Old school SEO tactics are becoming redundant, even harmful and while some have changed others have been replaced.‚ Voids left by obsolete ways falling away have been replaced by new methods.‚ Even the terminology has changed, as will be illustrated.
What has changed today?
Keyword Density then, Killer Content Creation now
¢‚¬¢‚ ‚ ‚ Way back if you mentioned keyword density you were attaining better search results.‚ It is the other way around now.‚ You now create contentious linkable Killer Content in order to gain popularity with users and which now push you into the search results even if your keywords are mentioned only a few times.
PageRank Optimisation should be Authority Links
¢‚¬¢‚ ‚ ‚ Some people still use the term PageRank optimisation, but it does not mean better performance.‚ Getting recommendations from respectable sites does count but what counts more is the pure fact that you are linking there often.
SEO Copywriting for Users rather than for search engine spiders
¢‚¬¢‚ ‚ ‚ Copywriting has shifted focus and now concentrates on the user searching for information rather than writing content which only the search engine spiders can make any sense of
Business Blogging has taken over from Article Marketing
¢‚¬¢‚ ‚ ‚ Article writing was popular when it was important to get as many links as you could from a host of different websites.‚ The impact on this has been bad quality content issues. So, blogging has now taken shape and in fact works far better for generating links than its predecessor, and it is a lot more reputable.
Meta tag optimisation is now Tagging/Folksonomy
¢‚¬¢‚ ‚ ‚ Optimising Meta tags is an example of focusing on one aspect which is meaningless today and can be dropped completely.‚ Try adding tags or folksonomy instead if you want to add keywords to your web page.‚ Folksonomy is another word for collectively tagging many people.‚ What this does is enrich your content by making it visible in the content area.
What else has changed?
Search Engine submission should be replaced with XML sitemaps or pinging.
¢‚¬¢‚ ‚ ‚ Many services still offer submission to search engines, but the viable method today is to ping a search engine with a blog so that you get instantly indexed.
Linking Out instead of Reciprocal Linking
¢‚¬¢‚ ‚ ‚ If link swapping works on the basis of a barter system, then it is outdated.‚ It takes time to find suitable link partners and while most won¢‚¬„ link back, they will if your content is superior.‚ Some may even link to you more than you link with them.‚ Linking Out is natural and counts more than the old artificial reciprocal linking system.
Generating a buzz is better than too many directory links
¢‚¬¢‚ ‚ ‚ It does not make sense to submit to tons of directories as this causes low value to your website.‚ But, creating a buzz around your website via good press releases or viral videos will go a long way to harness the power of linking.
Anchor texts should be replaced with topical pages or paragraphs
¢‚¬¢‚ ‚ ‚ When people realized they could get higher rankings for link anchor text they began to build links with the same anchor text, again and again.‚ The result was that anchor text was discounted and now Google for instance, is able to determine what is around an element on your page.
Outstanding front pages are being replaced with landing pages and useable check out forms
¢‚¬¢‚ ‚ ‚ Clean and focused landing pages as well as usable check out forms for visitors to complete count more than a fabulous front page.
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