Google's search algorithms are updated even several hundred times a year. No wonder keeping up with the changes can be difficult, even for a good SEO specialist, and what worked just half a year ago may now be treated as a myth at best. Find out which positioning tactics make sense today and which ones are better left alone.
Unfavourable link building
Simple link building tactics are based on a simple mechanism that leads to acquiring a large number of – unfortunately often low-quality – active links pointing to a website being promoted online. Just a few months ago this practice was very popular, bringing quite good results. Today, activities focused on producing unnatural links are treated by Google as spamming the internet and risk lowering a site's position in the search engine.
So what should you do? Instead of link building, today the emphasis is on content marketing and natural links embedded in unique articles written for the internet user (and not for SEO), which are then published on valuable portals. Although these activities are more time-consuming, they bring much better advertising and image results than those that consisted of generating artificial content that no one would ever read anyway.
Lack of SSL certificates
Since January 2017, a new, 56th version of the Chrome browser has been in operation, which revolutionised the approach to using SSL certificates on sites collecting confidential data. Today, every such site that does not begin with HTTPS is marked as "not secure", discouraging internet users from making any conversion.
So what should you do? Every website that contains a login form or requires important data to be provided (such as logins and passwords or credit card numbers) should be secured with an SSL certificate –– HTTPS, i.e. the encrypted version of the HTTP protocol, confirms the credibility of a given website or online store and ensures encryption of communication between the user's browser and the server. The presence of a certificate has a direct impact on how a site is assessed by search engine robots, and the chances of higher positions are correlated with connection encryption – says Dr Eng. Artur Pajkert from the hosting company Hekko.pl.
The diminishing importance of social media
Still last year, a popular practice used for positioning was posting on Facebook content containing a link leading to a website. Today it is rather believed that this type of activity is not taken into account when indexing pages in the search engine, or its impact is simply small.
So what should you do? Although placing links to websites in posts published on social media will not help in achieving high positions, it is not worth abandoning these practices. They bring other benefits, above all generating interest from readers. Facebook remarketing also works well, consisting of displaying ads to internet users who have visited the promoted website at least once, but whose visit did not end in the conversion desired by its owner.
The pace of promoting a website
Many people still believe that well-used SEO tools will bring an immediate effect in the form of a high position in the search engine. Unfortunately, today's positioning is a long-term activity, focusing not only on planning a campaign and running it, but also on constant monitoring and often modifying the steps taken.
So what should you do? Carry out well-thought-out activities, analysing their effectiveness and optimising them so as to achieve even better results within the assumed budget. This also applies to Google Adwords campaigns, which have only an indirect impact on the positions achieved. Therefore, if a marketing agency promises instant promotion of a website, you should be vigilant. A quick organic effect – if it is possible – is usually only for niche phrases. You should also be on your guard – because quick effects may simply turn out to be short-lived.
The importance of position in the search engine
Internet users pay attention not only to the highest-placed result, but above all to the first 10 in the search engine. However, there is still no evidence disproving the "Google golden triangle" effect, i.e. the pattern indicating that the attention of network users focuses on the area of the first words and gradually decreases. The biggest mistake, however, seems to be clinging to the belief that success in the search engine, understood as presence in the highest positions, especially for general phrases, is synonymous with the company's business success. Unfortunately – it is only one of many elements of marketing, because for high positions to translate into financial results, good marketing is needed, and indeed the entire company as a whole.
It is therefore very important not only how high we manage to be in the search results, but also what quality of page the user lands on after clicking the link.
- Today the role of "artificial" activities seems much smaller than a few years ago – whereas the importance of optimising the website itself, good hosting, SSL certificates, but also the impact the site has on people, is growing significantly. When carrying out SEO activities, it is worth remembering that consistency counts, and also – apart from position in the results – the website's ability to generate conversions – summarises Jakub Dwernicki, president of Hekko.pl.
Concepts from the article
SSL — Secure Sockets Layer. A historical protocol for encrypting connections, withdrawn due to vulnerabilities. The name has become colloquial — today's "SSL certificates" are in fact TLS certificates.
Why it matters: The name is everywhere: in hosting offers, in panels, in conversations with clients. It is worth knowing that when you buy "SSL", you get TLS.
When it is used: When ordering a certificate, talking to a hosting provider, reading the results of a security audit.
What the omission risks: Actual SSL protocols are rejected by browsers today — a connection over SSL 3.0 will not be established at all.
