Most site owners are pretty good about ensuring their images have alt tags, especially ones that might also be used as links, as Google will use that alt text for SEO purposes. But John Mueller had an interesting side note about the use of images when they are on a mobile site, which could have […]
Google: Position & Weight of Internal Links for SEO Value
An interesting question came up in the last Google webmaster office hours, with Google’s John Mueller being asked about internal links, and how Google weights those links for SEO purpose. While one use for internal links is for users to enable them to easily find their way around a site, there is also a great […]
Google Recommends Using Self Referencing Canonicals
Some SEOs automatically include self referencing canonicals on all pages, while others only use it when it is actually needed due to similar or duplicated pages that should all reference a single page. But what should be considered best practices? The question came up in Google’s last webmaster office hours about whether Google recommends using […]
Google: No Fred Algo Update From Google POV
During the last Google Webmaster Office Hours, the Fred algo update was brought up, specifically with regards to the Fred update and ecommerce sites. And Mueller confirmed that Fred isn’t just a single algo update, but rather just a series of updates to improve the search results. And he also confirms that from Google’s point […]
Using Subdomains for Low Quality Google Panda Pages
Google Panda has once again been a popular subject lately, as many site owners have been taking a good look at quality issues on their sites, especially with Google Fred also bringing up unrelated (Fred is not related to Panda) quality issues on sites as well. Gary Illyes was answering Google Panda questions on Twitter […]
Google Considers Branded Anchor Text Unnatural in Widget Links
Google has repeatedly warned site owners over the danger of using widgets for link building. But simply using branded anchor text as the link within the widget was a gray area where some site owners were saying that if it was branded – and not “keyword keyword keyword” links – then it shouldn’t be considered […]
Google Converting Non-Mobile Friendly Pages to Mobile Friendly for Searchers
Google is testing a new feature that offers to convert a non mobile friendly page to a mobile friendly one for searchers when they land on a page that isn’t. Kiran Nagula spotted the test. When you view a webpage that isn’t mobile friendly, Google adds a closeable banner to the bottom of the page […]
Using CAPS or Lower Case Letters in URLs for Google SEO Purposes
Many SEOs have debated over the years about whether they should ever use all CAPS, or even any capital letters, in a URL. While capital usage in URLs has fallen out of favor in recent years, some sites continue to use them exclusively. But what about the SEO impact of the choice of upper or […]
Site Moves Do Not Fix Google Panda Content Issues
If you are suffering from Google Panda, Google’s quality content algo, fixing the content is the only way to get that content ranking higher in the search results. And one thing that definitely won’t fix the issue is simply doing a site move. Gary Illyes from Google made a comment on Twitter specific to Panda, […]
Google Maps Soliciting Location Information in Organic Search Results
Google is testing an interesting way to get data for Google Maps. When doing a search query – and a query that seemingly has nothing to do with local or location – Google will display a map with a pin and ask the searcher if they know what is located at the location marker. Here […]