Changes In The Search Engine Optimization Industry

There were many significant changes in the SEO world in the last two years. For starters, with the launch of Google Penguin algorithm in April 2011, websites that used link schemes, for instance buying or selling links, an excessive amount link exchanges, linking to web spammers or not related sites simply to manipulate rankings on the SERP, have been penalized.

Another noteworthy change in recent years is that websites have to be developed fundamentally for users, rather than search engines, which was the practice in the past. Nowadays, search engines place more importance to consumer experience. For websites to rank highly, their owners should identify techniques to encourage their readers to stay for a longer period on the blog or site and decrease bounce rates.

Posting good quality content is also further emphasized in recent years. The Panda algorithm introduced by Google in 2011 lowered the rankings of websites that had poor content. Site owners have to make sure that content they publish are natural sounding; does not have spelling, stylistic, and factual mistakes; thorough; helpful and interesting.

Historically, site content was predominantly text-based. In recent times, content come in various forms, which include videos, infographics, podcasts, and powerpoint presentations. Creating exceptionally creative and shareable content also became crucial for websites striving to get higher rankings on on the search results page.

One of the most interesting changes in the SEO world is the rising importance of social media in a websites search engine ranking. Historically, links were more important than social media signals. But at present, social signals are already looked at as an equally crucial ranking element, and a lot of industry professionals believe that it will become much more essential in the years to come. The biggest influence of social media is that it helps web sites in building new links. It does this by improving brand awareness and by extension the visibility of the companys blog or website online. Interestingly, websites which also have a strong social media presence enjoy lowered bounce rates, which consequently, helps them achieve better rankings on the search results page.

As a result of the rising importance of social signals, numerous online vendors provide solutions to help you quickly increase your social media presence. For example, they can help you increase YouTube views, for a fee, by using bots or enlisting actual people to follow youand share your content. Although useful, artificial social signals, when used disproportionately, are frowned upon by major search engines. The best practice of obtaining social signals is via organic means. This involves creating integrations between your social media channels to your corporate site or blog. This can be achieved by telling people who check out your website to subscribe to your social channels by including connect buttons on your blog or site, or by adding share buttons on your content. To know more about SEO and importance of social media, visit this link.