Sourced from e-consultancy
There you were minding your own business when, WHAM. The tornado hit, the roof came off and you were left sitting in a call-centre queue waiting to file your compensation claim from a make-shift shelter in a school hall.
Well, that’s what would have been your experience in Florida this year when the hurricanes hit. But when hurricanes hit online, they are man-made, and there’s no insurance company to tussle with at the end of it.
This, at least, could well be the experience of many online businesses in the very near future when Google next updates its search algorithms.
Google’s December 2003 index update sent many sites into a black void, no longer listed and struggling for business. In one fell swoop the update wiped out whole businesses, especially small online retailers which had until then relied on Google’s editorial search results for traffic.
Ironically enough, it was called the Florida update by Google.
On a roughly monthly basis, Google updates its index of web pages. Each time, Google may tweak its ranking algorithm to produce better results. But around once a year it updates the algorithm entirely and many online businesses are wondering what is round the corner.
The lesson from ‘Florida’ for online retailers and businesses generally is to diversify your traffic outside of Google – don’t put all your Christmas eggs in the Google basket.
One thing to remember is that vertical sites in your niche are likely to send more traffic to you than Google or Overture, because users consider them a trusted source. So always build as many links and partnerships as you can.