Google changes criteria for first page ranking.

You may have seen the news last week that Google is once again changing some of the criteria by which is assigns first page status for search results.

Now sites will be indexed based upon how NEW the information on it is. As the Wall Street Journal reported "A search for a celebrity would show recent news about the person as opposed to their official website."

What does this mean for us?

One immediate implication is that we should all set up a blog. Since blogs are designed to be updated on a regular basis this means that they will tend to be ranked higher (all other things being equal) than static websites.

So does this mean that you should abandon your website and focus exclusively on blogs? Not necessarily.

My personal thinking is to use blogs as a sort of satellite system, which you update regularly. Each blog (And yes it's likely that you may want to have more than one) would have links back to the relevant pages on your website.

Blogs are amazingly inexpensive and simple to set up- (The very fact that I'm doing it is proof of that!)-so if you haven't already, I'd consider setting one up.

Not only will it give you a forum to stay in touch with your readers but it can also be an increasingly important component in getting your information visible on Google.

Blogs are one of the fundamental cornerstones of what is often referred to as social media. I'll be discussion a number of social media applications in my next inner circle program. That's going to be sent out on May 28th.

(I've decided to go back to the older format of the inner circle program in which I send everyone a powerpoint presentation with an audio link. Apparently many of you really missed that format so I'm happy to oblige.)

You can join my inner circle OR just sign up to receive this one program by going here for some great sales prospecting tips:

Regardless of what you decide to do, I would spend some time thinking about blogs (as well as other social media tools) and determining how you can incorporate them into your overall strategy of becoming one of the recognized experts in your field.

Talk with you soon.
Mark