Do we focus too Much Attention on Google Results?
Whenever people ask about SEO, they tend to just refer to improving their Google ranking. This isn’t a huge surprise, particularly as Google have a 90% grip on the UK search market, but it might be a little short sighted.
Of course SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation, not just Google Optimisation. This means you are looking to increase your site’s strength in the eyes of all search engines, not just a select few, or even just one. However, each different engine employs a unique algorithm. There are numerous similarities, but there are also subtle differences.
You might get only a trickle of visitors from the likes of Bing and Yahoo, but every little counts. The danger with being entirely Google-centric is that you can often find yourself falling foul of major algorithm updates, perfectly demonstrated by the recent Mayday issue.
If you haven’t heard, it appears that Google are refining the number of pages they index. The update has seen positions change hugely, particularly for long tail phrases. It appears to have particularly affected websites with a high number of pages who may not have fully optimised some child pages.
All in all, the bottom line for some is that they are losing traffic and business as a result of a simple change in the Google algorithm. This in many ways has highlighted the power that Google has. Because, whilst some are suffering as a consequence, others are flourishing. This kind of overnight change though has consequences for many.
Not least it serves to highlight that relying on any Google rating as a ‘given’ is very dangerous indeed. Nobody can second guess their movements. As a company they are understandably very secretive about the algorithm they use and aren’t always too happy about offering up information. You can’t take anything for granted when it comes to search engine rankings, all you can do is to make sure that you’re always optimised.
The best way of doing this, regardless of the search engine you’re targeting, is to do a spot of competitor analysis. By finding out what components have gone into helping a competing site get to the top of Google, Yahoo or Bing, you can work towards emulating and exceeding their success.
By ensuring that you have good rankings on the likes of Yahoo, Bing and even Ask, you can cushion the blow of any major algorithm change anywhere. Yes it is hugely important that you grab a good position on Google for your key terms, but you can’t just rely solely on that or focus on obtaining it.
Widen your gaze. Make sure that your website is optimised first and foremost. Get your on-site work done first, including content and architecture, add some links and then see where you are. If you’re top of Google, it’s happy days. But ultimately you want to ensure that you strengthen this position. Build more links, improve your rankings for other terms and get yourself listed on Yahoo and Bing.
We focus on Google for a very good reason, but you shouldn’t become blinded by the mission to their summit. There are plenty of battles to be won online, so don’t just go for the most obvious. Yes it will provide the most benefit, but you can’t bank on maintaining any ranking.
