Google update changes the world of marketing optimization & SEO

In the last 2 months of the first quarter of 2013, Google has pushd out several updates that will greatly impact your organic rankings.  Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt, had a very interesting excerpt from “The New Digital Age”, the upcoming book says:

“Within search results, information tied to verified online profiles will be ranked higher than content without such verification, which will result in most users naturally clicking on the top (verified) results. The true cost of remaining anonymous, then, might be irrelevance.”

That means if your postings are anonymous or your blogs do not have a listed author, you will be disregarded in search results.

The point is: If you want your content to rank in Google create a Google+ profile, link the authorship to your posts and begin building your author authority (“Author Rank”) now. Eric Mange on Search Engine Watch said “Google hasn’t taken this position solely to create a binary signal (got a profile, you’re good; no profile, you aren’t). How much authority you have as an author is going to be a big deal.”

If you’re a techie who knows how to code, you need to link your content to a Google+ profile using rel=”author” and you can learn more about the process at Webmaster Tools.

This is the new Google search results with authorship:

Social Media Now Impacts Google Rankings

+1s, shares, Likes, or tweets are not treated like links, they have greater social implications on generating traffic into your site.  With this update, Google is acknowledging the impact that social media plays and has updated  search previews.  What I personally believe is that Google is taking aim at Facebook and will take additional measures to gain marketshare in the social arena.

For Brands, creating a Google+ Branded page is essential because product images, videos, customer reviews, maps will now all feed into your Brand +page.  Google Places has merged and now requires you to create a Google+ Local page.