In today’s competitive business world, it can be argued that it’s more important than ever to have at least a basic awareness of SEO (search engine optimisation) and your SERP position (search engine results page). There are very few businesses that wouldn’t benefit from a higher and more obvious web presence and to climb those magical ranking charts, you have to put in at least a bit of an effort. Google search is a trusted and popular way of finding companies of all kinds and there’s a fair chance that your potential customers will look into using this method, to find a business just like yours. Your job of course, is to make sure they find you, instead of your competitor.
For those of you new to Google search rankings, you might be surprised that there is actually quite a lot you can do to make sure your site is fully optimised and accessible to all platforms. Google has gained its reputation from years of producing complicated algorithms and ever-changing popularity criteria, which would baffle the likes of most people. The exact nature of these are a closely guarded secret, not to worry though, as there are still many accessible guides to getting you started. It’s well worth the effort, as you will hopefully end up seeing for yourself.
Facebook has become a very popular arena to showcase both personal lives and businesses and is something that many people have grown comfortable with using on a daily basis. Knocking out a quick post about what you did on Saturday night, or letting customers know about your latest promotion, is a familiar and relatively easy option that a large majority of people have come to accept and trust without hesitation. Now, although Facebook may indeed have a minor effect on search rankings, it would only make sense that Google prioritised the use of its own platform and rewarded those who make good use of it.
When Google first began their own version of a social media page, it wasn’t the most welcoming of places and its immediate impact was, to say the least, unimpressive. A few brave businesses dared to venture into the land of Google+ and, in the effort to remain at the top of the pile, created a presence for themselves that often seemed to go no further. In the years since those first tentative steps, things have changed greatly and the offering of ‘Google My Business’, now enables a much more interactive approach with more visual results.
Sadly, many of the early pioneers abandoned the likes of the Google business platform, finding it confusing, unpopular and not really worth the effort. It is those people who are missing out today, so if that sounds like you, make sure your company has a bonafide presence on their ever-growing business pages, or run the risk of being beaten by your competitors. Once you’ve created a page and verified your details you are well on your way and it is here we examine the importance and relevance of posts made to your new page.
As mentioned previously, Facebook has played a large part in the familiarisation of posting online and the Google My Business methods are very similar. Now this is where things step up a notch. Once you have a listing on the Google pages, you will notice that your company becomes more visible in the search ranking results. This can often be tested by searching for something that you know will apply uniquely to you, such as your company name and location.
After extensive testing, Google posts have been quietly gaining in importance over the last year or so and instead of merely appearing on your newly acquired page, they will now show up on your search results, giving maximum impact to your company image. Posts can include a variety of media from animated gifs, video and images, to simple text based posts, the choice is entirely yours. The reason this is so exciting, is that it gives you a much greater degree of control over what your potential clients see, offering the opportunity to supply an up-to-date message that suits your current marketing requirements.
Unlike other advertising media online, Google will only show each post in your search results for seven days, something which may initially seem like an annoyance but actually means it jumps ahead of the boring static posts that we are used to seeing. Of course, there’s nothing at all to stop you from re-posting the same information every seven days but used wisely, you have a rather unique opportunity to present new and current data every week and that’s not something to be sniffed at.
One of the hardest things when trying to gain a higher ranking in Google search results, is the depth of secrecy when it comes to their exact methodology. This makes it hard to analyse results and report back on what does and doesn’t work. Many priorities change on a regular basis and it’s not always easy to keep up, so you have to try and cover all bases as much as possible. It is therefore, a pleasantly surprising discovery that such a potentially powerful advertising tool, is quite simple and painless to do, even without a degree in internet babble. It is also a relatively new tool and one that needs to be embraced with every bit of enthusiasm you can muster. In terms of ranking position, there definitely seems to be a pretty immediate boost for entries with Google posts and remember, this not only increases your chances of gaining a higher position in the coveted results, it gives you an immediate visual impact too, increasing the chances of gaining attention from all the right places.
Google is here to stay and the addition of posts are an exciting development from anyone interested in building their business online. With nothing to lose and everything to gain, drop everything and get posting. Your business will thank you for it.
