Amanda Zantal-Wiener says, “When you wear white, do you inevitably spill something all over yourself?  I do. So when I had sushi at work last week, it wasn’t long before I was frantically yelling, “Siri, how can I get soy sauce out of white pants?” Thank goodness for voice search, am I right? Although, here’s the thing about voice search: According to the 2016 State of Inbound report, a huge number of marketers are making SEO their #1 priority. That’s great. But how does voice search fit into that strategy? Are marketers even thinking about it yet? While it’s certainly... [...]

Jordan Kasteler says, “It’s no secret that Google is in a constant state of change. The “ten blue links” that used to comprise a search engine results page (SERP) are diminishing in importance, and new features are becoming more essential with every passing month. From image results and local packs to site links and knowledge panels, Google is reshaping search marketing. Clearly, focusing only on your website is no longer effective. Ranking higher than your competitor in Google’s organic rankings is less meaningful if that competitor is displayed in, say, an answer box. The current... [...]

Joe Robison says, “For almost two years (707 days, to be precise), one question has dominated the SEO conversation: “When will Google update Penguin?” Today, we finally have the answer. Google announced that a Penguin update is rolling out and that Penguin is now operating in real-time. In a normal month, a temperature of 82°F would be slightly interesting, but it’s hardly what many people were expecting, and September 2016 has been anything but a normal month. It takes time to refresh the entire index, though, so it’s likely Penguin volatility will continue for a few days.... [...]

Joy Hawkins says, “For those of you wondering what “Possum” is, it’s the name we in the local search community decided to give the massive Local algorithm update that happened September 1, 2016. Phil Rozek suggested the name, pointing out that it is fitting since many business owners think their Google My Business listings are gone, when in fact they are not. They have just been filtered — they’re playing possum. What was the update? All the evidence seems to indicate this particular update only impacted ranking in the 3-pack and Local Finder (AKA the local results or Google... [...]

Greg Sterling says, “In August, Google announced Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) would be moving beyond “Top Stories” into the main organic mobile search results. Today, AMP officially rolls out broadly in mobile search. Rudy Galfi, Google’s lead product manager for AMP, told me that the global rollout would be complete by the end of the year. He reiterated that this does not represent a rankings change. AMP pages won’t get a special boost in mobile results. However, when there are two versions of a page, Google will prefer and link to the AMP version. AMP pages open within the AMP... [...]

Barry Schwartz says, “Earlier this month, we reported about significant chatter around a Google algorithm update. Well, it looks like we have another update to report to you this week. On Tuesday of this week, there were some early signals of a Google update. Those signals intensified Thursday and seem to just be getting stronger day by day. In short, the webmaster and SEO community is confident that there was an algorithm change with the Google organic search results this week. Not only are the SEO forums and communities discussing it, the tracking tools from Mozcast, Accuranker, RankRanger... [...]

Amy Taylor says, “Expanded text ads. The removal of right-rail ads and the addition of a fourth text ad at the top of desktop searches. Customer Match. These are just a few of the “major” Google announcements made over the past year that caused big reactions across the search industry. Analysts, myself included, have been scrambling to report on how these updates are impacting brands and to come up with best practices in light of the results. Analyzing the paid search landscape, however, I find that it’s often the silent, unannounced updates that have the largest impact on performance. Of... [...]

Greg Sterling says, “Google has quite successfully pivoted toward mobile over the past few years. And while more searches now happen on mobile devices, it has been hotly debated whether search plays as central a role for mobile consumers as it does for desktop users. Earlier this week, Google released survey data that asserts search has indeed become a primary resource for smartphone owners. In addition, it’s the most frequently used shopping tool for mobile consumers, according to the findings. Earlier this year, Google polled 1,000 smartphone users “several times a day for a week”... [...]

Wesley Young says, “Images have become ever more important in online presence and marketing.  It seems rare that an article, email, ad or social media post isn’t led by a hero image or graphic. There’s no question that images boost visibility, engagement and click-through rates. A study on Google+ concluded that posts with images were shared three times more than those without images. Likewise, Socialbakers reported that of the top 10 percent most engaging Facebook posts (likes, shares, comments), 93 percent of them were photos. And a study by BrightLocal found that60 percent of consumers... [...]

Ginny Marvin says, “With Google’s roll out of the new Merchant Center interface came more functionality for Feed Rules. Feed Rules debuted earlier this year to allow marketers to make some changes to their product feed data right within Merchant Center. But what can you really do with Feed Rules and who should be using them? The consensus is that Feed Rules are still best for simple updates, and it’s ideal to make changes to the actual feed. In reality, however, that’s not always possible or timely and why Feed Rules have such appeal. Maggie Webb, Partner at Five Mill Inc., says that... [...]