21st Century SEO: Why It’s Not Dead, Just Different

SEO is constantly changing. Some techniques that used to work are no longer effective, while some techniques that would not have made much difference a few years ago are now essential.

When some tactics stop working, many people automatically jump to the conclusion that SEO is dead. But it’s not—it’s just different. Here’s a look at some modern-day SEO tactics that work at the moment.

Fewer, Higher-Quality Links

In the past, quantity was the name of the game when it came to links. Simply build as many links as you can, and you’ll rocket up the rankings. But although it was long considered the best way to get results, it was used and abused to the point where sites of very little value could manipulate the system to build a large number of links in a short amount of time and rise up the rankings.

Google had enough, and it changed its algorithms to penalize sites with large amounts of low-quality backlinks. Now, in this post-Penguin world, the focus is very much on quality rather than quantity. Links are still important, but your focus should be on getting natural links from authoritative websites—and only the best websites with the best content can generate such links.

Web Content that Provides Real Value to Users

Creating content around a keyword used to be the order of the day. This was often very basic content that had nothing of real value, it just has a heavy keyword quota. But that was the old way of doing things.

These days, content must be valuable to users. When you hire a specialist SEO agency to work on your rankings, this is one of the first things they will tell you. Your content must say something interesting and unique. It must be interesting, informative, entertaining or all of the above. You want people to read your content, to share it, and to return to your site for more—and that only happens if the content is of a high standard.

Think about why people search the internet. It could be: to find information, whether for research or news; to buy things; to be entertained; to get help from others. Focus your content on providing these things, and you stand a much better chance of SEO success.

Less Focus on Strategic Keywords

Keywords were all the rage not too long ago, and they still matter—just not in the same way.

Before, it was all about forcing in your keywords into your content, making sure you had as many of them as possible, and ensuring your content had a certain keyword density.

That doesn’t work any more. Use a target keyword if you want to, and this can help to give your content focus. But don’t force it in, and always remember that user satisfaction is a far more important ranking factor.

The end of the keyword stuffing craze came with the Hummingbird update. Google now understands what your content is about, whether it is unique, and whether it is well written.

Incorporating keywords into various elements of the page is no longer effective, so don’t waste your effort on it. Meta keywords are especially useless. Not only will you be wasting your time with them, but meta keywords could even suggest spam.

Growth of Implied Links

While standard links actually link back to your website, implied links do not. Instead, these are brand and website mentions, and they are taking on greater importance.

Google is focusing more on these because they are a good indicator of authority, and they are harder to manipulate. Getting your brand mentioned often comes back to creating quality content that people want to talk about, as with much of SEO. This is likely to become even more important in the future, so it’s one to consider when working on your SEO.

Mobile Focus

Perhaps the biggest change in SEO in recent years has been the growing importance of mobile. Your site must now be mobile friendly if you want to improve your SEO in mobile search. This year, Google changed its algorithms to ensure mobile-friendly sites get better rankings in mobile search. And as more people use mobiles to search, especially for local searches, this is something that simply cannot be ignored.

If you do not have a mobile strategy in place, now is the time to change that. Responsive design is a good option, and Google likes it, but you could also launch a mobile version of your site. Just make sure that people can browse your site on a mobile device with ease.

SEO Is Changing, So Make Sure You Keep Up

SEO has always been changing, and it will continue to do so as the years go by. The main thing to take away from all of this is that the focus is very much on quality over quantity these days. Essentially, trying to game the system will not work in the long term. If you really want to make sure you are doing everything you can to improve your SEO, follow the recommendations of Google and don’t try to take shortcuts.

Anthony Yap is the founder and lead search marketing consultant at eBusiness Masters with over ten years experience in successfully ranking websites at the top of the search engines in competitive markets around the world. His technical background in computer engineering enables him to systematically analyze what the search engines want. The analytical skills and resourcefulness proved helpful in his ability to recover websites that have been penalized by over-optimization. His vision to help local businesses succeed led him to a start a business consultancy teaching marketing, team building, and systems building.