SEO 2.0 By Rande Vick

“Turn and face the strange ch-ch-changes.”

When I was just a wee lad, the coolest kid on the block had a Buck knife. It was sharp and regal, and to the seven-year-old kids of suburbia, it wreaked of Rebel Without A Cause. And then, another kid earned a badge in his scouting tradition and came home with a Swiss Army knife. It was the talk of the second grade. It had a can-opener and a corkscrew, and even a tiny pair of scissors that I just knew would come in handy for something. One day that utility knife would grow up and become a Leatherman… But I digress…

When Internet marketing was new, it was fantastic. Forward thinkers could tinker around like mad scientists with their webpages and come up with techniques that would trick Google into thinking that they were really something special. These techniques became known as Black Hat, or (ahem), Gray Hat… meaning everyone knew they were shady, but most Internet marketers participated in them because, well, they worked. A few thousand back-links of any quality could have your site climbing the SERPs faster than Sylvester Stallone in Cliffhanger. 

Like my friends Buck knife, when something is shiny and new, it seems really impressive.

But lately, what used to work has changed. Everybody knows it, too. Google has grown up a bit, and with an updated portfolio of programs (Hummingbird, Penguin, and Panda to name a few) it has reached a maturity level that might even impress the wise old owl (not a Google program, to the best of my knowledge). 

Google has never been better than it is today. Search will help you find what you’re looking for nearly every time. For content writers, this means that the days of packing the name of your city and the title, “Dentist” as many times as possible in 300 words are long gone! With its newfound maturity, Google sees right through those Black Hat tricks like Jabba the Hutt to a Jedi mind trick. It just ain’t gonna work…

So, marketers who had previously employed less ethical tactics are having to rethink their work. If keyword stuffing, low quality back-link building, and search manipulation are no longer moving the dial, what will? 

Enter the Swiss Army Knife. In this new environment, we’re going to need the tiny scissors to be successful. SEO 2.0 simply means we put away the gimmicks and actually create something valuable. That is what searchers want, and that’s exactly what the major names in Search aim to deliver. Quality content cannot be faked. Social engagement is priceless. Reputation management, blogging, video optimization, Pay-Per-Click campaigns and retargeting are no longer “add-ons.” They have become essential. If you want to be found on the World Wide Web, you’d better use every tool available to you. And if you don’t have time for that, you’d better find one of the few marketing agencies in the game that know how to play in the world of White Hats. And, you’d better be sure they’re building your valued Internet presence with all the tools the Swiss Army knife has to offer – because each one plays a significant role in SEO 2.0.

It’s becoming increasingly crowded and complicated out there on the Web. Chances are, you’ve noticed the crunch on your site traffic and conversion rates. Authorship, over-optimization, quality links, page speed, structured data, crawl issues and more… These are a few of my favorite things. And these are a few of the things on the radar of modern Internet marketing in the new era. Welcome to the new age. Welcome to SEO 2.0. Your practice is too important to get lost in the fray… Be found on the Internet, or don’t be found at all.

About the author:

Rande Vick is a husband, dad, and a native to the sandy beaches of Southern California. He is also an Internet Marketing Strategist for Firm Media, Strategic Internet Marketing for Professional Practices.

You can reach him at r.vick@firm-media.com, or at the office: 888.465.5036