14 Feb 2024
- 12 Jul 2016
- 4 Min read
Industry round-up: HTTPS on the rise & branded Facebook accounts lose clout
The latest edition of the Glass Digital industry-round up will get you bang up to date with the latest news from the world of digital marketing, including: the ever-growing amount of HTTPS adopters, Facebook’s News Feed algorithm change, and the new Google Knowledge Graph.
Google is winning the fight on HTTPS
According to a report by Moz, almost a third of all first-page Google results now use the HTTPS protocol; before the search giant first announced it was going to start using HTTPS as a ranking factor in a blog post in July of 2014, it was just 5%.
HTTPS provides a secure and encrypted protocol that protects against eavesdropping or tampering of the communications between a user and a website. Google has made it a ranking factor — albeit a very minor one — in order to speed up its adoption across the web and improve user security.
The evidence suggests that this is working, and the majority of websites may be running on HTTPS in the next few years. If you haven’t already, make sure to update your own domain so you benefit from this ranking signal yourself.
Facebook’s algorithm change shakes the world of digital marketing
Facebook recently announced some big changes to its News Feed algorithm. The most important for digital marketers is the announcement that posts from friends and family will now be prioritised over everything else.
This has huge implications for the future of brand content on the social media platform, and has come as a surprise to many in the industry. However, way back in 2014, Facebook announced in a blog post that many of their users found content from Pages too promotional. It therefore makes sense that they’ve taken steps to reduce its influence on users’ News Feeds, especially given the launch of Instant Articles earlier in the year.
According to a review by Buzzsumo of 25 million Facebook posts from 10,000 publishers, the average total shares of content from brands saw a spike in January — when Instant Articles were rolled out. However, they’ve seen a drop since then — possibly due to the new News Feed algorithm, as updates are often launched in secret before an official announcement is made.
More importantly for brands, posts that include a link which takes the user away from Facebook are doing even worse, dropping from over 50 million in June last year to under 30 million just twelve months later.
However, video posts are doing better than ever, rising from 200 million average total shares during the month of June 2015 to over 500 million a year later.
This poses a serious problem for brands looking to develop an online presence; Facebook is pushing hard to overtake YouTube as the biggest video-sharing platform on the web and therefore promoting those who publish video. However, link posts are the most beneficial to brands, as they get a link back to their site.
Google makes self-diagnosis easier
Image by Google
We recently shared our pick of the 10 best Google hacks, but since then, Google has announced a clever feature that would definitely make it on our list.
In a blog post, Google announced that you’ll soon be able search your symptoms in the Google mobile app whenever you’re feeling under the weather. You’ll be presented with a knowledge graph that will give you a diagnosis, as well as information on self-treatment and what might warrant a visit to a GP.
The results, which Google say have been reviewed by experts at Harvard Medical School and Mayo Clinic, will hopefully save you searching around dodgy-looking health sites only to be told your mild headache might be fatal.
This feature is being rolled out on the US mobile app first, and will no doubt be coming to the UK soon if it proves successful. While this ingenious development will be extremely useful for users, SEOs will be keeping a keen eye on this and any further developments of the Google Knowledge Graphs, as they could change the way we use the internet in years to come.
Follow Glass Digital on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or LinkedIn for the latest industry news, and get in touch with us today if your brand needs help keeping up with the ever-changing world of digital marketing.
