Viral Marketing News

Search engine optimization (SEO) is evolving daily, below we focus on all that has occurred in the past couple of months in the SEO world.

Google rolled out three major updates in September and October 2016

1. Google Possum Update: On September 1^st 2016, Google rolled out a massive local algorithm update which impacted the ranking on local 3 pack and Google local map results.
   • Google is now filtering sites based on address and affiliation to manage duplicate data on search results and listings.

• Action for businesses: Ensure that your business has a verified Google My Business profile and no duplicate pages exist on your address.

2. Next, between September 13th and 14th we saw a massive drop in search engine result pages (SERPs) with image results on page one. Moz.com reported that this caused substantial volatility, and SERPs received an extra organic result on page one due to images being removed.

• Action for businesses:  Keep optimizing images as images and videos are very important to deliver a good user experience. However, at the same time, take advantage of the new available spot and update content, leverage blog posts or holiday special pages to rank for more keywords.

3. Finally, on September 23^rd 2016, Google officially announced that “Penguin” is now part of their core algorithm. Google’s search rankings rely on over 200 signals, one being the Penguin ranking algorithm that helps Google identify websites that spam search results. Websites who obtain links through networks designed primarily to artificially boost Google rankings are the ones impacted by this update.

• Action for businesses: Know the channels and websites that your business is listed on, “linked to”. Buying links in bulk or irrelevant links from small directories may end up getting a Penguin penalty in future. Scan your business on the most important channels and get your health score today by visiting www.naptunelistings.com.

How did the updates impact Milestone customers?

Milestone reviewed their client traffic after the updates, September and October 2016, and below are the findings:

• Organic traffic share:
  • Increased 14% compared to the Sept/Oct 2015
  • Increased 8.03% versus the previous period, July/Aug 2016
• Highest increase was in the conversions:
  • Increased 23.89% compared to Sept/Oct 2015
  • Increased 16.42% versus the previous period, July/Aug 2016

It is almost anyone’s guess as to the precise state of SEO a year from today, as trends fall off almost as quickly as new trends emerge. But, staying on top of changes and building a solid SEO strategy based around customer engagement will set you up for success in 2017 and beyond.  If you have additional questions please leave a comment below, visit our website, or email us at sales@milestoneinternet.com.

Source: Paid Search