Ever wondered who attended a specific university that was noteworthy in some way? Google is now showing a section for “Notable alumni” in the Google search results, which clicks through to an additional carousel. As you can see from the Stanford example, they are including not only famous business people, but actors/actresses, athletes and musicians. […]
Not Penguin: Weekend Saw More Core Google Algo Changes
Once again, the SEO community was abuzz over some major fluctuations that the “weather report” tools that monitor Google’s search result fluctuations. High temperatures were seen over the weekend, but we know two things. First, it was not Penguin related, and second, it was a core algo update. This is the second significant core algo […]
Google PageRank Will Probably Never Update Again
Someone asked a question about PageRank in today’s Webmaster Hangout. While we had a surprise PageRank update in 2013, which was a surprise update when Google fixed something else, there hasn’t been any change since then. But people still ask about it. A couple things to note. Google does use and update PageRank internally for […]
Google: No Limits on Word Count on a Page for Search Results
How does Google view word count? The question came up in today’s Webmaster Hangout with John Mueller about whether there is a minimum word count on a page or not. The answer is no, there’s not. This is something I said in my Google Panda article, with an example of a page with a featured […]
Searchers See 30+ Different Experiments in Google Search Results
We all know Google loves experiments in the search results, and some are more noticeable than others, and I tend to notice a ton of them. Different colored stars are pretty noticeable, while I am sure there are many other subtle experiments we never notice, especially if they influence ranking in some way. John Mueller […]
Google Panda: Unlikely SEOs Will Notice When Panda Updates
There has been a lot of discussion recently about Google Panda recently and how frequently it is updated now that it is a core ranking signal. While Gary Illyes confirmed that Panda is not real time, there wasn’t any specifics given about how frequently it updates, only that what we have been seeing fluctuating in […]
Google Cache Switching to HTTPS For Secure Sites
If you view a Google cache of a website that is on a HTTPS URL, Google is starting to serve those cached pages under a secure connection. This means if your website is HTTPS, if someone views a cache of your page, that cache will now be served through a secure connection HTTPS URL to […]
Recent Google Core Search Update Brand Keyword Related?
Now that the drama over “it must be Penguin!” and “it must be Panda!” has died down, we are finally hearing some more specifics about what people are seeing in regards to the recent core search results fluctuations that have been going on for just over a week. There were definitely signs that these changes […]
Google Testing Blue Stars in Search Results for Reviews & Ratings
Google periodically tests different colored stars in their search results. While we have seen variations of yellow and orange, Google has also tested teal, green and red colored stars as well. And now they are testing blue stars. Ramesh Singh shared this screenshot of bright blue stars. The screenshot shows recipes with the blue review […]
Google Search Algos Are Same Worldwide, Not Country or Language Specific
The question came up in yesterday’s hangout about whether Google’s search algos, including Panda and Penguin, were applied differently depending on the location or language. John Mueller from Google responded that they are the same, but detailed the things that can be influenced by the country and/or language. For the most part, our search quality […]