When I wrote “108 Actions To Increase Website Traffic and Search Rankings” back on December 30, 2014, nobody was asking how to rank in AI Search.

Search is a forever changing beast of algorithms, tips, tricks and fads all to obtain the “holy grail” page one search rankings and traffic to boost one’s business.

For local business owners, search has definitely been taking many zigs and zags with the dismissal of Google Authorship, increased focus on Mobile search, and now semantic search with Google Hummingbird.

All of the above mentioned concepts have directly and indirectly impacted the SEO efforts of local business owners.

For local business owners seeking to gain ground in local and mobile search, it’s best to ensure that your website’s design and architecture is one that is responsive, both search- and user-friendly, to the variety of devices viewing your website.

Responsive design and architecture is only a start in addition to creating a sound content marketing strategy that engages and educates your customers.

One SEO area that’s worth mentioning for local business owner’s to focus on is semantic search.

Well, if you haven’t heard by now, Google has pulled the plug on yet another one of it’s multi-year experiments: Google Authorship. It’s kind of surprising to see put an axe to Google Authorship, but I’ve also seen stranger things such as when Google pulled the plug on Google Reader (which I so LOVED!).

But truthfully speaking, I should have known Google Authorship wasn’t going to stand the test of time when Google Author Stats went missing in Google Webmaster Tools.

Why I Think Google Authorship Was Created In The First Place

It’s almost as if Google creates products for the sole sake of gaining an extra step in the search market which they already own and are in full command. Personally, I think Google products that have been a flash in the pan were nothing more than loss leaders. Why do I think this?