Based on the changes that have resulted from Google’s Big Daddy infrastructure update, it’s time to take a fresh look at linking strategies. If you don’t have time to read this entire post, here’s the summary: traditional linking strategies need to be revised to stay up with the search engines. More than ever, content is the most critical component for meeting the search engine’s criteria for what makes a site worth a high rank - whether it’s your content or someone else’s. Incoming links are still critical, also, but you’ll need a diversified link building strategy.
I’m hesitant to say anything about search engine ranking that sounds like it is set in stone. There are a large number of factors that determine how a site is ranked. And, something that one site does may be rewarded or at least ignored by the engines, while another site might be punished for the same activities.
With that in mind, I’m going out on a limb to describe what I believe to be some not-set-in-stone recommendations for new website owners, and for more seasoned owners who have seen a change in how their sites are being treated by Google, in particular.
Why Now?
There has been talk about reciprocal links losing value for quite a while. At this point, it is fairly obvious that the devaluation has happened in many instances. Pages on many sites that have historically been indexed in Google, and assigned page rank, are now being deindexed. For many of the real estate sites I have reviewed lately, the deindexing is particularly focused on pages that contain reciprocal links.
If you run across real estate sites where the link pages are still indexed, you can probably look at the site in total and determine why that happened. It will often relate to how much original content is on the site, and the strength of other types of links that are pointing to the site.
If you want more information about indexing, read Matt Cutt’s blog entry on indexing. One thing you’ll notice near the bottom of that post, in the Closing Thoughts, is that Matt indicates that sites that have been doing a lot of reciprocal linking may find a change in how Google crawls their site. I’m interpreting his comment to mean that those sites will be crawled less frequently and/or in less depth. Site statistics I’ve reviewed lately support that interpretation.
The thing that is still confusing to me is that some sites with quite a few pages deindexed, have not seen a change in their ranking in the SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages). If someone has an explanation for that phenomenon, please let me know!
However, given the changes we’re seeing, I don’t think it’s a wise idea to just follow the same link strategy that may have been effective for you in the past. The possibility is always right around the corner that deindexing will have an impact on a site’s ranking. And, for new webmasters, there’s no reason to start with a strategy that is not based on the latest information.
What’s Different?
So, what is the latest information? First, consider the search engine’s stated goal: to provide the best information for their customers, the people doing a search. From a search engine’s perspective, the site with the most original content can be seen as doing the best job of providing a content-rich environment to answer the searcher’s needs.
Google’s new indexing habits definitely indicate that they are looking more for original content than almost anything else. And, the deindexing of link exchange pages also sends a very definite message, which I interpret as: you still need quality, relevant incoming links, but you better not rely on reciprocal links in a standard link format for the majority of your incoming links.
What Now?
Exchange content, not traditional link descriptions. There are a couple of ways to accomplish this. One would be to write original, keyword-rich articles on real estate-related topics. Make sure the topics you pick don’t relate to information that varies by location. Then, make arrangements with other webmasters to exchange one of your articles with an article they have written. You can do the same thing with articles about your geographic area
Naturally, the articles you write would have links to your website for additional information and author credit. Make sure that the title and meta tags of the pages on each site are completely relevant to the topic of the article.
Another way to get good incoming links is by writing articles for syndication on the Internet. There are a number of sites such as www.ISnare.com that provide syndication services.
The Times, They Are A’Changing….
It seems as though SEO strategies are in a state of flux the majority of the time. For me, however, the current changes signal a significant alteration in how ranking well on Google will be accomplished. For many people, writing ranks right up there with public speaking as the thing they’d least like to do. From what I can see, though, we all need to sharpen our pencils!
And, don’t forget about adding content to your site yourself. I’d wager that the practice of purchasing content may be less useful in the future. Purchasing content has been a good way to provide information for your visitors, and to increase the “stickiness” of your website. At this point, it looks like you’ll need to add that type of information as original content to satisfy the search engines.
Are there exceptions to all this? Sure. There’s the agent who creates a standard template site and shortly ends up ranking better than sites in the same market that have more original content, links, etc. I don’t know how to explain that. There are people who don’t believe the search engines’ goal is to provide the best search results. These folks are convinced that search engines structure their ranking to encourage the use of Pay Per Click or other strategies that put money directly into the search engine’s coffers. And, the list goes on.
But, if you want to understand everything about search engine behavior before you respond to the changes we’re seeing, I’m afraid you’ll have a lot of catching up to do.
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