How SEO is fundamentally changing forever and why this affects you.
You may have noticed your site rankings have dropped lately. In some cases, even dramatically. Well, the answer as to why this is happening is a teenager.
A what now..?
Google has a teenage analyst working on site rankings, and “he” is ranking sites based on certain factors. This teenager, however, is not made of flesh and bone, but electrical impulses on server circuit boards. We would call “him” an AI. Because Google no longer uses an algorithm to rank sites.
They use an artificial intelligence made of countless algorithms that has the approximate intelligence of a fifteen-year old human.
And that age is likely to increase in future. This AI is powerful and intelligent enough to look at a picture and identify it as a bird. Heck, as a peregrine falcon with the swoop speed of 389 km per hour.
In the past, Google analysed pages in the back-end, saw the page in code. Now, this AI is capable of rendering a page and looking at it as a human being would to decide on its ranking.
Machine learning.
Pretty incredible, right? It’s all part of the new buzzword, ‘machine learning’.
All kinds of new factors count towards the ranking of a website. Like, for instance, conversion rates and how long a person is on a page for. Is it an information website like Wikipedia?
If someone spends hours on Wikipedia, the AI knows that person is fascinated by what they’re experiencing there and, consequently, Wikipedia will rank higher when a query search is initiated. Or if the site is e-commerce, does a potential buyer complete a purchase? Or do they go elsewhere and buy from a rival company?
Well then, the AI decides the competitor should rank higher as obviously the user experience is better on that page.
Why we know this at all.
Because our Head of SEO is part of a small, dedicated group of SEO enthusiasts around the world who constantly use scientific testing to figure out how exactly this AI is operating.
Essentially, Google is attempting to make Search Engine Optimisation impossible. That’s because there are a lot of dodgy fly-by-nights who use SEO tactics in dirty ways to drive traffic to their sites.
This results in a poor user-experience. And reflects badly on Google, who the user trusts to find the right answer to a query. For example, a bad experience like trying to find a good bug exterminator for a pest problem only to discover the only thing dead in the house are your prized goldfish.
There has been an arms race between Google and SEO practitioners for years now. And Google just wants to deliver the best experience for its users it can. Like any other company. And they’ve gotten very clever about it. This AI of theirs can go off and learn on its own without having to be programmed.
Transitional period.
So we’re in a transitional period right now as this new AI is currently being rolled out. As it does so, it’s implementing changes, and we’re likely to see volatility for a bit.
But FGX is in the business of scientific-based SEO, not “Guess-EO”, and have already worked out some of the key criteria a website needs in terms of content for it to rank higher.
And the good news is, we’re on top of these developments and have a better understanding of what’s going on than most other digital companies.
In fact, we’re busy testing right now to see what kind of content written, in what way, is both able to get an initially high ranking and then keep it by providing a better user experience.
The battle plan is about to be unleashed.
Our strategy is ready for us to roll out so we can implement the SEO tactics needed to get your rankings back.
And the best part is, competitors who don’t have the quality of service and products you do will find it harder and harder to compete with you.
This will work out for the best. And it’s all thanks to a teenager game-changer.
