Open Dialogue

There has been a lot happening in search lately. Yahoo! has finally given up the battle and sold up to Microsoft, increasing the market share for Bing, Microsoft’s recently launched search engine from around 8 to 28 percent. Google, still dominating with a massive 65% share of the market has recently announced Caffeine – a huge update to its search indexing. Live search has also been making headlines, with the likes of Twitter’s new search focused home page and Google’s new time based search options. Even Google co-founder Larry Page has admitted they have lost out to Twitter! So what does all this mean for search engine optimisation?

It’s still too early to tell, but I suspect that the basic approach will remain unchanged. Essentially: create honest, unique, timely and quality content; ensure your code is valid, semantic and accessible, then let the links roll in. There is much more to it, but this is essentially what the search engines still want.

It’s been suggested that less gravitas will come from links in forum and blog comments. This may be true, but I believe that the growth of social media is sure to have a massive influence going forwards. As real time search options begin to become increasingly important, then the best of the live content will surely come from forums, blogs, twitter and so on. It will be interesting to watch how this works out.

In the meantime, I still offer the same SEO advice I always have:

• Get the code right – valid, standards compliant, semantic – there is no point starting without this (necessary for accessibility compliance anyway).
• Select the right key phrases for your offering, and ensure key phrases are well placed with your content.
• Create plenty of relevant, unique and quality content – with regularity and timing of posts now more essential than ever.
• Link well, both internally, and to and from other sites and social media, using your key phrases in the link text.
• Don’t be dishonest, illegal, immoral, tricksy, or clever – the search engines will catch you.

And remember, there is no quick, one off solution. Search engine optimisation is an ongoing process of trial and refinement. As we’ve seen with the latest Google Caffeine update, search engines are constantly changing their methods. So are your competitors. Search engine optimisation is a long term commitment with no guarantees, but keep at it, and you will see results.

Further SEO information

My original article on SEO – written back in 2006, but most advice still holds true

Google’s latest official tips on optimising code and content

SEOmoz’s Biennial Ranking Factors Report 2009

Common SEO code mistakes

18 observations on Twitter and SEO

How will your site rank with Google Caffeine?

Yahoo Got Binged

Caffeine: It’s Google On Red Bull, Or Something

Search experts react to the Yahoo / Microsoft deal