SEO Blog – Page 4 – SEO Rochester NY | PPC & SEO Services

Ecosia: A Green Search Engine

Ecosia is an up and coming search engine with over 15 million active users. It was first launched in 2009.

Like DuckDuckGo, Ecosia touts itself at being a privacy-friendly search engine. Additionally, Ecosia is a green search engine in a very unique way.

Ecosia Searches are encrypted, not stored permanently, data is not sold to third-party advertisers, personal profiles based on search history are not created, and finally external tracking tools like Google Analytics are not used.

All of the above is just fine and dandy but it’s the unique business model that sets Ecosia apart from every other search engine.

Ecosia shows advertisements and is paid by partners every time a user is directed to an advertiser via a sponsored link. This also suggests that there may be affiliate marketing potential in Ecosia. Perhaps something similiar to Google Adsense will be Ecosia’s next big development.

Ecosia uses 80% of its profits to support tree planting projects. How many trees get planted in real time from using Ecosia are displayed on Ecosia’s homepage.

SEO For Ecosia

So how would one go about ranking a web page in Ecosia? According to the it’s website, “Ecosia’s search results and search ads are powered by Microsoft Bing.” and further “enhanced with Ecosia’s own algorithms.”

As far as what these proprietary algorithms are that Ecosia, the signals are a mystery.

A Search Engine With A Good Cause

Planting trees is a good activity for the Earth and it is what motivates Ecosia to continue to grow as a search engine.

At only 15 million plus in user volume Ecosia has a ways to go before it can stand along side some of it’s larger peers in search market share and maybe, in time, even take on the big G.

YouTube Algorithm Answers: 4 YouTube SEO Questions Answered

YouTube’s Algorithm’s Answer’s video, Search & Discovery, offers help to SEOs who struggle with YouTube’s vague search engine signals. Getting a video to appear at the top of a YouTube search is the goal of many SEOs hired to do video marketing using the platform but the transparency that is shown with Google Search has not really been as strong with YouTube until now.

Timestamps for questions:

0:09 Question 1: “Is it better to spread out videos evenly over time or is all the same for the system, if some are every other day, and some have 1-3 weeks in between when made public?” – @DAILY FUN TV

1:14 Question 2: “My channel is monetised however I don’t turn on monetisation for every other video of mine. Is it true that monetised videos have more likelihood of being recommended than non-monetised videos?” – @The Roaming Jhola

2:52 Question 3 : “It seems when I post a video about a certain keyword, it will do great. On the other hand, if I target a new keyword, the video’s performance is mediocre at best. So the question is when researching which keywords to use in our next video, what is a good way to gauge the likelihood it might work out? It seems like the algorithm only likes it when I post videos about certain phrases and if I branch away from that it’s almost guaranteed to be a dud.” @Michael Bordenaro

4:58 Question 4: “Can I take a break?” – Creator Insider (YT Channel)

Video marketing is continuing to increase in demand as more web visitors are looking for video content for both entertainment and solutions to everyday problems.

Why You Need To Invest In SEO For Your Business In 2021

A week into 2021 and what a week it has been! Google’s massive core update (released last month) appears to have settled search results for now, Congress was stormed, and SEO is still the best investment any company can make…

Organic traffic continues to grow and convert higher than any other lead generation system. The percentage of traffic from organic search has been growing since BrightEdge, the search analytics company, began a study aimed at organic traffic growth in 2014. BrightEdge continues researching organic traffic to this day.

2014 saw organic search deliver 51% of site traffic, a number that grew to 53% in 2019.

Further into BrightEdge’s report shows that Social media traffic referrals have been flat since 2014 according to the company. Media and entertainment was the one category where it drove 8%. This speaks to the long running popular stance that social media is much better for products revolving around entertainment rather than utility. BrightEdge asserts that social media delivers less than 1% of revenue on average.

For further proof, check out Hubspot’s 2020 Organic Search Marketing Report Quick SEO Stats to see how well SEO performed.

Does your company require SEO services?

GMB Not Required For Website To Show In Search Results

Thanks to John Mueller of Google for clearing up some confusion about GMB listings. Early today John replied in a tweet when asked by an SEO if GMB (Google My Business) is required for a website to search results to show:

“No, it’s not a requirement.”

Of course, there are plenty of websites in Google that don’t have a GMB page but that should not deter any business owner who is serious about maximum online exposure from having a GMB page.

SEM expert Barry Schwartz of Search Engine Roundtable, a leading SEM news site, further expanded on the value of GMB pages:

“The two are really separate and are not dependent on each other. Although, if you are a business, it is highly recommended that you have a Google My Business listing so customers can find you in the local results.”

So, there is the final verdict on GMB pages. Not required but recommended for maximum local web traffic exposure.

All In One SEO WordPress Plugin Backlash

WordPress users have to make the decision to use automatic updates for plugins. At least, for any respectable plugin that has some name brand recognition which is why All in One SEO’s latest non-consent auto-update feature is drawing heavy criticism.

It started yesterday when discussions first started popping up initiated by one WordPress user who noticed that the All in One SEO plugin turned on automatic updates without notifications. An upset user of the plugin voiced his anger in a WordPress support post

Just to be clear, this is nothing new when it comes to WordPress plugins but, again, it is usually not expected from the more well established plugins that have been used for years. Still, it is generally frowned upon for a plugin to iniate auto-updates without notifying the WordPress plugin user.

The reason is that an update can cause problems like broken page layouts or even keep a site from loading all together if the latest plugin update happens to conflict with another plugin’s code (a common problem with using many plugins simultaneously).

Are WordPress SEO Plugins Even Useful?

The short answer is “yes” because these SEO plugins provide the only access to meta-description fields when dealing with WordPress CMS right out of the box. Custom built WordPress websites can be made to have easy access to meta tags but many CMS sites use templates so the plugins would still be required.

However, if you are expecting one of these SEO plugins to rank your site by putting you on the first page for your desired keywords then you will be sadly disappointed. You will still need real SEO skills and knowledge to accomplish that.

Yoast, a plugin similar to All in One SEO, offers a type of “grading system” based on colors (green, yellow, orange, and red). It is somewhat useful if you are bad with content but it is still a 3rd party metric so simply following it constantly could be a giant waste of time as well. Yoast’s color grading system should be used as a guide (red needs content/keywords etc.) but it is not what Google uses to determine ranking. Keep that in mind.

Atari Breakout Broken (Google Search Easter Egg)

Looks like the cool Google retro game Easter egg is not functioning. The only information on why this is happening is from a reddit post. According to the post, the reason for the malfunction is because too many duplicates of the same image have been uploaded to Google.

For those not familiar with the Easter egg the way it function was the following:

First, do a search for anything in Google Images.

Next, after the image search results loaded, type “atari breakout” and search again.

If you performed the above steps correctly the images in image search results would transform into Atari Breakout blocks that you have to break with a ball and paddle (above image).

I hope Google fixes this as Atari Breakout is one of the better Easter eggs that Google created in search that veteran SEOs play when they need a break.

For those that still want to play: click this link.

Website Update

If you are a returning visitor of this site you might have noticed some big changes this past week. You might have been part of the change since some of them have been based on feedback from clients and non-clients alike in hopes of making the website better.

Here is a list of the following changes:

⦁ Homepage Update

The most common questions received about how SEO can help a business are now on the homepage to save visitors time.

⦁ Added SEO Services page

The SEO Services page helps with those who need more clarity in the work performed with SEO in general. There is a lot about SEO written online and “information overkill” is the result making the type of work performed in SEO even more confusing. Hopefully, this page helps clear up any confusion about SEO, the work involved, and how it can help your business.

⦁ Regular Blog Updates

The SEO Blog a useful way to get the latest SEO happenings on the site fast as well as educate visitors about SEO. This is also a way to help our clients (SEO blog readers) stay on top of any notable changes in SEO fundamentals that could affect SEO and as a way to increase the website’s own exposure in search.

Structured Data Is The Multiplier For SEO Winnings

No, SD (structured data) won’t have a direct impact on a website’s rankings like SEO does. According to John Mueller of Google: “All the information Google uses to organize content in search results is taken from visible webpage content.”

So why is SD such a big deal?

Because once an SEO “win” is achieved (an increase in search engine position) SD can serve as the “slot machine multiplier” by adding more search estate.

After all, what is better than a single link that promotes a company’s website? 2 links.

Why only have a listing for a website in Google when it’s possible to have a listing and a knowledge panel showing simultaneously, which doubles or potentially triples search engine visibility.

Although SD is not required to perform SEO, it is highly recommended by most SEO professionals including the one who wrote this blog post.

(Keep in mind, this is an opinion piece so if the technical side of SEO is not for you it should be reassuring to know that Google draws most information from the visible content directly off what’s visible on the webpage.)

Structured Data Enhances Search Visibility

Back in 2019 Google’s Gary Illyes basically let us know that CTR (click through rate) does NOT affect search ranings so SEOs should not be looking to raise their CTR in an attempt to raise their rank because CTR is not a search engine ranking signal. However, more search engine visibility equates to a higher chance of a click through.

Increasing search visibility can be done with SD. With more links showing up to be clicked the chances of a click through go up.

For commercial purpose websites (ecommerce, etc.) search visibility can eventually lead to more business revenue.

Rich Results Structured Data

Basically, SD can create more clickable search estate in Google. Rich results such as site links (those small blue hyper-links under website listings in Google search results) are proof of this. Site links break your site down into important sections that users would find useful. These users may click a site link that they otherwise would have never seen without SD implementation.

Of Course, the content of the link is important. If the content per link is not captivating it will probably not get clicked.

Remember: SD can increase visibility in search but without proper content creation it won’t matter and the CTR will be the same.

Quotes From John Mueller of Google On SD:

“There is probably no benefit at all and probably also no harm there. In general we recommend using structured data for the elements you want to have visible in the search results. And the ones we have visible are based on the properties that we have documented.”

“All the information Google uses to organize content in search results is taken from visible webpage content.” (Structured Data is not used for ranking)

If the search engine is Google then developers.google.com should be the documentation referred to for structured data format.

In 2021 SD offers a lot in terms of search visibility enhancement. It’s the opinion of many SEOs that SD should be almost looked at as “required knowledge” for SEO moving into 2021.

For anyone serious about professional SEO work in 2021, adding a wide breadth of SD knowledge to anyone’s “SEO lexicon” is not only beneficial, but, it may actually result in leaving business revenue on the table if not utilized.

SEO Games

screenshot from the SEO RPG game “The Search”

There is a lot of talent out there among SEO professionals.

Here are 3 games created by SEO experts that can actually help strengthen one’s SEO knowledge base. The majority of them cover everything from basic SEO all the way to advanced structured data formats.

SEMrush Games

SEMrush created several SEO mini-quiz games based around various themes. A lot of popular movie and game references make these quizzes extra fun (Keyword Kombat, Nightmare on SEO Street, etc.)

Don’t be fooled by the cartoon look of these games. There are plenty of high level technical questions and trick questions on blackhat tactics.

SEO RPG Game: The Search

Alexis Sanders really outdid herself with this SEO RPG game (built on RPG maker). A literal RPG adventure where the player’s SEO knowledge is the only thing that can advance them through certain puzzles and obstacles in the game.

There are an amazing amount of SEO reference seemingly blended into the game making it both fun and educational.

If you like RPG games and SEO there is literally no reason for you to not try this game.

Hidden Keywords

Just a warning: This game is hard to finish.

A cool, technical SEO puzzle game from Propellernet. Follow the clues and guess what the keywords are. Again, this is not like the previous games mentioned. It’s quite challenging and players will most likely get stuck along the way.

Looking for something on the fun side that can also help boost your SEO knowledge? These SEO games may do the trick.

Revamped, Upgraded Microsoft Bing Webmaster Tool Suite Ready For 2021

Microsoft Bing is turning up the heat with a rather impressive revamped suite of Webmaster Tools it rolled out in 2020.

That was just the beginning, it seems…

Last month, Microsoft announced the integration of Microsoft Clarity into Bing Webmaster Tools. Clarity is a behavioral analysis tool that helps webmasters understand user experience using heat maps and session recordings.

Since the revamp over the Summer last year, Bing has slowly been tweaking it’s suite to make it easier than ever for SEOs to rank in Bing.

Although Bing has less than 7% of the search market share in the United States (6.45% to be exact {source}), The keyword “min-maxer” who is gunning hard for that one specific keyword (and all the search volume that comes with it) is generally targeting , not just Google, but, every search engine as well.

Now, in 2021 it will be exciting to see what Bing has in store for SEOs everywhere.