The Range Blog » matt cutts

Holiday SEO News: Google Has Been Very Busy

Kerry Dean — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 21:33:57 +0000

I don’t know if you have noticed all the recent search industry headlines, but Google is dominating the news with several new features and updates. And they have done it all within the past 30 days. Here is a quick snapshot of Google’s newest additions and updates in the 2009 holiday season:

Update! Dec. 8: 5 new features for Google Analytics
If you are an analytics junkie, check this out. Google Analytics is supercharged.
Dec. 7: Google launches real-time search
Check out the scrolling bar in the SERPs for this result
Dec. 4: Google announces personalized search results for anyone who uses Google
Apparently, Google will set a 180-day cookie on your computer and serve you personalized results – whether you are signed in or not! Wow.
Dec. 3: Google switches to fading homepage
Cool. I guess.
Dec. 2: Google releases PageSpeed report in WebmasterCentral
This feature is actually very helpful, and my clients love it. Also, it finally gives us proof that Google cares about page speed just as much as users do.
Dec. 1: Google adds supersized images to universal search results
Rather than one row of images, Google displays a big image on the left and two rows of smaller images.
Dec. 1: Google adds geography data to search results (in the URL/breadcrumb area)
I have not seen this one very often, but in the SERPs, it tells you what country the website is hosted in. I think.
Nov. 30: Google Caffeine goes live on one data center
And here it is: http://209.85.225.103/. But it only returns Caffeine results about 50% of the time.
Nov. 23: Google Product Search rolls out 3 new features
You’ve probably noticed the new “One Boxes,” but here’s a link that should show you what I mean.
Nov. 18: Google SERPs: Breadcrumbs instead of URLs
I think these will be an SEO game changer. It gives your search result more chances for a clickthru.
Nov. 12: At WebCon, Matt Cutts announces site speed will be a new organic ranking factor
We have always been concerned with this factor for usability, but it looks like it will soon be a ranking factor, too.
Nov. 10: Matt Cutts says Google Caffeine will go live after the holidays
I’m glad they chose to wait until after the holiday season. Don’t mess with stuff during the holidays!

Oh and also, today Google CEO, Eric Schmidt, joined Twitter (@ericschmidt). How about that?

In conclusion, Google has been very busy this holiday season. The good news is that every one of these items has an impact on SEO. It looks like 2010 is going to be an awesome year , chock-full of new stuff to do! Thanks, Google!

Google Caffeine Index Now Live on One Data Center

Kerry Dean — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 17:06:39 +0000

For anyone who is interested, Matt Cutts has confirmed that the Google Caffeine index is currently accessible on one data center (http://209.85.225.103/). You can go there and check your rankings on the new Caffeine index. However, Matt says that this data center is only returning Caffeine results about 50% of the time. C’mon, Matt. Please make it 100%. We’ve gotta test some keyword rankings. Inquiring clients want to know! :)

Thanks to Barry Schwartz for the update on Caffeine.

John Greer Coast-to-Coast SEO

John Greer — Fri, 15 May 2009 20:21:51 +0000

SEO is great for conspiracy theorists. For starters, it’s monopolistic, with Google gathering more than 70% of US search traffic. It’s also black box, where the only way to learn about how it works is through experience. For most people, it’s a complete mystery and works like magic. Google’s Chief Spam Cop, Matt Cutts, releases just enough information to make the conspiracy all the more believable.

Because of its mysterious nature, people draw a lot of false conclusions about how a web page can rank. For one, there is no magic bullet to ranking. In fact, Google has over a hundred data points it factors into rankings. They usually deliver good results, too, which keep getting better. What that means is that you should focus as much on creating what a visitor would like to see highly ranked, as well as working on SEO tactics.

Some other common misconceptions are:

You can’t have a flash(y) site and rank well. Not so, in fact, you can have a great looking site with graphics and even Flash movies widely used with careful planning. Using CSS techniques and font alternatives you can remove many unnecessary images. Those images that are kept can be thoroughly optimized. Flash movies can also be better optimized and integrated. With that in mind though, stick with text first and add in these elements when they add to the user experience.
Traffic is the measure of an SEO campaign. While it’s true that a good SEO campaign will drive more traffic, the traffic needs to be qualified. Search phrases with low conversion rates, low bounce rates, and low visitor loyalty rates should be lower priorities than well performing phrases. Additionally, landing pages need to be well designed for conversions as well as capturing search traffic.
A lot of sites assumed an XML sitemap wasn’t important, so long as you have an HTML sitemap on your site. In fact, Google discovers new pages on a site much faster when an XML sitemap is present and updated frequently. That means your new products start getting traffic quicker.
Ranking well is your goal. Yes, ranking highly in Yahoo is nice, but is anyone clicking on your listing? Search visitors won’t simply click on the first listing, they will quickly scan some listing before clicking. Your title, description, and URL need to convince a user to click.
SEO just affects your site pages. While the HTML pages of a site are a huge part of SEO, pages are not the only content appearing in search engine results. Videos, images, PDFs, RSS feeds, Flash movies, and more appear sprinkled throughout search engine results. Including elements like these in your site, and ensuring they are optimized, means more opportunities for your site to appear.