FACTORS TO CONSIDER BEFORE HIRING A SEO PROFESSIONAL
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Google’s rules still control National SEO, and Responsive Website Design and Mobile Sites are becoming more critical for online marketers according to the numbers in a recent study.
In a study conducted by Comscore in February of 2014, Google controlled 67.5 percent of search volume in the United States. Bing held 18.4 percent and Yahoo held 10.3 percent. These numbers were essentially the same as the numbers in January of 2014.
In February 2013, Google had the same 67.5 percent of queries while Bing had 16.7 percent, and Yahoo had 11.6 percent. In February of 2012, Google controlled 66.4 percent of queries, Bing 15.3 percent and Yahoo 13.8 percent.
Total search volume has steadily increased since 2011. Total US search queries for February 2011 were 15.4 billion. That grew to 17.6 billion in 2012 and 18.2 billion in February 2013. This past month total search query volume was 17.7 billion.
Mobile search volume is not included in these numbers. Mobile search percentage is as follows: Google: 87.1 percent, Yahoo: 7.3 percent, Bing: 5.2 percent.
Bottom Line: It is projected that global mobile search queries will surpass PC-based search volumes at some point in 2014. This shift has marketers scrambling to install mobile sites and responsive website designs to provide a better user experience for mobile site visitors. If you rely heavily on web traffic to fuel sales for your business, please take the time to audit and review your mobile presence.
Eric Van Cleave is a Partner in Zenergy Works, a Santa Rosa, California based SEO, Website Development, Responsive Website Design, and Mobile Site Design Firm.
Two Thirds of Fortune 100 Companies Do Not Comply With Google’s New Mobile Site Search Engine Rankings:
Compliance with Google’s new mobile site requirements will soon affect your SEO efforts and search engine rankings. A recent study by Pure Oxygen Labs, using proprietary mobile diagnostic tools, evaluated the web sites of the Fortune 100 companies against Google’s best-practice criteria. The goal of the assessment was to determine: 1.) whether a site’s desktop pages redirected smartphone users to a mobile-friendly site, 2.) how mobile redirects are configured, and 3.) whether or not website pages employ responsive design formatting.
Of the 100 websites evaluated, the report found that:
45 percent serve a dedicated mobile site to smartphone searchers, but NONE of the mobile sites comply with Google’s mobile configuration requirements.
Only 11 percent employ responsive design techniques.
Only 56 percent provide mobile-formatted website content to smartphone searchers.
Once Google’s new mobile guidelines are rolled out – probably in the Fall of this year – most of these sites will face declining rankings due to non-compliance with Google Mobile Guidelines.
Will Social Media Really Help my Search Engine Rankings?
There are three very distinct ways that social media can help with your SEO efforts.
1. One of Google’s ranking factors takes “freshness” of a topic into consideration. Preliminary studies have shown that social sharing can trigger this ranking factor and give you a boost, temporarily, in the rankings.
2. Internet users are visual beings. Many social media sites such as Facebook and Pinterest give you an easy way to share large visual images and infographics. If you embed links into images that are shared from social sites to blogs or other websites, you can gain valuable, natural back links.
3. Social media sites have been proven to increase the speed at which new pages on your website are indexed.
Social Media is a hot trend, but it is only one determinant of Search Engine Rankings. Social Media can help to spread that unique, valuable content that everyone is striving to create to boost rankings.
Google Surveys
Google has released its Google Consumer Survey product. This new product allows webmasters to post customer satisfaction surveys on their websites and collect responses (by inserting a snippet of code) from their website visitors. The pricing is favorable compared to other options that currently exist for surveys. The first 500 responses are free (limited to four questions) and will run until the site has received 500 survey replies. The count starts over again each month, allowing historical tracking of user’s satisfaction. Websites can also customize their questions for $0.01 per response or $5.00 for 500 responses.
Bottom Line: Mobile compliance will soon not only contribute to a higher bounce rate on your site, but will cause your rankings to decline. Tracking user satisfaction using a free survey tool is a great way to let your site users help you to develop that compelling and unique content that every webmaster is seeking in the post-Panda SEO world. Social Media is one vehicle to spread the word and create link structure and rankings for your site. More tools will be required to continue to provide a positive user experience on your website. With these challenges comes the opportunity to rise above your online competition.
Eric Van Cleave is a Partner in Zenergy Works, A Santa Rosa, California based SEO, Website Development and Online Marketing Firm.
InsideFacebook has announced that the name of its mobile app feature “Nearby” has been changed to Facebook “local search.” The name change completes the enhancement of the local search tool from a way to find friends to the addition of local business recommendations. The name change has been made on iOS but remains Nearby on the Facebook mobile site and Android app.
The most recent comScore-15 Miles-Neustar local search study names Facebook as the second most popular mobile app for local search behind Google Maps. Facebook has attained this status despite the fact that they have done little or no promotion of the new search functions and that many users are still confused about how exactly the search functions.
Source: comScore
Bottom Line: Facebook and Google Plus are competing for dominance in the mobile local search market, and the beneficiaries will be local businesses savvy enough to take advantage of the opportunity and feature a mobile site or responsive website design for local mobile searchers. Complete Facebook and Google Maps and Google + profiles are a must have for local business, especially those catering to a younger demographic. Be sure to check your website stats to find out how many potential customers are accessing your business website on mobile devices.
Eric Van Cleave is a Partner in Zenergy Works, A Santa Rosa, California based Web Design Company, Mobile Design and Development and SEO Firm.
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