3, 2016. They are looking for advisors in a wide range of topic areas, including SEOs. […]
Archives for 2015
Google Testing New Style of Local Home Services Ads
Google is testing a new style of home service ads, one that doesn’t highlight potential businesses in the search results page, but uses a form instead. Here is what the new style looks like in the search results: It has the option to submit a zip code and also features a drop down menu to […]
New HTTP Status Code 451 for Legal Takedowns
For the first time in a while, we have a brand new status code. The new status code is meant to serve as a status code to show when a page or site has been taken offline for legal reasons. The new status code is 451 with the description set as “Unavailable for Legal Reasons” […]
Google Search Analytics Update: May Increase Total Clicks & Impressions
Google has added a new note to their Data Anomalies page in Google Search Console. This note highlights a change that could increase the number of impressions and clicks displayed in the report. The change is simply noted as “an update to web search logs analysis” on the Data Anomalies page. December 14 Websites only: An […]
Google Adds App Install Button Data to Search Analytics
Zineb Ait Bahajji has announced they have added a new filter to Google Search Console for the “install app” button in Google Search Analytics reporting. The new filter is called “Search Appearance” and shows information about the app install button displayed to mobile users. Currently, you can use that filter to see data about your […]
Google Releases Knowledge Graph Search API
Google has finally released the long-awaited Knowledge Graph Search API. Freebase made the announcement on Google+ Last year Freebase announced that they were transferring their data to Wikidata but would also continue to support users of the Freebase API with a similar offering from Google. Today, we’re happy to announce the Knowledge Graph Search API […]
Google Now Prioritizing Secure HTTPS URLs Over Non-Secure HTTP URLs By Default
Google has announced that they will now be giving preference to secure HTTPS URLs on websites over non-secure HTTP URLs. Zineb Ait Bahajji made the announcement on the Google Webmaster blog detailing the change. This also makes sense as there have definitely been instances where sites switch to HTTPS, but don’t implement correct redirects, so […]
How Retailers Get Featured Snippets for Non-Brand Commercial Keyword Searches
Earlier this year, when I first started noticing commercial sites – such as Amazon and other retailers – showing up with the featured snippet result for commercial intent queries using non-branded keywords, it seemed quite rare. But as the percentage of featured snippets being displayed in the search results increases, so has the number of […]
Facebook Has Over 350 Publishers Testing Instant Articles Now
If you have been wondering how Facebook’s Instant Articles test is going, they published a list detailing just how many publishers are using it, and surprisingly, there are over 350 of them. This is quite a number, considering in November there were only twenty publishers enrolled in the program. And they have expanded the program […]
Google AdWords Continues 1% Test With 4 Ads at Top of Search Results
Depending on whether you are ranking organically or purchasing Google AdWords, you wither love or hate the new test Google is running with 4 AdWords ads being displayed at the top of the search results. And it seems that the test might be a long term one. For those who haven’t spotted the 4 AdWords […]