I'm Sohel Parvez, a Seasoned Freelancer Focusing on Local Search Marketing and WordPress Optimization. I Enjoy Working with Local Businesses and Help Grow Their Online Presence. I Increase the Local Business Visibility in Search Engines and Establish Brand Awareness.
There has been a lot of chalk talk about last week’s mysterious Google update, but up until now we haven’t been able to bring forth anything more than the obvious: major shifts were cropping up in rankings. We decided to roll up our sleeves and get any insight we could from the data we have; after a good amount of data-slicing, we’re back with some answers.
More precisely, 35% of all 583,140 URLs tracked changed their ranking by more than 10 positions. There’s no doubt that this is huge. “Colossal”, as Dr Pete so eloquently put it.
Changes were major in all three countries we’re tracking:
Nevertheless, there is a lot of uncertainty regarding the cause of all that shifting. A couple of very good theories were expressed over the past week. Dr Pete dove into their data and found that there is a strong connection between the update and HTTPS. He was also first to form the hypothesis that it may all be a consequence of the giant Wikipedia’s migration to HTTPS.
More insights came from Searchmetrics’ quick analysis of their data, which pointed out that “this update seems to be primarily concerned with trending keywords as well as temporary search intentions related to informational (shorthead) keywords.” According to their data, media websites were most favored by the update.
The research we carried out is based on the data we’re tracking with the Google Algorithm Changes tool, and relies on SERP data for approximately 10k keywords and 580k URLs, across various industries.
Here’s what we found:
Wikipedia only accounts for 0.34% of changed URLs
On June the 17th, 92.54% of all the URLs we’re tracking changed their rankings. One third of all these URLs got shifted by more than 10 positions.
Although Wikipedia is at the top of the list of domains who changed their rankings, their URLs account for only 0.34% of changes in our data set. That means that at least for this set of data, the giant website is not responsible for the entire movement in SERPs. While it may have caused other URLs to shift as well, it would be nevertheless very unlikely that 0.34% of changes have shaken the entire SERPs by themselves.
As Wikipedia continues its transition to HTTPS, we’re keeping an eye on the SERPs hoping to observe any changes that may result from this development. For the moment, the past few post-update days were extremely quiet in all three countries we’re tracking.
Nothing unusual among the most affected domains
By looking at the list of most affected domains for this update we were not able to spot any unusual patterns, or to find additional clues to support Searchmetrics’ hypothesis. While Wikipedia leads the changes list in our data set, sites like Amazon.com or Yelp.com have amassed more than three times the amount of changes felt by news publications such as nytimes.com or huffingtonpost.com.
Most HTTPS URLs have changed their position
Here comes the most interesting part. Most of the HTTPS URLs we’re tracking have changed their position in search; not only that, but 68.13% of these shifted with more than 10 positions!
Tweet this: 2 out of 3 HTTPS URLs changed their rankings with at least 10 positions
For comparison, here is the ranking behavior we saw for the non-secure HTTP URLs:
With that many changes and hundreds of HTTPS URLs dropping out of top 50 results, the hypothesis of a Google update focused on HTTPS becomes extremely plausible, regardless of Google’s contradicting statements.
We’ll keep you posted as soon as we have something new to share on this.
Best Online SEO Tools for Links, Keywords and Rank Tracking
We’re always on the lookout for great tools and with a $5 billion industry, SEO is one market that has a ton of tools to help you. Whether you’re researching you or your competitors’ backlinks, trying to identify keywords and cocurrence terms, or simply trying to monitor how your site is ranking, here are the most popular SEO tools and platforms on the market.
Some key features of search engine optimization platforms
Monitoring Keyword Rankings – the ability to enter keywords and then monitor their ranking over time is a core feature of most of the platforms. Given that search results are mostly personalized, this ability is largely used for overall trending analysis to see whether the efforts you’re making are improving your ranking on keywords or not.
Local Keyword Rank Monitoring – since the location of the search user and your business can play a huge role, many of the keyword monitoring platforms provide a means to track your ranking by geographic location.
Keyword Discovery – while many of the monitoring platforms provide you with accurate rankings, they don’t allow you to discover what keywords you might be ranking on that you’re unaware of.
Backlinks Analysis – if your site is linked to on sites with poor search engine authority, you can have a terrible time ranking. Being able to analyze the volume and quality of the links that are pointing to your domains is imperative for advanced troubleshooting of ranking issues and competitive analysis.
Keyword Research – understanding keyword related to the products and services you provide is critical to your content marketing efforts. Keyword research tools often offer co-occurrence keywords, question-related keyword combinations, long-tail keyword combinations and the competitiveness of the keyword (so you don’t waste your time trying to rank on terms you don’t stand a chance gaining traction on.
Scraping & Internal Analysis – Tools that analyze your site hierarchy, page construction, page speed, and other associated issues are fantastic for correcting issues that might be less obvious but that could be causing you a great deal of problems when ranking.
Social Influence – It’s only natural that the attention you attract across social media is a great indicator of the authority you’ve built with search engines. Newer SEO platforms are providing insight into the correlation between search and social and it’s paying off!
Data Mining – Strangely missing from many of these platforms is the ability to tag, categorize, aggregate, data mine and develop reports across very large sets of keywords. For that reason, DK New Media built it’s own SEO platform for large publishers. Let us know if you’re interested!
Ahrefs Site Explorer – The largest and the freshest index of live links. Index is updated every 15 min.
AuthorityLabs – Track website rankings in Google, Yahoo!, and Bing daily. Our automated SERP tracking saves you time and helps you respond quickly to ranking changes.
Bing Webmaster Tools – improve your site’s performance in search. Get access to free reports, tools and resources.
BrightEdge SEO is the first SEO platform to deliver proven ROI – enabling marketers to increase revenue from organic search in a measurable and predictable way.
Cognitive SEO Unique SEO features that will boost your link analysis and link building results.
Colibri gives you insight into how to get more traffic and customers from SEO.
Conductor Searchlight is the most widely used SEO platform – empowering enterprise marketers to take control of their search performance.
Cuutio Inbound Marketing Platform – Know your exact positions and competitive situation on Google, keep track of the results of
search engine optimization and analyze the overall performance of your important keywords
Ginzametrics makes enterprise SEO simple and is the only platform to help marketers effectively monetize traffic from organic search.
Google Webmaster Tools – provides you with detailed reports about your pages’ visibility on Google.
gShift’s SEO software system centralizes your clients’ SEO data (rank, backlinks, social signals, competitive intelligence, Google Analytics and keyword research) and provides automated, scheduled, white-labeled SEO reports leaving more time for your services team to implement the SEO tasks that will improve your clients’ web presence.
Majestic SEO – Link intelligence tools for SEO and Internet PR and Marketing. Site Explorer shows inbound link and site summary data.
Meta Forensics – Meta Forensics is a website architecture, internal link analysis and SEO tool that helps identify unseen website problems that may be affecting your visitors, search engine crawlers and ultimately, hampering your site.
Monitor Backlinks – Keep all of your link data under one roof with our management tools.
mySEOTool – SEO Software Used by Thousands of Web Designers, SEO Consultants & Agencies to manage their SEO clients.
Ontolo – Our Link Building Toolset has become one of the most-often recommended internet marketing and link building tools by the top SEO and link building experts for it’s automation and link prospecting abilities.
Posirank – Our wholesale platform not only centralizes every imaginable SEO service into a single dashboard – it also supports total automation.
Positionly is powerful, user-friendly tools that make improving your website an enjoyable experience. Monitor daily changes, measure SEO performance, and improve search engine rankings with simplicity.
Pro Rank Tracker – Get the most up to date, easy to analyse ranking information on all your websites, so you can stay one step ahead of the competition and maximize your profits.
RankAbove’s Drive SEO Platform and business intelligence software enables you to dig deeper into SEO information already at your fingertips.
Rankinity – Check your website positions and analyze your competitors in popular search engines in real-time.
RankSonic – Track daily changes in your rankings, get advanced site analytics, spy on your competitors and improve your search engine rankings.
RankRanger – daily reports and insight into your website traffic and marketing achievements.
RankScanner – Monitor your keywords’ positions on Google with a free account.
RankWatch – Rank analysis, backlink watch, keyword suggestions, white labeling, reporting and website analyzer.
Raven has 30+ tools to help you get results in all of these online marketing tasks.
Rio SEO is the best SEO platform to deliver global search success across Organic, Local Search, Mobile and Social Media for Top Brands & Agencies.
SE Ranking – a universal search engine monitoring system offering both hosted and self-hosted solutions.
SE-Intel is the world’s first SEO platform specifically designed with internet marketers in Asia in mind, complete with a full set of features that meet the needs of the vastly different search environment in Asia.
Searchmetrics – Our search and social analytics software Searchmetrics Suite with data-based analysis and intelligent solutions enables marketers and SEOs to monitor and optimize national or international SEO actions and thus increase market share, revenue and profits.
The Search Monitor – Unlimited reporting on all competitors and affiliates listed within universal search results on your keywords.
SEMrush is created by SEO/SEM professionals for SEO/SEM professionals. We have the knowledge, expertise, and data to help you take your projects to the next level. We collect massive amounts of SERP data for more than 95 million keywords and 45 million domains.
SEO Rank Monitor – Boost your rankings, Track your competitors, and monitor SEO performance with the most comprehensive rank tracking in the industry.
SEO Scheduler – Affordable small business SEO software for budget conscious website owners.
seoClarity is the first and only Enterprise SEO Platform that provides you complete visibility into ALL of your SEO efforts
SERPS.com – Improve your SEO results. See how your SEO is working with this beautiful dashboard. No code to install. Fast 5-minute setup. Keyword rankings updated daily.
SERP Scan – tracks your website’s search engine position for the keywords that matter to you.
SERPWoo – Monitor ALL Top 20+ Results For Your Keywords and get alerts when competitors increase their backlinks, social signals, rankings, and more.
sg.SerpStat Keyword Suggestion Tool — popular keywords and their various forms used by people who are looking for interesting products, services or information.
Simple Rank – Discover where your keywords are positioned on Google and Bing. We make it easy to check your Search Engine Rank Position in a glance and see whats improving and what needs work.
SpyFu exposes the search marketing secret formula of your most successful competitors. Search for any domain and see every place they’ve shown up on Google: every keyword they’ve bought on Adwords, every organic rank, and every ad variation in the last 6 years.
SyCara’s SEO Platform provides users with industry-leading workflow management, local search rankings, social media reporting, and SEO analysis.
UpCity – Let UpCity help your small business get free traffic from search engines, social media and local directories.
WebMeUp SEO tools combine the convenience of online SEO software with the data-richness only desktop apps could provide.
WooRank is a dynamic grade on a 100-point scale that represents your internet marketing effectiveness at a given time. (The average score is 50.) The WooRank is based on a website review of 70 factors ranging from keywords to usability and social monitoring. Far more than a number, the WooRank review provides you with valuable insights and tips to help you take the online world by storm.
Wordtracker offers Keyword Research tools for SEO and PPC, Rank Tracking and Site Analysis tools.
Note: We don't have affiliate accounts with any of these platforms.
As we already know, oDesk and Elance started out as separate platforms; They announced their merger in December 2013.
Yesterday
A new chapter starts for oDesk-Elance, a platform where 4
million businesses connect with 10 million knowledge worker freelancers
to fill contract jobs. More than a year after the two competitors merged
to form one freelancer powerhouse, and five months after raising $30 million, it is finally re-branding under a new name, UpWork.
As of today, oDesk will disappear and
redirect to UpWork, which charges clients the same percentage for paying
freelancers are oDesk did. Elance, which charges clients a
slightly lower percentage, will continue to operate. “At least for now
we are letting people who want to be on Elance stay on Elance,” Kasriel
said. Starting now, UpWork will be the main platform, and new users will
have to sign up there. Ultimately, the company aims to have a
single platform, UpWork, but that change will not be immediate.
Stephane Kasriel Upwork’s new CEO said “We have completed the second chapter of online work,” he says,
referring to the establishment of online workplaces like Upwork and
other competitors like Freelancer.com, which emerged in the wake of
permanent job searches migrating from print to the web. “Now we want to
enter the third.”
One key element that will speed the process, says Stephane Kasriel, is the UpWork
Message Center, a new chat tool the company has introduced. It can be
used by companies that want to chat with a freelancer who is available
for immediate work or by clients who want to communicate with teams of
freelancers. The UpWork Message Center will be available to anyone who
wants to use it, regardless of whether they are signed up for the
platform, added Kasriel.
When you want to shop for cloud storage services then you must go for
the best. There are many online backup providers hence you should take
your time to make comparisons before making the choice. Remember that
the automatic backup provider will be handling your valuable information
thus you should not compromise at all. But even before you start
comparing the various business backup providers, you must know what you
need. This will make the shopping process easier because you will be
looking for a provider who will satisfy your needs in the best way
possible. Therefore the shopping process is not a one-minute thing but
it is a process which has to be undertaken cautiously.
First, know your needs and what you are looking for. This will narrow
down your shopping procedure and assist you to go for what you need.
Remember that the search for a cloud storage provider may take you very
long period of time due to the many providers available in the market.
But this can be reduced if you fully understand what you are looking
for, based on your storage needs. Some of the things you should know
are: the type of data you have, the app features you need, and the size
of storage space you want.
Second, scrutinize the security features of the file backup provider.
The provider should have security measures that will eliminate any
possible threat of information hacking. For example, the data owner must
open an account by setting a username and password; the data owner has
to submit identity of people authorized to access the data; and data
encryption has to be done. Such measures will assure safety and security
of your data and maintain the highest level of confidentiality. More
so, private information has to remain private and be accessed only by
authorized individuals
Third, check the ease of use of the recovery services. The whole system
has to be effective and easy to use so that you can access, work on and
share your files at any time. The cloud storage
provider should be flexible be able to allow changes on your data
storage needs. For example, if your storage needs are likely to increase
in the near future then the cloud storage provider should be in a
position to accommodate the changes, e.g. by adding more users to your
account or increase your storage database
Fourth, look at the kind of customer care that the provider offers.
Sometimes you will require making enquiries from the provider about its
servicers and if the customer support is poor then your efforts will be
useless. The cloud storage provider should be offering 24/7 customer support and the resolution time has to be very short.
Lastly, it is the pricing structure of the cloud backup service providers. The pricing structure varies largely from one service
provider to another thus you should take time to make comparisons before
choosing. Select a cloud storage provider that charges for the space
you use only and which offers very competitive charges.
You're now eligible for a unique Google+ custom URL that lets you easily point folks to your profile (no more long URLs!). Here's what we've reserved for you: