Follow the #SEO hashtag on Twitter for long enough and you’ll soon see someone decrying the end of SEO. It usually follows the same thread.
“SEO isn’t what it used to be.”
“You can’t fool Google anymore.”
The key thing to note here is the idea that Google can’t be fooled. If your SEO strategy is based on trying to get something past Google, you’re doing it wrong.
Trickery doesn’t work
In the early days of SEO, it was easy to manipulate the rankings by using grey-hat methods like keyword stuffing, adding keywords in a text the same color as the background so users can’t see it, building spammy links and creating duplicate content. Google has responded to all of these practices by releasing an algorithm update to weed out the dubious sites trying to dupe them.
Why?
Because they want to make the search engine results as good as they can possibly be.
Why?
Because they rely on people using their search engine for advertising revenue. If people aren’t finding what they need, they’ll use another search engine.
It’s a common myth that Google doesn't WANT you to optimize your site for SEO. This couldn’t be further from the truth. This is why Google is continually producing guidelines for how to stay on the right side of the search engines. Hire the right SEO expert and they’ll help your site to stay up-to-date with the latest best practice. Hire the wrong SEO expert and you’ll soon discover they’re still trying to make old tactics work.
Work with Google, not against it
Google isn’t the evil gatekeeper between you and your customers. Google wants your customers to find you, but it also wants you to play by the rules. If you can appreciate what Google s trying to do, then it becomes a lot easier to give Google what it wants.
Google wants to deliver the best possible user experience. So if a user is searching for a builder in Huntington Beach, Google wants to show them a list of builders in the Huntington Beach area. Google wants to make sure that the search results are as relevant as possible. In order to help Google in its quest, it’s down to the website owner to help Google discover their content.
How can SEO specialists help Google in their goals? The best solution is to create helpful and informative content that answers the questions your users are searching for. Structure it well, add headings, include relevant keywords and make sure you are thinking about your target customers rather than the search engines. There’s a subtle difference between this and trying to manipulate the rankings.
Choose your SEO expert carefully
When it comes to choosing your SEO expert, you need to ensure you find someone who appreciates the difference between tricking Google and helping Google to deliver better results.
Here are some essential tips to follow:
Avoid any company that offers a guarantee of positions, no one can control Google.
Avoid any company that applies an out of the box SEO strategy, it should be unique to your business.
Avoid any company that asks for a budget to pay for backlinks.
Does SEO even still work?
Of course, it does! We wouldn’t be in business if it didn’t. Google processes over 3 billion searches every single day. That means 3 billion opportunities to get your website in front of the right people. The majority of our own clients found us through searching. The term “SEO agency” gets around 2,900 searches every single month. We believe that’s a lot of people who believe that SEO is still working.
We work with clients all over the world, and they all found us by searching some variation of keywords like SEO agency or SEO specialist. Most likely, these clients found a blog we have published that helped them to develop their understanding of SEO. It could be one of many blog posts that still brings in highly qualified traffic.
In short, SEO still works, if it is done correctly.
Don’t leave money on the table
Companies who ignore SEO are leaving money on the table. They might get some organic traffic without optimizations, but they are still missing out on a huge slice of traffic. If you skip the trickery and work within the parameter’s of Google’s recommendations, there’s so reason your business shouldn’t come out on top.
