Sustainable competitive advantages in digital marketing
Columnist Eric Enge explains how investing in long-term marketing initiatives can give you a huge advantage over your competition.
Topic: User experience
With Panda in stealth mode, why Google’s quality updates should be on your algorithmic radar [Part 1]
What are Google's quality updates (aka Phantom updates), and how can you recover? In part one of a two-part series on Phantom, columnist Glenn Gabe explains the history and possible mechanics of these algorithm updates.
Google Makes MyMaps App Improvements But Doesn’t Quite Make It There
Google has rebuilt and relaunched its MyMaps app. For those unaware. it’s a stand-alone app that allows users to create and share custom maps. The idea is compelling. But it’s less compelling as a user experience. A trip-planning and social-mapping tool, it’s also interesting as a way to save local favorites for repeated use. Google […]
Google To Penalize Sites Using Deceptive Mobile Traffic Networks
Google tells us they are actively working on detecting and penalizing sneaky mobile traffic networks.
Ad Blocking: Where Do We Go From Here? A PPC Agency View
The recent debate around ad blocking, sparked by the release of Apple's iOS 9, shows the need for a renewed focus on the mobile user experience with ads. Columnist and agency owner Pauline Jakober weighs in.
Google Warns Webmasters Again: Do Not Use Sneaky, Mobile-Based Redirects
After warning webmasters in early 2014 about sneaky mobile redirects, Google now says it will issue manual actions, but also offers advice on how to clean up the unwanted redirects.
Apple’s iOS 9: What Are The Implications For Search Marketers?
Apple's iOS 9 includes new technologies and features which may have implications for search marketers working on app indexing.
Google’s Future Relies On Quality Control
How will Google adapt to the rise of mobile? Columnist Andy Taylor explores the issues Google is facing and the opportunities it has to stay relevant.
Google Sending Searchers To Nonexistent Videos
Can't find that video that Google listed in your results? It's not you. It's Google.
Google: User Experience As A Ranking Signal Is Currently Only For Mobile Results, Not Desktop Results
Google's desktop algorithm doesn't use web page user experience as a ranking signal - that is only a mobile ranking signal.
SearchCap: Google AdWords “Call-Only” Ads, Link Building Techniques & Google Misclassifies Websites As Hacked
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: New ‘Call-Only’ Ad Types Arrives In Google AdWords To Make Mobile Easier A new ad type will give mobile-centric marketers the ability to set up phone call conversion only campaigns. Search […]
Google Enables Multiple AdWords Account Logins
Hear that? That is the communal sigh of relief echoing throughout the paid search world. The days of having several browsers open in order to manage multiple AdWords accounts simultaneously are finally over. Google announced a new workflow that allows you to switch between Google accounts without having to log out and log in again. […]
Google May Add Mobile User Experience To Its Ranking Algorithm
At Search Marketing Expo East, Google engineer Gary Illyes talked a lot about user experience and how webmasters really need to focus on that. Over the past week or so, I asked Google about this and tried to understand why Google stressed this point so much at the event. Google told us in a statement: […]
Bing Starts Showing Full Song Lyrics Right In Search Results
While SEOs debate Google’s recent addition of structured data in its search results, Bing is making a similar — and perhaps more significant — change to its search results: Full song lyrics are now showing on Bing’s search results page in the US, and Bing says it plans to expand this outside the US in […]
Bing Ads Debuts Enhanced Sitelinks In U.S.
Enhanced Sitelinks are now available on Bing Ads in the U.S., and will be rolling out to more global markets through the end of the year. Enhanced Sitelinks offer two additional lines of copy below the link itself. Bing Ads reports that on average, advertisers testing Enhanced Sitelinks saw click-through rates rise 27 percent, without […]
Expert Insights On The Future Of SEO, Part 2
In today's installment, search industry veterans predict where SEO will be in 2020.
Google Quick Answer Fail: NSFW Advice On “How To Eat Sushi”
Google continues to expand the number of quick answers it offers in its results, as well as the size of those answers themselves. But since Google takes these answers from other sites without any human review, that can lead to goofs. The latest: some advice on eating sushi that might not go down well with […]
Expert Insights On The Future Of SEO, Part 1
Do you have the skills it will take to thrive in the SEO environment of the future? In the first of this 3-part series, search industry veterans weigh in on how things will be different in 2015.
SearchCap: Google My Business Webmaster Tools, Google Pigeon Feedback & Bing Cortana Expands
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Experts Weigh In On Google’s “Pigeon” Update Aimed At Improving Local Search Results Last week, Google made new search waves when it rolled out updates to its local search algorithm. The […]
Ad Sizes For Small Sites
If you are a small site adding ad units to your pages then the advice we give you is simple: on every page you should add a 728×90 at the very top, a 300×250 on the top right and a 300×600 in the left or right-hand column. If you’re on a desktop computer, you may […]
Google Bringing App Indexing To All Android Apps
Among the numerous announcements at the Google I/O developer conference this morning, Google said it was expanding its app indexing program to all Android apps and developers. App indexing allows for deep linking of app content from mobile web search results. Previously, Google had only been indexing selected apps, although the program has been steadily […]
The Most Popular Presentations Of SMX Advanced 2014
SMX Advanced this June was, as usual, rich in forward-thinking strategy and tactical advice from experienced leaders in SEO, social media, PPC and mobile marketing. Expert marketers and industry insiders including Bing’s Anna Hughes, Bigdoor’s Joanna Lord, Disney’s Jeff Preston and even yours truly took the stage, each to share their unique experience and knowledge […]
Up Close @SMX Advanced: The Periodic Table Of SEO Elements
This SEO ranking factors session has become a much-anticipated tradition at SMX Advanced, as the substantial early morning crowd in attendance this year testified. Each year, a panel of SEO data experts present their up-to-date findings, test results, and best guesses as to what factors are primary in Google’s ranking algorithm. There are always surprises, […]
Google To Warn Searchers When A Mobile URL Redirects To The Homepage
Don’t annoy mobile searchers. That’s the message behind a new warning that Google is showing in mobile search results on smartphones. On the Webmaster Central blog, Google alerted webmasters late yesterday that it will let smartphone searchers know if it thinks a website has a “faulty redirect” in place that sends the searcher to your […]
SEO Smackdown: Download Time – Machine Speed Vs. Human Speed
Perceived download time is more important to searchers than actual download time. So why do SEOs focus on technocentric optimization strategies?
No Joke: Google Maps Brings Back “Search Nearby” Feature
You’re going to hear a lot of rejoicing when this news spreads: Google has returned the “search nearby” feature to Google Maps. #celebrate!!! Amidst all of today’s Google April Fools’ joke announcements, the company tweeted the feature’s resurrection earlier today. After doing a search on Google Maps, you can click again in the search box […]
Google Makes It Official: New Search Results Design Goes Live For All
A day after Google said the new look was still an experiment, it has decided that the experiment was good enough to make for an official change. Now everyone should be getting the new design. Jon Wiley, Google’s lead design for Google Search, said on Google+, “you may have noticed that Google Search on desktop […]
Google’s Matt Cutts: While Scientific Content Is Great, Clarity & Focusing On The Searcher Is Important
In today’s video from Google’s Matt Cutts, Matt answers a question asking if Google prefers ranking content that is more scientific in nature or content that is “easier to read” with greater clarity. First off, Matt said it was a question that made him think, which implies that there is no exact answer. If you […]
Google Showing Restaurant Menus In Card-Style Search Result
Google has started showing complete restaurant menus in its search results when a query specifically looks for menu information. We think Allie Brown was the first to spot this when she shared the results of a search for “jones brunch menu” on Twitter. For that query, Google begins the search results with a card-style answer […]
Google Updates Its Page Layout Algorithm To Go After Sites “Top Heavy” With Ads
Google’s head of search spam, Matt Cutts, announced that Google has released a refresh of its Page Layout Algorithm. The filter, also known as the Top Heavy algorithm, downgrades the ranking of a web page with too many ads at the top or if the ads are deemed too distracting for users. Cutts said the algorithm […]
Update: “When Do The Olympics Opening Ceremonies Start?” Now You CAN Ask Yahoo
Yesterday, I wrote about my search experience in trying to find out when the Olympics Opening Ceremonies will take place and when they’ll air in the U.S. That post was titled “When Do The Olympics Opening Ceremonies Start?” Whatever You Do, Don’t Ask Yahoo. An update is in order. Today, I discovered that Yahoo has […]
In-Text Advertising
What is In-Text Advertising? In-Text Advertising is where you allow a company to monetize words within the content of your site. It is also known as Inline Advertising. The concept is that certain words will be highlighted, and when a user rolls over them a box will pop up with advertisements related to that word. […]
Google’s Matt Cutts Explains That Older Sites Won’t Always Keep Their Current Rankings
Google’s head of search spam, Matt Cutts, posted a video yesterday answering why some old sites may not have their rankings in Google last forever. Matt Cutts explained that there are many old sites that are in the range of about 15 years old and while that is a good thing, some of these sites […]
Survey: Majority Use Mobile Search, Find It “Harder Than PC”
In the cross-platform, post-PC era, the big question the search industry faces is whether and how PC search behaviors are extending into mobile. The short answer is they are. Google has sponsored research that shows majorities of smartphone owners use search engines (74 percent). Yet mobile search, even voice-enabled search, is an awkward version of its […]
Google’s Starting To Enforce Smartphone Penalties: The Evidence
In June, Google announced it would be adjusting search rankings appearing on smartphones based on how well the site in question handled the mobile user experience. The company didn’t say exactly when these changes would be rolling out, but only said it planned “to roll out several ranking changes in the near future that address sites that […]
What It Takes To Create A Winning Mobile SEO Strategy: 5 Questions With Humana’s Mobile Manager
According to a study conducted by Pure Oxygen Labs earlier this year, Humana was one of only six top 100 Fortune 500 companies whose website met Google’s mobile SEO requirements. In light of Google’s focus on mobile, mobile SEO is something all companies should be considering – not just Fortune 500 organizations, and definitely more […]
The Concept Of Sameness & Why It Should Matter
Long ago and far away, there was a world where there was no Web. Back in those early years (such as the 1960’s through the mid-1990s), there were certain basic concepts that guided the world of marketing. One of the facts of life during those times was that each market space tended to support somewhere […]
Google’s Matt Cutts On SEO Industry Misconceptions: Updates, Revenue Goals & Link Building Obsession
Google’s head of search spam, Matt Cutts, released another video today named What are some misconceptions in the SEO industry? In short, Matt outlined three topics in this five-minute video. (1) SEOs confuse algorithm updates with data refreshes. (2) Panda & Penguin algorithms are not about making Google more money in the short term. (3) […]
Yandex Announces “Interactive Snippets” & SERP Redesign At Moscow Conference
Yandex has presented what it claims is a new concept in search engine results pages to a Russian audience at an online industry conference in Moscow. They’ve nicknamed the new concept “Islands,” but are describing it functionally as “Interactive Snippets” and the next step on from rich snippets. To be launched in a few weeks […]
SMX West 2013: Using Personas To Bridge the Gap Between Search and User Experience
Using Personas To Bridge the Gap Between Search and User Experience Presentations from SMX West, March 2013 Personas are a way to model the basic types of visitors you expect on your site and tailor an experience to meet their needs. To be successful, you must truly understand the needs of your customers, and "get […]