With so many businesses turning to remote offerings, digital marketing is more important now than it ever was before. Some businesses have switched to partially online and partially physical storefronts, and some have moved completely online. Digital marketing has quickly become one of the most effective ways for businesses to reach their customers. But for better or for worse, most digital marketing is going to be at the mercy of Google’s algorithms.
As the primary way for customers to find your business, Google serves as something of a gatekeeper. And with more and more businesses using SEO to stay at the top of the charts, a simple tweak to Google’s algorithm can quickly kick you down from a number one position.
As it happens, there have been some recent changes to Google’s algorithm that may impact SEO for businesses now and in the future. Knowing what sort of changes to expect and how to adapt can save you some serious headaches the next time Google makes a major new alteration to their algorithm.
It’s important to know how Google’s tools can impact your business. Google makes minor changes to their algorithm on a regular basis, and while you likely won’t even notice most of these changes, it’s important to pay close attention to Google Analytics. While regularly updating your keywords and other SEO content to stay relevant with market trends is important, it can also help you recognize what sort of changes the algorithm might have going so you can make adjustments ahead of time and stay in front of the curve. Be sure to research Google Analytics tools so you can know how to understand your business’s search engine trends.
Looking at Past Algorithm Changes
Make sure to look at past algorithm changes so you can better prepare for future changes. Minor changes to the algorithm are pretty common, but you should worry most about the major changes. These typically happen every few years and generally constitute a significant shift in how Google sorts their data. The 2011 Panda update started to mark sites negatively for repeated content, while the later Penguin update started applying new scrutiny to the quality of sites that are used as hyperlinks. But the biggest change came in 2015, with sweeping changes that were designed to make searches on mobile devices far simpler. The May 2020 core algorithm update is the most recent major change, but we have yet to fully see how SEO needs to be altered to make a site hit at peak capacity. Business owners should look into these past algorithm changes to prepare for potential future changes.
Understanding Google’s Objectives
Take the time to learn about and understand Google’s primary objectives. Ultimately, Google has one goal in mind with their search engine: to provide users with the most accurate answers to their questions. And while updates to the algorithm may make your life more difficult, these changes are ultimately designed to more readily connect customers with businesses. When a change happens, it can cause the visits for a previously optimized site to plummet. But it’s important to look at things from a positive perspective and examine how these new changes can have a positive effect on your business. Changes to the algorithm can help people better connect with businesses like yours that provide them with what they need. So take the time to learn how new algorithm changes can boost your business, and not only how it can temporarily disrupt your SEO.
Aligning Your Vision with Google’s
Search engine optimization is an imperfect solution to an imperfect search engine, but each change makes it hypothetically easier for businesses and customers to connect. While current SEO best practices should be a priority when designing your site’s content, your goal should always be to make your content as compelling and your site as user friendly as possible. Keeping that in mind will make it far more easy to adapt when Google throws us another curveball.
Brooke Chaplan is a freelance writer and blogger. She lives and works out of her home in Los Lunas, New Mexico. She loves the outdoors and spends most of her time hiking, biking, and gardening. For more information, contact Brooke via Facebook at facebook.com/brooke.chaplan or Twitter @BrookeChaplan
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Paul Femi Balo is the founder and publisher of TechBooky. He covers artificial intelligence, African technology, digital infrastructure, enterprise technology and the global digital economy.
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