Semantic Search – How it works

Ok, so after Panda & Penguin, generally the SEO world thought it may be the last large update for a while, that was obviously not the right thought.

Hummingbird – What will change? – Is SEO Dead? 90% of searches affected, will many be penalised? Do we have to completely revolutionise our methods?

If you work in SEO you probably will have questioned one of the above, if not all & more at some point.

As with all Major updates, it is easy to be dramatic and think SEO is dead. This can be seen in many places and generally most seek a direct cure from the Google Webmaster Forums.

However, with the semantic search implemented by the new update, research suggests results will be of a much better quality. Meaning, as ever, the update is a good thing for anyone who uses or is involved with Google in whatever capacity.

So how does Semantic Search work:

Traditionally, this is what you could expect if you were to search Google:

With the introduction of Semantic search, this is what we now see:

question-question

So in actual fact, whereas initially it may seem counter intuitive to SEOs, it is actually all in the name of giving the users better quality results via Google.

As we all know:

Better Search Results =

Better Conversions =

Happy Customers =

So, as always, what seems like the end of the world initially is actually a great development for SEO and for businesses in general.

Hummingbird means that as search behaviour continues to evolve so do the search results, and evolve for the best might I add.

If you feel you have been affected by the Hummingbird Algorithm Update and the effects have been detrimental, then there are questions to be answered about what you have done in the past.

We are happy to report that after 10 years and many many updates our methods are as effective and successful as they ever have been so feel free to enquire with us.

Tags: #seo #googlealgorithm #seomanchester #net66

Blog Post by: Tom McVey

Net66 SEO: Google’s Matt Cutts – Geo-Location Redirection NOT Spam.

The reason why this has been brought up is that Google has isn’t the biggest fan of Doorway Pages or redirection pages. For example a page that ranks for hardwood flooring would, when clicked on, redirect your to a page on laminate flooring, or to a different website. All bad linking practices.

But Geo-location redirects aren’t spammy according to Google. So although Google Bot might read the US version of your website, you can still show users in different areas without worrying about Google punishing you.

The reason this is an issue is down to a black hat technique called cloaking. In which a redirect would show a Googlebot a nice content rich optimised page, and would show an actual user something completely different.

You can see the full video below:

Blog Post by: Greg McVey

Net66 SEO: Google PageRank not Getting Update this Year

PageRank. Long was it the staple diet of the internet, instantly giving you an idea of the site’s trustability. It was easy, the higher the PageRank, the more Google trusts the site and the more you should too. The lower the PageRank usually meant that Google didn’t trust this site as much, or that it was a new site.

But now it’s different. PageRank hasn’t been updated since February and now it looks like it’s not going to be updated again this year. See Matt Cutts video below:

You can see from this video that PageRank is only updated periodically so you might not get a PageRank straight away, or for a while. But it’s a tweet that Matt Cutts responded too that gave away just how little importance Google is placing in PageRank. See the Tweet below:

@NielsBoschh I would be surprised if that happened.

— Matt Cutts (@mattcutts) October 6, 2013

That’s going to mean no PageRank update for at least 10 months. Nearly a year of no updates. That’s quite a time, so it does look as if Google is starting to look at other factors for it’s main trust in a website, and letting PageRank fall into disrepair.

Blog Post by: Greg McVey

Net66 SEO: Google Release New Penguin 2.1 (Penguin 5) Update

On Friday Google confirmed, via their perennial knight of webspam Matt Cutts, that they have released a new version of their Penguin Update. This update runs in tandem with Google’s new algorithm, Hummingbird, with their other significant update, Panda, also being integrated into the algorithm.

Now there is something to be cleared up here with a lot of people referring to Penguin 5, whilst others refer to it as Penguin 2.1. The reason being is that Google have released 5 Penguin updates, however, the fourth update was deemed too different from the third. So, Google decided to name it Penguin 2.0 as it was a pretty revolutionary and new update that was a cut above the previous Penguins.

But now we have Penguin 2.1. So what does this entail? Well the official release didn’t really give two much away. It was confirmed by Matt on his Twitter page with the tweet reading that Google have released the update and that it will affect around 1% of search queries. See the Tweet below:

Penguin 2.1 launching today. Affects ~1% of searches to a noticeable degree. More info on Penguin: http://t.co/4YSh4sfZQj

— Matt Cutts (@mattcutts) October 4, 2013

The thing to notice here is the text “to a noticeable degree”. With Hummingbirds release it affected around 90% of searches on Google. But with that, the SEO industry only noted a slight change here or there and there were no mass scale fallouts of rankings for people. But this time, with the 1% being to a noticeable degree, that’s more likely to mean that there will be a higher degree of page one listings changing. Much more likely to draw attention from the SEO industry.

Penguin 2.1 does seem to have hit a lot of sites that have so far seemed to escape punishment by Google. After all, that’s the point of Penguin 2.1, to root out websites that are manipulating the search algorithm, specifically though bad link building practices.

It seems to have taken hold already with a lot of fluctuations in traffic and rankings being noted throughout the SEO industry, especially on the Webmaster World forums. Have you noticed any ups or downs in your traffic or rankings?

Blog Post by: Greg McVey

Net66 Google: Google Now Integrated with Knowledge Graph

There have been a lot of big updates form Google recently. Not least of which is the completely new algorithm they’ve introduced called Hummingbird. This Algorithm pays closer attention to sentences as a whole rather than noting which keywords are used and bringing up relevant results for them. This helps Google answer questions better when asked.

Another big update is the integration of two of Google’s most advanced search features. Their personalised search service Google Now and the Knowledge Graph. Personally I love Google Now, it practically second guesses me. I pull out my phone wondering when my next meeting is, and it’s first on the display of “Cards”.

But now Google are making this and even bigger feature as you can get Updates from people who have the Knowledge Graph Card. I.e. when you search for someone on Google and it brings up a little bio on the right hand side of the page, that’s the knowledge graph guessing at what you want and bringing up a snapshot of the information you’re after.

But if you’re running a search on a device with Google Now on it, then you get something extra. You get a little “Keep Me Updated” box that you can tick. So say you’re looking up Matt Cutts on a device that you have Google Now on, then you can tick a box to make sure next time he updates his blog, you’re notified. Perfect for the SEO on the go. See the below image:

So, do you use Google Now? Who have you signed up with?

Blog Post by: Greg McVey

Image Courtesy of Search Engine Roundtable

Net66: Google Now Providing Web Design Tools

This week Google have launched their own HTML5 website design tool. Although in Beta at the moment, it already looks like a pretty handy tool. You can download it here. It seems the reason Google are now releasing this tool is down to the fact that, although a wonderful language, HTML5 has yet to be adopted and used in everyday web design.

One of the reasons for this is that you have to design three websites in effect. One for computers, one for tablets, and one for phones. The web design tool released by Google looks to tackle this problem head on with it’s easy and simple to use interface. Check out the demo below:

Blog Post by: Greg McVey

Net66 Web Design: Designing a Mobile Site – Top Tips

As a business owner you need to keep up to date with every aspect of your business, and that includes the website. Now a lot of us aren’t tech savvy, much in the same way us “computer geeks” aren’t social savvy. So here’s some top tips to help you not only understand mobile design, but also how to have an input in the design process too:

Keep it Simple

The mobile experience, although immersive in it’s own right, can get bogged down by too much content. A mobile device’s screen is a lot smaller than even the smallest netbook. So if you’ve a 500 word, graphic rich, video inclusive home page, a mobile device will take it’s time to load all of this content. So keep it simple. An image here or there isn’t too bad, you also don’t want reams of text, as users will struggle to read it all on a small device.

Ensure Compatibility

iPads, iPhones, Adroids, Tablets and now Smart Watches. Each device released makes it harder for one website to do it all. Even with the ubiquitous iPhone, with each new release comes a new screen to fit your website to. So you need to make sure your website is looking how you want it on a range of devices.

Responsive Web Design

This type of design is designed to respond to the size of the browser width that you’re viewing it through. This ties in with the second point as a responsive website can usually respond to a range of different mobile device screens. More than that though, if you’re on your computer and choose to shrink the size of your browser window, the website will respond to that straight away. So you can still view all the content of your favourite website, but whilst also having another window open.

Full Website Option

Some people are quite averse to mobile websites and would prefer to view the website in full. So make sure you always include this option.

Follow these tips and if ever you want a mobile website designed, you’ll have a head start on what to do.

Blog Post by: Greg McVey

Net66 Google: Google Launches New Card Layout for Mobile Search

Web Design has progressed a lot over the years and it seems to be the current trend is to just simplify everything. We’ve seen that most recently with Google’s redesigned logo. This has lead to a lot of companies now redesigning their own websites with simplicity in mind.

Google is again rolling out their interpretation of the simple design by introducing a new layout for their Mobile search. Known as a card layout, this design segments different areas of the website and displays them floating apart from each other, over a static background.

This has previously been introduced on Google+ and it’s also similar to Facebook’s recent timeline update. But now it seems to be the turn of the Google Search Results themselves. You can see a screenshot below of what the new Card Layout looks like on the iPad:

I really quite like the new design. I’m also comfortable saying it’d work just as well and look just as nice on your computer. What do you think to the new Layout?

Net66 SEO: Google Releases Hummingbird Algorithm Update

Google last night revealed their biggest change to their famed search algorithm in 3 years. They tinker with the algorithm all the time, allowing them slight refinements to it so they can better provide you with the search results you’re looking for.

But this time they’ve added by far the largest update to their algorithm so far. This update will affect 90% of all search queries! That’s right, 90%! To put that in perspective, Google’s Penguin Update affected 2.3% of English queries and caused an uproar that is still lasting to this day.

I’m sure you must be aware of all the penguin recovery techniques that are going around. Even now, months after it’s been rolled out.

So what does Hummingbird actually entail then? Well the main purpose of this update is to better answer long tailed questions that are put to the search engine. So for instance, before the update, if I were to search for “How do I make sticky toffee pudding without raisins?”, because raisins aren’t everyones cup of tea. The previous algorithm would still have counted raisins as a search term as it is in the search string. To find recipes without raisins I’d have to enter the more complicated search “Sticky Toffee Pudding Recipe -raisins”. Because when you add the minus sign before a word, Google will return all search results without that word in them.

This Hummingbird update is now set to change that, so that Google will be able to understand more long tailed question search terms. Previously the algorithm’s main prerogative was to search for short tail related keywords. Which is why my search for a good sticky toffee pudding recipe took so long.

Google has also took the time to update their voice search capabilities. They want communication with Google to be as if you were taking to your friend. So for instance if you were looking up information on Malta you could say “Tell me about the History of Malta” and Google would come up with results for historical data about Malta.

But then, you could say something along the lines of “What about it’s geography?”. Google would then present you with geographical knowledge about the country, without you having to repeat it’s name. Cool isn’t it?

I’m sure that the hummingbird update had a lot to do with how much Google is pushing into mobile search as well. As on a mobile, its easier to hit one button and talk rather than fiddle with the device’s small keyboard.

Finally, in a well thought out release, the Hummingbird update also coincides with Google’s 15th Birthday celebrations. So, as well as a cute little game on the Google home page, it also subtly implies how far Google has come in 15 years by releasing their most intelligent Google Algorithm to date. Smart Move Google.

High Score for the day: 155

Blog Post by: Greg McVey

Net66 News: Apple Bodges Maps Again

So IOS7 has launched to much fanfare. Serious fanfare in fact. I’ve seen on my Twitter feed alone people leaving university (college, if American), people taking the day off from work as well as people using an impressive array of unsecured WiFi hotspots to secure the much talked about upgrade.

However, underneath this triumphant release of their new flagship software, there’s been another problem with their maps software. It seems Apple’s idea of “Release flawed software – Apply patch fix later” that has worked in the past doesn’t work all the time.

Especially not with their Apple Maps software which has encountered pretty hilarious errors in the past. But this time it was far from a laughing matter as the software this time directed people over an airport runway.

Not specifically to be honest. You see the Apple Maps software will take you through an access route used by pilots and then conclude by telling you “Take Taxiway B” which is probably the safe route to the terminal. However the reality of it is that you turn onto the access route and are met with concrete all the way to the terminal that is dead ahead of you.

There are two problems here. 1) Some of that concrete belongs to the runway where Boeing 737s happen to use regularly. 2) Apple Maps directs you to this expanse of concrete.

You would forgive people for thinking that Taxiway B does go all the way to the terminal, when in fact it doesn’t. Thankfully no one was hurt in either of the incidents, but I’m sure Apple Maps’ pride has suffered a wee bit of a blow.

Blog Post by: Greg McVey

Net66 SEO: Google Takes out Another Link Network

Google is no stranger to walking the walk after talking the talk. And the’ve proven this again this week by taking down a lot of websites from the link network Ghost 2.0. Somehow as well in their infinite wisdom, Google have managed to take down a lot of sites that the link network had in reserve, including those that haven’t even sent out any external links yet.

How they’ve done it, I’m not sure. Apparently neither are the link networks as they’ve sent out and email. This is a screenshot highlighting part of what the Link Network had to say:

This isn’t the first time this has happened either, take a look at our other articles on Link Networks getting penalised:

Net66 SEO: Another Link Network bites the dust.

Net66 SEO: Google going after more link Networks.

SEO Rumour Mill – SAPE Network Penalised?

It also appears that Matt Cutts sent out a subtle warning to Ghost networks before he took them down. He said he was looking at Ghost related puns to use and eventually went for “they try to look super natural”, referring to the artificially generated links.

Everyone loves a pun. And I suspectre you do too.

Blog Post by: Greg McVey

Net66 Tips – Onsite Optimisation: Building the perfect web page for SEO

This is one of many challenging aspects in SEO and that is building a web page which is perfectly optimised not only for the algorithms but also for the user. The list is endless with this but I am going to show you what I think and what the people here at Net66 think is the best way to optimise a web page.

Gone are the days where we could solely rank of meta data and keyword stuffing, search engines have advanced over the years and it is now all about quality and relevance for the audience. There are also many ways of generating traffic to your website through social media, blogs and emails etc.

Crawling and Accessibility

This is crucial to check on your web page as this could impact the performance of your website. Search Engines read website through an automated bot which is therefore programmed to look for specifics. Some of these specifics include;

• Is the page with the content on the correct Url?

• Is this Url user-friendly?

• Is the robots.txt file blocking the robots from crawling any pages?

• If the page is down then are you using the correct status code?

Now these are not all the specifics but to me these are the most important. So, what do they mean? Having a friendly URL structure ensures the bots can read your website more efficiently and therefore can only benefit you, it also makes it easier for the users to understand what the content is about. The robots.txt file is a set of commands in which you can control which pages can be crawled by robots.

It is recommended that you check this to make sure you are not blocking any pages you wish to be crawled. Lastly, sometimes we can experience technical issues with our website (if not you must be doing it wrong…) and when this happens it is important to use the correct status code.

If a page is down temporarily, then you must use a 503 status code plus if you need to redirect a page to a new address then you must use a 301 redirect which is permanent.

Content

This is the most important factor when it comes to successful SEO. The term ‘content is king’ is widely used by webmasters all through the industry and they are correct!

As the search engine algorithms have shifted and advanced over the past couple of years the two words which constantly arise are “quality” and “relevance”.

This is exactly what your content should be, quality and relevant to your niche. Now obviously we still have to abide by Googles Webmaster Guidelines with regards to uniqueness and keyword stuffing (you know the drill).

At the same you need to try and target a specific keyword without breaking the rules… But how do we do that? You do know that Google does not pick up that exact word 100% of the time. Google now picks up other relevant keywords. Here is a prime example;

As you can see Google highlights words relevant to swimming supplies, such as swimming goggles, swimming gear, swimming supply and equipment. So therefore, we can include these other relevant keywords in our body text, meta data, h1’s, h2’s and our alt tags on images.

This shows Google that you have done some research and it will reward you with that extra credibility. For ranking purposes the exact keyword you wish to rank for needs to be included in the meta title, then broken up in the description with a 2-3% keyword density in the body text.

Try and break up your content with images, bullet points, videos and short paragraphs. What this does is keeps the audience interested in the content and this is another factor which Google takes into consideration and that is user experience.

With regards to this and also content, Google seem to be rewarding more engaging content, so do not be shy and add your sense of humour into there (if you have one that is) and start engaging with as many people as possible.

Internal Links

When I first started out with SEO I used internal links for ranking purposes, linking to an internal page with exact keyword anchor text. What I then found out is that it didn’t look natural and there was always that risk of getting a telling off from Google.

I now use my internal links wisely, I create user friendly internal links which are linking to pages which deemed most valuable for a certain phrase/(s) and still some keyword anchor text linking to the page I want to rank.

I find that a good natural mix of anchor text is the way forward especially after Penguin 2.0. Also internal links create paths for the bots to crawl your website, the more paths the quicker your website will get read and indexed.

Blog Post by Jordan Whitehead

Net66 SEO: Google Now Encrypting Every Search

Google is set to make SSL searches the default for all users of their search engine. They’ve previously stated that they would only encrypt anyone who used the https:// version of the site, or users who were signed into their Google Account (YouTube, Gmail, Adwords etc).

But now in a dramatic and sudden U-Turn, they’ve completely reneged on this and encrypted every search term being entered. Now there are two main theories going round the web here:

1. Google have acted on their users concerns of data sharing with the US’ PRISM program. So to draw users back to their site they have assured us that they’ll encrypt all searches so no one with the power to do so can see what we’re searching.

2. Advertising sales are down and, as you may know, Google still passes on keywords used to advertisers. So in withhold keyword data from analytics, it could push more people onto their adwords, thus driving up revenue.

I’m more inclined to think it’s a mixture of the two. But what do you think?

Blog Post by Greg McVey

Net66 News: Google Changes Logo – Or Figures the Bevel Setting on Photoshop

Ok maybe I’m being a bit cynical here, but if Google’s logo was a physical thing, it just looks like they’ve hit it with a brick. Not smashed it, just flattened it. Technically it isn’t even a “new” logo. As Google has been using it internally for years now to save on Printing costs. You can compare the two new logo’s below:

To be fair there is a noticeable difference in the colours, and it’s bang on trend with the whole minimalist approach that’s so prevalent these days. I do like it as well, it’s neat and precise.

What do you think?

Blog Post by Greg McVey

Image: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images; Ars Technica

Net66 News: Move over Lazarus, Here comes Google!

Now I know that Lazarus is from the bible and is more prone to rising from the dead. But being an avid Dr Who fan, I watched the Lazarus episode where the antagonist (bad guy) created a machine to restore youth. Allowing for a longer life and potential immortality and it’s that reference I’m using.

Google will be launching a new company named Calcio, who’s ambition it will be to study ageing and how it can be slowed down allowing for longer life. Great right? But why would Google, more of a technology behemoth than dermatological/cosmetic company do this? Well there are two hypothesises on this.

First, there’s the idea of Google being altruistic in this and genuinely wanting to help us endure so we can learn, prosper and get the most out of life.

And then there’s the cynic. Citing that the longer someone lives, then theres the more:

Adwords you can buy
Google Glass you can buy
Android revenue
Self driving cars you can run

You can pick your favourite but I’m sure there’s more. My belief is more aligned to the cynics way of thinking, but as an SEO I’ve no real love for Adwords so sometimes want to pan Google.

But what do you think?

Blog Post by: Greg McVey

Net66 Google: Léon Foucault Given Google Logo

You may have been pleased to see a new Google Doodle today. If you’ve not already seen it, just cast your eyes downwards:

This is in honour of Léon Foulcault. A French physicist who first demonstrated the Earth’s rotation with his creation of the Foulcault Pendulum.

The way this worked was to set a pendulum up and place dominos or something similar around the edge of the pendulum’s swing. You then proceed to swing the pendulum.

Given that we now know for sure the earth is rotating, this device proved to show that with no external force, the pendulum that would supposedly swing backwards and forwards, eventually had it’s swing distorted into an oblong by the natural rotation of the Earth.

Blog Post by: Greg McVey