Posted by Dr-Pete
For the past couple of weeks, Google has been testing a major change to the width of the left-hand column, expanding containers from 512 pixels to 600 (a 17% increase). Along with this change, Google has increased the available length of result titles:
This naturally begs the question - how many characters can we fit into a display title now? When Google redesigned SERPs in 2014, I recommended a limit of 55 characters. Does a 17% bigger container mean we've got 9 more characters to work with?
Not so fast, my friend…
This is where things get messy. It'd be great if we could just count the characters and be done with it, but things are never quite that easy. We've got three complications to consider:
(1) Character widths vary
Google uses the Arial font for result titles, and Arial is proportional. In other words, different characters occupy different amounts of space. A lower- case 'l' is going to occupy much less space than an upper-case 'W'. The total width is measured in pixels, not characters, and the maximum amount you can fit in that space depends on what you're trying to say.
In our 10,000-keyword tracking set, the title below is the longest cut or uncut display title we measured, clocking in at 77 characters:
This title has 14 i's and lowercase l's, 10 lowercase t's, and 3 narrow punctuation marks, creating a character count bonanza. To count this title and say that yours can be 77 characters would be dangerously misleading.
(2) Titles break at whole words
Prior to this change, Google was breaking words at whatever point the cut-off happened. Now, they seem to be breaking titles at whole words. If the cut happens in the middle of a long word, the remaining length might be considerably shorter. For example, here's a word that's just not going to fit into your display title twice, and so the cut comes well short of the full width:
(3) Google is appending brands
In some cases, Google is cutting off titles and then appending the brand to the end. Unfortunately, this auto-appended brand text still occupies space and counts against your total allowance. This was the shortest truncated display title in our data set, measuring only 34 characters pre-cut:
The brand text "- The Homestead" was appended by Google and is not part of the sites
tag. The next word in the title was "Accommodations", so the combination of the brand add-on and long word made for a very truncated title.<br />
</p><h2>Data from 10,000 searches<br />
</h2><p>Examples can be misleading, so we wanted to take a deeper dive. We pulled all of the page-1 display titles from the 10,000-keyword MozCast tracking set, which ends up being just shy of 90,000 titles. Uncut titles don't tell us much, since they can be very short in some cases. So, let's focus on the titles that got cut. Here are the character lengths (not counting " ...") of the cut titles:<br />
</p><p><img src="http://d1avok0lzls2w.cloudfront.net/uploads/blog/5745bd07227b20.05940476.png" rel="border: 0" style="border: 0"><br />
</p><p>We've got a fairly normal distribution (skewed a little to the left) with both a mean and median right around 63. So, is 63 our magic number? Not quite. Roughly half the cut titles in our data set had less than 63 characters, so that's still a fairly risky length.<br />
</p><p>The trick is to pick a number where we feel fairly confident that the title won't be cut off, on average (a guaranteed safe zone for all titles would be far too restrictive). Here are a few select percentages of truncated titles that were above a certain character length:<br />
</p><ul><br />
<li>55% of cut titles >= 63 (+2) characters</li><br />
<li><strong>91% of cut titles >= 57 (+2)</strong><strong> characters</strong></li><br />
<li>95% of cut titles >= 55 (+2) characters</li><br />
<li>99% of cut titles >= 48 (+2) characters</li><br />
</ul><p>In research, we might stick to a 95% or 99% confidence level (note: this isn't technically a confidence interval, but the rationale is similar), but I think 90% confidence is a decent practical level. If we factor in the " ...", that gives us about +2 characters. So, my recommendation is to keep your titles under 60 characters (57+2 = 59).<br />
</p><p>Keep in mind, of course, that cut-offs aren't always bad. A well placed "..." might actually increase click-through rates on some titles. A fortuitous cut-off could create suspense, if you trust your fortunes to Google:<br />
</p><p><img src="http://d1avok0lzls2w.cloudfront.net/uploads/blog/5745cbabc43513.48295070.png" rel="border: 0" vspace="10" style="border: 0"><br />
</p><p>Now that titles are cut at whole words, we also don't have to worry about text getting cut off at confusing or unfortunate spots. Take, for example, the dangerous predicament of The International Association of Assemblages of Assassin Assets:<br />
</p><p><img src="http://d1avok0lzls2w.cloudfront.net/uploads/blog/5745c38fa33539.24952715.png" rel="border: 0" vspace="10" style="border: 0"><br />
</p><p>Prior to the redesign, their titles were a minefield. Yes, that contributed nothing to this post, but once I had started down that road, it was already too late.<br />
</p><h2>So, that's it then, right?<br />
</h2><p>Well, no. As Google evolves and adapts to a wider range of devices, we can expect them to continue to adjust and test display titles. In fact, they're currently test a new, card-style format for desktop SERPs where each result is boxed and looks like this:<br><br />
</p><p><img src="http://d1avok0lzls2w.cloudfront.net/uploads/blog/5745c582c5e954.69810663.png" rel="border: 0" vspace="10" style="border: 0"><br />
</p><p>We're not even entirely sure that the current change is permanent. The narrower format is still appearing for some people under some conditions. If this design sticks, then I'm comfortable saying that keeping your title length under 60 characters will prevent the majority of cut-offs.<br />
</p><p><em>Note: People have been asking when we'll update our title tag tool. We're waiting to make sure that this design change is permanent, but will try to provide an update ASAP. Updates and a link to that tool will appear in this post when we make a final decision.</em><br />
</p><br /><p><a href="https://moz.com/moztop10">Sign up for The Moz Top 10</a>, a semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips, and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of stuff you don't have time to hunt down but want to read!</p><div style="clear:both; padding-bottom:0.25em"></div>
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<em>posted by Unknown @ <a href="http://webleadsuk.blogspot.com/2016/05/title-tag-length-guidelines-2016-edition.html" title="permanent link">15:15</a></em>
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<h2 class="date-header">Monday 30 May 2016</h2>
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<div class="post"><a name="8646853100530889412"></a>
<h3 class="post-title">
Will Intelligent Personal Assistants Replace Websites?
</h3>
<div class="post-body">
<p>
<div style="clear:both;"></div><p>Posted by <a href=\"https://moz.com/community/users/15825\">Tom-Anthony</a></p><p class="text-light-gray">[Estimated read time: 8 minutes]<br />
</p> <br />
<p>Intelligent Personal Assistants (IPAs) are capable of radically disrupting the way we search for and consume information on the Internet. The convergence of several trends and technologies has resulted in a new interface through which people will be able to interact with your business. This will have a dramatic impact -<strong> if your long-term marketing/business plan doesn't account for IPAs, you may be in the same boat as those people who said they didn't need a website in the early 2000s.</strong><br />
</p><br />
<h2>Your website is an API to your business</h2><br />
<p>If we look to pre/early Internet, then the primary interface to most businesses was the humble phone. Over the phone you could speak to a business and find out what they had in stock, when they'd be open, whether they had space for your reservation, etc., and then you could go on to order products, ask for directions, or place reservations. The phone was an interface to your business, and your phone line and receptionist were your "API" - the way people interacted with your business.<br />
</p><br />
<p><img rel="border: none" src="http://d1avok0lzls2w.cloudfront.net/uploads/blog/57495b89ed10a2.95429753.png" style="border: none"><br />
</p><br />
<p>As the Internet matured and the web gained more traction, it increasingly became the case that your website empowered users to do lots of those same things that they previously did via the phone. They could get information and give you money, and your website became the new "API" for your business, allowing users to interact with it. Notice this didn't necessitate the death of the phone, but lots of the requests that previously came via phone now came via the web, and there was also a reduction in friction for people wanting to interact with your business (they didn't have to wait for the phone line to be free, or speak to an actual human!).<br />
</p><br />
<p>Since then, the web has improved as technologies and availability have improved, but fundamentally the concept has stayed the same. Until now.<br />
</p><br />
<h2>The 5 tech giants have all built an intelligent personal assistant</h2><br />
<p><img src="http://d1avok0lzls2w.cloudfront.net/uploads/blog/57489002614175.19168901.jpg" alt="The 5 tech giants have all built an Intelligent Personal Assistant"><br />
</p><br />
<p>Intelligent Personal Assistants apps such as Google Now, Siri, Cortana, and Facebook M - as well as the newer appliances such as Amazon Echo, the new Google Home, and the rumored Apple Siri hardware - are going to have a profound effect on the way people search, the types of search they do, and the way they consume and act upon the results of those searches.<br />
</p><br />
<p>New entries, such as Hound and Viv, show that intelligent personal assistants are growing beyond just something phone makers are adding as a feature, and are becoming a core focus.<br />
</p><br />
<p>In the last couple of years we've discussed a variety of new technologies and their impact on search; a number of these are all feeding into the rise of these personal assistants.<br><br />
</p><br />
<h2>Trend 1: More complex searches</h2><br />
<p>The days of searches just being a keyword are long since over. The great improvements of natural language processing, driven by improvements in machine learning, have meant that conversational search has become a thing and we have seen Hummingbird and RankBrain becoming building blocks of how Google understands and handles queries.<br />
</p><br />
<p>Furthermore, implicit signals have also seen the rise of anticipatory queries with Google Now leading the way in delivering you search results based off of your context without you needing to ask.<br />
</p><br />
<p>Contributing technologies & trends:<br />
</p><br />
<ul><br />
<li>Implicit Signals</li><br />
<li>Natural Language</li><br />
<li>Conversational Search</li><br />
<li>Hummingbird & RankBrain</li><br />
</ul><br />
<p>Watch <a href="https://vimeo.com/149138397" target="_blank">this video</a> of Will Critchlow speak about these trends to hear more.<br />
</p><br />
<h2>Trend 2: More complex results</h2><br />
<p>Search results have moved on from 10 blue links to include the Knowledge Graph, with entities and direct answers being a familiar part of any search result. This has also meant that, since the original Siri, we've seen a search interface that doesn't even do a web search for many queries but instead gives data-driven answers right there in the app. The earliest examples were queries for things like weather, which would turn up a <a href="https://blog.intercom.io/the-end-of-apps-as-we-know-them/" target="_blank">card</a> right there in the app.<br />
</p><br />
<p>Finally, the rise of conversational search has made possible complex <a href="https://moz.com/blog/compound-search-queries-data-driven-search" target="_blank">compound queries</a>, where queries can be revised and extended to allow the sorting, filtering, and refining of searches in a back and forth fashion. This phase of searching used to be something you did by reviewing the search results manually and sifting through them, but now search engines <em>understand</em> (rather than just <em>index</em>) the content they discover and can do this step for you.<br />
</p><br />
<p>Contributing technologies & trends:<br><br />
</p><br />
<ul><br />
<li>Entities / Direct Answers</li><br />
<li>Faceted search</li><br />
<li>Data driven answers</li><br />
</ul><br />
<p>You may like Distilled's <a href="https://www.distilled.net/searchscape/" target="_blank">Searchscape</a> which has information and videos on these various trends.<br />
</p><br />
<h2>Trend 3: Bots, conversational UI, and on-demand UIs</h2><br />
<p><img rel="float: right; border-width: 0 !important; width: 250px;" src="http://d1avok0lzls2w.cloudfront.net/uploads/blog/5748b6510bed21.20307984.jpg" style="float: right; border-width: 0 !important; width: 250px;"><br />
</p>More recently, with the increased interest in bots (especially since <a href="http://newsroom.fb.com/news/2016/04/messenger-platform-at-f8/" target="_blank">Facebook's F8 announcement</a>), we can see a rise in the number of companies investing in various forms of conversational UI (see <a href="http://ben-evans.com/benedictevans/2016/3/30/chat-bots-conversation-and-ai-as-an-interface" target="_blank">this article</a> and <a href="http://dangrover.com/blog/2016/04/20/bots-wont-replace-apps.html" target="_blank">this one</a>).<br />
<p><br>Bots and conversational UI provide a new interface which lends itself to all of the benefits provided by natural language processing and ways of presenting data-driven answers.<br />
</p><br />
<p>Note that a conversational UI isn't limited to purely a spoken or natural language interface, but can also provide an "on demand" UI for certain situations (see this example screenshot from Facebook, or the Siri/Fandango cinema ticket example below).<br />
</p><br />
<p>Contributing technologies & trends:<br><br />
</p><br />
<ul><br />
<li>Conversational UI</li><br />
<li>Bots</li><br />
<li>On-demand UIs within the IPA interface</li><br />
</ul><br />
<h2>Trend 4: 3rd-party integration</h2><br />
<p>Going back to the first versions of Siri or Google Now, there were no options for 3rd-party developers to integrate. They could only do a limited set of actions based on what Apple or Google had explicitly programmed in.<br />
</p><br />
<p>However, over time, the platforms have opened up more and more, such that apps can now provide functionality within the intelligent personal assistant on the same app.<br />
</p><br />
<p>Google Now, Amazon Echo, Cortana, and Siri (not quite - but <a href="http://arstechnica.co.uk/gadgets/2016/05/apple-siri-open-sdk-echo-competitor/" target="_blank">rumored to be coming in June</a>) all provide SDKs (software development kits), allowing 3rd-party developers to integrate into these platforms.<br />
</p><br />
<p><em>This is an opportunity for all of us integrate directly into the next generation search interface.</em><br />
</p><br />
<h2>What's the impact of all this?</h2><br />
<h3>More searches as friction reduces</h3><br />
<p>Google published an (under-reported) <a href="http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=2685309" target="_blank">paper</a> on some of the research and work that went into Google Now, which when combined with their <a href="https://backchannel.com/googles-secret-study-to-find-out-our-needs-eba8700263bf#.sqp3ksgmv" target="_blank">daily information needs study</a> indicates how hard they're trying to encourage and enable users to do searches that previously have not been possible.<br />
</p><br />
<p>The ability of intelligent personal assistants to fulfil more complex search queries (and of "always listening" search appliances like Amazon Echo and Google Home) to remove the friction of doing searches that were previously "too much work" means we'll see a rise in search queries that simply wouldn't have happened previously. So rather than cannibalizing web-based searches that came before, a large segment of the queries to IPAs will be wholly new types of searches.<br />
</p><br />
<h3>Web rankings get bypassed, go straight to the top</h3><br />
<p>As more and more <a href="https://moz.com/blog/how-voice-search-will-change-digital-marketing-for-the-better" target="_blank">people search via personal assistants</a>, and with personal assistants trying to deliver answers directly in their interface, we'll see an increasing number of searches that completely <em>bypass web search rankings</em>. As 3rd-party integration becomes more widespread, there will be an increasing number of dynamic queries that personal assistants can handle directly (e.g. "where can I buy The Martian?," "flights to Berlin," or "order a pepperoni pizza").<br />
</p><br />
<p>This is a massive opportunity - it does not matter how many links and how much great content your competitor has to help them in "classical SEO" if you've integrated straight into the search interface and no web search is ever shown to the user. You can be the <em>only search result shown</em>.<br />
</p><br />
<h3>The classic funnel gets compressed; checking out via IPAs</h3><br />
<p>This part is probably the most exciting, from my perspective, and I believe is the most important from the impact it'll have on users and businesses. People have modeled "the funnel" in a variety of different ways over time, but one common way to look at it is:<br />
</p><br />
<p><img src="http://d1avok0lzls2w.cloudfront.net/uploads/blog/5748b4a63cbfd2.37036248.jpg"><br />
</p><br />
<p>The search is separate to the browsing/checkout process, and that checkout process happens via a website. Apps have had some impact on this classic picture, but so far it hasn't been a big part.<br />
</p><br />
<p>However, conversational search/UI combined with the ability for developers to integrate directly into IPAs opens up a huge opportunity to merge the interfaces for the search step and the steps previously fulfilled by the website (browsing and checking out). There are already examples of the funnel being compressed:<br />
</p><br />
<p><img src="http://d1avok0lzls2w.cloudfront.net/uploads/blog/57489a0919a658.89477491.jpg"><br />
</p><br />
<p>In this example, using Siri, you can see I was able to search for movies playing nearby, pick a particular movie and cinema, then pick a particular showing and, finally, I can click to buy, which takes me to the Fandango app. I am most of the way through the checkout process before I leave the intelligent personal assistant app interface. <em>How long until I can do that final step and actually check out inside the personal assistant?</em><br />
</p><br />
<p>Integrating with intelligent personal assistant apps currently normally happens via the app model (i.e. you build an app that provides some functionality to the assistant), but how long until we see the possibility to integrate without needing to build an app yourself - the intelligent personal assistant will provide the framework and primary interface.<br />
</p><br />
<h2>Summary</h2><br />
<p>Intelligent Personal Assistants bring together all the recent developments in search technology, and as integration options improve, we will see an increasing number of queries/transactions go end-to-end <strong>entirely inside the personal assistant itself.</strong><br />
</p><br />
<p>People will conduct searches, review data, and make purchases entirely inside that one interface, completely bypassing web search (already happening) and even checking out inside the personal assistant (within the next 12 months) and thus bypassing websites.<br />
</p><br />
<p>IPAs represent an absolutely massive opportunity, and it would be easy to underestimate the impact they will have (in the same way many people underestimated mobile initially). <strong>If you've been on the fence about building an app, you should re-evaluate that decision, with a focus on apps being the way they can integrate into intelligent personal assistants.<br />
</strong><br />
</p><br />
<p>What do you think? I'd love to have a discussion in the comments about how everyone thinks this will play out and how it might change the landscape of search.<br />
</p><br /><p><a href="https://moz.com/moztop10">Sign up for The Moz Top 10</a>, a semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips, and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of stuff you don't have time to hunt down but want to read!</p><div style="clear:both; padding-bottom:0.25em"></div>
</p>
</div>
<p class="post-footer">
<em>posted by Unknown @ <a href="http://webleadsuk.blogspot.com/2016/05/will-intelligent-personal-assistants.html" title="permanent link">16:07</a></em>
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<h2 class="date-header">Friday 27 May 2016</h2>
<!-- Begin .post -->
<div class="post"><a name="8245013813505262107"></a>
<h3 class="post-title">
Preview the MozCon 2016 Agenda (and Other Exciting News!)
</h3>
<div class="post-body">
<p>
<div style="clear:both;"></div><p>Posted by <a href=\"https://moz.com/community/users/98309\">EricaMcGillivray</a></p><p>Like the talking mice to Cinderella, we're already working hard on MozCon and crafting Roger one heck of a ball gown. (And letting our metaphors get out of control in the meantime.) Which means I'm here to share with all of you the current MozCon 2016 Agenda and a ton of other preview goodies.<br><br />
</p><p>If you're suddenly like "Oh snap, I haven't bought my ticket(s)!", I'll pause while you:<br />
</p><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="https://moz.com/mozcon" class="button-primary large-cta" target="_blank">Buy your MozCon 2016 ticket!</a><br />
</p><img src="http://d1avok0lzls2w.cloudfront.net/uploads/blog/57472c7dc26854.41826865.jpg" alt="Roger hugs at MozCon"><h2>New emcees: we're mixing it up!</h2><p>As some of you know, Cyrus won't be emceeing MozCon this year. (We still adore him, and I'm sure his face will make it into a few slide decks.) So we decided to take this opportunity to shake it up.<br />
</p><p>Emceeing MozCon is a hard job. We want each and every speaker to feel supported by our stage and have the emcee warm up the audience for their talk. Instead of having one emcee for three days, we're having three different emcees, one each day.<br />
</p><p>Please congratulate them!<br />
</p><img src="http://d1avok0lzls2w.cloudfront.net/uploads/blog/5746873422b857.29941920.jpg" data-pin-nopin="true" alt="Jen Sable Lopez" align="right"><h3>Jen Sable Lopez</h3><p>Sr. Director of Community and Audience Development at <a href="https://moz.com" target="_blank">Moz</a><br />
<br><a href="http://twitter.com/@jennita" target="_blank">@jennita</a><br />
</p><p>Leading our community and audience development efforts here at Moz, Jen Sable Lopez's the biggest fan of you: our community. She's deeply invested in being TAGFEE and bringing educational content and community love to you. Jen also does a great Grumpy Cat impression, serves as Moz gif maker, and loves traveling and her family.<br />
</p><img src="http://d1avok0lzls2w.cloudfront.net/uploads/blog/57468756610893.35318850.jpg" data-pin-nopin="true" alt="Ronell Smith" align="right"><h3>Ronell Smith</h3><p>Strategist at <a href="https://www.ronellsmith.com" target="_blank">RS Consulting</a><br />
<br><a href="http://twitter.com/@ronellsmith" target="_blank">@ronellsmith</a><br />
</p><p>Ronell Smith is a business strategist with a passion for helping brands create a user experience their customers will recognize, appreciate, and reward them for with their business.<br />
</p><img src="http://d1avok0lzls2w.cloudfront.net/uploads/blog/574687682498d6.40417255.jpg" data-pin-nopin="true" alt="Zeph Snapp" align="right"><h3>Zeph Snapp</h3><p>CEO at <a href="http://alturainteractive.com" target="_blank">Altura Interactive</a><br />
<br><a href="http://twitter.com/@zephsnapp" target="_blank">@zephsnapp</a><br />
</p><p>A bilingual, bicultural marketer, Zeph Snapp helps international companies reach Spanish speakers in the US and Latin America. If you want him to go on a rant, ask him about machine learning as it relates to translation and content.<br />
</p><h2>The sneak peek MozCon 2016 Agenda</h2><p>Because we're releasing this earlier than ever, there's still a few TBD spots and topics. I can't thank our speakers enough for being so gracious and super hard-working to settle on their topics.<br />
</p><p><img src="http://d1avok0lzls2w.cloudfront.net/uploads/blog/57472ca3f0b939.28489166.jpg" alt="Wil on the stage"><br />
</p><p>You'll also notice that community speakers are still forthcoming. That's right - they're coming soon (keep an eye out for the submission post!), and we wanted to give you a head start to noodle on your potential topic.<br />
</p><h3>Monday</h3><hr><p><strong>08:00–09:00am<br><br />
Breakfast</strong><br />
</p><hr><img src="http://d1avok0lzls2w.cloudfront.net/uploads/blog/574687b2077e78.49315215.jpg" data-pin-nopin="true" alt="Rand Fishkin" align="right"><p><strong>09:00–09:20am<br><br />
Welcome to MozCon 2016! with Rand Fishkin</strong><br />
</p><p>Wizard of Moz<br><br />
<a href="http://twitter.com/@randfish" target="_blank">@randfish</a><br />
</p><p>Rand Fishkin is the founder and former CEO of Moz, co-author of a pair of books on SEO, and co-founder of Inbound.org. Rand's an unsaveable addict of all things content, search, and social on the web.<br />
</p><hr><img src="http://d1avok0lzls2w.cloudfront.net/uploads/blog/574687c3b43c05.41553720.jpg" data-pin-nopin="true" alt="Cara Harshman" align="right"><p><strong>09:25–10:10am<br><br />
Uplevel Your A/B Testing Skills with Cara Harshman</strong><br />
</p><p>Content Marketing Manager at <a href="http://www.optimizely.com" target="_blank">Optimizely</a><br><br />
<a href="http://twitter.com/@caraharshman" target="_blank">@caraharshman</a><br />
</p><p>A/B testing is bread and butter for anyone who aspires to be a data-driven marketer. Cara will share stories about how testers, from one-person agencies to dedicated testing teams, are doing it, and how you can develop your own A/B testing expertise.<br />
</p><p>Cara Harshman just celebrated her four-year anniversary at Optimizely. Besides managing content strategy, customer case studies, and the blog, she has been known to spend a lot of time writing parody songs for company all-hands meetings.<br />
</p><hr><p><strong>10:10–10:30am<br><br />
AM Break</strong><br />
</p><hr><img src="http://d1avok0lzls2w.cloudfront.net/uploads/blog/574687d7c837a2.38200575.jpg" data-pin-nopin="true" alt="Lauren Vaccarello" align="right"><p><strong>10:35–11:05am<br><br />
TBD with Lauren Vaccarello</strong><br />
</p><p>VP of Marketing at <a href="http://www.box.com" target="_blank">Box</a><br><br />
<a href="http://twitter.com/@laurenv" target="_blank">@laurenv</a><br />
</p><p>Lauren Vaccarello is a best-selling author and currently runs corporate and field marketing at Box.<br />
</p><hr><p><strong>11:05–11:35am<br><br />
TBD</strong><br />
</p><hr><p><strong>11:35am–12:05pm<br><br />
TBD</strong><br />
</p><hr><p><strong>12:05–01:35pm<br><br />
Lunch</strong><br />
</p><hr><img src="http://d1avok0lzls2w.cloudfront.net/uploads/blog/574687eb49cfb6.78733041.jpg" data-pin-nopin="true" alt="Joe Hall" align="right"><p><strong>01:40–02:10pm<br><br />
Rethinking Information Architecture for SEO and Content Marketing with Joe Hall</strong><br />
</p><p>SEO Consultant at <a href="http://hallanalysis.com/" target="_blank">Hall Analysis LLC</a><br><br />
<a href="http://twitter.com/@joehall" target="_blank">@joehall</a><br />
</p><p>Information Architecture (IA) shapes the way we organize data, think about complex ideas, and build web sites. Joe will provide a new approach to IA for SEO and Content Marketing, based on actionable insights, that SEOs can extract from their own data sets.<br />
</p><p>Joe Hall is an executive SEO consultant focused on analyzing and informing the digital marketing strategies of select clients through high-level data analysis and SEO audits.<br />
</p><hr><img src="http://d1avok0lzls2w.cloudfront.net/uploads/blog/5746880427c6b4.52714292.jpg" data-pin-nopin="true" alt="Talia Wolf" align="right"><p><strong>02:10–02:40pm<br><br />
Breaking Patterns: How to Rewrite the CRO Playbook with Mobile Optimization with Talia Wolf</strong><br />
</p><p>CMO at <a href="http://banana-splash.com/" target="_blank">Banana Splash</a><br><br />
<a href="http://twitter.com/@Taliagw" target="_blank">@Taliagw</a><br />
</p><p>Best practices lie. Talia shares how to build a mobile conversion optimization strategy and how to turn more mobile visitors into customers based on A/B testing their emotions, decision making process, and behavior.<br />
</p><p>As CMO at Banana-Splash and Founder of Conversioner, Talia Wolf helps businesses optimize their sites using emotional targeting, consumer psychology, and real-time data to generate more revenues, leads, and sales. Talia is a keynote speaker, author, and <em>Harry Potter</em> fan.<br />
</p><hr><p><strong>02:40–03:10pm<br><br />
TBD</strong><br />
</p><hr><p><strong>03:10–03:30pm<br><br />
PM Break</strong><br />
</p><hr><p><img src="http://d1avok0lzls2w.cloudfront.net/uploads/blog/574755dd02b801.59128428.jpg" data-pin-nopin="true" alt="Ross Simmonds" align="right"></p><p><strong>03:35–04:05pm<br><br />
TBD with Ross Simmonds</strong><br />
</p><p>Co-Founder at <a href="http://www.GetCrate.co">Crate</a><br><br />
<a href="http://twitter.com/@TheCoolestCool" target="_blank">@TheCoolestCool</a><br />
</p><p>Ross Simmonds is a digital marketing consultant and entrepreneur. He's worked with both startups and Fortune 500 companies and is the co-founder of two startups: Crate and Hustle & Grind. <br></p><hr><img src="http://d1avok0lzls2w.cloudfront.net/uploads/blog/57468829a185e0.36749736.jpg" data-pin-nopin="true" alt="Dana DiTomaso" align="right"><p><strong>04:05–4:50pm<br><br />
TBD with Dana DiTomaso</strong><br />
</p><p>Partner at <a href="http://kickpoint.ca" target="_blank">Kick Point</a><br><br />
<a href="http://twitter.com/@danaditomaso" target="_blank">@danaditomaso</a><br />
</p><p>Dana DiTomaso is a partner at Kick Point, where she applies marketing into strategies to grow clients' businesses, in particular to ensure that digital and traditional play well together - separating real solutions from wastes of time (and budget).<br />
</p><hr><h3>Tuesday</h3><hr><p><strong>08:00–09:00am<br><br />
Breakfast</strong><br />
</p><hr><img src="http://d1avok0lzls2w.cloudfront.net/uploads/blog/57468875cd78d6.95847365.jpg" data-pin-nopin="true" alt="Dr. Pete Meyers" align="right"><p><strong>09:05–09:50am<br><br />
You Can't Type a Concept: Why Keywords Still Matter with Dr. Pete Meyers</strong><br />
</p><p>Marketing Scientist at <a href="https://moz.com/" target="_blank">Moz</a><br><br />
<a href="http://twitter.com/@dr_pete" target="_blank">@dr_pete</a><br />
</p><p>Google is getting better every day at understanding intent and natural language, and the path between typing a search and getting a result is getting more winding. How often are queries interpreted, and how do we do keyword research for search engines that are beginning to understand concepts?<br />
</p><p>Dr. Pete Meyers is Marketing Scientist for Seattle-based Moz, where he works with marketing and data science on product research and data-driven content. He has spent the past four years building research tools to monitor Google, including the MozCast project.<br />
</p><hr><img src="http://d1avok0lzls2w.cloudfront.net/uploads/blog/5746888eb4acb9.65575441.jpg" data-pin-nopin="true" alt="Joanna Wiebe" align="right"><p><strong>09:50–10:20am<br><br />
How to Be Specific: From-The-Trenches Lessons in High-Converting Copy with Joanna Wiebe</strong><br />
</p><p>Creator and Copywriter at <a href="https://copyhackers.com" target="_blank">Wiebe Marketing Ltd</a><br><br />
<a href="http://twitter.com/@copyhackers" target="_blank">@copyhackers</a><br />
</p><p>Abstracted benefits, summarized value, and promise-free landing pages keep marketers safe - and conversion rates low. Joanna shares how and why your copy needs to get specific to move people to act.<br />
</p><p>The original conversion copywriter, Joanna Wiebe is the founder of Copy Hackers and Airstory. She's optimized copy for Wistia, Buffer, Crazy Egg, Bounce Exchange, and Rainmaker, among others, and spoken at CTA Conf, Business of Software... and now MozCon.<br />
</p><hr><p><strong>10:20–10:40am<br><br />
AM Break</strong><br />
</p><hr><p><strong>10:45am–12:05pm<br><br />
Community Speakers</strong><br />
</p><hr><p><strong>12:05–01:35pm<br><br />
Lunch</strong><br />
</p><hr><img src="http://d1avok0lzls2w.cloudfront.net/uploads/blog/574688a1da0ab2.73053667.jpg" data-pin-nopin="true" alt="Mike Ramsey" align="right"><p><strong>01:40–02:25pm<br><br />
Local Projects to Boost Your Company and Career with Mike Ramsey</strong><br />
</p><p>President at <a href="http://niftymarketing.com" target="_blank">Nifty Marketing</a><br><br />
<a href="http://twitter.com/@mikeramsey" target="_blank">@mikeramsey</a><br />
</p><p>Mike will walk through the projects that his individual team members took on to improve how they handled local links, reviews, reports, and lots of areas in between.<br />
</p><p>Mike Ramsey is the President of Nifty Marketing, which works with big brands and small businesses on digital marketing. He talks about running agencies, local search, and Idaho a lot.<br />
</p><hr><img src="http://d1avok0lzls2w.cloudfront.net/uploads/blog/574688bcb59f75.40615937.jpg" data-pin-nopin="true" alt="Kristen Craft" align="right"><p><strong>02:25–02:55pm<br><br />
Reimagining Customer Retention and Evangelism with Kristen Craft</strong><br />
</p><p>Director of Business Development at <a href="http://wistia.com/" target="_blank">Wistia</a><br><br />
<a href="http://twitter.com/@thecrafty" target="_blank">@thecrafty</a><br />
</p><p>As Director of Business Development at Wistia, Kristen Craft loves working with Wistia's partner community, building connections with other companies that care about video marketing. Kristen holds degrees in business and education from MIT and Harvard.<br />
</p><hr><p><strong>02:55–03:15pm<br><br />
PM Break</strong><br />
</p><hr><img src="http://d1avok0lzls2w.cloudfront.net/uploads/blog/574688d5c07351.67424270.jpg" data-pin-nopin="true" alt="Rebekah Cancino" align="right"><p><strong>03:25–03:55pm<br><br />
TBD with Rebekah Cancino</strong><br />
</p><p>Co-Founder and Content Strategy Consultant at <a href="http://www.onwardand.co" target="_blank">Onward</a><br><br />
<a href="http://twitter.com/@rebekahcancino" target="_blank">@rebekahcancino</a><br />
</p><p>Rebekah Cancino spent the last decade helping clients, like Aetna and United Way, overcome some of their toughest content problems. Her consultancy offers workshops and training for in-house teams that bridge the gap between content, design, and technical SEO.<br />
</p><hr><img src="http://d1avok0lzls2w.cloudfront.net/uploads/blog/5746890c07ed26.23075101.jpg" data-pin-nopin="true" alt="Wil Reynolds" align="right"><p><strong>03:55–04:40pm<br><br />
TBD with Wil Reynolds</strong><br />
</p><p>CEO/Founder at <a href="http://www.seerinteractive.com" target="_blank">Seer Interactive</a><br><br />
<a href="http://twitter.com/@wilreynolds" target="_blank">@wilreynolds</a><br />
</p><p>Wil Reynolds - Director of Strategy, Seer Interactive - founded Seer with a focus on doing great things for its clients, team, and the community. His passion for driving and analyzing the impact that a site's traffic has on the company's bottom line has shaped the SEO and digital marketing industries. Wil also actively supports the Covenant House.<br />
</p><hr><h3>Wednesday</h3><hr><p><strong>09:00–10:00am<br><br />
Breakfast</strong><br />
</p><hr><img src="http://d1avok0lzls2w.cloudfront.net/uploads/blog/57468922982411.21004873.jpg" data-pin-nopin="true" alt="Kindra Hall" align="right"><p><strong>10:05–10:35am<br><br />
The Irresistible Power of Strategic Storytelling with Kindra Hall</strong><br />
</p><p>Strategic Storytelling Advisor at <a href="http://www.kindrahall.com" target="_blank">Kindra Hall</a><br><br />
<a href="http://twitter.com/@kindramhall" target="_blank">@kindramhall</a><br />
</p><p>Whoever tells the best story, wins. In marketing, in business, in life. Going beyond buzzwords, Kindra will reveal specific storytelling strategies to create great content and win customers without a fight.<br />
</p><p>Kindra Hall is a speaker, author, and storytelling advisor. She works with individuals and brands to help them capture attention by telling better stories.<br />
</p><hr><img src="http://d1avok0lzls2w.cloudfront.net/uploads/blog/57468936eff8f7.41878550.jpg" data-pin-nopin="true" alt="Mike Arnesen" align="right"><p><strong>10:35–11:20am<br><br />
29 Advanced Google Tag Manager Tips Every Marketer Should Know with Mike Arnesen</strong><br />
</p><p>Founder and CEO at <a href="http://www.upbuild.io" target="_blank">UpBuild</a><br><br />
<a href="http://twitter.com/@mike_arnesen" target="_blank">@mike_arnesen</a><br />
</p><p>Google Tag Manager is an incredibly powerful tool and one you're likely not using to its full potential. Mike will deliver 29 rapid-fire tips that'll empower you to overcome the tracking challenges of dynamic web apps, build user segments based on website interactions, scale the implementation of structured data, analyze the consumption of rich media, and much more.<br />
</p><p>Mike Arnesen has been driven by his passion for technical SEO, semantic search, website optimization, and company culture for over a decade. He is the Founder and CEO of UpBuild, a technical marketing agency focusing on SEO, analytics, and CRO.<br />
</p><hr><p><strong>11:20–11:40am<br><br />
AM Break</strong><br />
</p><hr><img src="http://d1avok0lzls2w.cloudfront.net/uploads/blog/5746894b15d309.36646625.jpg" data-pin-nopin="true" alt="Tara Reed" align="right"><p><strong>11:45am–12:15pm<br><br />
Engineering-As-Marketing for Non-Engineers with Tara Reed</strong><br />
</p><p>CEO at <a href="http://www.AppsWithoutCode.com" target="_blank">AppsWithoutCode.com</a><br><br />
<a href="http://twitter.com/@TaraReed_" target="_blank">@TaraReed_</a><br />
</p><p>Tara shares how to build useful tools like calculators, widgets, and micro-apps to acquire millions of new users, without writing a single line of code.<br />
</p><p>Tara Reed is a Detroit-based entrepreneur and founder of AppsWithoutCode.com. As a non-technical founder, she builds her own apps, widgets, and algorithms without writing a single line of code.<br />
</p><hr><p><strong>12:15–12:45pm<br><br />
TBD</strong><br />
</p><hr><p><strong>12:45–02:15pm<br><br />
Lunch</strong><br />
</p><hr><img src="http://d1avok0lzls2w.cloudfront.net/uploads/blog/574689ef63fe16.30917273.jpg" data-pin-nopin="true" alt="Cindy Krum" align="right"><p><strong>02:20–03:05pm<br><br />
Indexing on Fire: Google Firebase Native and Web App Indexing with Cindy Krum</strong><br />
</p><p>CEO and Founder at <a href="http://www.mobilemoxie.com/" target="_blank">MobileMoxie, LLC</a><br><br />
<a href="http://twitter.com/@suzzicks" target="_blank">@suzzicks</a><br />
</p><p>In the future, app and web content will be indistinguishable, and Google's new Firebase platform allows developers to use the same resources to build, market, and maintain apps on all devices, in one place. Cindy will outline how digital marketers can use Firebase to help drive indexing of native and web app content, including Deep Links, Dynamic Links, and Angular JS web apps.<br />
</p><p>Cindy Krum is the CEO and Founder of MobileMoxie, LLC, and author of Mobile Marketing: Finding Your Customers No Matter Where They Are. She brings fresh and creative ideas to her clients, and regularly speaks at US and international digital marketing events.<br />
</p><hr><img src="http://d1avok0lzls2w.cloudfront.net/uploads/blog/57468969eb0734.79013265.jpg" data-pin-nopin="true" alt="Sarah Weise" align="right"><p><strong>03:05–03:35pm<br><br />
Mind Games: Craft Killer Experiences with 7 Lessons from Cognitive Psychology with Sarah Weise</strong><br />
</p><p>UX Director at <a href="http://www.boozallen.com/" target="_blank">Booz Allen Digital Interactive</a><br><br />
<a href="http://twitter.com/@weisesarah" target="_blank">@weisesarah</a><br />
</p><p>Sarah Weise is UX Director at Booz Allen Digital Interactive. She has crafted experiences for hundreds of websites, apps, and products. Over the past decade, she has specialized in creative, lean ways to connect with customers and build experiences that matter.<br />
</p><hr><p><strong>03:35–03:55pm<br><br />
PM Break</strong><br />
</p><hr><img src="http://d1avok0lzls2w.cloudfront.net/uploads/blog/5746897d6391e1.94512044.jpg" data-pin-nopin="true" alt="Rand Fishkin" align="right"><p><strong>04:00–04:45pm<br><br />
Earning, Nudging, and (Indirectly) Buying the Links You Still Need to Rank with Rand Fishkin</strong><br />
</p><p>Wizard of Moz<br><br />
<a href="http://twitter.com/@randfish" target="_blank">@randfish</a><br />
</p><p>Links still move the needle - on rankings, traffic, reputation, and referrals. Yet, some SEOs have come to believe that if we "create great content," links will just appear (and rankings will follow). Rand will dispel this myth and focus on how to build the architecture for a link strategy, alongside some hot new tools and tactics for link acquisition in 2016.<br />
</p><p>Rand Fishkin is the founder and former CEO of Moz, co-author of a pair of books on SEO, and co-founder of Inbound.org. Rand's an un-save-able addict of all things content, search, and social on the web.<br />
</p><hr><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="https://moz.com/mozcon" class="button-primary large-cta" target="_blank">Buy your MozCon 2016 ticket!</a><br />
</p><h2>Don't worry, we've got your MozCon evenings covered!</h2><p>After a day of learning and possibly discovering a brand-new city, I know I sometimes struggle with what to do after the conference closes for the day. At MozCon, we work to bring you three evening events where you can chill, network, make new friends, and grab some food and drinks. (We will also have a post in late August or early September with a ton of great recommendations for things to do and food to eat in Seattle!)<br />
</p><h3>Monday's MozCrawl from 7–10pm</h3><p>The best part of our MozCrawl is being able to explore a neighborhood in Seattle. Bring your walking shoes (or load your favorite rideshare app), and get to know a little about the flavor of Seattle. While the locations are still TBD, Moz and our MozCon partners will each host a bar with light appetizers and drinks.<br />
</p><p><img src="http://d1avok0lzls2w.cloudfront.net/uploads/blog/57472da0928350.18612121.jpg" alt="MozCrawl"><br />
</p><p>To ensure you see as much of Seattle as possible, each bar will have a scavenger hunt element. Our sweet, bar-hosting partners:<br />
</p><ul><br />
<li><a href="https://buffer.com/" target="_blank">Buffer</a></li><br />
<li><a href="http://www.buzzstream.com/" target="_blank">BuzzStream</a></li><br />
<li><a href="https://www.similarweb.com/" target="_blank">SimilarWeb</a></li><br />
<li><a href="http://unbounce.com/" target="_blank">Unbounce</a></li><br />
<li><a href="http://www.whitespark.ca/" target="_blank">Whitespark</a></li><br />
<li><a href="http://www.wordstream.com/" target="_blank">Wordstream</a></li><br />
</ul><p>(We also have two other partners, <a href="https://getstat.com/" target="_blank">STAT</a> and <a href="https://wistia.com/" target="_blank">Wistia</a>, who will be keeping a low profile that night.)<br />
</p><h3>Tuesday's MozCon Ignite from 7–10pm</h3><p>In my completely biased opinion, this is my favorite MozCon evening event. For those who've never been to an Ignite-style talk, they are 5 minute talks with auto-advancing slides. Because we're learning all day at MozCon about online marketing, our Ignite talks are 100% <em>not</em> about marketing or business. They are passion projects, hobbies, and interests.<br />
</p><p><img src="http://d1avok0lzls2w.cloudfront.net/uploads/blog/57472db7b154f7.56058078.jpg" alt="MozCon Ignite"><br />
</p><p>Last year, our 16 talks ranged from a touching tale about helping a terminally ill child musician record an album, to how to love opera, to how to make frosting. You can sit back, relax, laugh, and cry. Plus, beforehand, there are networking opportunities to chat with your fellow attendees.<br />
</p><p>If this sounds like something you'd want to speak at, we'll be opening up pitches in early July. Our venue is currently TBD.<br />
</p><h3>Wednesday's MozCon Bash at the Garage from 7pm–12am</h3><p><img src="http://d1avok0lzls2w.cloudfront.net/uploads/blog/57472dd08d1e24.77233477.jpg" alt="MozCon Bash"><br />
</p><p>Make sure to book your flight home the day after MozCon so you can join us at our annual MozCon Bash to celebrate another great year of learning. Put on your bowling shoes and see if you can out-turkey your new friends! Or play a round of pool, or sing your heart out with some karaoke. Food and drinks, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, are on us. You'll take home even more memories and some photobooth mementos to look back on.<br />
</p><h2>Grab your ticket today - we've sold out for the last 5 years.</h2><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="https://moz.com/mozcon" class="button-primary large-cta" target="_blank">Buy your MozCon 2016 ticket!</a><br />
</p><p>If you have any questions about MozCon programming, please don't hesitate to ask in the comments.<br />
</p><br /><p><a href="https://moz.com/moztop10">Sign up for The Moz Top 10</a>, a semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips, and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of stuff you don't have time to hunt down but want to read!</p><div style="clear:both; padding-bottom:0.25em"></div>
</p>
</div>
<p class="post-footer">
<em>posted by Unknown @ <a href="http://webleadsuk.blogspot.com/2016/05/preview-mozcon-2016-agenda-and-other.html" title="permanent link">09:38</a></em>
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<h2 class="date-header">Thursday 26 May 2016</h2>
<!-- Begin .post -->
<div class="post"><a name="8573716435598738165"></a>
<h3 class="post-title">
The Landscape of Mobile Search is Changing – How Will You Adapt?
</h3>
<div class="post-body">
<p>
<div style="clear:both;"></div><p>Posted by <a href=\"https://moz.com/community/users/436438\">bridget.randolph</a></p><p class="text-light-gray">[Estimated read time: 9 minutes]<br />
</p> <p><em>Note: this post is based on a recent presentation I gave at <a href="https://learninbound.com/" target="_blank">LearnInbound</a> Dublin. You can find the slides </em><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/BridgetRandolph/the-changing-landscape-of-mobile-search-learninbound-dublin-april-2016" target="_blank"><em>here</em></a><em>.</em><br />
</p><p>Mobile search as a topic has changed a lot over the past few years. When I first started looking at this, back in 2012, there was already a lot of discussion happening around the topic of mobile. And back then, the big question everyone was asking was, “what should my mobile strategy be?”<br />
</p><p>Even then, things were shifting. At <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/BridgetRandolph/so-you-have-a-mobile-friendly-website-what-now" target="_blank">one of my early conference presentations</a> on the topic, I made the point that we should stop thinking about a “mobile strategy” as different from our web strategy, because mobile technology was becoming simply another way to access the Internet. This isn't surprising; after all, global purchases of smartphones are increasing at an exponential rate:<br />
</p><p><img src="http://d2v4zi8pl64nxt.cloudfront.net/the-changing-landscape-of-mobile-search/57435ef5201583.97780797.png"><br />
</p><p style="text-align: center;" rel="text-align: center;" class="caption"><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/global-smartphone-market-forecast-vendor-platform-growth-2015-6" target="_blank">Source</a><br />
</p><p>And because of this, the questions we're asking have changed.<br />
</p><ul><br />
<li>We used to ask <a href="http://searchengineland.com/when-responsive-web-design-is-bad-for-seo-149109" target="_blank">whether we needed a separate mobile site</a> (and it was around this time that <a href="http://searchengineland.com/google-finally-takes-a-clear-stance-on-mobile-seo-practices-123543" target="_blank">Google really began to encourage the use of responsive design</a>), whereas now “mobile-friendliness” often seems to be used interchangeably with “responsive.” (This is, of course, a whole other topic!) </li><br />
<li>We used to worry about treating mobile users differently because <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericsavitz/2012/11/28/mobile-marketing-how-to-generate-loyalty-on-the-go/2/#6b17f037f63e" target="_blank">we thought they were always “on the go,”</a> whereas now we realize that <a href="https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/research-studies/the-new-multi-screen-world-study.html" target="_blank">most people use mobile devices all the time</a>, and in fact most of the time these devices are used even when other options are available, such as at home or at work. And most recently, <a href="https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/collections/micromoments.html" target="_blank">Google have started speaking in terms of “micro-moments,”</a> the various use cases of search: Do-Go-Know-Buy, which apply equally to mobile users as to desktop. </li><br />
<li>And we used to talk a lot about apps, and about <a href="http://venturebeat.com/2013/07/29/native-v-web-chart/" target="_blank">whether to use an HTML web app vs a native app</a>, how hard it was for the average app to stand out from all the noise in the app store, and <a href="https://blog.kissmetrics.com/app-store-optimization/" target="_blank">about app store optimization</a> (ASO) harking back to the old days of SEO, with its emphasis on keywords for ranking. Now, we talk about the other ways in which people can use and discover our apps - such as app indexation and app streaming. </li><br />
</ul><p>This shift is hardly surprising, when you consider that, in 2015, <a href="http://media.ofcom.org.uk/news/2015/cmr-uk-2015/" target="_blank">52% of UK internet users have stated that mobile is their “preferred way to access the web”</a> - up from only 24% in 2013. This means the number of people who view mobile as their primary web device has doubled in just 2 years, and we have every reason to believe that this trend with continue.<br />
</p><p>It just makes sense, because (<a href="http://ben-evans.com/benedictevans/2015/5/14/mobile-first" target="_blank">as Benedict Evans recently wrote</a>), “it's actually the PC that has the limited, basic, cut-down version of the Internet...it only has the web.”<br />
</p><p>Whereas our mobile devices have so much more information to draw on (photos, geolocation, friends, physical movement) and greater interactivity: with the external world (through technology like beacons), with you when you're not using it (through notifications), and with your personal identity (because a phone is always signed-in and it is almost always an individual device rather than a shared one).<br />
</p><p>So what are the key ways in which we're seeing this shift in user behavior change our approach to SEO?<br />
</p><p>To answer that question, I'd like to focus on four key areas in which Google seems to be shifting its approach to mobile search, and some things we can do about it:<br />
</p><ul><br />
<li>Mobile-friendliness as a ranking factor</li><br />
<li>Site speed and page load times</li><br />
<li>Mobile-first design of SERPs</li><br />
<li>App integration with web search</li><br />
</ul><h2>Mobile-friendliness as a ranking factor</h2><p>In 2015, <a href="https://webmasters.googleblog.com/2015/02/finding-more-mobile-friendly-search.html" target="_blank">when Google first rolled out the Mobile-Friendliness Update</a> (or <a href="http://searchengineland.com/google-search-algorithm-adds-mobile-friendly-factors-app-indexing-ranking-215573" target="_blank">“Mobilegeddon” as it was nicknamed</a>), the impact was felt in two ways. More directly, by those sites which were impacted by the rollout - <a href="http://marketingland.com/mobilegeddon-hits-misses-130480" target="_blank">some sites lost up to 35% of their mobile rankings</a> within the 1st month after the rollout - and indirectly, by the move towards mobile-friendliness in the lead up to the update. <a href="http://searchengineland.com/google-says-there-are-4-7-more-mobile-friendly-web-sites-today-than-two-months-ago-219487" target="_blank">Google announced that they saw a 4.7% increase in the number of mobile-friendly sites</a> in the two months between announcing that the update was coming and when it actually rolled out.<br />
</p><p><a href="https://webmasters.googleblog.com/2016/03/continuing-to-make-web-more-mobile.html" target="_blank">A new version</a> of the update has <a href="https://twitter.com/JohnMu/status/730682483277234176" target="_blank">recently rolled out</a>, so we can expect to see further impact from this in the next few months.<br />
</p><h3>What should we do about it?</h3><p>The key action here is to ensure that your site passes the <a href="https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/" target="_blank">mobile-friendly test</a>, and to check Google Search Console reports for mobile-specific errors.<br />
</p><p><img src="http://d2v4zi8pl64nxt.cloudfront.net/the-changing-landscape-of-mobile-search/57435ef680b7e0.27545226.png"><br />
</p><h2>Site speed and page load times</h2><p>Hand in hand with the focus on mobile-friendliness, there is also a push towards <a href="https://googleblog.blogspot.com/2015/10/introducing-accelerated-mobile-pages.html" target="_blank">improving site speed and page load times</a>. This is particularly noticeable on editorial sites, where an ad-revenue business model leads to lots of different elements required to load a page, despite the actual content being fairly lightweight.<br />
</p><p>Google are not the only ones addressing this issue: <a href="https://instantarticles.fb.com/" target="_blank">Facebook Instant Articles</a> and <a href="https://developer.apple.com/news-publisher/" target="_blank">Apple Newsstand</a> both use in-app versions of content pages to speed up the loading process, and some publishers have also created their own native apps to help solve this.<br />
</p><p><img src="http://d2v4zi8pl64nxt.cloudfront.net/the-changing-landscape-of-mobile-search/57435ef8277dc6.94282653.png"><br />
</p><p>Google's solution to this is their <a href="https://www.ampproject.org/" target="_blank">Accelerated Mobile Pages Project</a> (AMP), which allows publishers and creators of editorial content to build versions of their pages with stripped-back, skeleton HTML, <a href="https://moz.com/blog/accelerated-mobile-pages-whiteboard-friday" target="_blank">following a set of rules which guarantee speed and force distribution</a> (an important thing to be aware of if you choose to utilize this approach).<br />
</p><p><img src="http://d2v4zi8pl64nxt.cloudfront.net/the-changing-landscape-of-mobile-search/57435ef9535881.86768759.png"><br />
</p><p>This set of rules allows the page to:<br><br />
</p><ol><br />
<li>load quickly (speed), and</li><br />
<li>be cached by Google and served directly in the SERP (distribution).</li><br />
</ol><p><img src="http://d2v4zi8pl64nxt.cloudfront.net/the-changing-landscape-of-mobile-search/57435efa7818a8.05180402.png"><br />
</p><p style="text-align: center;" rel="text-align: center;"><em>Example (L–R): primary URL, AMP version on primary website, and AMP version cached by Google.</em><br />
</p><h3>What should we do about it?</h3><p>The first step is to decide whether AMP is relevant for you.<br />
</p><p>You should use AMP if:<br />
</p><ul><br />
<li>Google News is an important traffic source for you;</li><br />
<li>You make a lot of content, particularly editorial content;</li><br />
<li>You want wider distribution of your content;</li><br />
<li>You have a high proportion of mobile traffic.</li><br />
</ul><p>If this is a good approach for you, you can learn more about how to implement it <a href="https://www.ampproject.org/docs/get_started/create_page.html" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
</p><h2>Mobile-first design of SERPs</h2><p>This third key area is around Google making desktop search look and feel more like mobile search.<br />
</p><p>There are two major ways that this has happened:<br />
</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">1. The card-style layout, which makes the distribution of content easier on a variety of different screen sizes and types:</p><p><img src="http://d2v4zi8pl64nxt.cloudfront.net/the-changing-landscape-of-mobile-search/57435efbaf5a90.99738109.png"><br />
</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">2. And the <a href="http://searchengineland.com/243057-243057" target="_blank">move to get rid of the sidebar ads on desktop search</a> in favor of more ads at the top of the page (on “highly commercial” searches):</p><p><img src="http://d2v4zi8pl64nxt.cloudfront.net/the-changing-landscape-of-mobile-search/57435efca67e36.48816965.png"><br />
</p><p style="text-align: center;" rel="text-align: center;" class="caption"><em>“Old” Google desktop SERP</em><br />
</p><p><img src="http://d2v4zi8pl64nxt.cloudfront.net/the-changing-landscape-of-mobile-search/57435f09859870.18281527.png"><br />
</p><p style="text-align: center;" rel="text-align: center;" class="caption"><em>“New” Google desktop SERP without sidebar ads</em><br />
</p><h3>What should we do about it?</h3><p>There's not a huge amount that can be done to address this trend head-on. However, it's important to ensure that, for these “highly commercial” SERPs, you are taking account of the changing SERP layout in your tracking and reporting.<br />
</p><p>In addition, you may want to shift some of your focus towards building out your top-of-funnel search strategy, to target less commercial keywords where you will have fewer paid ads to compete with.<br />
</p><h2>App integration with web search</h2><p>Google needs to find a way to integrate app content with the rest of the web, or they risk becoming irrelevant. The “walled garden” effect from having apps on your phone's home screen, coupled with recent stats which show that <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2015/06/22/consumers-spend-85-of-time-on-smartphones-in-apps-but-only-5-apps-see-heavy-use/" target="_blank">around 85% of users' time on their mobile devices is spent on apps</a> rather than on the mobile web, means that apps present a very real threat to Google continuing to act as an intermediary between users and content discovery.<br />
</p><p>The solution for Google is to <a href="https://firebase.google.com/docs/app-indexing/" target="_blank">start indexing and serving app content in the web search results</a>, and this is what they are trying to do with their work around app indexation and app streaming.<br />
</p><p>App indexation involves setting up your app so that the same http:// web link can be used to link to a page on your desktop site, its mobile version (responsive design or dynamic serving), and the equivalent content inside your app (deep linking). This allows Google to serve the most relevant version based on the context which they have around that particular user and how they prefer to use the web.<br />
</p><p><img src="http://d2v4zi8pl64nxt.cloudfront.net/the-changing-landscape-of-mobile-search/57435f0a7f4fd5.14356622.gif" alt="app indexation.gif"><br />
</p><p style="text-align: center;" rel="text-align: center;" class="caption"><em>Image credit: <a href="http://searchengineland.com/app-indexing-matters-future-search-216884" target="_blank">http://searchengineland.com/app-indexing-matters-f...</a></em><br />
</p><p>In the longer-term, they seem to be moving towards the option of <a href="https://search.googleblog.com/2015/11/new-ways-to-find-and-stream-app-content.html" target="_blank">“app streaming,”</a> which would allow a user to access app content without having the app installed on their device. The content would instead be served via Google search interface, again firmly positioning Google in the middle between the user and the content provider:<br />
</p><p><img src="http://d2v4zi8pl64nxt.cloudfront.net/the-changing-landscape-of-mobile-search/57435f0b8518f2.95317027.png" alt="wordsearch-google-app-stream-try-now.png"><br />
</p><p style="text-align: center;" rel="text-align: center;" class="caption"><em>Example of app streaming in SERP</em><br />
</p><h3>What should we do about it?</h3><p><strong><em>If you don't already have an app</em></strong>, this may not be relevant to you. However, it is worth considering whether you should create one. To determine whether or not you should have an app, you can ask the following questions:<br />
</p><p><em>Would my app…</em><br />
</p><ul><br />
<li><em>Add convenience?</em></li><br />
<li><em>Offer unique value?</em></li><br />
<li><em>Provide social value?</em></li><br />
<li><em>Offer incentives?</em></li><br />
<li><em>Entertain?</em></li><br />
</ul><p>If the answer is no to all of these, you probably don't need an app.<br />
</p><p><strong><em></em><em>If you do have an app</em></strong>, though, make sure that it supports http:// web links, and then head over to <a href="https://moz.com/blog/how-to-get-your-app-content-indexed-by-google" target="_blank">my post on app indexation</a> for a walkthrough on how to set this up.<br />
</p><h2>Where's this all heading?</h2><p>I believe that all of these trends are supporting a wider push by Google towards their goal of building the ultimate, intelligent personal assistant.<br />
</p><p><a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/sergey_brin_why_google_glass" target="_blank">Sergey Brin stated in 2013</a>: “My vision when we started Google 15 years ago was that eventually, you wouldn't have to have a search query at all.”</p><p>This may seem impossible, but when you consider the implicit signals which Google is now able to access through the enhanced features on a mobile device, it seems less farfetched. Already, they are able to access data around:<br />
</p><ul><br />
<li>Search history</li><br />
<li>Language</li><br />
<li>Social connections</li><br />
<li>Time of day</li><br />
<li>Browser </li><br />
<li>Device</li><br />
<li>Location</li><br />
</ul><p>And already, users are realizing that they can provide fewer contextual signals within their keyword search and the search engine will still know what they're asking. In addition, the technologies are becoming more finely tuned and gathering more data all the time:<br />
</p><ul><br />
<li>wearables that can monitor physical activity and health signals (like heart rate), </li><br />
<li>beacons which can pinpoint a location down to which side of the street you're standing on, and </li><br />
<li>phones which can tell whether you're walking, running, cycling or riding in a car. </li><br />
</ul><p>These are all signals which in the future could be used to determine the most relevant results to serve - potentially before you even ask.<br />
</p><p>When you combine all of these signals with the integration of the public index (what we currently think of as the Google search index), <a href="http://searchengineland.com/android-marshmallow-seo-series-googles-private-index-screen-crawling-234711" target="_blank">the private index</a> (your emails, photos, calendar, etc) and app content, Google could have the ability to know as much about your day to day activities as any human PA. This means a single interface for all types of searches, and eventually, an intelligent personal assistant which can anticipate your next question before you ask it.<br />
</p><p>So maybe, instead of focusing just on keywords, or even topics, the next question we should start asking is: “How can I be the <em>most useful </em>source from a personal assistant app's perspective?”<br />
</p><hr><p>If you're interested in learning more about these trends which are shaping the future of search, like implicit signals, the changing Google interface, intelligent personal assistants, beacons, wearables, and other new devices, and more, we've been writing and discussing our predictions over on the Distilled blog for <a href="https://www.distilled.net/searchscape/" target="_blank">our new #Searchscape project</a>.<br />
</p><hr><p>How have you seen the mobile search landscape shift over time? Do you agree that it's heading towards the development of intelligent personal assistants? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments!<br><br />
</p><br /><p><a href="https://moz.com/moztop10">Sign up for The Moz Top 10</a>, a semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips, and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of stuff you don't have time to hunt down but want to read!</p><div style="clear:both; padding-bottom:0.25em"></div>
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<em>posted by Unknown @ <a href="http://webleadsuk.blogspot.com/2016/05/the-landscape-of-mobile-search-is.html" title="permanent link">10:50</a></em>
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