Google recently came out with their “Panda” update better know as the “Farmer fix”, which will change the SEO game in I believe a positive way in the long run but for now it’s put the smack down on some pretty big players in the article distribution game.  The following lost significant page rank:

• ezinearticles.com lost an average of 34 positions
  
• hubpages.com lost an average of 31 positions
  
• squidoo.com lost an average of 15 positions
  
• articlesbase.com lost an average of 29 positions
  
• buzzle.com lost an average of 30 positions
  
• associatedcontent.com lost an average of 22 positions
  
• suite101.com lost an average of 33 positions
  

The Panda Update is Googles attempt to satisfy it’s audience who demands great content when they search for something and don’t want to see pages filled with ads.  It’s euphemistically called the “Farmer Fix” because Google is cracking down content farms, Coupon Driven Websites, E-commerce sites & Scraper sites.  This algorithm change is also a way to crack down on black hat techniques (buying links) or even some white hat techniques like article spinning to artificially prop up SEO.  Google’s audience and therefore Google wants REAL content.  So if you or your SEO person used these techniques to build your SEO page rank then you may find your site has now been “devalued”!

So what do you need to ask when searching for an SEO expert and what do you need to do on your blog to please the Google Gods?

1) WRITE GOOD CONTENT!

And I do mean write the content.  Make sure your answering questions people are asking.  It helps if the content is “Evergreen” as well; universal appeal, long “shelf life” so it doesn’t get stale in a short time.  Your SEO should use this great content to distribute to various sources to build organic SEO.  With a little time, you can do it on your own

2) DON’T OVERLOAD YOUR SITE WITH ADS!

People are smart and if your site is covered with AdSense ads and affiliate links they’ll see through you as a money grabbing internet marketer and go somewhere else.  It’s ok to have ads as long as they’re balanced with other great content and the affiliate or AdSense offers are relevant and also provide great added value.

3) GET TRAFFIC OR BE DOWNGRADED!

If you have a high page rank but no traffic it’s probably because you don’t have good content and are just selling something.  Google will figure this out and devalue your rank at some point.  That’s what the “Farmer” churning content are doing; buying high page rank to sell their products (or someone else’s). 

4) BE SEEN ON YOUR SITE!

It’s important that there’s activity on your site.  Adding new content, monitoring comments, getting rid of spammy links and comments etc.

I thought this was an interesting graph.  It shows the top 10 most popular tactics used by businesses for content marketing.

Notice that Social Media is the number way to connect people with you through creating great content!!  Blogs are right in the middle. Hmmmm I don’t see static Websites anywhere do you?!  Just sayin’!

Here’s the bottom line – FOR SEO TO WORK AND GET YOU GREAT PAGE ONE RANKING YOU’RE GOING TO HAVE TO WRITE GREAT CONTENT, DISTRIBUTE IT THROUGHOUT THE WEB AND STAY ACTIVE WITH YOUR BLOG.

Someone once said, “It’s not whether we do Social Media or not, it’s how well we do it.”

Done right SEO will still get you page one rank and boost the effectiveness of your Social Media efforts.

Opening the doors to your Social Media Marketing success!