Author: infogenix

Google Releases “The Quality Update”

Posted on by infogenix

Google Releases “The Quality Update”

Earlier this month there was a ripple in the ranking on Google. Many different markets, and niches started to see fluctuations in sites rankings. We even noticed it with a few of our clients, which was strange as there were many that had been seeing increases and were starting to go in different pages and then back again the next day. Something was up over at the headquarters of Google, and officially they have stated that indeed there has been an update. It’d being dubbed “The Quality Update” which has been added to the algorithm that affects the ranking of your site. What does that mean and can you do anything about it? Well, lets talk about that.

Back in 2011 (4 years ago! Crazy!) there was an update that was released called Google Panda. If you follow Google at all you know they like to have fun interesting names to products and different releases. Panda was released to help clean up the internet. A lot of SEOers, if that’s a term, who wanted to “Game” Google had attempted to build links for their clients pages using methods that really weren’t of any value to the website or user at all besides just being a link. If you visited one of those links you’d more than likely find blog posts, or content that talked about cheese graders and then would flip over to plumbing services all in one section. No relation at all, or real value in the slightest. You wouldn’t find value in content like that, and now Google doesn’t either.  From the beginning Google has wanted quality content to its searchers, and Panda was one of their big pushes to make it a reality. Since then many of those “Black Hat” SEOers have disappeared or changed their tactics to follow the guidelines Google has wanted all along.

Those of us who were building quality content started to see better rankings compared to competitors after this update. After doing a happy dance we got back into the swing of things and started working towards fixing those sites that had bad rankings and reestablish them as authority sites in their niches. It’s been a grueling process at times, and Google has continued to launch additional Panda updates as well as others like this Quality Update that was launched earlier this month. Making these changes can be hard for some but it is worth it in the end for all involved. It  has brought about a better internet and that trend continues with updates like the one just barely launched.

So you may be wondering what can you do to be sure you have quality content on your website? Good question! Google actually addressed it in a post back in 2011 which is still relevant today. Ask yourself these questions below to see if you are moving in the right direction.  Remember if you aren’t following all of these don’t stress! These are to help you get an idea of how Google looks at content and you can start making changes now if you need to:

  • Would you trust the information presented in this article?
  • Is this article written by an expert or enthusiast who knows the topic well, or is it more shallow in nature?
  • Does the site have duplicate, overlapping, or redundant articles on the same or similar topics with slightly different keyword variations?
  • Would you be comfortable giving your credit card information to this site?
  • Does this article have spelling, stylistic, or factual errors?
  • Are the topics driven by genuine interests of readers of the site, or does the site generate content by attempting to guess what might rank well in search engines?
  • Does the article provide original content or information, original reporting, original research, or original analysis?
  • Does the page provide substantial value when compared to other pages in search results?
  • How much quality control is done on content?
  • Does the article describe both sides of a story?
  • Is the site a recognized authority on its topic?
  • Is the content mass-produced by or outsourced to a large number of creators, or spread across a large network of sites, so that individual pages or sites don’t get as much attention or care?
  • Was the article edited well, or does it appear sloppy or hastily produced?
  • For a health related query, would you trust information from this site?
  • Would you recognize this site as an authoritative source when mentioned by name?
  • Does this article provide a complete or comprehensive description of the topic?
  • Does this article contain insightful analysis or interesting information that is beyond obvious?
  • Is this the sort of page you’d want to bookmark, share with a friend, or recommend?
  • Does this article have an excessive amount of ads that distract from or interfere with the main content?
  • Would you expect to see this article in a printed magazine, encyclopedia or book?
  • Are the articles short, unsubstantial, or otherwise lacking in helpful specifics?
  • Are the pages produced with great care and attention to detail vs. less attention to detail?
  • Would users complain when they see pages from this site?

 

Phew, so that is a pretty comprehensive list I know, but these items are all good to keep in mind.  Google doesn’t want fake content on the internet. They want reputable sources and companies that are honest and real Which you are if you’re reading this blog post! You want to show the world you are a real business with real products and real services! So lets show Google together who you are and let them help you reach your real customers online! If have any questions about this update, Google Panda, or how to better optimize your website. We are here to help! Share your thoughts and comments below.

Facebook’s Instant Articles

Posted on by infogenix

Facebook’s Instant Articles

Like I had mentioned in my previous post, with the recent update from Google on mobile, and trends showing more and more users are using their smart phones to search and gather information, Facebook is following suit in providing quality content for their users.  Yesterday they announced a new feature for mobile they are calling Instant Articles. They included a video in their release which shows its functionality along with interviews from people they have strategically partnered with for the launch. Check it out:

 

 

As Instant Articles progresses there will be more and more publishing organizations that will want to get in on this ability to access their user base in a more personal way. It’s going to bring in more advertising revenue to Facebook and the newspapers that are struggling to stay afloat in this digital market. Currently Instant Articles is an invitation only service, but from the trends I’ve seen from similar types of integrated products like Facebook’s Ads, this will start opening up to more news outlets and probably start reaching local news groups as well. You can learn more about it here.

This will be a contributing factor into businesses SEO moving forward. Social Media is a major part of the internet with over 1 Billion (yes with a B) users on Facebook alone. Google, Bing, and Yahoo! all are paying attention to how the web is evolving. These new changes all are contributing factors to how your business is going to show up in their search results, and how potential customers are finding you. The big players are all noticing this growing trend in mobile search, have you considered it for your business?

Contact us and we gladly will give you a free proposal on our SEO and PPC services. Also if you want to possibly look at redesigning your website, and want to give it a fresh look, we can happily help with that as well!

Google’s Mobilegeddon Algorithm has gone live!

Posted on by infogenix

Google’s Mobilegeddon Algorithm has gone live!

Look out world! The apocalypse is upon us! Hide your kids! Hide your wife! And your husbands because Google’s Mobilegeddon is ranking everybody around here!

 

Ok, ok maybe we are all taking this a little too seriously. I mean, that sounds like a pretty intimidating name right? Well, honestly I think it’s a little too over the top as names go, and it was coined by SEO’s within the industry and not by me. It sure can stir up a lot of questions and worries that website owners may have if they don’t know exactly what is going on. You may have heard friendlier terms such as Panda, Hummingbird, or Penguin from previous algorithm changes that made big stirs within search results, so my best guess is SEO’s just want to grab people’s attention with scarier sounding names.

Now, when Google made the announcement back in February that they were going to launch this update on April 21st, it sounded a lot less threatening.  It was labeled as a Mobile Friendly Search update which after reading states they want to give users better search results when they are on their mobile phones and that can make some feel a little uncomfortable or nervous about how they can make their website more mobile ready. To some an update like this may have come as no surprise, but for others it can be a stressor and you don’t know what to do! If you are in the 2nd camp, don’t worry!  Infogenix is here to help! And we’ve got marshmallows!

So in a nut shell what is it that Google is trying to do? Plain and simply they are trying to give their users a much better experience in mobile search.  We’re in 2015 (the future is now!) and the majority of us all have smart phones that we use constantly to talk, text, play a little candy crush during a boring meeting, and to search online while on the go. It was actually summer of last year when mobile search surpassed searches on computers, and it has taken Google almost a year to catch up with that trend with this update to their algorithm. (Now who’s scrambling?) They are a huge company and are constantly working hard to make changes on search results.  Their primary goal is to help you and your customers find what they are looking for in an instant. Back in 2014 they made over 500 updates to their algorithm! Yeah, 500! It’s a lot but you have a team of SEO experts here at Infogenix to help you achieve your goals with your business online.

So let’s take a look at some examples to see what has happened since this update went live yesterday. It honestly isn’t surprising to see sites that have a very mobile friendly website begin to show an increase in their rankings and those that aren’t as friendly starting to drop. Here are some graphs to show you the trend day by day:

Rankings for a mobile friendly website

rankings for a non-mobile friendly website

Source: AWR Blog

Overall what we are seeing is a 12% increase in visibility for mobile friendly sites than what they had a week ago. It is a small jump but I predict that as this update continues to roll forward it is going to keep jumping higher and higher in mobile search.  It will be the same trend for non-mobile friendly sites, just more of a slowly falling, and falling, to the bottom of Google’s search results. If you’re like me, we don’t want that to happen to your website when a lot of customers are going to be finding you on their mobile devices.

If you aren’t sure if your website is mobile friendly there is a free tool Google offers for you to check: Mobile-Friendly Test

You definitely have the upper hand to your competitors if you’re site is already mobile friendly. If it isn’t then contact us and we can use our master mobile web design skills to get your site where it needs to be! Either way it also is very important that you start working on your rankings for desktop and mobile search now! If you’re reading about this change, it’s guaranteed that your competitors are as well, and they want to increase their visibility just as much as you do. Our SEO team is amazing, I know since I’m in it, and we want to help you gain more followers, make more sales, and have greater visibility online ahead of those competitors!

I’m hoping this helps clear the air a bit about what this whole update is, and what are the best things to do moving forward. If you have any questions or comments please type them in below! Or just give us a call! Whichever you’d like! How many more times can I use and exclamation point!? The world may never know!!!