Weekly SEO news: 14 May 2013
Welcome to the latest issue of the Search Engine Facts newsletter.

Many people are not aware that links to other websites can have a positive influence on the rankings of their web pages on Google. Understanding this ranking factor will help you to improve the position of your pages on Google's search result pages.

In the news: it seems that Google tests new factors for future algorithms. Matt Cutts announces the next major Penguin update, 5 facts about Google's Quality Score, and more.

Table of contents:

We hope that you enjoy this newsletter and that it helps you to get more out of your website. Please pass this newsletter on to your friends.

Best regards,
Andre Voget, Johannes Selbach, Axandra CEO

1. Why linking to other websites can help your Google rankings

Many people are not aware that links to other websites can have a positive influence on the rankings of their web pages on Google.

The reason for that is that Google uses 'long clicks' to determine the quality of a search result. Understanding this ranking factor will help you to improve the position of your pages on Google's search result pages.

Google long click

What are long clicks?

If a user clicks on a result and remains on the found website for a longer time, it's a long click. A short click occurs if a user clicks on a result and quickly returns to the search results page to click on another page.

Long clicks are an indicator for good search results. Short clicks indicate that the user was not satisfied with the found web page.

How to get long clicks

If you make sure that your website visitors do not return to the search results, your web page will count as a good page in Google's search results. You can make sure that your website visitors don't go back to Google by doing the following:

1. Offer your website visitors exactly what they want

The more targeted the keywords that you use for your search engine optimization campaign, the more likely it is that visitors that find your website through a keyword search will find what they are looking for on your website.

If you offer the solution to the query of the website visitor, the visitor won't go back to Google. The keyword tools in SEOprofiler help you to find the best keywords for your website. To make sure that your web pages have a high conversion rate, read this.

2. Link to related websites

By linking to other websites, you can create more long clicks for your website. If your website visitors don't find what they are looking for on your website, they can click the links to other websites that offer further information about a particular topic.

Linking to other websites is not a sign of bad web page content. Links to other websites also won't drive visitors away. Sooner or later, users will leave your website anyway. They can go back to Google, or they can click one of your links to other sites.

Of course, you shouldn't link to random websites. Link to other websites that help to satisfy the user's query. Doing this will help you to get more long clicks and your website will earn more backlinks. Both will have a positive impact on the Google rankings of your website.

Optimize your web pages for Google

The search engine optimization tools in SEOprofiler help you to optimize your web pages so that they get high rankings on Google. You get all the tools that you need to get high rankings, more customers, and more sales.

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2. Search engine news and articles of the week

Google: there is no algorithm update (yet)

In an online discussion, many webmasters reported unusual Google results. Some people through that Google updated the ranking algorithm. On Twitter, Google's Matt Cutts said that there was no Google update.

It seems that Google is testing new factors for future algorithms.


Matt CuttsGoogle's Matt Cutts announces Penguin 2.0
On Twitter, Google's Matt Cutts announced the a major update of the Penguin update:

"We do expect to roll out Penguin 2.0 (next generation of Penguin) sometime in the next few weeks."


Does your website appear in Google news but not in the regular results

This problem has been discussed in an online forum. It seems that Google displays websites that are mainly news orientated in the "Google News" results an not in the organic results. If Google does not think that your website is news orientated, it will appear in the regular organic results.



GoogleHow one of Google’s best customers could steal away search

"Google is where you search for information and Amazon is where you buy stuff—two different businesses, right? [...]

Amazon is a vertical search engine focused on helping users find products. The overwhelmingly dominant way to find things on their site is the search box. Users enter a keyword phrase and are presented with results that match his or her query. The order of the search results is determined by algorithms that seek to optimize relevance and monetization."

5 surprising facts on Quality Score changes

"1. Quality Scores can rise or fall rapidly from day to day [...]  2. Some Quality Score shifts bounce back immediately [...] 3. A significant shift in CTR can trigger a rapid change in Quality Score [...] 4. Quality Score is more volatile on head terms than tail terms [...] 5.  A unit change in Quality Score affects CPC by 5%."

Search engine newslets

  • Google local listings revamp in universal results.
  • Retail e-commerce spending hits $50.2 billion, first time ever to hit $50 billion in 2 consecutive quarters.
  • That YouTube “experiment” red banner was just a display bug.
  • Bing: an update on Bing Ads and the Yahoo! Bing network.
  • Google only shows one organic result to iPad users.
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3. Recommended resources

Get a detailed SEO audit of your website for $1

Doing a regular audit of your web pages is important if you want to make sure that search engines can index all of your pages. The more pages your website has, the more likely it is that there are many errors that have to be corrected.

The new website audit tool in SEOprofiler automatically checks your web pages once per week. Then you get a report that shows all the issues that should be corrected. By correcting these issues, you make sure that search engines can index all of your pages correctly. Here’s a screenshot of the overview page:

seoprofiler

You can get the website audit tool and all other tools in SEOprofiler for our special offer price:

Free trial Test full version for $1


Create a free trial account now or test the full version for only $1.

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