Time for a pat on the back. Here at SEOSiteCheckUp.com, we’ve written about potential Panda changes before Panda was released. And, for an entire year, we wrote about future Google changes leading right up to the release of Penguin.
No, we’re not psychics. We just understand the importance of value and understand Google does too. In this way, anyone can be an SEO psychic. Although it’s easy to forget, the laws of business are still the same – without the customer, there is no business.
Regardless of technological advancements, this isn’t going to change. At the end of the day, the best businesses are those that deliver the best experience to the customer, whether through price, service, or support.
Google is number one. Yes, Bing’s making progress, but it’s only starting to progress worth reporting on. Google reached number one by focusing on the user experience when no one else was. When every other search engine featured landing pages that would make a veteran spelunker claustrophobic, Google had a logo and a search bar.
Guess which one customers preferred?
But now technology is really taking a front seat. Google’s algorithm is getting good. It’s hardly ever we put a search into Google that doesn’t yield exactly what we were looking for. Google’s also getting a whole lot better at telling when people are gaming their algorithms.
Let’s face it. SEO, by definition, is an abuse of Google’s algorithm. At this point, Google views it as a necessary evil. They realize they’re not going to get rid of SEO—not yet, anyway—so they’ve “embraced” it.
Underneath Matt Cutt’s blog and Google’s communication with SEO sites, though, there’s an underlying current of dissatisfaction with all things SEO. Need proof? Check out the Mayday Update. Check out the Panda Update. Check out the Penguin Update.
Google is, slowly but surely, decreasing the number of power SEOs have. And as they do that, what option will be left? Without SEO, sites will be ranked solely on the amount of value they provide.
For some, that’s scary.
Online business owners, the time is NOW. It’s time to start heading away from SEO and towards presentation. It’s all about the customer. User experience may be a buzz phrase, but it also means something. It means providing real value to a customer – value they couldn’t get anywhere but your site.
When you provide this type of value, you rank on page #1.
“But what about sites that provide value and don’t rank because people never see them?”
Can it! I’ve heard this argument time and time again, but I’ve yet to see a site that truly provides unique value and an incredible user experience fail to rank well.
There are other ways to get eyeballs on your page than building backlinks for six months, you know?
SEOSiteCheckUp.com is an SEO website. Why do we spend so much time talking about online business tips and value? Because that’s where SEO is going. It’s about the presentation – what your customer feels within the first five seconds of visiting your website.
It’s about long, valuable articles (but not long for the sake of length). It’s about videos that, in 30 seconds, tell your customer everything they need to know. It’s about interviews with experts who hold nothing back. It’s about the design of your website.
Yes, design matters in the presentation era.
Start thinking long-term. Yes, a big popup “lightbox” will increase your subscriber count. Who cares? Do you know what goes through a customer's head when they see that opt-in box? Sure, they might put in their email. But it’s going to affect how they view your website from that point on.
A focus on conversions is a short-term strategy. Think longterm. Think BUSINESS, not internet marketing. Because that’s how Google’s thinking.
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Lastly, don’t forget to run a free on-page SEO analysis using our free tool. Internal SEO plays a bigger role in rankings than most people think. In many cases, correctly optimizing your homepage will help you rank quicker than focusing sheerly on external SEO while your website is incorrectly optimized.
If you liked this article, you may also enjoy:
How to Prevent Good Websites from Being Harmed by Algorithm Changes
How to Keep the Google Panda Update from Putting Your Site on the Endangered Species List
