#1 Rule of SEO… Stay Informed – Things Change Quickly
Google is constantly updating it’s search algorithm (typically over 500 times a year). Most of these updates are minor, but occasionally a major update rolls out (like Panda, Penguin, Hummingbird, Pigeon, Mobilegeddon, and Fred) that significantly affects search rankings.
As a SEO professional, knowing the dates of these updates can help explain changes in your rankings and organic website traffic.
Current Trends in SEO
The Google updates over the past two years have been pushing people away from tactical SEO behavior and towards a more strategic approach. To understand the big picture, sometimes it’s necessary to look at the past to see the future.
Here’s a look at the major trends from Google and the overall impact these changes will have on SEO…
1. Google Got Smarter
Google has always been smart. When it first launched their search engine, the PageRank algorithm changed everything (and wiped out a number of competitors in the process). Looking back, the “new” Google has continued to expand, refine and evolve. Google continues to get better at identifying what it likes and dislikes… Today reciprocal links, directory links, paid text links, article repository links, poorly written or spun content, etc. are all easily identified and targeted for penalization.
2. Fewer PageRank Updates
As Google gotten smarter, it’s also decided to share less information.The height of Google knowledge was around the time Caffeine was released. Since then, hardly any major Search changes have been announced by Google.
The first data signal to held back was PageRank. Historically, Google updated the PageRank numbers every 3 months or so, but those numbers started updating less and less. The last update was in December 2013. Matt Cutts has made statements leading many to speculate that PageRank is going away for good.
3. Keyword Data ‘(Not Provided)’
Google began moving to organic search encryption starting October 2011 (with except of clicks on ads) in the name of privacy. This trend has continued with less and less information passed to publishers (including Google Analytics). This impacts you in many ways including losing the keyword data for users arriving at your website (which helps you understand what the visitor intent was), conversion optimization, and much more. For tactical SEO efforts, it just means that keywords data is harder to come by. There are ways to work around this, for now, but it just won’t be quite as simple as it used to be.
4. Keyword Tool – Dead
Google replaced it’s Keyword Tool with the Keyword Planner in August 2013. The new “Planner” has a number of disadvantages over the “Tool”. First, users must login to an AdWords account to access the Planner. Second, less data: the Planner has no match type data for search volume (search volumes are displayed for exact match only), no device targeting, no local vs. global monthly searches, and the option to filter by “closely related” search terms are all gone.
It’s not all bad, there is more geographic segmentation and the ability to bundle geographic regions to drill down to the city level to get keyword search volume data. Users are able to upload up to 10,000 keywords and The Planner will also show search volumes by ad group, landing page and any other categorization you set up.
5. Hummingbird and Keyword Targeting
Google’s Hummingbird algorithm is a major platform change that will alter SEO forever. The update allows Google a greater capacity to understand conversational search queries.
The impact of this algorithm has even changed the way to optimize web pages. Prior to Hummingbird, SEO’s typically created a different page for every keyword. The trend now is to include all related keywords and variations on one single page. If you get it right, you can rank for lots of keywords, key phrases or variations. Get it wrong and game over.
This creates a challenge for generating effective SEO content. What used to be many pages must now be one, and it has to be full of original ideas, not just original text. But don’t despair, Google has handed you a gift… Converting pre-Hummingbird content into entities is ripe for opportunity and it goes hand-in-hand with Panda recovery. The trick, you must be very careful not to mess up websites that continue to enjoy rankings and traffic.
6. Penguin and Link Building
Is link building dead? With the Penguin update, Google seems to have cracked the code to enforce rewarding earned links while ignoring or penalizing placed links.They want you to create content that is rewarded with links and social media shares. If your audience isn’t actively commenting on blogs and engaged in social sharing , don’t expect to drive links.
Need help? Read and apply this article, The Link Baiting Playbook: Hooks Revisited, by Todd Malcoat for a deeper understanding of audience engagement.
7. Matt Cutts and Death of a Salesman
Prior to Matt Cutts (Googles’ Head of Spam) taking a “leave of absence” from the company back in July 2014, he was a regular SEO community spokesperson proving help to non-enterprise sites.
Since his departure, no one from Google has ve come close to replacing the insights he provided. Why should they? By not stepping up, no one at Google has to face all those awkward moments. Also, companies like Moz, Search Engine Land and a few other industry professionals have provided way more more data and answers to questions about SEO than Google ever did.
Will Matt even return? At this point it’s almost irrelevant and Google has been doing a fine job of fighting spam without him.
8. Size Does Matter
It’s obvious, Google loves big brands! The means it will continue to get more difficult for non-enterprise websites to compete in organic search rankings as large companies expand across the SERPs.
This trend also has many SEO’s reconsidering their livelihood. The increased difficulty in SERP’s combined with SEO activities becoming a line item in the job descriptions of web developers, designers and copywriters has many SEO professionals waving a white flag in defeat.
9. Google Plus
Google launched Google Plus in June 2011 with little fanfare. What seemed like a slow start has finished without a whimper… The slow demise of Plus illustrates how a large technology company tries and often fails to innovate when it feels threatened by competition (Facebook).
10. Authorship
Google launched Google Authorship in June 2011 with an huge implied message that SEO’s had better get on board or get left behind. In August 2014, Google completely drops authorship functionality from the search results and webmaster tools.
Google Authorship was part of a bigger SEO picture (and one you might want to consider) – authority.
One of the early adapters of Google Authorship was Eric Enge. His original article, Want to Rank in Google? Build Your Author Rank Now, was written back in March 2013. Eric acknowledges Authorship is over, but he continues his belief for creating authoritative websites with this followup article, Authorship Is Dead; Long Live Authorship.
11. In-Depth Articles
Google announced a new feature called “In-depth Articles” in August 2013 but lately, I haven’t seen the feature triggered by search queries.Instead, I see the Google “In The News” feature.
Should you worry about it? There are a lot of projects Google brings to Search and then they just fade away. Obviously you need to be aware of it’s existence, but I won’t be losing any sleep over it.
12. Featured Snippets
The latest feature that seems to run it’s course is “Featured Snippets” – the SERP breakout that allowed sites to effectively double-dip with visibility… But Google is currently testing a change that end this.
Should you worry about it? There are a lot of projects Google brings to Search and then they just fade away. Obviously you need to be aware of it’s existence, but I won’t be losing any sleep over it.
Is There a Pattern Here?
Yes… Authorship not working out how you thought it would? Don’t fix it; drop it. Google Plus +1 votes not as good an indicator as you hoped? Bye Bye. Upset your site wasn’t chosen for a featured Snippet on your keyword? Don’t worry – it was a fade. No matter the distraction, Google will continue to find new ways to provide less data, provide more distractions, and in the process – get smarter.
The data that Google has taken away has historically been used by publishers to optimize their SEO efforts in a very tactical manner – “How do I get higher PageRank?” and “What are the keywords I should optimize for?” By removing access to this data, Google is forcing SEO efforts to focus on different goals.
The major Google changes listed above are all moves that encourage more strategic behavior. These new pieces play a role in getting publishers to focus on their authority, semantic relevance, and the user experience – exactly what Google wants.
The focus now is on understanding your target audience, producing great content, establishing your authority and visibility, and providing a great experience for the visitors of your website. You also need to focus on properly coding your website so that search engines can understand it, including using schema and related markup, and addressing local search (if that is relevant to you).
The focus on tactical items like keywords and PageRank will fade away as Google continues to tweak their algorithms and look for more ways to capture new signals. Evolution is natural and you can expect more changes from Google in the future.
And What About Mobile?
Somewhere near the end of 2014, mobile Internet users surpassed desktop users and they continue to increase their lead.
It is now estimated that US Mobile Search accounts for 58%+/- of the overall search query volume. This shift in the way users access and use Google will have a huge impact on your online strategies.
But I didn’t mention Google Now. It’s also a big deal and it’s another important piece of the Google plan – Knowing You Better Than You Know Yourself.
And don’t even let me get started about Artificial Intelligence! Google AI Scientists are at the forefront of a major change.
Planning – Know Who the Client Is & What Their Goals Are
Every project has differing objectives and operates in a different space. Each has its own strengths to be put forward and its weaknesses to be bolstered. Each market offers different opportunities and risks. Start by having a clear idea of what you need to achieve and when. Then start with ideas on how you might be able to get there. You can then form that into strategy, plans and eventually process.
The easier a strategy is, the more likely it will be abused and lead to penalties. Harder strategies aren’t as scalable (nor as profitable). SEO’s will have to balance a fine line between using strategies that work for now and long-term, non-scalable solutions. The key is to find sustainable, quality strategies for long-term brand building and audience growth…
1. Quality Content Rules
Clients are slowly realizing that content matters. They are shifting not only to higher-end writers, but to subject matter experts. The demand will increase not just for good writers, but for good writers who know their stuff.
2. Content Needs a Voice, Personality, or Branding
When Google released their Panda update targeting low quality content many publishers were pushed into covering the same easy targets. Factor in Google’s preference for big brands, and these companies are facing the challenge of separating themselves from similar vendors. The mere presence of evergreen content will no longer rank for your keyword because your competitors have the same content. Marketers face the challenge of separating themselves from competitors not by price but by brand or personality.
3. More In-Depth Articles
The easy stuff has already been done. Today you need to focus on longer articles which tend to get more interaction according to SEOmoz, which will also help with your link building efforts. The insight represented by better content builds brand authority, builds trust with your clients, and improves conversions.
Don’t focus on word count when creating articles, instead focus on the ideas and concepts delivered. A concept or argument that adds value to your audience will usually result in a longer article simply by its nature.
4. Social Media Will Continue to Grow as a Link Building Method – Especially With Bing
Each social media platform requires adapting or prefacing content specifically for that platform. Instead of creating just a piece of on-site content, prepare a tweet and a preface for Facebook or Google+ too. That way, when you deliver, the client can easily promote the content and it’s as simple as asking your writers for a short summary or teaser of the content.
5. Multimedia Rules
Studies have shown that images and videos boost site audience interaction. Ensure that your visuals have the proper markup. Use alt tags, captions and descriptions to improve accessibility. Videos should also have either a script (edited for readability), a transcript, or a summary (this is the least you should do).
Bottom Line
Your projects need be a well thought out content strategy that coordinates written, video, and visual content pieces with social media that fully engages your audience and that will add to the knowledge graph.
Additional SEO Tools
As you become more involved with SEO, you will learn there’s an abundance of tools, strategies, and tips available. Here are a few of my favorite tools that I’m sure will help you…
Annie Cushing – Hundreds of Tools for Marketers
Document Summary: Do you wish that you could have an organized list of nearly every tool for keyword research, SEO analysis, competitive analysis and many more? Annie has done an amazing job of creating this list that I use when I’m looking for a tool to tackle a new task or problem.
Chris Le – SEER Interactive SEO Toolbox
Document Summary: Now that you’ve seen how many tools and the amount of information that is available, your problem isn’t obtaining the data – it’s finding a way to aggregate all of this information into one place. This is what makes Chris’s tool great, because it allows you to pull data from SEOmoz, Google Analytics, Twitter, and more into one Google Document.
Stoked SEO – Ultimate Link Building Query Generator
Document Summary: For most SEO’s, link prospecting begins with a string of search operators that will hopefully retrieve the best possible opportunities to work with. What I like to do is test a few of these queries and if the initial results are good, I will put them into the Link Prospector to scale the prospecting efforts.
SEO Gadget – Content Strategy Generator Tool
Document Summary: When your stuck brainstorming content ideas, especially when dealing with industries that you’re unfamiliar with, use this document to see what is popular and being talked about right now across several different types of sites. This will often lead to inspiration.
James Agate – Find Local Nearby Locations
Document Summary: Here is a helpful tool when dealing with states or countries that you are unfamiliar with.
For example reaching out to Phoenix media outlets could be a lot more difficult then connecting with outlets for other Arizona cities like Scottsdale, Glendale, Peoria, etc.