Google Become Alphabet in a Huge Restructure
Google Become Alphabet in a Huge Restructure
Recently, Google announced that they would no longer be functioning under the well-known brand, but restructuring as ‘Alphabet’. This will be the overriding holding company, with Google becoming a subsidiary of this.
The whole shake-up has emerged from the top, with Google’s co-founders, Larry Page & Sergey Brin, stating that the entire company will be changing, with big alterations to the structure and management; the biggest change being that Sundar Puchai will now oversee the search engine, Google.
This restructure comes as part of an initiative to give investors chance to see where their money is going and exactly what it’s being spent on. With the huge success of the search engine, it’s clear that Google, or ‘Alphabet’, can play its hand elsewhere.
The new company, Alphabet, will preside over a collection of companies, the largest of which will be Google.
All shares of Google will automatically convert into corresponding shares of Alphabet, which will continue to trade under the stock ticker symbols GOOG and GOOGL. Shares in Google soared 5% in after hours trading. The new structure is said to be similar to Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, which wholly owns a number of diverse holdings and has stakes in several others.
It seems that Google will continue to push the main Internet products that the business has to offer, but Alphabet will expand and increase the growing need for other products and business sectors. Statements suggest that the separation of the companies will enable them to independently market items that aren’t entirely related.
It remains to be seen whether Google will simply continue to tell shareholders to be content with their profits when it comes to some major business segments.
Why are google asking webmasters to have a mobile friendly website?
As you are probably aware Google are rolling out an update on the 21st April 2015 to penalise websites which aren’t mobile friendly.
The reason for this is Google are looking to improve the experience that website visitors receive when going to websites that are recommended by Google in the search results. Google feel that if they don’t provide their users with websites that are mobile friendly and provide the user with a good experience, then these users may use a different search engine to find the content that they are looking for.
Google are simply trying to ensure that their users have an optimal experience no matter what device they are using. Remember this is an opportunity to not just improve your website to meet Google Guidelines but to also bring your website up to date and provide a great user experience for potential customers that may be viewing your website.
There are more than 1.5 billion mobile Internet users worldwide and roughly 80 percent of Internet users own a smartphone and over 55% of searches on Google.com come from Mobile or Tablet Devices.
For more information about how this update can affect your website contact us on 0121 766 8087 or email your account manager.
Have you thought of obtaining the new .UK domain name?
You may have heard recently about the launch of the new UK DOMAIN SUFFIX .uk from the UK Domain Registrar NOMINET.
You may feel you wish to secure it for your company to match your current domain name(s)?
If you did, it would ensure that no other company could try to seek advantage of your company’s internet credibility, by replicating a website on your domain name(s). We feel that all of our clients would benefit from securing them.
We are currently offering a special concessionary rate and this domain name can then be directed to your main website.
For more information, please contact Wave White, our Customer Relationship Manager on 0121 7668087 or alternatively email wave.white@esterling.co.uk
Social Media – Services & Tariffs
Take a look at our new Social Media Packages that have been designed to work along side your current SEO Campaign.
A Social Media Package with us will enhance you websites presence across the internet as well as providing you with a source of Social Media content for your business.
For further information click here to view our Social Media offerings alternatively do not hesitate to contact our team on 0121 7668087 or email us on helpdesk@esterling.co.uk
Why mobile is so important for local businesses
Google recently asked Neilson Group to study the behaviour of people using mobiles to purchase. You can find the full report here but the main points to take away are these.
People are spending more than 15 hours a week researching potential purchases on their phones with their main method of discovering information being search engines, primarily of course, Google. The research showed that being local is the key with users wanting businesses to be within 5 miles. They also want to make their decision and purchase within an hour.
This is a clear sign that local businesses need to concentrate their attention on mobile users. Responsive design that caters to tablets and phone is no longer the purview of large national businesses. The most important driver in getting a user to your site and to make a purchase is making sure their experience is smooth and engaging. If your website can provide that optimum user experience on a mobile phone you will be well on your way to being ahead of the competition.
If you need help getting your website mobile ready call eSterling on 0121 766 8087.
It’s 2014, shouldn’t your site work on mobile?
Major retailers have made the transition to support mobile devices and there is a growing necessity for smaller brands and businesses to follow suit. In the last week of December John Lewis saw 75% of the traffic to their online shop being made up of tablets and mobile phones. Shoe retailer Schuh found that nearly 70% of traffic came from mobile devices over the same period.
The facts are simple. If you have a website it has to cater to users accessing the site through a tablet or mobile phone. If you don’t you will be loosing business. A website that doesn’t display correctly, is slow, has a Flash intro, or is inconvenient to navigate will dissuade users. Those users will go to a competitor due to the frustrations of trying to use your website. If you sell online then then you practically speaking have little choice but to upgrade the design of your website or face the inevitable decline in sales.
Your first new year’s resolution should be to get a refresh of your site to make it responsive and work across all devices. Why not give eSterling a call and let us see what we can do to increase the sales through your website.
Rap Genius: back in the Google good books
According to Rap Genius they are no longer have an unnatural links penalty from Google after the search engine helpfully gave them assistance to correct their SEO tactics. During the last ten days after the penalty was applied the website couldn’t be found on the first few pages of search results even when their brand name was part of the query. Now they once again appear at the top of search results for their band name although their traffic has not returned to the levels they once enjoyed.
While it is great for Rap Genius to have their penalty lifted the actions of Google arguably show that there is one rule for big brands and another for smaller companies. A ten day manual penalty is a much shorter period of time than a small business could be expected to wait to see a return to search results.
Rap Genius vs. Google
Rap Genius didn’t find the best present from Santa in their stocking when they received a penalty from Google for using link schemes to boost their search rankings. This has resulted in their website not being found on the first page of results for even their own brand name. Instead news stories reporting this and their social media accounts are displayed. A site that saw over half a million unique visits a day has now been reduced to 10% of that showing the enormous power that Google hold in making an online business successful.
The link scheme they were penalised for was asking bloggers to join and affiliate scheme by adding a link to their website in exchange for a ‘thank you’ tweet from Rap Genius. In Google’s eyes even agreeing to exchange a tweet for a link back to a website is considered ‘paying’ for it and falls under “exchanging goods or services for links” which can result in a penalty. A link in a tweet may not have the same value to Google as a link on a website but social media still has an influence on search rankings. For Google this is about the credibility of the search results they provide and need to have these highly visible targets to penalise so as to not encourage link buying behaviour.
Critics argue that the manual penalties that Google applies are not done in a fair way as there are plenty of sites that buy links yet do not get penalised. The consensus is that Google would not be so vocal and stringent about the buying of back links if it didn’t actually work and wasn’t the easiest method to get a higher ranking.
It can be frustrating that behaviour of competitors is overlooked or even tolerated. When your competition is clearly buying links in order to improve their rankings yet do not receive a penalty and you follow Googles best practices and still get a lower position on search results it can be very tempting to follow suite. This is why gaming their SEO would have been a strategy that was seriously considered.
Most agree that Rap Genius has, in their market, the best content and is perceived to be the least spam driven lyrics site on the web. However others suggest that they couldn’t rely upon this to continue having good rankings. While they may have offered a better user experience they didn’t have the number of lyrics that other sites did. In addition while they may have built up an on-site community this would not be as important to ranking in Google as just providing the basic information people look for.
Will Rap Genius be able to return to the top of rankings by cleaning up their site and disavowing those links and will Google be seen to apply their penalties in a fairer way? We will await that news.
.eu Domain Names
Buying an .eu domain name can help protect your brand from imitation or fraudulent activity.
Is The Design Of Your Website Letting You Down?
If you’ve seen your ranking results improve over the past year but haven’t seen an equal measure of new business, it is likely that your website needs a refresh. With the Internet now more competitive than it has ever been, it is not enough to be visible to customers, you need to really grab the opportunity to turn their casual browsing into a solid enquiry or sale.
A website refresh needn’t be an expensive affair, but there are a few important points to consider:
- 1. Is your site visible to all browsers?
Does your site display equally well on desktop PCs, mobile phones and tablets? Or are you missing out on a sizeable chunk of the market. The chances are, if your site was built more than three years ago then it won’t be responsive to all viewing platforms and will need to be updated.
- 2. Are you sending the right message?
From their entry point on the site, can your customers understand what you do, find what they need and get the resolution they require in a few simple clicks? If your site is cluttered and difficult to navigate it is likely that your customers will lose interest and move onto the next site. After all, it costs them nothing to browse.
- 3. Is your information up-to-date?
Keeping your site up to date is paramount. Can you administer any special offers? Make price changes? Update contact or address details? Making sure you have a regular supply of fresh new content on the site not only holds the interest of your customers, but it also satisfies Google too, making an increase in rankings more likely.
- 4. How attractive are you to customers?
Browsers online are usually looking for the following three things: a company who can deliver what they are looking for, competitive prices and good reputation. It is so important that you get this information displayed on your website in a clear way. A conversion specialist can help you to understand how to clearly communicate with your customer and maximise your chances of increased business.
eSterling are happy to offer all existing clients a free website health check, which focuses on improving the design of your site. Remember, a good design not only has a positive impact on your potential customers, it will also help to improve your SEO results. We are offering a 10% discount for all design work ordered during December 2013 and would be more than happy to discuss your website with you. Please get in touch today.