Today Google announced on their blog that they’ve been working for a few months now on a totally new search engine. This is specially important if you own a business on the internet (and not just for SEO consultants!).

Google's new update has the codename "Caffeine"

The new Google changes will be more “behind the scenes”, so most searchers won’t know the difference. However, if you look closely and review Google’s new engine, you will know a few important changes.

Some quick searches show that Google now includes top level domain names (.com, .net, .org, etc.) as keywords. For example, a search for the keyword “stompernet” now shows the website www.stomper.net as well. This domain would probably not have shown up in the results with the old engine. This shows that Google is picking up on the trend that websites tend to include the TLD when searching for a shorter URL. Popular examples would be del.icio.us, tr.im and bit.ly.

There are more changes to Google, and the new engine is not ready yet, but be sure that it can affect the way your website can be found.

To be sure that you remain on top of Google, you have to understand that Google is looking for good and relevant content. If you keep that in mind, and give them what they (and their users!) are looking for, you’ll have no problem getting good rankings in Google.

If you spot any other changes, please comment on them.

Test the new Google here: http://www2.sandbox.google.com (notice the feedback link on the bottom of the page where it says “Dissatisfied? Help us improve”)

Stompernet members will surely hear more about this in the member’s area  :o)

Wishing you a great day!

Quincy