Knauff, whose marketing firm specializes in search engine optimization, said major changes are on the horizon in the search engine space, both from technological as well as social standpoints. Google, for example, has grown so successfully in Knauff’s view that it has lost the “little guy trying harder” appeal that fueled much of its public support in the past. Nor has Google’s technology of late been able to return the kind of search results Knauff feels fastidious webmasters should demand.
“Many users don't really care which search engine they use as long as they are getting the results that they're looking for. In this area, Google is falling seriously behind,” Knauff writes in his marketing tips blog. “In an attempt to filter out more of the websites using artificial means to improve their ranking, [Google has] knocked a large number of legitimate websites out of the search engine results pages and often prevented newer websites from appearing [at all].”
Knauff said he applauds Google’s continued efforts to block the array of spam techniques some websites use to return artificial results, but that Google’s technology needs to “find a better way” to avoid losing its share of the market.
“People want relevant and timely results. If Google continues to delay newer websites and webpages from ranking for applicable terms, users will go elsewhere to find more up to date results,” Knauff said. “[Also,] many website owners using Google AdSense will begin switching over to competing services from Yahoo and MSN — which they are likely getting traffic from. Since the ads are a source of revenue for these website owners, they are going to deal with the search engines that are helping them make more money.”
Knauff also predicted that many website owners would begin removing Google site-search toolbars from their sites if they aren’t getting traffic from Google, and that website owners “bitter” over a lack of sales fueled by AdSense would recommend visitors use competing search engines.
Knauff outlines four strategies he feels webmasters should undertake during the next year to prepare for the evolving face of online marketing.
“Diversify your internet marketing strategy,” Knauff said. “Search engine optimization should only be a fragment of your internet marketing. For starters, you could consider advertising on other relevant websites, utilizing a pay-per-click campaign and publishing [content] on other websites.”
Knauff also recommended webmasters continually adopt new technologies.
“Blogs are here to stay and RSS is taking hold,” he said. “Stay on top of new and innovative ways to use technology to multiply the effectiveness of your search engine optimization campaign. You can get a general idea of what technologies to look at by staying up to date with the advances in operating systems, browsers and related software and hardware.”
On the spam front, Knauff said webmasters who use spam techniques to improve their rankings, such as using hidden text, keyword stuffing or link spamming, were wasting their time.
“Most of these questionable techniques don't work and those that do don't work well,” Knauff said.
Finally, Knauff suggested webmasters update their sites on a regular basis.
“A website that is constantly growing is viewed by the search engines as more important, a side benefit is that by generating useful content other website owners will have a reason to link to your web site,” Knauff said.