Turning the Google SEO Frown Upside Down

Recently, Google initiated steps to tackle the reach of content farms in their search results by modifying their algorithm. As can be expected, many people have become concerned about how they will ultimately be affected, with most fearing that a few bad apples have ruined the SEO party for everyone else. However, this change should be seen as an opportunity rather than a calamity.

Seemingly, you will have less competition fighting for your audience’s attention. So, the frown created by Google’s changes should be flipped into a smile, even though it means doing things a little differently.

Where Others Made Mistakes

Learning how to take advantage of Google’s modifications means first learning what not to do, or rather learning from the mistakes of others. First of all, the content farms that the search engine giant is targeting are those that generated countless pages of content that were of poor quality, with the singular purpose of trying to rank high in results. Now, the production of quantity over quality will raise red flags leading to a penalization and low rank — anathema to its original goal.

Another misstep to be wary of, and that Google is trying to counteract, is content flooded with keywords, better known as “keyword stuffing.” The new algorithm is more sensitive to those attempting to cover every keyword. Yet, users are continuing to punch in the same terms, so they are still ripe for the picking.

A Viable Solution

Overall, content farms suffered by overreaching and generalizing. Standing out from the pack, and in the good graces of Google, can be done by producing content that is more particular. The content should be concentrated and something that can actually be utilized by your target audience. That means implementing more precise keywords. That’s where CopyPress can help.

Getting those keywords is the key, and one trick is paying attention to the long tail of Google searches for the right terms. Enter a starting word of “how” or “what” followed by your select topic, and take inventory of the words that follow in Google’s auto-fill feature or the search suggestions that appear after you enter a topic. Other keywords can be attained with traditional means like Google Trends.

Once a strong keyword list is compiled, content should flow around each individual keyword phrase in a planned fashion. This strategy is a more detailed approach to what you should have been considering even prior to Google’s changes. The goal is organic traffic.

The Rise of Links

With Google’s adjustments to their algorithm, links to your content become much more important. Certainly, links were a high priority before, but they now have greater weight since they are one tool still readily available to raise a page’s rank. Organic links and posts on social media sites will signal to Google that your content is of very high quality.

The changes implemented by Google have definitely made some more aware, notably major content farms, but they have also opened the door to new avenues of content creation and allowed those already producing quality content to finally receive appropriate rankings. For those dedicated to their work, smile because the SEO world is now yours.

CopyPress

April 5, 2011 (Updated: December 22, 2022)