Google’ Gary Illyes recently came out with this piece of information that the search giant is planning to roll-out the next Real Time Penguin Algorithm Update by the end of this year.
This was when Google’s John Mueller, last month, confirmed the news that The Next Penguin Update is just months away, which was recently acknowledged by Gary Illyes at Search Marketing Expo in a statement saying “I hope by the end of the year, and it will be the real-time version of the algorithm. This version of the Penguin algorithm will be real-time, at least that is the goal.”
So, if you are currently sorting out your links structure or trying some black-hat SEO tactics to increase your search rankings by manipulating the number of links pointing to the page, then you just need to mend your ways a bit or else you may get penalized by Penguin algorithm real time update as such.
In case if you have recently disavowed or removed your links by mistake then you can recover them after the next scheduled roll-out. But it’s more or less confirmed that Google will indeed come out with the next version of the real time penguin algorithm update.
Meanwhile, we are making sure to keep our clients businesses protected with our deliverables which are in accordance with the search engine guidelines.
How?
- First up, we get the basics right i.e. focusing on On-Site optimization which includes correcting all possible 404 errors, fix duplicate (thin) content on the site, creation of landing pages, etc. Internal blog is also a good addition which we do when allowed.
- We vary anchor texts to have a proper balance between branded and non-branded links.
- Since social signals are of importance, we get social votes via Facebook likes, Tweets & Google+1’s. Client participation is encouraged.
- Additional link building sources include Magazine / New placement, Q&A posting and community setup to further diversify the backlink profile.
- Apart from this, the new deliverables also include conversion friendly activities such as user testing video and report, Heatmap, Scrollmap, overlay and confetti report.
If you want to make sure you’re not going to be a likely victim in the upcoming Penguin update, we can help. Just contact us and let our professional SEOs to do the work for you.
Want your mobile site to top the charts? We’ve shelled out a handful of ways which would help you achieve your goals.
Five months have passed by, but Google’s mobile-friendly update hasn’t showered in with the amount of success that was predicted.
But as highlighted upon by the new Searchmetrics’ mobile SEO reports, it certainly has started to make an impact.
For example, the number of mobile friendly sites in the top 30 results on Google has increased since the start of the year.
- Before the mobile-friendly update, 68 percent of ranking URLs were found to be mobile-friendly.
- This share stood tall accounting to 71 percent after the update.
The chart below paints a similar picture –
At this juncture, small movements have come forth that defy Google’s attempt at gradually pushing site towards mobiles. This scenario might change in the future with a stricter approach stepping in the way.
Looking at the growth of mobile, sites shouldn’t have needed a new Google update to persuade them to optimize for mobile users. Their own customers and site analytics should have provided the answer.
On the other hand, there was little need to rush one out in a panic if you didn’t have a mobile site before April 2015. Examples have been seen where sites have done exactly this and harmed their own sales or rankings.
Mobile Ranking Factors
Here are a few factors studied upon. Correlations between possible ranking factors and the appearance of the mobile SERPs have been focused upon by Searchmetrics.
Technical Factors
Speed is a massive factor, so sites need to minimise file sizes to improve page load times. Studies show the average mobile page file size to be around 25 percent smaller which allows faster load times.
Flash design is not widely supported by mobile devices. And only 5 percent of mobile pages make use of it compared to the 14 percent of desktop pages.
Look at the difference in page loading times between desktop and mobile is very clear featured in the chart.
The smaller sizes now help mobile pages to load more quickly, in some cases by around one tenth of a second.
- The average loading time in the mobile top 30 is 1.17 seconds
- The top 10 load more quickly, with an average time of 1.10 seconds
User Experience
UX related factors are frequently used by Google in search rankings generally. And looking at the smaller screen sizes and variable mobile internet signals, a good user experience is perhaps even more vital for mobile sites.
Very much like those pesky app interstitials, it has also been continued to clamp down on features which detract from mobile user experience.
The study finds a correlation between UX factors, such as images, and mobile rankings.
For example, the average number of internal links is much lower in the mobile than the desktop results as shown in the chart below –
Space between links on mobile sites is important in order to avoid mistaken clicks from users, and is also a factor Google uses in its mobile friendly test.
Here are a few ranking factors that are found to be important:
- Larger font size
- Both responsive design and dedicated mobile versions of sites (m.domain.tld or mobile.domain.tld) rank in the mobile SERPS
- Less structural and interactive elements; unordered lists used more often, but with less bullets than in desktop
- Fewer ads
- Fewer internal links
- Fewer images than desktop
Backlinks
- As the study suggests, backlinks were less of a ranking factor on mobiles than on desktops
- The percentage of no-follow backlinks have increased this year, but still lie well below the desktop value
- Mobile results are very rarely linked to news pages, which can in part be attributed to the separate mobile versions of websites (their desktop counterparts are the ones typically linked to news sites). This trend too is decreasing when compared to desktops
In Conclusion
A single study wouldn’t bring you a flurry of conclusions just five months or so after the mobile update, but it seems as though Google’s mobile rankings are in a transitional stage.
Rather than the catastrophe some predicted before the mobile update, rankings do seem to be vacillating upward gradually, with more importance being placed on user experience while ranking sites.
In this ever evolving electronic era, up-gradation goes round the clock. Sometimes the change is small and subtle & sometimes it’s drastic. So let’s see ‘WHAT’S NEW IN LOCAL SEARCH FOR OCTOBER 2015’.
- Google+ pages are being dropped by Google from the search results for businesses. While searching for any specific business name, you will not see Google+ reviews. On the other hand, Google ratings are being removed and published by Google repeatedly, which indicates that some major testing is going on!
- To enhance location data, Factual has formed a partnership with Facebook. They also announced the deeper integration of its global data into Apple products.
- 93% of the time, local 3 pack shows above the organic search results. This means securing the top position has become difficult for local business.
- Yelp has found that many businesses are bribing for positive reviews. Some are offering discounts and some are offering reward points in exchange of a positive review. Some customers have disclosed this game in Yelp & it’s estimated that Yelp will take action against it in near future.
- Google-owned Waze is accused of stealing another company’s database.
- Google is hosting social media month for small business owners. Where experts will give tips on harnessing the power of social media. Along with Google’s own property YouTube, the recent best friend of Google- Twitter, LinkedIn & Pinterest are included in the campaign.
- Google has opened up access to its new home services ad program in AdWords Express. An initiative By Google to connect service providers with local residents searching for help.
- The social media giant Facebook is also curious to become the small business marketing platform. Facebook is pitching the Idea to business owners that why not create a solid presence in a platform where you potential client are already indulged. Seems legit!
- Google is updating their hotel ad search (rolled out especially for small hotels), with more features and putting an end to Hotel Finder.
- It has been seen that whenever Google announces any new addition to their algorithm, it means they are already using it on some level and they have recently announced that structured markup may become a ranking factor.
- Google has made available a form using which you can Report abusive robocalls. After many complaints, Google is finally taking strides towards betterment.
- Google is encouraging local guides to become a volunteer and map their neighborhoods on Mapmaker.
- Yahoo local search is currently inactive. A short break in order to perform some testing to increase customer experience.
- Bing is determined to upgrade its maps and thus investing on it heavily. On the other hand, they are taking down the link explorer.
- Now tablets will also show the local 3 packs of Google instead of 7.
- Facebook at work is strictly prohibited. However, this scenario will be changed completely as Facebook is about to launch messenger specially designed for better internal communication at offices.
The much awaited Instagram’s Ad feature is now available all over the world. Instagram is aiming to make it a full-fledged social platform with this one big move. Marketers are way too excited and must be eyeing to explore it with different strategies to get the taste of success. The platform currently has more than 400 million monthly active users. Also, there are thousands of businesses who actively participate and engage with their followers on Instagram.
With the help of Ads both small and large businesses would now be able to target their potential customers in much more effective way through Instagram.
Instagram started testing their Advertising model in the year 2013. Now, when they announced the launch of its final version, marketers are happy and ready to aim at their target audiences. Youngsters who are most active audience on Instagram will get to see ads from their favourite brands and in turn be helpful to keep the engagement up.
Instagram described its ad formats as Image Ads, Video Ads and Carousel Ads. We all know people come to Instagram for visual inspiration. More attractive the images are more users will be drawn to your accounts.
Image Ads
There is a saying “A picture is worth a thousand words” and looks like the image sharing social sites have added more proof to it. By image ads, you can promote your story via beautiful imagery.
Video Ads
This feature helps you promote your videos up to 30 seconds long and in landscape format.
- Carousel Ads
With the help of this Ad type users can swipe to see additional images and it would be helpful to find the image that is performing better.
Objectives
Instagram Ad supports the following objectives: Click to website, Video views, Mobile app installs & Mass Awareness.
Google is on the cusp of rolling out an anticipated and in-demand product feature in AdWords and the ability to upload and target audiences built from advertiser email lists.
Customer Match allows advertisers to now create and target a custom user audience simply by uploading a list of email addresses. This will allow advertisers to serve different ads or cater their bids for users at different stages of their purchase journey – whether they’re a hot new lead, an existing customer, or a frequent buyer. So long as you have their email address, Customer Match allows you to reach them on Search, Gmail, or YouTube.
Google also announced that advertisers can upload these audiences and generate Similar Audiences to reach users with similar demographics and online behavior as the customers in their existing audiences. Similar audience targeting has been available on the Google Display Network for a while and has potential to increase the reach of your lists by 5x-10x.
Advertisers will be able to upload email lists manually or through the API to AdWords. Emails are matched against Google sign-in emails and anonymized.
Targeting custom audiences by uploading your existing email marketing list is already a powerful tool for Facebook and Twitter advertisers and is also expected to help advertisers who are currently using Content Remarketing, Gmail Sponsored Promotions, or Remarketing Lists for Search Ads (RLSA) by giving them the ability to serve a specific bid or ad to users more actively considering purchasing or who may have originally converted offline.
Google announced that Customer Match will be rolling out to all advertisers over the next few weeks.
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