130 Questions to Ask When Choosing a Local Search Automation Tool
Choosing a local search automation vendor can be a complicated and intimidating decision for companies with hundreds or thousands of brick-and-mortar locations. Make a smarter decision when picking a company to team up with by asking these questions.
Google Begins Removing Search Results Over “Right To Be Forgotten” Demands
Google has begun processing and removing the approved submissions done through the right to the Right To Be Forgotten Form. The Right To Be Forgotten is a European Court Of Justice ruling from May 2014 that EU citizens could request that search engines…
RIP Technorati Blog Search & Rankings: The Once Popular Blog Tools Have Been Sunset
Technorati was once the go to source for blog search and blogger discovery thanks to their authority scores, top lists and blog claiming processes. The Technorati Authority score was a status symbol, something that companies fought hard to improve. At …
Google removes G+ photos from authorship in SERPs: does it matter?
For example, Justin Briggs used eye-tracking technology to show that search results with social annotations attracted more attention that ‘standard’ results, even when they appeared further down the page.
Furthermore, Cyrus Shepard managed to increase traffic by 35% just by optimising his profile picture.
Currently it seems that images are still showing in search results – here’s my beautiful face in a screenshot from earlier today:
However Search Engine Land says this is the new design. The image and circle count are gone, though the author’s name is still clickable:
Why?
As is usually the case, Google’s actions have created a great deal of debate online. The stated aim of creating a cleaner, universal look across different devices seems at least partly legit in my opinion.
But many SEOs believe that Google is moving to protect its ad revenues, as profile images make the natural listings more noticeable than paid results.
IMO, most compelling explanation for Google removing profile pics from search is that it distracted from ads, and cost advertisers clicks
— Rand Fishkin (@randfish) June 25, 2014
Google is constantly evolving the way it displays search results, to the point that PPC is becoming more and more indistinguishable from natural results.
Therefore it wouldn’t be that surprising if the removal of images was designed to reduce the prominence of organic results.
Another common point of discussion surrounds whether this spells the beginning of the end for Google+.
Now is the time! And first step of Google to kill G+? RT @rjonesx: @aleyda I hope everyone removes their authorship backlinks
— Aleyda Solis (@aleyda) June 25, 2014
Personally I don’t feel this is the case, as G+ is about more than just authorship.
And anyway, Google hasn’t done away with authorship altogether, only social annotations and images within search results.
While we can only guess as to why Google has removed the images, one thing most people seem to agree on is that Google has removed one of the only reasons for using its authorship mark up.
So…
Is it still worthwhile having authorship?
Having an image show up in search results was certainly one of the most compelling reasons for using authorship. Now that’s gone, should we all abandon it?
Well probably not, as there isn’t really a great downside to having your Google profile associated with your blogs and articles.
Personally I’m happy to let Google know which sites I’m writing for, on the off chance that it does impact its algorithm at a later date.
Similarly, if you are an authority in a particular subject then it’s still useful to have your name displayed in search results.
Ultimately though, the main impact from this update may be that in future fewer people sign up for authorship, as it’s undeniable that Google has removed one of the most visible and compelling incentives.
So, Google *incentivate* us to implement Authorship and then takes the incentive away after a while, once we have fallen for it… sigh.
— Aleyda Solis (@aleyda) June 25, 2014
Check Out the SMX East Agenda – Register Now & Save $300
The Search Marketing Expo – SMX East agenda is now posted! Check out the agenda and register for the lowest-offered Super Early Bird rates. The SMX East agenda features 60+ sessions on paid search, SEO, local and mobile search, analytics and more. Couldn’t get a ticket for the sold out SMX…
Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.
Did Google Update On June 24th? Very Little SEO Chatter
On June 24th, all the tools tracking Google’s search fluctuations began lighting up. MozCast, SearchMetrics, SERPS.com all went nuts. Algoroo seemed calm, which is interesting…
Google App Indexing Easier Now & New Webmaster Tools Reports
Yesterday, at Google I/O, Google announced that their app indexing solution is now available to everyone without requiring approval…
Google AdWords Bids May Be Influenced By Your Remarketing Campaigns Now
Google announced on Google+ that Google may now use your remarketing lists as a quality factor for your AdWords ads, which may impact your AdWords Ad bids and CPCs…
How to Write Better Copy While Barely Trying: 6 Foolproof Tips
The copy you use in ads, video scripts, blog posts, and infographics matters. It’s your opportunity to connect with a customer, break through the noise, and create an impression in a customer’s mind. Don’t waste the opportunity with weak words.
Google Announces the End of Author Photos in Search: What You Should Know
Posted by Cyrus-Shepard
Google gives, and Google takes away.Even so, it came as a surprise when John Mueller announced Google will soon drop authorship photos from most search results.
This one hits particularly hard, as I’m known as the guy who
…
Is the Search Partners Network Hurting Your CTR?
The Google search partners network is made up of sites that partner with Google to show Google ads to their visitors. On search partner sites your search ads can appear on search results pages, on site directory pages or on other pages related to a users search.…
The post Is the Search Partners Network Hurting Your CTR? appeared first on DEJAN SEO.
Screen Size Matters: Adapting Content Strategy for Multiple Devices
Posted by SimonPenson
The way we consume content is changing at a faster pace than at any time in history.
While the shift from print to digital was seismic from a structural perspective, things have not stopped moving ever since.
The growth of mo…
You Won’t Remember That Infographic
Infographics are (still) popular. Clients ask me about them all the time. I ask them to tell me about the last three infographics they remembered. The response is generally full of stammering as they grope for an answer. Rarely do I get specifics. Even when I do they say things like ‘that infographic about craft […]
You Won’t Remember That Infographic is by AJ Kohn, originally posted on Blind Five Year Old.
Kiss Goodbye To Google Authorship Photos In Google SERPS
Google Authorship profile pictures are being removed from Google.co.uk as of today, which is a pity.
Google dropping Authorship Profile Photos and Circle Counts in SERPS
Google’s Jon Mueller announces Google will be removing images and circle counts from authors from the SERPS. Authorship remains important however.
Post from Bas van den Beld on State of Digital
Google dropping Authorship Profile Photos and Circle Counts in SERPS
Authorship Photos – Sayonara, It was nice to know you
In case you are living under an SEO rock or this is the only blog you are reading, John Mueller announced the end of author photos: We’ve been doing lots of work to clean up the visual design of our search results, in particular creating a better mobile experience and a more consistent design across […]
Google Drops Profile Photos, Google+ Circle Count From Authorship In Search Results
Google’s John Mueller announced they are making a major change in the search results around authorship. Specifically, Google is dropping the profile photo and circle count from the search listings where authorship is assigned to a web page. Google said that the “click-through behavior…
Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.
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…
Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.
Android app indexing is now open for everyone!
Webmaster level: All
Do you have an Android app in addition to your website? You can now connect the two so that users searching from their smartphones and tablets can easily find and reach your app content.
App deep links in search results help your users find your content more easily and re-engage with your app after they’ve installed it. As a site owner, you can show your users the right content at the right time — by connecting pages of your website to the relevant parts of your app you control when your users are directed to your app and when they go to your website.
Hundreds of apps have already implemented app indexing. This week at Google I/O, we’re announcing a set of new features that will make it even easier to set up deep links in your app, connect your site to your app, and keep track of performance and potential errors.
Getting started is easy
We’ve greatly simplified the process to get your app deep links indexed. If your app supports HTTP deep linking schemes, here’s what you need to do:
- Add deep link support to your app
- Connect your site and your app
- There is no step 3 (:
As we index your URLs, we’ll discover and index the app / site connections and may begin to surface app deep links in search results.
We can discover and index your app deep links on our own, but we recommend you publish the deep links. This is also the case if your app only supports a custom deep link scheme. You publish them in one of two ways:
- Insert a rel=alternate elment in the section of each web page, or in your sitemap to specify app URIs. Find out how to implement these methods on our developer site.
- Use the App indexing API
There’s one more thing: we’ve added a new feature in Webmaster Tools to help you debug any issues that might arise during indexing app pages. It will show you what type of errors we’ve detected for the app page-web page pairs, together with example app URIs so you can debug:
We’ll also give you detailed instructions on how to debug each issue, including a QR code for the app deep links, so you can easily open them on your phone or tablet. We’ll send you Webmaster Tools error notifications as well, so you can keep up to date.
Give app indexing a spin, and as always, if you need more help ask questions on the Webmaster help forum.
Posted by Mariya Moeva, Webmaster Trends Analyst
Search Engine Traffic Declines While Engagement Remains Steady [Study]
A Shareaholic analysis of search engine data has found a steady decline in the number of visitors coming from search engines over six months. Based on average visit duration, pages per visit, and bounce rate, Google sent less engaged visitors.