Consumers who wanted a web presence would just pay money to SEO specialists to get results. It was an industry that very often played Google. Their tactics included dark link schemes, mass forum postings, comment backlinks, multiple interlinking domains, and keyword-stuffed written content. It was all about how to unify Google. Things changed drastically after the release of Google Panda (the PandaFarmer update in late February 2011). That's when Google started looking at content from a truly human perspective. I've seen marketers completely change their approach to Google. Filling in keywords on each copy page was no more. Recycling the duplicate copy of someone else's site was now a huge no-no. And no one was using the keyword density formula anymore. Marketers started investing in content that would match and engage their target audience. Content marketing has begun.
Advertising Continue reading below fax list And since then, Google has continued to get smarter and smarter. Today, they use real people to rate websites. Their Quality Guidelines for Search Evaluators, a 145-page document explaining what their human reviewers look for in websites Google subsequently ranks well for, was released in November 2015. The acronyms listed there, EAT (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) and YMYL (Your Money or Your Life), are guidelines for what Google looks for in strong web content and good groundwork for us creators to use. This shift in mindset has been tremendous in creating a better web for all of us. A low quality web has become a high quality web simply because Google has shifted to what works best for its users, real people on mobile or desktop searching quickly to find results giving them the best answers to their problems.
They needed quick access to solid information. What was the best pizza place nearby, or which guide offered the most insightful advice on how to promote their latest blog post? Advertising Continue reading below Algorithmic gaming is not the way to go today, creating real content that matters. SEO as part of the content creator's strategy Since Google views content from a user's perspective today, you can't go wrong if you : write engaging content that will most interest your target readers. Google will also appreciate it. So content creation, from blogs to web pages and videos, should be centered around what your audience wants and needs if you want to do well in the SERPs. And if the usefulness, engagement, and quality factor are really there, Google will appreciate and love it too.