Month: August 2020

How Google Ranks Your Websites

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Ranking on Google What Factors Determine Rankings

If you own a website or a blog and have wondered, how do you get on pages one of Google, or is it even possible? You may even ask yourself, is Google conspiring against me?

Google’s stated purpose is to “organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” Delivering relevant search results is a huge part of that.

In August 2018, Google rolled out the “medic update,” which emphasized Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness (EAT) as major ranking factors. The goal was to ensure users weren’t just getting the highest quality content but also getting the right information.

Google realized that most searchers come to their platform for just about everything. That means their users’ lives could be seriously impacted for the worse if the wrong results appear. Websites that could lead to potentially life-altering results fall under the umbrella “your money or your life” (YMYL)

That means Google is looking individually at each category:

Expertise: Does the author of a piece of content have the requisite competences and expertise in his field?

Authority: Is this the best source for answering the question from the searcher, or is there another “go-to” person who would be a better source?

Trustworthiness: Does the author offer an accurate, impartial presentation of the subject in its content?

According to Google’s own search quality ratings, when it indexes the main content of each page, it checks factors like:

  • Purpose of the page
  • Content quality and amount
  • Website info and info about the content creator
  • Website reputation and content creator reputation
  • User interaction with the page (time on page, bounce rates, and so on)
  • Expertise, authority, and trustworthiness (E-A-T)

Industry SEO experts also claim other factors are in the mix such as:

  • A Secure and Accessible Website
  • Page Speed (Including Mobile Page Speed)
  • Domain Age, URL, and Authority
  • Optimized Content (Heading Tags, Alt Tags, Etc)
  • No Technical Page Errors
  • Good Design & User Experience on (Mobile, Tablet, Desktops)
  • Links to the site
  • Social Signals (Likes, Shares, Comments)
  • Real Business Information (GMB – Google My Business)

The Human Side
Besides the engineer designed algorithm and artificial intelligence, Google hires “Quality Raters” (human searchers) to double check sites to make sure they are following the search engine’s guidelines.

The Struggle is Real For Small BusinessSmall Business struggles on Google Rankings Page One
Although, following every ranking factor can give you an advantage over your competitors, larger companies and directories may have an advantage inherently due to the vast amount of traffic and data sent to Google each day. This means a small business may struggle to get on page one no matter how perfectly they follow guidelines.

Should Your Goal Be To Please Your Audience Or To Please Google’s Algorithm?
You should never sacrifice your user’s experience to make Google happy. Google will never be your paying customer, but your readers might. If you want to get the best SEO advice ever, here it is: Create awesome content that your users will love. Then optimize that content to help Google understand why your audience loves it so much. But always, no matter what, begin with your user in mind.

Tech TuesdayTech Tuesday is heard each Tuesday on Mix102.5 with Big Poppa and CCNY Tech’s Marketing Guru Daryl Ledyard. Since 1988, CCNY Tech has been an IT Hardware Sales and Services company. Ten years ago, CCNY Tech has added IT Asset Disposition to it’s offerings.

Facebook Messenger Scams

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Avoid Facebook messenger scams

Facebook Messenger is a great way to keep up with family and friends, but it can also be a method for scammers.

A few scenarios We’ve Seen Lately:

  1. The”Friend” Impostor
    Sometimes a message will arrive over Facebook Messenger that appears to be from a friend down to their name and picture — so you have no reason to question it. Then when the conversation advances you’ll be able to tell this isn’t actually your friend but likely bot or an imposter trying to gain more information or cheat you.
  2. The Business Grant/Loan Trick
    In this scenario, it’s a No Credit Check Loan or Grant… that sends you to a phony website to type in your personal information, and you’d be contacted shortly thereafter with the good news: You have been approved for a $80,000 grant. After a while you’ll be approached to pay a fee, such as $1,200, to release the funds into your account. Many fall for it.

Facebook is acutely aware of these scams and has removed more than 3.2 billion bogus accounts between April and September 2019, compared with over 1.5 billion during the same period last year, according to the business’s last Community Standards Enforcement Report printed in November.safety tips Facebook Messenger

To sniff out accounts, the social media giant says it’s using artificial intelligence measures and technology, along with better reporting programs, and human inspection as an added layer of defense.

Steps You Can Take to Fight Cyberscams

•Never accept an invitation from somebody you do not recognize — or worse, it only says”Facebook User” and there’s no photo. If they a Facebook friend, or Even if the individual is recognized by you, be suspicious when receiving these sorts of messages within Facebook Messenger. Contact them in a different fashion — like a phone call, email or text message, if it’s really your friend, if you aren’t certain — and confirm it had been sent by them. Odds are, it won’t be.

• Block the person who sent the message to you and report them to Facebook away from within Facebook Messenger. On the program, tap on the little”I” tab, select”Block” and then tap”Something’s Wrong” to report it. On the desktop version, tap the Options (an icon of a small gear) to do the same. You can also send a message to Facebook at phish@fb.com.

• Use common sense. Never pay for a”free” grant. It’s a scam, if you must pay something to be given a grant. And it is not just grants; similar scams involve loans, lotteries, and requests for charitable donations.

• Watch out for “distress scams,” too. This is where you get a message that appears to be from among your Facebook friends, saying they need money because of a situation they got themselves into. When in doubt, contact them.

• Be suspicious of attachments, if they are sent over Facebook Messenger or in text or an email. They may contain malware (malicious software). Be equally as cautious with links. If you land on a page that’s supposed to look like Facebook and accidentally fall for it — it might have a blue emblem and layout that is familiar — you’ll see the URL will be different.

• Scammers are becoming increasingly sophisticated, as evidenced by cloning a friend’s page, and grammar and their spelling is getting better. (In the past, misspelled words and awkward phrasings were giveaways of fraudulent efforts.) Some friend requests are A.I.’bots, too, which can be tricky to tell.

• Change Passwords Often. A lot of us are guilty of using the same password for many or all activity that is online or not regularly changing passwords. While it’s less suitable, also enable two-factor authentication, where you will not need a password however a one-time code sent as well, to confirm it’s really you.

• Whether it is a smartphone, tablet, laptop or desktop, enable auto updates so your operating system and software will be updated if “patches” to vulnerabilities are found and fixed.

Tech Tuesday is heard each Tuesday on Mix102.5 with Big Poppa and CCNY Techs Marketing Guru Daryl Ledyard. Since 1988, CCNY Tech has been an IT Hardware Sales and Services company. Ten years ago, CCNY Tech has added IT Asset Disposition to it’s offerings.