Blog•
on January 25th, 2012•
Google has just made huge changes in how they are presenting their search results. And this has major implications for your online presence.
The big change is that Google has begun to personalize search results. That’s a pretty big deal, right? They actually made that change in 2009 and most people didn’t even notice.
The big change I am talking about is what is referred to as Google Search results plus your world. These results are largely based upon what your contacts are sharing within Google+. Don’t have a Google+ account? Doesn’t matter. Even if you are not signed into a Google Account, Google will begin showing you results based upon past searches that you have conducted through the use of browser cookies.
Google noticed a very important shift that is occurring. Google was absolutely right when ranking websites in the past based upon how many other websites were linked to that website. The problem is, how often do you link to someone’s website? Another question, how often do you share someone’s website, an article, or a funny video?
Links are no longer an effective measurement of web page popularity. Sites that have been shared offer a better measurement of a website’s popularity and clout. It’s the 2012 version of linking.
But there’s a problem. When people share information, it is largely within the confines of Facebook & Twitter. Google can’t always see this information.
Thus, the birth of Google+.
And the pendulum has swung. Perhaps too much. I want to present a few examples here of how Google searches (conducted while signed into a Google account and while not signed in) have been skewed towards Google+ results.
The first is this one. I am signed into my Google Account when I search for Egypt photos. The very first results I see (and anyone who is connected to me on Google+ will see) are photos from my 2008 Egypt trip:
The second example is a search for ‘music’ when I am signed into my Google Account. Instead of seeing a Wikipedia entry about music, I see what my Google+ contacts have shared about the topic of music. It appears that the only requirement here is that the item shared contained the word music.
If you are signed into your Google Account, you do have the ability to turn personalized results on and off through.
But here is the kicker. Look at what happens when I begin typing in a search for Britney Spears. You can see that I have not even come close to finishing my search but Google has suggested 4 options for terms I may be searching. They got the first one right. But look at #4. That is Britney’s Google+ page. Fortunately, Britney is up to date on her Google+ page and has quite a bit of content there. Now, do that same search for Mark Zuckerberg. His Google+ page also shows up as you are typing. Mark Zuckerberg understandably does not keep up his Google+ page. Wouldn’t a better search result be his Facebook page in this instance?
Do you see what is happening here? Google is going to show Google+ results for you whether you’ve updated them or not. I’ve told my clients for a long time that you have a web presence whether you created it or not. Google is collecting information about you and your company all over the web and compiling it into profiles. You can either let them dictate what is said about you or you can control that. It’s better if you are in charge.
You have a Facebook page, a Twitter account and a LinkedIn profile. That’s great. But, as you can see from these Google search results (remember Google has roughly 70-80% of the search market), these are being pushed down as Google+ takes more precedent. Is it right? Doesn’t seem to be. But as the FTC debates that question, you must create your Google+ account so that you are not left in the dust.
Blog•
on August 30th, 2011•
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I just ran into the issue of not being able to access the Google Analytics data to which a client provided to me. I have numerous other Analytics accounts showing in my Google Account, but for some reason this one would not show up.
The solution actually ended up being frustratingly easy. Here it is:
- Even if your Gmail account email address is all lowercase (your.email@gmail.com), your analytics account may be set up as both upper & lowercase (Your.Email@gmail.com).
- If your Google Analytics account is a mix of both upper and lowercase, and you try to receive access to someone’s account, it will not work, it must match exactly.
- The way to check this is to sign into your Google Analytics profile – www.google.com/analytics
- Click on Settings in the upper right-hand corner of the page.
- On the next page, you will see the email address as Google Analytics sees it.
- This is the email address to provide someone who is attempting to give you access to view their website analytics.
If you have any trouble, let me know in the comment box below.
One of the first items I have most of my clients do is to submit their information to Google Local Business Center. In doing so, Google finds out the important information about your business. That information then shows up in the “Local Business Results” section of a Google Search Result, just like this image:
So, without having anything else online, you could hypothetically get in the top placement in Google for your local business without spending any time on Search Engine Optimization.
Here are the steps on how to do that:
- Go to http://www.google.com/local/add/
- If you already have a Google account, enter your email & password. If not, no problem, just click ‘Sign up now >>’
- If you don’t have an account, the first page will be setting up your account.
- If you do have an account, click “Add a New Business” after you have signed in.
- After doing that, you will be asked specific questions about your company.
- Be sure to add all 5 allotted fields to Category. Just start typing aspects of your business and Google will give you good ideas. This is important as it will determine what search terms your business shows up for.
- Click next and add all additional information.
- Google will then ask to confirm that you who you say you are by calling your telephone or mailing a letter to your company address. Through the call or letter, you will receive a PIN # that you will then need to type in.
- After that, you are done. Google should have your listing up within 24 hours.
- You can then sign back in to your account to see how many times your listing has shown and how many times people have clicked on it.
The best news is that this is completely free to do. I also recommend doing the same thing for Yahoo’s Local Business section. The link to do that is – http://listings.local.yahoo.com/csubmit/index.php
Blog•
on March 17th, 2010•
Research company Hitwise just reported that Facebook passed Google as the most visited website in the USA last week. Facebook had 7.07% of all visits to the web and Google had 7.03%. The bigger side to this story is that Facebook’s traffic is growing at rapid rates while Google’s traffic has more or less plateaued.
This has enormous implications for online marketing. What this says is that people trust Friend Results more than Google Search Results. This may be obvious to marketers everywhere, but have online marketing companies changed tactics for their clients?
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) seeks to place a website high in Google rankings. This is still valuable. Extremely valuable. You’ve heard the joke, ‘what do you call someone who is #1 in google for a particular keyword?’ – A millionaire.
But SEO is step 1. If there are 30 movies at the movie theater, which one do you see? You see the one your buddy John recommended. Same is happening with websites. Google may point you to the best 30 websites for purchasing a used guitar, but your buddy John, who purchased a guitar last month and had a great experience, will help you weed through the noise.
This is the power of a Facebook network. I see my friends make posts all the time that ask for recommendations for certain products or services. And many people respond with good or bad experiences from specific companies.
Other ways we are seeing recommendations take place are in sites like Angie’s List. Angie’s List allows people to rate contractors. You need a plumber, you search here and see what your neighbors have ranked plumbers in the area. Now, you are not trying to do a Google search to find a random plumber, but you are basing your decision on reputation.
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