Update! – We have a new SEO Secrets for 2019 take a look here: https://internetmarketingteam.com/proven-seo-steps-for-building-a-new-website/
While no one is allowed to know exactly how the search engine giant Google specifically determines which pages will rank highest in search engine results, Google’s Matt Cutts did share some insider information at the 2013 PubCon in Las Vegas. Here at Internet Marketing Team we pay close attention to what he says and how we can better help our SEO clients in the Phoenix Area. He began his presentation by discussing some of Google’s past accomplishments and initiatives before discussing Google’s future and offering several insider SEO secrets that web developers will want to use when performing search engine optimization on their pages.
Where Google Has Been
In an effort to provide the most relevant and useful search results, Google is getting smarter and smarter all the time. The experts at Google are continually tweaking Google’s algorithms so the search engine can understand not just the words that people type in, but the information that they are actually searching for.
For example, with the Hummingbird update, Google is able to determine which words in a query are the most important and ignore irrelevant words. Google is now also able to understand conversational search, which uses pronouns and multiple related searches in a row.
The experts at Google have been working hard to distinguish reputable and reliable sites from low-quality spam sites with recent updates including Panda and Penguin 2.0. They are currently working to move more quality sites up in search rankings while getting rid of hacked sites and illegal black hat SEO sites.
Lastly, Cutts did mention that Google is currently unable to export the Page Rank updates that companies and individuals so often obsess over. Google does keep track of its own continual updates, but the company has no plans to publish updates anytime soon.
Where Google is Headed
Moving forward, the experts at Google plan to continue the work that they have been doing in six main areas: furthering machine learning, optimizing for mobile compatibility, establishing authorship, creating social influence and discouraging illegal black hat SEO.
1. Machine Learning
Google prides itself on bringing users the most relevant search results. One way it will continue to do this is by continuing to make Google smarter so it can quickly find people the information they are looking for. Google is not seeking to be just a search engine, but the best source of relevant information.
2. Mobile Compatibility
Mobile internet use has skyrocketed in the last few years and in some places, more people are accessing the internet with their smart phones than their computers. In the future, a site’s mobile compatibility will play an increasingly large role in its Page Rank so mobile users do not see search results that they cannot view.
3. Authorship
By establishing the authorship of pages, Google is able to weed out some of the spammers. Therefore, Google will be looking to establish authorship of pages by looking for sites whose authors have Google accounts and who are credited in multiple places. One way people will be able to establish their personal credibility is through social media.
4. Social Influence
Currently, Google cannot access many areas of social media, so gathering likes and +1s does not actually help sites with their search engine optimization that much. Cutts wants this to change in the future, however, since sites that receive a large number of authentic shares and mentions are likely to be written and maintained by authorities in their fields.
5. Illegal Black Hat SEO
For the next six months or more, the experts at Google plan to focus on stopping hackers and illegal black hat activity. They want to make sure that even if people are searching for illegal activities, such as child pornography, that they are unable to find it. People using legal black hat SEO tactics are likely to see no major changes in the near future.
Advice for Search Engine Optimization Moving Forward
1. Get Ready for Mobile
Whether you choose to redirect your site visitors to a separate m. page or you choose to use responsive web design, your page needs to be viewable on both computers and mobile devices if you want it to rank well. Make sure your pages look great on any device. This also means that your pages should not use Flash, which is not viewable from most mobile devices.
2. Implement Request Autocomplete
People hate filling out forms. Take an afternoon to add request autocomplete to any forms on your page and be sure to annotate your forms correctly. This will allow people to fill out forms with a single click, reducing the number of abandoned online shopping carts.
3. Reduce Ads on Ad Heavy Pages
While there is nothing wrong with having some ads, pages that are full of ads do not offer users the best experience and are not likely to rank high in search results. Pages with a large amount of ads at the top of the page are especially bothersome.
4. Establish Authorship
Google plans to reduce authorship by 10 to 15 percent so only the most trusted content and authors can gain authorship. You can prepare by linking your content to a Google+ account, uploading a headshot and making sure you add a byline to each page of content. Then sign up for authorship at https://plus.google.com/authorship.
5. Utilize Rich Snippets
Google has gone from only allowing a few reputable sites to have rich snippets to letting everyone have rich snippets to now seeking a more balanced middle ground. Therefore, if you wish to use rich snippets, make sure that you are a quality site, since only quality sites will be able to use them.
6. Make Use of Google Webmaster Tools
Google Webmaster Tools is a free tool that allows you to maintain your website, view how Google sees your site and perform diagnostics to see where Google is getting stuck on your site. You can submit a sitemap and manage geographic targeting as well. Google Webmaster Tools can be found at www.google.com/webmasters/tools/.
7. Do Not Attempt to Buy Page Rank From inexperienced SEO Firms
Linking is critical but Google is quickly learning the difference between the authentic links a site receives and links the website owner has purchased. It won’t be long until purchasing links hurts your Page Rank more than it helps it. Instead of purchasing links, seek to create quality content that will naturally bring about authentic links, shares and likes. Internet Marketing Team offers its clients links from original content on high PR domains that already rank well themselves. Most of these domains have a Page Rank of 3 or higher, Domain authority above 20, and many have a Trustflow above 15.
8. Disavow Bad SEO Links
In addition to not buying links, remove any bad SEO links your site already has, and then disavow the rest with the disavow file found at https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/2648487?hl=en. While this will not remove the bad links, it will signal Google not to take them into account when crawling your page.
9. Create Quality Content
Lastly, but most importantly, creating quality content is the number one most important action you should take for search engine optimization. Creating quality content will bring you real site visitors, links, shares and likes, which is the best way to help your site rank higher with Google.
While using the latest SEO secrets to optimize your page and increase your Page Rank is always helpful, there are no shortcuts to success. Google is always seeking to find the best, most useful content so its searchers have the best search experience possible. Find SEO companies in Phoenix, create quality, search engine optimized content and your website will reap the rewards.