Yup, been a heck of a week or two in the recent past when it comes to Google and the changes that they’re bringing to the SMB marketplace – and the changes that we’ve been seeing and tracking are varied but yes, they’re going to mean that many of us will need to re-position our own or our clients sites!
First, Google Penguin is a recent change that is important to learn about, research on….and then use to measure your own site’s search engine marketing. A full explanation of Penguin is available all over the web, but one of the best “takes” on same is from Wikipedia here, or for further looks you should try the Wall Street Journal piece here or Patrick’s take here or SearchEngineWatch’s piece here. Okay, so now you know something about Penguin…but can you tell, has it affected your own site? Well, rankings of course can show you…but for more information on that try this piece and note Marty’s comments near the bottom too…and Danny’s piece here is another great recap on same.
So…Penguin exists. Now you know. And now you know what to do and your own site strategy changing mode is engaged…if you were affected. If not, then well done!
Link Buying is next…and unless you missed the whole past long weekend news, Google denied a search agency Iacquire, for buying paid links for their clients. Let me repeat that. A firm (just like our own) was using the ranking strategy to buy links for their clients – BUT – it wasn’t the beneficiary of those same paid links who got hurt, but the agency itself – Iacquire – that was hurt.
Think about that for a second….yup, the agency that was using the strategy was nuked out of the Google index! Not the clients, which is a good thing…IMHO. Barry’s take on this over at SearchEngineLand is a great one…or Danny’s here too and Danny NAMES NAMES here too….so please DO visit same and read about all of the background on this….it’s important for all SMBs to know, eh! And Caveat Emptor for SMBS too!
And lastly, Google has also done some major realignments/changes to the whole Google Local and Local+ and Places areas too. Tons of material here to read about, but as a start you’d be wise to learn from the best or Michael Blumenthal, over at Understanding Google Maps & Local Search here. There are many many updates to that announcement on Mike’s site…and you should delve into them all to get a major understanding of the rollout on this Google merger of areas….as there’s much to see and learn!
Google has yes, “…announced the integration of business pages with Google + and the demise of their Google Place page. This is a change that has long been anticipated (thanks here to David Mihm for his great post on same) and one that simultaneously gives a business more control over their page AND dramatically enhances the review environment…” as Mike reports and the link will lead you to tons of more material on same. This is a big change. This is a change that will require you, as an SMB owner, to totally revamp your marketing strategy when it comes to your own local search campaign. It is such a huge big change, that in fact, the whole movement of the combination of Places and Google+ and that’s a big thing. You need to learn about this. You need to work on what your own site – after now about a month of this change settling in and the repercussions being felt by SMB owners globally….and work out where your own sites are – and what you may need to do to fix same.
Thank gosh, our own client list is fine…we’ve always maintained our ‘white hat’ SEO campaigns and so far have never gone astray when it comes to Google’s changes to it’s algo….so far, so good. Not to say we will always fare so well…but we do keep our “ear to the ground” on all things Google…do you?
And as a special treat, here’s Danny and Rand at last week’s WhiteBoard Wednesday on many many of these Google changes too! Again, well worth the click, eh!
Tell us what you're thinking...and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!
You must be logged in to post a comment.
