Search Engine Marketing Blog » Google http://www.matthewsdiehl.com by Matthew S. Diehl Wed, 28 Jul 2010 15:52:23 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 Google Adds Site Verification History to WMT http://www.matthewsdiehl.com/google/google-adds-site-verification-history-to-wmt/ http://www.matthewsdiehl.com/google/google-adds-site-verification-history-to-wmt/#comments Mon, 26 Jul 2010 13:24:53 +0000 matthewdiehl http://www.matthewsdiehl.com/?p=1043 Related posts:]]>

The site ownership verification in Google Webmaster Tools can be an erksome item for some people. When managing a large number on Google Webmaster Tools accounts it seems that someone, somewhere is always removing the HTML or Meta tag verification information. Whether it is because they do not know what it does or because it gets left out of the next release of the code base. Anyways… Google now offers a history of their checks on the site owner verification.

Screenshot:
Google Webmaster Tools Site Ownership History

The site owner verification history is a great idea!

You can now see exactly when verification fell off as Google tells you when it checked the file and it either passes or fails.

Additionally, they time stamp the date when you ownership was delegated to your account if you are not the original owner.

Just some more tidbits that Google WMTs gives you to make your day a little less painful. Enjoy!

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]]> http://www.matthewsdiehl.com/google/google-adds-site-verification-history-to-wmt/feed/ 0 Screenshots of Updated Google Analytics Standard Segmentations http://www.matthewsdiehl.com/google/screenshots-of-updated-google-analytics-standard-segmentations/ http://www.matthewsdiehl.com/google/screenshots-of-updated-google-analytics-standard-segmentations/#comments Thu, 22 Jul 2010 12:56:54 +0000 matthewdiehl http://www.matthewsdiehl.com/?p=1030 Related posts:]]>

Google Analytics has updated there standard segmentation drop downs. The much more user-friendly versions shows a clear separation of what types of information as well as brief descriptions. This is a big move in making Google Analytics much more friendly to novice users.

Screenshots
New All Google Analytics Standard Segmentaion Menu

New Traffic Sources Google Analytics Standard Segmentation Menu

New Geographic Google Analytics Standard Segmentation Menu

New Browser Google Analytics Standard Segmentation Menu

New Network Google Analytics Standard Segmentation Menu

New User Defined Google Analytics Standard Segmentation Menu

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]]> http://www.matthewsdiehl.com/google/screenshots-of-updated-google-analytics-standard-segmentations/feed/ 0 Poll Confirms Government Oversight of Google is a Bad Idea http://www.matthewsdiehl.com/google/poll-confirms-government-oversight-of-google-bad-idea/ http://www.matthewsdiehl.com/google/poll-confirms-government-oversight-of-google-bad-idea/#comments Mon, 19 Jul 2010 15:52:13 +0000 matthewdiehl http://www.matthewsdiehl.com/?p=1013 Related posts:]]>

On Thursday, July 15th the NY Times published a opinion piece about the potential need for a governmental committee to oversee changes to the Google algorithm based on the idea that Google controls too much of the Internet traffic to websites.

I posted my own opinion on government oversight of the Google algorithm and the ludicrousness of it.

Also, Danny Sullivan did his own satirical take on the NY Time algorithm at Search Engine Land and then backed it up with hard facts [a must read if you missed it].

I also ran a poll to find out if the government should get involved with the Google algorithm and, guess what, 100% of its takers (so far) think this is a bad idea.

Here is the poll [If you haven't taken it, please vote. If you have, thanks!]

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

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]]> http://www.matthewsdiehl.com/google/poll-confirms-government-oversight-of-google-bad-idea/feed/ 0 Government Oversight of Google Algorithm http://www.matthewsdiehl.com/google/government-oversight-of-google-algorithm/ http://www.matthewsdiehl.com/google/government-oversight-of-google-algorithm/#comments Thu, 15 Jul 2010 13:35:24 +0000 matthewdiehl http://www.matthewsdiehl.com/?p=1006 Related posts:]]>

This morning I came across an article on NYTimes.com about how the European anti-trust investigation currently being carried out against Google is starting to stir up some interest in the US goverment to setup a Google algorithm oversight commission or something of that ilk. Here’s the article: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/15/opinion/15thu3.html. Take a minute to read it.

It’s an “opinion” piece that has absolutely no opinion in it but that is beside the point…

Here’s the Real Opinion.

Could you imagine Google having to run every change to their algorithm by a commission at the goverment? This is probably the most ridiculous idea I have every heard of. This would be devastating to the innovation that Google has been able to bring to, well, the Internet as a whole.

The Google algorithm is a private, proprietary competitive advantage that should remain such without any governmental interference. Google has created a trusted product that serves a large user base that makes them billions of dollars, isn’t the whole idea behind being a democratic, capitalistic society? Larry and Sergey achieved the American dream, to that point, they have actually achieved the American wet dream. So, butt out gov’t you have your hands in enough honey pots to keep you satisfied.

Then there is the argument that Google is unfairly promoting their products or services. I just cannot get on board with that because multiple time Google has penalized itself for not following its own webmaster guidelines. Example 1. Example 2. Google has set the rules and they play by them.

If the government gets involved with the Google algorithm it is only because they are pissed that Google has done more to stimulate the US economy that they have. Here is the list of acquisitions to prove it – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_acquisitions_by_Google .

If the government does try to come in and steamroll Google into some form of oversight I sure hope Google tells them to piss off because it is none of their god damn business. Plus, we all know how awesome the US government is at achieving a knowledgable level of expertise in other areas that make the US population sooo happy… ehem… [cough][health care][cough][oil spill][cough][immigration][cough]…

What do you think? Take my quick poll.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

or Leave a comment below. Thanks.

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]]> http://www.matthewsdiehl.com/google/government-oversight-of-google-algorithm/feed/ 1 Google’s New SERP UI Fail http://www.matthewsdiehl.com/google/googles-new-serp-ui-fail/ http://www.matthewsdiehl.com/google/googles-new-serp-ui-fail/#comments Thu, 25 Feb 2010 15:32:37 +0000 matthewdiehl http://www.matthewsdiehl.com/?p=871 Related posts:]]>

A little background: In November 2009, Google began testing a new look for the search engine results pages (serp). The largest change in this first test was adding the “Options” to the left side of the page from it’s relatively hidden location in a link at the top labeled “Show Options…”

new google ui moves options

Beyond this change they tightened up the spacing of the page so their is less scrolling and removed some junk a the bottom to improve the appearance of the bottom search box.

Now, Google has begun a second round of testing the new UI with another added feature that is directly targeted at local search. Google now clearly show your location on the serp and allows users to change it. This new functionality appears to the very right of the top search box:

google ui edit location

This functionality is great from an SEO testing perspective. It allows you to see how local results are being displayed to local users. So, when a client across the country calls to bitch about something, you can spot check the organic listings as if you are actually at their location. Again, great on the organic side.

However, where this new feature completely fails is on the paid search side. See example below:

google ui not localizing paid listings

In this example I changed my normal location of Lexington, MA to Orlando, FL (highlighted with blue box). You can see that the organic listings, especially the map had been updated to reflect my new location (green boxes and arrow). But, what was not updated was the paid listings (red arrows and boxes). The driving factor behind the paid listings are the campaign settings in Adwords specified by the advertisers to target within a geographic location. I have clear identified that my location has changed or that I am looking for results in another location. So, wouldn’t the paid listings want to reflect this change as well?

With the new location functionality, paid advertisers will eventually be missing out on impressions of targeted consumers. So, big FAIL on Google’s part.

If you want to test the UI for yourself find instructions on forcing the test in your browser here: http://www.seroundtable.com/archives/021746.html (I recommend making the change in a secondary or tertiary browser)

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]]> http://www.matthewsdiehl.com/google/googles-new-serp-ui-fail/feed/ 0 Caffeine Update on the Horizon? http://www.matthewsdiehl.com/google/caffeine-update-on-the-horizon/ http://www.matthewsdiehl.com/google/caffeine-update-on-the-horizon/#comments Mon, 01 Feb 2010 21:28:46 +0000 matthewdiehl http://www.matthewsdiehl.com/?p=809 Related posts:]]>

Google Caffeince Update Coming Soon

The Google Caffeine Update was first introduced subtlely to us back in August 2009 via this post on the Google Webmaster Central Blog where testing of some new search infrastructure was underway and being code named Caffeine.

After a short period of testing Google shutdown the Caffeine Sandbox Evironment and let everyone know that:

…Caffeine is ready for a larger audience. Soon we will activate Caffeine more widely, beginning with one data center.

Which was confirmed by Matt Cutts at November’s Webmaster World PubCon in this slideshow (see slide 30):

Also, released was the Google’s Caffeine Update would not go live on all data centers until after the holidays. For everyone this meant not until after the mega online shopping season surrounding the end of December holidays (Christmas, etc.). There were a few grumblings that Caffeine was live on a few more data centers in early January and even more data centers at the end of January but these turned out to not be anything related to Caffeine.

So, here we sit (February 1st 2010) well over a month since “the holidays” and still no official notice from Google that Caffeince has been pushed live to all data centers or a more concrete plan of when it will be pushed.

There has been much speculation and analysis on what the Caffeine update will mean for the search results. One thing that the update is surely intended to do is impact the speed in which Google serves the results by changing the underlying infrastructure but of course Google is always concerned with relevance. Built into the Caffeine update will be a number of ranking algorithm changes that will potential impact a number of sites out there.

During the Sandbox experiments many SEO experts began posting their thoughts on what Caffeine would change. Aaron Wall of SEOBook.com suggested it would:

  • an increased weighting on domain authority & some authoritative tag type pages ranking (like Technorati tag pages + Facebook tag pages), as well as pages on sites like Scribd ranking for some long tail queries based mostly on domain authority and sorta spammy on page text
  • perhaps slightly more weight on exact match domain names
  • perhaps a bit better understanding of related words / synonyms
  • tuning down some of the exposure for video & some universal search results

Vanessa Fox a Contributing Editor at Search Engine Land also weighed in on the Caffeine Update but final concluded that

…but my guess is that it likely does what Google search does, but better. And the foundational elements of having a crawlable infrastructure and compelling content remain.

A broad spectrum of other primary SEO outlets have commented that the Google Caffeine update will also focus on a couple additional primary adjustments including:

  • Site speed, referring to the load time of your site being more important that it currently is
  • Social presence, referring to your site’s appearance in links on social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, etc.

So, as the clock continues to tick on the “after the holidays” launch of the Google Caffeine update everyone still has their eye on the horizon looking for any glimmer that the update could be coming and praying that their site is not devastated by any algorithmic updates that come along with it.

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]]> http://www.matthewsdiehl.com/google/caffeine-update-on-the-horizon/feed/ 0 Google Spread too Thin to Remain US Search Market Leader http://www.matthewsdiehl.com/google/google-spread-too-thin-to-remain-us-search-market-leader/ http://www.matthewsdiehl.com/google/google-spread-too-thin-to-remain-us-search-market-leader/#comments Wed, 06 Jan 2010 21:42:04 +0000 matthewdiehl http://www.matthewsdiehl.com/?p=734 Related posts:]]>

google-search-decline

As Google continues to diversify their business portfolio with another venture into the mobile phone market, have they spread themselves too thin to remain the US market leader in search?

The Nielsen Company’s MegaView Search data showed Google dropping its market share from 66.1% in October 2009 to 65.4% in November 2009. Meanwhile, rising rival Bing jumped up from 9.7% in October to 10.7% in November. These numbers suggest that Bing is beginning to pick up some steam in the search market in the US and the primary service that they are gaining users from is Google.

Also, on the back burner for Bing is the deal with Yahoo!, where Bing will begin powering their search service within the next couple years. By adding Yahoo!’s marketing share of 15.3%, Bing would achieve a 26% market share in the US (based on November 2009).

Keep this in mind, an outlying search service that has been feeding off of Google for a number of years is Aol.. Aol. has recently spun-off from Time Warner and is now in the business of content creation (not search). But, what many people have not recognized is that the Yahoo!/Bing deal will, by default, move Aol. into the third slot for US search market. So, could this be the opportunity that Aol. needs to reignite their once independent search engine and move away from the “Enhanced by Google” label?

In my honest opinion, the search engine that potentially poses the biggest threat to Google’s dominance in the US is the Chinese search engine Baidu (which currently isn’t even present in the US). Baidu is the 4th most trafficked site in the world and is the “Google” of China when it comes to search. The Baidu index is not exclusive to Chinese websites, English language sites are being crawled and indexed. The uphill battle Baidu would face is gaining users in the US marketplace. However, that is only a matter of money. Microsoft was rumored to be spending $100M to get more users to Bing so Baidu has a chance because a company valued at $3B should have the funds available to make similar moves.

Take the poll below and let me know when you think Google will fall as the US search market leader (or leave a comment for extended opinions).

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

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]]> http://www.matthewsdiehl.com/google/google-spread-too-thin-to-remain-us-search-market-leader/feed/ 0 Personalized Search Strengthens Need for SEO http://www.matthewsdiehl.com/google/personalized-search-strengthens-need-for-seo/ http://www.matthewsdiehl.com/google/personalized-search-strengthens-need-for-seo/#comments Fri, 11 Dec 2009 19:32:56 +0000 matthewdiehl http://www.matthewsdiehl.com/?p=689 Related posts:]]>

Effective SEO Strategy to Beat Google

Bring Your A-Game to Dominate Google Universal Personlized Search Results

Some of the doomsday types have been trying to spread panic throughout the SEO industry by saying that Google’s new “Universal Personalized Search” will kill off and put an end to SEO. The same thing was said when Google launched Personalized Search in 2004 and revamped it in 2005 for logged in users.

I am here to suggest that the opposite has just happened.

Google has just made SEO even more important and that they have strengthened the need for an effective SEO strategy.

The way Personalized Search works is that Google will “learn” what a searcher likes and cater their SERPs based on click-through tracking. Personalized Search would not work in any way, shape or form without individuals clicking on the relevant, targeted results that matter to them. Now, how did those top ranking, relevant results get there?

SEO.

If some form of SEO is not performed on a site the chances of being included in the top positions of a non-personalized SERP are minimal. That first click is probably the most important. If you aren’t there to be added to a users personalized search cookie, then you may have missed your chance at capturing that user for, potentially, the next 180 days (when the cookie expires).

This, of course, applies to competitive keyphrases where, where you and your competitor’s sites rank are not by chance.

Example:

If you are Timmy’s Tiny Tulip Shop, I think you are safe on Brand searches. However Timmy, you should be concerned about how this may impact the traffic you get from a “good position” for the keyphrase “buy tulip bulbs”. That good position may not be enough to make it into users personalized search. Your competitor sites that have better positions and receive the clicks before you are now locked in to that users personal search results. Wish you had done just a bit more SEO right now, don’t you Timmy?

Good news, it is never too late to get started. Also:

  • the Universal Personalized Search cookie does expire
  • people do clear their browser cookies
  • people will opt-out of Universal Personalized Search
  • there will be new searchers

So, SEO Professionals don’t sweat it, your jobs are safe. However, having an effecitve SEO strategy has become even more important to solidifying top positions in SERPs before users start receiving customized SERPs under Universal Personalized Search.

Thoughts? Comments? Concerns? Leave Below.

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]]> http://www.matthewsdiehl.com/google/personalized-search-strengthens-need-for-seo/feed/ 3 Two Google Tools to Analyze and Improve Site Speed http://www.matthewsdiehl.com/google/two-google-tools-to-analyze-and-improve-site-speed/ http://www.matthewsdiehl.com/google/two-google-tools-to-analyze-and-improve-site-speed/#comments Thu, 03 Dec 2009 16:42:30 +0000 matthewdiehl http://www.matthewsdiehl.com/?p=664 Related posts:]]>

Google Continues Site Speed Agenda

Google Continues Site Speed Agenda

Google continues to push the site speed agenda agressively at the end of 2009, as this will be “an important trend in 2010″ (via Matt Cutts during PubCon 2009 Panel). In the first two days of December Google has made two announcements involving new ways to analyze and improve site speed.

First, on December 1st the Google Analytics Team announced the Google Analytics asynchronous tracking code. It is a new, alternative tracking code (in Beta) that is designed to decrease page load time. It utilizes different channels to pass data to Google as the site loads. Here are the benefits listed by Google of the new tracking code:

* Faster tracking code load times for your web pages due to improved browser execution
* Enhanced data collection and accuracy
* Elimination of tracking errors from dependencies when the JavaScript hasn’t fully loaded

Second, on Decemeber 2nd the Google Webmaster Central Team announced a new tool that will be available in Webmaster Tools called Site Performance. The new tool is a Labs product that is still in development but there is a browser add-on available that will begin relaying data back to Google on load times. Then through Webmaster Tools, you will be able to see aggregated data from visitors that are sharing this information with Google through either the add-on or Google Toolbar. Below is an image of the new Site Performance reporting in Webmaster Tools:

webmaster-tools-site-performance

Google’s ultimate goal is to make the entirety of the web faster. They often compare how the web should be viewed as to “flipping pages of a magazine” and should be just as fast.

Search Engine Optimizations professionals continue to debate just how important site speed is to the ranking algorithm. Many believe that it falls very low on the list of ranking factors. But, all of the site speed initiatives that Google has announced and commited to in the past couple months just can not be overlooked (IMHO).

How is everyone perceiving this for 2010? Taking a quick poll or let me know in the comments.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

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]]> http://www.matthewsdiehl.com/google/two-google-tools-to-analyze-and-improve-site-speed/feed/ 0 Tips to Increase Site Speed for Google http://www.matthewsdiehl.com/seo/tips-to-increase-site-speed-for-google/ http://www.matthewsdiehl.com/seo/tips-to-increase-site-speed-for-google/#comments Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:12:39 +0000 matthewdiehl http://www.matthewsdiehl.com/?p=652 Related posts:]]>

Site Speed Important in 2010

Site Speed Important in 2010




On November 11th, the Google Chromium Blog posted that Google was developing a SPeeDY (SPDY) protocol to help decrease page load times. The new protocol isn’t supposed to replace HTTP/TCP but rather work at the application layer to augment it for performance.

You may be wondering, why is this on at all relevant to search and being mentioned on a search engine marketing blog?

Well, I would have turned a blind eye to it as well if it was not for Matt Cutts. This past week was the annual PubCon Las Vegas gathering of world wide search engine marketers where tips/tricks and the like are shared by prominent industry professionals. Daily, especially at PubCon, Matt is always looked to for the latest information on what is important to the Google ranking algorithm and in a session he stated that “site speed matters… it will be an important trend in 2010″.

The 1-2 punch of Google developing a protocol to speed up site load times and the comment made by Matt Cutts should be setting of some bells and whistles. What does this mean for my site rankings in 2010? Just HOW important will this be? What can I do now?

Site load times has always been on the table as a concern to the search engines and your rankings. Good webmasters and SEOs have been sculpting sites to load as efficiently as possible for years. There are both technical server side issues that could be slowing down your site and on-page coding issues that could be slowing down your site.

If you have done the best you can from a technical standpoint or they are out of your control, take a look at the code of your site to reduce load times.

Site visitor interactivity through engagement objects where a large push in 2009 but some of these elements such as more images, video, slides, widgets, etc add additional time for a page to load. Reevaluate how many engagment objects you are using on your site and eliminate non-critical elements.

Take a look at your code. Has it become bloated with in-line CSS or on-page JavaScript functions? Both of these cause the file size of a page to go up and increases load time. Concentrate on moving your CSS and JavaScript to external .css and .js files that are called from the Head.

If you site is dynamic (database driven) pressure your developers to be more efficient with the queries. Each query takes time to transfer data and slows the page down.

Google is measuring site load times in milliseconds so every little bit that you can do to help will have an impact on your load time.

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