This past month, we had a fairly significant Google algorithm ranking update on February 7th which Google did not confirm so we suspect it was a Phantom update. Then shortly after, Google penalized Natural News and they were back in the index a few days later after a ton of controversy. Google Image search in Germany, France and some other countries changed resulting in the appearance of traffic loss.
Emojis returned to the search results and we had a ton of SEO tips and feedback this month. We also lost Maile Ohye as she has left Google after 12 years.
Here is last month’s Google recap if you missed it.
Google Algorithm Update:
Google Search Algorithm Update February 7th
February 7th Google Algorithm Update Was Big
Google: No Comment On The Google Search Ranking Update
February 7th May Have Been A Google Phantom Update
Google Penalty:
No, Google Didn’t Remove NaturalNews.com Because Of Fake News
Natural News Is Back In Google After Penalty Is Revoked
Google Image Search:
Confirmed: Google Image Search Update Impacts Traffic Data
Google Image Search Traffic Drops Outside The US
Google SEO:
Google Video: How To Hire An SEO
Google Reminder: Linking To High Authority Web Sites Do Not Help With SEO
Google: Don’t Guest Blog For Links, Use Your Own Site
Google Bug Shows Desktop URLs In Mobile Results
Google Warns About Using Contests For Links
Google: Panda Takes Into Account Site Quality Including Site Architecture
Black Hat Forums Argue About Value Of PBNs
Google Official Tips On Closing A Site For Days (For Maybe Shabbat)
Google: Stop Using URL Fragments
Google: We’re Still Using PageRank After 18 Years
Google: More Pages About Topic X Versus Y Won’t Hurt Your Google Rankings For Y
Google: Web Directories Don’t Generally Help With Rankings
Google Fast Track Indexing Vs. Normal Indexing
Screen Shot: Reduce Load Time & Increase Google Crawl Budget
Google: Read Your Content Out Loud, If It Sounds Strange, It Might Not Rank Well
Google: Capitalizing Words In URL Doesn’t Help Convey Emotions
Google Labels Sites As Not Mobile Friendly That Are Mobile Friendly
Google Schema Support Coming For Jobs, Carousels & More
Google: HTTPS URLs Likely Canonical In Their Duplicate Content Clustering Algorithm
Google: Manipulating Browser Back Button Doesn’t Impact Search Rankings
Google: We Review Spam Reports Within Hours Or Days
Google: We Typically Help In Forums Only When We Have To
Google’s Gary Illyes Did You Know SEO Tweets
Google Search Console:
Emojis In Google Search Console Search Analytics Report
Google: Removing HTTP URL Via Search Console Removes Other Versions Too
Google Search Console Updates Crawl Status/Errors Report For Apps
Google Data Studio Integrates With Google Search Console
Google User Interface:
Emojis Return To The Google Search Results Snippets
Google Tests New Format For Related Searches
Google Launches Dynamic Loading People Also Ask
Google Tests Method To Report Autocomplete Suggestions
Google Lists Top Websites In Carousel User Interface
Google AMP Makes It Easier To Discover & Share The Canonical URL
Google Local:
Google Local Pack Shows: “Near You X Minutes Ago”
Google Test Card Style Local Finder In Maps Results
Google Launches Hotel Rich Cards
Google My Business Guidelines Updated For Service-Area & Virtual Offices
One Review Gets You Stars In The Google Local Pack
Google Industry:
US Court Sides With Google Over Penalizing Web Sites For Spam & Guidelines Violations
Maile Ohye Leaves Google After ~12 Years
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
