For many brands and businesses, Google shows a “People Also Search For” carousel that appears at the bottom of the search results. And for many of these, the businesses or brands that Google selects to show in the carousel are direct competitors. But how does Google select which ones are related to the business to […]
Archives for 2017
Google’s Algo Removes Some Site’s Search Results Pages from Index
Gary Illyes from Google revealed some interesting insights into site’s search results pages and the Google search results – Google’s algos can automatically detect some search result pages from a site’s own internal search engine and automatically remove them from Google’s search results. Getting a site’s internal search results pages indexed into Google’s search results […]
Google Mobile First Index: Page Speed Included as a Ranking Factor
During yesterday’s Mobile First session at SMX, Gary Illyes from Google discussed page speed and how it would be incorporated into mobile first. Google has now said that they will be including mobile page speed in the upcoming mobile first indexing change, the first announcement that it would be a factor. And they are hoping to […]
Mobile First Index: Google Aiming for Quality Neutral Launch
Gary Illyes from Google spoke at SMX West yesterday about the upcoming mobile first index that is currently being tested. One thing he said is that they are aiming for a “Quality Neutral” launch. What does “Quality Neutral” mean? It means Google doesn’t plan to launch it until they feel the search results will not […]
Google Sending “Safe Browsing Policy Updates” to Previously Hacked Sites
Had a hacked site that Google alerted you to in the past? Google is sending out “Safe Browsing Policy Updates” notices to site owners who have had their sites hacked previously. The notices do not seem to be triggered by any current issues on the site, but seem to be serving as a reminder to […]
Google Adds AMP Carousels to “People Also Search For” Drop Downs
Google has added new AMP carousels into their “People Also Search For” on mobile. The carousels are hidden until somone clicks to expand one of the options shown. Here is what it looks like: When you expand a second one, it will automatically close the one you already expanded. Each carousel has a handful of […]
404s Do Not Affect Site Quality for Google SEO
One of the reports in Google Search Console is the 404 errors report. Every site tends to have at least a few of these 404s, but is it a sign of low quality? John Mueller was asked about 404s being a sign of low quality, and if 410s are better to use for this reason. […]
Google’s Fred Algo is a New Type of Quality Algo
The latest so-called “Fred” update has brought one thing to the forefront – SEOs can’t decide what Fred is and what specific tactic it is targeting. Is it links? Is it ads? Is it ad heaviness? Is it private blog networks, aka PBNs? Many people are identifying symptoms of Fred, but I feel Fred is […]
Google Partner Program Changes Target AdWords, SEO & Local Services Misleading Claims
Google has updating their policies to govern what many in the industry have a major issue with – agencies and individuals making wildly false claims about their association with Google for organic, paid and local listings. For SEOs, many are upset with the misuse of the Partner badges to imply that Google is either endorsing […]
Updated Google Quality Rater Guidelines: Fake News, Dubious Claims & Clickbait Targeted
A year after the last Quality Rater’s Guidelines were released by Google, we have a brand new version. And it has some pretty interesting changes – Google is explicitly declaring fake news sites as low quality. And among the other sites being targeted? Those that use clickbait and those with dubious science claims. Hate sites […]