Google Gets Fresh

3 Simple Tips on How to Take Advantage of The New Google Search Algorithm

From Panda to caffeine, you can’t help but read about Google’s latest search indexing system or results algorithm. The latest change is an algorithmic change, which means the secret formula by which they deem one site more relevant than another. This change is now based on delivering the most recent or “freshest” results. It’s less about SEO (or search engine optimization) and more about current relevancy.

So for instance, if you are looking up the score for the Giants game, it’s likely you want to see the score from the most recent game. At least that’s what Google is banking on – it wouldn’t make sense to show you a score from a year ago unless you specified so. What if you searched for a “Hyundai Elantra reviews”? You’d likely want to see the most current model year, not necessarily prior years’ unless you specified so, such as,“2010 Hyundai Elantra reviews”.

Is this a good or bad thing your site?

This change is a good thing. While in the example above it may make sense to show the most recent pages first in the results, it doesn’t mean you won’t see older pages as well. So it allows for some level of predictability of intent in the search results, while offering the ability for your site to compete. And who really wants to see old news anyhow!

So how does that help you as a business? It’s an opportunity – an opportunity to provide even more relevant, valuable information to your audience. It’s an opportunity you can take full advantage of on your own or with the help of an Internet marketing consultant. Now it’s even more important to continually provide updates and relevant information to your customers and prospects – be ready to take full advantage!

Here are 3 things you can start on today to help ensure your site stays “fresh”:

1.    Add news regularly.
Whether your sharing information you found at another site or have relevant product information to share, have a plan to get that on your site weekly.

2.    Get social.
Having a strong social presence where you share and retweet both information and links is about as fresh as you can get. While social links don’t stick around very long in most search engines, the shear consistency of them makes for an extremely high level of freshness.

3.    Manage your reputation.
Your customers are busy tweeting and rating you online. How busy are you monitoring and responding? Have a good reputation management system in place to ensure the most recent news or comment about your company is good news.

The bottom line is this: If your site is stagnant, it is losing “points” with Google and likely other search engines. That means it’s less likely to be deemed “relevant” in search results. The true value of search is when you type in a request, and in return receive information that meets your needs. What Google is trying to do is improve upon those results and factor in a level of predictability to ensure we are continually getting what we need each time we search. It’s not a bad thing. It simply means that as a business or website owner you need to ensure you have a clear plan in place to continually update your site, social media plan, and other Internet marketing endeavors to provide ongoing “fresh” value to your viewers.

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