It is no secret that changes in Google’s algorithm, with Penguin and Panda releases being the primary culprits, have turned the SEO world upside down. These algorithm updates were created with the purpose of rendering all spammy, thin content irrelevant; however, organic traffic to most sites has suffered as a result. I was recently reading an article by Rand Fishkin of SEOMoz, in which he stated that 95% of all content ranked on page one of Google today was there not because it was the best/highest quality content available but rather because someone had so-called “juice” (otherwise known as backlinks).
Is This How SEO Will Be In 2022?
This certainly makes sense, as the Penguin update was created specifically to crack down on those who were “gaming” Google’s algorithm by creating low-quality backlinks. While I agree that Google is justified in making these updates and doing away with the spammy tactics employed by some, it has also rendered a plethora of high- and medium-quality content irrelevant and/or harder to come by than it once was. Additionally, with the advent of Google+, and Google stating that social signals play a role in determining search engine rankings, we’re seeing even more changes in how content is ranked online.
Is There Still Hope For SEO?
Yes! First off, let’s take a look at what you can do immediately to help your content be more visible online.
1) Create amazing, branded images for social media sharing that contain your keywords
2) Promote your posts on social media (I personally use Hootsuite and Bufferapp to schedule out my social media posts at optimal times throughout the day).
3) Optimize your tags, titles, and descriptions with your keywords
4) Create amazing content! Remember, the internet is a vast place. The more high-quality content you create, the better off you’ll be.
Is This All Google Has In Store For Us?
I know what you’re thinking: these things are easier said than done. Let’s face it, creating great content is hard work! It takes time and effort to put together a well-thought-out blog post or article, let alone an entire website. However, there are also some Google updates currently in the works that could help level the playing field for those who have fallen behind due to recent updates.
How Will These Changes Affect SEO In 2022?
1) Mobile-Friendliness Update – In January 2015, Google announced that they would be emphasizing mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal. That means if your site isn’t optimized for mobile visitors, you will likely see a decrease in search engine rankings. Fortunately, Google has provided some great resources to help webmasters make their sites more mobile-friendly. Make sure to check out the official Google Webmaster blog for more info.
2) RankBrain Algorithm – Another major change recently announced by Google was an algorithm that uses machine learning technology to process search queries and deliver results that are in line with what users are looking for. This is still very much in an experimental phase, but it’s interesting to see what Google has planned. This could potentially mean the end of keywords as a determining factor in search engine rankings, but that remains to be seen.
Is It Possible That SEO Is Not Dead In 2022?
I believe so! No matter how daunting it may seem now, creating amazing content is still the most important factor when it comes to ranking on Google. After all, the more people who share your content and link back to your site, the better off you’ll be in terms of search engine rankings.
5 Reasons SEO Is The Best Way For Organic Traffic Growth
When you’re starting out with your blog or small business website, trying to get your site to the top of Google for competitive keywords can seem like an insurmountable task. Everyone knows about the power of search engine rankings but getting there seems like more of a challenge than it’s worth. It can be difficult to know if SEO is right for your website and how to get started putting together a strategy that will give you results.
One of the biggest mistakes I see beginners making when trying to grow their blog or business site is going after keywords that have too many competing sites already ranking in Google’s top 100. There are tons of great guides out there to help you pick the right keywords when optimizing your site; I’ve written a few myself. But what can you do if you’re competing with companies that have already been in business for years and have established authority in their industry?
I like to look at it this way: building links, publishing content, and engaging with others in your niche may also help you get to the top of Google’s rankings, but only after months or years of hard work. SEO. On the other hand, can have a huge impact on your search engine rankings almost overnight! In this post I’ll give you 5 reasons why SEO is still a great option for new website owners and small business owners and how it can help you get that much-needed traffic to your site.
1) Search Engines Reward Consistency
When you’re just getting started with a new website, one of the most important things you need to do is establish yourself as an authority in your niche. One of the best ways to do this is by being consistent with your publishing and sticking to a regular posting schedule. Search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo! use bots (software programs) to crawl the web and find new websites as well as look for updated content on existing sites.
When these bots visit your site they will be looking at many different factors such as:
how often you update your blog or website
And how many different pages you have and how much content is on each one (the more the better)
Then how frequently do you publish new articles or blog posts
the amount of social media engagement you receive for your site/business Page
If Google sees that every Monday at 9 am you’re publishing a post with helpful tips for keeping your expensive leather handbags looking fresh, they’ll know that your site is an authority in that area. They can then reward you by ranking your website higher in search results when someone uses the keywords “Keep expensive leather handbags looking new” to do a search on Google, Bing, or Yahoo!.
2) Keyword Rich Domain Names Still Matter
When I first started blogging about search engine optimization. Keyword-rich domain names were a very hot topic. I had some clients that wanted to purchase their existing business name as a dot com for their website. And others who wanted to make sure they included keywords in the URL of new sites they were launching.
While it may seem like no one cares about these types of factors anymore. I’m here to tell you they do matter! Google takes into consideration your entire domain name as well as the page URLs on your site when ranking your content. Think of it this way: if a search engine user wants to find information about leather handbags, will they be enticed by a site that has “www.expensive-leather-handbags-looking-great.com” in its URL or “expensive leather handbags looking great dot com”?
3) Links Are Still Important
If you take one thing away from this post, let it be this: Google has not abandoned links! They are still one of the most important ranking factors in their algorithm. If you’ve been to a conference recently. Read an SEO blog or followed any of the social media chatter about search engine optimization. Then you already know that Google has made some major changes to their PageRank update algorithm.
What that means going forward is that Google will be less concerned with how many links a site has. And more concerned with where those links are coming from. What that means for you is that if a site. Or blog that has been around longer than yours links to your website. Google may see you as an authority in your industry and reward you with higher rankings.
4) Businesses Aren’t Using SEO Enough
One of the biggest challenges I face when working with new clients is that many of them are simply not using SEO to its full potential. I was just having a conversation with an owner of a new site recently who wanted me to set up her blog. So she could start publishing articles regularly. She already had several guest bloggers lined up and couldn’t understand why she wasn’t getting found in search results for the terms she thought she should be.
After taking a look at her website, I noticed that she wasn’t including keywords in either her domain name or page URLs and the site itself was only about 6 months old with very few pages (which means there’s not much content to attract search engine attention). She also didn’t have any backlinks to the site yet.
Adding keywords to your domain name and page URLs. Publishing new content regularly and acquiring backlinks from other sites are all on-page factors that Google uses to determine where a site should rank for specific keyword phrases.
SEO can be considered the best form of long-term investment. It is always a good idea to hire professional SEO services to have your website optimized on a regular basis.
5) Social Media Engagement Doesn’t Matter as Much as It Used To
For the first few years I was doing SEO, social media was a very hot topic. I spent countless hours trying to read every blog post, Q & A, and Tweet I could about how social signals factor into PageRank, but what has become clear over the past year is that Google isn’t as concerned with counting social shares as they used to be.
Sure, if your site/business gets a lot of engagement on a social media site. You’ll most likely see a bump in your rankings for a short period of time. But if search engine users can’t find your content or have to dig really deep to access it. Then Google will most likely drop you from the SERPs (as they did with Hootsuite).
I also find that many companies are just posting links to their social media sites hoping for a boost in rankings. If you’re going to invest time and money into using Facebook, Twitter, or Google+ as part of your strategy. Make sure the content on those profiles is useful enough for people to want to follow you there.
6) There Is No Magic Formula
Google’s algorithm is one of the most closely guarded secrets in the world. If you ask twenty different SEOs how to do well in search engine rankings. Chances are you’ll get at least fifteen different answers. It all depends on what Google happens to be looking for that day.
There are hundreds of factors that can help or hurt your website’s rankings. Some of them are on-page factors, like content and keywords; some are off-page factors, like backlinks and social media profiles; and many revolve around the kind of site you have (e.g., an eCommerce shop, a news blog, or a personal profile).
But at the end of the day, SEO is about delivering quality content to your target audience. If you’re creating a website that provides people with the information they want. Then it doesn’t matter if you know all of Google’s top-secret ranking factors or not. You’ll get the traffic and exposure you deserve.
And that’s something we can all agree on!
