Search engine optimization takes into account many facets of a webpage. Whenever a page is indexed, everything from the url to the title, the meta tag to the description, the entire textual content including the keywords and the images, videos too if available, are taken into consideration. All these elements play a role but the influences are not identical. Some aspects matter more than others. This brings forth a pertinent question of how do symbols affect SEO.

Symbols are often unavoidable. The two most commonly used symbols are registered and trademark. The former is denoted by an r in a circle and the latter is depicted by tm, both being placed adjacent to a brand name or patented product. These symptoms are significant as they segregate other products from the branded and registered ones. Similar names, whether of products or businesses, are not to be regarded as brands. But do these symbols mean anything for Google, its algorithm and hence the consequential search engine result pages? Do symbols affect SEO in any positive or negative way?

Many experts have commented on this over the years. There is a straight answer from John Mueller too. Google spokesman John Mueller was hosting a webmaster hangout a while back when the question came up. The question specifically pertained to registered and trademark symbols. The questioner wondered if Google ignored these symbols just as it does with punctuation. Mueller clearly stated that Google does not treat such symbols in any special way. They are neither ignored nor considered. It is just that the search engine optimization algorithm does not consider it to be a criterion to rank any page higher than others. Hence, symbols such as these have no bearing on SEO.

The official response is in sync with what experts have been saying for years. Symbols are not used by people while searching for information online, say through Google. Using these symbols is not going to get anyone some special content or information that is specifically utilitarian given the use of those symbols. People use normal texts or words and phrases to search for information. Since the symbols do not matter to people who are initiating the searches, Google does not think they are important enough for their algorithm to be tweaked. Any keyword with or without the registered and trademark symbols will come up with the same search results. The scenario is slightly different for paid search results or sponsored posts.

We currently track a lot of websites in different niches, some for testing purposes and some for our clients. Starting earlier today we noticed that there is a lot of movements within the search results. Even though, the MozCast seems to be showing a “sunny” weather we believe a Google Update might be brewing, most likely some adjustments to their “Core” algorithm update that was launched on June 3rd.

In some niches we noticed that Web 2.0 properties started to pop-up on the 1st page that were ranking previously on the 3rd and 4th pages. Regular websites that were going through “Google Dance” since Google “core” update in June now also seem to be settling back to higher positions. We’ll update this post once we gather a little bit more data to analyze.

When it comes to ranking high in terms of Google placement and attracting more traffic to your site, SEO, or search engine optimization, can make a dramatic difference in your results. Keyword strategy plays an important part in all of this, and knowing what competitors are doing can be helpful in planning your company’s approach. From viewing the page source to using timely tools such as Ahrefs, here’s how to find out a website SEO keywords.

Perhaps you have stumbled on subdomains while doing online searches. If you are curious as to why anyone would use them in the first place and if you should feature them on your site, then it is important to understand their purpose and of course the different benefits. For those who are not so sure what a subdomain is, well, think of it as an extension of an original top-level domain, or rather a third-level domain, so “Signup.yourwebsitename.com” versus the original, top-level site “yourwebsitename.com.” Ultimately, you will have a better idea of how subdomains affect SEO.

You may be wondering just what anchor text is and how you can use it. We have compiled a guide that will show you how to use it in order to maximize your SEO results.

What is Anchor Text?

When you see a link that has wording that you are able to click on, that is known as anchor text.

Why Does Anchor Text Matter?

As long as backlinks are important, the anchor text will always matter. Before the Penguin update took place back in 2012, anchor text was considered to be one of the easiest ways for Google to understand how relevant any given website was.

Now, Google uses it to penalize things such as spam and over-optimization. However, this does not mean that anchor text is becoming unimportant or meaningless at all.

When used in the way that we are going to discuss, it can actually prove to be stronger than it has ever been in importance.