October 2020 Newsletter
How Schema Markup is Adapting to COVID-19
The world is changing because of the pandemic and Schema Markup is no exception. Learn how Schema is helping keep Internet users safe during COVID-19 and helping businesses keep their customers informed.
Google To Start Indexing Page Passages
Earlier this month, Google announced that it will begin indexing text passages on web pages in addition to the web pages themselves. This means that, while Google is still indexing full pages, it will consider the meaning of passages in the content as a component of the page overall.
This is a very big change and is expected to impact 7% of all queries. It means that if you write a very long article about a topic that includes many subtopics, your article has a much better chance of ranking on all of those subtopics as well as on the main one.
When asked about the difference between this functionality and featured snippets, Google responded that its “systems determine the relevance of any web document via understanding of passages. Featured snippets, on the other hand, identifies the most relevant passage in a document we’ve overall determined to be relevant to the query.”
More to come on page passage indexing as Google continues to develop this feature.
Spooky Halloween Costume Data with Google’s Frightgeist
Do you love data and dressing up for Halloween? This is the site for you! Google Trends has gathered data about witch (pun intended) Halloween costumes are the most popular in US cities and arranged them into a spooky data visualization site called Frightgeist.
See what the most popular costumes are nationally or visit the costume map to find your local favorites. Right now, the Superhero is the most popular costume in Grand Rapids, MI, but #22 in the nation – we make our own trends! Personally, we are Ghostbusters fans, which only ranks #79 nationally. Take a peek to make sure you don’t show up in the same costume as everyone else this Halloween.
Tip of the Month
Avoid Pogosticking. A visitor that performs a search, clicks through to your website, navigates away seconds later, and immediately chooses a different search result on the SERP is performing an action called “Pogosticking.”
This is often a sign that something is wrong on your website. Either they are not finding what they wanted or were turned off by something on your page. Maybe your metadata doesn’t describe your site very well or there were too many pop-up ads. Whatever the case, something needs to change.
Luckily, there are measures you can take to reduce pogosticking on your website:
- Write engaging content. Ask questions or reel them in with interesting facts, but don’t use clickbait. Once they start reading, give them quality content that is worth sticking around for.
- Add internal links above the fold. If users start to read your content, internal links will keep them on the site and make it less likely they’ll go back to the search page.
- Use a large font size. If a user can’t read your content, they’ll leave. 15px – 17px usually works well.
- Add a table of contents. For long pages, a table of contents makes users feel less overwhelmed since they can navigate directly to the info they want.
- Add appropriate meta tags and descriptions. If a visitor clicks on your site because they think they can find what they want, but end up not seeing what they want, they’ll leave.
- Update old content (and show the date). Especially for anything timely, users will navigate away from the page if they think the information may be outdated.
- Be thorough. If you are writing about a subject, include any info the user may need so they don’t go elsewhere.
- Use FAQs. FAQs are a great way to hook people into your site and keep them engaged. You may even get a Rich Result if you use Schema Markup.
- Don’t use too many popups. Especially on mobile. If a visitor can’t even see the page content because there are too many popups, they’re headed back to the SERP.
While Pogosticking is not a direct SEO factor, it is a symptom of a larger problem that can affect your overall SEO. When designing content, remember that the average visitor judges a web page within seconds of landing on it. Make sure that there is nothing to drive them away and you may gain a repeat visitor.
Just for Laughs
A squad car driver was covering a quiet beat out in the sticks when he was amazed to find a former lieutenant on the police force covering the beat.
He stopped the car and asked, “Why, Sergeant Mike, this wouldn’t be your new beat out here in the sticks, would it?”
“That it is”, Sergeant Mike replied grimly, “ever since I arrested the judge on his way to the Halloween party.”
“You mean you imprisoned his honor?” asked Pat.
“How was I to know that his convict suit was only a costume?” demanded Mike.
“Well,” mused Pat, “now you know never to book a judge by his cover.”
Our best for your success!
