ssharma@brightedge.com

M Posted 10 years 5 months ago

t 9 min read

On November 20, 2015, Barry Schwartz of Search Engine Land reported on the Internet chatter that discussed a Google update that began about the 19th. Mostly depending upon how their own rankings were impacted by the Phantom 3 update, SEOs and website owners expressed either positive or negative feedback about the changes. Some early feedback attributed ranking gains to improvements that either made sites more mobile friendly or improved content; however, just as many posters complained about better rankings for competitors' sites with low-quality backlink profiles.

The forum and social media chatter alerted Mr. Schwartz to possible updates, but he didn't only rely upon these opinions for confirmation of an update. He also published charts from Algaroo, and other SERP trackers to demonstrate a recent increase in rank volatility. This suggested that something changed, but nobody from Google had explained or even confirmed any updates.

What is the Phantom 3 update?

Was the update real, a change to Penguin or Panda, or a difference in Google's core algorithm? John Mueller, Google's Webmaster Trends Analyst, had already sent out a response to a question on Twitter on the 19th. He Tweeted that he had nothing significant to report and any changes noticed were likely to simply be one of hundreds of minor updates that the search engine giant makes each year. By the 20th, Mr. Mueller clarified his response by indicating that there had been an update to Google's core algorithm. By the beginning of December, search engine bloggers had named this update Phantom 3. To explain the name, Schwartz mentioned that two surprise updates in 2015 had been called Phantom 1 and 2. Later, according to a second Search Engine Land post on the update, Google confirmed that Phantom 2 had occurred in May, and they called it a quality update. Schwartz concluded that Phantom 3 was probably another update for quality, but he had no confirmation of that from Google.

Provocative updates to mobile navigational searches from Phantom 3

Obviously, Google had rolled out an update. The exact nature of the update was still unknown. While evidence and some confirmation pointed to one of many core updates that the search engine company rolls out each year, Google never published any specifics. If this was all there was to it, interest might have faded. However, it only became more complex when navigational searches on mobile devices became an issue. A navigational search is when a user searches for a website or page without directly typing in the URL. A relevant example of this might be typing "Tripadvisor hotels" in the search box instead of just navigating directly to TripAdvisor.com. It makes sense that some search users might rely upon these navigational searches more on mobile devices because it's more difficult to type an entire page addresses on small devices. Also, mobile bookmarks may not be as accessible as they are on laptops and desktops. It's worth noting that a search engine company would benefit from navigational searches. They get a chance to display some advertising for these searches, and they can't do that when Internet users simply access websites directly.

Google's OneBox topped navigational searches for local search competitors

One would expect to have a high- authority website returned to the top of the page as the result of a navigational search. Google has constantly stated that they strive to focus on user intent, and it seems fairly intuitive to surmise that has to be the user's intent. However, Mark Bergman reported on RE/Code that isn't what was happening after the November 19th update. In fact, the CEO of TripAdvisor complained about the update on Twitter on November 22. He gave an example that searches for "Tripadvisor HIlton" only returned the site's search entry so far down in the results that it couldn't be seen. Many navigational searches for Yelp pages produced similar results.

Executives from these companies weren't only provoked because their own company websites had moved down in the search results. Google had replaced the links for these authority sites with the large display for their own OneBox listings. Besides Yelp and TripAdvisor, FourSquare and ZocDoc also lost rankings to Google's own entries. For some background on this issue, both TripAdvisor and Yelp are participating in an EU lawsuit against Google for behaving in a way that they say stifles competition. The complaint alleges that the search engine company promotes its own products and does not provide unbiased search results when it runs counter to their own interests. Re/Code mentioned that the FTC published documents from Google's own internal communications about the Google algorithm's use of co-occurrence signals. These signals would display the search engine's own products when the regular algorithm would normally display a competitor's websites.

The concern about this update is that it appears to be a fairly blatant example of those co-occurrence signals in actual production use. Using a OneBox listing is far different than simply inserting a couple of obvious ads over the organic search results. A spokeswoman from Google quickly reported the issue as a simple bug and promised a prompt fix. Jeremy Stoppelman, the CEO of Yelp, discounted the explanation and called it a behavior pattern and not a glitch. Kaufer of TripAdvisor echoed those sentiments. Regardless of the discussion, Google did roll out a "fix" the next day, and mobile, local searches returned to normal. Re/Code published an update that their own test searches confirmed that Google had remediated the problem.

Was the mobile search update a bug, a test, or a message?

Was it a bug? CEOs from impacted companies still contend that it wasn't a mistake. At the same time, Google maintains that it was. People who really believe in conspiracy theories might contend that it was not a simple glitch or a greedy manipulation in search results for some holiday shopping traffic. Instead, it might have been the search engine company's way of letting their competitors, the public, and maybe even the government see what they could do if they really wanted to manipulate search results.

Phantom 3 appears to be a quality update

Later in December, SEMRush published the results of their traffic analysis for general website searches for the Phantom 3 November 19th update. They concluded that Phantom 3 was both real and significant. Forty percent of the sites they tracked gained or lost traffic by at least 10 percent. They concluded that it was, indeed, a quality update and that sites that suffered losses had issues with duplicate or low-quality content. Website owners of any sites that lost positions should analyze their own pages for content issues. A BrightEdge Site Audit can help uncover problems and protect sites from possible traffic losses from future quality and algo updates.  

Sources

Was there a Google update this week around 19th November? Evidence of an unconfirmed Google update happening on November 19th Google says local search result that buried rivals Yelp and TripAdvisor is just a bug Was Google's new Phantom 3 update real? BrightEdge Site Audit - Assess your website and take action      

enewton@brightedge.com

M Posted 10 years 5 months ago

t 9 min read

Top 5 2016 SEO Trends: Business Analysis and Data Technology as a Concept

One of our most popular blog posts of 2015 was Staying on Top - The Top 5 SEO Trends for 2015. And we think we did pretty well identifying the changes, especially concerning content, mobile, social, and links. This year we will be even more prescriptive in identifying how to capitalize on the trends we see.

Online marketing continues to grow in response to maturing technology and new consumer habits. As the industry changes, SEO tactics must morph to better align with new goals and algorithm updates (NEW).

Over the course of 2015 we witnessed many changes that have impacted SEO. We have used these trends, along with our research here at BrightEdge, to form predictions about what will be in store for marketers on the more technical side of SEO in the coming year. Here are five key developments for which we believe brands need to prepare.

1. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning: Make your sites translate and talk machine to make them easier to interpret

The rise of A.I. means that schema tags and rich snippets may become even more important as they improve machines’ ability to more deeply understand site content.

Earlier this year we reported on Google’s announcement about their new RankBrain signal. According to Google, this new form of machine learning was designed to help it better interpret and respond to queries that are seen for the first time. An estimated 15 percent of the queries Google receives are completely original, which means that the standard algorithm may have trouble deciphering the intention of the query. RankBrain has been designed to better interpret what customers seek. Google has announced that this A.I. has become their third most important ranking signal.

Machine learning is likely to make even more inroads with search engines as the technology expands. We predict that these developments will lead to a greater importance placed on the schema of the page. This form of data can be valuable for communicating with the search engines and telling them exactly what is on the page, rather than relying on the spiders to interpret the information.

Until now, brands have been able to get away with markups that were either missing or filled out incorrectly. Although they might not receive the possible benefits of rich snippets, they otherwise experienced minimal or no negative impact on their site rankings. As machine learning and A.I. become more important factors in search engines, it is likely that this easily-interpreted information will also become more significant. It is a strong possibility that RankBrain already relies on schema, at least to a degree, when understanding websites.

Brands should take the time in 2016 to ensure that they run SEO management efficiently and that their schema have been developed correctly. Use Google Webmaster Tools to test your page after finishing to ensure it has been completed correctly.

2. Mobile: Prevent a mobile competitive ambush

Generating the same mobile traffic as last year while mobile grows so quickly means a competitor is gaining strength and traffic.

 Mobile success checklist includes: Responsive or mobile site, mobile site performance, mobile competitive benchmark, mobile share of voice, a mobile app where applicable, mobile app ranking, and app indexing to make the in-app content discoverable. If a user with your app installed searches for a relevant query using their phone, Google can show a link directly to the content within your app. If the user doesn’t yet have your Android app installed, Google can show an install button for it.

We have seen tremendous growth in the role of mobile for modern consumers. In 2015, mobile searches officially surpassed desktop searches. The Pew Research Center has also indicated that an increasing number of people rely on their mobile devices for a large portion of their Internet access. An estimated 19 percent of Americans say that they depend entirely or almost entirely on smartphones to access the web.

As an important outgrowth of this mobile usage has been the popularity of mobile apps. Eighty-nine percent of the time people are on their smartphones, they are using apps. Over the past year, the amount of time people have spent using apps has also increased by 21 percent. Popular applications offer customers a strong user experience and make it easier for them to access the information that they desire. People use a variety of different types of apps, from messaging apps to shopping apps to games.

These apps also have been increasingly influencing the behavior and buying choices of customers. Forty-two percent of the mobile sales made for the top 500 retailers were all achieved through mobile apps.

We expect these numbers to continue to grow as we head into 2016. It is even possible that the number of mobile searches stagnates this year as mobile apps begin to absorb more of the smartphone and tablet activity.

At the same time, mobile apps are added at an incredible rate. There are an estimated 60K apps added to iTunes and 50K added to Google Play each month. Brands who want to compete going into 2016 need to make sure that they have developed a quality, branded app that has been optimized and designed to compete for the increasingly important app marketplace. These apps should incorporate deep links and excellent imagery to maximize their potential.

3. Engagement: Brands need sites and apps that capitalize on micromoments, light-speed customer journeys, and support consumers need to know it or have it now

Micromoments are those instants when consumers have a need and use an app or site to research and transact. Brands that are highly discoverable and minimize friction during micromoments will gain advantage.

The saturation of the content marketing atmosphere has been a popular topic lately. An estimated 93 percent of brands say that they intend to maintain or increase their investment in this form of marketing in the coming year-- further increasing the rate of content production.  

Given the impressive amount of information regularly being published online, it is easy to see why engagement will become even more crucial. Brands no longer have a first-mover advantage simply by being present and publishing content. Instead, they need to make sure that the site and the content on the pages have been designed to meet the needs of the user.

Site layout and usability is a cornerstone in building this engagement. Customers get frustrated when they visit a page and are unable to find the information they sought. What makes this danger even more significant is that 40 percent of people who have a poor experience on a website will never return to give the site a second chance. Site layout cannot be neglected by those working to boost engagement.

Site layouts should be intuitive and customers should easily find what they seek. Remember that the site layout must also be optimized for users on mobile devices. Since the bulk of searches are now taking place on mobile devices, it may even be easier for brands to first optimize their site for mobile devices and then modify it to meet the needs of desktop users, rather than the other way around.

4. Social Media & Links: Social comes full circle back to awareness, link building, and traffic generation

The frenzy over user-generated content and peer distribution masked the fact that what social changed were who the writers, editors, and designers were. Digital mentions and links in social are similar to traditional linked digital content and paid digital distribution. As the hype fades, marketers will evaluate their social efforts based on normal metrics, like awareness, traffic, and sales. And where social contributes to traffic via search, it will receive that credit. The use of similar metrics will increase the focus on links, link equity, and net traffic gain.

Marketers expect the next Penguin update in very-early 2016. The Penguin updates have been responsible for largely targeting poor-quality links. Brands learned quickly that Google wants to see:

• links from high-quality sites
• links using a variety of anchor text
• links that happen organically.

The old black-hat practices of buying links and otherwise inflating backlink profiles were put to rest by this update.

Brands have been working to improve their link profiles since the last Penguin update hit and many hope that this one will help them improve their ranking. Rumors indicate that this latest update will be the one that makes Penguin function in real-time. This means that if you start to engage in illicit linking practices, you can be penalized quickly. On the other hand, if you build desirable, high-quality links, you can improve your rank just as quickly.

This adjustment means that links are going to become an even more important part of SEO in 2016. Brands will need to take the time to disavow poor-quality links and cultivate high-quality backlinks. This will require a careful monitoring of the site’s backlink profile, looking for things like sudden spikes or other anomalies that could indicate a problem. Since high-quality links are best attracted through producing engaging, shareable content, this will be another reason for brands to focus on the quality of the material they produce.

5. 3Ss: Cross-channel marketing: leverage between SEO, SEM, and SM (Social Media) becomes an even bigger focus

Leading marketers who optimize attention, labor, and resources between the paid, earned, and owned channels will achieve better balance and results.

The necessity of a strong web presence will rise to a new level in 2016. To attract the attention of page visitors, sites will have to go beyond quality content. The design behind the site and how it is integrated with the rest of the brand’s web properties will be crucial.

Brands will have to focus on growing their influence across multiple platforms, including social media, their own website, and their blog. More importantly, these different sites will need to be connected. The idea of how social, content and search can work together to raise content in rankings will be paramount.

At the same time, the site itself will need to focus on the nuts and bolts of an engaging page. This means minimizing load times, creating dynamic and personalized sites, and an overall emphasis on the user experience across the platforms. The focus should be on designing websites that can load efficiently and provide customers with personalized information. The more the page can customize itself to account for details, such as the visitor’s location or their past visits to the page, the better they will be able to meet the needs of that potential customer.

The changes in the marketing industry continue to happen at a lightning speed. New consumer habits, algorithm changes and the latest technology all force SEO experts to adjust their strategies to remain successful. As we forge into 2016, we believe these five 2016 SEO Trends will be instrumental to remaining on top of the technical side of optimization.