Google has now pushed live a new feature in Google News where they offer the latest headlines from selected news sources, along with links to download their apps on either Google Play or the Apple App Store. Here is how it appears: To view them, simply go to Google News on iOS or Android then […]
Search Analytics Data in Google Search Console Not Updating
If you have been wondering why you aren’t seeing any updated Search Analytics data in Google Search Console, you aren’t alone. It seems that it stopped updating on November 3, 2015. Even if you change the date to “Last 7 days”, it will default back to Oct 28 – Nov 3. Everything else in Google […]
Are there SEO Implications for Using Pre-Made Templates?
Many SEOs tend to shy away from site templates, either free or paid ones, due to the many SEO implications. But can using a premade template hurt a site based on that alone? The question came up in today’s Google Webmaster Office Hours. Is unique design a real factor in ranking? Using already built templates […]
User Engagement as a Google Search Ranking Factor
The possibility of user engagement as a ranking factor is something that has been getting some traction amongst SEOs lately. Despite both John Mueller and Gary Ullyes saying things like CTR and Google Analytics don’t have any impact on rankings, other than to test updated ranking signals, many people still believe otherwise. The question came […]
Googlebot to Crawl HTTP/2 by End of Year or Early Next Year
Good news if you have been waiting for Googlebot to support HTTP/2. According to John Mueller, they are working on bringing the support soon. In today’s Google Webmaster Office Hours, Mueller was asked whether there were crawling or indexing limitations for sites moving from HTTP/1 to HTTP/2 So at the moment, Googlebot doesn’t support HTTP/2-only […]
Can Webpages Crawled Infrequently Still Rank Well?
If you have a website that doesn’t change or update content frequently, you may have noticed that Google tends to not crawl those pages as frequently as it does other sites. But does this lower crawl frequency translate into lower rankings? The question came up in today’s Google Webmaster Hangout. Is it true that if […]
How Google Looks for Rich Snippet Spam
Someone had an interesting question for John Mueller on Twitter, asking how does Google look for rich snippet spam. He asked if it was real time, an algo refresh or manual reports. John Mueller responded by saying all of them. @davebuts Yes, pretty much all of the them. — John Mueller (@JohnMu) November 4, 2015 […]
Warning About Contents in a JavaScript Array & Indexing in Google
Gary Illyes from Google has taken to Twitter with a technical SEO warning about websites that are using a javascript array to hide content until a visitor clicks to expand. PSA: If you put contents in a javascript array and only expand them when you click e.g. “…”, those contents won’t be indexed by Google […]
Google Featured Snippet for Resumes from LinkedIn
Google is displaying data from LinkedIn in a format in their search results, as a featured snippet, to highlight some of the more important details from a person’s employment history and background. It is displayed in a table format, but highlights the individual’s current position, while also including data on previous employment history, education, recommendations […]
Pages With App Interstitials Now Lose Mobile Friendly Ranking Boost
Google has officially begun making pages that serve app interstitials to users coming from the search results as no longer mobile friendly. This means those pages lose both the mobile friendly tag and associated ranking boost. Starting today, pages with an app install interstitial that hide a significant amount of content on the transition from […]