Search Advisory

Google recently announced a significant change in how it handles search privacy. It has begun encrypting search queries for anyone who is signed in to a Google account, such as Gmail.

This means that when you are signed in and run a search on www.google.com, you will be automatically redirected to https://www.google.com. So the terms you search on and the search results page will be encrypted.

Google explains the reason for this change:

As search becomes an increasingly customized experience, we recognize the growing importance of protecting the personalized search results we deliver. As a result, we’re enhancing our default search experience for signed-in users.

Read more…

At first glance, one might think landing page A/B testing and multivariate testing are long and involved processes.  However, Google Website Optimizer takes much of the pain and manual work out of the picture and simplifies the process.  Today I’m going to talk specifically about A/B testing, and I’ll discuss multivariate testing in an upcoming post.

To begin an A/B test, you need the original landing page URL, the variation landing page (or pages) URL and the conversion page URL.  Keep in mind, the more variations you have, the longer it’ll take to declare a winner.  When you set up the experiment in Google Website Optimizer, Google will give you different tracking scripts to include on each page of the test.  A set of control and tracking scripts will need to be implemented on the original landing page, and a tracking script needs to be implemented on each page variation.  Lastly, you also add tracking script to the conversion page.  Once all of the tracking scripts are in place, Google validates the pages. Next you can preview the versions of the pages you’re testing and launch the test.  Voila – your A/B test is ready! Read more…

As with most features, Google continues to make changes and improvements to sitelinks. Most recently, Google added instant previews to organic sitelinks. Previously, sitelinks were simply quick links to important pages within a site, with a very minimal description of the page. With the new update, users can now see a visual preview of up to 12 pages within the site before clicking on a page.

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In the midst of congressional hearings late this past summer, Google received steadily mounting criticism and some pretty negative PR from many brick and mortar businesses. It turns out that users, most likely the local competitors, were abusing the open and democratic nature of Google Places by reporting that a business had been closed permanently, when in fact they were still alive and well.  Read more…

Christian Oestlien, group product manager for social advertising at Google, has said that business profiles are coming soon to Google+! The social network just recently opened up to the public and traffic stats soared! Previously it was invitation only. This article refers to a 1,269% spike in visits week over week when the site fully opened up to the public.

Businesses have been trying to set up their own profiles, but only Ford and General Motors have officially been allowed to set up real business profiles. Many others have been taken down by Google. A lot of the rush seems to be because companies want to be innovative with the next big thing, but also because they’re anxious to claim their real estate. Companies are afraid of imitators setting up fake profiles in their brand names. Calm down! Google+ allows one name to be registered multiple times. This is at least how profiles for people work. That means that companies won’t run into a similar situation Netflix did when they launched Qwikster. In case you didn’t hear, the Twitter handle was already occupied by what appears to be a foul-mouthed teen. So far, the teen still has the Twitter handle and tweeted “Netflix didn’t take anything this is JASON talking”. It’ll be interesting to see what Qwikster does to establish its Twitter presence.
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I’m asking this as a personal question about your search habits – this isn’t a blog post on how to actually conduct an online search.  Stop and think about it for a second.  Step back a bit and think about how you use search on a personal basis on the weekends and at night when you’re not working.  And this isn’t a rhetorical question – really think about it.  You might learn something.

My search habits have evolved quite a bit during the five years I’ve been a search marketer.  I used to pride myself on the number of ways I could conduct a search on the same topic and find all sorts of different results.  I’d show off to my family – “Look honey. Here’s a BETTER way to search for a condo at the beach.”  And then I’d launch into a tutorial of how to conduct searches and get the most relevant results.  I’d explain about relevancy to the search query, ramble on about backlinks and how sites get ranked organically, and pontificate on the differences between paid and organic results.  My family and friends were astounded by my abilities – or at least I think they were.

Now, however, I must admit I’ve become a lazy searcher.  Read more…

Ad Extensions in Google AdWords are an immensely helpful tool that provides more useful, relevant ads to your target audience searching for information on Google.

Whereas paid sitelinks extensions allow you to display additional URLs leading to specific and related content deep within your sitemap, location extensions lets you include your business address and phone within your ads.

Of course, this feature is especially useful for advertisers with a local business presence who want to generate brand awareness to users already close enough to visit their location, as well as users who are browsing for related businesses in their area.
Read more…

Google has recently reclassified link data in Webmaster Tools.  The latest update is designed to closely align your backlinks with how you define internal and external links.  Due to this major change, many sites can expect to see a decrease in external links and an increase in internal links, depending on how your site is arranged.

Previously, links that were categorized as internal had to start with your site’s exact URL.  If they started with something other than your site’s exact URL then they were considered external links.  For example, if you entered your site as www.prominentplacement.com/bestSEMfirm/Google , links from www.prominentplacement.com/bestSEMfirm/Google/Professionals would be considered internal, but links from prominentplacement.com/bestSEMfirm would be considered external.  As such, links from www.prominentplacement.com and prominentplacement.com would be considered external.

Here is a quick lesson on how Webmaster Tools views different types of domains Read more…

Reflecting its relentless drive to speed up the web, and possibly in response to grumblings about drag from the +1 button, Google has announced changes that will allow the +1 button to load up to three times faster.

The speed boost is a result of updates from Google that will make both the +1 button, and the page loading it, faster.

Google is currently rolling out changes that will increase the speed. If you have already added the +1 button to your site, Google says you do not have to make any changes. It will automatically load more quickly.

Google is also introducing an asynchronous snippet, which will further increase speed.

According to Google: “The async snippet allows your web page to continue loading while your browser downloads the +1 JavaScript. By loading these elements in parallel, we’re ensuring the HTTP request to get the +1 button JavaScript doesn’t lead to an increase in your page load time. For those of you who have already implemented the button, you’ll need to update the code to the new async snippet, and then you should see an overall improvement in your page load time.”

To generate the new async snippet, use Google’s +1 Configuration Tool.

The Google +1 button was launched June 1 and has been swiftly adopted across the web.

If you haven’t done it already, here’s how to add the +1 button to your site.

Here’s the info for webmasters and programmers who want to customize the +1 button for your site.

Confused? Here are answers to a slew of questions about the +1 button.