Google is now getting beyond being defined by its algorithms of Panda or Penguin. While it is still evolving, there is a level of “settling” that seems to be emerging. Yes, it is still evolving alternatives to Facebook… and everything else. But the good news is that Google is finally getting a bit less schizophrenic.
For some time the multiple offerings of Google were really messy and confusing, requiring multiple identities, emails, log-ins and log-outs. Now I am returning to find that while some clean-up continues, the levels of integration and easy of use are starting to make Google viable for those with less than an unreasonable amount of time needing to be dedicated to the Google gods!
So what does this mean for the average business on Main Street? Well, it means that the complex world of the web is holding the reins (for now) on it’s forward march into “more and more” to get the same advantage!
The Long of plus.google.com/u/0/b/100277580910968
It could be argued that webmasters are like lawyers. Akin to the lawyers in Congress who tend to make “progress” naturally legalistic in nature the web is similarly under constant pressure of new and easier “top level” use, which of course means a plethora complex integration that needs to go on and is not so easy to manage.
So fewer and fewer individuals “do everything themselves” on their sites. It is simply too complicated.
So what does that mean for those who simply want results? For a start, it means that the “simple site” today will be little more than a flashy business card. To get it to do anything useful, even small business owners need to get an agency to work for them. Sad but true.
The Short of Goo.gl
But you need to do it yourself because of cash-flow? Then here are a few steps to keep your nose above water:
- Fill out your Google + profile
- Make a Google + Business Page
- Verify your site with Google (add the code Google requests)
- Complete your social circle with Twitter, a Facebook Page, Pinterest and/or Instagram
- Make sure that your business information is exactly the same (down to the way you display your telephone numbers) across all directories and locations
- Integrate these where possible using Hoote Suite or an alternative (Google recently bought Wildfire and has integrated it into their brand. It is an agency and enterprise level solution.)
- … and don’t forget your real business is not doing all this stuff!
Or somewhere in Between
In the end, people will find their own levels of expertise with Google. Sure, it won’t be either / or. But also for sure, gone are the simple days of Google as gmail and browser alone. Gone is the wild west of the internet. We are beyond the information era where the new need is not MORE information, but WHICH…
Today we need discerning guides who can save us from wasting our precious time!
ZAh Zen. The simplicity of life! Of breathing in. Breathing out. Still having time to feast our eyes and minds on the stars in the skies and smell the flower that blooms at our feet as it provides nectar for the bees!
Let us find those simple guides fast so we can slow down and breathe!