For anyone interested in getting found online, I want to share an observation about some changes that are affecting search marketing in general.
Getting found online when people search Google and other engines looking for what you are offering is the goal of search marketing. It can be a business opportunity, a product, or perhaps your blog that you use to brand yourself and give value to the home business community (smart to have this as your home base).
Anyway, I’ve always written mostly about classic approaches to getting found online (with tips for being smarter and more effective when using them). Even though classic techniques like article marketing are a little more challenging now, they still work and the focus is more on quality, not quantity. I’ve avoided getting into some of the more borderline search engine optimization and Internet marketing methods, for good reason.
Here is a good example of a technique that has traditionally worked very well, but is losing effectiveness very quickly.
A lot of marketers have used private blog networks to get links back to their site, which helps improve the chances of being found in Google for the keywords that people looking for them are searching for. These are paid services, and publicly promoted, so when they work well the word gets out and they become targets for Google and other search engines seeking to improve the quality and relevance of their search results.
The basic idea with a private blog network is to create short articles of around 150-200 words, sometime longer, and post them on dozens or hundreds of different blogs that are hosted inside the network. This results in more backlinks with keyword anchor text, and historically, getting found online more easily for whatever keywords are being targeted.
Last week, it was learned that Google had removed almost all of the blogs belonging to a private blog network called “Build My Rank” from its index. Later in the day, BMR shut down, as once their blogs were booted out of Google’s index, any backlinks in articles on them have zero value.
Build My Rank was highly touted and worked very well for Internet marketers that used it. However, using these types of networks for getting found and improving search results has always been a bit risky, because everyone knew that sooner or later Google and others would catch on and find a way to nail them.
With increasing advances in search technology, it will become more and more important to use more traditional and quality techniques for getting found online. There will be fewer and fewer shortcuts out there that marketers can utilize to get rankings that stick even for the short term.
Sure, there will always be ways to get ranked higher through backlinks, but in reality the easier it is get a particular type of backlink, the less likely the technique will have lasting value. Many private blog networks have come online over the last couple of years, offering their services for a price. Today, while there are some that will survive and continue to do well for a time, it will always be a risky way to achieve rankings.
It’s kind of like building your house on quicksand.
For home business owners who are focused on the long term and providing value to the community, this is great news. Solid content marketing and value-focused techniques for getting found online will work far better in your favor.
Content that is enlightening, educational, or entertaining to a real audience…..and getting it in front of the right people with social signals to prove it……will become more and more crucial to getting found online when people are searching for you.
Did you get some value from this post? If you did, I would really appreciate you sharing it with others! And, your comments are welcome below!
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