On Aug. 10, Google announced Caffeine, suggesting a shift in the Google algorithm. Matt Cutts, the head of Google's webspam team, indicated Caffeine is basically a rewrite of the search index, roughly comparable to the Big Daddy upgrade of 2005-2006.
The once hush-hush project is supposed to revitalize the Google algorithm to provide users with a better search experience. The official word is that the update is "the first step in a process that will let us push the envelope on size, indexing speed, accuracy, comprehensiveness, and other dimensions."
Based on that, it sounds like we'll get faster indexing speeds, with more pages indexed and a more comprehensive search results page -- necessary advances as the web becomes more unwieldy. For search marketers, it means more competition for single, generic-type keywords, less stability of rankings, and an increased focus on long-tail keywords as they become more relevant to sales conversions.
That's all good news if your website is well ranked for your best keywords. If not, it's time to optimize now. Make sure your site conforms to Google's new infrastructure to avoid any loss of rankings.
How important is Caffeine?
Many SEO experts believe Caffeine is a major search algorithm update. Google is soliciting feedback on the changes from experienced users and web developers, but comments are open to the public as well. Google is currently interested in any differences between the current and new systems, and wants to know what types of sites rank better or worse in the news system, as well as what should or shouldn't rank. It would be wise to check out Caffeine and learn how it will affect your site.
The first thing to do is log off from your Google Accounts (such as iGoogle, Gmail, and AdWords) to avoid skewing results based on your own browsing history and personal settings. Then, open up a new window to compare your SEO campaign between Google's regular search engine results pages (SERPs) and Caffeine.
To check results with Caffeine, conduct a search on this infrastructure preview. To give feedback, look for a link at the bottom of the Caffeine search results page that says "Dissatisfied? Help us improve." Don't forget to include the word "caffeine" when leaving feedback.
Comparing search results between Google and Caffeine
Google Tutor provides five tools that can help you compare the new and old systems:
- Google Caffeine Bookmarklet This tool makes it easy to check Caffeine results by clicking the bookmarklet in your browser.
- Firefox plugin This adds the Caffeine search engine to your Firefox search bar.
- Ranking checker A tool that checks your ranking at Google and Caffeine simultaneously. It does not show actual search results for comparison, but provides a quick way to check rankings.
- Google vs. Google Caffeine Gives you a split screen for side-by-side comparison of search results from Google and Caffeine. Very useful if you do a lot of testing.
- Google.ie and Google.de vs. Caffeine Another split- screen tool to compare Irish and Deutsch versions to the U.S. version of Google.
In addition, there are other tools available:
- Google Caffeine Compare by facesaerch lets you easily compare "caffeinated" results with "decaffeinated" results by typing and searching as usual.
- Compare Google Caffeine by Black Dog and Get Caffeinated by Doubleshot. Enter a query and see returns for both Caffeine and Google side by side for easy comparison.
Google wants input, so feel free to tell them what you like or dislike about Caffeine. This project started last month and will evolve as Google continues to get feedback. Some people have reported seeing changes already, as Caffeine begins to affect Google results.
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