Search Engine Optimization
A Shot of Google Caffeine for your Business
Written by Chris Martin for Gaebler Ventures
A new indexing system called Google Caffeine helps provide 50% fresher content to people who use the Google search engine. This means that if your business's website has more updated content, more people will find it. So how do you accomplish that?
If you're an entrepreneur, you've probably heard all of this before.
To increase traffic to your website, it has to rank highly on search engines (like Google). To boost those rankings, you need to constantly provide fresh content (like maintaining a blog).
Well, those axioms have now become even more important.
In June of 2010, Google unveiled what has been colorfully named Google Caffeine. It's not a consumer application or service; rather, Caffeine is a web indexing system that represents a marked improvement over the company's previous index.
According to Google, Caffeine provides 50% fresher results for all web searches. In other words, users of Google's search engine can now find content that is more updated and relevant – and they can discover this "newer" content much sooner after it was created than ever before.
What does this mean for entrepreneurs and small businesses?
The most important difference will be the shortened amount of time that Google web searchers will need to discover the websites and content pages operated by business owners. Because Caffeine will emphasize fresher content, there will be much less lag time between the creation of online content by an entrepreneur and its subsequent unearthing by Googlers. And all this will take place without business owners having to take any additional steps or format anything differently.
However, there are some things that entrepreneurs can do with their websites to maximize the benefits of Caffeine.
Consider expanding "limited-time" promotions
Before Caffeine, many short-term online incentives may not have had much of an effect on a business - because by the time that web searchers were made aware of the promotion, the expiration date had already passed. But because Caffeine indexes these pages so much more quickly, entrepreneurs may be able to get some mileage out of such enticements which are "only available for a limited time." So perhaps you should factor this new wrinkle into your marketing strategy.
No more blog procrastination
Google officials claim that with Caffeine's focus on fresh content, there's really no reason why every business shouldn't have a blog. Not only does it provide interesting and informative content for your current and potential customers, each entry can also assume the role of a press release (albeit with a lighter and less formal tone). So if you've been putting off starting a blog, get moving!
Think about offering a free service or resource
Provide a weekly update on a certain aspect of your community (arts, schools, etc.). Put up a regular Photoshop creation which will make people smile. Or create a daily trivia question, puzzle, or game. This content doesn't have to directly relate to your business. But if web browsers keep coming back to check it out, that will send your page rankings through the roof!
As an entrepreneur trying to carve out his or her niche in the marketplace, creating and maintaining a strong Internet presence is vital. In the past, you might have felt that much of your efforts to improve your site's search engine rankings were fruitless. But with the implementation of Google Caffeine and its emphasis on timely content, the battle for cyberspace supremacy has become a bit more meritocratic. So start freshening up your content and begin reaping the rewards of increased site traffic!
Chris Martin has been a professional writer for the last seven years. He is interested in franchises and equity acquisition.
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