A lot of people have been blogging about the recent changes in Google’s Algorithm and I felt the need to just explain what it means for small business in plain english – no tech talk here!

When you type in a search term in google, the old algorithm used to work slightly differently to the new one. Before, it would use the search term to match it to websites for example:

“web design Todmorden” would bring up a selection of sites that contain the words web, and design, and Todmorden. Then the user would look for the page that fits their needs.

Google realised that most people now use more conversational search terms, for example:

“a web designer in Todmorden or Halifax”

It will still pick up the key words, like “web designer”, but now it will recognise what you’re looking for behind the search – for example a more specific and localised item which will result in more relevant pages. It will realise that Todmorden and Halifax are within a certain region i.e Calderdale or West Yorkshire.

Meaning that small businesses who perhaps didn’t rank as well before, now stand a chance of ranking better which can only be a good thing.

Of course, you can still apply standard SEO techniques to help your ranking, however, content is and always will be key!

And that’s it in a nutshell, if you have any queries, feel free to contact us.