35 replies to this topic

[gert]

can't see any major changes in my clients' rankings either

[Michael Martinez]

I monitor thousands of Websites. I see fluctuations every day. I'm really not the person to ask that sort of question.

[Daedalus]

I've been seeing the use of synonyms in titles now for a little while and now Google is talking about it:

http://googleblog.bl...d-language.html

[Michael Martinez]

Any improvements in synonym matching in Google's algorithm might be indirectly assisted by Caffeine but I believe technical improvements in the algorithm are due to updates OTHER than Caffeine.

However, I believe I AM seeing some effects of Caffeine in search results. It has been privately pointed out to me that sites which have been struggling with Google over the past few weeks (and which are not doing anything wrong) may benefit from adjusting their crawl rate in Google Webmaster Tools (you have to use the slider bar, if you have it available for your site).

Also, I am seeing new content hit the index much, much faster. Non-blog sites that used to take a few days to get new content indexed now get the content indexed within minutes. That would be characteristic of Caffeine.

Faster crawling/indexing should have an indirect impact on what you see in the search results, but ranking algorithm changes are NOT part of Caffeine.

Remember that Google introduces about 10 algorithmic changes per week. In any given week, Google's algorithmic changes may or may not alter the search results substantially for queries.

[Andy_Seo]

Hello,

I'm noticing some massive discrepancies between mobile search and 'classic' search here in the UK. Mr Cutts stated 'off the record' (sure) that Europe would be the next place targeted for Caffeine testing. I'm seeing a completely different set of results across multiple industries between mobile and classic, where they are usually constant.

If anyone is in the UK and has an opinion on this, would love to hear it. Also, if anyone fancies searching for 'TV Guide' (so a general term that usually impacts a small country like ours - yes I know there is local news, but in general) from your mobile - you may see an Australian website in number 4 (was position 25 yesterday). Compare that to 'classic' results (either through your phone/PC/MAC) and you will see a different set of results. Try it with your own terms aswell.

Anyhow something I noticed, hopefully we can get an interesting discussion going.

Cheers.

[Michael Martinez]

Matt Cutts has repeatedly said that you should not really see any significant change in search results due to Caffeine, as it has more to do with how the information is stored and processed than how Websites are ranked.

I would not attribute any SERPs changes to Caffeine. In fact, I ended up retracting my opinion from February, where I thought I was detecting Caffeine's influence through faster indexing.

Google has apparently been working on many fine tunements to the algorithms and there is absolutely NO WAY to detect when, where, or if Caffeine is at work.

Ignore anyone in the SEO industry who claims they are seeing Caffeine. They are NOT.

[Andy_Seo]

Hi Michael,

Yes I saw your post on that - things have settled down now. I compared the data to that of the originally tracked Caffeine data, which was extremely similar - thus why I posed the question. What Matt Cutts says and what actually happens can be two different things if history is anything to go by.

[Michael Martinez]

Hi Michael,

Yes I saw your post on that - things have settled down now. I compared the data to that of the originally tracked Caffeine data, which was extremely similar - thus why I posed the question. What Matt Cutts says and what actually happens can be two different things if history is anything to go by.

Matt doesn't know everything that goes on at Google.

But the SEO community is completely off its rocker with all these ridiculous attempts to treat Caffeine like an algorithmic update in the face of repeated statements that it is NOT an algorithmic update.

Like the Who said, "I won't get fooled again".

[ttw]

Are we to assume that Caffeine is fully rolled out now?

Rosemary

[ttw]

I attended a Caffeine webinar last week and I thought I'd pass along the key take-aways - according to my notes (not many notes for a 60-minute webinar).

Nothing terribly new here:


Site Content: ranking preference for fresh, keyword rich content.

URLs: content-rich URLs, the URL should be understandable to people. It was recommended to no use question marks or equal signs within your URL.

Content Silos: Google can now index pages deep in the architecture – it’s best to silo content around themes. (break your site out into silos)

Load Time of pages; The faster your pages, the better you will rank. GWMT gives you site performance details to check this.

Effects of REAL-TIME Search & SEO; Social Media will help you own the first page.

Less emphasis on :

Meta Description Content

Keyword Density not important - building themed pages about the keyword is far more important


I expect Jill's reading this saying "these things didn't matter before"....

Rosemary

[qwerty]

ranking preference for fresh, keyword rich content.

Fresh content in all cases, or just for "query deserves freshness" stuff?

[Jill]

I attended a Caffeine webinar last week

Unless it was presented by someone at Google, I wouldn't pay it much (if any) attention.

[Randy]

I'm even more cynical than Jill apparently.

Because I'd not pay it much if any attention even if a Google employee presented such data. I don't see much in it that is factual, based upon my experience with my sites.

Me being me, I'd have probably been groaning loudly enough during the presentation to get their attention and asked for specific examples that support each of their points. Even if they could come up with one or two I could offer a few dozen of my own examples that directly counter the advice being given.

[ttw]

Me being me, I'd have probably been groaning loudly enough during the presentation to get their attention and asked for specific examples that support each of their points. Even if they could come up with one or two I could offer a few dozen of my own examples that directly counter the advice being given.

Randy: I didn't list the stuff that I had trouble believing from the webinar :

--- you would really have had a conniption if I had

Rosemary

[Andy_Seo]

Matt doesn't know everything that goes on at Google.

But the SEO community is completely off its rocker with all these ridiculous attempts to treat Caffeine like an algorithmic update in the face of repeated statements that it is NOT an algorithmic update.

Like the Who said, "I won't get fooled again".

Sure I agree with you. But the point of a forum is to note/document/query/ a specific topic/event/subject, no? Not that you are directing your post at me - but I have not stated that I believe what we are seeing in the UK is Caffeine, nor am I even asking the question 'Do you think it is?', just simply reporting a discrepancy that I have noticed that is irregular. If I wanted to sit in front of my machine, refreshing every five seconds and falling into a hole of despair I would be posting over at WMW - however HR generally sees the bigger picture. Caffeine is coming - don't know when - but it is and i'm (as everyone on here is) very interested in the launch. Algorithm changes happen regularly, as you know, and infrastructure changes happen every couple of years, as you know - so I would only ever report something that is very different (which isn't always related to rankings - that is not what I am reporting).

I'm never one to panic/presume/second guess - but the reason of the post in here (and not to make a brand new thread to discuss this) was simply to see if anyone in the UK was experience this type of change.