The Blog - Where Business Collides with Human Nature

• Google has made it clear that it is keeping more traffic on Google owned properties through an increase in SERP features.
• The result has been a decline in the available traffic to the organic results.
• This has forced businesses and site owners to refocus marketing efforts on alternate sources of traffic, increase conversion from current traffic and branding as a way to improve search visibility.

 The competition for keyword rankings are increasing daily and it is becoming more important to protect the traffic you currently generate in order to sustain growth.  

 For the first time ever the total amount of zero-click searches have become the majority result in the total queries made on Google’s search engine.

 This landmark event should be cause for concern as the trend may continue past the 51% of searches that are now click-less. This has resulted from the emergence of Google SERP features that are more frequently being displayed in a search result.

Data and insights about Google and search results that should be very important for you to review. It is an easy read, not technical as Rand Fishkin tells it like he sees it --- and shows that less than half of Google searches now result in a click.

There is a big buzz going on related to "mobile-friendly". Since Google announced "mobile friendly" will become one of the criteria for ranking, many website designers and software sales people are overly excited with a new reason to sell small businesses and entrepreneurs the next website.

Google have announced their campaign to get website owners and webmasters ready to update their websites for changes in mobile friendly ranking factors, with a deadline set by the firm of the 21st April 2015.

As of this date Google has advised they will be expanding their use of “mobile-friendliness” as a ranking signal, and that it will affect all mobile searches worldwide. There is expected to be a significant impact in Google’s search results so we are advising below what website owners can do to ensure they are ready in plenty of time.  

"My website is not a content farm!" "What do you mean I am farming content?"  "My website is a review site, not a content farm!"  The exclamations and indignations are rampant.  Sensitivity and embarrassment are mixed with anger and regret.  Have you heard someone say:  "Sure, I borrowed a bit, took short cuts, and why not?  It is America!  We are free to pursue happiness and capitalism."

When the search engine companies have reputations to keep and the results are nothing more than fluff or misdirection which leaves those searching feeling frustrated, their "customers" are not happy.

Marcus Tandler, a speaker at TEDxMunchen, delivers a fresh perspective of the future of search engines. Search expectations constantly change, and search engines are forced to change with them.

Today it has become crucial for search engines to understand rather than to merely index as our search is “recency-sensitive” and replete with questions.

German born marketer Marcus Tandler has become famous for his rapid-fire presentations and future-facing insights. Finally, Marcus has made it to the TEDx stage to share his predictions with the world. 

Tandler predicts that search of the future will be moving from a web search to a contextual search to accommodate our ever-rising search expectations.

This video is about more than search.  Consider how the behavior of humans has changed.

After reviewing a few comments from Google's infamous Matt Cutts about press releases, sharing the results with you seemed the right thing to do.

The topic is more than just about press releases however since we are really interested in getting better authority and ranking on the Internet.  We are interested in how ranking is search engines is possible via press releases.  

Why this matters to me:  Understanding the ranking factors in search engines helps to solve the of lack of awareness.  It is unacceptable that entrepreneurs and small business owners who are AWESOME offline are not getting recognized in the same way online.  There are too many special companies which impact the community and offer value which are not getting found.  Can press releases be tool to improve ranking and SEO?

Test website load time with these free software tools from Google or Pingdom.  The debate about what page elements and/or widgets on your website effects the Google rankings continues.  Google talks about website speed vs. ranking and says that sites with delayed load time will effect the rankings in search engines results pages. The longer your site takes to load the lower the rankings will get in Google.

While site speed is part of the consideration, it doesn't carry as much weight as the relevance of a page.