2014 Google Update Predictions – New Strategies

Last year was an incredibly eventful year for Google when talking about updates. After Google destroyed any black hat SEO technique with its Panda, Penguin and Humming Bird algorithms, in 2014 we are going to watch the change of the SEO definition.

Prior to 2011, SEO was all about ‘link building’ and ‘keyword stuffing’, afterwards Google came with updates that valued more the content and the originality.  Now, in order to remain in Google’s results, you must offer a great user experience. In other terms, natural link building is highly encouraged.

Next, we will try to answer 2 questions that each and every online business owner is interested in:

1) What does Google prepares us for 2014?

2) What online marketing strategy should we have, how can we be prepared for these Google updates?

---

Ok, let’s start with a few things expected any day now.

1

Google Helpouts

Google Helpouts results will start appearing on the top of organic search results. If you haven’t heard of this project before, it’s a new way to help users with web problems. It’s like a community where you can sign up to help others. Google won’t display links anymore, but will get you in touch with professionals from all over the world through scheduled video conversation.

You will have the ability to communicate directly with experts in your area of concern and get the best answers in the shortest time.

2

The king is dead, long live the king! Content.

Focusing on content it’s going to be more and more important. As told before, Google will value more the user’s experience and valuable content will place you on top of its results. The best thing to do is having fresh and quality content that sounds more and more real. Also, you should be careful with the spelling and grammar. Content Driven SEO will take its place in top SEO strategies.

3

Mobile optimization. Responsive web design.

As mobile devices’ popularity grows, the websites need to adapt. Not only that you won’t get the best of your website, but Google is estimate to penalize websites that aren’t mobile friendly or load slow on mobile devices. In 2014 mobile site speed will become an independent SEO factor, so if the website is not built right it will not rank high in smartphones search engine results.

Get in touch with a team of highly experienced online marketers who can help your online business grow in 2014.

Contact Us

4

Google Plus and Google +1

Even though Google Plus isn’t as popular as Facebook or Twitter, its importance to SEO is already well known. Beside that, in 2014 we will see a higher value added to the content that has Google Plus reviews and +1′s. Even more, a great SEO factor is to tie up your blog to your Google Plus account and establish Google authorship on your content. Maybe Facebook and Twitter will generate more traffic, but Google Plus will place you higher in Search Engine Results Pages(SERP).

5

Smaller organic search results space

AdWords is soon expected to start using “Visual Search Ads” in order to achieve a higher click through rate. Due to this fact the space of organic search results is going to shrink so the first and most wanted position on the SERP is going to be lower on the screen.

6

Blogging and guest blogging

Google wants us to share more and more information of any type (text, image, video), so original and engaging blog posts will gain more importance and will bring authority to your website.  The optimal length of an article is still disputable, it’s really about the subject. On a research made on the most viral news in 2013, we discovered that short stories have up to 500 words and a more-in-depth article has more than 800 words but includes analytical features and case studies. Basically it’s a V line with the lowest point in the 500-800 interval, which is to avoid.

7

Social Media Moderation

Social Media is probably the latest most important SEO factor and everyone wants a piece of it. You probably noticed new websites that have all the social media pages possible with thousands of  fake followers and less than 20 posts. Google will do its best to disconsider the websites linked to those pages. Why? User experience! How could hundreds of fake reviews help you buy the product you need or give you the right answer?

8

Improved semantic searches

If you don’t know that yet, since Hummingbird, Google wants to understand your needs. The results are based on your latest activities, places you visited, current location so the semantic searches will be optimized probably to prepare the growth of voice search. It aims to change words into entities, that have both a meaning and attributes.

9

The future is based on Knowledge Graph

Google is permanently making improvements to the Knowledge Graph. Your website must be well structured and prepared with rich snippets so you can stand out of the crowd and take your place in the Knowledge Graph. This could be one of the most significant improvement brought by Google that will boost your business. Although it was launched in 2012 it had a subtle appearance and it’s expected to rise this year. On a local term, having good reviews and ratings from trusted sources will bring you on top. Imagine how could that benefit your business. Anyway, it is a rumor that Google will insert Ads into the Knowledge Graph so we can expect that in 2014.

10

What you’ve learned in 2013 is still applicable, you just need to update

You must prepare your new SEO Strategies for 2014 because although Google seems harmless , its updates will have a major role in SERP’s. The best thing to do is to hire professionals to keep you safe and updated all the time. You should not try to trick Google, it may work at the beginning, but it surely won’t last because of the permanent changes they bring.

Here are some tips you should consider for your online marketing strategy in 2014:

·         - Refresh your content, write genuine and engaging articles, use pictures and videos to keep the user interested.

·         - Optimize the website for mobile searches, in 2013 the mobile searches had a growth of 125% when desktop searches had only 15%.

·         - Try to stay updated to the Google news, you may have an opportunity to get highlighted on the SERP.

·         - Invest more money in SEO and PPC activities because they will have a major role in your business.

·         - Do not try gathering a great number of  backlinks from untrusted domains. Fewer and better is the right way to do it.

·         - Stay active on your social media pages, especially on Google Plus, but keep it natural.

Looking back, we can all see which directions the trends are heading to, so we can adjust our strategies for the years to come. Hopefully, with white hat strategies and proper attention to our priorities we can improve our online visibility for 2014 and maybe further.

Article Source URL: http://seoresearch.com/2014-google-update-predictions-new-strategies/

Google updates Chrome with ability to tattle about browsing habits

Google launched a massive update to its Chrome browser today, including a new feature that will let parents monitor their kids’ browsing habits from afar.

The feature, known as Supervised Users, is designed to help parents control and monitor access to the web for people who need some “guidance” online. Supervisors can create profiles in Chrome that log a user’s web history to a web management platform for review. In addition, the supervisor can also set blocked websites and lock SafeSearch on, and supervised users can’t install extensions or Chrome apps. Chromebook users have had access to the feature since October, but this is the first time that it’s made an appearance on other platforms.

 For users concerned about someone using Chrome to spy on them without their knowledge, supervised users get a special theme in Chrome that identifies them as such.

In addition, tabs will now automatically inform users when they’re making noise or using the webcam, so that it’s easy to track down that YouTube video that suddenly started blasting power metal at an inopportune time. This was previously available to beta users, but now it’s being rolled out more broadly.


Google has also upped its malware protection in this release, automatically blocking files that the company has identified as up to no good.

To check out Google’s full release notes, click here. To get the update, which is available for Windows, Mac and Linux, go to chrome://chrome in Google’s browser, and it should check for updates automatically. Users can download a new version of Chrome here.

Article Source: http://www.geekwire.com/2014/google-updates-chrome-ability-tattle-browsing-habits/

New Gmail Feature Allows Anyone On Google+ To Email You & Vice Versa, But Opt Out Is Provided

Google is today making a change to Gmail that will further bake in Google+ to its webmail product in a way that’s actually somewhat practical, though also potentially invasive. Going forward, you’ll now be able to directly email your Google+ contacts from Gmail, even if you don’t know their email address. And by default, anyone on Google+ will be able to email you as well, thanks to this new option, if you don’t adjust your settings.

This feature appears as you begin typing your contact’s name in the “To” field of an email message. Matching contacts display first at the top of the list of suggestions provided by Gmail’s autocomplete, while your Google+ connections appear below.

Because of the privacy implications of this feature — and the possibility of overwhelming the inboxes of more public figures — Google has at least put controls in place that allow you to specify who can send you emails.

You can choose from “No one” to continue on as normally, or open things up a bit wider by choosing from “Circles,” “Extended Circles,” or even “Anyone on Google+.” And of course, because Google+ is now the default platform for YouTube commenting, and required for things like setting up a new Gmail account, the “Anyone on Google+” option is much larger today than in earlier years. Many people are technically “on Google+,” even if they aren’t active on the Google+ destination site itself.

In addition, Google explains that not only are you able to specify who can send you emails, your email address isn’t visible to a Google+ connection until you send that person an email, nor is their email visible to you, unless they send you an email.

The feature also takes advantage of Gmail’s previously introduced tabbed interface, which breaks the Gmail inbox into sections like “Primary,” “Social,” Promotions,” and more. Going forward, emails from those in your Google+ Circles will appear in the “Primary” section, while those you don’t have in your Circles will be filtered over to the “Social” tab instead. Those users will only be able to start a conversation with you if you respond to them or add them to your Google+ Circles – something you can do right from the email header (which fortunately offers a visible “Report Spam or Abuse” link, as well).

This new feature is an expansion on the Google+ integrations the company first introduced back in late 2011 which originally brought Google+ to the Gmail inbox and Contacts section. The addition allowed users to automatically update their address book with a contact’s most recent information, making Google+ a more practical service than before. Also at the time, Google added a widget to the Gmail sidebar for viewing a contact’s most recent Google+ post, allowing you to add them to your Google+ Circles.

Like before, the newer integrations are practical and useful when you need them as a sender, but could be disruptive to you as a recipient of emails — much like email itself, if you think about it. For those who still use the “Priority Inbox” interface instead of tabs, the additional emails could become cumbersome. But Google is making the setting available to users before the feature launches, so they’ll be able to at least adjust their settings before a deluge occurs. (Unless, of course, they get so much email that they miss the note from Google.)

Google says the new feature is rolling out over the next couple of days to everyone who uses Gmail and Google+. Users will be alerted by way of a link to the setting when the feature is available to them.

Article Source: http://techcrunch.com/2014/01/09/new-gmail-feature-allows-anyone-on-google-to-email-you-vice-versa-but-opt-out-is-provided/