Google is on the hunt for bad SEO tactics. This week Google announced the new webspam algorithm to detect keyword stuffing, link spam and spun content. Many in the SEO industry are rallying to offer up advice for webmasters who have witnessed their websites disappear from search results due to Google’s algorithm updates, including Search Engine Watch writer Adam Stetzer. Stetzer recommends that instead of worrying about Google’s crackdown on black hat tricks (that you shouldn’t invest in anyway) small businesses should focus on white hat SEO techniques that Google not only approves but recommends, such as:
- Creating buzz; that means get social. Write guest blog posts for other websites in your industry (a link back to your site in a contributed post is OK). Use social media to engage with your audience, answer their questions and provide useful information. In short, show your expertise!
- Earning links for content; that means providing quality content that is informative or possibly entertaining. The kind of stuff that people will want to share and link back to.
- Providing free educational content; again, you’re an expert on something, right? That’s why you have a business, you have knowledge and skills that others don’t. Consider letting users submit questions to your website that you can answer (with the questions and answers having their own custom urls) or creating some kind of free education series. If you’re digitally savvy, make it a video-based education series.
The main recommendation is to diversify. Don’t overemphasize link building. Focus on quality content online the way you focus on providing quality products and services in the real world and you will build links (like customers) the natural way.
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