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Archived SEO News

Google Updates Crawler Documentation

23/09/24

Google has revamped its crawler documentation, resulting in higher information density and tighter topical coverage. The changelog includes an updated user agent string for the GoogleProducer crawler, content-encoding information, and a new section about technical properties.

The revamp's goal was to make the overview page smaller and more specific while still providing more general information. The new pages include Common Crawlers, Special-Case Crawlers, and User-Triggered Fetchers.

The overview page is less comprehensive but easier to understand, serving as an entry point for users to drill down to more specific subtopics related to the three kinds of crawlers. This change offers insights into how to freshen up a page that might be underperforming, allowing subtopics to address specific users' needs and potentially make them more useful if they rank in search results.

Archived SEO News

Google’s Mueller Says Don’t Stress Over Small Traffic Fluctuations

16/09/24

Google's Senior Search Analyst John Mueller has offered reassuring advice to those concerned about website traffic fluctuations.

Mueller cited the "Strong Law of Small Numbers" as a mathematical concept, stating that "there aren't enough small numbers to meet the demands made of them". Minor changes can appear disproportionately significant when dealing with small numbers.

For websites with limited daily traffic, a difference of just one or two clicks can create dramatic-looking spikes or drops on a graph. Mueller's key takeaways for webmasters include considering the scale of changes, looking for long-term trends, understanding that context is everything, as many factors can influence daily traffic, and understanding normal fluctuations, as perfectly stable traffic patterns are rare for smaller sites especially.

By understanding the nature of small numbers and maintaining a broader perspective, webmasters can avoid unnecessary stress and make more informed decisions.

Archived SEO News

AVIF Image Format to Improve SEO and Core Web Vitals

09/09/24

Google has announced that images in the AVIF file format will be eligible for display in Google Search and Google Images, including all platforms that surface Google Search data.

This will significantly lower image sizes and improve Core Web Vitals scores, particularly Largest Contentful Paint (LCP). AVIF can improve SEO by reducing file size and speeding up web page rendering, which is crucial for search crawlers to crawl more pages.

AVIF is a next-generation open-source image file format that combines the best of JPEG, PNG, and GIF image formats but in a more compressed format for smaller files. It supports transparency, photographic images, and animation.

Currently, Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Opera, and Safari browsers support AVIF, but not all content management systems do. Due to their high compression, AVIF images are expected to become a standard image format, improving site performance.

Archived SEO News

Google Debunks Outbound Link SEO Myth

02/09/24

Google's John Mueller has debunked the widespread recommendation of linking out to other websites for SEO and ranking benefits.

Mueller's comment was limited to the practice of adding three outbound links to an article based on the idea that it's "beneficial" for SEO. Outbound links are helpful for several reasons, including bringing value to readers, validating conclusions, validating citations, and being a good practice for the Internet ecosystem.

Canonical SEO practices, which date back decades, have been based on speculative and canonical beliefs. Mueller's advice is to write for the audience, focusing on what the audience wants and not the quantity of links or words on the page.

The correct answer for most SEO questions is to focus on the context of the web page and what a reader would want. A good context for adding outbound links is when something is quoted or cited.

Archived SEO News

Google: Why Low-Quality Traffic Can’t Impact Rankings

27/08/24

Google's Martin Splitt clarified that website trustworthiness is not a binary quality but a combination of signals indicating a site's credibility. While Googlers and research papers mention website trustworthiness, Google does not use an actual trust metric.

Instead, Google uses multiple signals to determine a site's credibility. Google's algorithm may see a competitor sending bot traffic to a site as an attempt to make it appear untrustworthy. Martin Splitt downplayed the idea of a binary quality to trustworthiness and denied that traffic could influence how Google sees a site.

He explained that if a site is spammy, it will be seen as such, but no one gets to control where traffic or links come from. He also clarified that bot traffic doesn't affect how Google sees a site, as most websites experience high levels of hacker bots.

Archived SEO News

Google Expands AI Overviews to Six New Countries

19/08/24

Google has expanded its AI overviews feature to six new countries, including the UK. The feature uses AI to summarise search results.

The expansion comes amid ongoing debates about the impact of AI overviews on referral traffic. Google has introduced several updates to the AI overviews feature, including a new link display on desktop and mobile, experimental in-text links, a save function for specific overviews, and an option to simplify the language.

The company claims that users ask longer questions and explore more complex subjects with AI overviews, but independent verification is yet to be made available. The full impact on publishers remains unclear, and Google's approach to balancing AI assistance with driving website traffic will be closely monitored.

Archived SEO News

Google Warns: URL Parameters Leading to Crawling Issues

12/08/24

Google Analyst Gary Illyes has highlighted the issue of URL parameters creating infinite URLs for a single page, causing crawl inefficiencies. This problem is particularly prevalent among e-commerce sites, which often use URL parameters to track, filter, and sort products.

The problem is particularly problematic for large sites, as they often use URL parameters such as colour and size to track, filter, and sort products. For years, Google has grappled with this issue, offering a URL Parameters tool in Search Console to help webmasters indicate which parameters were important and which could be ignored.

However, this tool was deprecated in 2022, leaving some SEOs concerned about how to manage this issue. Potential solutions include developing algorithms to identify redundant URLs, more transparent communication from website owners about their URL structure, and using robots.txt files to guide crawlers.

Don't let URL parameter issues hinder your website's performance. We can analyse your site, identify URL parameter problems, and implement effective solutions. Contact us today to resolve any eCommerce issues.

Archived SEO News

Reddit Blocks Search Engines and AI From Crawling Content

05/08/24

Reddit CEO Steve Huffman has stated that his platform will continue to block search engines and AI models from crawling its content using robots.txt without a content licensing deal.

Huffman believes that without these agreements, Reddit has no control over how its data is displayed and used, making it a barrier for those who have not agreed to terms. Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman has referred to web content as "freeware," arguing that anyone can copy and use it due to fair use.

However, Reddit did not block Google due to a $60 million annual content licensing deal announced in February. Microsoft has also respected the robots.txt standard and complied with website owners' requests. However, other content producers and publishers may need to incorporate generative engine optimisation (GEO) strategies to increase visibility in AI-driven search engines.

Archived SEO News

Google’s SEO Tips to Master Internal Linking

29/07/24

Google has released a video series titled "SEO Made Easy", which provides three key tips for improving internal linking to enhance SEO and user experience.

One video, presented by Google's Martin Splitt, emphasises the importance of strategic internal linking. This technique highlights valuable content, helps search engines understand page relationships, and can lead to better rankings.

It also emphasises the importance of using descriptive, meaningful anchor text for links, which improves user experience by allowing visitors to quickly scan a page and understand where each link will lead them. Splitt also advises against overdoing internal linking and applying critical judgment when adding links.

The video also discusses the technical aspects of link implementation and advises against using non-standard elements like spans, divs, or buttons.

Archived SEO News

Google Adjusts AI Overviews as Perplexity Gains Traction

22/07/24

Google's AI Overviews search feature has seen dramatic changes in keyword triggers, with AI search engine Perplexity gaining ground quickly.

The data shows that keywords triggering AI overviews are changing rapidly, with some keyword trends in June already changing in July. Google's dominance in AI is evident in ecommerce search queries, with a nearly 20% rise in ecommerce keywords showing AI overviews since the beginning of July and a dramatic 62.6% increase compared to the last week of June.

Google continues to be the most dominant search traffic source, driving approximately 92% of organic search referrals. Google has also reduced the amount of user-generated content (UGC) that surfaced through its AI Overviews search feature, with referrals to Reddit and Quora declining to "near zero" in June.

Perplexity is growing at a monthly rate of 31%, and if this growth continues, it will influence where people search online and how brands approach optimising for different engines.

Archived SEO News

Google Translating Search Results Into 8 More Languages

15/07/24

Google has added eight new languages to its translated results feature, allowing publishers to reach a wider global audience. The feature automatically translates the title link and meta description into a user's local language, making a website published in one language available to a searcher in another.

Google does not host the feature, but opening a page through a translated result is similar to opening the original search result through Google Translate or using Chrome in-browser translation. This feature benefits publishers by making their websites available to a larger audience.

The delay in translating results into major languages may be due to market prioritisation, the country's smaller population, and the complexity of some languages. Despite the challenges publishers face in 2024, this news creates an opportunity for publisher content to be shown in even more languages than ever and increase traffic globally.

Archived SEO News

Nearly 60% of Google Searches End Without a Click According to New Study

08/07/24

A new zero-click search study by Rand Fishkin, CEO and co-founder of SparkToro, has found that nearly 60% of Google searches end without a click in 2024.

Based on clickstream data from Datos, the study found that almost 30% of clicks go to Google's properties, and about 36% go to the open web. Most Google searches result in zero clicks.

The study also found that desktop searches increased slightly while mobile searches fell considerably.

The data may help understand searchers' evolving behaviour as Google shifts towards becoming an answer engine rather than a search engine. It shows that searchers are looking for instant solutions to their queries.

Archived SEO News

Google Still Faces Challenges With Complex Searches

01/07/24

Google's Director & Product Manager, Elizabeth Tucker, has highlighted two types of queries that remain challenging in the company's efforts to match users with the information they seek. The top offenders are searches containing the word "not" and queries involving prepositions.

The BERT paper and transformer-based machine learning models have significantly progressed in understanding these linguistic issues. However, Google's ability to parse complex queries is still a work in progress. Searches with the word "not" can be interpreted in multiple ways, making it difficult for the search engine to match the user's intent with the content on a page.

Another area where Google's algorithms can stumble is prepositions, which show the relationship between words in a sentence. Long-tail searches comprise a significant portion of all search traffic and are particularly relevant to these queries. While Google is actively improving its handling of these linguistically challenging queries, a complete solution may still be a way off.

Archived SEO News

Should H1 and Title Tags Be the Same?

24/06/24

Google's Office Hours podcast discussed the importance of the title and H1 elements in search engine results pages (SERPs). The title tag provides a general but concise description of the web page's content, while the H1 tag is more specific.

Google uses these elements to create title links displayed in SERPs. Titles must be descriptive, concise, and accurately describe the content. Google's guidelines recommend avoiding boilerplate, which is repeated or templated content across the site, and having distinct text that describes the page's content.

Additionally, Google advises using the home page as an appropriate location to provide extra information about the site. The content for creating title links includes the main visual title, heading elements, other content, anchor text, text within links, and website structured data. Google chooses the title element as the title link, and if it's not a good match, it may use the first heading as the title link.

Archived SEO News

Google’s AI Overviews: A Targeted Approach with Room for Growth

13/06/24

Google's AI Overviews (AIO) search feature has been a paradigm shift in recent years, with a significant difference in the amount of AIO displayed across different verticals. Featured Snippets and questions are more likely to trigger AIO, while local search queries and site links are less likely to trigger AIO.

Verticals most likely to contain AIO are healthcare, B2B technology, and e-commerce. AIO is triggered 20% fewer times than Search Generative Experience (SGE) answers, suggesting that AI is getting more precise in generating helpful experiences.

Google is improving its ability to anticipate follow-up questions by providing AI search summaries that provide options before users ask. However, negative reviews of Google's AI Overviews have led to trust issues over its accuracy.

Archived SEO News

Google Refines AI Overviews After Bizarre Results

07/06/24

Google has addressed concerns about the accuracy and quality of its AI overview feature in search results, continuing to claim that it leads to higher user satisfaction and answers more complex queries. The feature is powered by a customised language model integrated with Google's core web ranking systems. It claims that the accuracy rate for AI overviews is on par with featured snippets.

However, the widespread use of AI overviews has surfaced odd and inaccurate results, which can be attributed to misinterpreting queries, nuances in web content language, and limited high-quality information available on specific topics.

Google has made over a dozen technical improvements to AI overviews, including better detection mechanisms for nonsensical queries, limiting the inclusion of satire and humour content, updating systems to limit misleading user-generated content, adding triggering restrictions for queries where AI overviews were less helpful, and enhancing quality protections for sensitive topics. These improvements highlight Google's commitment to providing highly accurate search results.

Archived SEO News

Google’s AI Overviews Transforms Ecommerce Searches

28/05/24

Google's AI overviews are disrupting eCommerce search visibility. 16% of eCommerce queries now return an AI overview in search results, accounting for 13% of the total search volume in this sector. 80% of the sources listed in these AI overviews do not rank organically for the original query.

International SEO consultant Aleyda Solis analysed the disconnect between traditional organic ranking and inclusion in AI overviews, stating that Google prioritises an "accelerated" approach over summarising currently ranking pages for product-related queries. Solis has shared a spreadsheet that analyses the potential traffic impact of AI overviews, suggesting that Google may expand AI overviews for high-cost queries when enabling ads.

This change in search visibility could benefit retailers by enabling them to avoid traditional ranking barriers by optimising product data and detail pages for Google's "accelerated" product displays.

Archived SEO News

Google Shares Advice for Dealing with Content Decay

15/05/24

In an episode of the Search Off The Record podcast, Google has outlined strategies for managing outdated website content rather than deleting it.

The team recommends taking an intentional, format-specific approach to tackling content decay. They advise against immediately removing obsolete content, such as discontinued products or services, as it could confuse readers. Instead, they suggest providing transitional "explainer" pages during deprecation periods to steer readers towards updated resources.

Google also recommends updating information to maintain accuracy and relevance for reference guides and overviews while retaining the original content for archival purposes. They also recommend implementing internal auditing processes to keep content current and flagging it for review.

By following these recommendations, website managers can look forward to improved user experience, maintained trust and credibility, enhanced SEO, and streamlined content management.

Archived SEO News

Google Confirms Links Are Not Crucial as a Ranking Factor

03/05/24

At a recent search marketing conference, Google's Gary Illyes confirmed that the company needs very few links to rank pages.

Links were discovered in the late 1990s as a signal for search engines to use to validate website authority. Google later discovered that anchor text could provide semantic signals about a webpage's content. The founders of Google learned how to use the subjective opinions of the Internet as a relevance metric for search results.

In 2024, Google made links less important, stating that they were not even in the top three ranking factors. In March 2024, Google updated their spam policies documentation to downplay the importance of links for ranking purposes. Google's John Mueller advised that there are more important SEO activities to engage in than links, and Gary Illyes explicitly said that Google needs very few links to rank web pages.

Google likely only needs a few links because of the extent of AI and natural language understanding used in its algorithms.

Archived SEO News

Google’s John Mueller Advises Against Hyphen-Heavy Domain Names

17/04/24

Google's John Mueller has addressed a Reddit question about why people don't use hyphens with domains and whether there is something concerning about their absence.

Mueller explained that domain names with many hyphens are considered less serious, as they could imply that you couldn't get a domain name with fewer hyphens. He suggested choosing a domain name for the long run and not being overly keyword-focused.

He also advised not to let a domain name limit what you do online and to make something beneficial and exciting that people will ask for by name. Mueller also emphasised the importance of choosing a domain name that won't lock your site into one topic, as it's difficult to expand the range of topics a site covers when growing in popularity.

Archived SEO News

Expert Shares Advice on How to Become a Better SEO

05/04/24

At the Yext Summit, 27-year search marketing expert Duane Forrester shared his five steps to become a better SEO and anticipate future trends. He emphasised the importance of continuous learning in the rapidly changing SEO industry, which includes machine learning, neural networks, and AI.

Forrester advised dedicating at least 60 minutes daily to reading new sources and official blogs and following known experts on Twitter, LinkedIn, Bluesky, and TikTok. He also recommended using official sources for SEO guidance and expanding your sources to ones most people don't use.

Forrester also highlighted the value of developer resources, recommending companies like Meta, Amazon, Apple, TikTok, and OpenAI as they are developing customer experiences that impact consumer behaviour. He also emphasised the importance of understanding how technology affects customer experience and behaviour and how money follows consumers.

Archived SEO News

High-Quality Content Gets Crawled More Often

20/03/24

Google's Search Relations team has debunked misconceptions about crawl budgets and explains how Google prioritises crawling. Google's crawling decisions are dynamic and driven by content quality and search demand. The scheduler decides how much to crawl based on search query demand, which is influenced by user trends. To increase crawling, websites must convince search that their content is worth fetching.

Focus on site quality to ensure efficient crawling and indexing. Google's scheduling is dynamic, and when signals from search indexing show an increase in content quality across multiple URLs, the scheduler turns up the demand. Consistently improving page quality and the usefulness of content to searchers can overcome assumed limitations on crawling.

To improve site performance, analyse performance, identify areas for improvement, and focus on delivering the best possible experience to the target audience, Google's recent insights clarify that a fixed "crawl budget" is essentially a myth. By prioritising quality, relevance, and user experience, site owners can ensure their valuable pages are discovered, crawled, and indexed by Google without worrying about hitting an arbitrary limit.

Archived SEO News

Google’s Bias to Popular Brands with Low-Quality Content

01/03/24

Google's search engine results pages (SERPs) have historically shown a bias favouring big brands with low-quality content. This bias has been present in the past, with sites with high PageRanks ranking for virtually anything they wanted.

Google's algorithm has also shown other biases in the past, such as Top 10 posts, longtail articles, misspellings, and free widgets. Despite small sites growing to become big brands, they still dominate the SERPs.

The recent Google anti-trust lawsuit exposed the importance of the Navboost algorithm signals as a significant ranking factor. Navboost is an algorithm that interprets user engagement signals to understand what topics a webpage is relevant for.

Strong user preferences can carry a more substantial weight than Reviews System signals, a patch to fix Google’s bias for content about reviews and why big brands and poor quality content still rank. Whether Google continues ranking user satisfaction signals based on users' biases and inexperience or if publishers should concentrate on making content for the broadest audience.

Archived SEO News

A Five-Step Guide for Identifying Drops in Rankings

28/02/24

Google's Search Liaison, Danny Sullivan, has provided advice on diagnosing ranking declines to Wesley Copeland, owner of a gaming news website. Copeland, who experienced a significant drop in traffic from Google searches, sought help after the advice.

Sullivan recommendeds a five-step plan to recover the website's performance.

• Use Google Search Console to compare metrics over six months.
• Sort the Queries report by 'click change' to identify decreases.
• Check if the site ranks highly for relevant terms.
• If so, the content quality and SEO may be fine.
• Understand Google's ranking algorithms evolve continually, causing volatility.

Sullivan's advice emphasises the importance of SEO professionals regularly analysing performance using tools like Google Search Console to identify potential areas to optimise. High search rankings require aligning with Google's evolving ranking criteria, and search ranking fluctuations are expected.

Archived SEO News

Google Plans to Update SEO Starter Guide

02/02/24

Google's SEO Starter Guide, a crucial resource for search engine optimisation professionals, is set to undergo a significant revision. The guide, which has over 8,000 words of advice, is one of the most visited resources on Google's Search Central site.

The changes aim to simplify the content for modern users, especially those new to building websites. The revised guide will focus more on general SEO concepts than technical details, such as understanding page title tags without manually editing HTML code.

The modifications reflect the rise in popularity of content management systems (CMS) like WordPress and website builders like Wix, which automate technical SEO work. The decision to streamline the guide reflects a shift towards a more focused and user-friendly approach, aiming to provide clear, impactful advice without overwhelming readers.

Archived SEO News

Google: There Is No “Perfect” Method for Search Ranks

27/01/24

Google has reaffirmed that there is no "perfect page" formula for search rankings, stating that there is no universal ranking formula. The company clarified that no such formula exists, despite claims that specific word counts, page structures, or other optimisations can guarantee high placement.

Google also emphasised that third-party SEO tools often advise constructing pages in specific ways to succeed in search, but they can't predict rankings. Google's algorithm values commonalities and unique differences; following such advice doesn't guarantee a top ranking.

Google's key advice is to focus on helpful things for readers rather than relying on a byline to rank higher in Google. For instance, if an author byline fits a page's purpose for readers, it should be included, but not because it may supposedly boost rankings.

Archived SEO News

Google’s Advice on Moving to a New Website Without SEO Problems

19/01/24

Moving to a new website is a significant change for businesses. Handling the shift carefully is vital to maintaining your search engine rankings and giving users a continuous experience.

On a recent episode of Ask Googlebot, Google Search Advocate John Mueller advised small business owners on navigating the transition from old to new websites. He suggests implementing redirects from the old site to the new one, which helps search engines transfer existing signals to the new domain.

Redirects navigate users to the correct website and pass link equity to the new domain. 301 permanent redirects are recommended for moving websites. If not possible, options include updating or removing the old site.

After the transition, businesses should use analytics software to check the redirects function correctly, monitor search engine rankings, and inform users about the change through social media and emails.

Archived SEO News

Are Keywords In Domain Names A Ranking Factor?

05/01/24

In a recent Reddit thread, Google Search Advocate John Mueller advised against relying solely on keywords in domain names for long-term SEO strategies, stating that a keyword domain name does not offer a noticeable SEO advantage on Google and can hinder long-term marketing goals.

Mueller also warns that domain names focused on a specific keyword can be restrictive for targeting other keywords, making it difficult to diversify website offerings. He emphasises the importance of building a strong, recognisable brand for search and other platforms to connect with customers.

Mueller's insights are valuable for marketing and SEO professionals in 2024, encouraging a shift from relying on keywords to developing a comprehensive, brand-focused online presence.

Archived SEO News

Google completes November 2023 core update rollout

06/12/23

Google confirmed that on November 28, its fourth core update of the year, the November 2023 update, completed its rollout. The update began on November 2, 2023, following the October 2023 update, which started on October 5 and ended on October 19.

The November update caused significant ranking volatility and complaints from SEOs. The impact of the November 2023 reviews update was experienced at different times by sites.

Google algorithm updates are crucial for brands, businesses, and organisations as they can impact search results, organic traffic, conversions, and revenue. If a core update negatively impacts a site, Google advises that there are no specific actions to take to recover; a negative rankings impact may not signal anything is wrong with your pages.

Archived SEO News

Google says major changes coming to search rankings

23/11/23

Google's Search Liaison, Danny Sullivan, has hinted at major future changes to Google's search rankings. Sullivan stated that these changes correspond to improvements in the works, and while the prospect of significant changes may seem daunting, it is crucial to approach them cautiously.

As the SEO community eagerly awaits further updates from Google, it is essential to remain adaptable and prepared to make necessary adjustments. The core message is that the SEO landscape is constantly evolving, and practitioners must be agile and proactive in responding to these ongoing developments.

By staying informed and continually refining their strategies, website owners can position themselves for success in the ever-changing world of search engine rankings. Click the button below for a free review of your website.

Archived SEO News

ChatGPT Vs Google

10/11/23

The suggestion that ChatGPT is eating away at Google's search dominance is exaggerated, with ChatGPT accounting for only 2% of Google's monthly traffic.

The claim stems from a Seeking Alpha article referencing a Bank of America report, relying on StatCounter and Similar Web data. Google's global search market share dipped to 91.53% in October 2023, its lowest in a year. However, StatCounter doesn't track ChatGPT, emphasising its role as a chatbot rather than a search engine. Google's search market share has remained relatively stable since August 2015, fluctuating between 91.1% and 93.37%. While generative AI, including ChatGPT, may impact search, current data suggests a minimal effect on Google's dominance.

Archived SEO News

Google Court Case

26/10/23

The U.S. Justice Department is accusing Google of using questionable tactics to maintain its position as the leading search engine with a 90% market share.

The allegations involve large payments to companies like Apple to secure Google as the default search engine. The 10-week trial includes testimonies from key figures like Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai. Google defends its dominance, claiming it's due to superior quality, while opponents argue that default settings discourage users from switching, citing complex steps required to change search engines on Android.

With Google dominating the search market, any changes to algorithms or the search engine itself may alter the path for SEO.

Archived SEO News

Local SEO – The Importance of

10/10/23

According to MOZ, 97% of people find local businesses online, with a further 72% travelling to the business within 5 miles; having an effective local SEO strategy can have a significant impact on your business growth.

Parts of a local strategy include NAP accuracy, local website optimisation, customer reviews and much more.

Get your business seen within your area, contact us today to find out how we can help.

Archived SEO News

Completed Algorithm Rollout

28/09/23

Google has finished rolling out an algorithm update to prioritise high-quality, user-centric content over SEO-driven material. This update aims to combat webpages designed solely for search engine rankings. Google intends to elevate websites offering valuable, authentic content for human users.

The goal is to reduce low-quality content in search results and improve user experience. If you believe your site has been affected, Google suggests self-assessing your content based on the E-E-A-T principle. Recovery may take several months if you align with the update and make necessary content adjustments gradually, if you would like help with your SEO, contact us today.

Archived SEO News

Algorithm Update – Helpful Content

15/09/23

Google has begun rolling out another algorithm update, focusing on website content, and is said to take a couple of weeks to roll out.

The Helpful Content update is the first of its kind since December 2022. It specifically targets content that appears to have been written for the search engines rather than the user and promotes quality content that clearly shows expertise in the relevant topic/service.

Is your website content over-optimised? Speak to one of our experts to see how we can help.

Archived SEO News

Citation links added to Search Generative Experience

01/09/23

Google Search Generative Experience (SGE), which uses artificial intelligence to generate more comprehensive and informative search results, has officially rolled out links to web pages within answers, starting in the US.

Users can now click on links within the SGE summary to view the full web pages from which the information is sourced. This is a significant improvement over the previous version of SGE, which only provided a summary of the information without any links. The new version of SGE is still in the experimental phase, but it can potentially revolutionise how people search for information online.

An interesting step forward for the use of AI.

Archived SEO News

Google Core Algorithm Update: August 2023

24/08/23

The second broad core algorithm update of 2023 has started rolling out this week, and Google anticipates taking two weeks to complete the rollout.
Broad core updates are not specific towards any metrics. However, Google claims that if you are negatively affected by the update, your focus should be on the core principles of website optimisation, revisiting the EEAT principles for your website content.

Speak to one of our experts today to see how we can help if your website traffic has dropped due to the recent algorithm update.

Archived SEO News

Targeting competitive organic keywords

17/08/23

Highly competitive keywords are popular and have a lot of search volume, but they also have a lot of competition from other websites. Targeting these keywords can be difficult, but it is possible with a strategic approach.

The first step is to analyse your competitors and see how they rank for these keywords. You can then identify opportunities to outrank them by creating better content, building backlinks, and optimising your website for the keywords. Another well-used strategy would be to focus on related long-tail keywords, phrases that focus on the later stages of a user's 'buying' journey. Finally, you need to be patient and persistent. It takes time to rank for highly competitive keywords, but it is possible with the right approach.

Get in touch to find out how we can help increase your website traffic.

Archived SEO News

New Google Chrome Search Features

03/08/23

Google Chrome has added new search-related features to the mobile version of the browser. These features include showing more search suggestions (from 6 to 10), trending searches directly in the address bar, and a "Related to this page" section in the address bar.

Search suggestions are based on your recent searches, browsing history, and popular search terms. The trending searches feature shows trending searches directly in the address bar. This feature is currently only available on Android, but it will be coming to iOS later this year.

The "Related to this page" section shows search suggestions related to the webpage content you're currently viewing.

Is your website optimised for Google? Speak to one of our experts to see how we can help progress your SEO.

Archived SEO News

Google Bard Update

19/07/23

The AI chatbot, Google Bard, has been updated with new features, languages, and countries. The update includes pinning and renaming conversations, adding images to prompts, customising responses, and using Google Lens to extract information from images. Bard is now available in 40 languages and over 180 countries and territories. The update makes Bard more helpful, versatile, and accessible to users worldwide.

As the AI chatbot battle progresses, more and more features will affect how people search for products and services. Is your website ready for the AI age?

Archived SEO News

Auto Generated Content and SEO

07/07/23

The rise of content-generating large language models (LLMs) and AI-generated content has highlighted the need for authority management in the field of SEO. This new discipline focuses on identifying trustworthy sources and filtering out incorrect information. E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) has become a crucial factor in Google search rankings, as it helps determine the credibility of authors and websites. E-E-A-T also influences the display of results in Google Discover and Google News, the helpful content system, snippet elements, and indexing.

Developing a strong online reputation and credibility is essential for rankings and visibility in search engines. Talk to us to see how we can help build your online presence.

Archived SEO News

The new generation of Google Analytics

23/06/23

Google Analytics Universal, the widely used web analytics platform, is being succeeded by Google Analytics 4 (GA4) and will stop recording data in July. GA4 brings a paradigm shift in data analysis, providing enhanced tracking capabilities and deeper insights into user behaviour across various devices and platforms.

This next-generation analytics tool focuses on customer-centric measurement, empowering businesses to understand the entire user journey and optimise their marketing strategies accordingly. With advanced machine learning algorithms and cross-device tracking, GA4 offers a more holistic and comprehensive view of user interactions, enabling businesses to make data-driven decisions to improve engagement, conversions, and overall digital performance. Need help setting GA4 up, speak to one of our experts today.

Archived SEO News

The Link between Social Media and SEO

06/06/23

Engaging social media posts that generate likes, shares, and comments increases brand awareness, drives traffic to the website, and enhances the chances of obtaining valuable backlinks.

Integrating social media into an SEO strategy is key to maximising online presence, reaching target audiences, and supporting organic search performance by creating positive user signals through interaction with your website.

Speak to us today about our SEO services and other digital marketing plans.

Archived SEO News

Mobile-First Indexing Is Complete

24/05/23

Google has completed its transition to mobile-first indexing after over six and a half years of efforts. John Mueller from Google confirmed that the last batch of eligible sites has been moved over, with only a few exceptions for sites that don't function well on mobile.

Some webmasters noticed notifications informing them of the switch from desktop-first to mobile-first indexing. While new sites default to mobile-first indexing, older sites that were not moved may never transition over. If your website is not optimised for mobile use, speak to us to see how we can help.

Archived SEO News

SEO Link Earning

12/05/23

SEO link earning, also known as link building, is the process of acquiring high-quality, relevant links from other websites to your own. Earning links from authoritative and reputable websites will help to improve your website's search engine rankings and drive targeted traffic to your site.

To earn links, you need to create valuable content that others find useful, informative, and worth linking to. This can include blog posts, infographics, videos, research papers, and other types of content that provide value to your target audience.

Focus on the E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness) principle when creating content, improving your chances of earning a backlink.

Archived SEO News

Google’s Page Title Mistake

28/04/23

After receiving feedback from users, Google has released a fix to address inappropriate or inaccurate site names in its search results. This was prompted by a web form posted by Google asking for feedback about inaccurate or inappropriate site names earlier this week. While the change has resolved issues for some sites, others have not been resolved.

Google has recommended using structured data on the home page to communicate the site name to the search engine. Additionally, Google has updated its favicon guidelines and made site names and ad labels more prominent in search results. If you need help in structuring your website, get in touch.

Archived SEO News

Google and Conversational AI

19/04/23

Google's ambitious plan to integrate conversational AI into its search engine promises to transform how users interact with search results.

Leveraging the power of natural language processing and machine learning, Google aims to enable users to have interactive conversations with the search engine, allowing for more fluid and intuitive search experiences.

This advancement has the potential to provide personalised, real-time responses to user queries, offer contextual suggestions, and even engage in multi-turn conversations, making Google's search engine more conversational, user-friendly, and efficient in delivering accurate and relevant information, which in turn will likely effect the way websites are optimised to rank in a Google search.

Archived SEO News

SEO and Website Hosting

11/11/22

To be viewed online, all websites need to be hosted; high-quality website hosting won't guarantee your website will rank well, but it's a must-have for a strong SEO foundation.

When considering a server host, there are three main factors: security, speed and location.

Nobody wants their website compromised by a virus or a hack, so security is key, and if your website doesn't load quickly, you will lose customers and more than likely be penalised by Google. Server location will not only indicate where you are based as a business to Google, which will help with location-based searches, but a local server location will play a part in how far the website data has to travel to reach the user's device.

Archived SEO News

Google Core Algorithm Update

16/09/22

On the 12th of September, Google began the rollout of another core algorithm update, the second major update this year.

Reports from industry-leading tracking software, Semrush and RankRanger, support that this update has had less impact than May's core update. However, many websites have experienced a sudden decline in traffic.

Google's core algorithm updates cover a broad range of metrics, which Google never officially release. Have you been penalised by the latest update? Get your free SEO review by clicking on the button below, and we can help get your website back on track.

Archived SEO News

Helpful Content Update

08/08/22

Google's latest algorithm update targets website content, specifically, whether the content has been primarily written to rank well in a relevant search, known as search engine first content.

Over the years, Google has released update after update with the aim to list the most relevant and helpful websites related to your query. The latest update penalises websites that are not helpful to the user but have been designed to rank well.

The update, released on 25th August, will take 1-2 weeks to roll out fully. If you think you may have been penalised by Google's latest update, get in touch, and we will help to get your website back on track.