Google vs Search Engine Optimization

Guest Post by Brandon Leibowitz

When it comes to Google and internet marketers, there has long been a battle over who would get the top position in the search engine.  Google wants to keep things their way by creating a top secret ranking algorithm that has become more and more advanced every day.  When looking at the search results on Google, you can expect the top positions to fluctuate constantly as they are all fighting for the top position.  This is something Google does not like.  Google wants stability in the search results, meaning no artificial inflation of the search results.

This is a contradiction to what internet marketing, specifically search engine optimization (SEO),  is all about.  There are two types of SEO: black hat and white hat.  Black hat is exactly what it says, unethical search engine optimization practices.  These are things that can result in a website ranking at the top of Google for a few days and then being permanently banned from the search engine.  If you are banned there is no way to come back; you have to pretty much start over from scratch.  White hat SEO is what Google wants to see (or so we thought).

After Google introduced the Panda algorithm change in 2011 and the Penguin update in 2012, we can see how Google is devaluing links from SPAMMY sites.  Google is looking at other factors to rank websites, throwing SEO experts in a whirlwind of confusion.  What used to work and was deemed ethical to Google has suddenly become black hat and websites are dropping off Google’s search results in record time.

This has made SEO quite confusing, especially for webmasters who were enjoying top positions on Google.  Now it seems as though SEO may be dying out as Google is able to manipulate the results in their favor.  Testing has helped out Webmasters and SEO gurus a lot and there are new ideas coming to light. 

Social media has started to become a major influencer of the rankings in Google post-Penguin.  Google is looking for your links being re-tweeted, shared, liked, repined, etc.  All these social signals are sent to Google for evaluation within its algorithm.  A few authoritative profiles sharing your links is better than a lot of normal profiles sharing your site.  This is where Google is pushing search engine optimization in 2012.  It will be interesting to see what happens in the upcoming years and if SEO is still around.

Brandon Leibowitz is a search engine optimization consultant with over 5 years experience with advanced link building techniques. Follow his updates on Twitter @bosmol Find his soccer jerseys online for great prices at http://SoccerPlus.net
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