There’s a lot of talk around the blogosphere and in the news about Google Caffeine and I thought writing a post about it would be useful for entrepreneurs and new-age marketers. First of all, I would like to clear the cloud about what Google Caffeine is; (no, it is neither a cup of coffee nor a new product or service started by Google) it is simply the latest update to the Google Search Engine algorithm which changes how the world wide web’s information is organized on the world’s largest search engine and what results the search engine users would see when they type in a keyword. Therefore, the hoopla around it in the media.

Faster and more relevant search results

With Caffeine, Google aims to use new infrastructure and technology for ‘indexing’ (process of storing a website’s information and organizing it against search results) more information, faster, more comprehensively and show them to the user in an even lesser time. I digged around the web and found an excellent and comprehensive test by Mashable. Click here to view their review and learn how the results differ from the old Google algorithm.

Social Media and Google

You may have already seen the right-hand side bar search options that allow you to search for content on various social media such as blogs, forums, etc. Although, with Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, even more UGC (user generated content) in the form of images and videos is being uploaded. In order to cope up with all this, Google needs to be able to show real-time search results as new data is being uploaded every second by the web 2.0 community.

How can you prepare your website for Google Caffeine?
If your website was on the top 10 on the first search engine results page, it is likely that it moved out of it. No worries, if your site has that authority with all the backlinks it needs, its likely that it will boost up back in the top 10 slot if it follows some simple, logical and effective guidelines for search engine optimization (SEO).

If you have no idea what we are talking about, feel free to get in touch and discuss how SEO can help your business and how you can set it up for Google Caffeine!

• Keep it fresh Whether it is your company news, your personal learnings in business, new product launches, sales promotions - keep your content fresh on your website, on your other social media networks.
• Be there in social media! Not to sound too presumptuous, here’s a quick-list of networks your business has got to be on: Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, YouTube (Got no videos? create one - product launches, testimonials - the ideas are endless)
• Follow web design compatibility standards Always think about the skeleton of your website, the layout, the elements used - does it show right on all browsers? is it a good resolution? are you using the latest web designing language and W3C compatibility standards?
• Be the long-tail: Be more relevant to a narrower targeted audience. Care about those who care about your product/service. With Caffeine, they are more likely to see more relevant results.

Is it live yet?

While there is no official date known for the release; it is being said that already some of Google’s Data centers are serving results based on the Caffeine algorithm. It’s never too late or early to get your site optimized for Google! Start here.