Why Google Wants What It Wants In 2014: Part 1 – Content

As a business in the online age, you’d be forgiven for feeling a little overwhelmed when trying to keep up with all of the changes and requirements Google rolls out. The most common grievances I hear from clients have to do with the ever-changing nature of Google and that they sometimes seem to be making things deliberately difficult or counter-productive. My clients are all genuine businesses with real products and services, so they naturally have trouble understanding why Google wouldn’t want them ranking well in order to service the end user. But the fact of the matter is that no matter how good your product or service and no matter how much you might love your website, if you don’t meet certain criteria then you can expect to stay lost in the online wilderness.

Now this isn’t Google being a bully, there are very good reasons they demand the things they do, which is what I plan to address in this 5 part blog series covering what Google expects in 2014, beginning with content.

Once upon a time the term “content” most commonly referred to web content within the online industry. It then came to encompass SEO content as that method took hold and with the rise of social from there came to encompass blog and social media content as well. These days the 3 are pretty much 1. Or at least this is the way you need to look at it. When Matt Cutts (Head of Google’s Webspam team) talks about great content, he isn’t just talking about one of these things, he’s talking about content across the board.

The other thing to remember is that he’s not purely talking about volume. Quality is key.

So before you roll your eyes at something you’ve likely read and been told over and over again, let’s think about why you hear it so often. A saying is a saying for a reason. Put yourself in your customer’s shoes. You’re sifting through results on Google looking for a particular product or service. What are the main things you want to see? Aside from an easy to navigate and reputable website (both of which we’ll cover in this series), you’re very likely to want REAL information on EXACTLY what you’re looking for. Something informative and punchy which gets to the point before your online attention span has you looking elsewhere for someone able to communicate what you want to hear right away. Usually what you’re after revolves around a keyword, which is why keyword relevance first became a criteria.

But content with the keyword in it alone (old school “SEO Content” as you’ve likely seen around the place) isn’t actually serving the purpose “keyword relevance” is supposed to serve. Too many people get caught up in the ranking part of it without giving any thought to customer experience when writing their content. You shouldn’t need a lot of “SEO Content” if your website is well put together and the web content (existing, purposeful content on your site) is relevant and genuine. It’s the SponsoredLinX GRGR rule in play again: Genuine Relevance Gets Results.

When creating content always have your customer in mind, both from a marketing and service perspective. Because everything Google asks of you is based around customer service and after all, great service is the best marketing tool in your arsenal!

But website content isn’t all there is to it by a longshot. In the next instalment we’ll talk about Social Media content and Google+ in particular, so be sure to check back soon!

---