Oh, Ye Ones of Little Faith?
image credit: kelownawebdesigns.com
I’ve discovered many Webmasters who have lost a lot due to Google’s Panda and Penguin updates. Many have lost their entire income virtually overnight. Can you imagine how badly losing your income would affect your life in a very intolerable way? Instead of learning from this lesson, more and more people are steadily heading in the same direction, still completely confused. If they haven’t learned by now, I’m not sure they ever will.
Instead of taking heed of the thousands of warnings and paying attention to what’s going on within the Google algorithm and how the latest trends like Infographics have been tossed into a spam fest, SEOs are now throwing further pressure on business owners and Webmasters to accept guest posts because “it is always about the links.”
Those business owners, bloggers, and Webmasters can be put into two different buckets. A sensible group will (if they reply to you at all) tell you to “shove your guest post up your butt” (or “put it where the sun don’t shine,” another expression that has been poked to death. Then you have the other bucket of folks, the really dumb ones who will ACCEPT your guest posts, your new requests for updated links you’d like to have added/removed from your OLD submissions/guest posts, etc., and they will CONTINUE to build the next great “link spam” balloon that Google WILL spat upon.
If you are one of the many, like myself, who enjoys Skittles and popcorn, grab some and get ready because “in less than a few months,” Google WILL have to do something about the guest post epidemic. In case you are like the majority and have failed to take note, guest posts are the new infographic or the new blog network.
It’s ironic that so many people are reporting how much easier it is now to rank in the SERPs for so many different key terms without having to build so many spammy looking links to their sites.
Because Google’s housecleaning is allowing the search algorithms to work the way they were supposed to.“
I’m saying this as someone who has a ton of experience within the SERPs. I, too, have made some past mistakes when it comes to building spammy links. I have provided many guest posts, and I have developed a lot of infographics. What separates me and qualifies me to provide you with this post is the fact that I smell poop when I step in it and it’s smeared all over the bottom of my new shoes. 🙂
SEO is by far one of the most valuable investments that any business owner of any size could possibly ever make for his/her long-term success. I can assure you that it isn’t SEO that is causing any of the bad things that have happened, and it isn’t SEO’s fault that Google created updates that penalized sites. It is, in fact, the fault of the person who implemented the marketing strategy, thinking he or she was doing SEO. Many of those who refer to themselves as SEOs are not an SEO at all.
For someone who is as passionate about SEO as I am, it saddens me to the depths of my core to see that those same SEOs who created this “piss fight” within the SERPs, such as all the things included within Panda and Penguin, are the same SEOs who are still selling their sh*tty link building services, while at the same time charging their clients to have “OLD links removed.”
Things such as this cause the more established, industry-leading Search Optimizers to “rethink their overall strategy and make them want to look at what they do, more closely. I have altered the services of Search Simplicity, and I have tightened the screws-n-washers to assure that what I offer is very unique from other things being offered, both around and around the Web. I suggest that each of you do the same when it comes to your marketing strategies…but I digress!
Now let’s have a more in-depth look at another one of the main problems that has caused this tragedy: the SEO and marketing CLIENTS. Yes, YOU! You’re just as much at fault, if not more so, than the average Joe. As an SEO, I know all too well how the majority of the clients behave. It’s human nature to want things in the NOW, which is why a majority of you have microwaves, conventional ovens, washing machines, dryers, computers, and the like at home.
As for modern society as a whole, we are all lazy to some extent, no matter how you look at it. Then again, if you are someone who doesn’t use any of those appliances (e.g., microwaves, washing machines, etc.), then you use the tools that take a little longer to get the job done, but you do a much better job with tools such as a washing board to wash your clothes and a campfire to cook your food.
Requests That Digital Marketing Clients Make
- Mr. SEO, I want my site to rank for all 20-50 of my very competitive keywords in one to two months, and I don’t want to pay more than $10 a month.
- Mr. SEO, can you manage irrelevant work and do it NOW?
- Mr. SEO, I want many more links, and I want them now.
- Mr. SEO, I know you said SEO is a long-term process, but I need this done in a one- to two-month period or you’re fired.
- Mr. SEO, I want more content. Let’s just spin one article into 1k formats.
- Mr. SEO, I don’t give a damn how you complete my request. Just get it done, and get it done now.
- Mr. SEO, I need cash – I want it NOW!!
Search Marketers are not puppets, and they all have a mind of their own. It’s never 100% the client’s fault. I have personally started to turn many clients down, although you have your own mind and can make your own decisions. I realize as an SEO and Webmaster professional that SEO puts food on the table of our families, and sometimes you are obligated to take on clients you would otherwise not touch, but it’s time you step outside of your box and look at things from afar. Before you take on your next customer, make sure you ask the right questions before starting an SEO/marketing campaign.
Let’s Talk About Quality – I Won’t Bore You, I Promise!
You, you, and you have heard it all before. Well, it just so happens, you get to hear it again today. It’s said that when someone hears something multiple times, at some point “it begins to stick.”
Content Is King: When you create quality content, others will naturally link to it. It doesn’t matter if your site is 50 years old or your domain name is still sitting with the domain registrar waiting for its DNS to point at a name server for the very first time. In other words, your current traffic stats are irrelevant.
Take a night and sit back and watch TV with your loved ones, and pay close attention to the commercials. This, too, is content! Come up with ideas of your own and create high-quality, interesting content. Sure, if your site is new, it won’t be found by the entire Web in a week. To establish success, it takes time. My grandma used to tell me as a little boy, “Anything in life that is worth achieving, isn’t easily achieved,” and she was right. What she told me as a young child, still rings “very true” today!
Let’s take a second while we’re gathered here and take a peek into a pretty awesome piece of content. While you review it, I would like for you to ask yourself why anyone would want to look at it and/or link to it.
Here’s another video, I just thought I’d throw in for you folks. It has a lot of meaning behind it, and at the rate % content is so quickly forgotten on the Web these days, if you’ve seen either of these – it’s time you too – freshened up a little!
The next ones my favorite!
After watching the videos, did you come up with any ideas for why anyone would want to watch the video? Why would people in their right minds link to the above content? Content comes in many shapes and sizes, as you already know. You’re not a great writer? Who cares. It doesn’t take a great writer to create a great piece of content. Let’s look at another piece I’ve decided to add.
- Things Mentioned At Mozcon 2012
- Things Mentioned At SMX 2012
- Annie Cushing’s Google Docs
- iAquire Is Now Back In Google
I listed a couple of ways that show how you, too, can report on live events and gain a TON of traffic, natural links, and a new income. Without drowning this post with too much content, I’ve decided to keep it short and to the point. Though, the next article on SEJ (maybe another has already been published?) might not be anything similar to mine, it’s time for you to “take notice”of how things are done and “start doing them”. Quality content is the one single key that will take you to the top of your goals the quickest. Start implementing them to see results.
As a whole – the Web is 100% completely filled to the rim with “attention seekers” – to get the particular level or % of attention you want – the % of quality – will provide you with that attention. To provide the rest of the Web with substantial knowledge, and allow them to help themselves in getting just a little more attention – will get you the attention you deserve! (we all know you deserve it) Spoon feed your readers with ways they too can leverage “attention”
Continue to Build for Quality: The Results Will Come
Content Is King: Those That Keep Their Faith Shall Not Perish But Have Everlasting Life…
If you have any questions, use the comment platform below. I’m available to take questions. Thank you for taking the time to share this post with your friends. 🙂
image By: Mariel Bacci
