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Google Search Evolves – Introducing The Google Knowledge Graph

A recent post on mashable highlighted how the search engine giant is about to evolve the way some results will be presented. Initially this will only be available on Google.com in the US, however it is expected to roll out to the rest of the world relatively quickly.

Check out this video below – I think this could be a truly amazing development for the search engine.

Did You Know Google Uses Human Raters To Improve Search Results?

Matt Cutts (head of Google’s Spam team) has recently added a new video to YouTube explaining how Google uses “Human Raters” to help with improving their search results. He explains it much better than me below:

Not sure about you, but I found it fascinating how Google are continually trying to improve the search results – especially when you consider that the statistics still show less than 6% of people using Google go beyond the first page of results.

Any comments please leave them below.

6 Tips On Avoiding The Google Link Spam Update

Over the last month it appears that Google have been rolling out changes to their algorithm that is specifically aimed at websites that have  been able to rank highly in the natural search results as a direct result of having thousands of links coming into (or being shared throughout) their website.  To save me some time(!) I have linked to a great SEOMOZ whiteboard video that explains the 6 changes you should be considering if you have used any of these tactics in the past to assist with the ranking position of your website (and it’s associated keywords).

Let me know if you see a drop in your website ranking positions over the next few weeks below.

Still Not Convinced About Pinterest?

I have looking into Pinterest more and more this month and have been extremely surprised at the level of engagement I am finding from this new(ish) Social Media Platform.

Let me share a few (basic) statistics I have found so far (especially when I am comparing this to Twitter) – first up is my Google Analytics Data for visits to my website:

I was surprised to see as much traffic to my website from Pinterest (yes I know it is low traffic numbers, thanks for pointing it out!). As you can see it is the 3rd highest source of traffic to my website – way ahead of Twitter & LinkedIn.

What is even more surprising (and what caused me to write a brief blog post about it) is that when you line my profile stats up on Pinterest vs. Twitter – there is NO comparison:

Imagine if I had the same number of followers on Pinterest as I had on Twitter? I have read many blog posts about how Pinterest is driving much more traffic to people’s websites than Twitter, LinkedIn & Google+ and the data I am seeing in the “early days” certainly backs up this theory.

But as we know, traffic could be seen as vanity and conversions should be seen as sanity – and when I finally look at my own “conversions” over the same period then we see an old favourite making an appearance:

So there you have it (and I am slightly tongue in cheek with this as the data wouldn’t warrant proof) but Pinterest HAS driven more traffic to my website than the other Social Media Platforms, AND LinkedIN HAS provided me with more “referral” traffic (something that many blogs have also been written about).

I will be certain to keep an eye on this traffic, especially if I can grow my Pinterest network.

What experiences and results have you found? Please leave you comments below.

Examples Of How You Should Use Split Testing On Your Advertising

(If you have any of your own ideas, please feel free to share them in the comments section)

This is a great infograph giving you great examples of the different ways you can (and should) be split testing your online adverts.

AdChop – More Profitable Ad Campaigns

Any other examples of split testing – or any that people want to share? Please comment below.