What are the expected changes at Google in 2009?

Matt Cutts got interviewed at PubCon by Mike McDonald. This interview turned to be an exciting and informative source to peek into the expected changes at Google in future. Here is the video interview:

In response to Bruce Clay’s claim that “ranking is dead”, Matt gave a clear explanation that with the personalization and localization of search results, ranking is no longer important. The task of an SEO is not only to rank a site in top results, but the more challenging thing to do, i.e. to bring traffic and increase conversions. So, SEO’s job becomes more than just an ‘optimizer’ to that of an ‘online marketer’. Clients must also understand this and while hiring a person/company for SEO, and emphasizing to see a long report on rankings; they should be more concerned for the traffic and popularity of their products and site.

Matt also pointed out that Google is getting better at crawling flash files. So, there is more scope of uploading videos and images to attract more people. But at the same time, as the world is going mobile, you must keep user experience in mind. Your flash site may get crawled by Google, might look attractive on internet but a person viewing your site on mobile phone will not be able to view anything. So, keep the flash content to minimum till mobile phones become flash compatible. Also, IMO, don’t make it default to force users to see it. Always include a non-flash version to give your visitors a choice.

So, 2009 brings with it the following trends in Big G:

• A broader view of SEO that includes marketing and social networking.
• Blackhat SEO will become more malicious.
• Sub-domains Vs. sub-folders for geo-targeting.

So, all the ‘Online Marketers’ out there, pull your sleeves up, adjust your spectacles ( 😉 ) and get ready to face the changes of Google in New Year 2009!

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