Don't be a Local AlgoMoron

[Linda Buquet]

There are so many SEOs running around scared due to Panda and Penguin…
…including strong Local SEOs I know who got too aggressive on link building or did it the wrong way.

And even though when we think Panda/Penguin we think ORGANIC SEO - organic IS now, like it or not,
a big part of LOCAL SEO! So even though the article I'm about to share talks organic -
it's talking to those of us in local too.

Don't be an AlgoMoron - SearchNewsCentral

If you build a site that jumps up and down, waving its arms and yelling “OOOOH Look at me I’m spamming the living poo out of you, Google!!!!”, then Penguin, Panda and rank modification get you.

Note: I have yet to see a ‘false positive’—a totally legit site, practicing legitimate SEO, getting penalized. Don’t say ‘Negative SEO’ unless you can show me proof, ‘cause I’ve been looking and haven’t found any.

And the rank-modifying spam thingy has likely been around since 2004 or so. If you’re freaking out now, you’re a little late.

So why are so many, so terrified?

Because they let the word ‘algorithm’ turn them into idiots. Learn five lessons to avoid AlgoMoron Syndrome… Read on

And I SOOOOOO agree with the author - especially in 2nd to last paragraph. "Run a marketing campaign to build attention and sales. The links will follow." If you build great content and focus on the right end result, which is more visibility, leads and sales for your clients, instead of how many creative new ways you can figure out to spam a bunch of backlinks, then you'll be further ahead in the long run.

I have a blog that ranks #1 out of 152,000,000 (152 MILLION) competing for a very competitive "international" 2 word phrase. Never paid a dime for SEO (all done myself) never EVER paid anyone to do a backlink AND never did any backlinking per se myself either. All just natural content generation, networking in that community, building my reputation and blog following and getting cited other places.

Local SEO is SO much easier than trying to get national/international rankings. In mid sized cities many keywords are not even that competitive. Most of my clients have gotten page one rankings and numerous #1 rankings, just with good solid Google Places Optimization and some really smart on-site Local SEO tricks. (Highly ethical, white hat tricks no one else knows about for local - which is one of the reasons they work so well.) I NEVER did any backlinks for Local clients and stopped doing citations a year and a half ago.


So back to the point of this article - stop letting the Google algorithm
and fear of little black and white animals run your marketing strategy.

Hate to say it (again), but best practices AND great content AND writing for people
NOT search engines, still trumps all!

 

[Nick.SEOSpark]

Thanks very much for sharing this Linda - I missed it first time but have been catching up with the RSS feed.

Its absoluty true and almost "goes without saying" that investing in great content yields high benefits and very good natural links.