Google Caffeine and the Search Engine Mega Revolution Part II

A Special Message for all those who use Live Chat Software for Power Customer Engagement

We didn’t mean to shift focus entirely away from live chat software here but in the second part of our Caffeine Update report, we have decided to go straight for the jugular and tell you about the various steps you can take to preserve your high rank on Google’s search engine results pages (SERPs). If you are not on page one of Google yet for at least half a dozen winning keywords, it is not too late. Search engine search results are and will continue to remain dynamic listings with constant shuffling for a variety of reasons. What makes adherence to Google’s web optimization principles so critical to your online marketing strategy is the fact that organic listings not only cost you nothing unlike PPC campaigns, searchers tend to find organic listings more credible. Therefore, they are more likely to click on them. Follow the simple steps we have listed below and the quantum of targeted traffic that arrives on your website is sure to head straight north.

Real Time Search

We have, in a manner of speaking, gone full circle. In the mid nineties, search engines like Yahoo and AltaVista would rank websites in their results purely on the basis of content freshness. The more recent the web page was, the higher it would rank. This primitive-sounding way to rank web pages in the search engine results was easy to implement. However, webmasters caught on immediately and began to save their primary web pages every day, sometimes without even updating them. Search engine results are no longer confined today to websites alone and include blogs, forum posts and press releases all of which are dated intuitively. Our recommendation? Not just add new content to your website as often as you physically can, integrate off page content such as blogs, press releases, articles and forum posts into your overall strategy so that your company is featured on the Google SERPs in more ways than one.

Video and Image Search

The increased prominence of videos and images in Google’s search engine algorithm is believed to have been further streamlined in the Caffeine Update. As a website owner who believes in the incredible potential and merit of live chat software, you are already tuned into the need for a positive online customer experience. Uploading at least one good quality three minute video on your website each month that attempts to address either a frequently asked question or highlights the features of your hottest selling product or service will please both Google and your customers. Since Google’s Image Search receives millions of hits every week, it is a good idea to optimize your images with alt tag attributes and web-based search engine friendly captions. Spring for a small budget immediately if you are unfamiliar with these back end actions and have a professional render this service for you.

Site Load Factor

Google has openly declared that it is now going to judge websites from a search ranking perspective on the basis of how quickly a website loads. Google has even provided a tool for this purpose on its Webmaster’s Tools page. Asking your design and development team to tweak your website to achieve Google’s expectations is an exercise we heartily recommend. In the same way in which the speed with which your chat operators handle live chats makes a difference in user behavior, the site load factor is also sure to contribute to the positive nature of this user experience.

Social Media Optimization

Google has finally voted for SMO with both feet. If you have not built your corporate profile on Facebook MySpace, Linked In, Zoom Info, Spoke, Ryze and those social media websites that exclusively cater to your niche or industry vertical, it just might be time to revisit the drawing boards. And no, we surely did not forget Twitter. We kept the best for the last! Simply building profiles is not enough. Your company needs to remain active on these platforms through ongoing interaction and frequent participation in discussions and debates.

Bottom Line

The process of caffeinating your website will be an ongoing process. The sooner you start, the quicker the results. This process is similar to the one you pursue in updating your live chat software since it requires you to constantly give your website the technical TLC it so richly deserves.