Business Buzz: Value in organic search results

PHUKET: While I believe that because of Social Media (Optimization), Search Engine Optimization (SEO) itself is becoming less relevant, there is no doubt it is still important to get organic search results, especially with Google and YouTube, by far the leading search engines.

Although the algorithm for ranking is constantly changed by Google, it is possible to analyze trends and predict certain components of the “Quality Score” used to rank sites.

A couple of clear trends are emerging.

The intelligent approach to building websites and making them user-friendly seems to correspond directly to the results. Having a website that is ‘responsive’, which simply means that no matter what device you view it from it adopts, is important. This includes mobile devices, iPads and so on.

The content itself is also unsurprisingly key. The reliance on ‘keywords’ has become less pronounced, and a more holistic view has been taken. So, more relevant content, with easier readability and more quality and detail, is being rewarded. Providing the actual information that searchers are looking for is now most important, instead of trying to ‘pad out’ an article or load it with keywords.

Back-links, which were a very hot topic a few years back, are now appearing to have an ever decreasing impact. This is still an area where many spammers still use ‘black hat’ (unethical) techniques to create the back-links, so in my opinion this is a good result as it might stop that negative behavior.

Finally, while Google denies it, there is a strong correlation between popularity in social media platforms and the Google results. So likes, tweets, shares and +1s appear to boost rankings.

Therefore, is it time to make some changes to your approach to your website?

Simon Wetherell is a social media expert, lawyer, best-selling author and international speaker. He now resides in Phuket where he trains businesses and individuals how to profit from the social media industry. For more information, go to https://PhuketOnlineMarketing.com or call him on 095-085 3355.

— Simon Wetherell