On June 8, Google announced the completion of a new web indexing system called Caffeine. While a Google search may look the same to the user conducting the search, the results which are returned are fresher and more accurate than ever.
Caffeine keeps up not only with the explosive proliferation of web pages, but also with the rich variety of content now appearing on those pages, including graphics, video, news feeds, and social media applications. Caffeine’s ability to index more information faster means that searches will turn up the most relevant content, even if it was only recently added to the web. Keeping the content on your website fresh and relevant is more important than ever before.
Okay, but how does this change affect my website?
Content is still king, and great development and organization of that content, including titles, headers, bullets, and keyword-dense copy remain essential to optimizing your website for searches. The big game changer is the speed of indexing, which means that keeping fresh information on your site is more important than ever.
Since Google’s spiders continuously crawl the web looking for new information, updating your site with good content is likely to improve your page rank as the changes to your site are found and indexed. Caffeine gives Google the infrastructure needed to keep pace with the exponential blossoming of web pages; keeping your website fresh and relevant will help you to keep up with Google, maintaining or improving your preferred position as the universe of possible search results continues to grow and grow.
So I have to redo my website?
Not necessarily. There are many ways to add or update content without completely overhauling your website. One of the best ways is to incorporate social media into your website with networking solutions such as Facebook or Twitter, which can spread word of mouth about your site and improve your search engine optimization (SEO) in realtime. RSS feeds are another way to constantly provide relevant information to your client base while enhancing your SEO.
Contact one of the professional Web Design Specialists at NextClient to review your website and explore ideas for updating your content or incorporating social media. We also provide access to articles and newsletters professionally written by licensed attorneys which provide helpful (and search-optimized) information on your primary areas of practice targeted at potential clients.