Hey Readers, I always wanted to write on this topic, and finally, I managed to get some time to write one. This article is meant to explain your Search Engine Optimization in a way you might not have learnt before.
After reading this article, you will not only understand how to rank your website in Google but also how to make a website that is never penalized by any Google update.
Sounds CRAZY! Doesn’t it? Well, just read and enjoy the article. And do drop in your comments. I would love to hear from you on the same.
Talking about Google, there is only ONE thing that Google aims to deliver, i.e., the most relevant results for the search queries of its users.
This is the crux of this article. Before reading the article, understand that there is only one thing that Google aims and it will NEVER change, i.e., delivering the best results for its users.
Google wants to add value to the life of its users and make their life simpler by simplifying the way they browse the internet. Google has undoubtedly changed the way people use the internet.
Coming to SEO, unlike any other Search Engine, Google also has an algorithm (i.e., some predefined set of rules) on the basis of which it ranks the websites in its Search Results.
I am not going to explain how Search Engine Works but will try to explain how to decide the best search engine optimization techniques and never get penalized for any Google update.
Understanding Google Search
Everyone reading this article should remember that Google has already made it clear that their ultimate aim is to make the Search Engine smart enough to understand and give relevant search results to any search query, whether it’s a long tail keyword, a short tail keyword or a direct question (natural language processing).
In order to do so, Google has to think like us. And when I say it has to think like us, I actually mean it. Let me explain to you how with an example.
Suppose you see a guy who is well-dressed, standing and talking with a group of people who either, you know, belong to a sophisticated group or appear to belong to the same. What will be your impression of that guy?
Well, you might be able to judge that the guy is standing with some reputed people, appears to be well dressed and appears to be one of their group. In that case, there is a good probability that you might actually consider the guy being a good guy.
Contrary to this, if you see a guy who is not wearing decent clothes standing among a group of people who are known to damage society by their actions.
Without any doubt, the first thing that might come to your mind is that the person might also belong to their group and is one of the persons to stay away from.
This is exactly how Search Engine thinks. For a moment, just forget everything that you have ever heard or read about SEO. Forget white hat SEO, Black Hat SEO or anything that you have ever read of, and just think about what Google actually asks us to do.
“Just stay to the basics.” That’s all about SEO.
Don’t believe me? Well, Read on…
What Google Wants from Webmasters
Well, to cater to human beings, Google actually has to think like one. Now let’s relate the example above to your website. The “person” in the above example can be compared to your website in the online domain.
The kind of clothes that person is wearing can be compared to the “On-page Optimization” of the website, i.e. How you structure, present and organize the various elements of your website and the kind of people that person is standing with can be related to the “backlink” or the different websites having an anchor text to your website. Well, frankly, that sums up it all.
If you have good On-page optimization, i.e., your website looks good to search engines, has quality content as per Google Webmaster Guidelines and gives a good user experience; Google will definitely consider it as quality content or good on-page optimization.
There is no need to do anything fancy in it. Just follow the guidelines and make everything natural. Google might actually not like your website if the page it is crawling does not appear to be natural (for human beings) in terms of the content it has.
For backlink, Google values backlink or referrals only from authority websites; let us understand why with the help of an example. Suppose you go for a job interview and the senior manager of the company knows you and refers you for the job (and you have a good CV); in that case, the recruitment person has a good chance of trusting you for the job.
On the other hand, if 10 random people who don’t work in the company or are related to the recruiter by any means refer you for the same job, that might have the same impact on the recruiter as the manager’s referral.
The same is the case for Google. It values and gives you credit for a high authority backlink. Low authority ones might not have such a great impact.
Now there is another case when people might fake referrals in a company or give fake references to get the job which is just like people doing unnatural link-building for the sake of getting high search engine rankings.
Remember that it’s not going to work out. Google is smart enough to find all such activities and penalize your site for the same.
And even penalizing is also nothing but Google realizing that your website is not so relevant to its users for the search term because you are trying to fake things and there are more deserving websites than yours. This might seem to be rude to some, but this is how it is. The earlier you accept it, the better it is.
Now that we have done a good discussion on “What Google wants from its users” and how it works. We know that we can’t rank on Google by posting any irrelevant information, faking any backlink or doing anything unnatural.
How to Avoid Google Penalties
So you might be wondering what we actually need to do to get top Google rankings. Well, the answer to this would be, again, something you already know.
Stick to the basics and keep things natural. And that does it all. Here are the things that you need to do that Google actually loves, and you will understand why.
1) Update your website regularly – This is probably the most important point for my fellow bloggers reading this article. I have seen many bloggers fail because of this reason. Understand that, at the end of the day; it’s about creating trust and authority in front of Google. Let us take this with the help of an example.
Suppose there are two news channels; one that gives the most updated news on a daily basis and the other one that updates once, and that too at any day or time of the week. Which news channel are you going to trust more?
I am sure almost everyone chose the first one, and so will Google do it. Websites that are updated regularly with fresh and quality content are loved by Google.
I have seen many people worrying about duplicate content and complaining that they can’t find new content. Well, the reason is there are people working harder than you on their blog and updating information much before you.
They become the first ones to add new news or content on their blog related to the topic, and this is the reason your content becomes duplicate content.
Google knows such sites and loves them for the good work they are doing to make the internet a highly informative place
2) Don’t do anything unnatural – We have already discussed this point a lot. Just focus on good content that will benefit the users, and try not to make unnatural backlinks from non-relevant websites.
A backlink from a non-relevant website for your target anchor text is like asking your electrician to go to your boss and say, “This guy eats bananas, so promote him.” In short, it actually does not make any sense and AVOID links from such non-related websites.
3) Focus on quality – This point will do everything you need to have a high-authority website. If you cover the latest news, reviews or information in great detail than anyone else, then there is a good probability that many of the other webmasters who will be writing on the topic on which you were the first one to write might end up actually using some part of your article in his blog post/article (that is the reason I suggested to write detailed articles so that no coverage/detail about the topic is left and the person might actually find it worth using a part of your article).
In case the person uses your article or a part of it, there is a good probability that many of them might end up giving you a backlink. And everything that you need to make a high authority website is done.
You added the information that Google loved, you ended up getting a relevant backlink from hundreds or even thousands of websites for the related topic, and Google does have a reason to trust your website.
I am sure if you are following these 3 steps properly, there is no reason Google would want to penalize your website.
How To protect your website from Google update penalties in Future
Now again, many people reading this article might be thinking that this was all about the present scenario, how to protect your website from further Google updates.
The answer to this would again be in the basics. Just think like humans, the way Google would do. If you know or feel that anything is unnatural for the users and one day or the other, Google is going to target your website for that reason because Google will never stop improving its Search Algorithm because it wants to serve us the best.
If you think this way, you will overcome all the odds on your website yourself and will very well understand why your website is not ranking in Google and also know the odds to overcome it.
This was all about understanding search engine optimization from a different angle and creating a website that is never penalized by Google. If you want to increase the authority of a website, just stick to these.
However, if you are an affiliate marketer or into some product reselling domain like I am as well and have to rank websites in a couple of weeks or highly targeted keywords, there are other ways for that as well.
Again they are not long-term but deliver short-term results exceptionally well. I might write another blog post sometime soon if I end up getting a good response for this one. So guys, do drop in your feedback and queries.
I would love to hear from you all, and thank you for reading such a lengthy article
