Officially announced a few weeks ago, the new “Google Caffeine” search results and algorithm changes from Google are really something you should take seriously. While your immediate reaction might be “oh no, this is going to kill me”, a more thorough understanding of how Caffeine works will most certainly enlighten you to see the potential in it.
Google Caffeine is Faster at Evaluating Content & Ranking Accordingly
Google Caffeine is Faster
The biggest change in the algorithm is really Google’s ability to more quickly identify new content and determine whether or not it is “hot/trending” or otherwise important enough to be listed more prominently than older, more established content. This really increases the importance of updating your site and building new content on an ongoing basis.
More Opportunities to Rank on the 1st Page of Google
Most notably w/ Google Caffeine, you’ll notice there are a larger variety of result formats and data sources. While “universal search results” have been around for years – showing related videos, news, images and a few other sources – the Caffeine results integrate even more data sources for you to strategize & dominate.
The newest data source in the results is Twitter – if your query merits a real-time results (often called query deserves freshness or QDF) – then you might see a feed of recent Twitter posts included in the search results.
Additional changes include showing news and other documents/sites that your friends like – friends from sites like Facebook and Google.
So at this point you’re probably asking “How this makes it easier for you to get 1st page Google rankings?”
Well, rather than having only one opportunity to get on the first page (via SEO and organic optimization), you now have MANY opportunities to get listed.
How to Show Up on the First Page of Google Results
By targeting a variety of data sources with your optimization, you can potentially get on the first page of Google search results. If you’re good at a particular strategy, you could potentially leapfrog a lot of your competition.
Some methods you can use to get listed:
- Google Local Places listing – Make sure you have submitted your business and your listing is optimized.
- Videos -Depending on the query, Google will show video thumbnails.
- News – Keep your business in the news.
- Twitter – Actively participate in your industry/niche.
- Friends – Make a lot of friends in Facebook, Google, etc.
- Product Feed – Get your products in Google Products (data feed).
- Documents – Compliment your website pages w/ optimized Word documents, PDF’s, slideshows, etc.
- Organic – Regular old SEO tactics apply here (links, content, etc.).
Each of these methods does require some level of expertise and/or optimization strategies to work effectively, but the more methods you use (well), the higher your chances of getting those 1st page rankings you’re looking for.
With a good amount of effort and persistence, you can start showing more frequently & drive traffic to your site.