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Search Engine Optimization tactics have changed over and over. Webmasters have always been trying to figure out how to fight Google but every time Google seems to be the last man standing. The major reason behind this is Google’s ever-changing search algorithm and the search results that Google seems to play with every other year. You don’t believe me? Well, try observing search results for something as obvious as “car hire”. Do you think that you can push your blog in those search results? You think that your SEO tactics can push your URL in between all the results of Google Places and Google Maps. I seriously doubt your confidence.
Today, we will try to dig into some of the new tactics that are slowly emerging as must learn ways for webmasters if they want to survive in this world of Search Engine Optimization. This discussion will try to graze through the still unreal modern-day SEO practices.
Look at those search results. Sights like these are common on Google’s SERPs and they are frightening for webmasters. It is very obvious that searchers will prefer the jungle of Google Places results and hardly any of them will scroll down to check different blogs (if any) and various websites.
What do we do in such situations? Well, the answer is pretty simple. One must expand the SEO horizons to Google Places which seems to be the next big thing when it comes to local SEO. Note down these quick pointers:
So, as the discussion above suggests, it is time to move out of the world of backlinks, keywords, tags etc. It surely is time to expand your reach into the modern world of SEO. If you don’t start now then you are bound to be lost in between all the competition.
Gone are the days when SEO and Social Media Marketing were two different approaches for traffic. Today, you will find Twitter handles and Facebook fan pages on huge bill boards and on screens before a movie starts. It has become so obvious for every business to be present on Twitter and Facebook for starters. You aren’t hip if you aren’t on Twitter.
One good example of integrating Search Engine Optimization for a business with Social Media Strategies is the #BeatCancer hash tag. An Atlanta-based Social Media Communications company launched a campaign to raise funds for various non-profit cancer organizations. The idea was that the sponsors (eBay/PayPal and MillerCoor Brewing Company) will donate $0.01 to charity whenever the hash tag #BeatCancer was used somewhere in a blog post, Facebook page, Twitter or any other platform on the Internet. Surprisingly, the idea resulted into $70,000 being donated to different charities. Also, the amount of hidden publicity that it brought to the campaigners attached with the same was innumerable.
Social Media giants like Twitter and Facebook can play a huge role in your search engine rankings if the approach is planned and help from someone with expertise isn’t ignored.
As I said before, enough of SEO for bots. We have tried a lot of keywords and pushed multiple tags. Wouldn’t it be amazing if we could ignore search engines, programs, algorithms etc. and start writing for humans? For our real readers? For the people who make or break our business? I am not asking you to follow this approach because the older methods of SEO are failing but because Google has started to move towards real-time results that are appreciated by the general searchers. And, there is no room for blackhat SEO tactics in these results. Either you start listening to Google or get left behind.
Remember that people come to Google because they are looking for something authentic. If you give them goofed up content just by tricking the algorithms then you might have won for that particular search query but in the long run you just lost a visitor because of the stupid content.
I am trying to emphasize this because this point is very important. You cannot fool Google. Just accept this fact and stop trying the silly tactics that you think can break Google’s algorithms. As of now Google has started a very human approach with their search results which does no longer looks for keywords only. It is about the authenticity of content, the value of the same to the searcher and various such considerations. It is impossible to trick this approach.
They will know when you bought a backlink and if they do then life ahead will be killing for you. It will be better if you don’t take such risks that can actually see your business being kicked out of Google’s SERPs.
If you haven’t yet heard of Schema.org then you surely have been sleeping. Although Google is the boss it was generous enough to sit with the minors like Yahoo and Bing to come up with standards that help search engines understand a website better. These results help such search engines read the particular website better and index it as per its features.
Like, if a website starts using rich snippets then it has the ability to inform Google that the SERP will have product reviews too along with the usual website link. Do you see the reviews in the image above with rich snippets enabled for a particular website? It is possible to show those in your search results if you too start using rich snippets. Also, you can test your approach using the Rich Snippet Testing Tool.
Theory is good but it is the numbers that matter. So, analyze your results and gauge your efforts. See where you are heading. How many visitors come to your landing pages and how many of them actually stay there for more than 2 minutes. Optimize your efforts as per the results and keep trying new things. Remember, it is not just the keywords that matter but the overall effort of the modern-day SEO practices. It requires a lot of planning and smart execution.
What I discussed was just a small section of Modern Day SEO. Google is drastically changing its approach and we have to keep up with these changes if we want to be in this game. What do you think and what are your new strategies towards SEO?
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Salman Siddiqui is an alpha geek, design guru and seasoned WordPress critic. Writing, for him, started out of ego but it has become the most luring and enlightening career option of his life. He is walking that extra mile for his freelancing dream.
Sunday, February 12th, 2012 23:07
Google and all search engines want to give their customers what they want, so abiding by rules governing how search engines index a website are the golden rules to follow.
Tuesday, December 20th, 2011 18:49
Excellent tips…it is getting harder and harder for small business owners to stay on top of SEO and run their business at the same time. Info like this makes it easier, keep up the good work.
Tuesday, December 20th, 2011 13:40
Very instructive post. After all the web is made by people and they must be the focus of the efforts, not the machines. The social medias raised the power of the individual improving the importance of respect the consumer/user.
Saturday, December 17th, 2011 22:16
The newest SEO techniques will always be the oldes ones:
+ Be honest
+ Make useful content for humans
+ don’t spam
+ think in far terms
Google becomes more and more intelligent. Additionally, Google is employing a legion of humans nowadays, reviewing top websites manually. If you think far in the future, Google will be as intelligent as a human in evaluating websites. So do you want to spend your energy and time in various spamming techniques, and see that your efforts, time and energy will be wiped out again by the next Google algorithm update? Or will you finally as a SEO or webmaster change your complete ideology and realize, that honesty pays out in the long run?
Thank you for the update on the latest developments. If someone follows the stated rules above, other people will do all that (great critics, links, etc.) for him by themselves anyway.
Saturday, December 17th, 2011 14:47
Correct, many new webmaster works primary on back links but you said correct, we can’t break Google’s algo.
Nice Post !
Friday, December 16th, 2011 21:27
Good read but if you blog and don’t have a physical address or place of business how are you suppose
to Publish your address on Google Places, Google Maps, ect? If you make a living from blogging that is your business, but you don’t have a physical location to list on google maps.
Friday, December 16th, 2011 14:52
Very nice article. The only thing is “no more love for backlinks”. I don’t really feel that way. I might have said “for empty, or useless, or bad quality backlinks”. But backlinks still count, and a lot! I have a great way of creating valuable content with backlinks in them, and it’s working great!
I’ve never seen any drop, on any websites i built backlinks because, yes, i’m not trying to fool Google (they would win!) but i’m creating good valuable content, with a special way of building backlinks (my secret sauce), and it’s great! So, there is still love for backlinks! Other points in your article i fell are spot on.
Thanks again for great post! Cheers,
Friday, December 16th, 2011 14:08
Nice tips, quality content is more important than ever, validated code with a quick repsonse all help keep that bounce rate down.
Friday, December 16th, 2011 01:45
Thats really some helpful tricks. Thanks for sharing.
Thursday, December 15th, 2011 20:28
We all know about the importance of SEO. But day by day the pattern of SEO is being changed. The writer has mentioned some important part of modern SEO. This is very helpful for us. The older tactics of SEO is not so effective. Certainly it is a very effective post.
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Sonny
Thursday, December 15th, 2011 20:28
We all know about the importance of SEO. But day by day the pattern of SEO is being changed. The writer has mentioned some important part of modern SEO. This is very helpful for us. The older tactics of SEO is not so effective. Certainly it is a very effective post.
Francois Painchaud
Friday, December 16th, 2011 14:52
Very nice article. The only thing is “no more love for backlinks”. I don’t really feel that way. I might have said “for empty, or useless, or bad quality backlinks”. But backlinks still count, and a lot! I have a great way of creating valuable content with backlinks in them, and it’s working great!
I’ve never seen any drop, on any websites i built backlinks because, yes, i’m not trying to fool Google (they would win!) but i’m creating good valuable content, with a special way of building backlinks (my secret sauce), and it’s great! So, there is still love for backlinks! Other points in your article i fell are spot on.
Thanks again for great post! Cheers,
SEO Bod
Friday, December 16th, 2011 14:08
Nice tips, quality content is more important than ever, validated code with a quick repsonse all help keep that bounce rate down.
amit mojumder
Friday, December 16th, 2011 01:45
Thats really some helpful tricks. Thanks for sharing.
Cannabis Country
Friday, December 16th, 2011 21:27
Good read but if you blog and don’t have a physical address or place of business how are you suppose
to Publish your address on Google Places, Google Maps, ect? If you make a living from blogging that is your business, but you don’t have a physical location to list on google maps.
Pratik Chourdia
Saturday, December 17th, 2011 14:47
Correct, many new webmaster works primary on back links but you said correct, we can’t break Google’s algo.
Nice Post !
Robinson
Sunday, February 12th, 2012 23:07
Google and all search engines want to give their customers what they want, so abiding by rules governing how search engines index a website are the golden rules to follow.
Greg Bussmann
Tuesday, December 20th, 2011 18:49
Excellent tips…it is getting harder and harder for small business owners to stay on top of SEO and run their business at the same time. Info like this makes it easier, keep up the good work.
Maicon Sobczak
Tuesday, December 20th, 2011 13:40
Very instructive post. After all the web is made by people and they must be the focus of the efforts, not the machines. The social medias raised the power of the individual improving the importance of respect the consumer/user.
Michael
Saturday, December 17th, 2011 22:16
The newest SEO techniques will always be the oldes ones:
+ Be honest
+ Make useful content for humans
+ don’t spam
+ think in far terms
Google becomes more and more intelligent. Additionally, Google is employing a legion of humans nowadays, reviewing top websites manually. If you think far in the future, Google will be as intelligent as a human in evaluating websites. So do you want to spend your energy and time in various spamming techniques, and see that your efforts, time and energy will be wiped out again by the next Google algorithm update? Or will you finally as a SEO or webmaster change your complete ideology and realize, that honesty pays out in the long run?
Thank you for the update on the latest developments. If someone follows the stated rules above, other people will do all that (great critics, links, etc.) for him by themselves anyway.