Google Proofing Your Website

by: Clint Lenard

That title is a bit misleading, I admit. A lot of people are afraid of Google and it's updates. They fear that all of

their hard work and sleepless nights will all be for nothing. I don't blame them either. We've all fallen into the

Google trap, thinking they're the only traffic source in town. And, for some of us, that's the truth, unfortunately.

But there's ways to keep your website from being slapped around by Google updates.

Don't be an Algorithm Chaser

The first thing you should understand is that there's absolutely no need to worry about Google's Algorithm. You

will never figure it out, and even if you did you would have wasted time, as you'll be trying to figure out the next

one right after you've figured out that one. Not fun, trust me. It's a complete waste of time and there's plenty of

other broke SEO's trying to do the same and failing. Don't be that broke SEO.

Google's updates may affect you. You may lose some rankings here and there. But you cannot control that,

regardless of what some sales page may tell you. If you're running a legit site - worry about your legit content

and keep cranking it out and networking with others. Work on getting people to link to your site, naturally and

focus on building a long-term, authoritative website.

Your Business doesn't belong to Google

If you're worried about only getting traffic from Google, you're clearly missing out on about 1,000 other sources.

Yes, they're the biggest source of traffic on the internet, but there's other methods of getting traffic. There's

Facebook, Yahoo, Bing, Twitter, etc, etc. -- it's not impossible to get just as much traffic from these sources

compared to Google. It's absolutely possible to get even more.

Learn about Social Media and how to get traffic from those types of sites. It's not as difficult as some people

make it seem. Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising can be an incredible source of traffic, too. Yes, AdWords is the

biggest PPC player, but there's others like Bing, Facebook and even hundreds of other small sites that can help

increase traffic.

Work on one source and learn how to get the most traffic possible, then move onto another source as well.

Getting involved in Social Media sites and communities that are active can help you when you submit links from

your own Website. Sites like Reddit and HackerNews can bring you more traffic overnight than some servers can

handle, but be sure to stop, watch and learn how those sites work. They're NOT for everybody.

If you plan on just going out and throwing links to your site around, you'll fail. Miserably. You might get lucky

once, but that will be it. It's not worth it.

Authority Sites Always Win

If you're not building a true Authority site, you're bound to fail and lose out to your competition. Long-term

success is always best and if you're not focusing on building a legit authority site, you will get crushed by the

competitors who figure it out down the road. Trust me!

Creating something that people will continue to come back to is what builds long-term sites. It's nice to get

1,000,000 unique visitors overnight, but you know what's cooler? A billion. Sorry, that was Social Network

(movie) reference. But seriously, if you want to get long-term visitors, you need to work on what keeps those

visitors coming back.

Content is the key. Great content will help people realize that you know what you're talking about. Case Studies,

Reviews, Tutorials, etc. -- build them and you will have a lot of traffic that turn into return visitors that turn into:

buyers.

Great Experience

This should be #1 on the list. If you're not offering your users a great experience on your site, you're going to be

affected, regardless of what traffic source you're worried about.

Look, your users don't care about how hard you work on your SEO and Paid Traffic sources. They are arriving at

your site for one thing: a (potential) solution to a problem. Give them the answers they seek and you will be their

hero, if even for 10 seconds. They may remember your site and come back, they may not. But Google will most

likely realize that, when they click on your listing in the SERP's and then click the back button 20 seconds later,

your site may not be as good as you were hoping it was.

Give your users a great experience and it will make things so much easier.

Build a List

If you're not building a list through your website somehow, you're going to be kicking yourself down the road.

Believe me when I say that the list is a key element in building a solid business online.

If Google, Bing, Yahoo, Facebook, Twitter, etc. all crush your site links -- you'll always have your email list. You

will be able to use it like an ATM if you wanted to. Send email with good content and offer, cha ching. Just like

that.

Focus on Long-term SEO

Stop buying services from people who are only selling services to make a buck. There's great link building

services out there, but 99% of these people that create these services are downright scary. They have little to no

knowledge of SEO and are not up-to-date on their knowledge either. They see someone else create a service

and they want in. Easy money!

If you have to outsource your services, take a lot of time to look into the best ones and make sure it's nothing

sneaky. Yes, some services will bring GREAT results and may even last for a year or two... but is that a good

way to look at your Business? What happens if Google decides to wipe out all the sites that used that scheme?

It's possible if you're not careful.

Stick to legit link services. If it sounds too good to be true, it most likely is. 10,000 links for $99? Right, that

sounds like a long-term strategy. Don't do it.

If you have the time, do it all yourself. It's really not that hard and you'll get much better results. Otherwise, hire a

Professional company that has a good track record and positive reviews.

Don't Bank on Google

The bottom line is this: Don't become dependent on Google. It's bad, bad Business to do so. You should be

diversifying your traffic with SEO for Google, Bing and Yahoo, PPC with as many sites as possible, Banner/

Media Buys (if they're in the budget), Social Media, etc. -- making sure your traffic is spread out.

The last thing you want to happen is focusing all your efforts on Google and watching it all slip away over night

because of Google's bad Business practices.

Oh yeah, build that list and don't milk it all at once. Treat your customers with respect and you'll have a great

source of traffic at the push of a button, literally!

If you have any questions, please ask them below!

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