Since the last few months, we have witnessed major updates from Google to its algorithm. Google’s Penguin and Hummingbird updates destroyed old keyword techniques and pushed traditional SEO practitioners to take a more strategic approach. Consequently, companies in the online space are adjusting their online strategies. To survive in today’s online world, businesses must now stay original, relevant and authoritative in order to succeed.

Let’s take a look at Google’s algorithm changes to shift a user’s focus from just ranking pages to driving traffic, converting visitors, and becoming an authority within your own niche.

1. Google’s new “hummingbird” search algorithm launched last year understands the intent behind long-tail search queries and queries entered in natural language. This is for Google to understand conversational search queries, it has driven changes to semantic search and the Knowledge Graph in the coming months.

2. Penguin 2.0 release specifically targeting web spam and websites using “bad SEO techniques”.

3. Google started encrypting “search data” as far back as 2010. Remember when Analytics started showing “Not Provided” information. The percentage of search data safety has grown ever since, and in September 2013, Google finally shut down all data. The keyword tool has been replaced with the keyword planner which restricts a lot of information.

4. A non-existent Page Rank update in 2013. It was last updated in February 2013. Since then, it hasn’t been updated anymore, so the information is outdated.

5. Finally, the growing importance of Authorship and Google+ in recent times.

Now, after understanding Google’s algorithm changes, let’s look at 5 online strategies businesses need to adopt to rank well.

1. Create more natural links – This goes for both paid and organic links. We no longer need to “hard optimize” our site. Such websites now need to build natural links.

2. Do Social Media Integration – We are all aware that social media and SEO are coming together. A business needs to have a well ranked URL and a large number of likes, tweets, shares and +1s. They are considered by search engines as social signals and help in positive ranking.

3. Create good quality content – ​​A website should have good quality and original content. In recent times, we have seen cases where great brands with average content have been overshadowed by average websites with great content.

4. Build quality backlinks: Backlinks continue to matter. Websites with more backlinks rank better. However, recent changes now focus on both the quality and quantity of backlinks.

5. Proper on-page optimization is crucial: On-page components and good website architecture still play a crucial role. This could include the length of the URL, the use of keywords in titles and meta tags, headings (H1, H2, etc.) and the use of technology: use a minimum of flash, JavaScript, etc.