Google releases updated algorithms about 500 times a year and the most recent major overhauls have included black and white animals: the panda and more recently, the penguin. Since its release in April 2012, the Penguin has been changing the way search engine results are produced has been giving some business owners a scare, particularly in medical fields.
“You don’t want the next Penguin update,” said Matt Cutts, a search engine optimization (SEO) and spam specialist for Google. The Penguin is designed to block out “black hat” marketing strategies, such as keyword stuffing, cloaking, unnatural link building and content duplication.
In general, the goal of these search engine updates is to better rank and reward web sites that are using “white hat” search engine optimization techniques, like a healthcare provider that utilizes the internet for medical marketing.
Online SEO strategies are always changing courses and experienced marketing companies will stay on top of developing trends, serving clients’ needs regardless of the latest algorithm update. Below are some current “white hat” techniques that you or your marketing company should be utilizing to strengthen your business’s online presence.
- The Key is Keywords: Keyword density plays an important role that you need to comply with the standards cautiously. While it is important to add keywords in web site content, it is more important to use them properly. Ensure that you do not add keywords forcefully in your content.
- Rich Content: Website content is one of the most important aspects and should be given serious thought. Adding fresh content on a website will reawaken Google’s search engine bots and, if they find the content to be legitimate, they will rank the site accordingly.
- Social Media Presence: One of the newest elements in SEO is Social media optimization (SMO). If you want to promote a business, it will require a working knowledge on social media websites like Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus. Constantly updating business events and happenings through these mediums is one of the easiest ways to increase your company’s internet profile.
- Website Branding: Google’s search engines thoroughly examine the themes of websites to rank them. As a result, it is important to design a web site theme that fits with your business functions or operations. For example, a doctors office should include various medical internet marketing phrases and links to boost their visibility.
