The big brands are now getting more exposure in the Google search results than ever before. Although Google are talking about the importance of brand there seems to be little information about how “brand” is measured, what makes a brand stronger in the eyes of Google would be very useful indeed.
One thing is for certain - the way the big brands are handled by Google is changing, but so far we can only speculate on how Google measures a brands strength. It’s such a fuzzy area and one that is difficult to research so I put brand expert Nichola Stott on the spot at the last Brighton SEO meet and this is what she said:
Google is now allowing the initial pages of some search results to be dominated by a single brand or website, if it has sub-domains and a “strong user interest”. The fact that a user’s query “may be restricted” to a search of the one website/brand most associated with that query is an issue for SEO providers. For an example of this type ‘dell’ into Google and it will return the 5 top results from dell. But this is not universal – type Nike into Google and it’s a different story. This suggests these restricted searches will only effect brands that have been specifically targeted by Google so smaller businesses will not be effected. Your ranking, however will be effected by what Matt Cutts calls ‘trust metrics’.
He even goes on to say that Google doesn’t think about Brand that much! Mmmmm… I’m not so sure about that, but I certainly think that following his suggestions will definitely help your SEO efforts:
Provide great content
Become an authority in your niche
Be the expert that people want to link to (read linkbait)
Be the expert that people want to talk about (ie: references to your company name)
Brighton SEO was a half-day conference followed by some drinks and networking in the evening, held at Community Base on Friday 23rd July, a brilliant and educational event organised by Kelvin Newman of Site Visibility.
saving this image for my bad photoshopping post!
I videoed almost all of the content and I’m sorry I haven’t posted it up sooner but I haven’t had the time. Never the less I will be uploading snippets bit by bit over the next few weeks so keep your eyes peeled. The first part features Kevin Gibbons and his wonderfully useful wordpress plugins, Cedric Wooding with an enlightening presentation on facebook advertising and Annabel Hodges thinks out of the box when it comes to search.
Hold on tight the Google Caffeine Algorithm enhancement is soon to go live, some are claiming to have seen results indicating the roll-out has already begun. Here are a few tips to help you keep your site well ranked. (To learn more about SEO in general, see our Search Engine Optimisation Training in Brighton, Sussex!)
1. Engage in Social Media Networking and Marketing
Engaging in Social Media Networking will greatly increase your sites exposure. To compete you now need to include Social Media features in your website.
Caffeine is the most comprehensive Google Search Engine application since 2006, and clearly places a greater emphasis on Social Media sites like Twitter. Blogs, images and videos also play a more important role in the information presented to searchers. Considering Caffeine’s focus on news and real-time information, video is going to be more important than ever, especially for generic searches.
If you need help to get started with Social Media Networking come on one of our Social Media Courses the next one is January 21st.
2. Regularly update your site with fresh, relevant content
Fresh relevant content is more important than ever. Content should be concise and relevant to core products, or services. Sites with older content are more likely to see dips or drops in their rankings, with more weight being given to sources seen as current.
For a comprehensive coverage of SEO, we offer a hands on SEO Course Courses in Brighton, Sussex.
Here’s a quick summary of best practice as a reference guide.
Check your Meta tags
The title tag is the most important meta tag, do not stuff with keywords but make sure they are included.
Avoid Cloaking
When your are offering different content to Googlebot than the actual content of your site, this is classed as Cloaking and can get you banned from Google. Cloaking is seen as cheating, Google don’t like this.
Avoid Duplicate Websites
A common mistake is the use of multiple sites under different versions of the same Domain. If you wish to use multiple Domains, set up 301 re-directs to the main site.
Avoid Duplicate Content
Do not use the same content across a number of pages, this is classed as duplicate content. Make sure each page has unique content.
Don’t use Hidden Text or Hidden Links
Hidden text is text that is the same colour as the background. Google will class this as spam.
Avoid Keyword Stuffing
Don’t repeat your Keywords excessively. Content should read naturally. Keyword stuffing is seen as spam.
Be careful who you link to
Linking to sites that do not carry out ethical practices works against you. Adult and Gambling sites should be to avoided. Don’t link to sites that spam. Avoid Link Farms. Only link to sites that are relevant and sites that would add value to the content of your site.
The big brands are now getting more exposure in the Google search results than ever before. Although Google are talking about the importance of brand there seems to be little information about how “brand” is measured, what makes a brand stronger in the eyes of Google would be very useful indeed.
