So I was reading on www.cnbc.com today and I came across an article that scared me a little bit. It was a well written piece by By John C. Dvorak talking about the pitfalls of SEO.
Excerpt:
Their chicanery is called SEO for “software-engine optimization.” Right now, the tricks and techniques are targeting Google — and they’re working.
While SEO is nothing new, it seemed to get a head of steam a decade ago when some prankster discovered “Googlewashing.” By setting up some Web pages with carefully chosen words and iterative links, Google (GOOG 499.48, -8.62, -1.70%) could be tricked into giving a high ranking to bogus sites set up as a joke.
Read the rest of the article here: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/google-falling-prey-to-search-engine-chicanery-2010-08-06?siteid=YAHOOB
What scares me about this is that SEO has become so main stream that it has become a target for investors. This is not good for those of us in the SEO Industry. When things like this become mainstream first off we loose our edge over the novices and second we are faced with the potential for regulation as mentioned in this article.
Just as I’m getting my sites to the top of that rankings I’m now worried that Google will launch a new algorithm and change the game on me. I’ve had this premonition that the reason that so many products have hit the market this year promising (and delivering) amazing results in search engine optimization for a reason. The reason being that these people are smart they know the game is about to change and that the skills they have relied on for years are about to become obsolete. They are offing their old product and trying to capitalize on this while they still can. I think we all need to be careful that we don’t put all of our eggs into one of these proverbial baskets. I don’t want to sound like a doomsdayer… but the end is near.
So what can you do to protect yourself?
1- Make sure your site is legitmate and that you have real content on it.
2- Don’t optimize parked pages or landing pages full of adsense.
3- Use all the known SEO tools don’t rely in just one system or one tool.
4- Watch your rankings closely as Google never announces when they make a change they simply make it and then everyone scramble around to see what they do next.
5- Be careful of courses offering to skyrocket you through the rankings as they may work today but those expensive skills I feel may be obsolete soon.
As in any business those who stay on the cutting edge of technology tend to lead the industry. Don’t get caught on the sidelines with your out of date tools.
I’d like to hear what everyone has to say about this article. Are you as worried as I am? Leave your feed back below!
SEO Consultant Roger Bryan