Monster brands Coca Cola and Domino’s come out in force to lead the Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) movement by example.
Since the beginning of Google rankings, every digital savvy business has known the importance of SEO rankings to gain unique browsers and customer growth.
As a result the market has become increasingly competitive, with each business vying for the most researched key words and phrases associated with the prime positions on the search engine.
Google have understandably kept secret much of their SEO algorithm, although have provided small clues into the direction and future of the Google algorithm ranking system.
Google have openly commented on their three-phase SEO ranking strategy called, “Panda”, “Penguin” and more recently “Hummingbird”.
The overall objective has been to provide a more accurate search engine for users to organically find websites based on‘white hat’ digital marketing strategies and SEO techniques, and to decrease the ranking of companies that have used ‘black hat’ SEO strategies.
The difference between ‘white hat’ and ‘black hat’ is the first refers to the usage of SEO strategies, techniques and tactics that focus on a human audience whereas the later refers to the use of aggressive SEO strategies, techniques and tactics that focus on search engines and not a human audience.
Thus, the website may not be what the user is looking for, resulting in frustration for the user and high bounce rates but limited exposure for the company.
“Panda” the first stage of the Google ranking role out phase focussed on content of websites, keywords used, proper execution and professionism of the site including grammar and regular updating of content which added to the manipulation of a company’s SEO rankings.
The second stage called “Penguin” focussed on discounting ‘black hat’ links put into place by companies used as a fast and quick method for virally spreading their website link onto illegitimate and unpopular blogs and websites which saw the dramatic ranking decline of many companies within a matter of months.
The final stage called “Hummingbird” has recently seen the finessing of the linking strategy, giving a higher ranking to websites with quality “white hat” links to news worthy websites and blogs with relevancy. The release of Hummingbird is also focussing on websites with fresh, new and updated content to stay relevant and keep their high SEO ranking in the Google search engine.
The last week has provided perfect examples of the future direction for optimal digital marketing with Coca Cola and Dominos being receptive to these changes and proactive as to how this will affect their digital presence.
They are leading the way with Coca Cola openly declaring, “the corporate website is dead…” and launching their new look content marketing website, focused on engaging the user with appealing news, articles, great stories and information related to their product and designed to encourage engagement, utilising word of mouth of its’ fans and prominent bloggers to help spread word of their business hence organically increasing their Google rankings. Coca Cola commented their new content marketing lead digital marketing website is based on their “Content 2020 plan”.
Likewise, with over 63% of Domino’s sales driven from online, their new content focused marketing website is intended to integrate interesting news about the brand to the consumer, with hopes it’s organic search past rivals.
The digital marketing SEO strategy similarities are evident with both big brands focusing on news worthy, inspiring brand-based stories that generate interest to ensure that their content is compelling and share-worthy.
Alas, the future of Google SEO rankings will result in the fast decline of high ranking for businesses that may not necessarily be the best fit for key words and phrases.
Of course with any market leader treading new ground, Google’s ranking strategy will have gaps which no doubt will continuously be refined into their algorithm.
A common echo in the industry, is the concern of “minimalist” websites that utilise imagery and clean, copy light websites as part of their overall design layout, their website purposefully not content led (think fashion, design and photographywebsites).
How will this affect their ranking? Of course other digital marketing strategies will come into play to increase their SEO ranking; customer engagement and social media strategy will be key for them.
Thus there is a whole other area we haven’t even touched upon in this article – it’s that of a company’s social media strategy and the absolute importance of this to a company’s digital marketing strategy and Google SEO rankings.
What will social media mean for your business and it’s impact on your organic search rankings? Stay tuned and we’ll let you know.