Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/269668
48 maltatoday, SUNDAY, 2 MARCH 2014 DANIEL COLEIRO KINGSWELL WHEN someone searches a query on Google, there are many factors that determine the ranking of the search results. According to Moz, Google update its algorithms 500- 600 times a year. There are mil- lions of websites on the web, and when someone searches on Google the results are filtered by these so called 'Algorithms'. These al- gorithms affect search results in significant ways. Although most algorithm changes are minor, from time to time Google announce a 'major' algorithm update such as Google Panda, Google Penguin and lately the Google Hummingbird. The Panda algorithm was first launched in February 2011. The aim of this algorithm was to push low quality sites down in the search results, as they provided poor ex- perience to the user. Therefore one must always try to come up with high quality content in websites to avoid being hit by this algorithm. Webmasters must publish content that people really enjoy and con- tent that is compelling, and not duplicate. The Penguin algorithm was rolled up in April 2012. This algorithm was targeted to penalise 'black hat SEO'. This algorithm affects those that violate Google's Webmaster Guidelines by increasing artificial low quality links pointing to their page. The aim of this algorithm was mainly to penalise those that spam by building their links pointing to their website on very low quality sites. This algorithm was upgraded last October. The Hummingbird was an- nounced in September 2013; how- ever it started affecting search results in August 2013. Perhaps this could be one of the most com- plicated algorithms to understand as it is not very straightforward. However in simple terms, this al- gorithm help Google understand what the user is really after when searching for something. The rea- son behind this is that 'conversa- tional search ' became more popu- lar i.e. whereas before someone looking for a restaurant in Sliema Malta used to search "sliema res- taurants" today the user is more likely to t ype in "where best to eat in sliema?" This changed SEO as whereas before webmasters and digital marketers used to think of 'how to rank for a certain query', today one needs to think on 'how to best answer questions that a user may have'. In simple words Google started to take into con- sideration every word in a query, and not just the sense of it. What's next? As we said in the beginning of this article Google update its algorithms approximately between 500-600 times every year. However one can monitor major updates by looking at 'SEO forecasts'. There are many websites that show changes and fluctuations in Google searches, one of the most popular being www. mozcast.com or www.moz.com/ google-algorithm-change. The first website features current SEO situa- tion while the second website show past updates. These websites are good to monitor especially if one notices any major drops in search results, which will help clarify which update have affected the website so one could fix accordingly. Although one can never be sure of what can Google come up with, the most important thing to avoid any penalties from Google is to keep SEO as clean as possible, without any spamming and without try- ing to cheat on Google Webmaster Guidelines. One must also make sure to offer a positive experience by providing original and innovative content. By doing this one will avoid any surprises in Google search re- sults and a drop in organic traffic. Daniel Coleiro Kingswell is a Search Engine Marketing Specialist at Alert eBusiness (Internet Market- ing Division) – www.alertemarket- ing.com Information Technology Getting to grips with Google Algorithms THE Malta Red Cross were on site at the Malta Marathon last Sun- day keeping a watchful eye on all the 3700+ athletes, for any emer- gency that might crop up, as they do every year. This year however marked "Cetta's" first day on the job in all her vested roles! Play- fully named "Cetta" by Malta Red Cross volunteers, Cetta is Malta`s first fully fledged mobile clinic. The marathon saw Cetta debut her state of the art communications centre which acted as headquarters for communications and control, al- lowing the Red Cross team to have full visibility over the entire mara- thon and enabling them to quickly respond to any emergencies. The communication and control centre was set up with a live stream from all the Red Cross response ve- hicles making first response much faster and more efficient. Besides information on the response unit locations, the system also allows information such as ambient tem- perature, alert status, patient in- formation and parameters and GPS position to be passed on from one vehicle to another. Monitoring the track was also made possible via video coverage with eight cameras positioned in different areas. Drones were also used to monitor the actual locations of the runners and in order to spot injured athletes faster. These also helped to identify traffic zones and instruct the emer- gency vehicles on routes to take and to help minimise traffic conges- tion. "This year forty-six casualties in total were treated during and af- ter the marathon, most of which had minor injuries. Our set up consisted of 40 volunteers includ- ing nurses and doctors, five am- bulances, two first response motor bikes, three bicycle responders, four Segways, three response cars, one major incident support vehicle and the mobile clinic." said Robert Brincau, Director of Operations at Malta Red Cross. "Thanks to local sponsors and the help of our volun- teers we managed to finish off the control centre in time for the Mara- thon this year making our coverage of mass events such as this com- plete. I have to say that it has made a world of a difference to the quality of service we provide to the local community." The Red Cross thanked his Excel- lency, the President George Abela, the Malta Community Chest Fund and Transport Malta, who kindly donated the otherwise decommis- sioned bus. They also thanked Al- berta, Hotel Line Ltd and HandsOn Systems Malta Ltd. for the support provided to equip the bus with all the material necessary to convert it into a Mobile Clinic and communi- cation control centre. The Mobile Clinic will allow the Red Cross to provide better medi- cal service during mass events, faster and more complex treatment when it comes to multiple patient incidents, therefore minimising the need to transfer patients to Mater Dei hospital. In the future the Mal- ta Red Cross would also like to offer other medical services to people in their respective villages. Malta's first mobile clinic and communications control centre put to full use for the first time at the Malta Marathon last Sunday