Updated Post: Google recently delayed the rollout of the Core Web Vitals update to mid-June. However, the below still rings true. I often say in SEO everything is relative. It can be frustrating to some, because "it depends" is a common answer in the SEO world. Factors change based on searcher intent so every search [...]
Google will tell you that User Experience (often seen as UX) is the most important ranking factor. This basically means that they have the user in mind for all of their algorithm tweaks, but is also quite vague and encompasses everything. UX includes good content, fast loading pages, easy to navigate websites, and trusted sources. [...]
I am now back in New Jersey after spending my annual week in Seattle at the SMX Advanced conference, updating and working with the best minds in the industry to see what works and what does not, and what is safe and what is not. One of the major takeaways I had from the event [...]
In the second of my posts on growing SEO Ranking Factors in 2019, I want to touch on Google's Lighthouse tool. As Google tries to turn more and more of your user experiences into specific metrics, the Lighthouse tool is an open window into much of the data that they are using to determine UX. [...]
Google has come out with two significant updates in recent days to help business owners better use and understand their ranking factors and digital marketing management. With an update to both the Page Speed Insights tool and an app for easier Google My Business (GMB) management, they are working hard to make Google tools easier [...]
With a number of major recent tweaks to the Google algorithm, I wanted to touch on what Google currently values in a site to try to move it up or down in the rankings. This isn't meant to be the standard "links are important" article, but more a way to get you thinking about what [...]
In the latest edition of You Can Be Found Anywhere, I am found on a remote, but rapid creek in Pennsylvania, talking about the importance of speed for SEO. Not only is there an official Google Page Speed update in July, there has been recent data showing that if your page load speed is over [...]
Well, Google is coming out soon with the "Speed Update", which they say is really only going to hurt the absolutely poorest performing sites, but we all knew speed matters anyway, and with a recent Searchmetrics study, we find that a 3 second load time is basically required these days to crack the top 15, [...]
With all of the focus on the importance of speed for SEO, I figured I should actually take a look at my own often neglected site and see how I stand from a speed perspective. The answer was not good. I did a gtmetrix.com speed test on one of my core service pages and got [...]
So on top of the mobile-first index that Google is bringing to the SEO world in 2018, and rumors are showing may have started bringing in 2017, they have also announced the "Google Speed Update", which is coming in July of this year. Google is officially telling us that mobile speed will be a "direct" [...]
