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Google Algorithms and What Small Business Owners Can Learn

October 21, 2013 By Adegboye Adeniyi

As usual, when Google coughs, everyone especially SEO technicians catches a cold. But this set of people should not be the only ones to be bothered with each Google update. Small business owners who are struggling to run their business and don’t have huge advertising budget for Pay per Click but have somehow embraces organic ranking as their way of surviving online are the ones who should pay more attention to how the search giant thinks.

At least  theoretically , Higher ranking = More traffic = More sales.

When Google celebrated its 15th Anniversary this year 2013 ,just in case you happen to stumble on this piece sometimes in the future, they announced a new way of doing things (call it an algorithm) when it comes to how search queries are processed. This algorithm is focused on improving the way Google’s search machine (remember Google is still a machine at its core) answers the numerous query it receives from people who are using it to search for products, services or simply to look for information. This new algorithm or way of doing search is called the Hummingbird  and the motive behind such update was to try as much as possible to answer questions asked of it with much precision. In a nut shell with this update, Google does not want to focus on single phrase or Keyword; they want to answer query based on the context or “combination of phrases”.

Google has carried out various updates in the past and will continue to do so . On an average, Google updates it algorithms several times in a year. Some are quietly done and slip by like Penguin 2.1 whereas others are major updates that affect websites more prominently. At the core of each update, a serious attempt at improving the way search results are processed and displayed to users is done. This means after most major updates, website’s search ranking drastically changes especially if you your Search Engine Optimization has been done wrongly. Two major recent updates that drastically changed business website ranking were the Panda and Penguin. While most people will cry and whine over Google’s numerous updates and against the whole secrecy behind its algorithm, certain lessons can be learnt by business.

 

5 Big Lessons Business can Learn from Google Updates

 

1. Always focus on your customers
The main motive behind the update according to Google was to try and predict intent behind each query and display results accordingly. Primarily, when anyone visits search engines, you want results that provides the information you were looking for. No one wants to stroll endlessly through pages of the search results. In time past, Google answers search request based on individual phrases called keywords. Now, Google is trying to give users answers based on the context of the whole sentence being input into the query box. This tells us one key factor; your customer is king. To remain relevant in your niche, you must focus on them. Give them value for your service and they will keep coming back no matter the competition. This way you can continue to be an industry leader in your niche.

 

 

2. Never depend on one source of traffic

 

With each Google updates, some websites lose ranking and some gain ranking. When a website loses ranking, the web traffic automatically reduces. Just in case, you have been doing everything right, the only way to substain your online brand presence will be to diversify. In the digital marketing, you want to be found where your customers and prospects are hanging out. For this major reason, at Vtns Solutions, our Search Engine Marketing ensures that your website is developed and optimized to gain traffic from diverse sources. Depending only on organic traffic may give you higher ROI longer than any other type of digital marketing method but if Google suddenly on a whim changes its algorithms, your website might get hit.

 

 

3. Assign resources to SEM or fail

 

If you have considered search engine marketing to your marketing strategy, now is the time to do so.  As long as search engines exist, SEM will always be an important part of your marketing strategy. Your search marketing strategy should include Social Media, PPC, Organic SEO and Email marketing. Either you running a PPC, E-marketing or Organic SEO campaign, one thing is sure, you need SEM experts to help you get the highest ROI on your investment. Rushing to fix things when they go wrong is bad and the time taken to recover might affect the way your brand is perceived. While it might be cost you resource to keep an SEO Consultant at your beck and call, making sure that you choose your SEO consultant carefully will serve you headache on the long run. Want  to learn how you can reduce your SEO expenses? Download our E-book on how to carry out your own Search Engine Optimization.

 

4. More blog post?

 

Content has always continued to matter to Google. The internet is full of digital resources. Content to Google is like oxygen to your brain. The Panda update was supposed to address the issue of thin contents on website who are ranking for a particular keyword but has little information about such keyword on their website. Now with this shift to a more advanced way of processing requests, your content must be tailored to fully satisfying the user’s intent.

So what should you do? Rush to produce more content? No what this means is that your content strategy must be updated. If you were producing contents for ranking purpose, think again. Google now put context in mind and therefore the metrics for measuring relevant content has changed.

 

5. White hat technique is the way to go

 

When doing search engine, different methods and techniques are employed by SEO practitioner. These techniques are broadly classified into White-hat SEO practitioners and Black -hat practitioners. In between is what is known as Grey-hat techniques. Search Engines evolved and with increasing power behind how search is been done, any method that does not comply with the guidelines on how SEO is to be done suffers from each improvement in the way search engines operates. The lesson from this is that as search engines evolve over time, people who try to manipulate them will get always burnt. This means you cannot avoid continuing to leave your SEO in just anyone hand. No SEO at all is better than any attempt to trick or manipulates whatever metrics you are using to measure your success online.

 

Conclusion:

One thing remains certain, the way SEO is done will change, Google will continue to improve on its way it does business with the main motive of keeping their users happy. So also should every business. Your customers are your major priority. Give them what they want and they will keep coming back and never than now is the time to take an holistic approach to your Search Engine Marketing.  Ready to take the bull by the horn? Sign up our SEO Service

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Adegboye Adeniyi

Adegboye Adeniyi is an SEO Specialist. He creates and implements campaigns for clients, endlessly discovering new prospects and strategies for growing their business online. Outside of the Internet realm, his other passions include reading and playing chess.
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Filed Under: Search Engine Optimization

Comments

  1. Elizbeth says

    October 28, 2013 at 12:15 pm

    Your means of explaining all in this paragraph is actually
    nice, all be able to simply be aware of it, Thanks a lot.

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