Core Optimisation

Hotel Digital Marketing Challenges & Opportunities – Spring 2017

Mobile Index Desktop second fiddle

Hotel Digital Marketing

NEW Mobile index

• In late 2016 Google announced it was to create a separate mobile index within months, one that will be the main or “primary” index that the search engine uses to respond to queries. A separate desktop index will be maintained, one that will not be as up-to-date as the mobile index. • In October Gary Ilyes said this would happen within “months.” • It’s unclear exactly how the mobile index will work. For example, since the mobile index is the “primary” index, will it really not be used for any desktop queries? Will it only contain “mobile-friendly” content? How out-of-date will the desktop index be? Desktop usage is now a minority of Google queries but still generates substantial usage. • The most substantial change will likely be that by having a mobile index, Google can run its ranking algorithm in a different fashion across “pure” mobile content rather than the current system that extracts data from desktop content to determine mobile rankings.


NEW Mobile index

• What this means for Hotels is that mobile experiences may now be considered first for search rankings in the main index. • Current desktop sites may retain ranking for desktop only but will likely no longer contribute to mobile. • All Googles previous advice regarding mobile experiences will be doubly important. – Site speed, usability, eliminating splash pages etc. • Optimising and ensuring proper indexing of mobile sites will be vital.

Splash pages Not on Mobile


Mobile Splash Pages

• Google has announced that starting January 10th it will be penalizing mobile pages with interstitials that impede user access to content. • Here are the examples of techniques that could be penalized. • Pop-ups that cover the main content • Standalone interstitial that needs to be dismissed to access the main content • Hiding the main content below the fold


Mobile Splash Pages


Mobile Splash Pages

HTTPS:// Sitewide SSL Security


HTTPS – Sitewide SSL

• Since 2014 Google has given a ranking advantage to websites that are secured by HTTPS which gives a more secure experience for users on the web. • In the beginning the benefit was small enough to be minor in the grand scheme of overall challenges and issues for a websites rankings. • For various reasons during the period when adoption was low it was difficult for Google to penalise very relevant sites (to users) that simply hadn't made the switch yet, as it would have made their search engine less useful. • 2 years later, mostly through a suggestive PR campaign, adoption has reached around 33% for sites that rank on page one for most searches.

• At this level of adoption Google can be reasonably satisfied that users will still get relevant results if they give more of an advantage to secure websites or punish unsecured sites (depending on your viewpoint).


HTTPS – Sitewide SSL • This is what we see a trend towards at the moment across our client data and we suspect this may become more pronounced. • Google seems intent to drive adoption of secure protocols especially on sites that conduct Ecommerce or handle other user inputs such as messaging and emails in forms. • For this reason we are recommending that all our clients switch to fully secure HTTPS protocol across their entire sites (it would have always been part of the booking process). • Issues: The biggest potential issue is mixed assets errors. This is when an image or other asset presented from an outside source is not presented via HTTPS. • It can be an issue on large content sites making the change in stages, but is more likely to be caused by third party assets like images and pixels from ad networks, booking engines or similar third party sources.


HTTPS Overview

•2014 Google Implements minor search advantage for secure sites HTTS:// •Adoption has reached 33% •Google starting to implement larger advantages now •Google presenting secure status of websites in browser (See following slides) •Google continues PR push in this regard •EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) are also pushing HTTPS everywhere, using the phrase “secure the web”. •Consumers starting to be more security aware because of ongoing PR campaigns •Recommendation: Change to site wide HTTPS unless there is a compelling reason not to.


Named Certification Authority


Google Secure Site


Not Secure

generichotelwebsite

Generic Hotel


Not Secure Detail on Click

generichotelwebsite

Hidden Content Google Discount


Hidden Content Could Sink You

• Since 2013 Google has indicated that it would start to give less weight to hidden content. • While this has had a minor impact on client sites to date, an update in January 2017 seems to have given more impact to this (certainly on desktop sites). • It seems that content that is hidden in expandable elements or in tabs is now almost completely discounted by Google.

• Recommendations: For this reason we are recommending to our clients that all content be expanded by default or removed from hideable elements completely. • A method we have suggested to clients who wish to retain current design elements, is to move text further down the page and ensure it is exposed and to use anchor tags to bring users to the content in a similar experience as they had previously. • Other notes: Google has indicated that this may not apply as strictly for mobile search as there are justifications for having content tabbed for mobile users.


Hidden Content Overview

•2013 Google starts discounting hidden content for search •2017 Google update applies this more strictly •2017 Sites with only hidden content on home page start to be outranked by other pages with more content within the site for branded terms.

•Recommendation: Expose hidden content wherever possible to prevent it being unseen or ignored by Google for SEO purposes.

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Core Optimisation

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