We all know that SEO matters. What we don’t know, however, is what Google is hiding. Continue reading to learn four secrets that search engines are desperate to keep under wraps.
Good morning, online business owner. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to conquer search engines, namely Google, to make your site rank higher than your competition.
Here’s your top secret dossier for this not-so mission impossible:
Secret #1: Meta tags and descriptions are Google garbage
Back in the old days (circa 2000), meta tags, particularly meta keywords and meta descriptions, were draped in gold. These pieces of HTML told search engines exactly what a site was about, which led to high rankings for some pretty crummy sites.
As search algorithms became more complex, the relevance of meta tags quickly faded. In fact, Google now completely ignores your meta description and doesn’t care about your meta keywords, either.
Thus, don’t spend too much time worrying about your meta tags; Google doesn’t.
Caveat: Although your title tag isn’t technically a meta tag, it’s still important to Google. And while Google doesn’t care about your meta descriptions, it’s still helpful to your readers.
Secret #2: Links help, but powerful links are crucial
It’s no secret that link building is an important part of any SEO strategy – but what Google isn’t telling you is this: the real trick is getting powerful links.
For example, if you work to get 100 links to your site from a bunch of no-name bloggers, you’ve definitely done yourself an SEO favor. But if you secure just one link from a powerful site like The Huffington Post, you’ve got one heck of a boost.
In other words, it’s all about quality, not quantity.
Thus, continue to work to gather as many quality links as you can instead of fighting for every link possible. (Trust me, Google likes to watch you struggle here.)
Secret #3: Google+ is changing the rules as we speak
Most people know that Google wants to take power away from Facebook, and they’re finally getting some traction by using its newest social network, Google+, to influence search results.
Instead of offering all searchers similar results, Google is now providing personalized results for its users. These tailored results come directly from activity on Google+, which is Google’s way of making sure that everyone is using their social network.
To take advantage of this development, it’s time for you to get started with Google+.
Secret #4: There is no secret to SEO
The biggest thing that Google doesn’t want you to know is this: there is no secret to SEO.
The real secret to conquering search results is to create quality content that people want to consume and share. At the end of the day, Google is powered by people, and people crave content.
So, instead of focusing on mastering the latest SEO trick, spend time thinking about how you can educate and entertain your customers and community. Start writing content for people instead of search engines, and stop obsessing over what you think Google wants.
Good luck, online business owner. As always, should you be caught, I will disavow any knowledge of your actions.
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