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Stay updated with the latest happenings from the world of SEO, algorithms, new SEO Tools, guides and tactics associated with search engine optimization

Google’s John Mueller discussed why Google showed different results for singular and plural versions of an identical phrase. Many SEO experts suggest adding synonyms to content such as plural and singular versions of a search phrase being targeted. John Mueller clarifies why it may be wiser to select singular or plural before concentrating on that.

Question related to singular and plural keyword phrases

In a recent Google Hangout, a person asked what were the reasons for totally different rankings for keywords in singular and plural. There are some instances where the plural version ranks in top five while the singular isn’t even in the top 100. John Mueller stated that there should be a similarity in search intent for both versions. It isn’t essential that Google would show the same search results for singular and plural versions of a targeted keyword.

Google announced on Wednesday morning that it is doing away with the method of URL submission to its search index. The “addurl” page, listed in this help document redirects to Google Search Console login page. Webmasters from Google stated that they had to drop public submission feature. The company, however, didn’t say that it was essential to remove it. It might be related to abuse or spam issue.

An update to Google My Business will now display the exact search queries used to look for a business listing. Search queries display to you queries used to look for your business on Google. The data will appear on the Insights tab, which tracks the most widely used terms and search trends for a specific business. You can find the common terms and search trends related to your business on this tab. Search queries concentrate on the terms used by your customers to search your business on Maps and Local Search.

Mordy Oberstein of RankRanger has shared a report stating that Google mobile search results have witnessed a phenomenal increase in the number of thumbnails. According to the data shared by RankRanger, there was a surge of 183% on July 13, 2018, from 15.7 percent of all first-page mobile search results having image thumbnails to 44.5%. This trend has been prevalent for a few days. Here is a chart which displays the sudden boost in mobile thumbnails:-

Today, Google has reaffirmed that 15% of its searches done by users on a regular basis has never been seen before. They stated this in 2013 and have restated this metric after Project Owl was announced today. Google stated:-

There are trillions of searches on Google every year. In fact, 15 percent of searches we see every day are new — which means there’s always more work for us to do to present people with the best answers to their queries from a wide variety of legitimate sources. While our search results will never be perfect, we’re as committed as always to preserving your trust and to ensuring our products continue to be useful for everyone.

Google has updated their new Image Publishing Guidelines and there is a notable improvement. This new version offers actionable information which could enhance your image rankings, position them to appear in rich results, make them voice assistant friendly and generate more traffic to your website. This updated support page has a lot to offer. The SEO tips for image search are mentioned below:-

On Monday Google Google announced the roll-out of the “mobile-first” indexing of the web. In 2016, Google first elaborated its plan to change the manner in which its search index functions, explaining how its search algorithms would eventually be shifted for using the mobile version of a website’s content for indexing its pages.

Google will start the second wave of expanding mobile-first indexing to a larger set of websites. Google’s Takeaki Kanaya tweeted that it seems that the notifications are a part of mobile-first indexing. In December 2017, Google stated that it had started to transition a small number of sites to mobile-first indexing. However, it declined to state which properties had made the transition.

Google has rolled out many visual updates to Search Console which are designed to offer more context to data which is included in reports. The visual update comprises:-

  • Annotation Cards: Fly over bullet points in the error report to learn more about the problem detected on that specific date.
  • Difference Column: It shows how data has changed over a time period.
  • Filter/Compare: This has been redesigned with a new look and pre-populated values
  • Overall improvements to the date picker and comparison window

In the recent SMX conference held in Munich, Google’s John Mueller stated that Google Search Console will send FYIs to websites which have moved from desktop-first to mobile-first index. This will enable those website owners who are trying to find out whether their websites have switched over by verifying server logs or viewing Google’s cache to see whether each page is cached with the mobile or desktop version at present.

Mueller also mentioned that Google plans to include an annotation in Google Search Console in Performance Report to be an extra visual changeover for the website. This will certainly help those who witness fluctuations in their reporting data. This can be explained by Google once the site switches from desktop to mobile indexing.