SEO Tricks: Google: The Risk And The Opportunity

[SEO Manager]

Google: The Risk And The Opportunity
 

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<p>It feels like You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login. </p>
<p>Google makes a You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login, and all hell breaks loose. Well, some hell, and some jumping for joy, depending on which direction a webmasters rankings went. </p>
<p>As I wrote in You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login at the beginning of last month:</p>

<p>Put it this way. Any algorithm that takes out Demand Media content is going to take out a lot of SEO content, too. SEO copy-writing? What is that? That's what Demand Media do. As I outlined in the first paragraph, a lot of SEO content in not that different, and any algorithm that targets Demand Media's content isn't going to see any difference. Keyword traffic stream identical to title tag? Yep. A couple of hundred words? Yep. SEO format? Yep. Repeats keywords and keyword phrases a few times? Yep. Contributes to the betterment of mankind? Nope. SEO's need to be careful what they wish for....</p>

<p>There were a lot sites following the SEO model of "writing for the keyword term" taken out, not just sites pejoratively labelled as "Content Farms". Ironicly, the pinup example I used, You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login. </p>
<p>If you want more detail about what happened, and why, check out Aaron's post You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login, and, if you're a forum member, this You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login. </p>
<h3>Collateral Damage</h3>
<p>Some people have suggested there has been much collateral damage. Google have taken out legitimate pages, too. </p>
<p>What happened is that the pages that were taken out shared enough similarity to pages on Content Farms  and the algorithm simply did what it was designed to do, although Google have admitted - kinda - that the You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login. The ultimate judgement of whether this is a good or a bad thing comes down to what Google's users think. Does Google deliver higher quality results, or doesn't it? </p>
<p>You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login outlines the frustration experienced by many: </p>

<p>I'm pissed because we've worked our asses off over the last two years to make this a successful site. Cult of Mac is an independently owned small business. We're a startup. We have a small but talented team, and I'm the only full timer. We're busting our chops to produce high-quality, original content on a shoestring budget.We were just starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. After two years of uncertainty, the site finally looks like it will be able to stand on its two feet. But this is a major setback. Anyone got Larry's cell number?</p>

<p>Scroll down, as there's also some very interesting comments in reply to that post.  </p>
<p>This is nothing new, of course, It's been going on since search began. The search engines shrug, and send businesses that depend on them flying, whilst elevating others. </p>
<p>What can be done? </p>
<h3>Spread The Risk</h3>
<p>"Be less reliant on Google!", people say.  </p>
<p>It's an easy thing to say, right, but what do you do when Google is the only search game in town?  We know any business strategy that relies on an entity over which we have no control is high risk, but what choice is there? Wait for Bing to get their act together? Hope You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login becomes the next big thing? </p>
<p>None of us can wait. </p>
<p>Sometimes, no matter how closely we stick to Google's Guidelines, Google are going to change the game. Whether it is fair or not is beside the point, it's going to happen. </p>
<p>So, we need to adopt web marketing strategies that help lessen this risk. </p>
<p>The best way to lessen this risk, of course, is to not rely on Google at all. Design your site strategy in such a way as that it wouldn't grind to a halt if you blocked all spiders with a robots.txt. Treat any traffic from Google as a bonus. Such a strategy might involve PPC, brand building, offline advertising, social media, email marketing and the wealth of other channels open to you. </p>
<p>Try the above as an academic exercise. If you had to operate without natural traffic, does your business still stand up? Are you filling a niche with high demand, a demand you can see in other channels? Is there sufficient margin to advertise, or does your entire model rely on free search traffic? Are there viral elements which could be better exploited? Are there social elements which could be better exploited? </p>
<p>Academic exercises aside, we can also look to mitigate risk. Think about not putting all your eggs in one basket. Instead of running one site, run multiple sites using different SEO strategies on each. Aaron talks about running auxiliary sites You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login. </p>
<p>Try to get pages (articles, advertising) on other sites in your niche. If your site is taken out, at least you still have a presence in your niche, albeit on someone else's site. A kindly webmaster may even agree to repoint links to any new site you devise. </p>
<p>Do you have other ideas that help mitigate the risk? Add them to the comments. </p>
<h3>It's An Advantage Being An SEO</h3>
<p>Finally, be pleased you're an SEO. </p>
<p>SEO just got that much harder, and the harder it gets, the more your services are required, and the higher the barrier to entry for new publishers. You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login. At the end of the day, it's an algorithm change. It can be reverse engineered, and new strategies will be adopted to maximize the opportunity it presents. </p>
<p>Until such a time as Google tells us exactly what they want to see, and rewards such content, SEO's will just keep doing what they do. And thank goodness Google isn't entirely transparent. If they were the value of your SEO knowledge as a competitive advantage would plunge. For many of us, wages would quickly follow. </p>
<p>Sure a short-term hit is painful, but the best SEOs will recover.</p>
<p>As they do, other content producers will be left scratching their heads.</p>
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