Panda Update 24th May and other Google updates

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   lobobrandonposted 11 years ago

   I've got no time to give details as I've got my exams, I read about it while having my lunch. Here are some links. The update wouldn't affect most of us though as it's a tiny update.
   
   http://searchengineland.com/google-push … ate-122518
   
   
   According to this post load time is also a Part of SEO:
   http://insidesearch.blogspot.in/2012/04 … ality.html
   (Could someone clarify that for me? - I never knew about that)
   
   For those of you who complain that the HP ad above the fold is harmful.
   http://insidesearch.blogspot.in/2012/01 … ement.html
   
   Another one down the drain, iAcquire paid backlink sort of place is wiped of the face of Google
   http://searchengineland.com/iacquire-ba … ons-122414
   
   Back to studying - Finals begin tomorrow

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      Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks for noticing this one! 
      
      
      
      
      Yes, this has been part of Google's algorithm for ages. It's one of the reasons HubPages is experimenting with stripped-down layouts.  It's also one of the reasons why, if you have a WordPress blog, it's important to pick a lightweight theme and delete any plugins you're not actually using.

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   lobobrandonposted 11 years ago

   Thanks Marisa, I didn't know about the load times contributing. I thought it was just the bounce rate that guided Google as the slower pages would most probably have higher bounces.

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      Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Some people think bounce rate isn't that important, actually.  And a lot depends on where you bounce to - if someone arrives, looks at your page and hits the "back" button, that's a bad bounce.  Whereas if someone arrives, looks at your page and then clicks on an ad, that's not considered a problem. Supposedly.

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         lobobrandonposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Oh...

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3. 81

   LeanManposted 11 years ago

   You might also want to add the mighty and fearsome Penguin to your lists of very recent changes..
   
   http://www.seroundtable.com/google-peng … 15206.html

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      lobobrandonposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      LeanMan that's the very first link Just from a different site

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         LeanManposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         i was following your links bottom up... I got there after I posted that.. lol

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            lobobrandonposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            Haha And thanks for the wishes.

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   LeanManposted 11 years ago

   OH.... and good luck with your exams, I am sure you will ace them..

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   Greekgeekposted 11 years ago

   Tangent on Bounce Rate:
   
   If someone arrives on your page and clicks an ad, that's not a bounce.
   
   A bounce is when someone immediately hits the back button and returns to where they were before they clicked the link to reach your page.
   
   A bounce isn't necessarily bad, because it could be that (a) the person is comparing things quickly, looking at a bunch of results or (b) there was nothing wrong with the page's content, it just didn't match that particular query, either because the person typed in a vague search or Google didn't understand what he/she was looking for.
   
   Also, if someone closes a tab instead of backing out, that's NOT considered a bounce, but COULD be a sign of poor quality.
   
   
   These are the reasons why some SEO experts (and journeymen like me) argue that bounce rate is a misleading metric. We suspect that Google probably isn't using the raw "bounce rate" on Analytics as a ranking factor, because if Google did, its algorithm would be fairly worthless.
   
   For a while, Google WAS using the "site blocking" metric as a very minor ranking factor. Last year, if you bounced back to Google results very quickly, a special message appeared under the link you had just clicked: block this domain from search results? If you clicked that "block site" link, then it suggested that not only was that site not what you were looking for in that particular search cycle, but that you had no faith it would ever have what you were looking for. Google experimented with adding that as a minor ranking signal. However, I haven't seen that "block site?' message lately, so that ranking signal may have been dropped.
   
   (Why did I just paraphrase one of my hubs in a forum comment? Ah well, it's been a long day.)

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      lobobrandonposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks for the comment, I do remember the option on Google to block site. Never realized it was gone. Also, at that time I used to not write online and hence didn't pay much attention (If any) to SEO

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