Google Instant Search: An In-Depth Look

Below are only a few of the questions that business and website owners have been asking about the display changes of the Google search engine and how it is affecting the rankings of their websites.

If I am paying for clicks, how will the changes at Google affect my website?

You can expect the price per click to increase over time for a few reasons. First, companies that cannot or do not want to pursue organic optimization will choose to pay per click instead. This trend may cause your competitor pool to increase, thus driving prices higher. Second, Google tells us that users of the search engine are focusing on the top 3-5 placements in a search result. This means that there is a greater likelihood of a user click on your advertisement if it is on the first page of a search result. This too increases the demand for first page placement and the price per click.

What does it mean if I cannot even find my website in Google?

It may be that your website has been banned due to a violation of Google’s Quality Guidelines. The team at BizHive can repair your website and get it back into the Google index. Learn more by contacting us to schedule a complimentary website and search engine consultation.

I consistently see my competitor’s websites ranking high for relevant keywords. How are they doing it?

The recent changes at Google now place a tremendous importance on selecting the appropriate keywords for your website. If you find your competitors websites showing up for keywords that you are expecting to win, it may be that your website needs to undergo a keyword evaluation. The team at BizHive provides complimentary website keyword reviews as a part of our auditing process. Learn more by contacting us today.

About BizHive

Do you have a question about the “new” Google? Contact us today to speak with an online marketing specialist.

BizHive is an Internet Marketing agency based in Troy, Michigan that specializes in creating record-setting results for businesses through customized online marketing campaigns.

For more information please contact us at 248-662-LEAD (5323).

Penalized By Search Engines?

Duplicate Content

If your site contains multiple pages with largely identical content the website search engine rankings may be penalized from by major search engines such as Google, Yahoo, or Bing.

Rules To Follow Direct From Google

There are some steps you can take to proactively address duplicate content issues, and ensure that visitors see the content you want them to.

• Use 301s: If you've restructured your site, use 301 redirects ("RedirectPermanent") in your .htaccess file to smartly redirect users, Googlebot, and other spiders. (In Apache, you can do this with an .htaccess file; in IIS, you can do this through the administrative console.)


• Be consistent: Try to keep your internal linking consistent. For example, don't link to http://www.example.com/page/ and http://www.example.com/page and http://www.example.com/page/index.htm.


• Use top-level domains: To help us serve the most appropriate version of a document, use top-level domains whenever possible to handle country-specific content. We're more likely to know that http://www.example.de contains Germany-focused content, for instance, than http://www.example.com/de or http://de.example.com.


• Syndicate carefully: If you syndicate your content on other sites, Google will always show the version we think is most appropriate for users in each given search, which may or may not be the version you'd prefer. However, it is helpful to ensure that each site on which your content is syndicated includes a link back to your original article. You can also ask those who use your syndicated material to use the noindex meta tag to prevent search engines from indexing their version of the content.


• Use Webmaster Tools to tell us how you prefer your site to be indexed: You can tell Google your preferred domain (for example, http://www.example.com or http://example.com).


• Minimize boilerplate repetition: For instance, instead of including lengthy copyright text on the bottom of every page, include a very brief summary and then link to a page with more details. In addition, you can use the Parameter Handling tool to specify how you would like Google to treat URL parameters.


• Avoid publishing stubs: Users don't like seeing "empty" pages, so avoid placeholders where possible. For example, don't publish pages for which you don't yet have real content. If you do create placeholder pages, use the noindex meta tag to block these pages from being indexed.


• Understand your content management system: Make sure you're familiar with how content is displayed on your web site. Blogs, forums, and related systems often show the same content in multiple formats. For example, a blog entry may appear on the home page of a blog, in an archive page, and in a page of other entries with the same label.


• Minimize similar content: If you have many pages that are similar, consider expanding each page or consolidating the pages into one. For instance, if you have a travel site with separate pages for two cities, but the same information on both pages, you could either merge the pages into one page about both cities or you could expand each page to contain unique content about each city.

The search engine optimization team at BizHive has a solution for websites that may be losing valuable search engine rankings due to the publication of duplicate content. If you find your company, or an organization that you know and care about, struggling with what to do next reach out and contact us today.