SEO, the never ending race

Opinion  •  Wed 19 Apr 2017

SEO sucks and sucks hard. It's a never ending race to the top. One day you're ranked number 3, a week later you're on page 3!

Google tweak their algorithm on such a regular basis, that it is impossible to keep up.

That's just one of the reasons SEO sucks, but there are plenty more. You see, lately, I've been doing a lot of research into SEO and the more I learn, the more I realise that, for most small businesses, the goalposts are so far away, it is practically impossible to even see them, let alone score!

Let me elaborate...

Every website is individually ranked by Google and this is known as your PageRank. Simply put, the higher your PageRank the more likely your website will appear above your competitors. There are things you can do to increase your PageRank and, collectively, these things are known as SEO (Search Engine Optimisation).

The 6 Most Important Factors that affect your PageRank:

1. Inbound links – Which accounts for 28% of your PageRank score. 
2. Quality content – 24%
3. Keywords in Meta Titles – 10%
4. Mobile friendliness – 8%
5. Landing pages – 7%
6. Speed – 6%

Source: FirstPageSage

I've seen other lists that claim inbound links only account for 17% of your total PageRank, honestly, it varies for every website. Still, be sure to check out the full article by Evan Bailyn for more factors and detailed information about each one.

Let's talk about the top 2 factors, which, according to FirstPageSage, account for over 52% of your PageRank score.

The Relationship between Inbound Links and Quality Content

There are two kinds of inbound links, good ones and bad ones, and like your PageRank, these are also graded by Google. Originally, there was only good links, links that improved your PageRank, but now there are bad ones and these will decrease your PageRank.

Google's example of obtaining a good link is borderline naive:

The best way to get other sites to create high-quality, relevant links to yours is to create unique, relevant content that can naturally gain popularity in the Internet community. Creating good content pays off: Links are usually editorial votes given by choice...

Source: Google

This may seem fair on the surface, but, without a substantial PageRank (which is almost impossible to achieve without inbound links) how do you get your unique, relevant content in front of people to begin with?

Content should gain traction by itself, right? It doesn’t, of course. – Neil Patel | Source: QuickSprout.com

So, assuming you have competitors (who doesn't) and they have links, you need to have more or your links need to be of a “higher quality”. No problem, except, should you, yourself attempt to increase the number of links to your website, Google will find out (somehow) and punish you! They'll do this by turning those good links into bad links, which is the exact opposite of what you are trying to achieve.

But, how does Google know if you're coercing, persuading (negotiating – that's the word I was looking for) people, outside of the web, in the real world even, to link to your website “authentically?” Answer: They don't, but good luck with that!

As I said earlier, Google grades every one of your inbound links and this grading is dependent on a number of factors. One of those factors is whether or not the website linking to yours is in a similar niche. So, other than your competitors, who could you persuade, in the real world, to provide you with a high quality, relevant link?

Erm... No one?

Moving on, is it possible to beat the system (some might say, play by the rules) by writing unique, relevant content on other websites, websites that already have a high PageRank and then link from that content to yours? Answer: Probably not and also good luck with that too!

This strategy, like many others, used to be a legitimate (i.e. White Hat) form of SEO and, to a degree, it still is. It's just now significantly harder to convince Google – that your article and link is authentic. Prior to the Google Panda update, businesses of all sizes were able to write (or afford a writer who would write on their behalf) short, 300 to 500 word articles, then, have those articles uploaded to a Blog Network with a link back to their own website.

These networks (Content Farms I've heard them called) would have a naturally high PageRank, which meant, the links coming from them, also ranked high. But then, overnight, Google decided with their Panda update, that this strategy was Black Hat (meaning bad) and every one of those links was now also classified as bad. Web sites that once ranked highly, all of a sudden, now ranked very, very poorly!

Goal posts moved, again...

We are now at a stage where Google is SO paranoid, that any article less than 2000 words in length is rubbish or worse, fake:

The SEO adage “length is strength” was supported by our industry study which found that longer content tends to rank significantly higher on Google’s first page ... Aim for at least 1900 words for every piece of content that you publish.

Source: BackLinko

So, if you're thinking of submitting an article to another website, first make sure that the other website isn't on Google's watch list and that the article you're submitting is long to the point of being utterly droll. As I said, good luck using this strategy!

So, you agree, right? SEO sucks and it sucks hard!

Who has the time (and ability) to write 1 or 2, 2000 word articles per week?

And hello, we're not all celebrities! Why would anyone with a higher PageRank than our own, spare a link to our (your) website? Surely, it would be easier for them to just write a similar article and utterly destroy us?! Because, obviously, any relevant link to our website is going to come from our competition.

Where does this leave us, the average small business owner?

Google Ads.

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As always, if you have any questions regarding this or any of my articles, feel free to contact me.