Recently Google introduced a major update called Penguin that caused many websites to experience a big drop in traffic since the update. Any websites that were seen as spammy, over optimised or that were thought to have brought links from blog networks were penalized. In fact, many webmasters received warning messages about this.
Fortunately, we were not among the many websites affected. If anything our website traffic improved and so did the websites of our clients. However, we have heard some horror stories and seen some of the warning messages that some site owners received.
Getting a warning message is a scary thing but it doesn’t have to be a disaster. Be thankful you got a warning. in the past, many website owners have not had this luxury. Having a warning means you can take action and remove any links that Google are finding offensive and recover your position. You can also adopt some strategies to help you reduce your reliance on Google.
Why you should have diverse strategies?
The main thing to understand is that Google will never stop making changes to its algorithm. Every year, it is said that they make over 400 changes. They do this in their quest to provide more relevant results to the searcher.
The issue with the latest update is that some people believe that the changes they made mean that less relevant websites are now appearing in the search results.
Have Google gone too far?
No one can say for certain. No doubt we expect that they will continue to make tweaks to improve the searcher’s experience and ensure more relevant results are displayed. However, be aware that Google will always make changes. Besides the relevance factor, it’s just like KFC’s secret herbs and spices – why would you want people to find out your secret recipe and reverse engineer it and use it to gain an unfair advantage.
You Need Traffic From Multiple Sources
The key thing to understand is that SEO should only be one part of your web marketing strategy. Ideally you want to get traffic from a wide variety of sources. These sources include:
- Pay per click advertising
- Social media
- Email marketing
- Content marketing
- Video Marketing
The key is to develop multiple avenues for generating traffic to your website so that your website is not reliant on one source. If you rely solely on Google for traffic, you put yourself at risk.
Spread the Love & The Risk
Think of Google as a business that sells products to Coles or Woolworth’s. If one of the retailers delete your product, then you lose out on 50% of their sales. If both of them delete it, then you lose 100% of your sales.
The thing is, is that Google has a much bigger slice of the pie than Coles and Woolworth combined. Google has a massive 92% market share in Australia. They continually change their policies so you might be compliant one day and compliant the next. You can’t afford to put all your eggs in one basket.
You either need to spread your risk or create your own beautiful and unique content that other people love and want to share with others.
If you want to diversify your risk, why not chat to one of our consultants and find out how we can help develop a strategy that works for your company.