Google has been tweaking
Google has been tweaking the format of its search engine results page (SERP) and this means big changes are coming to how we execute search engine optimization (SEO) of webpages, social media, and so forth. Neil Patel actually has a great blog on this too.
I have been noticing over the past several weeks and months that Google has started to place more emphasis on keeping people in the SERP. Organic search results are barely above the fold any longer. Does this mean that organic search engine results are becoming less important? Yes, but there is an answer.
If you have a decent social media following and/or a business one NEEDS to be in Google My Business. If you notice my SERP I have taken the time to set up a Google My Business for my business, which is digital marketing, SEO, online reputation management, and sales. My primary focus is working with start-ups as that is my passion. I find the start-up atmosphere intoxicating to say the least.
Once you have your Google My Business set-up you need to take the time to fill in the information, especially inserting your website, social media handles, and so forth. Also put a picture, services offered, etc. Literally concentrate on ensuring the entire thing is filled in completely. There are still some areas I need to update and complete and I finally will have time this weekend to attack those. Below you can see the web traffic associated with my brand name URL and how all the work paid off.
Google is also placing more and more emphasis on content rich websites. This means that you place special code in your website so that when Google crawls and indexes the website it knows certain things. For me, I concentrated on making sure that Google knew my social media handles and that is why you sometimes you can see my latest Tweets right on the first page of my SERP. Notice that this takes up quite a bit of space and pushes information off the first page onto the second. 90% of people only look at the first page of the SERP, so anything beyond page 1 is a ghost town. Focus on getting great information on that first page.
Two things I wanted to ensure on my Google SERP was that my brand name URL and Twitter account were number one and two. These are going to be the most clicked and having your best results on top ensure that you control your narrative and take back control of your online reputation.
I am going to post several more blogs on this topic as I have had numerous requests to do so. My goal is to have the first page of my SERP a billboard for my services and I will share my journey along the way. I will warn you though, this is a lot of work and most people simply do not have the time, technical know-how, or patience to sink into this type of work. That is where someone like me comes in and I would love to help you.