Should Google "Caffeine" be Giving You Jitters?
Should Google's new "Caffeine" technology be keeping YOU up at night?
Hey Stompers,
As you may have heard, Google recently announced testing of a new, more powerful version of their search engine technology.
It's code-named "Caffeine" and you can read about from Google's own Dev Blog here.
Now, as business people who rely on SEO, any time Google gives us some insights into what they have planned for the future, we need to pay attention.
So what can we learn from what Google is telling us about the future of search? Here's a quote I think is particularly telling:
"It's the first step in a process that will let us push the envelope on size, indexing speed, accuracy, comprehensiveness and other dimensions."
I think that one sentence tells us all we need to know about where we need to be moving, and here's how:
1. Size and Indexing Speed: This tells us that Google is going to be crawling more pages and indexing them FASTER. This continues Google's focus on fresh content – so many new pages are created every day, they can't keep up.
2. Accuracy: This indicates that the sites that will continue to "win" the search game are going to be the ones that can correctly match up the searcher's keywords with the content they were actually looking for. Google indicates that they're interested not only in what sites people click on, but what the searcher's behavior is once they arrive.
With that in mind, success will come from testing and adjusting your pages to better serve your visitors. It will no longer be enough to focus on the keywords alone, but on actually making your content relevant to what those searchers want.
One way to do this is through careful organization of your site structure, organizing information in ways that people will find useful, not just search spiders.
3. Comprehensiveness: To me, this indicates that Google will continue to heap love upon "authority" sites – ones that do a really good job of completely covering their selected niche.
In Google's never-ending quest for relevance, Google wants to see sites that can indicate a thorough and comprehensive resource for what people are searching for. This is why it's important to continue to build pages that rank for ALL your relevant keywords.
It's not just about the individual SERPS, but the "profile" that a comprehensive site creates. I can imagine that this focus could be partly to combat "SERP Spamming" tactics where results are flooded with multiple, largely identical copies of the same information spread across multiple Web 2.0 sites.
More and more, it's going to be important to create sites with larger and larger collections of content in order to really dominate the listings.
Once again, Google shows that they prefer larger, older sites that are packed with useful information.
So even though there's been a lot of buzz around this announcement and lots of speculation, I don't think you need to change too much if you're already doing your SEO the StomperNet way. What's working in Google now for us appears to be exactly what they want to encourage. In fact, they want MORE of it, FASTER.
So get started today, so by the time Caffeine comes out of BETA, you'll be so far ahead of your competition they may never be able to catch up.
Here's Hoping, and Keep Stomping!
Brad Fallon
CEO
StomperNet.com
I don"t believe so…
Hello, I agree 100%, thanks for your review. Not sure if you're aware of this, for some reasons I can't seem to get your blog to look good on Opera (I'm using a Mac). Some parts of your header look a bit weird, just so you know.
Well, the way I see it, Google Caffeine is not hurting my sites. Some articles are even ranking better. I think that the major changes are for faster indexing.
Such a great blog post. Thank you very much for sharing this blog post…
Onetime over again the boys at StomperNet are fronting proscribed for uraniums. They are practised to ingest you laughs at on-duty our side.
That marvelous filter has recently banned my site for the double content!!!!
Damned one!
I don't think there are to many changes with Caffeine so life goes on.!!!
I definitely don't like this Google "Caffeine", I think they are just trying to do all they can to ban sites which uses different SEO tactics in order to place their links.
it is nice for you to share this
that sound good,interesting goods.
thanks for sharing
good article ,i like it.
this is a really good article.
I think that any website that gives the most importance to the user experience will never loose and will get a good ranking, even if Google changes its algorithm.
From the article up to the comments, I guess 80% of the effort should be dedicated towards writing good content, and the rest for SEO.
Can't wait to see the effects of "Caffeine"
Thanks For posting,Very Nice Keep up date a more article.
Google Caffeine, Can get Addicted? lol but it's interesting. thx for sharing
you have been inspiring to me with the post and all!
I don't think there are to many changes with Caffeine so life goes on.
Not a fan, it's hurt my sites indexings thus far.
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This means people who are creating websites with new skills/information/knowledge etc are stuck with using keywords that people are most familiar using and then trying to compete with those sites that actually are giving standardized information.
Its great to see google trying to improve their search results, just hope it won't affect my site too much…
This post was Twitted by StephStavrakis
Nice google caffiene. Seems lot of Google fan boys are so eager with the big G's tools and features. How about abolishing the big G's sandbox?
Thanks for the enlightenment. There are a lot of confusing articles on the net about caffeine but your post is one of the more well written ones.
It should be giving out jitters as the ranking algo is changing-probably for the good-but certain things are going to have different impacts in the SERP's, all i can say is that SEO's better be ready to respond to any significant changes in ranking to figure out where the shortcomings or winning strategy is.
This is really a wonderful post. The content in this article is super. Google is and always top now the new Caffeine will surely improves the speed and other parameters. thanks for information about caffeine.
Another great move from google to encourage the webmasters to give more concern about content. I agree with you, an early start is the best way to deal with this issue.
Its very interesting, thanks for post. i'll consider it….
I definitely see many positive moments in caffeine algorithm. But there are some negative things as well – old SEO strategies doesn't seem to work as effective as they used to. Who will understand the new rules – will be the king of the ring)))))
Hmm, interesting post, and it is kinda giving me the jitters, however…
How is google going to know when did your visitor leave and what did he do on the site… only way for them to know is if the owner has installed google analytics on their website in the current google mode… other than that i could only think of google running in some invisible frame and then redirecting but this would damage their reputation a lot…
Anyways it was a nice article and there is a demo of the technology and i hope that it does not perform poorly for me in the future
Great post, tnx for sharing it
Google is one of the most innovative companies out there. I'm excited about what this new search platform will encompass.
Innovation is a beautiful thing! Go Google.
Great info We will see
This is a big leap for Google and I think will help with more relevant searches. In any given search, even on the top 5 pages of SERPS, you will see a lot of duplicate or 'spun' content. Granted, I still feel that Google does a much better job with results than say Bing or Yahoo, but people have learned to bypass a lot of the algorithm to try and rank better.
Go Google!
Leaving a super long comment will be annoying to some commenters because it seems like a post instead of a comment. But leaving a short comment with one sentence is never a good thing.Thanks
I agree that this is an update worth looking out for as it looks like it's going to be a big one, however, Google is forever changing and updating it's algorithms so from an SEO point of view, this will not be much different from any other day.
wow.. it's make us can't sleep right… hihihi…
come on to my blog
I know it is a huge update for Google and atm it is in its testing stages. I think SEOs will find a way around it they always do.
Thanks for the information about Caffeine. I've read several articles, trying to get my head around it, but this is the only one I've understood! It's good to know that Google are encouraging the Stomper way. Now I'm not so worried about the future of Google rankings~
As our company is called Coffee marketing this is particularly apt. It is good to see Google is not resting on their laurels and understanding that usability is the number 1 priority for search.
This sums it up quite nicely. Google want s a better experience for their users and keeps on reinventing themselves. I wonder when we will see the full effects of "Caffeine".
As always great online income information.
Stompernet has been very valuable to me and my business partner. But it is the continued education, and updates like Google "caffeine" for an example that make it priceless. Keeping us up to date on all the current trends.
Hi, thank you very much, very interesting article. It's quite confortable that the Stompernet way will be liked even more with Caffeine. Following it, my site http://www.neumaticos4×4.net is ranking very well, so I hope it will keep doing it.
All the best.
The first page results for my main keyword are a bit different with caffeine on the sandbox url, which I wasn't expecting as the impression I got is that the results would be quite similar.
I have been keeping up my websites thanks to yours and the other Stomper's advice. It is great to know that you are helping me and many others to be Stomping' ahead.
Great blog.It is really informative article.The information you are providing here is a quite new for me!Good to know some of Google's plans for future!Thank you for sharing your experience and teaching us.
As always great online income information.
Personally I think caffeine will only yield positive results, removing the crap and leaving everything else as is (with the added use of personal and universal). No worries here
I haven't seen my rankings change much from what I see on Caffeine. Thanks for keeping us updated and calming our fears.
It's always great to see Google continuing to improve. That's why they remain the top search engine by far.
Hi Brad
Thanks for keeping us updated with the latest Google tech stuff. Now I have had top placement on Google for 3 years thanks to giving Google what they want. I have been keeping up my websites thanks to yours and the other Stomper's advice. It is great to know that you are helping me and many others to be Stomping' ahead.
Thanks
Peder Andersen
pederandersen.com
Once again, this isn't hurting my rankings. Clean SEO gets rewarded every time.
Indeed, clean SEO is rewarded every time! It is exciting to see new developments come from Google – especially developments that initiate and support e-commerce!
Interesting results, so far my pages that i ahev checked are pretty much identical with both. keep us posted,
http://comparecaffeine.com/
found this very useful, maybe i'll have to become a Stomper
Really informative news about google caffeine. I really updated my knowledge little bit by reading your blog. Thanks for sharing. Good work !
Google is all I ever drink
I'm not sure why exactly, but a lot of my sites seem to be doing significantly better in the Caffeine beta. With more pages indexed per keyword search, perhaps some of those buried links are seeing the light of day again. Then again, what if the test run for Caffeine doesn't look exactly like the eventual live release?
hopefully Flash will get more credit
I try to figure out ways to enable our consumers to spend more time on the site by thinking about how they would use it and changing our content to fit them…it is a work in progress.
Quite an interesting article! I tested it and noticed they were excluding the "usually included" product sub-search hits. I wonder if they are just targeting websites now and moving away from products, or if that's just a beta glitch? I suppose only time will tell if relevance will truly surface.
Thanks for the heads up.
It's a good thing I have actually listened to everything you guys had to say in the Stomping the Search Engines 2.0
Thanks.
Igor
Hopefully Google will slap those spammy sites of the net for good. Maybe they will also be able to help put a stop those phishing sites as well.
It's good to know that Google is aiming to reward well written, useful and relevant content, especially on authority sites that have "credits in the bank" rather than 3 page sales sites with clever seo…
Thanks for giving your interpretation on this. They definitely left a lot of room for it
*Brad, what is your take of Ma.tt's #2 bullet about "customizing your Name field in the comment forms"?
I've always thought this one a bit touchy and pending the type of site you are commenting on, but given your "free flow thought" on this Google post, I'd be curious to here you on this one too (unless you've already said something and I missed it
Thanks…Keep Stompin'
StomperNet,
Once again you guys are always on top of SEO. I enjoy reading your great tips and training. Keep up the great work!
Tony
Thanks!
Good read!
Good content!
Hope you get up there in the searches!
heh!
S
Even the whitest of hats always shake a little in their boots when Google has a serious update. Never in the history of business transactions have so many folks depended on one sole source for their business leads and opportunities. A little scary and a little jittery – ah YES!
Thanks for the headsup I always find it interesting how technology changes make things change. Although this is supposedly for the better this is determined by the solution provider.
I will be experimenting to make sure my site is up to standard.
Thanks for the info. The SEO guy that helps me (Dave) says you know your stuff!
I have always done my SEO asking myself for every action I do: "If an engineer at Google investigates this page, will he consider it spam or real content".
It have paid of well in the sense that neither of the Google slaps, hurricanes or updates have affected my sites, they just tumble up and down a bit in the Google dance and then continue on the same or better level than before.
On the other hand I don't rank for any higly competitive keywords, my best ones are number two adn three positions that bring in about 1000 visitors per day.
Simon
Obviously, Google doesn't feel threatened by Bing. Ergo, they are only trying to be "bigger, better, faster." Whereas, in the game of catch-up, MSN felt they needed to attemp a radical change in their search algorithms to try to compete with the google steamroller.
I just hope that this "more of the same" approach of Google's doesn't turn them into a "Microsoft-style sloth" getting blind-sided by new, innovative search engines, especially since we all have the bad habit of wearing "Google-goggles."
Just like Microsoft used to do, they're hiring all the biggest brains from Stanford and MIT. But a big brain doesn't necessarily have any connection to creativity. If they don't watch out, their bloated company could get nailed by someone with a fresh perspective and no committies making decisions and those of us who are slaves to the "Google-way" will go down in flames with them.
The timing of this announcement of a new and improved methodology, or a major tweaking of the present one isn't much of a surprise.
I found it interesting that they are publishing so many commercials for adsense on AM radio just when Bing arrived and began making inroads into Google's turf.
Judging from the stats on my site, Google doesn't have to feel threatened yet, but Bing is getting stronger every day with respect to delivering traffic. With any luck, this will make Google more transparent.
Thanks Brad for the article.
I recently spent some time trying Michael Kordahi's blind search, and I found that Google's search results are almost at par with those of Bing's while Yahoo's came after that.
It's not that Google doesn't 'know' this for a fact, nor is it unaware that Bing is gradually shoring up its share of popularity, though far, far behind Google as yet.
With these 2 in perspective, I feel it's the 'comprehensiveness' that will matter more in search results in the future. It'll be daunting for the search engines to figure out how much of content is really comprehensive to bring out the results fast, and accurate (your first 2 points).
I feel it's not only the texts, but images and videos too that will play major part in deciding the comprehensiveness of content.
Thanks for this post – it certainly is going to be interesting to see how rankings for different sites will be affected, if at all, by this change.
It can be a daunting prospect for a website owner to have to dream up and write new copy for his/her business on a regular basis, particularly if there is not an assigned member of staff to do that. We are always looking for new content ideas for our clients to get the generation of fresh new pages going. We base these ideas on extensive keyword research and also with competitor analysis. A good tip for content ideas is to think outside the box a little, putting yourself in your customers shoes – Don't just rehash existing topics, think creatively and write new and unique content.
Another thing we have found invaluable for content issues on clients sites is performing a series of usability tests using a range of users from the target audience's demographic. These usability reports not only pick out errors and areas for improvement on the functionality of the site but also highlight content gaps from an independent users perspective.
Hi Brad,
I am glad stompernet is here. All the misinformation has set me back 3 years until I got your information. With that in mind I could evaluate others people's products. I am moving forward and doing it right the first time.
Dear Brad,
Your comments on the "Beta launch of "Caffeine" are timely and to the point.A lot of unnecessary efforts were made in the past on "engineering" traffic through manipulation of the key word strategy.What these smart guys didn't realize was that this technique is good only for creating an immediate accumulation of lists for a new firm and that retention value and customer life value diminishes rapidly if the content seen at the site on the first visit is not seen as worth the effort.The sites that yield perennial revenue are the ones take full care of the needs of their niche.
Thanks for the fresh insight.
The sheer volume of updates needed to satisfy google and other search engines is astonishing. Soon all marketers will have to hire loads of people to simply keep up the amount of information needed to get good serps.
Although this is good for the economy, it is a different kind of business than when we were doing it one person at a time.
Eventually someone will come along and wipe all the competition away, because
they are doing it the "pro" way – just as it has happened in so many other lines of business.
When will we create a system that really supports the "best" or the most "relevant" and not just the "smart" or the "rich"?
Thanks for such a nice article. I was just testing through that search engine. Its fast and for me, most of the results were relevant. Lets see how it works with all searches.
Brad, you can test drive the new Google Caffeine update here:
http://www2.sandbox.google.com/
All of my rankings stayed the same. Nothing has moved. It's very snappy.
Appreciate the headsup. This cracks me up in a way, as it is so logical and intuitive to just supply what the searcher is looking for. Where the difficulty lies is, if one is not in sink with ones own intuition as a marketer one can fail miserably. Responding to the need when it comes to deliver a solution organically is nurtured from the souls mind, and is combined not only with the energetic component of spirit but also the environment the searcher. Who, for all intensive purposes is becoming more complex and diverse. It often calls for marketers to be able to step outside them selves honoring the uniqueness of selflessness to provide a solution to fulfill another human need. Humility, compassion and servant-hood must become center stage. In reality this should not be a tough hall, but with the degradation of societies in recent years, the playing field is wide open for those who wish to exemplify truth and justice to prevail.Good for Google for meeting the need, elevating their quality of service and slapping those who deserve it… I will strive to withhold to the standard and deliver, while ingesting gallons of caffeinated beverages in order to keep the pace. Thanks to training with all of you at Stompernet, I must say First thanks for the awesome training, second I have the confidence to proceed.
I Love it when the Omniscient All Sovereign Google has to Pre-Launch their new products along with the rest of the Great Unwashed.
I Love it when I get teased with an "insider leak" of a beta test that only the geekiest of us can access in the developer sandbox.
I Love it when I can't find any real evidence but the preponderance of sites trumpeting the pouring of hot scalding caffeine down our gullible gullets.
The Alpha and the Omega
Google
Amen
According to Matt Cutts at SES in San Jose last week, it was perfectly clear that the changes, today, are as you posted, the infrastructure. After vigorous testing in the Google sandbox for Caffeine, our results either don't change or improve. I agree that the Stomper way is the right way and this is an effort to thwart the black hats, in turn helping the Stompers all the way.
Thanks for sharing this information.
I've heard about Google's plan to speed up and increase the depth of their search engine robots but hadn't really thought much about how it might impact the SERPS. Thanks for the heads up. It confirms what I've been trying to do with my wellness website.
Bruce
Once again the boys at StomperNet are looking out for us. Its good to have you guys on our side.
The best tool I have found to research differences between Caffeine and the current search index is this one.
http://comparecaffeine.com/
Hopefully Stompers will find it useful
I've tried the new-generation of the Search Engine. Frankly, I'm rather nervous and a little disappointed with the new infrastructure. One of my keywords seems ineffective anymore. It's shifted from #4 to nowhere. The funny one is that the sites that backlink to me with my anchor text appear in front pages of result. However I'm glad either, that Google amplify it's power so it works faster and more powerful that we don't have to wait too long for every changes we're going to make. The new version machine shows how Google strengthen it's vision in appreciating old, rich, useful sites. It confirms "content is king".
Hey Brad,
Thanks for keeping us informed about the changes the BIG MAN intends to do. These changes are probably in anticipation of the merger of Yahoo and Bing. They are trying to raise the bar even higher and will give no chance to the lesser search engine to catch up.
As mentioned by Jeffrey, it will help filtering the webmasters using links exchange program to manipulate the search result and their rankings.
To be honest I can not wait its launch.
i get your magazine every month and find what you guys have to say incrediblt informatinve….i wish i was more of a "web guy" so i could implement better.
Thanks for your insight. I was wondering what internal changes had going. I found. I am ranking quite better in Caffine then the current Google so I must be on the right track.
So, less emphasis on SEO and more on content. That would be like a flat tax eliminating the need for accountants and the IRS.
Great post, very well explained.
I think this is great news for the 'little guys' who consistently churn out good pages of content, all related to the subject matter of their sites, who are being outranked at the moment by the 'big boys' who happen to have one page on what the customer is searching for.
Bring it on!!!
Great insights illustrate why CMS styled sites are the only sites of the future, since you can focus on growing your content and not your coding skills– thanks, Brad.
I use, recommend and teach Wordpress at the http://sandiegofinishingschool.com , which specializes in online marketing skills specifically for artists and creative or personality-driven small businesses.
Great, helpful information about the future expectations of Google's SEO! I am a today's 67 year old newbie–no content yet on my new blog, so I value all info. of your kind! Thanks!!
As a researcher and user of search engines, I say hooray! I'm tired of sifting through manipulated search results to get the info I'm after. And I've complained quite often about the article pap that many sites' spinners offer up.
But as a website owner,I'm going to keep a sharp eye out for changes as the new algorithm evolves. I'm already noticing some strange occurrences, such as an image's alt text getting better rankings than the article it accompanies.
Weird.
Thank you Mr. Brad Fallon!
This is the most valuable email I received today!
The most valuable article I have read all month! (Besides inside the Net Effect)
Seeing the changes in Google and how they are filtering out the spamer's and get rich quick through link exchange crowds to allow us to be more successful has brought a surge of encouragement to me today!
I always read your emails because it's content is extremely valuable.
It's a fresh of breath air after I filtered through all of the Product Launches in August.
Thanks again, and I am so pleased to be a member.
Jeff Parker
Personal Trainer
The use of the word 'relevant' in terms of content is always interesting.
This assumes:
1) What is already known is all that there is to know.
2) What is already known can be covered by 'information' rather than skills.
3) What is relevant to one person is also relevant to someone else.
For example our website http://www.birthingbetter.com is all about 'childbirth skills'. However, until we used that term there were no 'searches related to that keyphrase'. Very few people actually search for 'childbirth skills' because there is no societal expectation that expectant families have skills.
This means most people search for 'childbirth information' or 'childbirth education' or 'childbirth preparation'. The top websites deal only with common information/knowledge about this topic but certainly cover only what is part of the present trend.
I'm sure others of you have discovered that people don't always know what to search for because they tend to search for what is commonly known … and that doesn't get them to what is creative, innovative or new.
Boo-hoo for Google (or the mechanism) that cannot determine what is new, creative and innovative. This means people who are creating websites with new skills/information/knowledge etc are stuck with using keywords that people are most familiar using and then trying to compete with those sites that actually are giving standardized information.
Hope that's clear