So It's Still All About SEO

A friend and I were talking the other day about websites, blogs, and you know, "web stuff" and I was surprised to hear her say that SEO - Search Engine Optimization doesn't really matter anymore.  As I nearly sputtered coffee out of my mouth because this is one of my more web savvy friends, I asked her to explain her thoughts.  This generally clear thinking woman said "Oh, I don't know, it's gotten so difficult; I just don't think it matters any more".  That of course sparked a lively discussion centered on why my friend was clearly just frustrated about SEO, not delusional.  And without spoiling the "end", she did come back to her senses.  SEO is certainly alive and vital.  It's just not the same as it was.

In a nutshell search engine optimization is simply employing methods that increase traffic to your website from search engines.  Getting the search engines to visit of course means others will be able to find you.  Google is no longer just looking at what's on your site and who's linked to it. They also watch what the traffic does and how successful you are at satisfying it. You need to remember that Google is an extremely intelligent company with incredible software. They probably know more about you than Homeland Security. They know what sites you visit, where you're going online from, where you upload files from, they see EVERYTHING on your website. They do this mostly because they want to serve you - the customer, by delivering the best, most qualified websites for your search. Their reputation depends on it.   This means that a big part of what Google does is to filter out deceptive websites or those using deceptive SEO practices.  So whatever you do don't' be tempted.  It will hurt you more than you will ever know. Google spends a lot of time and money finding these deceptive practices and safeguarding against them which is why SEO work is constantly changing. The key is to be honest in your attempt to improve your rankings.  Do the right things on the web to serve people just like you do during your normal course of business.  In its purest sense Google is trying to determine how well you assist people in finding and even getting what they want.  Power to the People!  Sounds like a throwback to the hippie days of the 70's doesn't it?

So while you should of course pay attention to SEO because you owe it to people to find the terrific product or service you offer, do it right. No massive amounts of keywords hidden throughout the pages by coloring the text the same color as the background - white letters on white background. No ownership of multiple sites that are basically the same pointing to you own.  Be careful where you host since clearance house style web hosting companies sell to anyone and a spamming company on a shared server punishes all sites on that shared server.  And while some people believe the more keywords you have the better ranking you'll get, don't fall for that.  Too many keywords can appear like spam and you'll lose points for it.

Bottom line, my friend and I went on to other topics once I realized that she really did understand this whole SEO stuff and we finished our coffee discussing much more entertaining things like the strangers walking by, our families and co-workers.