If
you rely on search engines to drive
visitors to your site
-- and especially if you're using
search engine optimization
strategies such as link popularity
-- then you've probably
already heard about the changes to
Google that have been
nicknamed "The Florida Dance."
.
Back
when Google used to update their
servers with new web
pages once a month, the monthly changes
came to be called"
Google Dances" because site
rankings "danced" up and
down
the search results pages.
.
Now
that Google makes updates on an ongoing
basis, the big " dances" only
happen when Google makes major changes
to the way they evaluate pages. And
the latest one has damaged the rankings
of so many web sites that it's been
nicknamed " Florida" after
the destructive Florida hurricanes!
.
So
if you haven't checked your Google
listing recently, you might want to
do it now... because even if you've
been ranked well with your Google keywords,
your site might have dropped by hundreds
of positions -- literally overnight!
.
One
marketer we know told us that her thriving
online
business had seen a tenfold increase in sales in 2003...
until the changes in Google dropped her web site listing
from a #9 position to somewhere below #999! Now she's
doing very little business, and she's desperately looking
for a way to bring her listing back up.
.
Here's
why these changes are occurring: Like
all search
engines, Google uses a variety of programs called filters
and algorithms to rank web pages in its search results.
.
The
company is constantly changing and
updating its
programs to ensure that listings are "relevant," meaning
that they are actually related to the keywords people are
searching for.
.
Now,
if search engines don't make these
changes regularly, " search engine
spammers" can actually trick search
engines into making unrelated sites
appear in the top listings.
.
(For
example, imagine searching for "affordable
gift ideas" and finding that all
the top listings link to gambling sites!)
.
But
the newest changes to Google have done
more than
penalize search engine spammers. A lot of online business owners who have been
using ethical, commonly accepted techniques to improve their search engine rankings
are finding that their Google listings have dropped right out of sight.
.
The
new changes have caused headaches for
a huge number of online business owners
by penalizing "over-optimized" web
pages -- meaning that if you've spent
time and money trying to push your
page to the top of the listings, you
might actually be punished for your
hard work with a diminished ranking.
.
If
your site listing has dropped in Google,
you're probably
scrambling to figure out how you can fix the problem -- after all, a lower listing
almost certainly means that you're losing money.
.
So
what should you do?
We've researched the changes and
listened to the industry buzz, and
it looks like the best thing to do
now... is to wait.
Google is still fine-tuning this
latest round of changes, so
before you start overhauling your web site, you should wait until the final
tweaks to "Florida" have been made.
Frustrating? Yes. But if you've
been burned by these changes, here
are a few things you CAN do to ensure
that potential customers are still
finding your site while the dust
settles:
.
1. MAKE SURE YOUR SITE OFFERS
RELEVANT, HIGH-QUALITY CONTENT
Remember, Google's goal in making these types of changes is to ensure
that top positions go to sites offering valuable resources and information.
Google uses sophisticated software
to measure the "relevance" of
your site's content to keywords
that people search for -- so
adding well-written content to
your web site is still an effective
way to improve your ranking.
2. BE CAREFUL NOT TO "OVER-OPTIMIZE" YOUR
SITE
In the early days of search engine marketing, people found a number of "loopholes" --
tricks that sent sites to the top of the search engines even if they
had little or nothing to do with the keywords being searched for. These
tricks include:
- Hidden links and text (i.e.,
white keywords on a white
background)
- "Mirror" sites (copies of a site that are optimized for a
single search engine)
- "Link farms" (multiple
web sites whose sole purpose
is
to link to each other)
- "Doorway" pages
(pages designed primarily for
search
engines, not for users)
Google can now detect these
and many other tricks, and
it penalizes sites that use them by dropping their ranking
dramatically.
If you've hired someone to optimize
your ranking, make sure they're
not using any of these outdated
methods -- or they may actually
be damaging your chances of getting
a top ranking!
Likewise, if you're using extensive
affiliate links to create
" link popularity" for your site, you should be aware that
indiscriminate use of affiliate links can hurt your ranking
under the Florida changes... so be careful to link to sites
with content that is related to yours.
3. CONSIDER USING PAID LISTINGS
TO KEEP VISITORS
COMING TO YOUR SITE
I know, I know... If you're still smarting after losing your
coveted position in Google, the last thing you probably want to do is
pay them for advertising! Still, as a short-term way of recouping your
losses until you're able to get your ranking back up, you just might
want to look into paid advertising.
If you do, be sure to do your
research and calculate how much
you can spend while still making
a profit. Pay-per-clicks can
be an effective way to get people
clicking through to your site
in just a few hours, but be careful:
A hastily implemented pay- per-click
campaign can quickly get expensive!
4. EXPLORE OTHER SEARCH OPTIONS
Google isn't the only search engine! While it's true that
most searchers go to Google first, you can bring new visitors to your
site by working on improving your search results in some of the other
engines.
For starters, try looking at
AllTheWeb, Teoma, Inktomi, and
Dogpile. HotBot is a neat site
that lets you search Inktomi,
AllTheWeb, Teoma, and Google,
all from a single location.
And there's always MSN and Yahoo!...
5. DON'T PUT ALL YOUR EGGS IN
ONE BASKET
Search engine optimization is
just one of many ways to bring
visitors to your web site. If
your business relies too heavily
on search engine optimization,
you're putting yourself at the
mercy of the search engine algorithms
-- which are constantly changing!
The best way to ensure that
your site gets a steady stream
of visitors is to combine a variety
of online marketing techniques.
Consider adding some of the following
strategies to your plan (or if
you're already using them, try
thinking of ways to make them
even more effective!):
Corey
Rudl is the owner of four highly
successful online businesses that
attract more than 1.8 million visitors
per month and generate over $6.6
million each year. He is also the
author of the #1 best-selling Internet
Marketing course online.
To check out his site that's JAM-PACKED
WITH THE EXACT INFORMATION YOU
NEED to start, build, and grow
your very own profitable Internet
business, I highly recommend visiting
http://www.marketingtips.com/tipsltr.html
