Category Archives: Social

The Next Generation of SEO: Emerging Trends

SEO: Emerging Trends

The truth of today is that business is moving to the virtual world. Nothing seems to be growing quite as fast as the internet, and as the internet grows, it becomes more important. Every good business owner realizes that they need to have an internet presence, if they wish to grow. Yet, managing the internet for a business is far from easy. There are numerous contenders, all competing for a spot in the search engine, and it’s quite easy for websites to become lost in shuffle. That’s what SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is for. Ever since Google released Penguin, SEO tactics have changed immeasurably and continue to change, making it almost impossible to keep up with.

So how does SEO work?

One of the services offered is the link building service. Link building is one of the best ways to generate traffic for websites. Search engines use links to a site as sort of ‘votes’ for its popularity. The more links to a particular website, the higher it will be in the search results.

Another service is Social Media Marketing. Social Media has become incredibly important in our society. Countless numbers of people are involved in Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and dozens of other networks. These can be some of the best ways to reach people, if used properly. Not only can business owners become involved with their clients and learn what clients think and want, but they can make new clients. Social Media is an excellent way to spread news and connect in ways that have never been possible.

There is Online Reputation management also. This is the suppression of vindictive or vengeful reviews that can go miles to ruin the reputation of a business or a person. A single bad review could chase away many potential customers.

A bad website can also hurt business. After all, if a customer tries to log onto a website and can’t transverse it or access it, the customer will probably leave. On the other-hand, if a website is crisp, updated, and modern, it will attract customers. A first impression can make or break.

There are many other tactics, but these mentioned should help to explain SEO. SEO is actually fairly simple, conceptually—but to perform, it is totally different. In a world where the internet becomes increasingly powerful, so does SEO; even as it becomes harder to execute.

Google Eradicates Author Images from Search Results

Google has taken a step away from its integration of Google+ with its search results in favor of those using mobile devices to view the site. Google has ceased the inclusion of author profile photos and circle counts from Google+.

 According to John Mueller, Google has ended the practice of displaying the photos and circle counts to allow for an easier mobile searching experience. The photos were taking up a good bit of real estate on small mobile screens. The images and counts have also been removed from other platforms to ensure a “more consistent design” regardless of the device used to view the search.

As part of the company’s efforts to integrate Google+ into its search engine, the former search result style would place the author’s photo and circle counts appear next to a particular search result. The result, according to Google, led to an increase in click-through rates and attracted the eye. However, the images and the space they occupy did not mesh with the company’s mobile-first approach to its design.

The new format features a simplified result style that still lists the author’s name and uses the same ranking algorithm as it did before. This creates greater uniformity among the results. Much like the old style, authorship is sticking around and there remains the possibility that authorship could play a future role in search engine rankings. The new style is giving the writer a byline in the search result. Profile photos have not vanished completely, rather they will continue to be a part, though considerably small, on Google News.

Here’s a simplified authorship result example:

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Mueller said that tests on the streamlined links shows no major difference in click-through rates or visibility. However, Google hasn’t provided any statistics yet that show just how marginal the difference between the two styles may be — or not.

Some SEO experts are skeptical that the new style is equally effective without the visual to draw in new readers. In a number of webmaster forums and articles, there has been some concern that the once tried-and-true advice to claim authorship is beginning to seem like wasted time. Without clearer statistics, it isn’t clear if that will be the case, but the predictions are accurate that Google intends to use authorship and Google+ ratings to raise the search ranking for a website.

Ultimately, it will take time before anyone can be sure how this could affect writers and businesses that utilize Google authorship.