Google has updated the way it ranks pages of websites in it’s search results, to help prioritise fresher content that is more relevant to certain topics. The new “Freshness” update:
Queries that deserve freshness such as events and discussion are now deemed more important based on the inception of that page or content. If we write a great post about what has been happening this week (such as a specific episode of a tv program), you can forget about it if somebody writes about next week’s episode. Having an RSS feed has become more important, because it includes a time stamp in each post’s meta data.
However now that we have had a couple of months to digest the changes, in practice leading search engine optimisation specialists are saying this latest update is much more subtle than previous updates. In all honestly google has recognised fresher content as better value in search rankings for years. This update merely focuses the importance of content freshness in search queries which are clearly related to events and discussion based on events.
Google fellow Amit Singhal posted examples of the types of content that will be most likely to be affected:
Factors to be aware of are:
We develop all of our websites with search engines in mind and actively encourage our clients to keep their sites up to date and their audiences informed. Our websites are developed using popular content management platforms, giving our clients the tools and opportunity to make the most of web and help keep the on going cost of their website at a minimum.
If you are interested in taking action to improve the visibility of your website on search engines, then please get in touch with us by using our contact page. Alternatively you can network with us on twitter or facebook.
Some cool stuff to keep you occupied…
Have you heard of Graze.com? They deliver boxes of nibbly treats in the mail and have a lovely website that you can use to fine tune what you will be nibbling on. You can use this link to sign up for a free box, but make sure you cancel your deliveries if you don’t want to continue recieving the boxes. At first I was a bit put off by the fact that most of what they offer is dried fruit and nuts, but once you use their website to choose what you would like and wouldn’t like, I surprised myself in how little I actually excluded. The website itself is rich with functionality, added to the fact that you are essentially choosing what to eat as if you were reading a menu, which leads to a great user experience.
Next, The Cool Hunter brings us this video of a publicity stunt by French digital agency DDB Paris for Voyages SNCF:
Escape Machines – Surprise from The Cool Hunter on Vimeo.
A large black box placed in the middle of a city attracts a crowd as it stands motionless until an onlooker approaches. The resulting show is absolutely ridiculous and very well executed. Well worth a watch!
Another man who has brought smiles to the face of my friend’s and I this week, is Jolyon Rubinstein – a presenter and author over at online arts, music, style & culture magazine Don’t Panic Online. He initially caught my attention with his spoof reporting of the Occupy events that have recently taken place in cities around the world. Jolyon presents the peaceful protesters as blood lusting mentalists, with police ‘Frozen by terror’ as he gets into “the heart of the story” – Absolute class!
Also from Jolyon’s portfolio “Will you be my friend” – light hearted humour applying some of our social network community staples to real life situations.
If you enjoyed any of these, or have some amusing digital media of your own, then please get in touch with us on twitter or facebook.
Well the chances of a late ‘Indian Summer’ look less likely than a lottery win. It is miserable in Buxton today, foggy, soggy and most of us are feeling disappointed about the summer that never happened. Do you feel like you need a little something to take you through the next couple of months? Well here are a couple of suggestions to reinvigorate yourself in the run up to Christmas.
We’re excited to announce that we have our first CubeCart 5 site in development & we are thrilled with the results so far. The system is much easier to modify and supports some great features using JQuery which helps bring the website to life with regards to the customer’s user experience. For those of you not in the loop, CubeCart is an E-Commerce platform to help you sell your digital & tangible goods to customers regardless of their geographic location. You add your products and tag them in different categories to help potential customers browse, search, compare and most importantly pay for goods with a secure payment gateway.
Our latest E-Commerce project is for ‘The Home Boutique’, who specialise in Home Decor & Ornaments to help make your Home feel unique. It is important that the images do the talking for this website, so we have suggested some ‘Roll Over’ features to help a user focus on products which take their attention without leaving the gallery which they are browsing through.
For past examples of our CubeCart systems, check our E-Commerce Services Page. If you would like any further details then please don’t hesitate to get in touch and we will run you through our services.
Another bit of excitement comes in the form of Lime Cube Marketing’s “A Twist of Lime”, a service designed to route the path between your current position and where you want to take your business. The service includes a consultation to realise your unique strengths and weaknesses, Live assisstance throughout the week to help you get unstuck, a “living” marketing plan created in collaboration with Lime Cube and a weekly task list to help you make the most out of your business. If you aren’t convinced then give the 10 day free trial a go (And mention FreshSpark pointed you in their direction!)
Well thanks for reading and I hope you find this information useful. If you would like to keep in touch with FreshSpark and receive our updates in the future, you can sign up to our newsletter by submitting your name and e-mail address in the form below. Cheers!
