All of us who work in SEO know that every so often we are hit by new changes to Google’s algorithm, rumors about whether something is now good for SEO or not, and the resulting need to test whether these changes work or whether we are better off staying as we were.
I’ve always thought that we are subject to Google’s dictatorship and, worst of all, to the rumor mill it stirs up, so we end up in a jumble of data and information that we have to filter if we don’t want to literally become SEO neurotics.
Every time this happens, I’m filled with doubt: is it true? Are they spreading rumors? Should I test it? Why keep going round in circles? Oh well… I suppose I’m not the only one.
So what do I do? I start from one premise: Google is a giant company that doesn’t live up to its corporate slogan “don’t be evil” (personal opinion); its algorithm changes always create huge expectation that fuels speculation and drives us half mad, so I need to gather as much information as possible and form my own judgment, regardless of the rumor mill or Google’s criteria. Once I’ve filtered all this, I start testing to form my own view.
Today, although the general opinion is that the meta description has no ranking value, I still trust it. This is just one example showing that the information we receive isn’t enough on its own; we have to take a stand, form our own view, test it and decide for ourselves based on the results, because ultimately, as SEO professionals, it is our responsibility to implement the techniques we believe are best for our clients.
Link building is still highly valued, yet it has also led to countless penalties. Google allowed it, knowing that illicit techniques were and still are used, but now that permissiveness has turned against everyone who bought links or entrusted link building to companies that generated them indiscriminately. Once at the top, now penalized. I believe that before penalizing, sites should be given the chance to fix what was previously allowed, and then, if no initiative has been taken to improve this or any other aspect that used to help rankings, then and only then should penalties apply.
Countless questions arise: does Google rank companies that invest in AdWords higher? In theory, it shouldn’t; is it true that AdWords bids are set by users? Does Google know more about me than my mother? How does Google really use cookies? Is our data sold or shared?… The list would be endless and covers everything Google touches.
Another example is the well-known (not provided) “keyword”, which pushes us to focus on landing pages, as Google is taking away our ability to analyze by keyword, as well as access to the data and statistics we used to get from the famous AdWords Keyword Tool.
I truly think we mention Google far too often in every context, and we are the search engine’s best advertisers. What a bargain for them.
Image source: http://revistareplicante.com
