How to Get Ahead of Google Changes

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What was your last Google search? Chances are it was short, probably one or two words, and it may have included a geographical location. That’s how most people use search engines, and it’s directed how many sites create content. Unfortunately, it’s also steered many of them wrong. By thinking only of keywords and back-links, site designers and writers forget that people, not search engines, are the audience for their business content.

Sites filled with irrelevant keywords hidden in meta tags and seeded heavily throughout thin content have low value to human readers. However, they used to rank high with search engines that weren’t yet clever enough to understand the difference between a legitimate site and a content-free, keyword-stuffed link exchange.

Those early dirty SEO tricks started an arms race. Google and other search engines got smarter and less naive with every new algorithm. The Panda and Penguin updates to Google devalued thin content, low-value links and keyword stuffing. Fluff is out, and content is king; it’s great news for legitimate sites.

Understanding how Google’s algorithms work today is helpful, but is it possible to get ahead of Google changes? Can anyone but search engine designers know what’s next? The short answer: absolutely.

Write Content for Real People

Every Google algorithm change has moved the search engine’s behavior closer to the way human readers decide what to read. When you visit a site, you instantly pick up on a number of subconscious cues to its quality. Clean, modern web design invites you to explore the site. Articles formatted for easier online reading encourage you to stay. Fresh, engaging, informative content keeps you coming back.

The good news is that great business content is more available than ever. The even better news is that you don’t have to handle all your blog marketing yourself. With the right writer, you’ll have legions of fans who’ll do it for you.

Make Social Media Work for You

Social media platforms may change, but the concept is here to stay. While it’s impossible to know precisely how Google’s new algorithms will affect search engine traffic, it’s a safe bet that the system will take notice of content that gets shared heavily. Make your content worth sharing, and you’ll win over customers and search engines.

Every site you consider worth visiting first had to get popular by word of mouth. Even the titans that get millions of hits daily had to offer high value to their visitors. If they didn’t, they’d have tanked before they ever got a chance to grow. At some point, someone had to say, “Hey, you have to try this Google thing!”

Give Search Engines What They Want

Search engines are in the business of providing information quickly and accurately. Everything that facilitates that gets approval from those engines. If you have strong content with natural, relevant keywords, you’re making Google look good. Some of the other things that make search engines happy include:
• Relevant pictures with appropriate captions
• Good semantic indexing cues throughout the content
• Links from trusted, high-value sites
• A well-organized site with functional links

Write a Blog

Google doesn’t just want good content; it also wants a steady stream of it. Publishing and regularly contributing to a business blog adds value to your customers and therefore to search engines. Fresh content is a priority, and how better to deliver it than through a blog? Through blog marketing, you’re reaching two vital audiences at once: your customers and the search engines they use to find you.

Getting ahead of Google changes and predicting search engine algorithms is surprisingly simple. It’s as easy as thinking like a human – something you’re already an expert at doing.

© Business Content, Inc. 2012 All Rights Reserved.

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