From 2004 to 2009 there was no major Google update that impacted websites on a large scale. We saw infrastructural updates like “Big Daddy” and “Caffeine” but nothing that affected the SERPs dramatically. In 2010 we heard some noises, thanks to “May Day” & “Vince” Update & BAM! In February 2011 Panda wreaked havoc among webmasters. Unlike its earlier predecessor i.e. Florida Update, Panda kept rolling out with intervals for the whole year and each time with increased damage. And like if this wasn’t bad enough for webmasters, Google finally tried to put the last nail in the SEO coffin by introducing Penguin update in April 2012. After several roll-outs of these Panda and Penguin updates, people actually lost all their hopes in SEO and started to look for alternate channels to get traffic. But does that mean SEO is dead? Has Google Stopped giving importance to its 200+ ranking factors?
The answer is NO. Yes, the Algo has evolved and become more intelligent which is inevitable but people forget that it’s still an Algo. A complex formula, with limited human intelligence, which scrutinizes the web results on the set factors. And more or less these factors still remain the same but with increased or decreased importance value. For instance, Human Engagement factors have now become more important whereas some meta tags have lost their value. But still, the websites that rank in the top position on their related keywords are perfectly optimized and contains all the elements that any SEO will suggest for a website. So the question arises, how they are doing it? Or If SEO is dead then why they are doing it?
Unless you are some hotshot brand like Amazon or eBay, your website still needs SEO. You cannot rank a webpage on a keyword like “logo design services” with zero content and 50 logo images. You still need backlinks to rank on keywords like “essay writing services”. As a matter of fact, I recently discussed a project with a person who runs his own link building team and he showed me how they successfully ranked a website on keyword “essay writing service” by using just bookmarks submission, comment posting & forum submission. So apparently even that kind of SEO is working for some people. Strange isn’t it?
Google Warned that any link created with intention of increasing rankings in Google Search Results is considered as violation of Google’s Webmaster Guidelines!
I have worked on a website having the traffic of up to 1 million visitors per month and then lost almost 80% of the traffic due to Panda, but I also know the website which replaced that particular website in Google SERPS and now enjoying that extra traffic. The truth is, if you are hit by Panda or Penguin, your chances of recovering to your peak level are pretty slim. But that doesn’t translate to the fact that SEO is dead. At best you can say that you lost one website but at the same time you can also build another website and make it rank like your previous website (Even Google representatives suggested it in Google Webmaster Forums). The majority of the people keep working on the penalized websites in the hope of making a comeback whereas they should be focusing on creating a new website.
Interestingly when SEO is not an option the next thing to consider is nothing but PPC. Many people who are doing PPC or advocate PPC as the only way to grab traffic are those who find SEO hard or cannot achieve results. To be honest, anyone can do PPC. With time, one can also learn Quality Score, Targeting, Conversion Tracking, etc. but SEO is a whole different game. You need at least 6 months to learn and understand how the search engine reacts to the changes you made on a website whereas, in PPC, all you need is to keep your wallet open. Now I am in no way against PPC or trying to undermine its importance. All I am saying is SEO has its benefits over PPC if you do it right. SEO needs time to show its benefits but when it comes to which option is best in terms of ROI and Traffic, SEO is a winner. Take it like Long Term and Short Term investments.
I personally know some white hat SEO companies with Big Names who are doing EXACTLY what they suggest people to “not do” in their SEO articles. They still build backlinks but with a different strategy. Unlike free backlinks, they are either purchasing links or building “informative websites” for backlink purposes. Link Exchange may be dead but they are doing it via Guest Post Link Exchange and selling it as a “thousand-dollar SEO packages”.
The only difference between them and an average “SEO Joe” is, an SEO will call the process of acquiring backlinks “Link Building” whereas these so-called “White hat SEO Companies” are selling it under the label of “Link Intelligence or Link Development”. Factually speaking Google never said once in their SEO Guide or webmaster guidelines anything about “good backlinks”. In fact, Google “warned” about increasing backlinks with intention to increase the site ranking. So after that clear warning, any company that is offering “Link Development service” in any form is automatically providing black hat SEO services. But when it comes to SEO conferences, the CEO’S of the very same companies are lecturing newbies on how SEO is not about links anymore, etc. etc.
SEO has changed in terms of how you do stuff. Yes, directory submission isn’t worth anything anymore. Yes putting 100’s of links on the “photo galleries” comment section won’t do any good anymore. But I have yet to see a website which ranked on “commercial” keywords without backlinks or as “digital marketing gurus” call it, “mentions” from industry resources 😉
