Does it seem like some commentators who are seen as SEO experts sound like they were in the Google meeting when they outlined their new algorithm? We hear about exactly the methods necessary to achieve first-position, first-page results as if these ‘experts’ know all the details of the Google algorithm. The truth is; they don’t.
Then there are the ‘backlink people.’ Yes, we know that there is value to backlinks and Google has not shied away from admitting that much. But, are backlinks alone enough to launch any blog or website to immediate stardom?
There are legitimate and less-legitimate ways to get backlinks and there are people making boatloads of money promoting their methods to achieve both.
Some people promote their ‘secret’ super duper method for achieving thousands of backlinks, but some of these look like pyramid schemes when you begin to dig.
The fact remains that content is still one of the best ways to achieve positive rankings and search results and the resultant ability for customers to find your site. Quality content promotes your company’s brand like nothing else can. It speaks to the needs of your prospective customers. It matches your product or service’s benefits with those needs.
The experts don’t know everything. They may realistically only know a sliver of what Google’s criteria or the other search engines’ methods actually are. The best approach then is to make use of many best practices. High quality backlinks, high quality content, lots of content, solid coding, sitemaps, relative content, Meta tags and great titles are all part of a good start. Bringing value to site visitors is very important.
And then there are effective conversion methods, but that is a subject for another day. What may be of the greatest value to your website is to find someone who understands what will work and what won’t. Not someone who is stuck on one idea that is of questionable value.
Remember, no one really knows the exact details of the Google algorithm. As in Gestalt theory, the whole is the sum of its parts. Finding a marketer or consultant who is willing to work with the many parts is the closest you can get to the whole.
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© 2009 K Richard Douglas
