Where is SEO going in 2013? This is the question that everyone is asking. How do we stay one step ahead of Google and keep sites ranking? What changes to the almighty algorithm will we see in 2013?
These are fun questions to ask and debate, but ultimately, they are secondary to a good SEO strategy. As companies, if we constantly base our key decisions on a change that Google may or may not make, we aren’t really improving our odds.It’s like gambling at a casino. You may win here and there, but if you play long enough, the house is always going to win.
The questions companies should be asking are: How we can provide the best product in the most efficient way? What value can we add to the lives of our customers? How do we offer products or services that people really want and are willing to pay for?
You see these questions are fundamentally different from the first set of questions we asked. If we are constantly trying to manipulate systems in order to get attention we didn’t earn, we may win in the short term, but we will lose in the long term.
If we want our business to be taken seriously, we need to create real, useful products first. For marketers, this often means making useful content that people are excited to read and to share. Once you have good content, only then should you really push on the marketing.
You see, the businesses that provide real, valuable content will continue to grow almost regardless of Google’s changes. SEO is just the icing on the cake. It helps you make a great product even more profitable. It gives you credibility and offers a huge return on investment, but only if you understand the importance of creating worthwhile products in the first place.
So SEO isn’t going away. People will still use search engines to find products, but Google is simply working harder to help people find what they are looking for (as they should be!). In order to compete, marketing gimmicks and tricks will no longer work as well. In fact, in 2012 we saw a huge decline in their usefulness in most markets. We can expect more of the same in 2013.
So if you have a great product that you want help getting found, let’s talk. Otherwise, spend a little time and money to get your business in order. Then we’ll work with you to make your online presence phenomenal.
About the Author
Tyler Brooks is a SEO and video production specialist at Proof SEO.
