What’s New in Search?

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Gosh, the last few weeks have seen yet more changes in the world of search! I wrote about the affects of Google’s ‘Panda’ update in March, which you can read here:  Google Frowns on Content Farms.  Websites continue to be affected by this major update.

The last week has seen Google going even more ‘social’ with the introduction of the +1 button, where people searching can effectively ‘like’ sites in the search results (a bit like Facebook’s like button) and Google+ – a new type of social network (just to make it even more confusing)!

So here’s a quick summary of the changes and what it means for your website:

Content
Create unique, useful content for your site visitors on a regular basis. This is usually done via a blog. There are a number of benefits of doing this:

i. It provides fresh, up to date content on your site.

ii. Shows off expertise and credibility in your industry sector.

iii. Encourages the search engines to visit your site more often.

iv. Encourages interactivity with visitors on your website.

v. Encourages distribution of your content via the social networks (so it’s important people can easily share your blog posts or content)

vi. Useful, unique content will enable you to prove that your site is worthy of higher rankings.

Social Signals
This means that participating in the social networks is no longer just an option, but an important part of your online marketing. The search engines are looking at how your content is distributed, if people like it and how influential those people are who share it. To help your site benefit from social signals, you need to:

i. Participate in the major social networks such as LinkedIn, Twitter & Facebook (although you don’t need to do all three)

ii. Plan how you will use the social networks and what your objectives are.

iii. Connect with other people and encourage distribution of your content from your blog/website and also by sharing your own links and other people’s links in your social networks.

iv. Be aware that people can now ‘+1’ your website in Google’s search results (if they have a Google profile), so your listing needs to be relevant to their search and serve their needs when clicking through. This could ultimately affect rankings and influence whether or not people click through to your site or another site that may have been +1’d by people in their network.

v. Be proactive within the social networks – it may help to share this task with a few staff members.

Analytics Data
Finally, how people interact with your site is becoming increasingly significant in the way search engines rank websites too. Google knows a huge amount about most sites on the web from people clicking on a site’s link from the search results, whether people click through and leave immediately (this is taken into account in the bounce rate stats in Google Analytics) and if people stay to browse your website.

This means that the information on your site needs to be relevant to people searching, useful when they arrive on it and encourage people to stay on your site. Useful, fresh, relevant and linkable content again is what people and the search engines are looking for.

Have you adapted your online marketing strategy to take into account the recent changes in search and social media? Have you seen any effects on rankings for your website? Please share your experiences here.

About Sam

Sam McArthur is an internet marketing consultant with 12 years in the industry. She helps professional service businesses with their internet marketing strategy, helping them to see significant results from their online marketing activities, particularly within the search engines. She also consults on the latest internet tools, technology and best practice techniques.