For years, many have believed the age of a domain name is a factor in Google search results rankings. We have seen anecdotal evidence that it seems to be true, to a point.  Google’s Matt Cutt’s answer to a related question in a Google Webmaster Tools video prompted this post.

Does this sound like your business?

• Your domain name was registered several  years ago.
• You had a website before a lot of others understood the importance.
• Your website was doing pretty well in Google for many keyword searches
• Lately, the last statement is no longer the case.
• You are wondering why you no longer do as well in Google SERPS (Search Engine Results Page) rankings.

Does this sound like your business or organization?

• You have not done any meaningful updates to the content on your website in years
• You have not redesigned the look and layout of your website
• Your photos and graphics are not optimized to be fast loading
• You are not using Social Media
• You have not included Social Media share & follow buttons
• Your competitors have been doing all of the above

Take a fresh look at your website to see just what visitors are experiencing, and compare that to what they experience on your competitor’s or other similar websites.

Don’t just listen to us. See for yourself what Google’s Matt Cutts says in his video, “How can an older site maintain its ranking over time?“

The Hummingbird algorithm update has changed Google search. You don’t have to be a weatherman to know which way the wind is blowing, and you don’t have to be a Search Engine Optimization expert to know that Google search results are not the same as they were. The change isn’t necessarily bad. It is just different.

Why and What?

There are a couple of things in play here.

For at least a couple of years, Google has been moving towards “semantic search” and “entity” (which we’ll talk about in a future blog post) results, and with the Hummingbird algorithm update, Google is continuing that path. Simply put, semantic search tries to understand searcher intent and the contextual meaning of the keywords in a search query.

As we all know Google has a treasure trove of data about how we search, how it relates to us, where we are, and on and on it goes. The results are meant to be more natural, or “conversational,” because search queries are increasingly more conversational in manner. Hummingbird is an effort to leverage that premise and provide more relevant search results, which is what Google is always trying to do and sell.

The other thing in play is the extremely rapid embracement of mobile devices and Google’s refinement of voice search capabilities. The keyboard (with shorter queries for many reasons) is falling victim to voice search on phones, tablets, notebooks, and even some desktops. For most people, voice search is as “natural” as it gets.

What do you need to do?

Those of you who read this blog or know me, might expect me to say, “your content needs to be well-written, describing the benefits of each of your products and/or services.” That is exactly part of what I would say. The content has to be structured correctly on the page. You should take advantage of linking (correctly) to other relevant pages within your website. Of course, there is more that can be done to individual websites, that I won’t generalize here.

Quality, well-written content will be rewarded even more, as long as it is natural and conversational. Keyword cramming won’t work so well for you, and that’s a good thing.

Of course, we are always happy to help. If you would like some help sorting out all the talk about Hummingbird, please give us a call at 1-800-281-9993 or 608-822-3750, or email us contact@webwisedesign.com.

This isn’t new, but from talking to clients and others, it is evident that many businesses don’t consider how Google’s Instant Search might influence whether a searcher clicks on a particular search listing on a SERP (Search Engine Results Page).

A little over two years ago (September 8, 2010), Google announced Google Instant Search. They wrote,  “Google Instant is search-before-you-type.”

In addition to being faster (if you click on one of the suggested results), it is predictive search. Google says, “One of the key technologies in Google Instant is that we predict the rest of your query (in light gray text) before you finish typing. See what you need? Stop typing, look down and find what you’re looking for.”

As you can see by the example results below, Google clearly is predicting I was looking for “property” in central Wisconsin.

So, how does Instant Search predict, and what does it display? Google says, “A list of predicted queries is generated using the autocomplete algorithm.” Here is a short version of what it is based on.

Google writes, “Apart from the Google+ profiles that may appear, all of the predicted queries that are shown in the drop-down list have been typed previously by Google users or appear on the web.”

We humans often take the path of least resistance, and Google Instant Search provides such a path. Not surprisingly, when we click on one of the suggestions, instant search impacts what results we actually see. Previously we used a search phrase we believed would yield what we were looking for. If we did not find it in the first batch of results, we would refine the search and try again. Now, Google has changed that. For many the temptation to click on one of the first suggestions is just too great (even though it may not be the keyword or phrase we were planning on including), so they succumb, and the results are considerably different than those we would have received had we searched using the keywords we originally planned to use.

What does all of this mean? That depends on one’s perspective. I am not saying it is good or bad. However, it has changed the way we search.

If you are among those who have noticed their search results have gotten worse lately, it is possible you can blame some of that on a Penguin or a Panda. Those two culprits belong to Google. They are the names given to major changes in Google’s search algorithm. In addition to major updates, Google continually tweaks “signals” in their algorithm, as well as features. For example, there have been four updates in the last two weeks.

Google search algorithm updates affect both website owners and those searching. It is important to never forget that Google is selling relevance. They want to deliver links to the most relevant and current information available. Here is a brief history of major Google search algorithm and feature updates.

Panda (aka Panda/Farmer) came first in late February of 2011. It was a major algorithm update that hit some websites hard, affecting up to 12% of search results (a number that came directly from Google). It seemed to crack down hardest on content farms and links, low quality content, and sites with high ad-to-content ratios. Throughout 2011, there were another 15 or so major Google algorithm updates, ten of which were specifically tied to Panda. In November, Google announced that they applied an algorithm change rewarding freshness that would impact up to 35% of queries (almost 3X the publicly stated impact of the first Panda release).

It is important to note that each of these updates include updates to multiple signals with specific purposes that Google uses in evaluating pages. For reference, on January 5 of this year, Google posted 30 search quality highlights (with codenames!): December Some of those changes affected landing-page quality detection, more relevant site-links, and more rich snippets.

The year 2012 so far has brought us around 30 major algorithm updates. Again, including updates to multiple signals, as stated in this Google post, Search quality highlights: 86 changes for June and July

Google’s Penguin joined his furry friend with this announcement on April 24, 2012 named, Another step to reward high-quality sites. Since then there have been three Penguin updates of significance. The latest of which was October 5.

Oh, Panda has not gone away. So far this year there have been at least a dozen “updates” or “refreshes” (there is a difference, but that is for another time).

So why all of this talk (and there is so much more) about Google’s algorithm. If it changes (Google likes to think they are improvements, not just changes), your website content has to improve as well. Google is selling relevance. The most current content is generally more relevant. It is plain and simple, if the content on your website pages is well-written, relevant, and current, your Search Engine Results Page rankings will reflect that. If it is not, your rankings will reflect that as well.

Talk to your webmaster. Hopefully that’s WebWise Design & Marketing. We can be. Call us today! 800-281-993 or 608-822-3750

So, you just launched a new website? Is it a month or more later and you are wondering where all the traffic is? Google, Bing, Yahoo, and other search engines don’t just “magically” know your website exists. After they do find you, if you and your web developer both have not done your jobs, you won’t be ranked very highly (or at all) for some time. Here is roughly how it should work.

Before you launch:

Some of you have heard me repeat this mantra many times. This applies for Google AdWords and for organic search results, here is what matters, “Landing pages, landing pages, landing pages.” On those landing pages, you need well-written “Titles,” Meta Descriptions,” “Headlines” and a first paragraph that contains the keywords for which you would like to be found. If you did not provide (or have your web developer edit and provide) well-written, keyword-rich content for your pages, those pages won’t rank well, if at all. If you want your website to be found for specific keywords, those words have to be well-placed on your landing pages. That, is a simple fact.

If you have done all of the above, and are still not ranking well, don’t despair. Just take another look at your content. Rewrite it making sure you have your keywords placed properly, and they are written according to Google’s guidelines. Review the websites that are getting found better than you. You will likely find some clues that will help with your website. Keep at it. You can get to the top!

Here are two effective ways to jump start a new website, or a newly revised website.