Google Caffeine is the name given to
Google's "Next Generation" search engine,
which it will use to rank and index all the
pages on the wonderful world wide web.
According to all indications, this is not
just another one of Google's infamous
Updates, but a major "Overhaul" of its index
and algorithm - the complex formula and
calculations Google uses to rank all web
pages, including yours.
If that doesn't sound ominous enough,
according to Matt Cutts (Google
Spokesperson) one database is already
showing Google Caffeine, and the full blown
version will be released after the holidays.
The reasoning behind this - Google doesn't
want to upset webmasters and site owners
during the lucrative holiday buying season.
In the past, other major Google Updates have
come around this time of the year, most
notably the "Florida Update" which severely
affected many web sites and webmasters.
Recently, Google has been more aware and
much more generous to webmasters by being
more open and forthcoming in regards to how
it indexes its pages. This time around,
webmasters were even given access to a beta
version of Caffeine which Google released
last summer ('09) where webmasters could
check to see how well their keywords and
site would fare in this new search index.
This beta site (www2.sandbox.google.com)
has now been taken down by Google.
Like any professional search engine marketer
who works online, I was constantly checking
my sites and keywords in Google's new search
engine. I have drawn some conclusions from
what I have observed, but please be aware it
is often very foolish to draw conclusions
and make predictions from a small sampling
of results. You can end up with egg on your
face very quickly, especially when you
consider Google is probably still making
adjustments and refinements on Caffeine as
it analyzes the results.
However, there are certain ranking factors
that even Google is telling us about, mainly
"Site Speed" or how fast your site loads
will play a part in how its ranked. We have
also heard a lot about "Broken Links" and if
your page or site has them, then it will
probably be ranked lower. Of course, linking
out to "Bad Neighborhoods" will probably
still not be a good practice, if you want
higher rankings within Google.
It should not come as a shock or a surprise,
that "Over-All Page Quality" will play a
greater role in how well your page ranks.
Keep in mind, Google is like any other
company putting out a product, if that
product doesn't have a high standard of
quality, it reflects badly back on everybody
concerned. Google's SERPs (Search Engine
Results Pages) are the key to all their
online revenue, they must do everything in
their power to keep that product fast,
relevant, current and above all high
quality.
Therefore, expect "OnPage Factors" to play a
much greater role in Google Caffeine.
Quality unique content, page design, good
navigation, title, meta tags, description,
keyword density, alt tags, page views,
bounce rate, traffic numbers, time spent on
page, and the number of social bookmarks may
play an increased role in achieving high
rankings. A perfectly optimized key worded
page, with the keyword in the title,
description, meta tags, alt tags, on the
page... will probably get you ranked higher
in Caffeine, as well as most search engines
on the web.
This may be pure speculation on my part,
but one of the areas Caffeine will be
addressing or incorporating is "Social
Book Marking", that is the number of social
bookmarks a page receives will determine how
high it is ranked. I also believe one of the
major reasons these bookmarks will become
much more important has to do with the whole
nasty issue of link buying.
Now, the integrity of Google's index is not
in question, but any savvy marketer or
webmaster knows any individual or company
with deep pockets and huge resources can buy
their way into the top spot. Despite
Google's attempt to stop it, link buying and
keyword positioning, is a thriving industry
on the web. Rightly or wrongly, money and
unlimited resources will get you or your
company to the top in organic search,
regardless of which search engine you're
targeting.
All moral and ethnical issues aside, the
small webmaster and/or online marketer is
stuck right in the middle, with Google on
one side and these major multinational
competitors on the other. Looming on the
horizon is Google Caffeine, a new sheriff in
town!
What New Rules Will This Sheriff
Bring?
The major question here is this: has the
importance of back linking been downplayed in
this new index in favor of the key worded
domain and onsite content and optimization?
Has there been a major shift to listing more
quality content rather than relying on the
number of back links a site is receiving,
even from important related themed sites?
The major problem and question to Google is
this: if links can be bought, how do you
keep your organic results democratic and
fair, which was the original intention of
Larry Page and Sergey Brin when they started
Google in 1998.
One Possible
Solution is Social Bookmarking
Will we see an ever growing importance of
social bookmarks and links in this new
index. It is quite easy to buy 1000 links,
but getting 1000 or 10,000 "re-tweets" is a
little more difficult. Similarly, getting
two or three thousand "diggs" may be a
little harder to pull off. Same goes for
Del.icio.us bookmarks, Facebook fans... well
you get the picture. Will Google's use of
these new social sites make Caffeine faster,
more relevant, more current and most
importantly of all, can it bring some
democracy back into their index?
Of course, nothing in Google's new index
will be that cut and dry, that black and
white. Other ranking factors such as age of
site, past history and reputation, traffic
numbers, authority branding... will all play
a role in whether your site gets listed on
that all important first page. However, on
page factors may play a greater role -
title, meta tags, description, keyword
density, alt tags, page views, bounce rate,
time spent on page, and the number of social
bookmarks may play an increased role in
achieving high rankings. Website speed or
how fast your site loads may also be a new
ranking factor.
Underlying this whole issue is the fact
which many experienced webmasters/marketers
already know, Google's SERPs are not a
one-trick pony anymore. For very lucrative
(monetized) keyword phrases, Google's
results are broken up into Five
categories... Info listings, Video listings,
News Listings, Shopping Listings and
Corporate Listings. Forget Caffeine, this is
probably the fairest move Google has made in
the last few years to make its SERPs more
democratic.
Another even more puzzling issue for me
concerning Google Caffeine is how much
emphasis or ranking power will it place on "Keyworded
Domains", domain names which have your
keyword or keyword phrase in them. Will
these domains be ranked higher? Webmasters
and marketers for years have been telling us
we should always pick domain names which
have our major keywords in them. Just common
sense really, someone searching for "brown
widgets" will more likely than not find that
item at a domain called brownwidgets(dot)com
or brownwidget(dot)com. The major SEO
reasoning, all your backlinks will
inherently have your searched keyword in the
URL, thus bringing it up in the rankings.
One Possible
Solution is Social Bookmarking
Will we see an ever growing importance of
social bookmarks and links in this new
index. It is quite easy to buy 1000 links,
but getting 1000 or 10,000 "re-tweets" is a
little more difficult. Similarly, getting
two or three thousand "diggs" may be a
little harder to pull off. Same goes for
Del.icio.us bookmarks, Facebook fans... well
you get the picture. Will Google's use of
these new social sites make Caffeine faster,
more relevant, more current and most
importantly of all, can it bring some
democracy back into their index?
Of course, nothing in Google's new index
will be that cut and dry, that black and
white. Other ranking factors such as age of
site, past history and reputation, traffic
numbers, authority branding... will all play
a role in whether your site gets listed on
that all important first page. However, on
page factors may play a greater role -
title, meta tags, description, keyword
density, alt tags, page views, bounce rate,
time spent on page, and the number of social
bookmarks may play an increased role in
achieving high rankings. Website speed or
how fast your site loads may also be a new
ranking factor.
Underlying this whole issue is the fact
which many experienced webmasters/marketers
already know, Google's SERPs are not a
one-trick pony anymore. For very lucrative
(monetized) keyword phrases, Google's
results are broken up into Five
categories... Info listings, Video listings,
News Listings, Shopping Listings and
Corporate Listings. Forget Caffeine, this is
probably the fairest move Google has made in
the last few years to make its SERPs more
democratic.
Another even more puzzling issue for me
concerning Google Caffeine is how much
emphasis or ranking power will it place on "Keyworded
Domains", domain names which have your
keyword or keyword phrase in them. Will
these domains be ranked higher? Webmasters
and marketers for years have been telling us
we should always pick domain names which
have our major keywords in them. Just common
sense really, someone searching for "brown
widgets" will more likely than not find that
item at a domain called brownwidgets(dot)com
or brownwidget(dot)com. The major SEO
reasoning, all your backlinks will
inherently have your searched keyword in the
URL, thus bringing it up in the rankings.
About The Author
The author is a full time online affiliate
marketer. His livelihood is derived from &
dependent upon search engine marketing &
daily monitoring of targeted keywords,
mainly within Google. He runs numerous
sites, including:
Free Marketing Tools &
Internet Marketing Tools
Titus Hoskins Copyright 2009. |
