2013 Search Engine Ranking Factors This month saw the release of two studies: ‘2013 Searchmetrics Ranking Factors for Google USA’ (or 2013 Ranking Correlation), and Moz’s ‘Ranking Factors 2013’ study. These studies aim to determine which attributes of web pages and websites have the strongest association with Google Rank. Both studies showed a high correlation between rankings and social signals, and in particular Google +1s and Facebook shares. As it stands there is no evidence to suggest that social signals directly lead to better rankings, but it should be pointed out that these studies show a strong correlation between the two. It is also evident by the very nature of content itself that content that attracts lots of links usually attracts lots of social signals and vice versa. The issue however is not as black and white as it may seem. For example there is a MOZ study on Facebook shares which provides a bit of information to explain how Google includes this data in its ranking consideration process. This however still does not link ranking factors and social signal directly. Michael Martinez, from SEO Theory, says on the subject: 'Both Google and Bing have pretty much conceded that they ARE NOT using social signals to determine rankings. Which is not to say that social signals don’t impact what you see in the SERPs - but social network activity can be felt in other ways (such as Authorship attribution).' So the debate has led us back to the importance of Google’s authorship mark-up which is Google's attempt to identify everyone and everything online to determine the authority of social links. This means that search is moving towards authored social signals, as well as keyword relevance and Page Rank, as having an effect on rankings; ultimately making it harder for anyone to manipulate the search results. -
Shared by Hannah Struve
Read more: http://www.searchmetrics.com/media/documents/rankingfaktoren/download-ranking-factor-study-2013.pdf http://moz.com/blog/ranking-factors-2013 http://moz.com/blog/does-google-use-facebook-shares-to-influence-searchrankings http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2281153/2013-Search-RankingFactors-Survey-Results-From-Moz
Enhanced Campaigns Deadline on 22nd July This week we bring you a reminder that the deadline to transition over to Google’s Enhanced Campaigns platform on Adwords is scheduled for 22nd July. That means advertisers have just over a week to make the required changes to their accounts, or risk allowing Google to automatically migrate campaigns across before they are ready. Some key considerations you may want to bear in mind if you are yet to update to Enhanced Campaigns include:
Mobile Bid Adjustments Mobile Preferred Creative Mobile Specific Extensions Mobile Landing Pages/ValueTrack Parameters
We would strongly encourage any advertisers who have not yet migrated across to do so as soon as possible to ensure a smooth and stable transition and minimise any negative impact to performance.
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Shared by Kevin Ting
Read more about Google Enhanced Campaigns and the story so far: http://www.thedrum.com/opinion/2013/07/01/how-prepare-googleenhanced-campaigns-d-day-22-july http://www.google.co.uk/intl/ALL_uk/adwords/enhancedcampaigns/feature s/ http://www.thedrum.com/news/2013/06/21/performance-enhancingimpact-enhanced-campaigns-marketers
New Google Insights Dashboard Earlier this week, Google announced a new platform for advertisers easily explore and interact with some of Google’s most recent research and insights. In an easy to understand layout key research data is now available in a highly visual and sharable format for advertisers to draw from:
This new website will also allow advertisers to collate key findings from various Google research projects into one easier to share infograpic:
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Shared by Kevin Ting
Start exploring and sharing Google research today: http://adwords.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/introducing-google-databoard-newway-to.html http://think.withgoogle.com/databoard/