SEO News

Understanding SEO tools and tactics is essential for all web designers, bloggers, or business owners — for example, defining your keyword combinations and building a solid linking structure can drastically affect Google’s perception of the quality of your website. But now, the most used search engine on the Web has handed us a huge new factor to consider: In February 2011, Google revealed a change in its search algorithm, aimed to support high-quality websites over those that have less merit.

Google’s official announcement regarding the update

Companies are already scrambling to tweak their online marketing strategies – nearly 12% of queries will be noticeably impacted by the update. The question is, could this change could direct traffic away from your business’s presence in the cyber world? The core of Google’s new algorithm is the use of temporal duration, data used to determine the quality of a webpage. In other words, search results will now be ranked by the length of time that a visitor spends on a particular website, before resorting back to the page of search results. Content was previously the determining factor for the order in which Google prioritized websites in the search results. However, once companies understood the algorithm, useless sites began to cheat the system using duplicate content, high advertising-to-content ratios, or deviously embedded keywords. As a result of search engine manipulation, many high quality sites with less content were loosing their Google ranking. With Google’s new algorithm, websites that are more engaging in a visitor’s eyes will be recognized with a higher search results ranking.

Read a more in-depth study of who Google’s update affects

With that in mind, many SEO factors that previously influenced your website’s ranking still apply – the scope of your businesses social involvement (discussions, linking, sharing) is still an influence on the value of your site. However, now that content is no longer Google’s primary determinant of quality, website/business owners must realize that impactful web design is more crucial than ever – the focus has shifted to creating a pleasant user experience, in harmony with stimulating content.

So what can you do to make sure your business doesn’t go down under the new algorithm? Here are some secure ways to ensure that your website stays competent:

6 Tips to Keep Your Website High Quality:

1. Don’t forget that every page on your site factors into the equation – low quality individual pages could drag your whole domain down.
2. Don’t click the back button on your own site …and don’t tempt your visitors to click it either by presenting substandard content.
3. Avoid amateurish graphical errors. This means no clip art, no irrelevant artwork. Less is more.
4. Be professional, be trustworthy. Include an About Us page, Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, etc. Build trust by displaying professional trade association logos.
5. Add sticky content: videos or engaging photos or audio can keep a user occupied longer.
6. Prove the user with a comfortable viewing experience — if you’re going to keep your ads, make sure they don’t interfere with the content. With the content, use fonts designed for online viewing (try Georgia, Trebuchet, or Verdana), and take the time to choose colors/sizes wisely.

What page of search are you on for your target keywords?

Remember, Google’s new algorithm is a machine that reasons with time and statistics, but what determines those numbers are human users. Learning more about SEO tools and seeking quality design is a surefire way to keep your website in the loop – Email us at info@skyboxseo.com for more info and a free quote!.

These days, it seems like we’ve got an excess of ways to connect with one another in the virtual world — we can follow each other on Tumblr and Twitter, have face-to-face conversations from opposite sides of the planet via Skype, and share photos on Flickr. And of course, there’s Facebook – the social networking site. But what is the deal with this new Google+? It looks like fun, but if you already use Facebook or Twitter, why would you want to invest time and effort in creating yet another social network? 

Google+ is a project that Google has been working on in secrecy for nearly a year, until its official announcement on April 28, 2011. It’s currently in an invite-only testing phase, which makes the thought of owning an account feel like an exclusive privilege, quite reminiscent of all that Gmail hype from back in the day. Google explains on its official blog that Plus is more than just another social network — it’s an extension of Google itself, that promises effective privacy settings and unique sharing controls that are supposed to better mimic real-life connections.

 

The main feature that sets Google+ apart from Facebook and Twitter is Google Circles. It lets you organize your connections by how you define your relationship with them: Friends, Family, Coworkers, etc. Through Circles, thoughts can be shared with people selectively, the way it typically happens in the real world. Let’s face it, your boss wouldn’t be the first person you run to to boast about how you actually spent your “sick” day…but your Circle of buddies might be amused.

Other Google+ features include Hangouts, which is basically an integrated video chat, Huddles, a new group messaging application, and Sparks, which automatically recommends interesting content – articles, videos, photos – to you based on your interests. If you use an Android, the Instant Upload feature automatically uploads photos you take on your phone directly to Google+.

Google has definitely got a strong feeling about its ideas of how social networking online should be …but it’s hard to say whether the world is ready to convert to Google+. Only time (and termination of invite-only status) will tell if Google has truly cracked the code to social networking bliss.