Fanatically Digital

Author: Justin

  • Google My Business is Now Google Business Profile

    Google My Business (GMB) is going to be seeing some changes in the coming months.

    Namely, Google My Business will now be branded Google Business Profile, and the Google My Business app will be retired in 2022 in favor of direct profile editing in Search or Maps.

    Google My Business is Now Called Google Business Profile

    First, it was simply called Google Local before a rebrand changed it to Google Places. Then, they doubled back, in a way, and it became Google+Local. They changed their minds again, returning to Google Places until about 2014 when Google My Business became the tool we all know and love (or simply tolerate; it’s not too often you see people with strong opinions on GMB).

    Now they’re opting for a more direct branding approach with the informative, if unimaginative, Google Business Profile.

    Yes, Google loves their rebrands almost as much as I am indifferent to them.

    Will This Rebrand Affect Your Site or Business?

    Almost certainly not. This appears to be nothing more than a name change will which likely go unnoticed by the vast majority of users.

    However, if your site relies on content with a “GMB” focus for traffic, it may be worth considering an update to reflect this new branding. Just keep in mind that while this change is immediate, it will take years before this rebrand will become the norm. Users will be searching for “google my business” for a long time to come.

    Google My Business App to be Discontinued

    Perhaps more impactful is the discontinuation of the Google My Business app.

    Those used to accessing their GMB profile through the app will need to rethink their workflow once it loses support. For a while, Google has been pushing profile managers to make edits or interact with users directly on search or map results.

    In short, these are minor changes which should not have an impact on SEO or how most businesses interact with Google My Business.

  • Google to Add Continuous Scrolling on SERPs

    Last week, Google announced they would be implementing a ‘continuous scrolling’ function on the search engine results page over the next few weeks.

    Users will no longer need to press a “See More” or “Next Page” button every ten results or so. The page will simply load more results as users scroll down. This new system will load approximately 40 results before users will need to click a “See More” option.

    Why the Change?

    While the vast majority of clicks go to the first four results on any given search, there are particular types of queries for which users tend to bounce around between results. sometimes going as far down as page four of their results.

    This change is meant to create a more seamless experience for those types of searches.

    Will this affect Google Ads?

    Google Ads are typically displayed at the top and bottom of these results pages. What happens if there are effectively no more pages?

    While there won’t be any changes to Local and Shopping ads, Text ads will see some shake-up. Google says they will “redistribute” how many text ads will be shown. Fewer ads will be displayed at the bottom of pages moving forward.

    So what should you expect from your metrics?

    Google claims the only thing likely to be affected are mobile impressions, which may increase, and CTR, which may decline a bit.

    They expect all other metrics will stay relatively stable.

  • Google Update: How Google Changes Your SERPs Titles

    Google Update: How Google Changes Your SERPs Titles

    Last week, Google confirmed that they changed the way they generate new webpage titles to appear on their results page (SERP).

    Does Google Change My Website’s Title Tag?

    Yes. Although you may not have noticed, Google has long experimented with systems that generate new title displays based on user search queries. Since 2012, they’ve altered titles based on search queries to more accurately represent what the user might be looking for.

    But instead of generating titles based on user search queries, this new system will generate titles based on the webpage text and header tags.

    How often does Google change titles? 

    Google has said that they still use content HTML title tags around 80% of the time. That can mean they might use the exact text or they may only take elements of your HTML title to incorporate into a generated title.

    Why and when does Google change titles?

    Google says the main reasons they generate new titles are because HTML title tags can be:

    • Very long.
    • “Stuffed” with keywords, because creators mistakenly think adding a bunch of words will increase the chances that a page will rank better.
    • Lack title tags entirely or contain repetitive “boilerplate” language. For instance, home pages might simply be called “Home”. In other cases, all pages in a site might be called “Untitled” or simply have the name of the site.

    Initial data gathered by the community (check out this helpful Twitter thread) suggests that title length is a key factor. HTML titles below 50 characters stayed the same 99%+ of the time. 

    A site’s domain authority (or Page Rank) also appeared to play a role. Titles on sites with a higher domain authority were less likely to be changed than lower DA sites.

    When a title was altered, the new title’s content was pulled from the H1 tag more than 50% of the time.

    Takeaways

    So what does this mean for SEOs and webmasters? 

    Well, keeping titles short and sweet appears to be the most important factor in ensuring the title you want is displayed as you intended. 

    But secondly, this reinforces the importance of relevant H tags and quality on-page content. For those following SEO best practices, this really shouldn’t mean much. However, if you’d like to check whether your titles are being changed, check out four useful tools here.