Please help explain this (Question about search results)
-
What's up SEO's,
I'm new the SEO world and had a quick question. I just installed the MOZBAR and did a google search:
"What is Google Voice"
I attached an image of the results I received.
Can someone explain how MacWorld's article outranked Google's when both Google's Page Authority and Domain Authority are so much stronger than MacWorlds. This is in addition to google having many more links.
This is basic, but any insight will be very helpful.
Thanks guys!
[Screen%20Shot%202014-02-18%20at%206.08.15%20PM.png](file:///Users/jackfarrell/Desktop/Screen%20Shot%202014-02-18%20at%206.08.15%20PM.png)
-
Cyrus,
Thanks for taking the time to write your response
-
Hi Keith,
Instead of answering this question, I suspect what you're looking for is a basic introduction to Google's Algorythm, and how everything fits together.
And although nobody but Google can really answer that, perhaps I can point you in the right direction. For example, it's important to remember Google uses over 200 signals in it's algorithm that all work together in a very complex fashion. A few of these we try to examine in our Search Engine Ranking Factors study.
You can never quite tell what factor pushes a website to the top, but often we have hints. One of my favorite tools is Moz's Keyword Analysis tool (run a full SERP analysis after the initial analysis) which will show you multiple data points and analysis to help you figure out why one result ranks higher than the next.
And not to dodge the question about Panda and the other updates, but they tend to work together. You can find more information about each here: http://moz.com/google-algorithm-change
-
Bill,
Thanks for the response and it makes a lot of sense!
Can you or anyone else describe the difference between Panda, Penguin and Hummingbird? Like how do they work together? Or are they updates that makes the other ones obsolete?
Thanks again for the help guys!
-
Keith, there are a lot of factors that go into the actual search engine rankings that you and I see on the search results page. With the particular query "what is google voice", Google has decided that the MacWorld article, with a title of "what is google voice" is more appropriate for the query than the actual Google Voice page.
I would gather that from the query that the user is wanting an explanation of the product: they're not wanting to go to the Google Voice page itself. So, Google is showing the answer to the question rather than the actual site that they're asking about.
This also is a good example of Google Hummingbird at work, where they're able to understand the query better, and deliver better search results based on the actual query, not just look at "keywords".
-
Keri,
Thanks for the heads up!
Here is the link to the image:
Thanks everyone!
-
Hi Keith,
That image isn't displaying. Could you upload it first to imgur or a similar service, then add in the link? It's trying to reference your local hard drive right now. Thanks!
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
404s in Google Search Console and javascript
The end of April, we made the switch from http to https and I was prepared for a surge in crawl errors while Google sorted out our site. However, I wasn't prepared for the surge in impossibly incorrect URLs and partial URLs that I've seen since then. I have learned that as Googlebot grows up, he'she's now attempting to read more javascript and will occasionally try to parse out and "read" a URL in a string of javascript code where no URL is actually present. So, I've "marked as fixed" hundreds of bits like /TRo39,
Algorithm Updates | | LizMicik
category/cig
etc., etc.... But they are also returning hundreds of otherwise correct URLs with a .html extension when our CMS system generates URLs with a .uts extension like this: https://www.thompsoncigar.com/thumbnail/CIGARS/90-RATED-CIGARS/FULL-CIGARS/9012/c/9007/pc/8335.html
when it should be:
https://www.thompsoncigar.com/thumbnail/CIGARS/90-RATED-CIGARS/FULL-CIGARS/9012/c/9007/pc/8335.uts Worst of all, when I look at them in GSC and check the "linked from" tab it shows they are linked from themselves, so I can't backtrack and find a common source of the error. Is anyone else experiencing this? Got any suggestions on how to stop it from happening in the future? Last month it was 50 URLs, this month 150, so I can't keep creating redirects and hoping it goes away. Thanks for any and all suggestions!
Liz Micik0 -
In how much time will my search visibility increase?
Hey I really wanna know how much time will take to my search visibility increase!! Thanks
Algorithm Updates | | THOMAZDANDREA10 -
Looking for Search Engine Ranking Factors more recent than 2013
The 2013 Search Engine Ranking Factors study is a very useful study. However, it was completed more than two years ago, and a lot of algorthim updates have been made since then. Is there a more recent study of this than the one produced in 2013? Any and all information would be valuable. I am also trying to understand the importance of site speed as a ranking factor. Thanks.
Algorithm Updates | | JorgeUmana0 -
Good results in Web Search, getting worse in Mobile Search
We are redirecting mobile visotors from http://www.1website.com to http://m.2website.com. 1website position in web SERPS is always the same. But mobile search brings less visitors now, 1website is loosing positions there. I know keywords volume is increasing. What could be the reason? (m.2website mobile version is high quality and have very good bounce, pageviews, time on site)
Algorithm Updates | | bele0 -
Site name appended to page title in google search
Hi there, I have a strange problem concerning how the search results for my site appears in Google. The site is Texaspoker.dk and for some strange reason that name is appended at the end of the page title when I search for it in Google. The site name is not added to the page titles on the site. If I search in Google.dk (the relevant search engine for the country I am targeting) for "Unibet Fast Poker" I get the following page title displayed in the search results: Unibet Fast Poker starter i dag - få €10 og prøv ... - Texaspoker.dk If you visit the actual page you can see that there is no site name added to the page title: http://www.texaspoker.dk/unibet-fast-poker It looks like it is only being appended to the pages that contains rich snippets markup and not he forum threads where the rich snippets for some reason doesn't work. If I do a search for "Afstemning: Foretrukne TOPS Events" the title appears as it should without the site name being added: Afstemning: Foretrukne TOPS Events Anybody have any experience regarding this or an idea to why this is happening? Maybe the rich snippets are automatically pulling the publisher name from my Google+ account... edited: It doesn't seem to have anything to do with rich snippets, if I search for "Billeder og stuff v.2" the site name is also appended and if I search for "bedste poker bonus" the site name is not.
Algorithm Updates | | MPO0 -
Do search engines penalize for too many domain aliases?
I have a main domain name and 20+ related alias domains pointing to it. Is there a danger, penalty or concern that I should be aware of related to alias domains? I saw something on Google "Apps Administration" under "What is a domain alias" saying "you can add up to 20 domian aliases" but I don't use Google Apps. Please advise... Thank you, Chris
Algorithm Updates | | caliboyz0 -
Recent changes to suggested search algorithm?
Our company recently had a "company name + scam" listing as #2 in suggested search, and yesterday, it miraculously disappeared. Has anyone else noticed similar changes in suggested search results? I hope it stick, I'm just trying to understand exactly what caused that 1 listing to vanish.
Algorithm Updates | | CareerBliss0 -
Help on article submission
I've had a few articles made up about Microsoft Training for the training company I work for. What's the best practice to submitting these articles, any tips on how best to use these articles to boost seo for our website? All help is greatly appreciated. Jack
Algorithm Updates | | jpc10040