Well, it’s happened. And, I’m feeling the affects of Google Caffeine. That’s the name of most recent Google Update. The update started this month. So, if you’re monitoring keyword ranking, then it’s likely you’ve noticed movement on rank for many keywords.

SEO is evolving. Social Media is evolving. The Web is evolving (eg: Web 1.0, Web 2.0, Web 3.0, etc). Google is evolving. These evolutions are algorithm changes.

Speaking on what I’m currently observing, it appears to me that the shift of “importance” has once again swung in favor of content. Not links. In the past, if your website was search engine friendly, then buying links has always helped give a boost in the rankings.

Strong Caution. Don’t just think that just buying links can help you. Link Buying can help. But it needs to be in a much more sophisticated link campaign structure. Just buying links can be a huge waste of money if not done correctly. This is especially the case now, with Google Caffeine.

The winners of this update have been the ecommerce sites which were content optimized, AND “link heavy”. Content optimization includes more than just adding more webpages to your website. It’s a much comprehensive approach for a Web 3.0 world. And, the same is true with link development. Content Optimization now must be thought of as an integral way to build links. Links & Content are bound up more tightly together. Content Optimization is Link Building. Link Building is Content Building.

Here’s another way to classify websites in terms of SEO. Think about these combinations:

• Content light/Link light
• Content light/Link heavy
• Content heavy/Link light
• Content heavy/Link heavy

The losers in this update have been the websites which were “content light”, and “link light”.

The key with this new update is to build reputation and authority. There is a NEED to be consistant building content & links. This may take time. Perhaps, the link building you are lacking is in Social Media.

Ongoing SEO tactics:
1) Continually build content silos.
2) Continually participate in social media.
3) Continually build links using a complex link structure optimized for the social web. Don’t just “buy links”.

Wanna increase your website traffic? Build more content to increase your chances to be found. Build an online social media presence, and diversify your link portfolio.

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Additional Reading:
Google Caffeine: Google’s New Search Engine Index.
Google Releases Public Search Update: “Caffeine” Update.
More info on the Caffeine Update.

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