Switchfast Blog: The Future of IT
Is Search Engine Optimization putting your brand at risk?
Thursday, February 24, 2011 by George Tobin
In early February, the New York Times
published an investigation into JC Penney's suspected "gaming"
or outright manipulation of the mercurial Google Search Algorithm,
which dictates the placement of websites in Google searches. The
resulting article was condemning enough to cause Google to take
manual
action to push JC Penny's pages several pages back in search
results- keywords that undoubtedly generated a high volume of
business for them previously, especially during the 2010 holiday
shopping season.
Despite its gigantic size and market, JC Penny's rise and fall
in Google search rankings is an example of the struggle facing
small businesses.
With thinner profit margins and competing priorities for
investing, small businesses are usually the last to benefit from
changes in business technology. The revolution in Search Engine
Optimization as a tool for finding new business has been no
different, with business owners rushing to dominate search terms
for their market, only to find larger competitors occupying the
coveted first page.
As this case study proves, it's crucial to resist the allure of
immediate results and ROI through the "black-hat" means employed by
JC Penney and focus on slow, high-quality SEO growth that won't
raise the ire of Google. Companies found in violation of Google's
guidelines face permanent delisting from the search engine.
On
Forbes.com, blogger Eric Savitz details some clear guidelines
to determine if your SEO effort is putting your business and brand
at risk:
Irrelevant links: JC Penney received links from
hundreds of unrelated, long-abandoned websites. Make sure that
links built to your website come from relevant sources: local
associations, industry blogs, etc.
Cloaking: Another dangerous SEO practice,
"cloaking" involved adding additional text to a page camouflaged to
match the background color. This can provide more keywords on a
page while maintaining a desired visual effect, but risks your
entire brand from delisting if
discovered.
Invest your budget in building links, not buying
them. Purchased links from other web properties will
provide an immediate boost to your website's rankings, but don't
provide the same long-term return as well-placed, relevant nonpaid
links.
Eric's piece articulates Switchfast's approach to SEO for our
clients- slow, steady growth through high-quality relevant
content.
Until next time -
George Tobin
Switchfast Technologies
Chicago IT Support &
Consulting
Rochester IT Support &
Consulting
Outsourced Marketing
Services
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