SEO in 2016

Search engine optimization isn’t complex. Google and search engines have the same incentive to display the best results for their customers (search engine users). They’ve gotten really good at this and you can’t “game the system” for very long.

Search engines have gotten so good with their algorithm, there’s no gaming search engines today. Getting top rankings on Google is a combination of good product and good communication in general.

Search engine ranks today should be a by product.

It’s no secret, here’s how you get top search engine ranks in 2016:

• Good Product: Excel at what you do and the best you can in your industry. Truly be an influencer
• Help search engines: Help search engines tag along on your ride so they know that people are talking about you and the great product/service you provide.
• Active Marketing: A great product is frequently enough to get your name out there but good businesses know marketing is intentional. Get the word out there about your business and service creatively.

Think of it this way, marketing consists of your product, price, place and promotion. This is the same focus you should have with your SEO campaign. It’s not an isolated link building campaign but to ensure you have a great product that people want to talk about and then get the conversation going.

Here are some ideas that can help you:

• Get involved in niche/community conversations. Go ahead, join those blog comments and contribute to your niche and community. In due time, you’ll likely get rewarded.
• Social media: Social media is a big component to SEO today. Build a following and get the traffic and social signals for your content.
• Comprehensive PR: Get some good public relations for your website or business through various opportunities such as event sponsorship or something special.

One thing I notice with Google and search engine optimization is the advancement of their algorithm to the point it truly understands good content from bad content. It also understands when someone is trying too hard to rank for the keyword rather than someone who’s focus on simply writing great content.

You can nowadays even rank naturally just with great content and a good social media presence. Something that in the older days wasn’t feasible because you had all these technicalities to consider where people would easily out rank you because their content was better optimized than yours and they had more high PR backlinks than you.

Kudos on Google engineers!