Like many parts of your business that can be difficult to predict (the impact of weather events, who your next client will be, etc.), the volume of business you get from online channels may at times feel out of your control. Google’s search algorithm changes about 500-600 times every year, which got us wondering…have you noticed any changes to your website’s traffic this year?
Google being laser-focused on fine-tuning search results to make them as relevant and high quality as possible has made it harder than ever to earn traffic to your websites. So here’s a few trends & pointers to help you leverage every bit of traffic Google sends your way…
- Rise of paid advertising: Google is focusing more than ever on Google Ads, which are now taking top positions in Google search results (Takeaway: there’s never been a better time to invest in Google Ads or expand your Google advertising to new ad types like Local Service Ads)
- Voice search is changing search results (Takeaway: Write your website copy the way your customers naturally speak and incorporate their frequently asked questions to rank for voice search results)
- Google shows answers to people’s searches directly in the search results (so people don’t have to click into websites) (Takeaway: Your Google My Business page is your opportunity to highlight your reviews, offers, and contact info directly on the search results page)
- Utilize Youtube, Google images, Google news, maps etc. get found in Google search results Takeaway: Get the most benefit from your content by posting it to Google platforms
- Use Google Rich Snippets (the results that show up on the search results pages for your business) — to get more clicks to your content in search results
It’s never been more important to make your website the center of your marketing campaigns and invest in getting more organic traffic so you are better positioned as paid becomes increasingly popular.
