If you spend much time reading the various webmaster forums, you're no doubt well aware of the grief that many webmasters experience after seeing a Google algorithm change send their web pages sinking like a stone in the search results. But there are always other webmasters who do well with the changes, and many whose rankings are pretty much unaffected.
What allows some websites to weather frequent algo changes and even prosper while others are banished to the nether regions of the SERPS or banned altogether? In a word, moderation.
Search Engine Optimization is a lucrative business, and many SEOs routinely "push the limits" of what's allowed by the search engines in an attempt to maximize a client site's rankings and draw more business. The problem with this approach is Google is constantly moving the goal post. If you play the game too aggressively you'll find your site being penalized when Google changes the algorithm.
So what can you do to safely optimize your site for the search engines? There are several things to remember:
1 - Make your SEO efforts an asset to Google, not a nemesis. Use ethical optimization practices that help ensure that your pages rank well and pass the "relevance" test. Google loathes spammers because they skew the search results making them less relevant for the searchers, and less relevant results drive searchers to other search engines. Understandably, Google doesn't like that a bit! Bottom line: Make your pages search engine friendly, but don't spam. That way when your page makes it into the top 10 it will really deserve to be there.
2 - Corollary to #1: Provide content that is truly relevant to the search queries that the page ranks well for. In fact, strive to make your page the most relevant (and most useful) page on the Internet for those search terms. Google loves lots of high quality content that is actually useful to your visitors, and their ranking algorithm will reward you handsomely for it, often with little or no SEO techniques in use at all. Lots of quality content draws lots of quality inbound links to your pages, which in turn helps boost their rankings even more!
3 - Use moderation in everything you do in regards to SEO. If you don't edge right up to the line, you'll be a lot less likely to cross it when Google moves it on you. This applies to linking, keyword density, header tags...all of the typical SEO techniques that are in use by webmasters today.
Conclusion
The webmasters who are happy after each and every Google update make their SEO efforts actually benefit the Google index. Their pages are full of relevant, useful content and they refrain from using "gray area" SEO techniques. Remember, today's "gray area" techniques are often tomorrow's "black hat" techniques.
Rick Rouse is the owner of RLROUSE Directory & Informational Resources (http://www.rlrouse.com), your one-stop source for information on a wide variety of topics.
Just for a change, rather than a technical article, I... Read More
The higher the PR of your site the higher will... Read More
In the following article I will give you some basic... Read More
If you go strictly by the numbers, Yahoo, MSN and... Read More
In a perfect world, everyone would be honest.In a perfect... Read More
As a member of several search engine optimization forums, I... Read More
From the perspective of a business owner, webmaster, or marketing... Read More
I couldn’t agree more with the headline of this article... Read More
Ok, so over the past month or so I've been... Read More
The most difficult area of SEO is building link popularity.... Read More
To many websites, webmasters discover that major sources of website... Read More
Through search engines and directories, the Internet provides a quick... Read More
Some search engine submissions are free and some pay for... Read More
Before anyone can start optimizing a web site, you must... Read More
Keywords are indisputably, the single most important element of an... Read More
Search engines constantly strive to advance their technology and algorithms... Read More
You can easily get confused by all the search engine... Read More
The world of search engine optimization (SEO) can be a... Read More
First of all, Google and most other search engines do... Read More
Getting Honest With The Search EnginesI spend a lot of... Read More
Visit Google, Yahoo, MSN or one of the lesser search... Read More
Recent studies suggest that more than 80% of new visitors... Read More
A good portion of my business involves spending hours and... Read More
Google is quickly changing...With the big buzz of Novembers fall... Read More
Over the last couple of weeks, I've received more e-mails... Read More
The complexities of Google's PR (Page Ranking) System have grown... Read More
Over the past few years, there have been many debates... Read More
The makers of the world renowned search engine, Google, have... Read More
If you're going to sell any type of product or... Read More
Why shouldn't I use a submission service that submits my... Read More
The importance of keywordsKeywords or key phrases you choose will... Read More
So how do you get a top listing in Google... Read More
It crosses every webmaster's mind anytime they see an ad... Read More
Last Week I did a Search engine Experiment. I wanted... Read More
Search engines use algorithms calculate the order in which the... Read More
In the Global Internet era the industry presence is undoubtedly... Read More
I want to touch base with selecting the title of... Read More
I recently was asked by an author to remove a... Read More
Unfortunately, we don't live in a perfect world. You may... Read More
HELP! My PR page rank is grey, call the development... Read More
The methods employed to increase your search engine rankings may... Read More
Are you considering a search engine promotion campaign to improve... Read More
Many internet marketers blow mountains of start-up cash on their... Read More
There is a way to generate links with the content... Read More
Anchor Text (also called phrase linking) can significantly improve your... Read More
Designing a Better System for Search Engines and Information Distribution,... Read More
I have spent some time discussing the 5 different options... Read More
Many search engine optimization companies will sell you a search... Read More
Last week a client called me excitedly exclaiming that their... Read More
To many websites, webmasters discover that major sources of website... Read More
Think you know everything about searching with Google? Think again.... Read More
It seems the excitement about search engine optimization fades in... Read More
Before we explore the world of search engine optimization, it... Read More
IntroductionWhy does a FLASH intro need SEO? Flash, the great... Read More
We've all heard that familiar expression, "Good things come to... Read More
The World Wide Web contains more than ten million websites... Read More
Bringing visitors to your site from the main Search engines... Read More
1. What is PageRank? Here is what Google says:" PageRank... Read More
This is my question...I spend a fortune on SEO and... Read More
I have 'Googlebot' crawl my site every day like a... Read More
If you are a webmaster and you review your logs,... Read More
We are often asked if professional SEO (search engine optimization)... Read More
Why, you ask? Mainly, because search engines want to provide... Read More
When Google Adwords first came on scene, it was not... Read More
Being listed in search engines and ranked high on searches... Read More
Build a Web site and the people will come.Ha! If... Read More
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) |