Have you seen the news in the SEO world the last week?
Apparently Google mentioned or has already made changes to the effect of eliminating all keyword data for website owners and SEOs.
The SEO world has not been happy. Some are calling out Google for being evil, greedy and schemers by hiding this data. Others are saying that it’s going to be harmful to businesses, website owners and SEOs. Some even say it’s going to be harmful to web users in some kind of way.
I disagree.
Google’s Best Interest
Google doesn’t owe you or me anything.
They’re driven by sales just the same as you and me and everything that works for a business. It’s always about sales and profit. If it wasn’t we would just be playing with money and throwing it away.
My feeling for the last few years is that Google is going to do what’s best for Google. The goal at Google is to provide the best search results for their users.
If Google thinks they can do that with 100% paid ads then they’re going to do it.
Why?
Because it makes sense.
Google has been creeping that way for the entirety of their existence. Most have been watching how Google has targeted web spam over the last couple years, but the biggest trend in my opinion is how Google has been changing the search results.
There are more Google properties in the results than ever.
I first noticed it in 2010 because I have a site, Country Music Life, dedicated to writing song reviews. The posts wold usually rank well, but after a switch in the rankings the posts stopped ranking well. It was nothing I was doing wrong. The change was that Google started showing a handful of YouTube videos for all kinds of searches.
As you know, Google owns YouTube.
This is the future because it makes sense for Google. It’s in their best interest.
(not provided) Is An Opportunity
You can get frustrated by the change in the SEO paradigm. It’s been a growing industry for years and now things are changing pretty significantly, but this is an opportunity.
Google’s (not provided) is an opportunity for you to take your online marketing program beyond SEO.
I’ve been guilty of it myself. SEO traffic is fun and exciting. It’s easy to take your entire online marketing program that way, but there is so much more out there.
By not focusing so much on SEO you can diversify the traffic that comes to your website. In the long run you can get more traffic, better traffic that will lead to more sales and profit for your business.
You don’t need Google.
In fact, you don’t need any single traffic source because if you do you always set yourself up to get burned. When you don’t control the platform you don’t know what is going to happen.
Content Marketing And Blogging
This is why we talk all the time about blogging and creating your own content at Ghost Blog Writers.
When you create the content you are the owner of the content and of the platform. You can handle changes that come online. When social networks come and go. When Google makes changes. If you own the content you always have options.
And now that Google is giving you less insight into the SEO world we can all take our eyes off it and focus on other sources of traffic.
SEO is not the best source of traffic for businesses.
It’s not even the best way to grow your website traffic. It’s a good way, but it’s not the best way.
Exposure To Established Audiences
The best way is to write content that gets attention of people that have an audience.
I have brought up a specific example before and I’ll do it again.
Think of a new artist in the music industry.
They have zero fans. They need to get fans in order to sell downloads, merchandise and concert tickets. They can create amazing songs, but people aren’t going on Google looking for songs they’ve never heard.
These new artists have ways to get attention. They do things that attract attention from the people and businesses that have audiences already built and established.
New artists go on tour as opening acts. They often do it for little or no money. The reason they do it is because they get access to an existing audience. In return they fill a void in the show for the established artist.
The way for you to grow your business online with website traffic and sales is to get in front of those that already have audiences.
A PR strategy is good. Providing quotes and material to others is one way.
You can also write blog posts that mention others. Create lists. Do features on other businesses. Include links to other websites and blogs in the content you create.
Over time, those people will notice and they’ll occasionally expose your work to their audience.
You can even create an amazing piece of content that covers a study or includes research and stats. Email a blog owner and share it with them. If it’s good enough and if it makes them look good they’ll share it with their audience.
The result: you get exposure, their audience members come to your site and you get traffic, email signups and new customers.
That’s why (not provided) is an opportunity for business owners.
Now you can stop paying so much attention to SEO and you can focus on other (better) sources of traffic and sales.
Next Steps
Here are some articles to help get you going with your new traffic strategy: