SEO Recap January 2010

Welcome to the first Bruce Clay SEO recap of 2010. In the recap, we explore our analysts’ favourite news and blog posts for the past fortnight. This week includes some updates of Google on Mobile phones, the launch of the SEOmoz Open Site Explorer, the moving of Google Social search to beta from labs and events listings with rich snippets.

Optimised Search Suggestions for mobile using your location

This feature (available in the US and on Android powered & iPhones only at the moment) will optimise search suggestions from Google depending on your position.
From the Google Mobile Blog “when users in the Boston metro area begin typing “Muse”, suggestions such as “museum of science boston” and “museum of fine arts boston” are provided because people near Boston frequently look for these very popular museums. On the other hand, users in San Francisco who begin their query with “Muse” will see suggestions for museums in the San Francisco area.”

New Click to Call Phone Numbers in Mobile Ads

When you are browsing Google on your newest smartphone and see a PPC that might just answer your search query, there is a very simple way to connect with the advertiser. Just Click. You just click the number and your phone will automatically call the number listed.
Simple easy and effective, I really like this feature. What’s more, the ads and phone numbers you see are based on your location.
So, if a store or restaurant has multiple locations, you’ll be calling the nearest one. If you are an advertiser who wants to make use of this, check out the AdWords blog that introduces this feature.

SEOmoz launches Open Site Explorer

With the Microsoft and Yahoo search deal, rumours have been swirling that Yahoo may discontinue its popular link information tool. As result of this several alternatives have cropped up, the most recent being SEOmoz’s Open Site Explorer.
Open Site Explorer provides a number of data points pulled from SEOmoz’s Linkscape tool and its index of the web. It shows stats such as overall link counts and a count of domains that link to a URL, along with anchor text distribution and more. A helpful feature is the ability to compare two domains side by side.

Google Social Search now in beta

Google’s Social Search technology is finally ready for the big time, with the company officially moving it from Google Labs to a ‘beta’ option within the main search system. Google Social search brings in relevant content from users’ social networking friends, if they have been posting content that matches the search terms used. The general idea is that people will find results that are from friends or their own trusted online sources will be more relevant to them personally than say, Wikipedia.

Rich Snippets for Events

The new format shows links to specific events on the page along with dates and locations. It provides a fast and convenient way for users to determine if a page has events they may be interested in. These events will be shown just under the entry in the SERP’s. The events markup is based on the hCalendar microformat
I Hope you enjoyed this fortnights search engine optimisation recap. More to come in two weeks. Happy searching.

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