Site load speed has been a ranking factor in Google’s algorithm for a while now. I had suspected it was a factor for some time, and then back in April 2010, Google confirmed it.

I was surprised the other day when I learned that Google had removed the site performance data from the Labs section of Google Webmaster Tools. I had fully suspected this would be made into a full-fledged feature, but instead it was removed entirely.

While the site load times shown under site performance were somewhat flawed, it was still useful for getting an overall impression of how fast Google perceived your site to be. If they showed your site as exceptionally slow, then at the very least, it was an indication that something needed to be done. Read more…

For those of you who haven’t heard, on Sept 28, Google unrolled what is being called the Google EMD Update. EMD stands for Exact Match Domain. This update focuses on “low-quality” exact match domains. Matt Cutts tweeted about this as it was happening.

For most, this update will go unnoticed, but for 0.6% of searches, we have seen a change. This sounds like a small number but when you consider that as of August 2012 Google was serving results on average for around 100 billion queries a month – as a result this measly 0.6% impacts about 600 million monthly queries. Read more…

Many have discounted the benefits of the Meta Description Tag because it is no longer considered by Google’s ranking algorithms when evaluating where your site should rank in search results; it is generally assumed spammers abuse of the tag forced search engines to devalue it. This hasn’t left the Meta Description Tag a complete waste of space though. Before explaining why the Meta Description Tag still has an impact on rankings I will first cover what the tag is still widely known to be good for; prompting clickthroughs.

Fact: The Description Meta Tag Can Increase Clickthroughs

Nowadays if a webmaster writes a good representation of a webpage into the Meta Description Tag there is a good chance Google will use the tag as the description of the page in search engine results. As a result, the wise marketer will take this a step further and ensure the Description Meta Tag is further optimized to entice someone to click on her search result versus her competitor’s. Granted, this is only a big help if the page is actually ranking where viewers can see it; which requires the other facets of website marketing not covered in this article (search engine optimization, community building  which is better than link building, etc.).

Now consider the next important piece of the puzzle Read more…

The Google URL shortener was originally launched back in December as a tool primarily for use by Google itself. Well, today Google announced in their blog that the tool has been launched and made available to everyone!

You do not need a Google account to use goo.gl. That said, if you want to know the analytics and history of your shortened URL, you will need to log into Google account to hang onto that statistical data. Read more…

For many years now AOL search results, both organic and paid, were powered by Google. Now with a deal announced by AOL – none of that is going to change.

This morning AOL announced the renewal and expansion of their global partnership. The five-year renewal will include a broad range of features to both improve and expand the products and services. Read more…

I wish I had found this myself, but a friend of mine sent me an instant message today with a link to a “fail” over at FailBlog. I tried the Google search myself and sure enough the error is in fact real. I thought I would share it with all our readers who need a quick laugh.

I only wish I had discovered this myself but I seldom have a reason to Google “hotmail” – it’s up there with Googling Google. (and no, Googling Google does not present any fails – oh well.)

If you are looking for a fun Friday Afternoon read, check out the latest article by Danny Sullivan over at Search Engine Land. Danny pokes into the many attempts Google has made in products that didn’t quite make the cut.

Google has had some massive success with a number of their initatives, but with that success there are always those that don’t quite make it. Read more…

Today Google announced it is finally embracing the two way conversation for business place reviews on its Google Places platform. As a result, business owners can reply to both negative and positive reviews for their businesses which were left on their Google Places profile.

This is Very Good News
Having dealt with some reputation management issues in the past for clients it used to drive me to distraction that the client could not respond to negative reviews on many of the review websites online. As a result, unfortunate situations where a miscommunication or simple mistake had occurred would quickly bloom out of control because the business owner had less options to respond as publicly as their unhappy patron. Fortunately, over the years IYP platforms that allow reviews such as Yelp and TripAdvisor finally opened the doors to allow business owners to give their side of the story and today Google took the same leap. Read more…

Google saw more searches in June than May, but also a decline in market share.

According to comScore, Google has seen a small decline in its search market share for June 2010 with Yahoo and Microsoft both increasing last month. Read more…

Remember the good old days of Google Bombing? Back when George W Bush’s bio page at the White House was ranked #1 for “miserable failure”? Well, this is something we haven’t seen for a while, and it is largely thought that this practice would no longer work, but  as the Vatican reported to Google a few days ago, it still does. Read more…