This week we learned a surprising new statistic about mobile search, Google rolled out some new functionality to its search results pages, and Google Webmaster tools has become even more useful.
Full details about each of these top stories are included in this week’s SEO news roundup.
Latest SEO News – Week Ending 5/8/2015
Mobile Search Overtakes Desktop Search
In an announcement this week Google made a fairly significant revelation about mobile search:
“In fact, more Google searches take place on mobile devices than on computers in 10 countries including the US and Japan.”
It has long been speculated that mobile search would overtake desktop at some point in the near future, and now we have confirmation that it has.
This news couldn’t come at a more apt time, considering Google’s mobile-friendly algorithm just rolled out last month, which demotes non-mobile-friendly sites in mobile search results.
If your site is not mobile friendly and you were wondering how significantly you may be impacted by the recent algorithm, you can now take into account there are more searches being performed on mobile devices than desktop computers.
That means you’re potentially missing out on a large volume of traffic if your site is only able to be found by desktop users.
More Precise Data in Google’s Search Analytics Report
After listening to user feedback, Google has announced it is replacing the popular Search Queries report in Webmaster Tools with a new and improved Search Analytics report.
The new Search Analytics report includes ability to compare desktop vs. mobile traffic, the ability to compare metrics in different regions, and more. You can break down and segment your data virtually any way you’d like with the new Search Analytics report.
Compared to the old Search Queries report, Google says Search Analytics is more accurate and calculated differently. All differences and new features are detailed here in Google’s Search Analytics help center article.
Google is going to keep the old Search Queries available for the next three months to give users time to get used to the new report. In three months’ time everyone will have to use Search Analytics, so you better start getting acquainted with it.
Order Takeout and Make Appointments in Google Search
Google is rolling out a new service for US users allowing them to order food and book appointments right from within the search results.
Now when you search for nearby restaurants you will see an option to “Place an order”. Just tap to place an order, choose your preferred delivery service, and get directed to their website to complete the order.
In addition, Google has also added the ability to book things like doctor’s appointments and dinner reservations from within the search results pages.
If you would like to ensure your business is taking advantage of these new features, just check to make sure the feature is enabled in your Google My Business dashboard.
Google Discontinues PageSpeed Services
After 4.5 years, Google is shutting down PageSpeed services. PageSpeed Service is a free online service to automatically speed up web pages.
Google explains its decision to discontinue the service is because of a “broader adoption of PageSpeed technology through our open-source products.” Therefore, Google decided to focus its efforts on improving those prouducts.
It’s important to note that if you’re currently using Google’s PageSpeed service, you will have to change your DNS by August 2015 otherwise your site will be completely unaccessible.
You can see detailed instructions on how to remove your site from PageSpeed Service here.
Wrapping it Up
Now we know just how important mobile search we, we have access to even better free tools from Google, and our next pizza order might be ordered from Google’s search results pages.
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