Taking SEO to the next level
Search engines adapt to the times we live in. There is no doubt about that. Google makes around 500 small algorithm changes per year, so there you have it from big G itself. Anyhow these are small tweaks that don’t have a noticeable impact on search results. Not until the Panda update at least.
With the recent Panda updates Google’s ranking algorithm has been changed quite a bit. As you may know, according to Google, almost 12% of the United States search quires were impacted by this update that was rolled out back in February of 2011. And things aren’t stopping here. In June 2011 Google rolled out version 2.2 of the Panda Update, trying to improve even more the end user experience. On top of that Google also made several recommendations on what webmaster should do in order to build “high quality” websites. Another noticeable thing is that Google decided to launch the “+1 button” – their own version on Facebook “Like” button. All this stuff slowly ads up and make webmasters and SEOs think twice about their internet strategy.
What does this mean?
To be short in answer, this means than SEO people just got a whole lot of work to do than before. SEO as we know it, is pretty much keyword oriented. Better keyword research, better keyword optimized content and better backlinks (with the right anchor text) means better ranking. Well, not anymore.
Looking at the recent updates I was talking about above, it seems like Google puts more and more weight on the social aspect of the things. Google tries to analyze the webpages through the eyes of a human instead of the eyes of a machine. Design starts to matter, user experience matters and brand or trust starts to play a role in the ranking algorithm.
Is it just me or SEO has become more like Internet Marketing? Anyway, as I said, SEOs now have a lot more things to look after. They need a marketing strategy. I am not saying keyword research won’t matter anymore or that backlinks are no longer important, they still are, but other aspects come into play as well.
Here are a few of the new things to look after when you are working on your search engine optimization:
Time on site
I don’t know about you, but this is a very important metric for me. I check my “Time on site” parameter each time I log into my traffic reporting page. A high value means engaging content that could result in a push up in the search results.
Imagine a blog with time on site value of 2 seconds, in a niche that most blogs average a 2 minutes time on site. Even though it might have great backlinks and SEO-ed content, for some reason people won’t enjoy browsing that blog. That could be a signal for Google.
Bounce rate
Another thing I like to watch is the “Bounce rate” of my blog. I see no reason why a search engine would not consider this parameter when judging the quality of a website or blog. Depending on the niche you are in the bounce rate can vary but getting a value that is below the average can affect your rankings.
Social media
As you can hear everyone else saying there days, blogging has become more and more social. Getting lots of Likes on Facebook or a nice amount of Twitter followers could ring a bell in the new Google algorithm. All this signs – people following you or voting for you or like you – mean that they want to see you in the results page of their query and Google will take note of that.
Design
The looks of your blog matter. Many of the websites that got pushed down in the rankings by the Panda update had really bad design. One of them, and probably the best example is EzineArticles, who lost 50% of the traffic.
Conclusion
What I am trying to say here is that Google is starting to “listen” to the audience (the end users) and include the data they collect from them in the ranking algorithm. Search engines are becoming some sort of hybrid between machines and humans taking the search experience to the next level and webmasters need to adapt to that.
Author bio
Cristian is an engineer by profession and part time blogger. You can catch him giving free blogging tips or tweeting @gloriousblogger.
Category: SEO
About the Author (Author Profile)
Cristian is an engineer by profession and part time blogger giving free tips on how to improve blogging skills, build traffic and monetizing websites. You can catch him blogging on Glorious Blogger or tweeting @gloriousblogger.Subscribe
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Sites That Link to this Post
- 5 SEO Tips For Small Business | Netchunks | July 20, 2011
- Taking SEO to the next level | August 25, 2011
Twitter: Josyladblog
says:
Nice post, I just pray God save Us from daily SEO problems we face and deliver Us from the hands of Google. For everyone out there remember “Content is Important.”
Twitter: Josyladblog
says:
All bloggers out there should avoid duplicate content, it will kill your SERP.
Joseph recently posted..Do’s and Don’ts of Guest Blogging
I don’t think using +1 is going to make a huge impact in the long run.
Initially “links” where the +1 button. When someone linked to another page, it was their way of expressing the +1. When people started understanding the importance of this +1 vote, they tried figuring out how to manipulate it. Soon came into picture link farms, paid links, two way links, reciprocal links and what not. Links are still important, but with each algo change Google fights the latest link scheme.
I think a similar fate awaits the +1 thing. Once people figure out how it actually works, they will figure out a way of manipulating it. Think of an organization,group,cult that has many followers. All the leader of the group needs to do is unleash power of its followers to en mass +1 a site. This is bound to happen sooner or later. And when it does, the whole cycle begins again (Google fighting SEO).
Amanda Gordon recently posted..Automatic Vacuum Cleaners
Hey Amanda,
I totally agree with you on this. For the moment, backlinks seem to be the no. 1 factor in the ranking algorithm, however, in the long run I think the social aspect will gain more weight.
Cristian recently posted..69 sexy things I learned about blogging in 2 years
An inspired post for me, as i’m a SEO webmaster and now forced to be work hard according to the some new strategies of Google Panda. Thanks for so nice and useful tips.
Glad I could help.
Cristian recently posted..June 2011 report
This is the main idea of SEO, to follow the plan and execute all 6 steps and analyse everything. However this can be really difficult as algorithms are changing constantly.
Nobody will ever know what are all the signals that Google uses to rank website, but if you are creating a blog that offers a great user experience there is no way you could go wrong.
Cristian recently posted..Glorious Tip of the Week #2
To move SEO to the next level, SEO need to be started properly. Everything about SEO is inter-related and the process need to be followed properly from step one to the end.
Yes, you are right. SEO is about consistency as well. Thanks for bringing this up.
Cristian recently posted..Glorious Tip of the Week #2
I always prefer to SEO,
The technology and strategic programs that comprise “Extreme Ranking Power” have led to an amazing growth pattern for the Garden City, Long Island, New York based full-service company behind the unique concept.
I really am fascinated by SEO why I follow these sort of discussions. I couldn’t imagine having my day job as this tho. It’s like a big game of chess where every so often all the pieces move differently.
Greg recently posted..Follow-up on your Construction Pipeline leads!