Reported, just recently by Google is their plan to remove ads on the right side of the results page of Google search. This is referred to as the (SERPs). The only exception will be for product ads and social media offerings. Many businesses are upset over this since it disrupts the results of many business owners who utilize ad space on Google. Ads which are less important (as determined by Google) will be pushed further down in the search results. The lower the site ranks, the fewer clicks, and thus less traffic. Companies with larger ad budgets are likely to show up higher. The top eleven listings are now limited to only seven. If you have hired a professional blogger, you can rest assured that professionals spend a portion of their time, staying informed. However, if you are depending upon your own knowledge, please set aside time to add new material to your site (content marketing) and to stay up to date with any changes as they occur. Many businesses are now using Social Media to advertise to consumers and these results are also showing up in the organic searches. Google is famous for changing their algorithm methods, so stay informed to keep your site competitive.
Why is this change occurring?
Google is always coming up with ways to offer the end users a cleaner and less cluttered experience in the search results. Further, they are striving to provide a better experience between desktop and mobile versions of websites. The new normal requires what Google calls, “a mobile-first initiative.” None of us should be surprised about this since it is now clear that most of us are using mobile devices to buy and sell goods and services. Creating a user-friendly environment for mobile users has been driving these new changes for the past two years. Unfortunately, this latest change will limit the number of ads for competing companies. Higher commercial queries (those search terms that are searched for more often) will naturally receive a higher rank. To stay competitive, we suggest you could consider YouTube advertising as an additional option. YouTube is the second largest search engine on the web and they are reporting over three billion searches per month.
Other options to overcome this disadvantage?
- Increase your ad words budget
- Hire a professional blogger
- Ramp up your social media advertising
- Sign up for SEO training online
We hope you will enjoy the season and hurry back for more from the Design Wizards of Inside Design Orlando.
Jean Holland-Rose, Chief Creative Officer and SEO Professional
