Sunday 23 September 2012

Why SEO in Context Matters for Business

By Lloyd Roberts


For a a lot of people, Siri has affected the way they use smartphones. Siri, Apple's voice assistant and information navigator, can check the weather, search for a Taco Bell in the area or calculate the square root of 13 without you even having to type into your iPhone. It's awfully easy, plus, Siri has in stock a selection of clever replies for users who believe they can mess around with her.

Many of us think Siri hasn't yet grown into her full potential. Experts like Ed Dale also believe that context-aware software such as Siri can change the Internet landscape altogether. For Dale, Google and SEO were bust--up until the smart guys at the Silicon Valley giant came up with Siri's No.1 rival: Google Now for Android 4.1 oAKA Jelly Bean) smartphones. Of course, Google Now cannot just catch up with Siri. It has got to get ahead of the game once more.

Google Now is far more than just a voice-activated assistant; it is intelligent software that is able to anticipate what you're doing and what you want now based on three things: time, location and habits. To paraphrase, Google Now searches for information based mostly on SEO in context.

Let's have a look at the following example. When you wake up in the morning, Google Now tells you the weather and traffic conditions in your regular route to your job. If traffic is bad it searches for substitute paths you can take and tells you how many minutes it takes for you to get to your office. If you choose to ride the metro instead, Google Now finds a schedule of trains and tells you when the next train is going to depart. When you get to work, Google Now opens your calendar and reminds you of the things that have to be completed. It's different from a regular task reminder that you set yourself because with Google Now, you don't schedule anything. You don't search for anything. Your phone knows your requirements based all on context. It does SEO in context.

How does Google Now know all this information about you? It's in Google's privacy policy, which not a lot of users take the time to read. Google has declared that it is organizing content across all Google properties. This suggests whatever you post on YouTube can be accessed through other Google-owned web sites, for example Gmail, Google Docs, Google Translate, Google Maps and Google+. The world's biggest search engine isn't just creating a privacy fuss. It's making a pool of information that's ALL ABOUT YOU, and Google Now can use that info to supply the information it expects you to search.

Here's another example of SEO in context. Let's say you are going to Bali for a vacation. Google Now knows that because it's in your Calendar and it hands you a list of flights to Bali. Once you're booked, your smartphone makes suggestions about hotels that might interest you and looks up Google+ Local for the very best tourist attractions in the area. By lunchtime on your first day, Google Now depends on your phone's GPS to track where you are, searches for restaurants in the area and even gives you directions on how to get there.

Searching primarily based on SEO in context is an exceedingly smart thing to do, even for a smartphone. And while everyone else gawks at Google's revolutionary piece of smartphone software, smart entrepreneurs should take advantage and get a head start. Technology research firm Gartner, Inc. Vice President William Clark asserts that by 2015, approximately 1.8 bln people all around the world will own smartphones, 40% of whom will be using context service providers. That's around 720 million smartphone users who are responsible for up to $96 bn. in consumer spending. By that time, if your local gas station isn't listed in Google+ Local and thus not optimized for SEO in context, even if your business website is fully optimized for mobile (By the way, Dale claims that around 50% of all Google searches will be made thru mobile in 2015.), a cross-country traveler who has to fill his tank will not find you.

This effectively changes not only the way people search but also the way companies do SEO in context . The impact of context searching has still to be felt as top contenders Google and Apple make a mad dash to develop Google Now and Siri. It's obvious ,however, that context will reshape our searches in the near future because it makes it a ton easier for users. It's like Facebook redefining how we connect because we don't need to be physically present to do it, or Amazon revolutionizing the way we buy goods because we can now do it in a single click.

So what can local firms do with the imminent boom of SEO in context?

Get yourself on Google+ and update your business page. Google has been saying it repeatedly again: Google+ is not a social network--it is Google upgraded. Move your focus from plain SEO to SEO in context. Make a listing for your business on Google+ Local and other local listing internet sites and encourage your customers to follow your page, check in with their phones and write detailed reviews. It also helps if they like your Facebook page and tweet about their experience with you. Why even trouble with sites that are not Google-owned? Because context searching isn't confined to Google Now and Siri uses different sources to see for info shared in social venues. Though Google reigns over the international smartphone software market, Apple isn't lagging far behind.




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