Search Engine Marketing.
Website Design.
Social Media Optimization.
and everything in-between
Google is constantly improving its ranking and search algorithms making it difficult for marketers to keep up and readjust. However, Google is not that unpredictable. If you look at all the updates implemented so far, you can notice a few tendencies, and following them should keep you in Google’s good graces.
Google favors relevancy
Have you ever thought why so many people prefer Google over other search engines? Aside from being a matter of habit, searching with Google is usually a fast and easy way to find what you are looking for. And Google wants to keep it that way by lowering rankings of low-quality websites that don’t offer enough relevant content. A few tips for looking relevant in Google’s eyes:
- Create original content aiming for quality vs. quantity
- If you require visitors to register before viewing your content, make sure you offer enough “free” content for Google to index and consider your site relevant
Google wants to provide a pleasant experience for its users
What does “pleasant experience” mean for the search engine users? Once again, it’s the speed and relevancy of the search. And even if your site is a resource for well-written detailed articles, they should be easily accessible to rank high:
- Don’t feature too many ads and affiliate links “above the fold,” because no one likes to keep scrolling down to find what they came for
- Generally avoid overloading your site with ads, because neither you nor Google wants the visitors navigating away from your page to look for answers via one of the featured links
Google likes fresh content
By fresh I mean both new/original and recently published. Very often users are looking for the most recent information on the topic, because outdated information is likely to be irrelevant for their search. Take Facebook for example, it changes so often, that an article on “how to change your privacy settings” from 2 years ago is useless in 2012 (unless you are doing a comparative analysis). So how do you “stay fresh?”
- Introduce a dynamic section of the website (such as a blog or a newsfeed) that can be updated on a daily or weekly basis
- Date your blog posts to help your readers place your content in the time continuum
Google penalizes shady SEO tactics
If you don’t follow Google’s rules, you will get slapped at some point. If you are outsourcing SEO, be sure to ask the company how exactly they are improving your rankings. Using black-hat methods might bring great results in the short term, but may get you in trouble in the long run. Here are a few things to avoid:
- Duplicating or spinning content to link more keywords. This technique creates redundant articles that don’t usually give the best answer to the query. While targeting keywords, remember that you are writing for humans!
- Creating empty pages just to link to other pages
- Hiding text or links (white text on a white background)
- Loading content with irrelevant keywords
- Automatically redirecting users to the pages irrelevant to the search
- Otherwise spamming or intentionally confusing people
Try looking at your website from the user perspective. Just like how you would get frustrated searching for the right content in a clutter of links and ads, so will your website visitors. Optimizing your fresh and unique content for relevant keywords and making it easily accessible is the key to staying on Google’s “nice” list.
Of course, there is a possibility that your website can get affected by search algorithm updates even if you don’t do anything wrong. However, the recovery should be quick, and if you encounter any problems, contact us! Aside from web design, we are also a talented Maryland SEO company that has helped many of our clients improve their rankings.
There are a lot of online resources going into details about how to integrate your Twitter and Facebook accounts, but none of them mentions that it might not be the right solution, especially for a business.
Turning tweets into status updates for Facebook (or any other social network for that matter) and vice versa is likely to harm your online presence. Why? Here are a couple of reasons:
1. Different medium = different audience. Do the same people follow you on Twitter and Facebook? Probably not, because people like to consume information in different ways. Moreover, most of us simply don’t have enough hours in the day to keep up with multiple networks. This means that those who like to interact with you on Facebook won’t necessarily want to read your Twitter feed. And catering to your audience is a must in social media marketing.
2. Different medium = different content. Content is king. Your social media followers expect unique content from each medium. This is especially true for those who do follow you on multiple networks. Unique content is your way of rewarding your fans and giving them an incentive to keep in touch. Make your fans feel like they are getting insider information and deals exclusive to this medium only. Cross-posting your Twitter feed to your Facebook wall is clearly not the way to go.
3. Different medium = different communication styles.
Format. Facebook gives you more opportunities than Twitter for creating engaging content: posts that generate likes, shares and comments. That’s why it’s common on Facebook to ask questions, post pictures, initiate polls and encourage discussions. Twitter, on the other hand, is mostly for sharing timely info in a form of links and short messages. The point is that your Facebook fans won’t care much for 140-characters status updates packed with @s and #s.
Timing. Twitter is a lot more fast-paced than Facebook. It is not uncommon for someone to tweet every hour or even every 30 minutes. Now imagine what happens when you integrate your Twitter with your Facebook: you fans’ news feeds get flooded with your tweets. No one likes a business dominating their newsfeed, so you’ll most likely get blocked or even “unliked.”
Do you see why sharing the same exact content in the same format could be a bad idea? Although it may seem like it will maximize your social media impact by spreading your tweeted links to more people, it won’t.
Not only it communicates that you don’t care about your audience and their preferences, it frames you as a lazy marketer who is looking for an easy way to do things. Social media is not about broadcasting your messages to as many people as possible; it’s about engaging in conversations and building relationships.
