WHITEPAPER GOOGLE AND THE SEARCH OPTIMIZATION DILEMMA

Transcription

1 WHITEPAPER GOOGLE AND THE SEARCH OPTIMIZATION DILEMMA

2 1 Google and the Search Optimization Dilemma As Google continues to evolve, digital strategists must choose whether or not to follow their lead. In a world gone digital both professionally and socially online trends are developed, progress, are redeveloped, and unfortunately, prosper and die out (in no particular order). More often than not, Google is at the forefront of these online pilgrimages. Google is the most visited website in the world, and businesses of all shapes and sizes are continuously fighting for a spot on Google s first page perhaps the most sought after piece of real estate on the web (think Orange Country, California or Park Avenue in Manhattan). As Google has grown, so has the importance of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) The history of SEO is paradoxical despite being only 15 years old (open to debate), SEO has a rich and unique history that is filled with its version of peaks and valleys. Although many SEO practices have become either outdated or blacklisted, Google is on its way to creating a clear-cut path for internet marketers attempting to solve this search engine dilemma. Define Search Engine Dilemma: Google creates changes to its algorithms and search patterns in an attempt to enhance search results, thus creating even more questions and even less answers for Internet Marketers. Google Updates As far as SEO s historical timeline is concerned, Google s latest updates bookend the present Panda, Penguin and Knowledge Graph. In an effort to steer Internet Marketers away from keywords, Google s algorithm is now hoping to understand the overall concept of websites and their individual pages think content, branding, social networking and navigation. Google has redesigned their search crawlers With the latest updates, this form of SEO 101 is on the brink of extinction. to dig through a site as a human would, taking into account both how one might click and the emotions that might be expressed. Mind the artificial intelligence allusion, but believe it or not, Google has seen signs of success portraying human emotion and response. Copyright, Inc. All Right Reserved

3 2 For Example: An online company that sells refrigerators hopes to appear on Google s first page for refrigerator related terms buy a refrigerator, inexpensive refrigerators, refrigerator home delivery the keyword possibilities are endless. Basic SEO knowledge suggests embedding these keywords throughout the site s meta-data, content and anchor links. Crawlers (the search engine bots that crawl through your website) see these prevalent, strategically-placed keywords and eventually the site gets a boost in organic rankings. With the latest updates, this form of SEO 101 is on the brink of extinction. The Future is Now for Digital Strategists Pretend for a moment that SEO never existed. How might you design your website and create its content? The likelihood is that you would focus on four primary elements: 1. Content Strategy: Content controls the overall success of a website. Shiny colors, intriguing layouts and bells and whistles may look pretty, but these features are merely of aesthetic value Copyright, Inc. All Right Reserved

4 3 These four advertising elements are by no means cardinal rules, yet they have paved the way for successful marketing for decades. and to promote your brand. It is a website s content the text, images, videos, charts, tables, graphs, blogs, press releases, etc. that ultimately dictate whether or not visitors will reach the end goal of a site, be it purchasing a product or filling out a contact form. 2. Navigation/Experience: This is where Google has made leaps and bounds over the course of the last year. The search engine s crawlers are no longer looking at individual web pages, but rather sites on the whole. Returning to the refrigerator example, Webmasters and Marketers should no longer focus each page s content on specific refrigerator related terms. Instead, it is now important to develop keyword concepts or themes -- and center content around these general concepts. 3. Themes: Just as offline marketing tactics utilize themes to convey emotion (think Coca-Cola s Polar Bears or Verizon s Can You Hear Me Now campaign), websites should choose an idea and stick with it throughout. This doesn t mean pigeonholing your site into a tight niche, but instead sending across a clear, concise message that allows your site (and brand) to become synonymous with a specific idea. Refrigerator s can be purchased from thousands of different places, both online and off. Our site not only sells refrigerators, but we offer information on new technologies in the cooling industry, energy efficiency, organizing refrigerators, and even the world s largest refrigerator inventory. 4. Branding: Branding was, has, and will continue to be perhaps the single most vital marketing element. Brands have the uncanny ability to produce human response, both physically and emotionalny. Without clearly mentioning who is delivering the content and its message, visitors (or viewers) will have no brand to relate to. This idea is not lost on Google, as its crawlers are more conscious than ever of a site s brand and the content that it delivers. When compounding this idea, that the fact that most site s receive organic visits from branded keywords, the importance of branding is undeniable to digital strategy. These four advertising elements are by no means cardinal rules, yet they in one way or another have paved the way for successful marketing for decades. SEO should absolutely not be ignored when building out a website; however it should no longer be placed above these four marketing concepts on a website s design hierarchy. By focusing on content, experience, theme and branding, the transition to organic SEO will be seamless and unforced, which is precisely what Google wants to see. Companies all across the globe are allocating millions of dollars each day towards digital strategy. While experts in this field constantly struggling to understand the latest changes to Google s algorithms, it is Copyright, Inc. All Right Reserved

5 4 more important than ever to remain dedicated to the old-school strategies that dictate offline marketing. Doing so will allow your organization to build a strong, recognizable and lasting online brand that will bring in qualified visitors and turn them into customers. About Bridgeline Software is a developer of an award-winning web experience management software suite and interactive business technology solutions that help customers leverage best in class web-based technologies to achieve their business objectives. The iapps Product Suite is an innovative SaaS solution that deeply unifies web Content Management, ecommerce, emarketing, and web Analytics capabilities into the heart of websites, online stores, intranets, extranets or portals enabling users to swiftly enhance and optimize the value of their web assets. Additionally, Bridgeline employs a Digital Strategy Group (DSG) that supports the iapps Product Suite with a focus on overall web experience management. With expertise in content strategy, social media, SEO, user analysis (analytics), marketing and usability studies, Bridgeline s Digital Strategy Group has produced real, proven and smart results for a wide array of clients. is headquartered near Boston with additional locations in Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Denver, New York, Philadelphia, Tampa, and Bangalore, India. Bridgeline has hundreds of customers ranging from middle market organizations to divisions within Fortune 1,000 companies that include: L Oreal, Sun Chemical, Parametric Technologies Corp, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Novartis, Shaw Flooring, Endo Pharmaceuticals, Stylmark, Guardian Life, Tosoh, Dover, ViaWest, PODS, AARP, Cadaret Grant & Co., CFO Magazine, and the American Academy of Pediatrics. To learn more about, please visit Author Credits: Google and Search Optimization Dilemma was written by Derek Schimmel, May, Derek has been with DSG since July, Copyright, Inc. All Right Reserved