I told myself that I wasn’t going to write about any Google updates because countless blogs already cover the topic every time a tiny change to the algorithm is made. However, I received an email several days ago which made my blood boil a bit.
So I had to write this.
Yet Another Update…
Before I get into anything else, I guess it’s worth mentioning the Google algorithm change that caused this blog post to happen in the first place.
Google is always updating its algorithm to try to improve search results. This makes sense. They are in the business of providing search results. And if the results aren’t any good, Google’s business is no longer viable.
This creates a constant battle between Google and marketers who try to game the system with SEO tactics. For example, for quite some time “backlinks” were all the rage. And they still are to some extent.
But this resulted in many unworthy sites getting to the top of Google just by building countless backlinks from questionable sources.
So Google decided to take care of it…and they changed their algorithm.
The latest change was supposed to affect only a small percentage of websites. Personally, my rankings have not really been impacted by the algorithm tweak. For now.
The Email That Made My Jaw Drop
I say my sites haven’t been affected by the algorithm “for now” because this latest algorithm change opens up a door for tactics that are…how should I say this…less than moral.
Google went from overvaluing backlinks, to de-valuing “low quality” backlinks, to now penalizing websites for these low quality backlinks.
This opens up the door for “SEO optimization methods” that I once thought would never happen. Methods that were being promoted in the email I received.
Marketers who want to “game the system” can now bombard their competitors’ websites with “bad backlinks” to sabotage their rankings. And what’s worse, is that there are marketers out there that are promoting this behavior in information products!
Wow.
This puts your rankings in the hands of your competitors.
The funny thing is I remember reading a discussion about this tactic more than a year ago. The general consensus, at the time, was that this would never work because Google would never be dumb enough to make a change like this. I guess the general consensus was wrong.
The Timeless Truths of SEO
There isn’t much we can do about Google’s constant updates. And we certainly can’t do much about shady marketers who try to game the system. And for what? How does sabotaging their competitors increase their own conversions and sales? But I digress…
The only thing you can do is focus on what you control. And the thing you will always be able to control is your own content and on page SEO.
On-page optimization will always be important. Period. This can’t change. How can Google rank your content if it doesn’t take your content into account in its algorithm?
And things like meta tags and descriptions still count. Although plenty of SEOs will tell you otherwise, I know from personal experience they still matter.
I am not going to make the claim that just having tags will get you ranked where you want. Some keywords are more competitive than others. Backlinks are still important. And so is page authority, and and so are social shares. But sometimes just simple on-page optimization is enough.
The First Step to SEO & Content Marketing Success…
If you want to know the secret to great SEO, it’s really quite simple. Ignore the search engines.
Huh?
Let’s begin at the beginning.
Why are you creating the content? Chances are its so people will read it, right? Otherwise what’s the point?
So don’t put the cart before the horse. Don’t start optimizing until you actually have something people will want to read. There is no reason to waste your time and efforts on optimizing content that gets no results. (Tweet This).
Before you even think about optimizing a single word, make sure your content is worth optimizing for. Is it going to get you a sale? Is it going to get you a subscriber? What is its purpose?
Remember that people will be reading the content. People are clicking the links for me to earn my income in the post I mentioned earlier. Would these people be clicking anything if the content was shit? No.
Brankica Underwood just announced that she’s starting a new project and won’t be doing much optimization at all. And you know what? I bet it becomes a huge success.
Now a Bit of Editing
If you are going to take away one thing from this post please take away this one statement:
Write for people, then edit for search engines. (Tweet This)
After, and only after, you have a great piece of content, you can edit it to make it a bit more search engine friendly.
This is easier than ever with tools like Scribe SEO by Copyblogger. But for those of you who don’t want to invest in the tool, I have a simplified on-page optimization checklist as a bonus to Strategic Content Launch Pad, and have a much more intensive content optimization guide that you can pick up as well. :).
Let Your Content Do the Walking
You didn’t skip step one right?
This is where actually having useful, people-driven content is an absolute necessity. Get out there and promote your content!
People link to, and share, useful content because they like it, not because it is optimized for search engines. So having done the second step in the process without the first doesn’t get you very far.
Oh, and guess what! Real people linking and sharing drives traffic back to your content! A nice safety net in case one of those shady marketers decides they want to sabotage you.
So what do you think? Should we worry about our competitors? Should we worry about Google? Or should we worry about only the things we can control? Or is this a naive way of looking at things because no one lives in a vacuum?
