Does Google Put Bigger Emphasis on Brands on Search Results?

There has been an on going discussion on whether Google indeed has made an update so that search queries return results dominated by brands. For example if I search for a generic keyword, say online learning, the result would display more sites that offer online learning like schools and universities and less of sites about online learning guide, review of online education providers and so on.

Aaron Wall has claimed this is happening by showing us some evidence of several generic keyword phrases whose results show brand websites showing more prominently than before. He also thought that the non-trivial statements of Google CEO Eric Schmidt about brands and word relationships should offer valuable hint to SEO people on what needs to be done to improve search engine visibility.

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Google Banned My Site: How To Avoid Google Penalty

Google supplies bulk of visitor traffic to our site through search engines. That’s because more people use Google (except on certain locations) than any search engine does. So if Google decides to penalize our site, that means we lose a significant amount of visitors going to our site.

So we ask how do we avoid getting this Google penalty? Google doesn’t arbitrarily ban sites for peculiar reasons; it provides a wealth of information on how webmasters should manage their sites.

* Google Webmaster Guidelines
* Official SEO guide from Google | Webmaster help on SEO
* Guidance on how Google access, processes and displays pages on its search results

Beyond these guidelines, the question above remains.

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Google Sitelinks Update

Today I noticed that a Google search query for “living in hong kong blog” showed Google Sitelinks.

As announced in Search Engine Roundtable, Google now displays Sitelinks coming from sub-directories. Previously, it doesn’t do so. Therefore, until the new rule was implemented, my blogspot address doesn’t qualify for Sitelink inclusion because this blogging platform uses folder structure based on month and day of blog post, which are both sub folders. Google doesn’t provide detailed list of factors on placement of Sitelinks and selection of the links that will appear on them.

Sitelinks are additional links placed on top ranking pages for certain phrases. This process is automated which means Google’s algorithms determine whether the site (usually its homepage) deserves Sitelinks.

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Official SEO Guide From Google

There are lots of SEO guides out there. Some make sense and others don’t. We used to hear Google state some best-practice guidelines to webmasters on ensuring websites are visible to search engines, or its de facto spokesman Matt Cutts (at least on the SEO side of things) clear the air on some debatable topics, but that’s about it.

Not anymore.

Google has just released its SEO guide through its Google Webmaster Central Blog. Google’s Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide is a 22-page PDF that aims to provide guidance to webmasters who are new to SEO.

Tips include clear and concise explanations of the benefits of customizing page title and Meta descriptions, creating keyword rich URLs, and navigation structure.

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SEO Search in 2001 and 2008

At the beginning of this month, Google took us back in time when it shared its oldest index database for us to see how “primitive” the search results were. We also observe the number
I don’t have a photographic memory but I guess the logo doesn’t look like the one they use in their 2001. Anyway, as search results would show, SEO is not a household name during those days. The term itself has many meanings (actually taken from the first page of the “seo” search query):

Sponsors for Educational Opportunity
Sociedad Espanola de Ornitologia
Student Employment Office
Society of Education Officers
Schwartz Electro-Optics

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