3 Old School Ways to Benefit from Great Content in Search

It seems as though there’s been a business wide grumble as reports surface that Google is changing the way it ranks websites. This means, those of you that pay for SEO by buying links, followers, etc, may be out of luck this time around.

Google wants to focus on the needs of its searchers, who want quality content that will actually serve its purpose; not to mention the millions of entrepreneurs trying to make their way on the internet without big corporation budgets. It’s time to focus on content and quality and put the SEO cash away.

“Are you pretty much out of luck if you’re not optimizing your site but it has relevant content? If I’m a mom or pop and I’m trying to optimize a site by myself, I’m going to get beat by people paying thousands of dollars.”—Hubspot.com

While you may have set out to offer a superior and well written blog, it’s safe to assume you’ve fallen off the wagon since. It’s not uncommon to find blog posts littered with keywords, links and advertisements. This has become more popular within the blogosphere, as the internet has become a significant source of income to entrepreneurs, at home moms and self starters.

Google has highlighted, however, the necessity to have quality results for those looking to get useful information. If you’re trying to show up in the search rankings, it’s likely that your content is optimized for how you want readers to find you, as opposed to what your readers actually want. In an effort to please Googlers and readers alike, it’s time you return to the good ol’ days of SEO.

Links
Whether you’re involved with affiliate marketing or need outbound links, your content has likely come down with link-pox: too many links and not enough quality word space. This is a sign to Google’s ranking algorithms that you’re not in it for the wholesome pleasure of helping your readers.

Old fashioned way:
• Don’t clutter your text with affiliate links.
• Link out to sites that add value to your content and readers.
• Keep your links out to the minimum that you need, even if they are relevant.

Keywords
Keyword use has become a popular technique to boost SEO. When you know what your readers are searching for, you can give it to them – easy enough, right? Unfortunately keyword research has become used and abused. When you optimize your site in a way that tricks the search engine, you’ve broken the entire system.

Old fashioned way:
• Choose keywords based on what your readers want, which then creates content your users and searchers are looking for.

Social Media
It’s next to impossible to find a site without social sharing icons. From customized buttons to in post sharing options, social media is the new go-to word of mouth for netizens. This has become a significant indicator for the new Google algorithm. When people are talking about you, it’s because they actually like the content you’re producing. This is a dead giveaway that you aren’t over-optimizing your site, which is becoming more important for search rankings. Luckily for you, it’s the one thing you’re actually already doing.

Old fashioned way:
• Keep doing what you’re doing. Get your social sharing set up and make it effective.
• Place sharing options in the top right of your site and within each post.

SEO has changed the way businesses run their online content. With every company and blog vying for the attention of search engines and searchers alike, these techniques have gotten a little out of hand. Avoid being penalized and revert back to the old days – lose the SEO budget and focus on quality, useful content.

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Bio: Jessica Sanders is an avid small business writer touching on topics from social media to phone systems. She writes for an online resource that gives advice on topics including payroll processing for b2b lead generation resource, Resource Nation.