Googles New Values Usable, Shareable Sites

by Constant Content Arecent article on SearchEngineWatch.com highlighted a change in Google’s advice to webmasters on ranking. Where Google once advised webmasters who wanted to improve their sites’ rank to increase â€Å"the number of high quality sites that link to their pages,† it now says that, â€Å"†¦webmasters can improve the rank of their sites by creating high-quality sites that users will want to use and share.† This is a subtle, but important, shift. Instead of rewarding webmasters who entice other webmasters to link to them, a somewhat unnatural approach, Google seems to be placing a greater emphasis on the user experience. Rather than focusing on getting backlinks, webmasters should be focusing on creating high-quality sites. What makes a site a high-quality site? Below are the three most important aspects: The user – The user is by far the most important part of any website. If your site is useful to users, easy to navigate, and pleasant, pat yourself on the back. There’s a word for this: usability. Website usability is a concept that considers how easy a site is for users to use, navigate, and enjoy. According to Jakob Nielson, a renowned usability expert, â€Å"utility† means whether a design provides the features you need; â€Å"usability† describes how easy and pleasant these features are; and a site is â€Å"useful† if it has both utility and usability. The design – Your website design should meet the usability definitions above. After all, your users need to be able to find useful, relevant information with minimal fuss – otherwise, they’ll go elsewhere. It should also be attractive and load quickly. You may need to update your site’s design every few years in order to keep it from looking dated. The content – It doesn’t matter how pretty a site is, however, if it doesn’t contain fresh, unique content. Not only should your site’s articles and blog posts be relevant and informative to users, they should also be shareable. Google now emphasizes the creation of high-quality sites that users want to â€Å"use and share.† As a webmaster, you’re likely well-versed in the art of usability and website design. Now that Google is less concerned with backlinks and more concerned with quality, and usability, you can focus on your area of expertise. Filling your site with fresh, informative, and shareable content, however, may be a challenge. Let Constant-Content help. That’s our area of expertise.