Continued from Part 1.
It’s Ethical
While we are on the topic of policy changes and Google algorithm, it is worth giving a bit of thought on how those market-leading search engines determine its rankings, as well as why organic search engine optimization is amongst the top and most economical methods of giving Google what it wants.
Firstly, let us examine a few of the bad ideas for SEO…
Duplicate content includes a huge no-no. If your e-commerce website is filled up with product descriptions that are copied and pasted from a manufacturer’s site, you are unlikely to view your pages at the tip of Google’s results. And why is that? Because Google is successful at identifying the initial page of all given content, and filters out the duplicates – you might’ve seen a notice at the lower part of a few searches stating that ‘very similar content’ hasn’t been displayed.
Paid links are risky, as well. Google is in favor of its own PPC services, yet paying an additional site to link to yours is out nowadays. If Google views too many artificial-appearing inbound links to your website, expect to be demoted within the search rankings (it’s becoming such a huge problem that there are a few reports of organizations paying for links to their competition’s sites, to get them penalized by Google)!
Stuffing of keywords might be tempting, yet is an additional increasingly grey area. Google always has outlawed gateway websites – pages filled with links, or with massive segments of concealed text full of keywords. However now, the search engine also is acting to demote pages which tend to have been created solely for SEO reasons. This does not mean SEO is not still a great idea; it is just that you have to be certain your pages are created by somebody who knows the altering search climate.
If you are thinking these points do not make search engine optimization sound ethical, there is a bad apple inside each basket. The above are thought to be ‘black-hat’ search engine optimization methods, utilized by less legitimate individuals in spite of their potential to destroy a customer’s search ranking.
On the other hand, white-hat SEO always has been encouraged by the search engine. It isn’t about tricking Google into believing your page is about a certain topic when it isn’t – rather, it is about utilizing bold text, headings, image captions, etc., to signpost key phrases within your content. The search engine welcomes content which is:
- Sensibly linked
- Unique and original
- Well written
Search Engine Optimization on a Shoestring
In summary, SEO includes an ethical, long-term investment which will expand your site and provide you content to link to from a social network profile. Although if you are on a budget, it isn’t always simple to determine where to begin.
Think about your audience – are you targeting those existing clients for repeat business, or the ones unfamiliar with the brand? Consider the brand perception you wish to create – a luxury which is still worth purchasing in a recession, or value-for-money item which does not cost the world?
If you are clear concerning your own service, product or company from the outset, you could develop a more cohesive search engine optimization campaign, and accomplish positive ROI with little capital to invest.
