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20th June 2007

Searching for gold

An introduction to the changing face of search engine optimisation

By Pete Wailes, Adams Creative

A whole new world

On 16th May 2007, Google changed search engine optimisation forever.

Up until this time, search results had been a list of ten links, with some variations. Occasionally you’d get a second tier indented listing, or a top result with four or five smaller links to deeper pages underneath it.

This meant that the job of any SEO was obvious – make sure that the site is well designed, all the pages have unique tags, all the parts work and you’ve got some good quality links coming in.

Now though, it’s less easy. For instance, how do you get a YouTube video to rank well? How do you optimise to appear in the Google OneBox (the box that appears at the top of listings when you search for a service in a specific location, such as chinese restaurant London)? These are the new frontiers of search optimisation.

Mapping the landscape

The very first thing we must do, as search specialists, is the easiest: we must identify what has changed. What is now being included, and how is it ranking when compared to our traditional results?

We’re going to see movement towards integrating the following over the next 6-12 months:

Product search
Niche group/directory search
Science journal/paper search
Book search
Open source code search

With the introduction of this new methodology, we can see the beginnings of a new way of searching; with greater emphasis on authority based ranking, dictated through link patterns, language analysis and understanding based on mass comparison between documents, and community reviewed media. And whilst the first two are nothing new, in the world of video, blog and local search, we are forseeing community reviews, voting and tagging providing the framework for the search engine algorithms of the future.

Exploring the frontiers

The second task is also simple, but inconceivably huge: find the sites that currently get it right, and work out how they do it. That involves looking at a vast number of elements, such as video tags, blog links and trackbacks. By analysing the structure of the results that currently do well in these new areas, we can start to build up a map of what we need to do to drive our pages to the top of the search results.

This means, you’re going to need the most relevant, most up to date, best planned out site, if you’re serious about search optimisation. The days when you could put up a small, low content site, have well written copy and title/meta tags and rank well, are over.

Building the best

At any given time, around 15-25% of the some 125,000 skyscrapers in the world are in Dubai, building the biggest, tallest, most expensive, most massive buildings in the world. They’re out there creating structures on a scale you simply cannot imagine.

You’re going to have to do the same with your website.

Your site is positioned in a niche. Whether you’re Microsoft or Dell, National Express or Fabric Warehouse, you’re targeting a specific group of people. That means that you need to be the best site for your own audience. But more than that, you need to make sure that you have the best people working on it, keeping it up to date, making sure that it stays the best.

Over the next five years, we’re going to see massive consolidation online. Companies like eBay, Google, Yahoo and Amazon are going to expand and assimilate new technologies, new ideas and new methodologies even faster, To stay competitive, you’ll need to have people around you who understand where the online world is going, and can keep you on the cutting edge.

Further to that though, it means that you’re going to have to change the way you look at your online presence, to potentially take it from where it is now, to including regularly updated content through blog or news sections, have audio and/or video content, and to creating user interaction, where the people coming to your site can help grow and build the site themselves. In this fashion, you’ll not only have greater transparency, but you’ll have the perfect site for your customer’s needs.

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For more information on this subject, contact us through the Adams Creative website, or by calling 01622 687729.

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About Adams Creative
Adams Creative is one of the South East’s leading online and offline marketing agencies. With a strong London client base and offices in Maidstone, Ashford and Hastings, the agency manages online and offline marketing campaigns. Specialist in-house teams provide expertise in digital media, online marketing, search marketing, advertising, print design, media buying, public relations, direct mail, event and exhibition management, for many leading Blue Chip companies.

Adams Creative works with clients in both the consumer and business-to business sectors, creating bespoke campaigns to suit each client’s specific objectives. Clients include Eurotunnel, ING, United Trust Bank, Balfour Beatty, Hilton Hotels, Novotel and The Kings Ferry Travel Group.

Call us on 01622 687729 to see how we can add value to your campaign.

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