Completely Irrelevant Yahoo Search Results
I’ve just noticed a new low for Yahoo’s organic results. I just did a brand search for one of my clients, which consisted purely of the clients name, and the first result wasn’t my client, but Yahoo Chat – wtf!
Egosurfing – A Personal Challenge to Reclaim My SERP
So I was doing some egosurfing lately, and noticed that in the 2-3 years that I left my blog in state of decay my personal SERP has become extremely competitive. I used to rank top for my name in Google UK, but can now only muster 2nd 
How to Determine a Search Engine Penalty
SEO chatter was awash with talk of a GoCompare penalty last week. I didn’t think it was a penalty, and posted my thoughts over at Patrick Altoft’s SEO blog. Here I’m going to talk a little more about why I don’t think it was a penalty, and how to determine whether you have a search engine penalty.
Google Adds More Quick Links
Looks like Google are doing more tinkering. It’s all very exciting! They’re updating Page Rank at the moment, and look like they’re rolling out additional links within search results. I’ve highlighted them in the screenshot below
I’m sure I’ve seen these before, but it looks like they’re just rolling them out to a wider audience. With all these changes going on, it’s difficult to fathom how they do any control testing.
Google Semantic Search & Orion Update
Long time no see. I had my first snowboarding 3 weeks ago, and I’ve just found it quite difficult to get back into blogging on my return. I’ve also become addicted to Tweeting, so it feels like I’m much more likely to spend my time commenting there than here. Anyone wanting to follow me, you can find my profile here.
So Google have been busy beavering away lately. First they rolled out “Vince’s Change” in the US (it’s yet to hit Europe apparently), then they rolled out the “Orion Update” that saw changes to SERPs last mid-last week, and then on Friday they started testing the Google Wonder Wheel. And all this just as I was starting to feel there wasn’t much happening in the world of search at the moment. › Continue reading
Random Referring Search Terms
Just checking my Google Analytics, and I’m getting some awesomely random refferals:
- Jonathan Stewart issues – who said I ever had any, apart from the falling asleep issue? And the forgetting stuff.
- Life size smurf – I wish I could get me one of these. I know what you’re thinking though, and it’s not for that reason.
- I always fall asleep in the cinema – see my previous issues. I’m glad I could help someone. Couldn’t actually see the site ranking though
- Searchga.me answers – Goddamn David Naylor – I think I was number 1 for a bit!
- PVC moon smurf – I like this search term a lot
- Dog with diaper – wtf!
This one is so easy
Intriguing SEO game or elaborate link bait. I’m not so sure yet, but it’s late and I’m flummoxed.
Comment here if you know what the answers are, or Tweet #searchgame
Search Engine Strategies Day 2
Oh man, what a day! So I got up this morning, concerned about my first conference presentation at SES London 2009. I spent the morning prepping at home – given this was my first time, I really wanted to be prepared. I left the flat at 12.20ish, planning to get the 12.49 from Brighton to London Victoria. My plan was to arrive in London at 2ish, 30 mins across London to Islington, and then arrive at the Business Design Centre at 3pm, an hour in advance of my speaking slot. What a mistake! › Continue reading
Google’s Double Standards, Canonical URLs & SES London
I spent some time last week looking into the whole Google Japan penalty issue with Ben. I find this fascinating, for a number of different reasons.
- If Google don’t know the rules, how can they expect the general public to know them?
- Why is the penalty applied to Google.co.jp different to other penalties?
- How might this affect Google.co.jp?
Google are still being eerily quiet about it – I know Matt Cutts has been busy at SMX, but I still would’ve expected some formal announcement from the guys in the US. › Continue reading
Sleep, memory loss, and information addiction
So it’s Friday night. I’m just chilling before I head to a friend’s birthday and thought I’d write a few words. We had a few friends round for dinner on Wednesday, had a few bottles of wine, and were just having some random chatter, when I talked about some “behavioural issues” that I’m afflicted with. I’m not sure that “behavioural issues” is the right way to describe what I’m talking about, but I’m gonna use it for now. Anyway, some of the other guys in the room said they were afflicted with the same issues, and it got us all thinking that they’re somehow related. I’ll explain below: › Continue reading
SEO
Tweetings
- @davidcoats http://twitpic.com/17qnl5 - boring
- RT @mashable Take a Virtual Walk Through Hong Kong With Google Street View http://bit.ly/cJXvrf
- @jaamit cool tunes
- Banksy film: slow to start, but really funny by the end. Good introspective look at how ridiculous the street-art scene can be
- @markraymonduk I'll be out b4 u - I'll tweet u the ending
- Anyone else have a problem with #4sq crashing when trying to get ur location on iPhone?
- Off to see the Banksy film, Exit Through the Gift Shop. Will let you know what it's like
- @jamr0ck Cheers mate - I've left work now. May get in touch 2mrw tho
- I wish I'd paid more attention when I was being taught about regular expressions