Is SEO a thing of the past?

With the recent updates from Google (Panda & Penguin), it might be that you think that the business of search engine optimisation (SEO) is over.

The Penguin & Panda updates to Google's search algorithm have, in a nutshell, started to cut out much of the low quality, dull and low value websites and their content on the web. The changes are making it easier for the 'good stuff' to get in front of people who are looking for it.

By cutting out the low grade content and recognising which sites have manipulated their presence at the top of the search engine results, Google has put good writing and valuable content right back at the top of its priorities.

And, let's face it, if Google had not done this it would have affected their ability to sell advertising at premium prices to companies wanting to get their products and services in front of millions of people.

Not just any old words

Therefore, with Google valuing good content which is recognised by humans who link to it from their own related and good quality sites, and by people sharing links to content they are interested in from Twitter, Google+ and other social media websites, you need to make sure you are creating interesting, useful and valuable content for your website.

Far from SEO being dead, it is alive and well and rewarded by Google for those sites which are honest and provide what people are looking for. It's important to still write good blog posts; create and post interesting videos, share useful, fun or valuable posts on your social media sites and write web pages which people actually want to read and which are not written as if written by a machine for machines.

Know what to ask your SEO specialist

If you employ someone to do your SEO for you, make sure you check what they are doing for your site. Ask for access to the Google and Bing webmaster tools they use so you can see what the search engines think of your website.

It's more important than ever that you understand SEO and what it means for your business to get it right. And, the fact is that SEO is still extremely important and very much part of the present. The only part of SEO that is in the past are people who think that spammy techniques for promoting a website are going to benefit them in future.

Here's an interesting article I read today about SEO: http://www.sitepronews.com/2013/08/26/pushing-the-boundaries-of-white-hat-seo/