Google Search Algorithm and Developments from Matt Cutts at PubCon

Optimum7 was at the PubCon Search Marketing Conference, which was held in Las Vegas, NV on November 7-14, 2009. This was our first time at PubCon. The sessions in the conference included topics from Search Engine Optimization to Affiliate Marketing and basic technical aspects of Search Marketing to Conversion Optimization. The event was  very well organized and informative providing attendees a forum to network and share experiences and insights.

Perhaps one of the key moments of the conference was towards the end at the Search Engine Smackdown where Matt Cutts (Google Software Engineer in charge of WebSpam) discussed some of the latest developments which can affect search results and increase efficiency for users as well as webmasters. Here are the key points:

• Site Speed May Become a Ranking Factor

Matt Cutts stated during his presentation that how fast a web page loads could be included in the Google Algorithm which determines where a website should rank on SERPs(Search Engine Result Pages).  In other words, the faster your site loads the better the user experience; so Google seeks to include this factor into how it ranks websites. This conclusion came after Google ran many tests and obviously found a relation between user experience and search. Internet users are a lot less patient than they used to be so they expect the sites to load faster. This is also one of the reasons why Optimum7 avoids full flash-based sites and prefer using Content Management Systems such as Joomla, Drupal and WordPress.

You can also get more information and free tools here http://code.google.com/speed

• Google Closure Tools

Google Closure Tools also pays attention to the speed at which a web page loads. Many advanced portals and websites might have complex and heavy JavaScript codes and files that take a long time to load. Webmasters cannot really get rid of these scripts because they provide functionality such as tracking, form submissions etc. So Google offers a free solution that will make the code compact with high performance. You can check it out here http://code.google.com/closure/

• Update to Google Caffeine

For those of you who are not familiar, Google Caffeine is the new and upgraded version of the Google Search Engine. Caffeine is designed to increase accuracy, speed and size of Google search allowing for it to index web pages much faster. Matt Cutts referred to Caffeine and stated that Google is planning to launch it after the holidays. (To make sure not to mess up anything) However, he did not refer to any specific algorithm changes that might come along with Caffeine.
Matt also stated that after Caffeine is implemented, there might not be a sandbox anymore due to the speed of indexing. Let’s all hope so.

• Google Experimental

Matt also encouraged all webmasters to keep an eye on Google Experimental to stay up-to-date with Google’s ongoing efforts to improve performance. For example, if the introduction of social search was new to you, you can follow what Google is doing and plan accordingly

• Google Privacy

Are you worried about your privacy with Google since it has so much information about you from Gmail, Google Local, your searches, Google Voice, Google Alerts, Google Analytics, Calendar, Google Checkout, Custom Search, Docs, Picasa, Talk and all other Google Branded Services? Well, you should be!

Google is responsible for a gigantic amount of information that it collects from its users. However, Matt talked about “Google Dashboard” where you can see exactly what data Google collects and has from you. It’s a good thing for Google to be transparent however this functionality might not ease the concern about privacy with a lot of people.

• No More Duplicate Content Worries on Site

Back in February, Google released a functionality that allows webmasters to choose a preferred version of content as the main source of content. For example, you might have a press release in the “News” section of your site as well as your blog. You can include a code in those pages which tells Google the original source of the content. You can read the Google Blog here.

• Notifications in Google Webmaster Tool

This one is pretty exciting for many webmasters and marketers since it addresses a common problem with the Google Webmaster Tool. Matt also stated that they were working on implementing a notification system in the Webmaster Tools that would notify the webmaster via email or push when there’s an issue with a sitemap, crawling and etc. He did not give details however this would be great for marketers who do not have time to visit the Webmaster Tools every single day. Matt also stated that they would be adding more functionality to Google Webmaster Tools. (Fetch as googlebot and keyword details to be expanded)

• Spyware on Web Sites

There was an interesting point during the presentation where Matt stated that Google was experiencing high volumes of spyware and malware on certain web pages. If your web site is potentially hazardous and contains spyware which might only be visible to Google, you risk being banned from the search results. Google introduces functionality on the webmaster tools called “Fetch as googlebot” which will allow any webmaster to see how the googlebot sees their site.

• Will Analytics Data Affect Search Engine Rankings in the Google Algorithm?

Matt had actually promised about two years ago that this would never happen. However, when asked the same question, he took a while to respond and said, “I don’t think so.” I think we all know what that means. He also said , “I will get back to you on that one.” Sound familiar?

So yes folks, it only makes sense that the analytics data be included in the Google Search Algorithm. We actually applaud this because, as every good SEO knows, statistics are everything. It does not matter how high you rank or how many visitors you get if your site interaction is poor. Google’s new motto is “Anything for the user!”

We know that this might be a bit advanced for a lot of people. If you are new to SEO and Online Marketing, this excellent Starter’s Guide from Google might help. Of course, we are here to help as well.