Tag Archives: search engine results

Modern search engines utilize complex algorithms to help determine where a site ranks on search engine results pages. These sophisticated algorithms consider hundreds of unique factors when determining where your pages fall in the final rack and stack. While it may not be realistic to tackle each of these factors, devoting time and attention to three key elements can help yield significant results.

Below, we’ll explore these three tactics and discuss how to incorporate them to boost search engine rankings and outperform the competition. These tactics are especially useful for startups on a shoestring budget.

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Showcasing positive user reviews of products and services is a critical element of success in today’s online marketplace. Unfortunately, many SMBs attempted to game the system by purchasing or crafting fake positive user reviews from overseas “review farms” to mislead consumers.

To combat this practice, Google’s introduced an update to target and remove this misleading information. Despite good intentions, the update appears to have unintentionally removed a broad cross-section of legitimate feedback from GMB. Although Google is exploring solutions to reinstate the data, it is likely that it may be permanently lost.

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Google’s Diversity update, launched last month, intentionally limits the total number of listings in search engine results pages (SERPs) to two per domain. This means that only two pages from the same site may appear in a SERP when a user searches for a particular keyword string.

Based on a recent study conducted by Searchmetrics, it appears that the change is working as Google intended. Although this move is not a fundamental shift in the way Google ranks pages, it is an important development for SMBs looking to gain a foothold in sectors previously dominated by retail and marketing giants.

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In an uncharacteristic move for the search engine giant, Google recently took to social media to give users a heads up on the launch of a major search algorithm update. The update, termed the June 2019 Core Update, is the second such major system overhaul of the year and appears poised to shake up the SEO landscape.

Unfortunately, details are sparse on precisely what changes the June 2019 Core Update has in store. However, site owners, developers and advertisers should keep a close eye on search metrics over the coming weeks to get a good feel for the type and scope of changes, and adjust tactics, if necessary.

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Search algorithms over the years have focused on keywords. Often, the way people search most effectively does not at all mimic how they would talk if they were speaking to another person. The terms feel clumsy and unnatural. They work for a computer, which is going through the keywords and matching content, but you end up typing -- or, with the recent focus on voice searches, saying -- things that don't reflect real speech patterns. Essentially, you find yourself consciously thinking about the fact that you're using a computer and changing your communication tactics to match that experience. For instance, when looking for the best restaurant in New Mexico, you may ask a friend:

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