Exciting news from Google this past week " they announced changes in their ranking algorithm that makes it easier for users to find a larger number of results from a single site or domain.
This is a change from the old days when at best you could get a double listing for the same site.
Currently when you search for our site you get a double listing for both the homepage and our blog.
What Google is saying is that now you have the opportunity to get more listings if someone is searching specifically for your brand, site or domain.
The reasoning behind this change is that Google is trying to improve the users search experience by giving them more options and deeper results from within a single site " more or less an expansion on the Google Sitelinks that allow users to instantly find their desired page within larger sites.
Benefits of Additional Listings
This is definitely exciting news for large websites and major brands that now have the opportunity to take up a lot more valuable realty on the first page of search results. Another huge benefit is by taking up more of this valuable space they are bumping down competitors or resellers that may have been receiving significant traffic since they used to be in positions #3+.
For example lets say I was interested in reading more about Apple in Canada and typed in Apple Canada now look at the results being display in Google:
All of these additional listings are now being displayed and allows the user to quickly locate their page of interest instead of browsing through the site.
Not only is it additional exposure for your brand or site but you are creating a better search experience as well " so its definitely a big win if you can get these additional listings!
What This Means for You
Here are some basic tips on getting these additional listings:
- First off, make sure you have a very SEO friendly site architecture so that Google can easily identify the most important pages of your site
- Ensure you have a good dynamically updated sitemap that Google can read (once again to try and identity the most important pages of your site)
- Make sure you have installed Google webmaster tools and if you are already getting Google sitelinks ensure that the best or most relevant links are being displayed
- Optimize the title tags and meta descriptions of all your most important pages = dont be LAZY and only optimize for the homepage!
- DEEP LINK to your site! Get lots of quality links and make sure that you send quality anchor texts to these pages so that you tell Google what these pages are all about.
Not sure how to get these deep link opportunities? The easiest and fastest way is to get deep links from within articles (shouldnt be linking out twice to the homepage as theres not much value there anyways) or from within directories that allow for deep links, some good ones are:
- Kwika.org
- Searchpicks.com
- Rakcha.com
- Dirsense.com
- Enquira.com
Just make sure you continue with a sound SEO strategy but by following these basic tips and focusing more on getting deep links pointed to your important pages you have a better chance of getting these new additional listings " best of luck!