Jun
2nd

Oneupweb : Oh No! Google is Broken!

Posted by Aaron on June 2, 2010 at 12:07 pm

I’m a relative newcomer to this crazy world of SEO. Reading the vast sea of blogs and forums related to the industry was never part of my daily routine until recently. I’ve only just become immersed in this ever-changing field as I recently accepted a position at Oneupweb. And during hours and hours of reading and learning, I’ve noticed that some in the SEO industry seem a bit resistant to embrace change.

Recently Google rolled out some changes to their algorithm and user interface and results started changing quicker than Lady Gaga’s wardrobe (topical!). Maybe I’m just not set in my ways enough yet, but this doesn’t seem like something to panic over. After all, to me part of the attraction of SEO is the constantly evolving nature of search and the web. There’s no lack of challenge in this business, that’s for sure.

With algorithm changes and increasing personalization, it’s been hard to accurately rank positions. I see lots of forum talk and blog posts claiming that Google must be “broken” because a site which was once ranked quite high on the SERPs isn’t in those top results anymore (which causes confusion). Is your site dropping a sign that Google is “broken”, or a sign that you have work to do?

Before coming to Oneupweb, I worked at a company that did a lot of business with the automotive industry. And over the past few years this industry has been hurting. Looking around at my past company and others in the field, there were two attitudes—people that spent their time complaining about the situation, and people who tried to figure out how to win in the new environment. Which ones do you think survived, and even thrived?

As search engines make it harder to report on universal positions, SERPs expand to include more and more information. This causes change in the way people interact with their search, which creates change for the SEO industry. You can fret that Google is “broken”, because it isn’t working the way you expected, or you can learn the new rules.

Fortunately, I’m working with a team that’s committed to success. Sure, it can be tough to keep pace with a landscape that’s always in flux, but we seek challenges and that’s why companies work with us. It’s our job to stay current and we have a strong relentless approach. It’s just like my personal hero Rocky Balboa once mumbled, “It’s not about how hard you get hit—it’s how hard you get hit and keep moving forward.”

Need help with SEO? Be sure to let us know!

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Mar
3rd

Oneupweb : Eye Tracking Labs Zero In On Real-Time

Posted by Kathryn on March 3, 2010 at 1:03 pm

Remember Bill Nye the Science Guy? Kids across the country would sit glued to their televisions in awe because, after all, this was way cooler than any of the science demos at school. In Bill Nye’s hands, mundane things like vinegar and baking soda became explosive miracles of science. We all, hopefully, learned the importance of wearing eye protection.

Today, we sit glued in front of computer screens or, if we’re away from the desk, our mobile device is surely on. And rather than passively watching what happens when the unknown powder is mixed with the volatile liquid, we now have the opportunity every day to be a part of some newfangled online social experiment. You get to be one of the test subjects whenever a “beta version” of software or an app is released—it is the testing phase of development process. No goggles or lab coats required.

But not everything goes beta before it goes live. And sites like Facebook and Twitter are constantly rolling out new features or tweaking the platform. At Oneupweb, our team of digital marketing wizards are tracking, monitoring and analyzing all the new developments in the digital landscape—what will explode next?

Now here’s a little experiment you can try in the comfort of your own home that won’t require a fire extinguisher: whenever you’re ready, search for the “Oscars”, in Google (a current “Hot Topic”). You may have to scroll down a little depending on the dimensions of your browser window. Do you see the scrolling box of results? What about the big gorilla?

Well, when Google announced this new feature—real-time results—back in December 2009, we had a few questions. The basic idea is this: tweets, and current updates from Facebook, blogs, and websites will be integrated into the standard search results as they happen. But will people notice the real-time results and, more importantly, are these results getting clicks?

We rolled up our sleeves and headed to the Oneupweb laboratory. We were going to put the real-time results under the microscope, or rather, eye tracker.

Search is a key element of online marketing today. So it only makes sense for businesses to stay abreast of changes in the search landscape. And Google, Bing, Yahoo! and a variety of start-ups are getting into the real-time game. This is an online experiment that will have a huge impact on the future of search. Keep your eyes peeled—you don’t want to be caught off guard when real-time explodes.

But what about the gorillas? If you want to find out, download the free report, Search Gone Wild: An Eye Tracking Study On Google’s Real-Time Results.

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Mar
24th

New Updates to Google SERPs – More Related Searches & Longer Snippets

Posted by Steve on March 24, 2009 at 2:33 pm

Google recently announced that they are rolling out a couple of new features for Google Search.

The first feature is in line with their ongoing mission to more accurately determine the intent of a user when serving results based on the search query used. For example, if someone searches “bass”, they’ll get results relevant to the species of fish, the guitar, shoes and more. In fact, I was even served a YouTube video result on how to Balloon Bass.

Google now says they are deploying a new technology to serve more and better refinements based on the original query.

Here are the refinements offered right now when I search for “bass”:

These related search suggestions can be seen at the top and bottom of SERPs, and now, with the unfathomable amount of data Google has compiled over the years, they have developed and launched a new technology capable of better understanding the user’s intent, and therefore, providing more useful refinements.

Here’s the example they provide of what are now better refinements related to “principles of physics”:

Compared with the first example using “bass”, you can see that Google also makes suggestions for longer, more specific queries as well. And this is the trend in search behavior.

More and more, users are becoming increasingly specific in their search patterns, often using three, four or even five word search queries. People understand the vastness of the Web, and understand the range of results they could potentially get when using a one-word term like “bass” in a search engine.

Because longer search queries are becoming more popular, the second feature that Google has rolled out corresponds with this trend. The feature: longer snippets.

Snippets are the few lines of text which reside below the blue title in traditional search results. For the pages Google serves based on the search query, these snippets help to convey what these pages are all about and whether or not they’ll meet the user’s needs.

Often times, however, and especially with longer queries, these snippets were too short to allow a user to make that call without clicking to see more. Google’s working to change that by providing users with longer snippets for longer queries so that they’re able to better determine just how relevant a search result is to their query. Here’s an example provided by Google:

I’m glad to see that Google is making the judgment call and automatically embedding longer snippets when appropriate, rather than embedding an optional click feature for more text.

Search engines are still far from consistently understanding the user’s intent, but I like what Google has done here.

I’d also like to see more improvements for Universal Search Results. How about more info on Video results when served, such as the date the video was uploaded, or including longer snippets with News results, or even some snippets with Blog results?

Since Google started integrating mixed results because they found relatively few people searched using their verticals, like Google Video, they could also use the enhanced related searches feature to suggest different types of results. For example, “video results for [insert query here].” That way, the user could see several videos rather than just one or two in the main results.

I don’t want to get into all that they could be doing, though, because I know you can’t do everything at once, and again, I like what they’ve done here.

Feel free to chime in with your thoughts.

Images: The Official Google Blog

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