Bing Blogs: Site explorer: SEO-explore your site. “Site Explorer provides a unique SEO view of how Microsoft Bing sees your site. It reflects most URLs we have seen on the web, including redirects, broken links, or those blocked by robots.txt, organized in a file explorer-like fashion. Thus, giving you the flexibility to navigate each folder and the URLs contained inside them to understand, debug and modify your site structure as required.”
SEO
Column: Student probes alleged Google search bias (San Diego Union-Tribune)
San Diego Union-Tribune: Column: Student probes alleged Google search bias. “When Agastya Sridharan read in The Wall Street Journal last fall about some politicians’ complaints of suspected bias in Google online search results, he was upset and intrigued. Was it possible to re-order search results and, thus, influence voter preferences? Agastya, then a 13-year-old eighth-grader at Thurgood Marshall Middle School in Scripps Ranch, decided to conduct his own research as his entry in the 2020 Greater San Diego Science and Engineering Fair.”
Search Engine Journal: New Bing URL Inspection Tool
Search Engine Journal: New Bing URL Inspection Tool. “Bing’s new tool provides direct answers and data that not only helps diagnose indexing problems but provides data for solving the issues as well. What’s notable about the tool is that it’s designed to solve SEO related issues. Similar to the indexing solutions, Bing will also give suggestions on how to improve SEO related issues.”
EurekAlert: New tool improves fairness of online search rankings
EurekAlert: New tool improves fairness of online search rankings. “When you search for something on the internet, do you scroll through page after page of suggestions – or pick from the first few choices? Because most people choose from the tops of these lists, they rarely see the vast majority of the options, creating a potential for bias in everything from hiring to media exposure to e-commerce. In a new paper, Cornell University researchers introduce a tool they’ve developed to improve the fairness of online rankings without sacrificing their usefulness or relevance.”
The MTA has a porn problem: Metro-North station websites feature X-rated search titles (Queens Daily Eagle)
Queens Daily Eagle: The MTA has a porn problem: Metro-North station websites feature X-rated search titles . “The website titles for at least 16 Metro-North stations contain an X-rated message in the Google search results — quite a surprise for anyone looking up Hudson Line train times…. The same dirty description — Flirtatious An*l D*ldo For C*ck Hungry Blonde Sl*t — accompanies 13 stations along the Hudson Line, including Metro-North platforms in Riverdale, Greystone, Hastings-on-Hudson, Dobbs Ferry, Irvington, Tarrytown, Scarborough, Ossining, Croton Harmon, Cortlandt, Garrison, Cold Spring and Breakneck Ridge. That’s one way to get page views. But the MTA says the issue is actually Google’s fault.” Asterisks NOT mine for once, but I’m certainly fine with leaving them there.
Search Engine Journal: Google’s John Mueller Discusses Recent Changes to Search
Search Engine Journal: Google’s John Mueller Discusses Recent Changes to Search. “In a Webmaster Hangout, Google’s John Mueller was asked whether there has been an update happening recently. Mueller took the time to explain what it means to discuss changes in search and the best reaction to them are.”
Search Engine Journal: 21 Web Directories That Still Have Value
Search Engine Journal: 21 Web Directories That Still Have Value. “In the early days of SEO, web directories were the thing. Back then, the Google algorithm was a lot easier to game. If your site was listed on a ton of online directories, it must be pretty dang special – or at least, that’s how the algorithm saw it. The number of directory links you had positively influenced how well your site ranked in the search engines. Online marketers caught on, and schemed to litter the web with directory listings of their website. It was a simpler time.” But thanks to pop-ups, just as annoying.
Bing Blogs: Get your WordPress content indexed immediately using Bing Webmaster Tools plugin
Bing Blogs: Get your WordPress content indexed immediately using Bing Webmaster Tools plugin . “Today, we are excited to announce the release of Bing URL Submissions Plugin for WordPress as open source project. The plugin allows webmasters of WordPress sites to get their content easily, automatically and immediately indexed by Bing as soon as their content is published! Who in the SEO community has not dreamed of such ability?”
Search Engine Journal: Google Search Allegedly Boosts YouTube Results Ahead of Competitors
Search Engine Journal: Google Search Allegedly Boosts YouTube Results Ahead of Competitors . “Google prefers ranking content from YouTube over other video sources, according to a new report in the Wall Street Journal. When Facebook and other competitors host a video that also appears on YouTube, Google will allegedly push the YouTube result ahead of others in search results.”
A Beginner’s Guide to Inbound Links: What Are They & How to Get More of Them (Search Engine Journal)
Search Engine Journal: A Beginner’s Guide to Inbound Links: What Are They & How to Get More of Them. “Inlinks, backlinks, inbound links.They all mean the same thing – someone else’s web property is linking to yours. A hyperlink from one webpage to another. A simple, integral part of the internet. Spend any time in the SEO industry and you would think links directly equal profit. Some SEO pros spend their entire careers specializing in obtaining links. Why are they so sought after and how can you get them?”
Search Engine Journal: A Simple Guide to Perform a Comprehensive Content Audit
Search Engine Journal: A Simple Guide to Perform a Comprehensive Content Audit. “If you’re wondering if your content is performing well, there’s a good chance it’s time for a content audit to check for sure. By following the right steps, knowing what to look for, and what you’re hoping to get out of your content audit, you can look forward to creating a better website.”
How Search Engine Algorithms Work: Everything You Need to Know (Search Engine Journal)
Search Engine Journal: How Search Engine Algorithms Work: Everything You Need to Know. “Often I find myself focusing on specific strategies to perform specific functions. How do I write compelling copy to rank on voice search? What structured data produces easy wins? Things like that. These important questions are often covered here on Search Engine Journal in very useful articles. But it’s important to not just understand what tactics might be working to help you rank. You need to understand how it works.”
Search Engine Journal: Google Finds Over 25 Billion Spammy Pages Every Day
Search Engine Journal: Google Finds Over 25 Billion Spammy Pages Every Day. “Google’s efforts to keep spam out of search results are detailed in the company’s annual webspam report, published today. According to the report, over 99% of Google’s search results are spam-free, and the company goes to great lengths to keep it that way.”
Search Engine Journal: Bing ‘Site Scan’ Tool Audits Sites For Technical SEO Issues
Search Engine Journal: Bing ‘Site Scan’ Tool Audits Sites For Technical SEO Issues. “Bing’s new Site Scan tool gives site owners an easy way to check for technical issues that may be negatively impacting performance in search engines. Bing is launching Site Scan as an upgrade to Bing Webmaster Tools, making it convenient to access the tool alongside other data that can assist with improving site performance.”
Google SEO 101: Image Search Best Practices & Changes Over the Years (Search Engine Journal)
Search Engine Journal: Google SEO 101: Image Search Best Practices & Changes Over the Years. “Changes to Google’s image search results over the years, and current best practices, are discussed in a newly uploaded presentation. The presentation was given by Francois Spies, Product Manager for Google Images, at Google’s Webmaster Conference in November. Google just published a batch of videos from the conference so, for most people, this is their first time seeing it. Here’s a recap of Spies’ presentation on Google Images.”