Everyone is online now, well almost everyone, it’s no longer acceptable for a business not to have a website. If your business doesn’t have a website, it won’t get a fair shake in the market. That’s because almost all business is generated online at this point.
The more sales that are generated online, the more important it is to have a strong online presence. Having a strong website that ranks well in search engines like Google has become imperative. Without a strong website that ranks well on Google, companies won’t get the attention that they need to thrive.
Like it or not, you need Google, more specifically, you need to rank well on Google’s search engine if you want your business to be successful. Even if you have a visually gorgeous website with plenty of pretty expensive graphics, all of that CSS sorcery won’t do you any good if your website isn’t optimized to rank well on powerful search engines like Google.
In the past, media channels like television and radio stations used to be the great gatekeepers that separated companies that could get their name in front of the public and those who could not. Newspapers also used to be much more valuable as a marketing channel, today you have to contend with the whims of Google.
The good news is that unlike the newspaper executives of yesteryear, Google makes decisions based on complex algorithms. Why is this a good thing? It’s a good thing because algorithms are predictable. Once you have a clear understanding of the algorithm itself and how it works you can use it to your advantage and leverage Google’s algorithms to play to your strengths.
For those of you who want to make your business as successful as possible, you’ll need more than a website that ranks well on Google, you need all of your content to rank well on Google as well. Every blog post you put out into the digital world, every little bit of content, no matter how seemingly insignificant it may seem individually, needs to rank well on Google.
Now that you know more about why Google’s algorithms are so important, you’ll want to know how to use them to your advantage. If you want to really understand Google’s algorithms, you’ll need to understand machine learning. While you won’t need to become a tech-wizard, you will need to understand the basics of machine learning as they relate to Google’s algorithms.
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What Are Google Algorithms and Why do They Matter?
Although it would be fascinating if a bunch of tech-wizards secretly decided how every website and piece of content ranked on Google, this work is actually done primarily by a series of complex algorithms.
Google’s algorithms are designed with the user in mind which means the search results they configure are engineered to produce the most pertinent results for Google users. Google isn’t designed to promote your business, it’s designed to provide its users with the most germane results for their inquiries.
Whether you like it or not, you need to cater to Google’s eccentricities and intricacies in order to reach your customers. Google has established itself as the premier search engine on the market. Millions of people use it every single day, that’s a lot of traffic! If you want to get in on that traffic, you need to learn how to leverage Google’s algorithms.
How Machine Learning Relates to Google’s Algorithms
Before diving into the intricacies of Google and its complex algorithms, you’ll need a deeper understanding of how Google works. When someone enters an inquiry into Google’s search engine it triggers a massive sequence of events.
This series of events occurs in a matter of seconds and many users have no clue as to exactly how the results they see on their screen are produced and presented to them.
As soon as you enter an inquiry into Google’s search engine, it examines and interprets the intent of that inquiry. The algorithms take the strings of words that are entered and runs them against the index to produce the search results that users see on their screens whenever they search for something through Google.
In order to understand how Google’s algorithms work, you’ll need an understanding of how those algorithms interpret intent. When someone enters a query in Google, it runs the string of words that you provided against the algorithm in an effort to interpret the intent.
The intent of user queries is extremely important to how Google’s algorithms work. For example, when someone searches for instructions on how to change a car battery, Google’s algorithms look at the string of words as it tries to piece the intent together to produce relevant results.
Google’s algorithms do a lot of heavy work in the background that most users will never notice or know about. For one thing, Google’s algorithms will filter through any possible spelling mistakes and match the query as it was entered with the most likely intended results based on its interpretation of the query’s intent.
These algorithms will also take synonyms into account when generating search results. Another thing that you should know about Google’s algorithms is that they will also interpret how new or old the information you’re looking for would be.
Not everyone is after fresh and trendy information. For example, while most people are looking for the most current L.A. Kings scores, some people are actually looking for the scores from games in previous seasons. Google needs a way to accommodate both inquiries, and it has one. Google’s algorithms are designed to interpret the intent, the desired freshness, and accommodate any spelling mistakes.
From an engineering perspective, Google’s algorithms are incredibly beautiful and remarkably eloquent in their design. The fact that these algorithms work as efficiently as they do is incredibly impressive.
Now, returning to the matter of machine learning, Google’s algorithms are incredibly modern, which is why they lean on machine learning so heavily. Individual Google employees, regardless of their individual intellect, cannot outsmart machine learning let alone think ahead of it.
Machine learning is at the crux of how Google’s algorithms make it possible to provide users with accurate and pertinent results. Without machine learning, Google wouldn’t be able to accommodate the complexity nor the volume of the queries that are dumped into it every second of every day by millions of people around the world.
Why Content Quality Is Important
Another thing you should know about how Google’s machine-learning-powered algorithms work is that they weigh content based not only on its keywords but also on its quality. Stuffing content plum-full of strategic keywords isn’t enough to sway Google’s omnipotent algorithms to your favor. You’ll also need to produce high-quality content if you want to achieve impressive search rankings that will bring customers to your business.
Algorithms aside, quality should still be a top priority when it comes to content because getting customers to read your content won’t do you a lick of good if that content is of inferior quality.
People are becoming increasingly discriminating in terms of what they spend time reading online. They’re becoming even more discriminating with what kind of content actually compels them to take action and interact with the issuing business.
This means that you need to focus on producing high-quality content for two distinct reasons. First of all, you’ll need to produce high-quality content to shuffle it up higher in Google’s search rankings. The second reason you should be focusing on producing high-quality content is so that once it gets on someone’s screen, it will actually drive them to take the desired action and interact with your business.
There are plenty of possible reactions to elicit from your customers through your content. For example, some content is designed to compel customers to subscribe to a newsletter, check out a hot sale, schedule a phone call, etc.
By focusing not just on keywords, but also on quality, you can direct more traffic to your business. High-quality content appeals both to Google and its machine-learning-driven algorithms and to your customers, it’s a win-win!
What to Know About Google PageRank
Google PageRank is one of the most important Google algorithms to pay attention to. This algorithm assigns a numbered ranking to each web-page that influences its rankings in Google’s search engine.
By optimizing your website and your content to rank well with Google PageRank, you’ll have a much easier time generating traffic to your business. The higher your number-ranking is on Google PageRank, the more traffic you’ll get.
So how do you achieve a higher number-ranking on Google PageRank? This algorithm takes multiple factors into consideration including the quality of backlinks on the page, and the number of links on the linking page.
You should also know that Google implements a collection of spam algorithms that are designed to detect and punish low-quality content. This should serve as a further warning as to why you should make an effort to produce high-quality content. Skimping on quality will result in lower rankings in Google’s algorithms which ultimately means that you will have less traffic and fewer customers.
Why Web Pages Should Focus on Functionality and Usability
Keywords and content quality aside, you also need to focus on the functionality and usability of your web-pages if you want to achieve high rankings with Google’s search engines. So what exactly does functionality and usability mean? For one thing, Google looks for page responsiveness, which means your web-pages should be optimized for fast-loading-speeds.
One of the best and most effective ways to ensure that your web-pages load quickly is to limit the number and size of pictures on those pages. You also need to make sure that all of your web-pages appear correctly across all different web-browsers.
For example, your web pages should look just as crisp and pristine on Google Chrome as it does on Safari or Firefox Mozilla. To top it off, you should also make an effort to ensure that your web-pages appear correctly on both desktop and mobile. While most people are using smartphones to surf the net, your web-pages should still be optimized to appear correctly on both platforms.
Another thing that you will need to tend to in order to achieve high search rankings on Google is to make your web-pages secure. Remember, Google looks out for its users which is part of why it puts such a premium on security.
How User Settings Affect Google Search Rankings
You should also take user settings and specifications into account when producing content. That is to say, you should consider the fact that many Google users filter their search results using certain settings. For example, they can filter their results by location and their previous search history.
While some people get freaked out by the fact that search engines provide them with results based on their previous queries, other people are more than happy to let Google leverage their search history for supplying them with more relevant results.
Google Leans on some Real Humans After All
Now that you’ve seen how much Google relies on algorithms and complex concepts like machine-learning to provide users with the results they see on their screens every single day, you might be surprised to learn just how integral human employees actually are to google’s process.
Google takes on teams of external employees to rate the quality of Google searches. This is where man and machine blend together creating optimized, superior results overall. If Google were to rely on its algorithms by themselves, search result quality would be quite poor.
By bringing in actual humans to rate the quality of google’s search results, Google can actually maintain highly accurate results that will keep its users happy.
What to Know About How Google Updates its Algorithms
Google updates its algorithms periodically. If you stayed up all night studying the mechanics of Google’s algorithms in minute detail, you might be disappointed when you find that the algorithms have been updated.
There are two major types of updates Google performs in terms of its algorithms. The first type consists of relatively minor updates and alterations while the second type refers to core updates.
The average business owner shouldn’t have to stalk Google every time it updates its algorithms. What you should do is get in touch with a digital marketing agency with the expertise to keep on top of these updates.
Trying to keep up with these updates by yourself, while savvy in a sense, will consume more of your time than it’s worth. One thing you should know is that when there’s a core update on Google’s algorithms, your website might lose ground in the search rankings.
When this happens, it’s best to rely on the advice of experts. Don’t start gutting your web pages without taking the time to consult with a digital marketing expert and determine exactly why your web pages have sunk in the search rankings after a core update.
How to Handle the Machine-Learning and the Way Google’s Algorithms Work
These tips will give you a great deal of insight into what Google and its almighty algorithms take into account every time someone enters a query. That said, you’ll need more information to make the best possible decisions and ensure that your business attracts the right amount of traffic.
Remember, your web traffic is your lifeblood. Without enough traffic to your website, your business will dry up and perish. Not everyone is a tech expert, business owners included. While you shouldn’t be penalized for failing to catch on to technical concepts like machine learning and Google algorithms, that doesn’t change the fact that your business will suffer if you don’t tend to these details.
When it comes to Google algorithms and machine learning, some businesses are ahead and some businesses are behind. For the vast majority of businesses, the key is to catch up before it’s too late.
Regardless of how you feel about Google, you need to accept the fact that its algorithms play a key role in how much traffic your website will get at any given time. You don’t need to worship Google to succeed but you do need to understand it.
Who knows, maybe Facebook will implement its own super-powerful search engine that will change the rules of the game. Until that day, you have to work with what you got, which happens to be Google.
Conquer it All with AlchemyLeads
Business owners across the nation and around the world are confused on how to leverage the complexities of machine learning and Google algorithms to their advantage, even in L.A.
If you want to supply your business with a steady stream of traffic without spending countless hours wading through technical material on machine learning and proprietary algorithms, you need AlchemyLeads, the premier digital marketing agency in the Los Angeles area.
Tired of trying to catch up to Google and its algorithms, jump ahead of it and unlock more traffic than ever before, with AlchemyLeads, call today!
Image Source: Pixabay
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