What goes on behind Google’s gates?  Many a person in the search engine optimization field has dreamed of getting an inside look, much like Charlie did of Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, and that is what the inner workings of Google are like to an SEO – fascinating and often awe-inspiring.  There are a few videos available that give a visual behind the scenes look at how the great minds at Google convene together and the process through which they tweak the algorithm.

The following are three videos that will make you feel like you have a front row “golden ticket.”

1. Search Quality Meeting: Spelling for Long Queries

This is an eight minute look at the Google team discussing whether to launch an algorithm change that relates to spelling for long queries.  The annotations are insightful and sometimes humorous, but seeing the sparkle in the eyes of those there paired with the quick-witted dialogue is well worth your time.

2. How Google makes improvements to its search algorithm

This four minute long video is a must for every SEO.  It gives a high level explanation of how Google implements hundreds of adjustments to the search algorithm every year.  It is also a quick look at some of the Google greats who are behind changes in search.

3. 8.3.11 Inside Google’s Search Office: Matt Cutts, Ben Gomes, and Amit Singhal

Danny Sullivan, editor of SearchEngineLand.com, interviewing Matt Cutts, head of the webspam team at Google, Ben Gomes, Engineer at Google, and Amit Singhal, a Google Fellow and software engineer at Google, in the first of its kind Google interview at the Churchill Club.

In addition to these videos, make sure you are keeping up-to-date with Google’s Inside Search blog which posts a number of different kinds of updates including a monthly blog post highlighting search changes.

The last three search update blog posts were:

February 2012:  Search quality highlights: 40 changes for February
January 2012:  17 search quality highlights: January
December 2012:  30 search quality highlights (with codenames!): December

Making sure to understand the basics of how Google evolves the search algorithm over time, how potential changes are tested before launch, and where to find which changes have made the cut is important for webmasters, marketers, agencies, and business owners.  A seemingly small tweak at Google can increase or decrease your site’s organic traffic.  Feel free to contact MoreVisibility if you have any questions about organic search.

A recent article by eMarketer stated “one-third of shoppers have either already used or would be interested in using Siri to compare prices at the shelf…” This means that shoppers will be doing their homework and the field will get more competitive for businesses. At the touch of a button, consumers will know the best price and if there is an available coupon that can be used with their purchase. Businesses need to determine their added value and capitalize on it.

What makes your business stand out among the competition? Does your company have good customer service or a no hassle return policy? Does your company stand behind your products and services? Does your company appreciate and reward loyal customers?  These are questions that every business needs to answer. Consumers aren’t just looking for the price point. Think about it, there are many shoe stores online, but people like to shop at Zappos because of their selection, atmosphere and return policy. If a consumer doesn’t like the shoes, they can pack them up and send them back with free return shipping. A consumer may be more willing to buy shoes from Zappos, even if they aren’t the cheapest price, because they know they won’t get hassled if they want to return the shoes later on. Loyalty is also import to consumers. If a consumer knows they will be rewarding themselves to get points or credits for future purchases, they may be more likely to buy now.  Nine West has a rewards program that gives customers a rewards pass coupon every time they spend a certain amount of money. But what if your business offers a service?

If your business offers a service, be competitive in price, but also make sure that the service is customer friendly from start to finish.  It may be a surprise to some companies, but people don’t mind paying a little more if they know they will get good results and be treated civilly. For example, dry cleaning company A may be cheaper than dry cleaning company B. However dry cleaning company B may get more business because they offer same day cleaning.

Businesses should know their added value and promote it via advertising. Too many times businesses look at the competition and want to mirror what they are doing, but it’s better to find the unique element that sets your company apart from others and market it

Coming up with compelling topics can be one of the most difficult aspects of maintaining your blog. When the blog is new, you may not know where to begin. If your blog has a long history, you may feel you’ve already written about everything. The need to come up with new ideas is ever-present. However, these tips can make the going easier:

Make the most out of simple ideas – as they say, the simplest explanation is often the best one. The same can be said of blog posts. Explaining and examining the core concepts of your business or industry, or answering frequently asked questions from your customers, can make for popular blog posts.

Listen to what other people are saying – speaking of listening to your customers, listening to other writers is also a good way to get ideas for posts. Find out what topics your contemporaries are talking about and offer your own original spin.

Use Google’s tools – Who knows more about search results than Google? You can utilize Google tools to generate ideas for content. Google Insights can provide you with hot new keywords you can target, while Google Alerts can keep you plugged in to the latest developments in your industry (see above tip).

Repurpose old, popular posts – You can breathe new life into old topics once you have spent enough time away from them. Times change, and perhaps you or your industry has a new perspective on something you’ve written about before. Or perhaps the topic itself has evolved and needs to be re-examined. In either case, it’s a chance for you to flex the writing and blogging techniques you’ve developed since the last time you wrote about the topic.

Don’t forget, if your business is struggling finding the time, resources, or inspiration to keep your blog consistently updated, MoreVisibility offers expert SEO copywriting services to help your site be successful.