Should Chartered Surveyors Care About Algorithms?

 

On Monday morning, the residential property sector were greeted by a typically sensational headline as they perused the trade press:

“Google change could force agents to rethink their websites”

Many will have felt a huge sinking feeling as they pondered the possibility of having to expensively upgrade or re-build their company website. But more importantly what do these changes mean for commercial property agents and chartered surveyors? And in a tough and competitive market, will commercial property professionals be seeing their websites plunge into online obscurity?

What’s A Ruddy Algorithm Anyway?

The aforementioned headline pertains to a recent change that Google has made to its algorithm to ensure the ‘freshness’ of it search findings. Algorithms are the complex mathematical equations that analyse relevant website pages, against thousands of factors before they rank them in a SERP or Search Engine Results Page. All in a fraction of a second.

Why Are Google Changing It?

The quality, relevance and speed of any search engines results are what set it apart from its competition. Google is not trying to be difficult or mysterious with these changes they are purely trying to improve the accuracy of the service that they provide. In this case the ‘freshness’ of the results is returns.

Will This Affect My Commercial Property Practice?

Search engines love and devour “Current” and “Relevant” content. The mantra is “Content is King”. So any website wishing to be ranked highly on Google should be regularly producing interesting and relevant content anyway. But in this case, Google’s aim is to improve the ‘freshness’ of results for searches for celebrities and popular culture actually.

But You Should Be Worried About Algorithms

This particular change may not have a significant effect on commercial property agents, but one of the many other algorithm changes may well. In 2010 alone, Google changed its algorithm more than 300 times. If you couple that with constant changes in the needs of commercial tenants, investors, developers, vendors and the wider economic landscape it demonstrates the importance for an on-going SEO program.

Top Ranking Commercial Agents

Its not corporate muscle, marketing spend or plain good luck that gets some commercial property agents to the top of a Google search for commercial agents or chartered surveyors in a particular town, area or county. Any company, whatever the size, can achieve top Google rankings if they are targeted, disciplined and consistent in their content creation. But you do need the web infrastructure to support you and the content.

Resource Techniques websites are built around a CMS (Content Management System) that enables you to be in control of your own content 24/7. And that’s content in multiple forms, news, blogs, social media, images, video and animation.

Most importantly, Resource Techniques provide on going support for commercial agents and chartered surveyor’s websites, with on going SEO included in the package. That way we worry about the algorithms, while you get on with your business.

Philip Burrows, Marketing Consultant