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Google Search Now Displays More Diverse Search Results After Update

by Austin Robinson
written by Austin Robinson

On June 6th, Google announced an update to its search results with the goal of increasing “site diversity.” The Google Search update will attempt to provide greater domain variety by limiting the number of results from any particular domain to two or less for a specific search query.

That means you will need to adapt your SEO strategy to this new change to enhance your results. Otherwise, you risk being negatively affected by it. So here’s what you need to know:

Greater Diversity of Google Search Results

Throughout the years,  SEO experts have been tasked with finding unique and creative ways to overcome the fact that Google’s top search results often show too many listings from the same site. This can allow one company or domain to dominate a particular search query.

So in the past, if you searched for a specific keyword, you might see 4, 5, or even more of the top 10 results from the same site. With this new site diversity update, Google is now aiming to not show any more than two results from the same domain for any query.

There Will Be Exceptions to the Rule

Google will maintain the right to veer away from its “two results” limit if they deem it appropriate. One theory on why Google might do this is to allow more accurate results for branded queries. For example, if you searched for a brand like Nike, you would see more than two results from Nike.com on the first page.

Subdomains are Treated as a Part of the Root Domain

Google will consider subdomains and root domains as being the same site. So if your subdomain is blog.example.com, it will be treated the same as your root domain of www.domain.com and will be counted as one of the two results allowed.

Of course, there’s another exception. Google will reserve the right to treat a subdomain and root domain as different sites if “deemed relevant” for diversity.

The Update Will Only Affect Core Results

For now, Google is containing the update to core results only. Other On-SERP SEO factors like carousels, snippets, and top stories won’t be affected.

Domain Diversity is a Long-Running Theme for Google

Google is no stranger to updating their SERP algorithm to provide greater domain diversity. Since 2012, they have gradually made changes to limit the number of results from one domain for a given search query.

While not all of the changes have been publicly confirmed, SEO marketers have noticed the silent updates throughout the years and adjusted accordingly.

The Takeaway Going Forward

If you are trying to get your domain to dominate the Google search results for specific queries, this will undoubtedly affect you. One of the primary industries likely to be affected is reputation management, although other search professionals will see an impact as well.

For anyone looking to rank more than two pages from the same domain for the same search query, you’ll want to ensure that your analytics are robust. That way,  you can measure how this recent Google update will affect your sites moving forward.

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Search Trumps Social in 2017

by Rolando Herrera
written by Rolando Herrera

In 2017, social media platforms faced a significant amount of flak for “extreme content”, “brand safety issues” and “fake news”. The steps they took to curb the flood of malicious content, proved to be a catalyst for search referral traffic.

Shareaholic, the analytic platform stated that for the first time since 2014, search outpaced social in terms of the overall traffic that was delivered in 2017. As per the data published by them, search was responsible for 34.8% of site visits in 2017. Social stood in second place, accounting for 25.6% of referral traffic.

Another analytics platform Chartbeat that is used by media organizations and online publishers also reported a similar trend. The traffic from Google searches to publisher sites rose by more than 25% percent since the beginning of last year.

Social’s loses its sheen

Social has outpaced search for the last three years in succession. But in 2017, all of that changed. In its most current traffic report, Shareaholic states that social has lost its footing and that its reign as the top referral category is history. The analytics platform said that their experts analyzed some different traffic sources such as social referrals, direct traffic, paid search and organic search. The analysis was based on data that came from sites of varying sizes across categories including sports, marketing, general news, beauty and fashion, technology, food and more.

Google accounted for 36.82% of visits in the latter half of the year, topping the list of traffic referrers in 2017.  This indicated a 7% rise from its position in the second half of 2016. However, Facebook managed to hold its ground; despite its double-digit drop, it maintained its position as the top holder for shares of visits in 2017. The changes that Facebook made to its algorithm to curb spam content and fake news stood it in good stead and has had an impact on its overall referral traffic numbers.

However, Chartbeat reported that content is the most notable factor driving traffic to their clients’ websites. They dug a little deeper into the cause of this rise in sales to determine whether it was the result of a glitch in the system or the algorithmic changes Facebook made.

But that search yielded no results, and the platform channeled its attention to how mobile numbers were holding up against desktop numbers. They particularly looked at search traffic by device. The collated data revealed there was a significant rise in Mobile Google Search referrals while Desktop Google Search referrals had plateaued.

They also found there was a distinct difference in sites that used Accelerated Mobile Pages and ones that didn’t. The company reported that there was no movement in traffic to publishers that didn’t use AMP. However, in that same timeframe, there was a 100% increase in Mobile Google Search traffic flow to their AMP-enabled publishers. Over the last six months, searches have outpaced both desktop Facebook referrals and mobile.

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Paid Search Analytic Tools: Which to Choose and When?

by Rolando Herrera
written by Rolando Herrera

Search engine marketing and search engine optimization are essential for the success of any business in this digital world. From ranking higher on the search engines to getting more customers and ultimately improving their bottom line, search marketers have a lot on their hands. The most crucial role in achieving all these milestones is played by search analytic tools.

Search analytics is the task of using search data to investigate interactions among web searchers and the search engine or the content every time someone searches for something on the Internet. The result of these analyses helps develop strategies for search engine marketing and search engine optimization. In simple words, search analytics helps marketers understand and improve their performance on search engines. The result is more interactions, more customers, and hence, more profits.

What makes search analytics a little easy for search marketers is that there are plenty of free search analytic tools available online, for instance, Google Analytics. These tools offer a wide array of features and reports that can be used by online marketers and SEO specialists in devising their future strategies. There are also other free tools like SimilarWeb and Moz that are used a lot by online marketers to improve their SEO and SEM efforts.

While these free tools work for most of the people, what if someone needs a deeper insight into their search engine marketing efforts?

What if they’ve just outgrown the free tools that they have been using until now?

For such search marketers, the best option is to invest in a paid search analytic tools.

But, when is the right time to invest in these paid tools?

The Importance of Being Up-to-Date

Being in the online market, businesses need to have tools that help them understand SERP results for their target queries. But the intent of a given SERP is often changed by Google. If you wish to deploy a solid SEO strategy, you need to know which types of content is ranking on Google. It keeps changing time and again, and to be on top of your SEO and SEM game, you need to know what is currently on the search engine. While most of this information is available for free, thanks to Google, not many marketers think of investing in paid search analytic options. However, if you wish to dig deeper and figure everything out in detail to create your SEO strategy, investing in a paid search analytic tool becomes essential.

The decision of whether or not you should opt for paid tools depends on how vital search tools are for your business’s marketing strategies. If your entire business decisions are based on these tools, then it is best to invest in something that gives you an all-round analysis of your SEM efforts.

These paid options become all the more critical when you are dealing with a large number of physical locations or various product offerings, all of which provoke a unique search behavior from the audience. Dealing with so much information is not possible when you are using free tools as most of them offer entry-level features.

When Should You Upgrade?

While it is entirely up to the business and its SEO and SEM team to decide when they should upgrade to paid search analytic tools, here are some questions that can help you make the right decision at the right time.

  1. Have the free tools been utilized to their full capacity?
  2. Do you take business decisions based on search data?
  3. Is your website large enough?
  4. Does the company want to connect all their customer data and other technologies into one system?
  5. Are they ready to spend on these paid analytic tools?

You will be in a better place to decide if you are ready to invest in a paid search analytic tool once you answer all these questions for your business. Only invest in these paid tools when you are sure that you will use this data to take effective actions for your business.

Will these tools help your business move forward and improve your bottom line? Will they make a difference in your business and its profits?

Don’t invest in these paid tools just for the sake of it. Scale as necessary. Assess your search analytics needs before you make such a big decision. If you think it is essential for your business to make the shift, it is best not to hold back as it can cost you much more than just some lost data.

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3 Crucial SEO Errors and How You Can Fix Them in 2018

by Brandon Lee
written by Brandon Lee

According to Moz, search engine optimization (SEO) is the practice of increasing the quantity and quality of traffic to your website through organic search engine results. In the broadest sense, SEO is based on how well your website ranks in online search results, and also entails the practice of how to generate traffic centered on these results. Any business that desires to build a large online presence must have an effective SEO strategy. Though, many businesses perceive SEO to be a difficult task to master. In actuality, this is quite the contrary.

Building great SEO habits usually depends on how well you can bounce back from traditional trial and error methods, so experimentation is vital to understanding how to develop a viable SEO strategy for your business. Nonetheless, there are a few errors you should watch out for if you desire to improve your online ranking and visibility. Take a look at these three crucial SEO errors to gain a general understanding of what not to do in the field of SEO.

1.) Not Focusing on Relevant Content

Your content marketing efforts should always be intertwined with your SEO goals. After all, if you produce relevant and meaningful content, Google will pair it with similar search inquiries made by web users. However, many individuals fail to realize the difference between simple, well-written content and relevant content. To create relevant content, simply try to understand what web users are looking for in your niche. Afterwards, generate specific content ideas that answer a question with relevant information.

2.) Using Incorrect Inbound Links

Using keywords in anchor text is an effective SEO strategy to properly link your content and give web crawlers an easy opportunity to index your website. Though, it’s no secret that many websites contain incorrect inbound links that can impede their overall website ranking. Numerous websites employ the use of frivolous inbound links that make it difficult for web crawlers to navigate through their website. One common example of an incorrect inbound link is “learn more” or “click here”.

These inbound links are useless because they don’t point to a specific direction on your website. Instead, try using an inbound link that contains a keyword, such as “click here to schedule a free consultation with a Brooklyn personal injury lawyer today!” Not only does this inbound link contain a keyword in its anchor text, it provides web crawlers (and even website visitors) with a sense of direction to aid their navigation.

3.) Ignoring Local Searches

According to BrightLocal, 96% of PC owners conduct local searches. In addition, their report also indicates that 64% of local customers use directories and search engines to find local businesses and that 78% of mobile local searches result in an eventual offline purchase. There is no denying the fact that local searches are vital aspects of SEO for local businesses.

To take advantage of local searches in your area, localize your content with keywords such as “near me” to give Google an indication that you are trying to reach local prospective customers. Also, create content based on local topics to generate a mutual interest within your online community.

Did you find this article to be helpful? If so, feel free to share this article on Twitter, Facebook, and any other social media channels. 

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