How To Make Google’s Latest Algorithm Update Work For You
How does your website currently rank in Google search results? Whatever you think the answer is, it might be smart to check again. Search Engine Roundtable reports that things seem to have shifted over at Google, and a sweeping algorithm update is now in place.
Although it’s still early, it looks like Google is cracking down on spammy backlinks, and punishing sites that use those as part of their SEO strategy. These links are classic a “black hat” SEO trick. If you’re not familiar with the term, black hat SEO refers to any tricks that are used to increase a site or page’s rank in ways that violate the search engines’ terms of service. These practices can quickly get a website flagged and punished, possibly even banned, from search engine results.
Now that Google is elevating its crack down on spammy or low-quality backlinks in particular, this is a big opportunity for brands and websites who prioritize their SEO strategies around high-authority, high-quality backlinks. While some of your competitors are being penalized for their lousy links, this can be your opportunity to jump past them in Google search results.
In 2017, make sure your brand is making a strong push for unique content, focused on earning quality backlinks on high authority external websites. Here are some easy ways to create quality backlinks to your site and improve your SEO success:
- Create your own content and link to your other posts within. Internal links are a key factor for running a successful blog, and can also improve SEO. Promote your best articles via social media or email campaigns to increase traffic and the number of clicks to each article.
- Guest post on other blogs and media channels The more your name (and link to your website, of course) is out there, the higher your SEO rank can climb. Regularly guest post on other quality blogs or websites, and make sure they’re always linking back to your site.
- Write testimonials, reviews or comments on other credible sites. This is another way to get your name and website link out into the internet, and is often quicker that writing guest posts.
- Get others to write about you. If you have a product or service to offer, send out pitches journalists and bloggers and ask them to write about you – or hire an agency or consultant to do so on your behalf. So long as they’re linking back to your site, and not just mentioning your product by name, this is an excellent way to get a boost in SEO.
Of course, there are plenty more ways to earn backlinks the right way, these are just a few ideas. If you’d like more information on how to master SEO through public relations and digital marketing, download Flackable’s “SEO for Financial Advisors” eBook here.
Sydney Brodie is an Associate at Flackable, a national financial public relations and digital marketing agency.
