Is Google F&%king SEO?

Google Privacy Affects SEO
Google Privacy Affects SEO

Google maybe watching you but they aren't sharing the information!

Google has just announced a big change to their site. Though from the user point of view it is minor. From the SEO point of view, it is a game changer.

Most of SEO strategy is based on keyword searches. How did someone get to your site? What search terms did they use to find you? The answers to these simple questions give a plethora of information to websites. They give you the specifics on how people find your site out of the millions that are out there. This information can then be programed into your site so that way you come up closer to the top of the search, to hopefully capture more of the traffic using those search terms. Google is now making that information private.

Google announced on Oct 18th that if you are signed into to Google when you conduct a search that your search will be encrypted. Any of the information that would normally be shared with websites will now be kept private, such as:

  • Referrer data- this is the information about what links the users clicked to get to your site. This is how you see who visited your site and where they came from.
  • Keywords- exact keywords and search terms will not be reported.

This will have a big impact on SEO for websites. Information that was freely reported and integral for comprehensive SEO will now be withheld. Google says you can still use their webmasters tool box to find popular and general search terms, but that will hardly help you create a accurate SEO strategy. Of course if you are paying Google for an ad or a sponsored link, you will still get referrer and keyword data, though only on your paid links.

The good thing about this is that currently only 10% of users are signed in. So 90% of the searches will still be reporting data.