I recently posted a "SEO 2011 Year in Review" article on Search Engine Journal, which sited many of the exciting algorithmn updates this past year as well as other items supporting the proclomation of Mobile and Social being key SEO performance mediums this year.
This becomes ever increasingly verified with the latest 10 algorithm updates direct from Googles official blog. So whats important for search moving forward? Direct from Google:
- Rich Snippets - especially e-tailers pushing product data - this has been a huge help on BING and now we are told increasing support for Google)
- Freshness - Serving up the latest content to meet user queries is adjusted to support short span News sites vs. long life span niche articles and e-com sites
- Refinement of "official" page detection - This is a clear movement toward what we have been hinting at all year; the ever increasing "brand" rank. Watch for Brand Optimization in 2012
So, mobile, local and social will continue to drive forward into next year. Googles entry into Business Pages for Google+ (see WebiMax Google Page) is rather limited and soft as a launch. At the time of this article we have seen two additional updates to Google+ Pages features and different interpretations of Google+ badges, buttons, circles and support.
Checkout/Wallet will really make some heavy movement this upcoming year along with search-less search. With all of these movements we are consistently seeing possitive movement on organic SEO efforts with foundational efforts (On-Site tech, Off-Site links/content and social engagement), so continue with your digital strategies but look to introduce schema.org and HTML5 support - now is that time.
