What Does Google’s New SSL Search Mean For Analytics?
Filed under: Analytics — Tags: Google, google serps, search engine, Search Engines — Mark @ Tuesday, June 8th, 2010Last month Google made the announcement that in addition to its regular search choice they would start offering a new “secure” alternative. The new offering can be found at https://www.google.com and the idea behind the new service is rather simple. By using SSL technology you are able to create a secure and encrypted connection between your browser and Google, ensuring that no third parties on your network will be able to intercept your search results.
However, this new enhanced privacy potentially comes at a cost for those of us out there who rely on analytical software to gain valuable insights into how users come to discover our site. Let’s say for example you owned a website that sold home theatre systems, traditionally when a user searched for the phrase “buy home theatre” in Google they would be taken to the address http://www.google.com/search?q=buy+home+theatre. Then when a user clicked your listing in the search results and was taken to your website, using analytical software you could then see what page the user came from, and in turn, discover what search phrases they used to discover your site. (more…)
MAYDAY, MAYDAY
Filed under: Algorithm Changes, Google, News, SEO, Search Engines, Updates — Tags: Google, google algorithm change — Amye Saunders @ Friday, May 14th, 2010In previous posts I wrote about some potential changes for Google’s infrastructure which Matt Cutts called Caffeine. Now, Matt did say (I guess we are on a first name basis) that they were going to hold off on this update until after Christmas 2009. This was done because last time a big update occurred it was right before Christmas and it negatively affected online retail sales. So, a bit of love – just in case Caffeine would have a significant affect in the SERP’s.
Then there was a ranking change which introduced the idea of how web page speed is being factored into the ranking criteria. I will reiterate here – relevancy is still the key metric.
But, something significant happened in Q1-Q2 2010 and Webmasterworld, as has always been done in the past, called a new, noticed algorithm changed “Mayday”.
What’s New with Google Real-Time Search Results?
Filed under: Google, SEO — Tags: Google, grammys, real time search — Poorani Prithiviraj @ Monday, February 8th, 2010When Google announced its new “Real Time” Search results back in early December, there was a lot of talk around what this would mean to Google SERPs and how it will impact organic search. In the usual Google fashion, the new enhancement created more speculation then answers.
What most people knew was that “real time” search results was an enhancement to Google Universal, where Google had teamed up with Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, FriendFeed, Jaiku and Identi.ca; and provided real time search results amongst it’s various other Universal search products. To get an idea of how this works, check out Search Engine Roundtable’s “Google Does Real Time Search: See It For Popeye” blog post; it clearly illustrates what Google’s SERPs look like with real time results. (more…)
Faster, Faster!! Page Speed and How Your Site Ranks in Google
Filed under: Google, SEO — Tags: algorithm, Google, google algorithm change, google serps, SEO — Amye Saunders @ Tuesday, January 19th, 2010There is a lot of talk in the traps about website page speed. Google (via Matt Cutts and Webmaster Tools) has openly stated that page speed will be a factor into the ranking algorithm for 2010 and will likely roll out with Caffeine – faster the better and you’ll be rewarded for it.
Google Webmaster tools have been reporting sample data from sites that have page speed issues (you can find this in the Labs section under Site Performance). Within Google Webmaster it also suggests the supplied Page Speed Firefox plug-in (installs as part of Firebug) should be used to get more accurate and full data. This has been available since July 2009 so I guess we have had plenty of notice. This is already in play for AdWords where page speed will affect your quality score.
Tracking Activity On Your Outbound Links using Google Analytics
Filed under: Analytics, Google — Tags: Analytics, Google, outbound links, tracking — Ian Lavelle @ Friday, September 4th, 2009A topic that comes up quite often in SEO discussions is the merits of outbound linking, whether you should link to your competitors and if outbound links encourage visitors to leave your site. You should consider the user experience first and foremost when thinking about outbound links. If the link directs the user to relevant content that they would be interested in, then the link is worthwhile. If you’re worried about excessive loss of traffic through external links, then it makes sense to keep a close eye on the click activity around these links.
Google Caffeine – What You Should Expect for the Beta
Filed under: Google, News, SEO, Updates — Tags: Google, google algorithm change, News, SEO — Amye Saunders @ Wednesday, August 12th, 2009Over the last few days it was announced that Google will be making changes to its algorithm; a sizable modification which we may have not seen since the likes of Big Daddy and Jagger’s 1-3 in 2006.
Google has stated:
“For the last several months, a large team of Googlers has been working on a secret project: a next-generation architecture for Google’s web search. It’s the first step in a process that will let us push the envelope on size, indexing speed, accuracy, comprehensiveness and other dimensions. The new infrastructure sits “under the hood” of Google’s search engine, which means that most users won’t notice a difference in search results. But web developers and power searchers might notice a few differences, so we’re opening up a web developer preview to collect feedback.
Some parts of this system aren’t completely finished yet, so we’d welcome feedback on any issues you see.” (more…)
Google vs Bing: Searching For Coffee Shops On iPhone
Filed under: Mobile, Search Engines, Updates — Tags: bing, bing mobile search, Google, google mobile search, iphone, local search, Mobile — David Boyd @ Monday, August 10th, 2009I like to drink coffee and fortunately for me there is no shortage of coffee shops in the area. Infact, there are no less than six coffee shops on the block where the Outrider Sydney office is located.
So to satisfy my curiousity I wanted to compare mobile search results on Google vs Bing when looking for “coffee shop cremorne” on the iPhone. How do the search engine results look and perform on iPhone and if I was searching would I actually find a coffee shop?
June 2009 – Google PageRank update, backlink algorithm change and Vince UK update
Filed under: Google, Search Engines, Updates — Tags: 301, algorithm change, backlinks, Google, Google UK, Google Vince, PageRank, webmaster tools — Steve Wulz @ Tuesday, July 7th, 2009There has been a lot of discussion out there on the SEO forums regarding Google’s changes in June 2009.
Reports of Google PageRank updates, backlink algorithm changes and the continued effect of brand keyword reshuffling noticed by the wider SEO community, particularly within Google UK.
Bada Bing! – Microsoft Bing Launches
Filed under: Updates — Tags: bing, Google, search engine, update — Amye Saunders @ Monday, June 1st, 2009So, its official – Bing is rolling out worldwide!
I have just left a demo of the product here in Australia and I am impressed. While the layout of organic and paid advertising seems to have remained in tact, this could be a great product and its certainly got some bells and whistles.
Here are a few stats:
- 42% of sessions require refinements
- only 1 in 4 queries are successful
- 66% of people use search more frequently to make decisions and are often disappointed
This is where the opportunities lie. Microsoft is attempting to give users more confidence that the link they click is the one that will best satisfy their query. (more…)
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