Are you frightened of Pandas and Penguins? If your business and website was severely affected by Google's algorithm changes in 2012, you might be. I have talked to numerous clients who have lamented how much their traffic dwindled as a direct result of those changes. Many have told me how they're scared to do anything with their website for fear of future issues, and not a few have refused to ever speak to an "SEO Expert" again.
Fortunately, there are definitely steps that a business can take to not only improve their ranking within Google search, but also avoid potential issues with the next major algorithm change that Google will inevitably release.
1. Follow The Rules
Perhaps this goes without saying, but any attempt by a business to "outsmart" Google should be considered ridiculous. Do not do anything with your website that you even think, maybe, just might, be contrary to what Google wants you to do. A good rule of thumb for the average business owner might be, if you're thinking about Search Engines instead of Customers with whatever it is you're doing, do your homework first. There certainly are optimization techniques that can and should be implemented, that are perfectly acceptable. For that, you're going to want to talk to a reputable internet marketing agency (I will blog about how to identify a great SEO company another time).
If you're interested in learning for yourself, start by reading some of our Search Engine Optimization articles here, and then head over to SearchEngineLand.com, where Danny Sullivan has put together an amazing team of writers. SearchEngineWatch.com is another resource for information that I would recommend without question.
2. Do Not Buy Links
Some time ago, Google thought it would be a good idea to monitor how many times other websites chose to create a link to your website. These are called backlinks, and the rationale was that if a website was willing to link to you, they must like or support you in some way, so Google considered that a vote of confidence. The more links you had, the better your site must be, right?
