Big data is
one of the most popular management buzzwords today, but buzz is not all there
is to it. Big data is having a huge impact on virtually every aspect of the
world, and search engine optimization is one area that this is particularly
true.
What is big data?
Before
delving into how big data is influencing SEO, here's a quick outline of what
big data is.
Big data is
the collection and analysis of large groups of data that can be used to improve
how we solve problems. This phenomenon has quickly become an integral part of
today's decision-making process.
Even though
there are quite a number of big data companies out there, Google is considered
to be the biggest of them all, and a major player; hence the major influence on
search.
How big data is changing the SEO
narrative
Content is now data
Content has
always been one of the ways to get noticed on the internet. This integral part
of the SEO process is aptly summed in the maxim "Content is King". But Google,
as the major curator of data, sought to convert content into measurable
entities, and so content becomes data.
These days,
content goes beyond published information that relates to your online business.
Once it leaves your PC, it automatically becomes data that search engines can
analyze. This makes it easier for people to find what they need online, and for
businesses to get the best results out of their content.
This result
of big data taking over content is that search results become
more structured,
giving birth to rich snippets, search packs and other results that are more
accurate than before, resulting in a big win for both the content owner and the
content user.
Big data results in better SEO
insights
Big data has
succeeded in taking away guessing from the SEO process.
Thanks to
big data, it is now easier than ever before to keep track of keywords, analyze
topics, do on-page SEO and focus on the other important aspects of site
optimization, because you have better insights into your SEO and marketing
strategies.
For example,
tracking and analyzing a certain keyword will provide the insight that could
make your SEO campaigns more successful. It has become easier to see what works
and what does not.
Additionally,
analytics tools like Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools provide a
comprehensive account of your web content and web traffic. From these analyses,
you can see how your online business fared compared to the competitors, and you
can easily determine the changes you need to make to enjoy better results.
All in all,
big data provides valuable insights that make your SEO more effective, which
can be pivotal to the success of your business.
Of course,
there is a price to pay for access to these helpful insights. SEO experts will
have to overcome a steep learning curve if they want to stay ahead of the
latest changes and updates. Fortunately, there are services like that in www.discountdomains.co.nz/web-hosting, that are able to help with the
task.
Social media is becoming a major SEO
tool
Social media
platforms boast some of the largest collections of data in the world.
Social media
giant, Facebook, boasts over 2 billion users, Twitter comes next with almost a
billion, and other major social media platforms and blogs sharing a few hundred
million between them. That makes them a huge source of big data insights.
It makes
sense, therefore, that Google, as a big data curator, cannot afford to ignore
social media if it is to stay on top of the data industry. As a result, social signals are becoming increasingly important
as a search ranking factor. Positive social signals on top social media
platforms like Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Pinterest and so on will amount to
better search rankings.
Because of
this, it is crucial that website owners and content marketers pay more
attention to social media as this is an important source of viable traffic and
rankings.
Improvements in user experience
One of the
many advantages of big data influencing the dynamics of SEO is that it will
result into better user experience.
If you look
at user experience as meeting the demands of the user in terms of website
performance, relevance of content and user-friendliness, you will agree that
leverage on big data for better SEO can only make your users happy.
For example,
by leveraging on the insights provided by big data, search engines will be able
to deliver results that are more targeted, perhaps by a number of criteria such
as: location, gender, preference, previous searches and so on. This means that
website users will be able to get what they want, quickly and with minimum
hassle. This is what makes for optimal user experience.
Already, we
are seeing this happen in major ecommerce websites like Amazon, but with time,
the effect of big data will become more internet wide.
On the other
side of the coin, Google can investigate what characteristics of websites
reduce bounce rates, and what ‘great' user experiences look like, and reward
sites that keep visitors with higher search rankings.
Wrapping Up
While it may
be impossible to say exactly what SEO of the future will look like, we can
confidently say that big data is going to make it easier for search engines to
analyze content, user behavior on websites, and the language of the web and
deliver the most relevant results for queries.
You don't
have to understand big data to make it work for you. All you have to do is keep
on creating content that is valuable, and endeavor to stay up to date with
what Google is using as ranking signals.