Google has changed the way they look at websites, making it harder for shady SEO operators to sneak into search results for keywords where they don’t belong. Back in the old days (when the internet was young), you could get away with just about anything to fool Google but they’re not falling for those old tricks any more. Here are three things that you have to get right, or risk disappearing to the back pages of Google’s search results:
- What’s the deal with Meta Tags? Once upon a time, SEO was all about Meta Tags but these days, they will NOT increase your Search Engine Ranking. Does that mean you don’t need to bother with them? Not at all. Meta Tags are the text which appears underneath your listing in Search Engines, so while they won’t directly effect your ranking, the quality of your Meta Tags will determine whether a potential visitor to your website chooses to click your listing, or not.
- The more links to my website the better, right? Wrong! Google is smart. Google knows whether links to your website are genuine or not. So, it’s not just about the quantity of links to your website, it’s about the quality of the websites that are linking to you. In fact, a link from a dodgy website, will cost you in your rankings, so be picky.
- Do I need to advertising jam as many advertising relevant advertising keywords into my advertising website as advertising possible? Once upon a time that’s how it was done but Google got savvy. After all, their credibility as a search engine was on the line. Now, Google is able to detect the context of your content, rather than focussing on specific key words. That means you can’t just slap together some text and cram it full of key words. Google is all about quality these days. So make sure your content is relevant, helpful and most of all, shareworthy. The more people who share your content organically, the more Google will like you.
So, the message from Google is clear: Keep your website relevant, fresh, up-to-date and helpful for your audience. After all, if your audience loves your website, Google will too. It’s a win-win!