SEO isn’t dead, it’s just evolved.
By the time the third instalment of Google’s Penguin update came around, most SEOs had moved away from old school link building, where links where bought in industrial volumes. Now, the game has changed. The majority of SEOs are offering technical SEO services alongside content marketing, paid search and even PR.
The reality is that Google has got pretty good at stopping many of the tactics which fall outside of its terms of use. Or rather, the search engine has some pretty heavy penalties for those who try to manipulate it.
If the first Penguin update back in 2012 sent shockwaves across the SEO industry, then the second iteration killed off most of the stragglers who were still practicing ‘spammy’ SEO. Curiously, the third iteration was all but universally met with a shrug of the shoulders, with many websites who had undertaken link clean ups and disavows seeing their organic search engine visibility bounce back.
Anyone still doing spammy link building was either very stupid or was operating in a niche where ‘churn and burn’ short-term strategies are the norm. In fact, there are only a handful of niche sectors left where the old, riskier SEO tactics are still commercially viable.
So what now for Google?
The Google algorithm is now so complicated and there are so many ranking factors at play that it has become much harder to chase the algorithm. SearchMetrics undertakes an annual ranking study which, while not universally acclaimed, is probably the best ‘source' to cite. It shows links still playing a major role, however, other factors such as clink through rate are, according to the study, more likely to influence ranking than ever before.
Most expect that as Google gets better at detecting spam and being able to measure brand and sentiment, links will become less and less of a ranking factor. Google is rewarding brands with greater visibility.
It is also rewarding advertisers, as organic results become less and less visible on page.
I doubt the commercialisation of Google will change anytime soon.
Was the third Penguin update just a perpetually rolling update?
Although not confirmed by Google, many think that the last update has become just a rolling or continuous update. A number of theories are doing the rounds but many SEOs are seeing much quicker recoveries for websites that are under some form of penalty. Before the third update, some unlucky websites had to wait up to a year to get their website’s penalty removed, or to see their rankings recover. Now recovery can happen much quicker, which has fueled the rumour that Penguin 3.0 was a rolling update.
Are the SERPs now cleaned up of all spam?
Despite most SERPs being largely free of spam there are still some examples of search engine results (e.g. Viagra or Pay Day Loans) which have the odd spam site in them. They get cleaned up fairly often, but a few black hat contacts of mine still claim that their tactics are effective (while I have seen their work I’ve never put them to the test).
Only PR and content marketing can earn enough links to increase search visibility
While there are still some old school link building tactics that work, the vast majority of SEOs advocate PR and content marketing as a way to earn links. Online businesses are now spending a lot of time building great and useful content, such as this Herdtracker app which helps track animals through Africa and allows safari customers to make informed buying decisions before booking a holiday. This app won widespread acclaim (and links) from NBC, CNN, The Daily Telegraph and a whole host of other websites.
Now SEO tools such as Moz and Majestic are just as good at tracking reputation and press coverage as they are at providing real SEO metrics.
It is safe to say that PR is no longer a mystery to SEOs. In fact, many SEO agencies are now getting pretty good at PR. And, dare I say it, some PRs are getting pretty good at SEO too. We’ve been talking about the convergence of SEO and PR since before the very first penguin update.
In-house digital marketing teams are now appointing PR agencies
We are finding more and more people with organic search objectives are appointing PR agencies and taking the lead on issuing briefs.
Historically, PR agencies have reported into marketing directors or directors of communications. Now digital marketing managers are throwing their hat into the ring. Their objectives are generally more focused around link acquisition.
SEO has become more strategic and technical
While many SEOs have added PR to their repertoire, the discipline has become more technical and analytical. Many SEOs have become specialists in link analysis, link removal, analytics, CRO and technical SEO problem solving.
If watching the Penguin updates unfold over the last three years has taught me anything, it is that the search community learns quickly and is very adaptable to change.
PR has become more analytical too
Now that PR has a much stronger correlation to organic search engine visibility, public relations has become more analytical. PR’s big problem was that it focused so much on reputation. While reputation was a c-suite issue and very valuable, it was almost impossible to measure. Now reputation can easily be tracked and PR’s lead generation and revenue generating potential can also be measured using analytics and other ecommerce metrics.
So in this day age which we might not dare to call ‘post penguin’, SEO has evolved and so has PR. Businesses are much more in tune with the true value of search and digital. There is now a feeling of balance between us marketers and the search engines. Let’s just hope that Google has no more nasty surprises up its sleeve. We can live in hope.
By James Crawford, Managing Director of PR Agency One and a blogger at State of Digital.
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