Goodbye to Google Ranking
Posted in Real Estate Bloggers By Cheryl Waller, Tuesday, November 18, 2008.The days of Googling your keywords to measure the effectiveness of your SEO strategy are coming to an end. According to Bruce Clay of PubCon, there will be big changes in ranking. In the name of Top Shelp Organic SEO, Google will be tuning into the specific behaviors of individual users to serve up more customized results.
What this means to the end-user is better results and less spam.
What does this mean to SEO professionals?
Well, for the good ones it means more business. For those that have been concentrating on ranking without any reference to traffic, bounce rates and conversions it means a serious reality check.
At the end of the day, this is a change for the better. More individualized search results means higher conversion rates for companies that have a well built website. This does not mean that SEO is no longer important; it actually makes it more important! Tracking your marketing efforts will definitely require more diligence.
Q: What should you do to get ready for the change?
A: Nothing that you should not have already been doing.
The most important part of a website is the ends result; attracting more leads and increasing business. To get there you have to attract website visitors, keep them interested in your website long enough to stay past the first page and finally get them to convert. By convert, I mean to get them to perform a specific action like sign up for a newsletter or request additional information. Conversions vary by website. A conversion for you may be a request for information about one of your listings while a conversion for amazon.com could be the sale of a bestselling novel.
I, for one, think this is a great lead by Google. It forces website owners and SEO professionals to take a closer look of what traffic is actually DOING when it gets to your website. It puts the emphasis on website content, navigation and functionality.
Sending people to your website and getting XXXXX visitors is one thing, conversion rates are a completely different (and more important) aspect. I mean, you can send all the traffic (paid or otherwise) in the world to a dilapidated home, but if they never get out of the car and go inside... it's not going to sell.
It's time to get your website to do what it's supposed to: SELL!
Go Google!
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Submitted by G Dewald | Union Street Media on November 18, 2008 - 12:55pm.
From one of the articles you linked:
"Ranking is dead," says Bruce, recalling his words from his presentation. Going forward, he says you're going to have to look at analytics, measure traffic, bounce rates, action, etc.
You know I love that. :)
To some extent, this has been going on for some time in smaller doses. The Goog already displays different results based on where it thinks you are located. And anything that gets business owners to focus on conversions instead of search engine positions is good, as far as I'm concerned.
We'll be forced to understand more about our visitors. But that's not entirely new either.
Newish buzzwords to help locate existing thinking to help in an improved Google world:
Engagement (all the rage last year and still very important) and Relevance (rising buzzword of social media).
Get both of those nailed and you'll be fine. Lower visitor numbers with increased relevance is absolutely fine with me.
Great articles!
G. Dewald | Union Street Media | Real Estate Internet Marketing Blog
Submitted by Tim O'Keefe on November 18, 2008 - 12:56pm.
Google will try to do this and already is doing it. Sign into your G account and stay signed in for a few days. Do a search you always do. Notice the results.
Now sign out and notice the results. Very different.
That is because they know it is you. Do not sign in and how can they match it to your individual needs? They cannot with any certainty.
However, this is not really new. It all meshes with universal search and their attempt to datamine the web thru what some call spyware. Analytics, Webmaster, adsense, widgets, etc, is all tracking mechanisms to extend G's reach beyond their own site. Today they are closer than ever to really understanding behavior. But tying exactly to an individual is very hard without compliance by the individual. And many would argue intrusive.
Tim O'Keefe
http://www.housegrabber.com
http://www.spiderworkz.com
Submitted by Cheryl Waller on November 18, 2008 - 1:21pm.
Tim,
What the articles are referring to is exactly that, but without being signed into google. Basically tracking the IP addresses for behavior patterns. This is nothing new as far as being logged into your Google account. Google is just taking it to the next level.
Look at Gmail. There was all kinds of talk about how 'intrusive' it was for google to design algorithms around the content of your email. How many people still use Gmail?
Cheryl Waller
National Marketing Manager
RTV, Inc.
www.RealTourVision.com
www.virtual-tour-blog.com
Submitted by Tony Spencer on November 18, 2008 - 2:08pm.
I just returned from Pubcon and saw Bruce Clay and his crew an IMO the statement "Ranking is dead," is so far from the truth and ranking will always be king. You've got to rank before you'll ever get sorted into a personalized search for any user.
- Tony Spencer -
Submitted by Tony Spencer on November 18, 2008 - 2:15pm.
I've had a lot of cups of coffee since returning from Pubcon but I still can't shake the zombie effects Vegas has stricken me with. :)
Submitted by Tim O'Keefe on November 18, 2008 - 2:21pm.
@Cheryl
By its nature one must sign in to use gmail Or most of their other "tools".
One does not have to sign-in in order to use google organic.
@G Dewald
It has always been about relevance. Conversions will not happen unless there is relevance.Just because someone shows up in search does not mean they will convert once landed upon a page. For example he mentions bounce rate which should be very interesting. But is it really new in importance? IT has been talked about if not directly then indirectly since the start.
@Cheryl if anything this is what should be of concern, but how is the rank checker obsolete? Your rank will change perhaps if you get lots of bounces. But then again how easy is something like that to game? Knock a competitor out with bounce, bounce, bounce?And the answer is not ip detection since that is easily masked. There is a PPC Fraud detection industry for a reason.
So in the end the game I think gets harder more from a real integration of universal search (the serps will get more crowded) than anything posited above in your original post.
Tim O'Keefe
http://www.spiderworkz.com
http://www.houseblogger.com
Submitted by Michael Daly on November 18, 2008 - 5:44pm.
Wow! You guys and gals are SMART!
Which one of you can help me build a new Buyer Agency website in a non mls environment that will incorporate my blog?
Please contact me...
Michael Daly
True North Realty Associates - A Hamptons Buyers Agency
The Hamptons Real Estate Blog
www.beachamptons.com
631 725 0554
Submitted by Larry Wright on November 20, 2008 - 10:48am.
Google maintains its value on relevance. That above all other considerations must be included in your virtual marketing efforts. Sacrificing relevance for sales conversion needs will cost your ranking and the public's perceived legitimacy of your site.
We must keep our eyes on the Google bouncing ball and adjust with them. Here's a personal observation: "Google seems to devalue backlinks and content from older blog posts." So if blogging is part of your strategy then you must do it consistently. I've watched indexed blog entries and backlinks disappear from Google's data as time goes by. IMO Google is applying temporary benefits to Web 2.0 efforts.
Google rankings are still of the utmost importance and regardless of your SEO approach it must include a focus on relevance.
Larry Wright
www.nwrealty.com
www.nwrealty.net
Submitted by Shane O'Goman on November 24, 2008 - 11:23am.
I wrote a post over at Active Rain refuting this story. I believe its highly innaccurate. You can read my post here http://activerain.com/blogsview/801383/Google-Changed-But-the-Inman-Arti...
It was featured there and I think it sheds a lot of light on this subject.
Thanks