Crucial Changes for Google Optimization

Back in 1996, at Stanford University, a simple idea was taking birth in the heads of two brilliant PhD students,   Larry Page and Sergey Brin, which would go on to stagger the world and bring about a digital and social revolution by it’s uncontrollable growth and increasing utility.

Today, exactly 21 years later, the Google Search Engine processes over 40,000 search queries every second on average, which translates to over 3.5 billion searches per day and 1.2 trillion searches per year worldwide. It is a strong and powerful tool for any business, especially your online fitness business, because it can connect your business to every one of it’s 1.17 billion users.

Every year, Google changes it’s basic requirements for prioritizing search results. If you want your website to be up there among the first few results so that you don’t miss a single opportunity, you need to customize your website appropriately. This is called Search Engine Optimization(SEO). The SEO ranking factors that Google values keep changing, and it is very important to keep your website updated accordingly.

This year, two major changes happened to what Google and other search engines consider the basic qualities of a website:

• Websites should prioritize mobile user experience over desktop user experience
• Websites Security (SSL Certification)

Here’s what you can do to update your website so that it fulfills the latest criteria and requirements decided by Google.

• Responsive Design and Introduction to AMP.
  The latest trends of 2017 suggests that search engine optimization is going to index and rank the content on your website based on mobile user experience.

If your website is desktop-only, and doesn’t offer a responsive experience to mobile users, you could find yourself losing ranks to other mobile user enhanced websites. It is of utmost importance to put a mobile responsive website redesign at the top of your 2017 to-do list.

Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) is a life-saving hack if you are short on time and really want to boost your mobile search traffic. It is a WordPress plugin which helps you create HTML pages that take advantage of various technical approaches to prioritize speed and a faster experience for users by loading content almost instantaneously. Get the plugin here.

• SSL Certification and Introduction To Really Simple SSL.
  The next biggest change in 2017 for website SEO is a focus on SSL Certified websites. An SSL certificate is a simple way of confirming that your website is owned and controlled by you. You can easily purchase an SSL Certificate from your website hosting company. Ideally, it should cost you less than $100.
  
  Really Simple SSL is a helpful plugin which helps you install your purchased SSL Certificate. Really Simple SSL automatically detects your settings and configures your website. To keep it lightweight, the options are kept to a minimum. The entire site will move to SS in just one click. Get the plugin here.

If your website doesn’t have these essential components, you can expect a drop in search traffic over the next 6 months. If your business relies on search traffic for leads and generating clients, it is time for your website to get mobile friendly and SSL security.

If you are looking for the right team to solve and take care of all your website related thoughts, you should get in touch with Natalie Minh Interactive, an internet creative agency offering comprehensive solutions in the field of digital business.