Ten Google Sitelinks For Domain Searches

Ten Google Sitelinks For Domain Searches
 Search Google for your domain name, and if that doesn't work try [seroundtable.com] - you should see ten large sitelinks come up under the main site listing:


Searching for the brand name, such as [search engine roundtable] doesn't return ten sitelinks for me. It only returns the ten sitelinks when I do a domain search.

Do you like this? I mean, domain restrictive search is probably a bit more navigational in nature than searching for a brand name.

Author: Barry Schwartz

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Google Publisher Coming To Search Results With Google+ Logo?

Google Publisher Coming To Search Results With Google+ Logo?
As you know, authorship in the search results is a big deal. In fact, I am missing my face big time in the search results. But now, it seems that Google was testing Google+ company logos in the search results.

Note, this page doesn't have rel publisher code on it. It did however have a verified Google+ page and web site linked in the Google+ profile.
I spotted this via siegemedia.com and reported it on Search Engine Land last night.
I can no longer see this coming up in the search results. It worked for me last night.
So it is either a weird bug or a feature Google was testing.
Personally, I like it but hey - it is not my search engine.

Author: Barry Schwartz

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MozCast Shows Huge Google Update But SEOs Don't Agree

MozCast Shows Huge Google Update But SEOs Don't Agree
Yesterday, MozCast, Moz's Google ranking volatility tool, reported the highest level of change in Google's search results in the history of MozCast. 113 degrees hot. Typically, on a normal day it will be in the high 60s or low 70s.

Why the huge temperature? The other tools such as SERPs.com and SERP Metrics reported normal days for Tuesday. And more importantly, I didn't see any chatter in the SEO forums that would signal a Google search algorithm or ranking update.

What set off MozCast? Dr. Pete explained what it might have been, giving a detailed look at the data but saying, he needs more time to give a definitive answer and even then, he might not know for sure.
One thing is for sure, I am 99% certain there was no major ranking change yesterday. The forums and level of discussion in those forums did not spike at all. In fact, it seemed like an incredibly slow day over the past 48 hours.

Author: Barry Schwartz

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Matt Cutts As Moses In SEO's Ten Commandments

Matt Cutts As Moses In SEO's Ten Commandments
I am not sure that Matt Cutts will enjoy this too much but hey, if you ever see him at an SEO convention, it may appear as if he is a god. So why not be dressed like moses, holding the ten commandments in his hands with a halo-like glow behind him?
Steve Toth put together the 10 Commandments of SEO infographic and featured Cutts at the top. The 10 commandments include:

Thou Shalt Not:
(1) Have an Unnatural Link Profile
(2) Cloak and Use Hidden Text
(3) Steal / Duplicate Content
(4) Spin Content
(5) Stuff Keywords
(6) Spam Google Maps
(7) Create Microsites
(8) Sell Links
(9) Go Overboard on Ads
(10) Create Multiple Websites to Rank for the Same Business

Author: Barry Schwartz

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Google's Cutts: Add User Satisfaction Poll To Your Site

Google's Cutts: Add User Satisfaction Poll To Your Site
Google's Matt Cutts reshared a post on Google+ about Google consumer surveys adding a free feature for publishers to add code to their site to poll their website visitors if they like the pages.

Cutts said, "they just rolled out a new (free!) feature that helps you figure out how your users like your website!" "I highly recommend it," he added.

Here is a screen shot of what it might look like on your site:


The reports that it outputs is nice and it is good to get user feedback on your site about your pages but I am sure there are a ton of webmasters who will think - no way am I adding this to my site. Google can then use this data to hurt my web site. Of course, Matt Cutts would say Google currently doesn't use this data for ranking purposes.

Author: Barry Schwartz 

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Google's Matt Cutts: Multi-Week Update Rolling Out

Google's Matt Cutts: Multi-Week Update Rolling Out
For the past week or so, I've been seeing a lot of chatter around a Google updating happening. The thing is, it is hard to tell what is going on right now.

The Webmaster World thread has a lot of chatter that symbolizes an update but that chatter has been pretty steady for the past couple weeks or so. In addition, the monitoring tools, such as MozCast shows higher signs of volatility than normal. Here are the temperatures 73° on June 24, 86° on June 23, 77° on June 22, 71° on June 21 and 72° on June 20. So pretty hot days this week and the week before.

Author: Barry Schwartz 

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Screen Shots Of The New Google Webmaster Tools Structured Data Error Report

Screen Shots Of The New Google Webmaster Tools Structured Data Error Report
Google is now inviting webmasters to try out the new Webmaster Tools structured data error reports.

I signed up for the beta a few weeks ago and was invited yesterday to check out the reports. Fortunately for me, but unfortunately for you, I have no errors - so there is not much to show you.

However, I did spot Tony McCreath post screen shots with errors on Google+ for all to see.

Author: Barry Schwartz

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Google Language Change: Content That Gets Used & Shared, Not Linked To.

Google Language Change: Content That Gets Used & Shared, Not Linked To.
As I reported yesterday at Search Engine Land with Google Changes Ranking Advice, Says Build Quality Sites Not Links - Google made a change to their messaging on the ranking article help document. This was first spotted by @Baeumlisberger and it is an important change.
As I said yesterday, this "change is to keep Google consistent with their general change in messaging that content is what webmasters should focus on, not links."

What was the actual change? The line use to read, "In general, webmasters can improve the rank of their sites by increasing the number of high-quality sites that link to their pages." Google changed the last part to read "by creating high-quality sites that users will want to use and share."

So it is no longer about increasing the number of quality links, it is more about increasing people who want to use and share your content. Again, this is Google's new messaging.

Author: Barry Schwartz

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