SEO is an industry unto itself. There are a zillion software companies and consultants who have built businesses around pushing companies up in Google search rankings using techniques like content farming, backlink purchases and keyword stuffing. But there’s a little secret they don’t want to tell you: traditional SEO is all but obsolete.
Google knew that an entire cottage industry was gaming their system and they didn’t like it. It devalued Google’s paid search products and it was damaging the quality of search results. So they did something about it.
Hummingbird, the version of Google’s search algorithm that launched last fall, was a game changer. Hummingbird was more than a simple algorithm update – it’s a total replacement that focuses on contextualization of information instead of keywords. Keyword-stuffed pages that lack valuable content have been kicked to the curb and those scammy SEO techniques are no longer rewarded.
This isn’t to say keywords don’t matter. They do. But Google parses when keywords are being used in a way that serves its users as opposed to as a technique for driving traffic.
We tell clients every day that it’s time to stop obsessing over SEO keywords. SEO is an entirely different beast today than it was three years ago or even a year ago. Businesses that want to climb the search rankings need to prioritize high value, relevant and engaging content above all else.
And it’s not just producing great content that’s important – how your business shares its content matters, too. A carefully constructed social media strategy for readers to enjoy, value, and share content is absolutely essential.
Surf the wave of the future by getting your priorities in order: quality over keywords. Want to know more about revamping your approach to SEO? Reach out to us at info@storiocreative.com.