SEO + – internet marketing mitigating the latest google changes.

Written by jeff on November 15th, 2010

No doubt you would have seen the latest changes to googles search engine listings. Google local and local maps are now given a much higher importance to search results. Previously you might have seen a smaller map with the locator pins on it, and a line of text annotating the pins. This didnt really take up much room.

Now however the same location results are individually listed, vertically in the midst of the search engines results starting from position 3. This is not a problem if you were naturally ranked in the top 3 positions. However if you were position number 4 and below, you now have around eight other listings inserted above your results. Your share of that traffic just plummeted, and no doubt your business will take a hit.

For those who rank highly on the map listings but not on search, you have just got a big bonus. Some would say quite rightly, because the local results emphasis is meant to highlight local businesses. Only problem is, to get a higher local listing you need to have your local profile optimised to take advantage of the new result rendering. A slow process that accumulates authority with continued effort over many months. Funnily enough most businesses still want to have customers whilst this process is undertaken.

If you relied only on adwords then you may have got a shock. The old map is now positioned in the top right above the old sponsored listings. This map dynamically scrolls down the page as you move down to read the page. The map is positioned in the hottest part of screen real estate on the right hand side of the page. If you paid to have you listing sponsored then you just got another reduction in potential clicks.

There are still of course the sponsored listings that appeared above the natural search listing results. No surprise here as they are the premium listing positions. So much so that they even have their own scoring system evaluating their potential to be displayed there. If your bid cost is not high enough you will not be displayed in this area. If your page has a low quality score then you will have difficulty being displayed here. Apparently there is a rotating system of rendering eligible ads for these positions, but no guarantees are given.

Obviously going local was not important enough to disrupt premium paid ad positioning but was sufficient motivation to reposition all listings after position 3. No doubt the revenue generated was a powerful influencing factor here.

SEO Plus is a strategy diggy is using to basically try and cover all bases for our clients and to spread their traffic sources out on numerous platforms to provide as much protection as possible from the nuances of google. It still focuses on a long term strategy of using meaningful content to boost your natural SEO positioning , whilst also encompassing media buying strategies to augment you traffic flow lifeline to your business.

If you have any questions about how SEO Plus internet marketing can benefit your business, please dont hesitate to contact on of our centre managers.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 15th, 2010 at 3:04 pm and is filed under Online Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.