We have a bit more insight into just how much of a boost HTTPS gives in the Google search results. When Google first announced HTTPS as a ranking signal, many webmasters rushed to get their sites secure. John Mueller later clarified that webmasters shouldn’t expect a visible ranking change in the search results as the […]
Mobilegeddon “Inaccurate” to Describe Google’s Mobile Friendly Algo
At SMX Sydney, Gary Illyes addressed the topic of the mobile friendly algo, and more specifically, the term “Mobilegeddon” that has been commonly used as its unofficial name, and said,”The term mobilegeddon is inaccurate”. The term “Mobilegeddon” started because Google didn’t have an internal name for the mobile friendly algo other than, you guessed it, […]
Google Considering Adding Hreflang Issues to Webmaster Tools
Mess up hreflang? Google Webmaster Tools might be adding a feature that would show when they feel there might be an error in a site’s usage of hreflang on their pages. At SMX Sydney Wednesday, Gary Illyes did a session on hreflang and dropped a few tidbits including the possibility of showing potential errors. The […]
Bounce Rate & Analytics Not Used in Google’s Search Ranking
Despite Matt Cutts categorically saying Google does not use bounce rate data in their search rankings at SMX a couple of years ago, many SEOs still believe that Google does bounce rate, and demotes sites and/or pages that have a higher bounce rate. Someone asked the question to Gary Illyes from Google on Twitter, and […]
Next Mobile Friendly Algo Update the Platypus Update?
Those at SMX Sydney were perhaps given a sneak peak of what the mobile friendly algo will be called when it gets its new signals. According to Google’s Gary Illyes, who may or may not have been joking, it sounds as though it will be called the Platypus update. BREAKING: Google's next iteration of the […]
Answer Box Data Coming to Google Webmaster Tools?
At SMX Sydney Wednesday, Gary Illyes from Google said that they are looking into including answer box data into Google Webmaster Tools. This is great news for webmasters who have sites in search results that often show answer boxes above the organic results. Google is looking to provide data on "web answers" (answer box 2.0) […]
Interstitials & Page Speed Next Likely Targets of Google’s Mobile Friendly Algo
Not surprisingly, it looks as though Google will be throwing some new signals into the mix of their mobile friendly algorithm in the future. The initial mobile friendly algorithm was simply a “yes, this page is mobile friendly” or “no, this page is not mobile friendly”, and if it was “yes”, they got the boost […]
Indexing Not Complete for Google’s Mobile Friendly Algo Boost
We already knew that Google’s new mobile friendly algo had completely rolled out, but it turns out that according to Gary Illyes, Google is still reindexing all the new mobile friendly pages to give them the mobile friendly boost in the mobile search results. This isn’t actually that surprising, because as John Mueller has often […]
Google Using NoFollow Links on Google’s Homepage
Occasionally Google places extra text beneath the search box, usually highlighting an event, although on some occasions it has been used for disaster relief and to promote Android. Last week during the annual Star Wars Day “May the Fourth be with you”, Google placed a promotional link on the homepage for Google Play, which led […]
Map Maker Temporarily Closed as Person Behind Android Hack of Google Maps Continues to Spam
After the multiple recent spam attacks hitting Google Maps, courtesy of Map Maker, a tool that allows users to edit and add to Google Maps, Map Maker will no longer be accepting any user edits. This is unfortunate, as it is certainly a case of a few rogue users ruining it for everyone else. The […]