Agent Smith in the movie The Matrix saw it coming. “You hear that Mr. Anderson?… That is the sound of inevitability”
Signs of inevitability
Traditional methods of promoting our business such as branding, PR, advertising etc… are having less and less impact. It is not that these methods are not effective, it is simply we don’t have a captive audience to aim at. Unlike the bygone era, our customers are knowledgeable, well informed and have their own agenda. They are no longer willing to be part of our agenda. The only choice we have is our prospects allowing us to be part of their agenda.
Our website is one of the conduits by which our well-informed prospect comes to know us and may choose to connect to us.
For many of us the ‘hub’ of our marketing is our website. However the days our website acting as our brochure is no longer a valid proposition.
Your prospects and customers no longer want to know ‘what you do’. They want to know ‘why they should choose you?’ Even in a highly localized situation, such as a local plumber or electricians website need to be able to communicate ‘why you?’
People are running away from advertisements. They make purchasing decisions based on valuable information. Rather than waiting to be sold to, your prospects are pro actively gathering and sorting information of value to them. They are looking to see who recommends whom, specially their peers.
This information of value is known as “content” in your website.
Why content marketing is your marketing
Just like a lighthouse, your content is the ‘beacon’ that draws your prospects in. Once they are in, the quality of your content will establish your level of expertise and how much your prospect is willing to trust you. In other words, ‘what you sell’ is taken for granted. ‘How you sell’ (how your content makes a difference) is what tips the balance.
Therefore, the prime purpose of your content is to educate and inform your prospects as to why they should choose to buy from you. Education is your new sales process. Education is about engineering situations that prompts your prospects to make a decision.
I repeat – content marketing is your marketing.
Great content allows you to become an authority
Great well-liked and well-linked content allows you to become an authority in your niche. You will gain a massive advantage over your competition, when you develop an “authoritative position” – using great content.
Enter the mighty Google
If your target audience come to understand that you are an important expert in your niche, so will Google. Google is now looking for “authority” in their search engine rankings.
What this means is when your prospects search for the main keyword, Google wants to give the most authoritative sites.
Google is building something called ‘Author ranking’ in their algorithms and this is how Google defines it: (in Patent for Agent Rank)
“The name of the writer can be used to influence the rankings of web search results by indicating the writer responsible for a particular content piece. Assuming that a given agent has a high reputational score, representing an established reputation for authoring valuable content, then additional content authored and signed by that agent will be promoted relative to unsigned content or content from less reputable agents in search results”.
What does this mean to you?
- Write great quality articles that demonstrate your expertise for your site (or third party sites)
- Allow Google plus users (and other social media to give your article thumbs up. You do this by having G+ and other social media buttons on your site.
- Use author rank mark up (rel=’me and rel=”author”) in all your writings. This will allow you to link your content to your Google plus profile. In simple language, you are telling Google you are an author by creating a link Google will understand. (Click Here for more details)
Getting higher ‘author rank’ can be the difference between your website (content) reaching higher rankings above your competition.
Enter (the not yet mighty) Google Plus
All this tells us that Google is using Google Plus as a ‘Hub’ for its authority ranking. This means G+ must be part of your content marketing strategy.
Just as you build twitter followers (which does not necessarily impact your search engine ranking), building your audience on Google plus could have a direct impact on your search engine rankings. Your should always deliver great content but by using G+ as a hub Google will have direct knowledge that you are publishing quality content.
Whether you like the fact that what Google is doing (that is if you want your content ranked higher you must use Google’s own tools – like G+) the reality is we have no choice. As long as Google is the dominant search engine on the planet, we will have to go along with it.
What about Face book and Twitter
Here is my take. Use G+ to build your audience and boost your search engine ranking by helping Google easily understand that you are an authority. Use Facebook and Twitter and other social media vehicles to share and distribute your content to a wider audience.
Don’t confuse Authorship mark up v Author ranking
Authorship mark-up is Google’s way of identifying you as an author. Authorship mark-up is not a ranking tool. It is an identification tool for Google so that it can rank the author who produced the content. However, it also helps you stand out on web searches.
Here is an example:
If you Google ‘procrastination busting tips’, I am on the first page of Google.
Even though I am 3rd on the page, I am against some hefty Page ranking sites (PR5).
Because of my authorship mark-up,
- My picture is promoted
- My name is promoted (hyper linked to my G+ profile)
- Another hyperlink saying ‘More by Ravi Peal-Shankar’ is also promoted (hyper linked to a Google page with a list of my recent articles)
This will increase your profile and certainly increase page views. This will stop poor content stuffed with keywords moving up the ranking. This also builds trust and establishes you as an expert in you niche.
On the other hand, Author Ranking is for the algorithm to work out how popular your content is. I guess this where +1, facebook likes, twitter shares, comments on posts and guest posts come in.
What if this does not happen?
Author rank (agent rank) has been around since 2005. In an attempt to tidy up the web Google started punishing everyone who ‘tricked’ Google. It hammered hard on unnatural link building and regurgitated poor quality content. My guess is that author ranking is an attempt reward good content.
Whether this goes ahead full steam or not there is only one thing we can control. Keep producing great quality content for your readers and get that to as many people in your target market as possible.
Do not confuse tools with torque
Google Plus, Facebook, Twitter are just tools. They have no power unless it is backed by world-class content. These tools come and go. At this point in time Google Plus seems to be emerging as a tool that is likely to reward high quality content and its author. Use it to your advantage!
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