GOOGLE IS A FICKLE MISTRESS
Google Loves Us
Here’s a hypothetical case where a site goes from Google’s #1 spot to a warning and finally struggling to keep on the 1st page.
Let’s assume that our hypothetical website did all the right things. We have great content and managed to get links from a number of sites.
Google places us in the number one spot and life is good. We don’t even have time to answer the phone with on-line orders pouring in. Life is good.
Google Warns Us
Suddenly we get a warning from Google that our site violates their guidelines. We do our best to conform to guidelines but this means that we give up a number of those links that we had accumulated over the years.
We make Google happy but the loss of links still stings.
Google Likes Us
OK we made Google happy but it’s no longer love and we struggle to make the 1st page of results. Now we go back to basics and try to make our pages even better but we are competing with bigger sites & budgets that manage to get all the links they want.
Now is the time to honestly reflect on the quality of our site. If we can honestly say we are better than the competition we should be able to regain our previous status. This make take considerable effort but the rewards are worth it.
Google Cycle
This cycle is bound to happen sooner or later and it may repeat a number of times. Making Google happy is the number one goal in SEO.
Nothing works better for ranking on Google than having great content and relevant links. Writing great content takes considerable time. Getting relevant links can be even more daunting with Google warnings and penalties hanging over our heads.
Sometimes the great content and links go hand in hand. If you can create content that can’t easily be duplicated then other sites will simply link to you.