If you have ever wondered why your company website search engine rank can resemble a yo-yo (bouncing up and down, and occasionally dropping off, the search results page) it's because of the ever-changing algorithms Google uses to rank the importance of your website.
While some algorithm changes can be devastating
to a companies' online profile, the latest Google update has left business owners with a window of opportunity to leverage the change to boost their website ranking.
The Google "Freshness" update (released this month) is designed to give fresher/more recent website content a higher search engine rank than more dated content, when a user searches for a keyword phrase that relies on timing. This change affects search results for recent events (or those that occur regularly), hot topics of online discussion and frequent updates. Meanwhile, all other search results should remain largely unchanged.
To leverage this change you first of all need to research what search results are now being displayed for your target keywords (e.g. if you're a Hawkes Bay hotelier, you may be targeting the keyword phrase "Hawkes Bay Hotel"). If you notice a lot of blog posts, social network links, images and/or video in these results, it is time for you to develop a plan to inject your website content into these results.
To do this, you will need to add "freshness" to your website content.
Add a blog to your website and put in place business systems that ensure this is updated on a regular basis. Each new article posted to your site, is an indicator to Google that there is fresh activity on your site - making your site more relevant.
Build your online brand profile by establishing a corporate presence on Facebook, Twitter, Google other blogs and any social media platform that can include links back to your site. By participating in online conversations (relevant to your area of expertise) on other websites, you not only draw human traffic to your website, you also coax Google's bots (pieces of software that rank web pages) back to your site too.
If your target keywords now bringing up search results that include a lot of video links, then consider producing a series of videos that promote your services, products, events you participate in and how your business is evolving. Not only will these be a great marketing asset, they will also be another way to get your company found online (if the videos are posted with the right keyword rich content and a link to your site).
Don't be shy about soliciting reviews and testimonials from your customers. Ask them to post these online (rather than you simply posting them on your website) to sites such as LinkedIn, Trip Advisor, etc.
Those who are familiar with web marketing will know that none of the above techniques are ground-breaking; they're just good web marketing practice. But, with the new Google Freshness update now out, it has never been so important for business owners to ensure a consistent and ongoing commitment to online content generation, to ensure their site stays fresh and relevant in the eyes of Google's bots.
Wendy Schollum is a web strategist and managing director of Xplore - your web agency (www.xplore.net). For more information on search engine marketing, follow Xplore on Twitter (www.twitter.com/xploreNET), join Xplore on Facebook (www.facebook.com/xploreNET), add Xplore to one of your Google+ circles (http://gplus.to/xploreNET) or call 0800 100 900.