877-490-8324As we’ve been reporting recently, keyword encryption means that Google will no longer reveal the keywords that sent traffic to websites from search queries. By the end of 2013, Google intends to encrypt all keyword search activity, with the exception of clicks on Adwords PPC ads.
Much of SEO reporting is based on Google keyword traffic data. Currently, Google has 68% of search engine marketshare; in comparison, the other search engines (Bing, Yahoo, Ask, AOL, etc.) share a meager 32%. Hence, there is no alternative to the prolific “keyword traffic data” that used to be available from Google. This makes data interpretation and metrics an even trickier area now.
In the absence of Google keyword traffic data, you can expect SEO reporting (if you’re a premium SEO customer of ours) to now employ other pertinent measurements, such as organic traffic over time, domain authority, root links and top entrances (number of pages that receive organic referrals), to demonstrate results.
The changes from the rollout of Encrypted Search have nothing to do with the effectiveness of SEO campaigns, however. This is very, very important. SEO is still an essential service for companies that want their websites to be found on Google search.
In other Google news…two algorithm updates are out in full force. Read about Penguin 2.1 here and Hummingbird here.