Tag Archive for: SEO news

Continuous Scrolling Added To Google Mobile Search

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Back again with another Google SEO update, this time regarding continuous scrolling. Google announced they will be updating mobile search in the US with the ability to continuously scroll as more results automatically load.

Continuous scrolling to Google Mobile Search

In an announcement, Google says:

“At Google, we’re always exploring new ways to help people find what they’re looking for quickly and easily. Earlier this year, we launched a redesign of the Search results page on mobile for a more modern experience that’s easier to scan and navigate.

Today, we’re making browsing search results more seamless and intuitive with the introduction of continuous scrolling on mobile devices.”

For Google users this is a big time upgrade as it’s now possible to scroll through an almost endless list of results to find right content.

 

Previously on mobile devices, Google’s search engine results page for mobile mainly adhered closely to the ‘ten blue links’ format that was implemented in the beginning on desktop search. Rather than seeing a numbered page list at the bottom of results, users in general would only see a displayed ‘see more’ button. Clicking that button on a mobile device is equivalent to clicking on page two of desktop search results.

The ‘see more’ button isn’t completely disappearing, however Google says that searchers will be able to continuously scroll through “many more” results before finally triggering the ‘see more’ button.

What this means for business

As we all know, CTR rates are extremely low after first page results. This is particularly revealed in a 2020 study that finds the CTR of page two results is less than 1%. The reason behind users not clicking on the page two results is uncertain, but it could have something to do with the perceived quality of content that didn’t make it to page one. With continuous scrolling on mobile, there may be the potential that the bias behind page 1 results is removed.

Think of apps like TikTok, when you’re allowed to infinitely scroll and encouraged to do so. Maybe you’re scrolling for a few minutes, or maybe for several hours. With the same logic being applied to Google Search (okay maybe they won’t scroll through Google for hours), this has the ability to increase content discovery significantly.

Final thoughts

We’ll see as the months go on if this change helps increase traffic for low ranking pages, and provide updates along the way. We will continue to share case studies and the latest SEO updates to help you drive your business. Our goal is to ensure we help improve your marketing and drive success.

At Onimod Global, we have endless experience and expertise when it comes to all things SEO, general social media advertising, and digital marketing. Got questions about Facebook advertising or want to learn more about us? Contact us here today.

Top 5 Most Important Google Algorithm Updates

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Almost every day, Google introduces changes to its ranking algorithm. They even claim to update their search algorithm several thousand times per year. Some are tiny tweaks, usually too small to notice. But, every once in a while, Google introduces a change so fundamental, that it completely alters the way we do SEO forever.

#1. Panda

Hazards: Duplicate, plagiarized or thin content; user-generated spam; keyword stuffing.

How does it work? Panda assigns a “quality score” to webpages; this score is then used as a ranking factor. Initially, Panda was a filter rather than part of Google’s ranking algorithm. In January 2016, it was officially incorporated into the core algorithm. Panda rollouts have become more frequent, so both penalties and recoveries now happen faster.

#2. Penguin

Hazards: Spammy or irrelevant links; links with over-optimized anchor text

How it works: Google Penguin’s objective is to down-rank sites whose backlinks look unnatural. This update put an end to low-effort link building, like buying links from link farms and PBNs.

#3. Hummingbird

Hazards: Keyword stuffing; low quality content

How it works: The Hummingbird algorithm helps Google to better interpret search queries and provide results that actually what the search was intended for (as opposed to the individual terms within the query). While keywords still remain very important, the Hummingbird algorithm makes it possible for a page to rank for a query even if it doesn’t contain the exact words the searcher entered. According to Search Engine Land, his is achieved through the natural language processing that relies on latent semantic indexing, co-occurring terms and synonyms.

#4. Pigeon

Hazards: Poor on- and off-page SEO

How it works: Pigeon affects those searches in which the user’s location plays an important part. The update created closer ties between the local algorithm and the core algorithm: traditional SEO factors are now used to rank local results.

#5 Mobile

Hazards: Lack of a mobile version of the page; poor mobile usability.

How it works: This, and subsequent mobile search updates (2018, 2020) have shifted the focus from a desktop to a mobile version of your website. Today, Google ranks all websites based on how fast and user-friendly their mobile versions are. This automatically puts you at a huge advantage compared to competitors. The faster the content is mobile optimized, the higher Google will prioritize your ad.

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Yahoo Sues Mozilla for Replacement of Firefox’s Default Search to Google

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It was announced earlier this week that Yahoo’s parent company (Oath) has decided to sue Mozilla for “breach of contract.” Oath claims that Mozilla “terminated a long term strategic agreement with Yahoo” in November. Mozilla recently launched their upgraded Firefox Quantum browser and has implemented Google as their new default search tool. It was approximately 3 years ago when Yahoo and Mozilla signed an agreement that Yahoo would be the default search engine on Firefox.

According to Greg Sterling in an article from Search Engine Land, the lawsuit “seeks unspecified money damages and interest from Mozilla, but Mozilla claims they have the right to terminate the relationship under the contract.” Mozilla’s Firefox browser lost market share to Chrome during the 3 year period with Yahoo. Mozilla blames this lose in market share largely on Yahoo search. Yahoo/Oath argue that “issues with the browser experience (speed and performance)” were to blame instead. Sterling points out that “the truth probably lies somewhere in between.”

Implications Moving Forward
Mozilla switching from Yahoo to Google as their new default search tool is huge. As if Google’s market share in search engine providers wasn’t large enough, this move will expand their share even more. The article states that “Firefox’s market share is about 13 percent to Chrome’s nearly 59 percent. Yahoo search market share is roughly 12 percent to Google’s 63 percent.” Ultimately, it will be interesting to see where Firefox’s market share goes from here, as the reactions to the upgraded “Firefox Quantum” browser appear to be positive thus far.

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