New Google Brand Update
Posted by Jay Hands on 02/07/2009 under Online Marketing.
In March 2009 Google performed an update to its algorythm which seemed to give a boost for big brand names in its search results.
There has been a fair bit of movement in the Google Search results over the past few weeks but without a pattern to follow and find out exactly whats going on. In late June there has been plenty of authority websites appearing throughout the search results. So, what does this tell us about the latest tweak (i'm not sure if it is an official update yet?).
Well, it is a well known fact that to rank well in the search engines you need to a good link building campaign from quality websites and have excellent onsite optimisation including clever keyword placement and accessibility. However, at the present time Google looks like it is allowing more authoritative website to rank better based on internal links and and authoritative trust even where they have fewer quality links than their competitors. Good internal linking has always been important but now t seems on some sites more important than ever.
This, if maintained, will have large implications and mean that larger sites can rank well forcing smaller companies out as there are only ten of those hallowed places available. This will mean that smaller and medium companies will have to work harder to get on the first page. I cannot see the major benefits for Google in doing this but there must be some method to their madness somewhere.
So, how does one become a brand authority to allow better rankings? There is no magic formula to become a brand but there are a number of factors which help Google recognise your site as a market leader. They include mentions in the authoritative news pages where there is no direct link to your website but you are mentioned in the copy (example of EyePlot mentioned in the copy of the local paper). Actual links from these website are more powerful and indicative that you are authoritative and well as buzz mentions from web 2.0 websites such as Yahoo Buzz, Facebook, Twitter etc. These can all be factors in associating your website as a market leader as the 'endorsements' you recieve are from powerful market leaders or strong authoriative sources themselves.
Other indicators are likely to include searches for your brand name itself. So, if people are searching for your company name to reach your website then Google knows that people are aware of your website already and it is a likely authoritative website. If you have Google analytics installed then you can see this yourself (and presumably so can Google if you ticked that 'allow your data to be shared boxes').
It will be interesting to see where this update goes.
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