Navigating Pathways through SEO Terrain in 2012 – Panda and Penguin Updates

Things are accelerating over there in Mountain View, California. Google’s HQ is churning out search algorithm updates faster than Wonka’s chocolate factory turns out candy bars – and under nearly as much secrecy and mystique. That’s a nice visual, eh?

In all seriousness, things have been busy on both sides of the SEO front. Month after month, Google has been updating their search products, making little improvements here and there. In the last couple of quarters, we’ve seen a page layout algorithm update that effectively governs how much ad placement can reside Above the Fold; we’ve seen the Panda Update – developed to aggressively drop the rankings of low-quality sites; and in April, Google delivered the Penguin webspam algorithm along with some 50+ other tweak launches (too varied and lengthy to list here).

Here at Sweet Spot Marketing, one of our primary jobs is to scour the updates from Google for clues that are likely to help benefit our clients. Due to the fact that our SEO, Paid Search, and Ad Campaign Managers diligently tread the straight and narrow when it comes to Google, we’re happy to see that the changes made to the Google algorithm (as well as with the other search engines) are right in step with our search engine marketing campaigns and don’t necessitate complicated program or plan reversals that serve only to confuse clients and discredit the less-reputable marketing agents out there. We’re taking on new clients of all sizes – who operate in a diverse selection of markets – allowing us to navigate new SEO terrain every day.

Our game plan: every step in the right direction.

To give you a peek at what the Sweet Spot SEO Team is doing these days, it’s easy to sum up the majority of activities by saying the roadmap is dominated by Link Building, Content Development, and much related research.

The Link Building Team is focusing on a wider diversity of growth and actual link types – researching and opting for a variety of link placements across a range of sites deemed beneficial to the specific needs of the client. Link growth is good, but we’ve become selective in link placement because we know that Google keeps watch over the types of links directed at sites as well as the frequency to which those links are added. Research is critical.

In addition, we’re also diversifying our anchor text and focusing on links that speak to “brand” and URL rather than non-brand-specific sets of keywords. In addition, we’re spending time looking through Google Webmaster Tools and Analytics, checking for any broken links. Available links are gold. Broken links are worth nothing. Making sure we redirect every broken link is a sure sign of quality web marketing campaign management.

Note: we’re also staying highly active on the social media pathways – seeking links from popular social media sites like Twitter and Facebook.

The Content Development Team has never been busier. It’s a well-known fact that the web is driven by content that is relevant to search needs. Content is still King and there’s little chance for a dethroning any time soon. Sweet Spot Marketing is spending hours upon hours each month, researching and crafting fresh, quality content for clients. Great content, by the way, isn’t alchemy. Regular blog articles, along with planned press releases, new site pages, white papers, landing pages, infographics, and microsite additions are all valuable content areas that help grow site rankings and authority. Once again, research is critical if you’re planning to create value-added content for site visitors (and it’s well-worth remembering that great content builds organic links to the site).

In the end, the goal of any web marketing campaign is to encourage new and repeat visitors that are likely to share your content and speak highly about your products and services. And when it’s defined in these simple terms it’s easy to see that the SEO terrain isn’t such a wilderness after all.

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