If you haven’t noticed by now, many search engine optimization (SEO) companies in St. Louis and around the nation are going haywire over Google’s plethora of algorithmic changes and various crackdowns on artificial blogging and linking networks. And many of these same firms are struggling to find the right formula that will guarantee results in the future. But, what if there is no guarantee anymore? What if there is a “terminal velocity” for SEO?
Years ago, any and all backlinks with exact match anchor text meant high rankings – you could almost guarantee it! Then Google rebooted its algorithm to spot offenders of spam sites with links upon links upon links. Other examples of spamming that ruined it for the rest of us was keyword stuffing, poor content and pure apathy. In the end, all that matters for companies is their need to beat out their competition by ruling the number one spot on Google. And truthfully, that is all that matters. However, the next question we must ask ourselves as SEO’s is how long can we sustain this number one, two or third position? Is it a matter of days? Months? Years?
In my last blog post, Quality over Quantity, I touched on the subject that Google is in the process of “cleaning house”. And, I shed light on the importance of a search engine optimization campaign that was built on quality rather than quantity.
In this post, I want to highlight the importance that search engine optimization isn’t just about building backlink upon backlink. It’s a long-term process that involves building relationships by finding relevant sites to link from. This strategy is more sustainable than building links artificially through services that could easily be deindexed – I know, all that money for nothing!
So, what strategy is sure to be sustainable?
Search engine optimization is extremely unpredictable and strategies differ from month-to-month and year-to-year. But, it seems like each year, our strategies always come full circle – building quality content and refreshing our sites with content that is useful and relevant to our consumer base is the best way to go. From there, you let the rankings do as they will. Forcing the issue can and will only get you in trouble.
From here on out, focus on less. Focus on building a reputation online that is based on quality. Do research and understand what SEO is and why good St. Louis SEO firms like Clix live by the fact that SEO is not a short-term project. If you are looking for short-term, waste your money on links that will only get deindexed and send your marketing budget further in the hole. Or, commit to an online marketing strategy that is centered upon SEO, social media and PPC – the trifecta of internet marketing.
Sustainable SEO
- Invest the time and energy into creating main site doorways. Don’t waste your time posting one article per blog network and moving on. Establish relationships, develop your blogs and treat them as useful bits of information for your visitors.
- If you are a growing products-oriented business then don’t confine yourself to just one location. Take for instance the “unvirtual world”. Fast Eddies in Alton, IL has grown its reputation to the point where people will travel far and wide to eat and enjoy the atmosphere there. However, there are many other restaurants and businesses in the St. Louis area that need to spread themselves out in order to get more business. Although not an identical comparison, it’s similar enough in the virtual world. It’s a good idea to spread yourself out to high volume sites such as Amazon, Ebay and JCPenny when possible.
- Don’t clutter pages with links. A properly optimized page with a great title tag, meta description and content base with one link is enough – the associative rule in SEO.
- Pay close attention to the structure of your website during set up. Contract with companies that understand website design and development so that you do not hinder your search engine optimization.
For more information on how to set up a quality SEO campaign, please contact us!
