The Need for Speed: What Does Google's Caffeine Mean to You?

Google's new system for indexing content on the Internet, Caffeine, went live June 8.

It used to be that Google updated its indexes every couple weeks. Now it's darn close to real time.

This is good news if you update your content regularly. Since Google now refreshes its index much more frequently, it will be constantly looking for the most relevant results to display for any given search phrase.

Wait a minute!  What if I'm not adding content to my website regularly?

While this isn't an algorithmic adjustment in how websites are ranked, I'd say this new development from Google isn't going to have many positive implications for you. In fact, over time, you may find your site slipping as others who do have a stream of content start to fly past you (or at least show up in the media links in the SERPS above the traditional website links). With Google indexing more content than ever before, there are greater odds that somebody somewhere is producing more fresh content on the same topic--making yours look stale and moldy.

It's time to get off your bum and find a way to keep fresh content flowing.

Okay. Where should I start?

This is going to require a new mindset for some. It means really putting yourself out there, something that most businesses aren't naturally predisposed to. (Many prefer to stick up a website and some advertising and wait for people to come knocking.)

Your SEO company should be eager to help you prepare and add great content--or at least provide the infrastructure that's going to make it possible for you to do so yourself. If you go the DIY route, you'll probably want an SEO-friendly content management system that makes it easy for you to add new information quickly. Wordpress or some other Web 2.0 platform may provide a good foundation for your needs.

And unless you've been under a rock or in a cave for a couple of years, you've probably heard of social media taking the Internet by storm. Facebook or Twitter ring a bell? Google has certainly noticed that people are posting information via many different types of channels now. In its mission to provide great results to the information seeker, it is now indexing and including everything it can find on the Web related to a search phrase.

Now Google will be indexing things very quickly, and that includes new content on your website and content you post on other websites, too. Here are some ways to keep growing and refreshing your content, and thus your opportunities for rankings:

1. Keep your blog rolling!
2. Update your knowledge center on your website regularly
3. Use press releases
4. Set up a Facebook page
5. Start Tweeting
6. Keep newsletters going; archive them on your site and tweet and blog about them
7. Roll the cameras and catch important moments on video; post to YouTube
8. Post relevant pictures on Flickr
9. You get the idea... keep going!

One final note

I expect with results updated so quickly, it may also be more difficult to maintain rankings for media items. As the churn of information escalates, the rise to the top may be rapid, but so may be the drop as new content is infused by others at lightning speed. That's why this is always going to be an ongoing task and you want to have all your bases covered.

And when it comes to your website content, there's still the competition factor. So if your content is less deserving of high rankings than other competing pages, it's still not going to show. You'll just know it sooner rather than later.


June 14, 2010