Is Search Engine Optimization Dead??? It appears this question is resurrected every time Google does a major tweak to their search algorithms. Major algorithm changes happen every few months and minor tweaks occur as often as 500-600 times per year.
The recent noise surrounds Google’s ‘Penguin’ update, the tweaked and reborn cousin of Panda. Released in April of this year, Penguin has been causing all sorts of nightmares for website developers and companies alike. It penalizes websites that use manipulative techniques to gain visibility, specifically tactics like keyword stuffing, cloaking, and duplicate content.
Currently, Google uses hundreds of measurable signals to rank websites. Most notably are the following:
- Content Quality and Freshness
- Technical design & Optimization
- Traffic volume, sources and time on site
- Inbound link volume and credibility
- Social Media chatter
- Site Trustworthiness
The information Google has available about your site is nothing short of scary.
Who’s the culprit? Google – for wanting to provide web searchers with higher-quality sites within the top rankings. It makes sense that they would do this. After all, they didn’t become the most popular web destination by accident, serving over 3 billion search results per day. How do you defeat them? I’m not sure that you do. They make the rules and then change them every day.
Try this Magic potion to defeat the curse. First, start with research. Identify the keywords that your prospects actually use to find your products or services. Next, create relevant, valuable content. Educate your visitors with frequent, timely updates. Place the importance of your content before any optimization techniques.
Optimize your site using only white-hat techniques. The rules are pretty basic and straight forward but if you don’t know them, simply try doing the right thing. If you think you are cheating the system, you probably are and will likely burn for it.
Finally, Earn links from trusted news sources by sharing your content with the world, syndicating your message through social media, PR channels and others. Focus on delivering great value to your readers, then work on making things more appealing for the search engines.
In closing, SEO is NOT dead! It is continuously evolving to meet the demands of searchers and advertisers. SEO is not a game and requires a continuous plan and investment. When done right, the rewards are enchanting. Huge opportunities to build powerful and profitable websites await those who are willing to learn new rules – even if they haven’t been written yet!
Biznet provides white-hat SEO services including content marketing, digital PR, site optimization, social media, and more. Contact Biznet today for more information.
