We all love Google and no matter how many of annoying and enthralling updates it swirls our way, we are going to adore it all along.
If you are reading this article, you must be more concerned about SEO and how SEO has changed.
Ever since the time when everyone accepted that Google is the industry giant, people figured out the way how to trick the search engine and make their way to top.
Then emerged Google updates like Panda and Penguin, and they changed the SEO world altogether.
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How SEO has Changed | Now and Then
Today, Search Engine Optimization is not what it used to be a few years ago. A couple of years ago, getting ranking using SEO was as easy as learning a few tricks within a week and you are set to go; now it is a whole new world.
Let us show you how the scenario has changed regarding SEO techniques, with a comparison of their previous and recent effect:
1. Keyword Density:
Then: A few years back, keyword density of 5% was also considered viable. It was another name of keyword stuffing. The more you used the keyword, the higher you ranked!
Now: keyword stuffing or using the keyword in an unnatural way is definitely a bad practice. Using carefully selected keywords and using their variations is the right way of getting things done. If the keyword is used naturally and in the right place, using it even once will serve the purpose.
2. Content Writing:
Then: Content writing was something that even a fifth grader could do. Content published on the web was largely duplicate content (simple Copy and Paste), spun content (spun using free spinning tools) or low-quality content (that was hardly informative or non-marketing).
Now: Content writing is being seen as a specialized way of delivering expert knowledge. Highly skilled people are being hired to perform the writing tasks after thorough research and deliberate thinking on the subject matter.
Researching and deliberating best content has become part of the best practices of professional writers.
Duplicate content is not tolerated in any domain, and spinning is simply unjustifiable. Follow the best content marketing tips adopted by professional bloggers. It will benefit you in the long run.
3. Blog Commenting:
Then: Back then, people used to find any high ranking blog and post their link in the comments of irrelevant (or relevant) posts to get ranked. You could even see desperate people doing ridiculous things like commenting on a blog post about furniture trends with their backlinks for the shampoo they are selling.
Now: Bloggers have grown and so has the search engine. Now, only well-crafted comments about the blog post above are published. The aim of blog comment should be to ‘comment on the blog’, not to comment on how well you can sell your product.
4. Link Building:
Then: Link building was considered the core of Search Engine Optimization in older days. As many links as you could create from as many sources were considered helpful and every website was eager to hire lowest bid freelancers to create backlinks for their website.
Now: Link building strategy tells you more about how SEO has changed. After Google’s two updates, link building has become a very strategic process and only genuine links that are built in a natural way are given value by the search engine.
Proper link building strategy can help you to improve the ranking of your website.
5. Advertisements:
Then: In the past, people use to create blogs and websites for the sole purpose of putting them up for advertisements and earning money through them. Such websites are full of advertisements flashing in all directions, and not to mention the nuisance of pop-up ads.
Earlier geeks were making money online without their website. Now the scenario has changed, it has become even more difficult to make the money with your own website.
Now: Gone are the days when websites with little or no informational value existed on the web to make money through advertisements. It is not like they don’t exist anymore – they do, but they are not a part of SEO world any longer.
If your aim is to make money from your blog, focus on various ways of making money from your website. You can not rely only on the advertisement.
This was just a brief overview of how SEO has changed. It also tells you what works in the SEO world and what must have been abandoned long ago.
Related Read: 10 Latest SEO Techniques To Increase Search Engine Traffic
Happy SEO!