Although we can easily find online a list of the most common Google data centers, noone knows exactly all IPs, simply because search engine engineers change them regularly too. There’s definitely more than a dozen main ones and local ones worldwide are being setup too. Everyone is asking today “Google Caffeine will launch on which data center first?” I’ve done extensive research online and can’t find any reports yet, but as soon as I have more information will be writing about it here. Read more about this subject by following this link to Matt Cutt’s post.

So what’s all the hype about the Caffeine update? According to Google engineers it’s an amazing upgrade to its search engine, as regarding indexing, the ranking algorithm and its potential to keep evolving constantly. Am pretty sure that once it’s completely rolled out in 2010, we will see even more changes in how Google displays results.

I done some testing myself on the developer preview and although I noticed some difference between current rankings, changes were minimal. In my opinion the Caffeine update won’t effect much search engine results in the short term, but the new technology behind it will give Google engineers the facility to migrate Google search as we know it today to the search of the future! What’s your take on it? If you manage to find out on which IP or data center is Google Caffeine rolled out on, please do let us know here.

Caffeine Update: SEO Expert Malta (Google Specific IP)

Google has been collecting user behavior statistics for years now, through normal search of course and its own tools such as Analytics, Chrome and the famous Google Toolbar. These tools are free and definitely useful, but in exchange we’re indirectly supplying Google with invaluable data about us and our online behavior. Google sees our local IP address, what search queries we use, which result we click, whether we bounce back to the search engine to choose another result, whether we refine our query to search again, how long we stay on a particular website or page and much more.

Question: Are web usage metrics a part of Google’s ranking algorithm today?
Answer: Yes!

I do create a lot of websites on regular basis and that’s a fact! This gives me the opportunity to analyze the way search engines interact with new sites and identify procedures required for immediate successful rankings. So couple months ago I decided to create a particular website (mainly as an SEO experiment) and target Google US, details following:

• registered .com using a popular domain registrar in US
• bought a hosting package from same company
• optimized the website for en-US
• done basic link building, all from US websites
• and waited (yes, all SEO professionals have to be patient, hehe)

My new site got indexed pretty quick, a week or so on Google and that’s perfectly normal. Rankings are ‘usually never’ impressive immediately, unless I’m targeting some obscure keywords, but that’s normal too. I kept working on the website, adding content and what not and rankings started to improve gradually as anticipated. Important to remind you that being of Maltese nationality, I work mostly from Malta, unless I’m traveling. Although we do have Google.com.mt, many locals still use Google.com, especially in this case since I wanted to target the US market.

Whilst monitoring the website through Google Analytics I noticed that I’m still monopolizing the stats, since I did not exclude my own IPs and traffic is minimal. Looking at the data in point form I listed above, any SEO guru will confirm that my website should in theory rank best on Google US than any other localized version, but it’s not the case! Let’s say the keyword I’m trying rank for is ‘seo myths‘, I find my website:

• ranking #20 on Google.com (US)
• ranking #5 on Google.com.mt (Malta)

I’m obviously not checking rankings while logged in a Google account or from my own IPs, cause personalized search might be the reason. Website was optimized to rank in US, yet it’s ranking better on Google.com.mt. Is this a case of Google using user behaviour analysis to understand where a website is currently getting traffic from and boost rankings depending on the geolocation source of traffic? I definitely think so, give me one reason why my website is ranking better on Google.com.mt!

This is just one simple example, but being a new website where I had full control of its optimization I could exclude any other factor that could have effected rankings. Absolutely nothing points to Malta, apart from me searching for it on serps and working on it constantly, sometimes even from different IP locations in Malta. It’s very clear that Google is using already web usage metrics as part of its ranking algorithm and we should use this aspect to maximize our search engine optimization efforts.

In my opinion this also proves that:

• traffic generated to websites through offline advertising does effect rankings
• running PPC campaigns, does help Google ranking (not because we’re giving money to Google through Adwords, but simply because we’re attracting more traffic)

Search engines are always preaching that we need to make websites for the user, so attracting traffic alone is not enough if people just bounce away. Aren’t they saying indirectly that the bounce rate (a user behavior stat) is very important too? There you go! SEO’ing a website the traditional way is not enough any longer, we should replicate an offline business model to succeed online too, i.e. get the most clients in any creative way possible and provide the best user experience.

On seomoz.org they say that web usage metrics is a factor of the future of seo, but I honestly think it’s an important part of Google’s ranking algorithm already!

Here I will be explaining all the issues one should be aware of, related to changing IP address without losing Google ranking. This procedure is initiated by simply changing the DNS to point to the new web host.

1. DNS Propagation
   During the propagation process, you should keep the website live on both old and new IP address. Although propagation is usually very fast in most locations, it can take even up to a week in third-world countries. You simply need to be sure that all web pages are reachable during the whole process by Googlebot and users of course. Checking the logs of the old server will give you a clear indication when this process is terminated.
2. Content Updates
   A change of IP address can be associated by Google with a change in a website’s ownership, especially when combined with other factors such as radical content changes. Thus I recommend you to keep content updates to a minimum during this whole process. By not updating content at all, you will also be making sure that you’re supplying same content on the old and new IP, during the propagation process discussed in point one too.
3. Capitalization Issues
   Some servers are case-sensitive. I suggest you to check all internal linking at the new location to make sure you don’t have any broken links. You can use a free software like Xenu’s Link Sleuth to crawl your website and make sure everything is in order. If necessary, you will need to setup 301 redirects to fix capitalization issues.
4. Indexed Web Pages
   It’s imperative to verify that all web pages on the old server are present at the new location too. Most of the websites I investigate usually have several orphan pages online that might be old and not even linked internally, but are still in Google’s index for various reasons and might be attracting traffic too. I recommend you to either replicate all exactly or clean the website properly before copying it to the new server.
5. Blocked IP Address
   You should verify whether the new IP address is not blocked in any country or whether it will be neighbor to black listed websites. Google does indirectly associate websites which reside on same class C IP address. Also, you will need to check whether you own any other websites on the same C block too, cause this might dilute any incoming link value originating from your other sites.
6. IP Geolocation
   Physical location of a website’s IP address does influence Google localized search results. If the new IP address is located in a different area or country, you will potentially rank better at this new location, but worst in the previous area.

I tried to cover the most important factors related to changing IP address without losing Google ranking, but feel free to add your own suggestions or comment on any of my points.

I will also be reviewing some of the best tools available and giving you my personal recommendations. Will be blogging about other SEO experts in this industry that one should be aware of and mentioning some of the most successful websites owned by Maltese individuals too. Most of all, I will be around to answer any questions you might have about search engine optimization.

Learning SEO (search engine optimization) is not just about improving Google rankings, it’s much more! Check out my blog posts, follow me on twitter and you will understand what I mean.