Here we are, once again watching content marketers and webmasters panicking over what the future holds regarding SEO. The only reasons for this are the changing ethics imposed on the industries by Google. Google is the new sheriff in town regarding SEO and sorry to say, the old ways of doing things will get you so banned and bumped off the top spots on Google.
Google’s ethics are the one side and changing technologies on the other. Now that mobile is taking over computing, the websites have to be engineered and designed for such optimization. Not taking mobile into account means you’ll be sitting on the fence while your competition takes the high ground. There are lots of free tools for developing your mobile sites so there’s no worry there. Industry experts expect mobile to be the overwhelming form of computing leaving desktops and laptops in the far background. Since most people aren’t into hardcore computing, the mobile venues are more attractive and easy to use. That all being said, it means you’ll have to step up on your mobile game to get the best out of your SEO efforts.
Gone are the days of link building like a maniac. Links will continue to be of great value, but the present day tactics of link building will have to end. It’s been that way with SEO for years now. Old tactics and techniques are being frowned upon by Google and the other search engines because the surfers don’t benefit from it. Google’s new suite of software is getting smarter by the minute. Google wants their surfers to get value, not rhetoric. Your site needs to have expert content marketing that focuses on valuable information, not hype and deception.
What tomorrow holds for SEO is sure to involve social media on a grand scale. Social media is the game changer here as it is especially used via the mobile platforms. People use social media like a phone stuck into their arms like an IV blood machine. There are people who cannot sleep without their mobile device armed and ready for use. Mobile and social media communication will only get better as competition continues and making purchases online are getting more efficient. You want people to buy from you? Get your social media game on and get established. When Google sees your site is active and of value, your stats will rise and the sooner the better.
Let’s not think that link building will die, just wanted to cover that again, but that it will change in ways to minimize or prevent and punish Black Hat techniques. It would be highly advisable to clean up your link building activities and do so quickly.
We’re not forgetting keyword stuffing and absurd tagging and meta tags. Google’s software can tell if a copy has been written by man or bot. Your copy must flow naturally and be of value to the surfers. Your keywords are going to be whatever you use especially Local SEO that calls for names of locations, streets, addresses. The same goes for the interaction of your site. Comments you make and comments from others had better not be stuffed with keywords or that will get you slammed real good.
Overall, it’s an issue of honesty is the best policy with the future of SEO. It’s a shame we’ve got to invent computing to fight irresponsible computing, but that’s par for the course no matter where we humans show up. It doesn’t mean you’ll end up in the soup, but it means you have a safe and productive website experience if you just keep your chin up, shoulder to the wheel, nose to the grindstone.
