When I received an email from the Wooster Area Chamber of Commerce about a Google My Business training opportunity, I immediately registered. Little did I know I would get a glimpse into Google search. As someone with a search engine optimization/digital marketing company, I wanted to learn more about Google My Business, and I was glad I attended.
As most people know, the way we find businesses has changed. It used to be to get out the phone book, turn to the Yellow Pages in the back, and then look for the business. However, when did you last use the Yellow Pages? When did you last see a phone book? When did you last have one delivered to your house? Exactly.
Google search is the new phone book
Most people turn to Google search, which is why the Wooster Chamber offered this training to its members. Angelina Darrisaw traveled from Brooklyn, N.Y., to lead the training.
The training lasted about an hour, and it didn’t get too deep into Google My Business. However, I picked up a few nuggets of information to help me. I hadn’t realized businesses could create posts for their GMB accounts that would appear in searches involving their companies. So, I created a post from the session and uploaded a photo of Angelina as she led the training.
Because I work in SEO and digital marketing, Google search was what I wanted to know more about, and Angelina offered a few insights:
- People want information that is relevant;
- Google wants information universally accessible; and
- Typically people want something close to them.
People want relevant information from a Google search
It’s not only the people who want relevant information, Google does, too. In June 2019, Google announced ahead of time (the first-ever this happened) that it was going to be releasing a core update to its search algorithm. And, when they released it, they said there was really nothing you could do to fix things post update.
High-level technical SEO consultants analyze traffic from major sites (and the sites of their clients) to see what happens to traffic after a core update. Then, they seek out ways to regain any traffic that might have been lost because of the algorithm change.
So, it was interesting to read Google search liaisons said there was nothing anyone could do. Instead, they referred SEO technicians to a Google blog post from 2011. That’s right, 2011! What this told me is that Google is looking for quality, high-value, relevant information. There is no gaming the system. You need to provide quality, relevant information.
There were 23 questions asked in that blog post:
- Would you trust the information presented in this article?
- Is this article written by an expert or enthusiast who knows the topic well, or is it more shallow in nature?
- Does the site have duplicate, overlapping, or redundant articles on the same or similar topics with slightly different keyword variations?
- Would you be comfortable giving your credit card information to this site?
- Does this article have spelling, stylistic, or factual errors?
- Are the topics driven by genuine interests of readers of the site, or does the site generate content by attempting to guess what might rank well in search engines?
- Does the article provide original content or information, original reporting, original research, or original analysis?
- Does the page provide substantial value when compared to other pages in search results?
- How much quality control is done on content?
- Does the article describe both sides of a story?
- Is the site a recognized authority on its topic?
- Is the content mass-produced by or outsourced to a large number of creators, or spread across a large network of sites, so that individual pages or sites don’t get as much attention or care?
- Was the article edited well, or does it appear sloppy or hastily produced?
- For a health related query, would you trust information from this site?
- Would you recognize this site as an authoritative source when mentioned by name?
- Does this article provide a complete or comprehensive description of the topic?
- Does this article contain insightful analysis or interesting information that is beyond obvious?
- Is this the sort of page you’d want to bookmark, share with a friend, or recommend?
- Does this article have an excessive amount of ads that distract from or interfere with the main content?
- Would you expect to see this article in a printed magazine, encyclopedia or book?
- Are the articles short, unsubstantial, or otherwise lacking in helpful specifics?
- Are the pages produced with great care and attention to detail vs. less attention to detail?
- Would users complain when they see pages from this site?
Google wants information universally accessible
Search giant Google’s corporate mission statement is “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” Each and every successive core algorithm update seeks to do just that. As regular readers of this blog know, I am indebted to Claudia Pennington of DIY Marketing for my start in SEO and digital marketing. In her course on how to conduct SEO audits, I learned the fundamentals of search engine optimization. The things Claudia teaches are solid, and because of that, I have never been too concerned with all of these Google updates. (There have been estimates that Google has made up to 1,500 changes to its algorithm in a year.)
Every time a change is made with Google search, the aim is to better match the intent of the one searching with the intent of each and every web page indexed. By better understanding the intent of a page, Google can better match the search query with the appropriate pages. When it does this, it is making information universally accessible.
Typically, people do a Google search for something close to them
When Angelina talked about this, it caught my attention, and it should not have. This should have been top of mind for me.
When people do a Google search for a business, they are typically searching for a business close to them. When most customers search for a business, 40 percent are just looking for the hours: They want to make sure it will be open when they get there.
While the training was not very deep, I thought it was very good. If anyone came into the session and had not secured a Google My Business account, they would have left with a validated business account. Wooster Media Group already had an account, but it was good to hear about the posts feature and why it is important to have a validated account.
Did you know, if you do not have a validated account, then Google accepts the consensus answers from people who are willing to respond to questions about a business? This is a good reason for companies to be up to date with their Google My Business information. If you need help, contact me.
