What has changed in the past, and will continue to change this year and next, are Google’s algorithms for determining where you rank for any given keyword.

The best SEO experts continuously test Google’s algorithms by trying different tactics to see what happens. In a perfect world, Lord Google would bestow upon its worthy subjects the exact formulas used for ranking.

Since that’s not going to happen, the best we can do is squeeze what we can out of Google folks like Matt Cutts, while testing the heck out of Google’s algorithms.

I’ll leave the actual testing to people with more time on their hands. In the mean time, I’ll read their studies and simultaneously try to read between the lines.

Here’s what I think…

A Brief History

Way back in the dark ages of the search engines and HTML web pages, they created HTML “Header Tags” that told the search engines what the page was about, and which keyword terms to use for ranking the page.

Internet marketers discovered this “secret formula” and promptly stuffed pages with their keywords. It worked for a time, but because it was highly abused and overused, the keyword tag is pretty much ignored today.

Then, internet marketers discovered another search engine secret: you could get a higher ranking if you had a lot of links to your site. Thus was born the “Link Exchange” era, during which “Link Farms” and entire link exchange services were created. A few folks became rich.

Most people, however, found themselves back at ground zero when Google changed their algorithms yet again.

Today, we’re in the “Quality Links” era of Search Engine Optimization.

And, once again, we find internet marketers basically scamming the system by creating intricate linking networks. The idea is that I’ll write an article, “spin” it into a dozen or more unique variations (using special tools developed by internet marketers), and send these “unique” articles out to a vast network of “related” blogs.

By embedding links back to my website in these “spun” articles, I instantly create hundreds of keyword-rich links back to my site from “related” blogs, thus raising the eyebrows of Google and the other search engines (there still are other search engines, aren’t there?).

Lo and behold, this link-building strategy works – and it works extremely well.

But it gets better. The clever internet entrepreneurs create even more elaborate linking systems by using public blogging and social media sites. For example, I might create a Squidoo page that links to MY website, while I have my hundred or so “spun” articles pointing to the Squidoo page. Thus, I create nifty “three-way” links.

This technique increases the importance of my Squidoo page, which in turn increases the value of the links back to my website. This gets around the problem of having a bunch of links from so-so blogs that aren’t important in Google’s bright eyes, all just going to my website.

Clever, eh?

Oh, and it gets even more involved and elaborate. But the bottom line is that this entire strategy depends on Google placing a high importance on links, giving more weight to links from “high-value” sites.

Regardless of the SEO strategy you employ, you should mostly pay attention to …

What Google Really Cares About

Anyone who has followed SEO for any length of time knows that what Google is really after is value to the searcher.

When I do a Google search (or Bing – yeah, they’re still around), will I get results that answer my question, solve my problem, or give me that special search engine rush that comes from finding exactly what I’m searching for?

That’s what Google really wants – the perfect search result. They know (and have proven by their dominance) that search users don’t care about bells, whistles, or floaty things in the sidebar.

Search users simply want the perfect search results for their query.

But Google also understands how fickle we are. We want it, and we want it NOW.

If some other search engine comes along and is able to deliver more accurate (in the eyes of the searcher) results, even the most diehard Google user will quickly jump ship …

And with a loss of searchers comes a huge loss in revenue. Am I right, Yahoo?

All of this leads me to ponder …

Will Linking Strategies Become the Dinosaurs of SEO

It’s got to happen. Google engineers know that their algorithms are being scammed by internet marketers. They’re privy to the half dozen membership sites that were created exclusively to create massive amounts of two and three way links to their member’s “money sites.”

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not against using these tools. I use them myself, and they are very handy.

But what happens when (not if) linking becomes less important? What will all these sites do when their massive linking strategies no longer work?

I question these linking strategies because, in my experience, the majority of the articles posted through these networks contain very little substance, are poorly written, and offer little if any value to the reader.

They are created solely for the purpose of increasing the search engine ranking of the marketer’s primary website or websites – the sites on which or through which they sell their products or affiliate products.

So … What’s Next?

I can only guess at how the Google engineers will approach this challenge. I don’t expect linking strategies to go away entirely. There’s definitely some value that should be attributed to one site linking to another.

But something has to be done to determine the actual “value” of a site to the end users – something that isn’t so dependent on links. Otherwise, all we’ll see at the top of the search engines will be these affiliate marketer websites that offer highly-biased reviews …

My best estimate is that Social Networks and Social Media will play a greater role in ranking, along with more intelligent spiders that can decipher the relative value of a web page and website.

The first step will likely be to more tightly integrate Social Networking and Social Media into the equation. Then, (some day), we’ll see search spiders with artificial intelligence – spiders capable of determining the true value of the website to the searcher.

In the Social Networking and Social Media realm, look for the following:

• Greater emphasis placed on social networking “votes”, “Diggs”, comments and other mentions …
• More emphasis placed on the number and quality of comments placed on blog pages, video pages, and other sites that allow commenting …
• A higher level of importance assigned to mentions and references on social networking sites like Facebook and LinkedIn …
• And eventually a tighter integration with mobile devices, where the search engines track what the mobile devices are reading, viewing, watching, or listening to online.

SEO is a crazy, mixed up world that will only get crazier.

My suggestion is to do what’s working now, but simultaneously start to build for the future.

Don’t put all your eggs in the link building basket. Instead, keep building those links while simultaneously increasing your exposure to social networking, social media sites, and mobile devices.

That way, you’re set for now and the future.

Interested in some assistance with your SEO strategy and optimizing your website? Let me know … I’d be happy to give you a free analysis.

The Tool of The Future?

I’ve been experimenting with a tool called Synnd to boost my search engine ranking, and more importantly, get some real, honest, targeted traffic to my websites. This thing REALLY works! Check it out. It’s quite possibly THE SEO Tool of the new age…

I was fine, though … happy, even … until we had to traverse a fifteen foot stretch of vertical rock. I didn’t look down, but in my imagination the drop was several thousand feet. Even if it was only 50 feet, one slip could have been disastrous.

I slowly inched my way across, muttering “Crap” with each breath.

Obviously I made it, and looking back it wasn’t nearly as hard as it seemed at the time.

I admit that bushwhacking up Kings Mountain in a heavy, cold rain was an exhilarating and memorable experience … in spite of, and maybe because of the fear.

I couldn’t walk for days after running my first marathon, but I talked about it for months. My first 100 mile bike ride was sheer joy the whole way, especially near the end when I pushed myself to pass people up the last hill.

You simply can’t know the emotional pleasure you feel from pushing yourself to the limits of your abilities unless you do it. Nike is right, you know …

SEO Is A Lot Like Mountain Climbing

To build a web site and hope for search engine traffic is the same as buying a new mountaineering outfit and expecting the top of the mountain to come to you.

That’s why I say that SEO – Search Engine Optimization – is so danged hard that it’s easier than you think to get to the top.

It’s one of life’s many paradoxes. What’s hardest is easiest once you’ve done the work.

I propose that the number one reason most businesses don’t rank high in the search engines is that they’re too lazy or cheap.

They build the site, “optimize” it by inserting a few keyword phrases here and there on “all” 15-20 pages, and then do absolutely nothing else. They sit and complain that the Internet isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Search Engine Optimization is HARD WORK.

The people at the top will have hundreds, if not thousands of highly optimized web pages, each focused on a variation of their primary keywords. And, whether they have an abundance of pages or not, they’ll work at creating quality links back to their sites. Plus, they’re usually active in social media and content distribution.

In short, they work to get to the top.

“But You Said It Was Easy as Pie…”

I’ve looked at a lot of web sites, and in my estimation no more than 5% of all businesses do the work that’s necessary to move to the top of the search engines.

That’s 9 out of 10 businesses who do next to nothing.

So, if you want to move closer to the top, all you have to do is a little. Don your fancy gear, walk a few hundred yards, and before you know it you’ll be looking down upon a vast sea of competitors.

Work a bit harder and you’ll come within view of the top.

Work even harder and you’ll reach the top.

What It Takes to Get to The Top

Although the search engine landscape is rapidly changing, here are the top five things you can do to move closer to, or even reach, the top of the search engines:

1. Expand Your Search Horizons

Google finally admitted that they have highly complex algorithms to organize semantically-related keyword phrases (“dog food” is related to “dog treats”).

When you research your keyword phrases, compile a long list of related keyword phrases. This includes keywords that might use the same base word (“consulting”), and phrases that are industry related.

2. Create Lots and Lots of Pages

See if you can get three to five pages PER keyword. If you want to rank well for 20 primary keywords, then you should shoot for 200 or more pages. That’s why blogs are so wonderful … it’s easy to add content to a blog, and visitors expect there to be a significant amount of content.

3. Optimize Each Page

Obvious, yes. And, it’s worth mentioning. Here’s a little trick you can use to get more bang for your content buck:

Use a primary keyword for which you want to rank high in the URL of the page, and a secondary keyword (related keyword phrase) in the Title Tag of the page. Don’t worry, Google will find both, and you’ll get ranked for both keywords instead of just one.

Then, be sure to use ten or more of your semantically-related phrases within the body of the page (each page should have 400 or more words).

4. Spread The Word

“Back links” have been the butter that completes the bread of internet marketers. They have lived and died on having as many links back to their websites as possible.

This has led to various methods, such as link farms, that are now obsolete. You can rest assured that Google is working hard on neutralizing the latest link-building methods.

What do you do? You write quality content (articles) and distribute them to quality blogs and websites for distribution. Instead of focusing on quantity, you focus on quality. This approach not only improves your search engine rankings, it gets you quality clicks back to your website from authentically interested parties.

5. Get Social

The “New SEO” is social media. Google is paying attention to the noise levels on social media. They see this as a good gauge of interest in a website.

What you want are people “Bookmarking” your site with tools like Delicious. You want comments on your blog … people to Digg you, and comments on the Digg. You want your articles to be Tweeted and Re-Tweeted, and your YouTube videos to be viewed, voted on, and viewed again.

The ONLY way that I’d bother to use Social Media as a search engine optimization technique is by using an effective tool. To do it manually would take a team hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars.

And, the ONLY tool of which I’m aware that fully automates SEO through Social Media is called Synnd.

The View From The Top

If you truly want to rank well in the search engines, you’re going to have to work at it. That’s the bad news.

The good news is that you’ll be part of an elite minority who does their homework, and that will quickly put you at the top.

Would you like help with your search engine strategy? Call or email me and let’s get started today. I’ll help you draw out a realistic strategy, and if you like, help you to achieve your goals as quickly as possible.

P.S. And do check out Synnd.

Many companies separate their Social Media, Social Networking and SEO (Search Engine Optimization) efforts.

Bad idea…

The Internet is becoming more social, more integrated, and more “value-driven.” The impact of this shift on your bottom line is huge.

There are roughly 8 million Twitter posts every day. LinkedIn boasts that they have over 40 million active members. And, Facebook is now the 4th most visited web site in the world, with roughly 20% of all internet users visiting Facebook on a daily basis.

As the same time, the number of search queries made daily is also increasing, with Google increasing its share of the search engine market to almost 65%.

The Reason for SEO and Social Media Madness

Think about what you do online. You’re either connecting with people or you are gathering information.

Five years ago, the ratio of time spent online leaned heavily towards the gathering of information. Today, it’s getting closer to a 50/50 split, with people spending as much time connecting as they are searching for answers to their questions.

In fact, it’s even more mixed up than that… Often, in our search for information, we run across “interesting” diversions — cool videos, a fun audio, or a scintillating conversation.

Your customers are online. They:

• Watch videos in increasing numbers…
• Download recordings from iTunes…
• Post (and read) mindless banter on Facebook and Twitter…
• Read informative articles…
• Comment on blogs…
• Bookmark fascinating web pages…
• Upload and view photos…
• And much, MUCH more…

How Will They Find You Online?

For the sake of simplicity, let’s just call this whole ball of wax “Social Media Marketing.”

Social Media is simply the “content” of the social world. It consists of the connections and conversations that occur on Social Networking sites, as well as the content you see on blogs, video sites, and audio repositories like iTunes.

Like I said, it consists of Connections and Content:

Navigating the Social Media Marketing Landscape

When you work with me, I’ll evaluate the WHOLE picture.

This is important simply because everything is becoming more integrated every day.

We’ll develop and implement a strategy that simultaneously increases your exposure in the search engines (SEO) and makes you more visible to the social networking community.

And, because these two sides of Social Media Marketing are becoming increasingly overlapped, everything we do on one side will automatically help you in the other realm.

So, let’s get started today. The future of your business depends on how well you navigate the Social Media Landscape today.

Call 503-287-0246 or send me a note….