If your site is among the many that saw a major upset in your rankings with Google’s May Day update, you are no doubt wondering “what can I do?” While fluctuations on the leading search engine are normal, and to a certain extent par for the course, there certainly are ways of structuring your SEO (search engine optimization) strategy so that you not only survive these major algorithm changes, but thrive as your competitors slip away:
1. Vary your approach.
Are you relying on one type of link building? Do you focus only on a handful of the top searched keywords but neglect variations or long tail terms? If so, you’re bound to lose ground at some point. The websites that I’ve seen do the best through major algorithm changes have been fully optimized for many variations within a keyword theme, and have built a strong foundation of quality back links from a variety of strong, contextually-relevant sources.
2. Be dynamic. B-E dynamic.
As an SEO company, we are constantly asked things like – can’t we just do one month? When will we be optimized and “done”?? Why can’t we stop once we are ranked #1??
Well, if you lost some ground over the last month and haven’t touched your site in awhile, there’s your answer! If you want search engine rankings that stick around through the search engine changes, your website needs to stay dynamic in its content, and you need to keep building, building, building that web presence.
3. Pay attention!
In the past several years, I’ve seen dozens of major changes to Google’s algorithm. Some have been major, some minor. But almost always, Google’s given some clue prior to the shift of how things will be ranked, or what elements they will be putting more emphasis on.
About 8 months back, for example, we started to see a big shift in local optimization toward domain names that included the location – something that had always helped but now seemed to be the main deciding factor in local ranking between otherwise similarly-optimized sites. So we tested it with some of our own sites, and even had some locally-based clients switch to localized domains. Sure enough, a week later, the SEO world was all a buzz with the new “upset”…and our clients who’d made the switch not only survived the algorithm change, but jumped to the top for new local terms.
So pay attention! If you see your site drop, and others replace you, try to see the trend –it might be a sign that Google is moving toward a different way of ranking. Want an expert opinion on how your site will fare long term? Just shoot us an email!