I have read several articles and blogs recently which seem to suggest that there will be no place for SEO in the future and that Link Building is all but yesterday’s news and does not work anymore. Is this actually the case though?

It might surprise you to know that in 2010 alone Google made changes to its algorithm over 531 times! Some of these changes were minor and a couple were major, especially the ‘Panda’ updates which attacked certain types of link building and also weeded out websites with low value or duplicate content. Many websites which had previously enjoyed a high ranking in the search engine results disappeared from the listings overnight. These sites had low value inbound links, often created via ‘link farms’. It is these low value links that Google has removed from their algorithm.

I think this is only right and proper as it now means that only good quality relevant links generated from useful original content published in high PR web properties have any value for SEO purposes. All GB Web Marketing link building is done in conjunction with the publication of good quality content, either blogs or articles, on high PR blogs, directories, social bookmarking sites or other niche relevant websites. Any SEO company still offering stand alone link building services i.e. link building not allied to good quality content production is simply not up to speed with what is happening.

Professional SEO services such as those from GB Web Marketing must focus on the production of good quality, fresh, original content that adds value to the reader and that content has to be 100% relevant to your business.

Organic Search Engine Optimisation will continue to be important in the internet marketing mix but tools, technologies and tactics have evolved and of course UK business owners themselves have become much more aware of the internet and they quite rightly expect a return on their investment i.e. results!

SEO and Link Building will both remain relevant because more people click on organic search results than paid search ad’s. Google tell us that between 11 billion and 12 billion searches are made (worldwide) each month. Organic search results get between 80% and 90% of those clicks – paid search is only 10% -20%.

SEO is also the number one conversion tactic. Businesses using SEO including link building and Social Media Marketing together can achieve a 94% increase in their click through rate

Google are now looking at ‘web presence optimisation’ – not just your website but all your other web properties as well e.g. your blog, your social profiles and the quality of your social posts. Broadly they are looking at the following:

a) Website: good quality relevant content, regular content updates, good quality back-links from high PR sites relevant to your niche using appropriate anchor text to the correct page in the website.

b) Other Online Properties: fresh, original, unique content with a minimum of 10% of the current algorithm weighting being allocated to social media

GB Web Marketing believe that in the future we would not expect to see ‘SEO’ as a separate cost item in a company’s P&L – it will be absorbed into a new category ‘Content marketing’. To succeed in internet marketing, businesses will need to have optimised content marketing strategies.

We are well aware of the state of play in the world of internet marketing – over 12 months ago we stopped doing link building that was not allied to the production and publication of good quality content. This is the value you get by working with search engine optimisation professionals like GB Web Marketing.

For more information about Link Building or any of our internet marketing services please leave a comment below or use the contact form.