Despite coming under heavy criticism the world’s leading search providers are still struggling to fill in the leaks that allow paid links to work, and poor quality content to stand. Although today’s algorithms are incredibly advanced, sympathisers of black hat SEO are still managing to cheat their way to the top of the SERP’s. But how?
The problem that the search providers face is the resilience that their users show. With every update that Google rolls out to combat issues with spam there is always also something new (from the update) for the black hat industry to prey on.
Remembering that ethical content production is the driving force behind all successful SEO
In amongst the chaos of content farms and search engine manipulation it’s easy for online marketers to forget that long term SEO success can only ever be found through ethical means. So before you give up on your morally sound methods and consider turning to the dark side, let me remind you of the one thing that will never change in the foundations of SEO. The importance of content. It will always be king.
Although your rivals might have cheated their way above you in the SERP’s not everything is the search engines fault. Google pay an awful lot of respect to the importance of good quality content in SEO and there is no reason why a website with the correct, and ethical, content strategy should be out beaten by a rival that depends on quantity. So stop feeling sorry for yourself and make sure that you can tick off every content technique listed below:
Blogging: If you have not got a blog then you simply don’t have a right to complain about SEO cheaters. The search engines reward websites greatly if they produce regular content that is fresh and relevant. A blog allows you to answer your consumer’s questions and maintain their attention without having to try and sell your services to them. Blogs are one example where the search engines have got it right. Produce a good quality, but keyword packed blog, and you’ll reap the rewards without losing your morality.
Social networking: Make sure that the content on your website is shareable, likable and ofcourse helpful. By incorporating these small aspects of web design, and by creating profiles on the likes of Facebook and Twitter, you will give your company the rare chance of having a face. Remember you need to keep your own sellers ego out of this social content. You have to make sure that you are writing to inform and not just sell on these sites.
Content with video: Another great, yet often overlooked way to increase your content count online is to utilise video sharing sites such as YouTube. From an SEO perspective the search engines will see your video’s titles, descriptions and tags. This ‘meat’ will add another dimension to the keyword strength of your website especially if you choose to embed the videos onto your own WebPages.
Making use of the FAQ format: Unlike you, your potential consumers do not work with your service every day and thus do not fully understand every detail like you do. Because of this, when they search for terms relevant to your service they will often ask them in the form of questions. You can take advantage of this by showing Google that you have relevant answers for all these searchers with the creation of an FAQ page on your website. If you check the search engine trends you can update this page on a monthly basis to keep it effective.
The above techniques are just a few of many ways for you to offer the search engines more quality content related to your website. The key is to keep faith in the power of quality, and to remember that long term SEO results come only from well written content that informs as much as it persuades. Black hat SEO really is a dying art, no matter what the forums are saying!
