Protesting the Link Economy
I don’t know about you, but I’ve had just about enough of
search engines and their ongoing issues with the practice
of optimization. In addition, and more importantly
perhaps, I’ve also had just about enough from the SEO
community as a whole who seem to perpetually whine,
moan and bellyache over the wrongs done to them by
the search engines.
So who’s really to blame for this current digital state and what can we white
hat Web workers do about the whole situation?
The problem — at least as I see it — is that as search engines have become
increasingly reliant on advertising revenue, they have less motivation to support
those websites that seek organic traffic. As a result, the practice of search
engine optimization has been seen in an increasingly more negative light (as
the complexities surrounding the practice mount); actually, it was never really
seen in a good light, but I digress.
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The long list of acceptable practices leveraged by search marketers
looking to secure top placement on the organic listings of popular
search engines has dwindled. In fact, you’ll be hard pressed to find any
SEO who can name more than a few that still work, or at least work
with any confidence.
Buying links, submitting content to article directories, directory
submissions, forum posting and blog commenting — these tactics just
aren’t as useful as they once were. But why? The reason, my fellow Internet
professional is simple. A segment of the Web workers’ population
ruined these approaches for everyone else. They don’t just buy one link
from a high-traffic website, they buy hundreds (and don’t often adjust
the anchor text) on the cheap. They don’t write engaging and thought provoking
articles for the readers of other blogs, they set up numerous
blogs and interlink (dubbed link wheeling), auto-churn some copy, fill
the site with ads and hope that they will somehow magically rank for
highly competitive search terms and phrases in the pharmaceutical (Viagra
and Oxycontin), fashion (Coach purses) and adult verticals.
I’ve spent a good portion of my professional career (who am I kidding,
I’ve spent all of my professional career) monitoring the tactics and
techniques employed by both the white hat and the black hat search
engine optimizers. As such, I can, with immense confidence, tell you
that the way to gain awareness of your brand and its products (on or
off the Web) and ultimately acquire the links that search engines have
for so long downplayed as the key to higher rankings, is this: be unique
and different, more so than every single one of your competitors.
Should your message not compel others to provide your website
with a citation (link) you’re doing it wrong. You will have no one to
blame but yourself — not Google or Bing, not the competition, but
your brand, your company, your enterprise.
Let this serve as a wake-up call. Google and Bing (or any search
engine that may emerge in the future) owes the community of
Internet professionals nothing when it comes to organic rankings.
Their responsibility is to provide the best possible and most engaging
experience for users — and that should be the same when it comes to
your SEO campaigns.
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