Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web. Search Engine Roundtable Stories: Search Buzz Video Recap: Google Mobile First Index Hints, Google Posts Live, Google Job Search & The SEO Movie This week in search, we got a bunch more information around the Google mobile first index. Google said if you are planning on moving to an m-dot domain to responsive... Google: Moving A Site Won't Help A Site Impacted By Panda It has been some time since we talked about Panda here and I am sure most of you are happy about that. But since Gary Illyes from Google brought it up yesterday on Twitter... Google: Parameter Handling In Google Search Console Is A Big Gun, Watch Out Do you use the parameter handling feature within the Google Search Console interface... Google: Use The Google … [Read more...]

Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. Google Posts now live for all Google My Business usersJun 22, 2017 by Barry Schwartz After much anticipation, Google Posts is finally available to all small businesses. The content will appear in both Google search and maps results. Google now removing medical records from its search resultsJun 23, 2017 by Barry Schwartz Google’s content removal policy has been updated to include medical records. This goes on a very short list of content that Google will remove from search. SMX Advanced session: Mobile-First For The Advanced SEOJun 23, 2017 by Greg Gifford How can websites prepare for the mobile-first index? Columnist Greg Gifford recaps a session from SMX Advanced dealing with the impending rollout of Google’s new index, which prioritizes mobile content over desktop. Search in Pics: Google bathtub table, Bing lunchbox & YouTube stairsJun 23, 2017 by Barry … [Read more...]

The effect of JavaScript on mobile web performance is twofold. One, it is the second largest contributor to webpage weight, behind images, thereby increasing download time; and two, once downloaded, the browser then needs to run the script, which can delay the downloading/rendering of other (perhaps more important) assets on the page. JavaScript (aka scripts or JS) is one of the triumvirate of technologies that make web pages (and web apps) work. The HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) controls the structure and content of the webpage; CSS (Cascade Styling Sheets) controls how the site looks on different devices; and JavaScript makes the page more interactive and dynamic. Scripts perform numerous functions on webpages such as loading ads, A/B testing, tag management (personalizing the page) or displaying an inline video player. Over the last five years, the total weight of pages sent to mobile devices has quadrupled to 2.2MB. Size matters because, in general, the more data … [Read more...]

Google is now purging private medical information from their search results. Bloomberg reported the change in Google’s removal policies, which adds a single line that reads: Confidential, personal medical records of private people Google did not give much information to Bloomberg about the change, only telling Bloomberg that they have “confirmed the changes do not affect search advertising.” Google declined to comment further on why they are making this change now. Google lists very few examples of information they will remove content from their index, including: national identification numbers like US Social Security Number, Argentine Single Tax Identification Number, Brazil Cadastro de pessoas Físicas, Korea Resident Registration Number, China Resident Identity Card and more. bank account numbers. credit card numbers. images of signatures. nude or sexually explicit images that were uploaded or shared without your consent. confidential, personal medical records … [Read more...]

SMX Advanced was amazing this year, and when they asked me to write up a session, I immediately asked to cover the mobile-first session. Sure, we’ve been talking about being “mobile-first” for years, but with Google’s impending Mobile-First Index (yes, I capitalized that on purpose), I knew this session would be full of awesome info. Leslie To kicked off the session with an in-depth walk-through of a mobile site audit. While there are site elements that matter to users regardless of screen size, To covered the important points that are vital to a successful mobile site. From using HTML5 for videos and rich media to proper navigation menus, she shared a “do” and “don’t” list for each individual element. There’s a huge difference between having a responsive site and using your responsive site correctly. To pointed out that designers and developers need to allow content and media to scale to fill the screen size of any device, … [Read more...]

Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web. Search Engine Roundtable Stories: Google May Skip URLs That Repeat The Same Path Many Times Google's John Mueller said in a Google Webmaster Help thread that Google may decide to "skip URLs that repeat the same path element many times... Google: We Like Breadcrumb Navigation Links On Your Site Google loves a site with good navigation and good user experience... Gary Illyes From Google Doesn't Have Manual Actions Clearance Gary Illyes from Google said on Twitter that he doesn't have rights or clearance to apply manual actions to web sites. That means... Google: Checkmark ✓ Characters In Titles Looks Spammy So some one asked John Mueller of Google if it is okay to use checkmark characters, … [Read more...]

Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. Why one e-commerce company is going all-in on AMP (Hint: conversions)Jun 22, 2017 by Ginny Marvin With significant conversion lifts over responsive design, Event Ticket Center has been pushing the AMP envelope. 5 must-do technical SEO audit items in 2017Jun 22, 2017 by Aleyda Solis As the search world evolves, so must your technical SEO audits. Columnist Aleyda Solis discusses some new items to add to your audits in order to stay current. Early performance results from Google’s update to close variantsJun 22, 2017 by Andy Taylor What impact has Google’s latest update to close variants had on paid search performance? Columnist Andy Taylor reviews the data. Oskar Fischinger Google doodle honoring the filmmaker & visual artist doubles as musical instrumentJun 22, 2017 by Amy Gesenhues To mark what would have been Fischinger’s 117th birthday, Google has … [Read more...]

Initially the domain of publishers, Google is steadily nudging commercial site owners and advertisers to embrace AMP. A new AdWords beta lets advertisers point their mobile search ads to AMP-enabled pages. Ebay was the first major non-news site to deploy AMP widely in a production setting, and other early adopters are getting on board despite the fact that there are still holes in AMP-supported capabilities. Here’s a look at how one company’s head start quickly convinced them to go all-in on AMP. Event Tickets Center sells concert and sporting event tickets online. Three-quarters of its traffic and a majority of sales come from mobile. Several years ago, the team, headed by brothers Adam and Jesse Young, had been ahead of the curve in moving to a responsive mobile site. They quickly jumped at building out AMP landing pages last year despite the lack of support for e-commerce functionality — no support for forms, tracking and on-page elements like … [Read more...]

Most online sites at some stage will want to expand, and one of the most common ways to do that is by offering products to an international market. However, it’s not an easy or simple task by any means. This post will help you understand the risks, research and steps involved in expanding your business into an international market. Considerations and research Is it the right time to go international? Is there a need to go international? This very much depends on your focus for the future and the current needs of the business. If you are increasingly having visitors to your site from international locations, now be may the time to start implementing an international SEO strategy. There are, of course, a few things that you need to take into consideration – such as: Are you able to implement ALL technical fixes? Do you have the resources to carry out the work and manage each variation in the future? If targeting a different language, do you have somebody to … [Read more...]

Today’s Google doodle is a tribute to German-born filmmaker and visual artist Oskar Fischinger, on what would have been his 117th birthday. According to Fischinger’s daughter, he and his wife immigrated to America from Germany in 1936. “They were forced to leave Germany in 1936 when it became clear that my father could not pursue his work as a filmmaker there (avant-garde was considered degenerate by Hitler and his administration),” says Angie Fischinger, “But many people who had already seen his films recognized his greatness. He received an offer to work at MGM and stayed in Hollywood after the war.” The doodle’s creative lead Leon Hong calls Fischinger a “towering figure” in the world of motion graphics and animation. “He is best known for his ability to combine impeccably synchronized abstract visuals with musical accompaniment, each frame carefully drawn or photographed by hand,” writes Hong on the Google Doodle … [Read more...]