Want to Stay Ahead of Google’s Next Update? Change the Way You Think

Amit Singhal, Google’s head of core ranking, has said that Google is “the biggest kingmaker on this earth.”  

For many businesses, this is not an exaggeration. Each major algorithm update can signify a defining moment that for some, determines success or failure.

In the past, most webmasters and SEOs understood that there would be fluctuations and tweaks to the way sites are ranked. It was clear that there would be penalties and filters to contend with by being a bit too aggressive, or straying too far over the white line. With earlier updates, violators could clean up their act, submit a re-inclusion request and move on.

Following the most recent Penguin update, the options for websites affected most severely seem to have dwindled — so much so that  ”starting over” may be the best long-term course of action for some affected sites.

Google’s position is that each update is an effort to improve search relevance.  In the past, updates seemed intended to immediately and noticeably improve search results.  But Penguin seems to be a fundamentally different type of update.  More than a simple tweak to improve a subset of results, Penguin is a warning shot that says in no uncertain terms will Google lose the war against spam.

Whether or not Penguin was a necessary step is not the subject of this post.  Instead I’d like to discuss what such events should underscore for the average business owner looking to achieve success online…

In order to remain dominant, Google’s search results must remain noticeably more relevant than the competition.  People continue to use Google because it simply works.  Not every query returns perfect results.  Not every set of SERPs makes perfect sense, and there are still innumerable examples of spam seeping through the cracks — but Google has become a tool none of us can live without.

The future of Google’s ability to improve relies not only in its ability to more intelligently select relevant websites, but also in its ability to educate, motivate and ultimately corral webmasters into improving the quality of the Web as a whole.

Google’s current tactic is to do this in three ways:

Google can seek to defeat spam and subversion directlyGoogle can attempt to filter low quality content directlyGoogle can incentivize and reward those who create value for the web

It’s scary to think that Google can hold so much power over a business’s success or failure online — especially if that company has done nothing to diversify the places in which it secures business digitally.   But there’s solace to be had for those who seek first to build true value for their visitors.

In relationships, it’s often said that “the one who cares the least holds the power.”

When I think of websites that seem impenetrable to algorithmic fluctuations and penalties, I often think of websites that seem to operate outside of search. The websites that are least likely to be impacted by algorithmic fluctuations are also the ones that care the least about being affected.

In my previous post, I talked about how important a blog is for taking control of your content.  I argued that businesses focusing on social networks in lieu of blogs were throwing their nets too far up the sales funnel, while simultaneously failing to harness the true power of social networks (as a place to acquire a loyal audience).

A similar argument can be extended to businesses focusing solely on search. Ranking well for relevant terms is one of the single best methods for reaching a highly targeted audience, but rankings rarely last forever and can never be guaranteed.

Like social networks, search should be seen as one piece to the inbound puzzle — one of a variety of paths dedicated to driving visitors. By thinking beyond search, higher rankings and more traffic are no longer the highest level goals. Strategy can then begin to focus on initiatives that can directly and immediately impact your bottom line, while simultaneously sending signals to Google that you’re worthy of the rankings you desire.

Switching your strategy to be a multi-piece puzzle typically places the following needs at the top of the totem pole:

Seek to cultivate the most long-term value from each visitor as possible. Trust and authority help you rank, but become even more important qualities when it comes time to sell your products or services.Seek to open up new sales channels and new verticals for customer acquisition. Any business relying solely on search, or any single lead generation vector is inherently unstable.  Each new channel for driving targeted visitors hedges you against any fluctuations you may experiences across other inbound channels.

It’s incredibly important that online marketers plan their efforts with the goal of contributing to long-term success.  When you see rankings as the most important, most clearly-defined end goal, it can be difficult to concentrate on long-term business objectives.  The pull and demand for immediate results can signify the beginning of the end for webmasters who aren’t planning well for their futures.  Short term SEO solutions are unlikely to result in truly viable, valuable online destinations.

When you shift your focus to audience building, however, you begin to see link acquisition targets differently. In fact, the whole process of “building links” becomes much broader.  The goal shifts to reaching people. This mind shift can have a drastic impact on where focus is put and what specific marketing tactics are chosen moving forward.

Most immediately, two things become clear:

Links that will never have the chance to send relevant traffic are not nearly as valuable as those that may, despite any typically appealing link value metrics.Creating content allows you to prime audiences for further conversion on-site, while also creating the opportunity for highly valuable links that result in click-throughs.

By making real people the focus of your efforts, you will naturally be doing the kinds of things that are simultaneously rewarded by Google, and help protect you from having to rely so heavily on Google to generate revenue.

Focus on things like:

Creating rich and diverse content that stands out from the competition.Developing relationships with people who can help improve your content offering, especially the tastemakers and influencers.Creating user-friendly designs that engage at every level.Tracking and analyzing user behavior to improve the user experience continuously.Tightly integrating social networks to enhance content sharing and brand visibility.

When you think more about people you’ll think less about the minutia that may (or may not) impact rankings, and more about the long-term value you can create that will keep users coming back.  You can focus on creating a better experience that people remember, and the things you can do to set you apart (in your customers minds) from any competition they may run across in the future.

In the offline world, understanding customer intent is absolutely paramount.  Traditional advertising seeks to influence, engage, entice or otherwise interact with the public. Within traditional media, goals are set solely with customer-centric metrics in mind.

All marketing endeavors are geared at getting your audience to perform a specific action.  Traditional marketing is much less about attempting to manipulation the medium by which you can reach your target audience, but about how to optimize the face-time you get with that audience.

As such, traditional marketers have learned innumerable lessons about how to turn viewers into customers. For many involved in search marketing, these nuances have become completely secondary to the pursuit of ever increasing rankings and traffic.

Doubling your conversion rate, for all intents and purposes, produces the same result as doubling your traffic. Similarly, increasing the lifetime value of your customer base can have an enormous impact on your bottom line. Unfortunately, with a single-minded focus on search rankings, it’s easy to forget about the essential value of each individual visitor.

Ultimately, Google is trying to determine if your website provides true value (in relation to the query) for your visitor.  In the end, this is your goal as well. If you are confident that your visitors will get what they’re looking for (and more),  you’re already 10 steps ahead of Google’s next update.

One of the biggest issues webmasters and SEOs are running into following major Google updates are penalties and filters based on unnatural looking link profiles. As time goes on, manual and automated link acquisition methods will continue to become less effective (or even dangerous).

In order to understand why, it’s important to see how such actions are aimed more squarely at influencing the medium of customer acquisition (Google’s search engine), instead of influencing visitors and potential customers directly.

By creating high quality content and working on your website as a true destination of value, you create signals that Google is looking to reward.  Since Google’s trajectory is in the direction of rewarding high quality sites, we can expect future updates and algorithmic changes that will better detect the kinds of activities engaged in by webmasters who are building for their audiences.  Imagine anticipating Google updates that reward you for what you’ve been doing, instead of having to worry about Google’s increasing intelligence and ability to detect manipulation.

Content-focused strategies do more than simply build natural looking link profiles.  They also result in user behaviors that are hard to fake, behaviors that will increasingly influence overall search rankings.

In the future, expect to see Google looking more closely at things like:

Natural looking content sharing patternsSite specific metrics that indicate site value (time on site, bounce rate, etc)Pattern of audience growth and developmentSyndication patterns (and sharing or re-publishing of content on well trafficked sites)Authority & trust of individual authorsSentiment-based site analysis

It’s terrible to have to always worry about how your website might fair following the next update. For that reason alone, among a laundry list of others, its important to think critically about the direction of your site’s strategy. Think about how much power you’re giving to Google when you choose short term strategies that fail to create real, long-term value.

By shifting the paradigm from “how can I please Google?” to “how can I please my visitors and potential customers?,” you place your business in a position that is much more secure and likely to succeed.

How do YOU think beyond search rankings? Let us know in the comment below.

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