There is an interesting article on Web Pro News that discusses a significant change to local search when it comes to SEO and web design. Put simply, SEO and web design businesses are no longer appearing in local searches, at least, not for simple searches. I wrote about this last week as well, please read the post at the following link:
http://www.searchengineoptimizationjournal.com/2010/01/03/local-search-intent/

A search for “SEO Boston” is not likely to return any local search results. Add the word “in” – “SEO in Boston”, and the local search results appear. While it is tough on web designers and SEO businesses, is there more to this than meets the eye?

SEO consultants (and web designers) are easy targets when it comes to tweaking anything to do with search. Who is going to notice and discuss a change in search, why SEO writers off course. You have to wonder then if Google have made this change as a test for a more general change in local search. If this one little change improves search results and also trains searchers to be more specific in their queries, will we soon see this change spread to other areas of local search?

I think we may. Google is all about improving search results and producing results that more specific to a query. If the search engines can train users to be more specific with their search queries, results should become more specific. It is a fair enough approach. The search “SEO Boston” is not specific. Is the searcher looking for an SEO consultant in Boston, or one that will provide a service to someone in Boston? The same can then be said for spare tires, books, and a million and one other products.

It’s just a thought, but is Google tweaking local search and using SEO as the guinea pigs? Or is Google just attacking SEO people because of the black hats out there that are abusing Google local maps search results for themselves and their clients? I am not sure…why can’t Google just change 1 thing at a time, with Google Caffeine happening soon, why do they have to change local search right now.

Matt Cutts announced in early November that Google Caffeine would be available in one data center after the holidays. In other words, the new joy ride in search will begin in January 2010.

But what exactly is Google Caffeine and how could it possible impact search engine optimziation?

In August, when Google first introduced its beta-tested new search infrastructure, they announced that Google Caffeine would “let us push the envelope on size, indexing speed, accuracy, comprehensiveness and other dimensions.” Then Google began accepting test drives and feedback, but the site for that process has been taken down and replaced with a thank you message. So are you ready?

I suspect that by the end of January (this month) – maybe even by the end of the first or second week in January – we’ll start seeing some of new results of Google Caffeine. Any idea what that will entail?

I believe the Google Caffeine update will primarily focus on three things:

• A ranking system that heightens the importance of page load speeds
• A more focused relevance on real-time search data
• Stricter spam controls

Why do I say this? Google’s own words – speed, accuracy, comprehensiveness.

Matt Cutts has already discussed the importance of page load times and I think we all see it coming. Page load speed will be taken into greater consideration on future search results. That will probably happen with Google Caffeine. And who can argue that the major search engines have already discovered real-time search? What you see in Google’s SERPs now is just a small taste. I expect that will be improved upon a thousand-fold.

The tricky one will be Google’s attempt to control spam. How the search engine will achieve greater comprehensiveness while de-listing or diminishing the rankings of spam sites is a mystery beyond my imagination, but I can see Google going there. Can’t you?

Search engine optimization and increasing visitors through content development is not always so straightforward. Sometimes it’s a little sneaky. Not sneaky in a black hat kind of way, but sneaky in a good kind of way.

I’m talking about using current events to draw new readers to your blog or website if it pertains to your industry or helps contribute to the goals of your website. Using current events and hot industry topics can provide a better user experience for your site visitors as well. You can use this strategy for any niche or industry. But suppose that a popular news item has everyone talking. Let’s say it’s your favorite celebrity and she’s been arrested for drunk driving (of course you run a gossip blog as an example). Is there a way you can tie your message into this current event?

You might ask: What’s the benefit of doing that? One of the primary benefits is that you are playing off of a currently hot news topic. People are discussing the item with their friends, family, and co-workers. You can piggyback off the success of that popular news or relevant industry story and tie it into a message about your product or service or you can keep the story purely informational to attract new relevant visitors as well. The basic concept is if a topic is hot then there will be an increase in visitors searching.

A prime example of this related to the search engine optimization industry is this week Google’s head of web spam announced the Google algrothim change known as Google caffeine is expected to start to roll out throughout the Google data centers after the holidays. This is big search engine optimization industry news! There were countless blogs, news sites, etc that reported this huge news this past week. So I felt it was important to recap this event. I created this post not just to generate visitors to my SEO blog, but to let my readers know about this important and relevant news. Anyway, this is an example of how to leverage industry news to generate relevant content for your readers.

As I (and many other top SEO/SEM blogs) have been reporting since mid-August, the big “Google Caffeine” major algorithm update is coming very soon. According to Matt Cutts (Google’s Head of Web Spam Department), the major Google Caffeine update will take place after the holiday season. To read Matt Cutt’s blog post about the Google Caffeine update, please visit the following link:
http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/google-caffeine-update/

In case you are interested, Mashable did an analysis of possible changes that might be part of the update back in August here:
http://mashable.com/2009/08/10/google-new-version/

Here is a very interesting video at the last Search Engine Strategies conference show with Matt Cutts about the Google Caffeine update:


Also, here is more talk from around the web about what might happen:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2355684,00.asp
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10394059-93.html
http://videos.webpronews.com/2009/11/11/googles-caffeine-live-at-one-data-center/
http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/091110-093955
http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/25086.asp

So it looks like we are all in for some changes together. From my experience from the last 2 major Google algorithm updates (2003 and 2005/2006) I always recommend to not panic and expect major fluctuations of the Google search engine result/rankings for your website. Since this is new for everyone in the SEO world, I recommend remaining patient and to continue marketing your website and business in a white hat manner and long term you should be just fine.

Of course, I will keep you updated (as everyone will in the SEO industry) with any major updates, roll outs, etc.

A few days ago we took a look at Google Caffeine and made a few notes. At that time I didn’t know about another site that allows you to make side by side comparisons of individual searches. This is a cool tool.

Comparecaffeine.com allows you to compare current Google search results with Google Caffeine search results. You can do this in American, Dutch, Irish, or UK versions of Google.

What I like about Comparecaffeine.com is you can perform a search result and see where specific web pages fall within the rankings and judge, based on side by side comparisons, how Google Caffeine is different than current Google SERPs. When you arrive at the site you’ll see the following search terms already entered into the box based on which regional version of the search engine you want to test:

• Barack Obama
• Mary McAleese
• Angela Merkel
• Gordon Brown

Personally, I think searching for names will limit your ability to really get at the differences between the two. If you really want to see how Google Caffeine is different than today’s Google Search then you should make a few queries using keyword-based search terms across multiple niches and even compare a few obscure or ambiguous search terms.

For instance, a search for “Live at Leeds” without the quotation mark could mean an album by The Who or it could mean to have your residence needs Leeds. Enter the search query in the American search box at Comparecaffeine.com and you’ll see the top three results are exactly the same. Perform a search for “heavy equipment” slightly different but similar results.

I think this is a good side by side comparison tool and allows you to judge for yourself what the differences in search results are by making several back to back searches. Go ahead, try it.

With Google experimenting with real-time search and Caffeine-like results along with the pre-release of products like Google Wave, will we see a new move toward the melding of the social and search web? I think there are a lot of people who would like to see that happen. It seems, at times, that Google’s greatest competition is coming from the social web a la Twitter and Facebook. If that is the case then Google’s fight-back measures could be to enter the social turf.

They already have.

Google Connect is in direct competition with Facebook Friend Connect. Google Wave promises to knock Twitter off its pedestal. And Google is just chomping at the bit to get more real with real-time search and is testing the waters with Caffeine.

What do you think? Will Google successfully meld the social with search and the search with social? Will future Internet citizens not see a difference between the two? What’s your take?

Google is giving a sneak preview of its future search engine. That’s nice. Here’s how they explain what they’ve done:

For the last several months, a large team of Googlers has been working on a secret project: a next-generation architecture for Google’s web search. It’s the first step in a process that will let us push the envelope on size, indexing speed, accuracy, comprehensiveness and other dimensions. The new infrastructure sits “under the hood” of Google’s search engine, which means that most users won’t notice a difference in search results. But web developers and power searchers might notice a few differences, so we’re opening up a web developer preview to collect feedback.

I’m with Andy Beal of Marketing Pilgrim. In an attempt to get more social and produce more current results, Google has turned the knob way up on social media. I conducted searches for several names, including my own, and in most cases I saw social media profiles rise to the top of the search engine results. The one big glaring exception was my own, Nick Stamoulis. I think I know why.

“Caffeine“, as it is called, is designed to return results that are relevant and more recent. But there are some issues. I believe that the issue Andy Beal points out with regard to his own name is caused by heavy use of social media. A search for Nick Stamoulis returns www.nickstamoulis.com to the top of the search results. But Twitter is way down in the results, like page 4. and then it’s on the subdomain m.twitter.com, the mobile version of Twitter. My LinkedIn profile, however, sits at No. 2.

My suspicion is that social media profiles that get a lot of use rise higher in the SERPs. Of course, that’s not news, but Andy Beal’s Twitter stream showing up at the top of a SERP for his name and mine falling further down can be accounted for by how often we use those accounts. Andy Twitters several times throughout the day, every day. But I only send out a couple or a few more each day. I’m not a heavy Twitter user. But I do use LinkedIn quite often.

So is there a fix for this? I think Andy Beal has the right idea. Maybe instead of turning up the social media volume a lot, Google “Caffeine” should just turn up a notch or two. Instead of using hot water in the coffee, use lukewarm. If they can tweak it just a little for the social media power users so that their social media profiles don’t end up on top, especially if they websites of their own, then that would be the perfect solution. What do you think?