The latest news and views on what is happening in Search Engine Optimization and Online Marketing
In early 2022 X-Cart made a major change to their business model. Instead of downloading the code, paying a one off licence fee (c. $500) and ‘off you go’ the new setup requires a $199+ monthly subscription. That’s a major on cost for some businesses.
With X-Cart now effectively costing $2,400+ per year is it the best option for businesses who rely heavily on SEO to get their traffic?
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Creating the content needed to rank – or continue ranking – as Google’s Natural Language Processing (NLP) changes roll out over the coming months could put you back thousands of dollars per page.
If you’re a small business without a hefty budget I’ll show how you can minimize the costs.
Google’s latest algorithm update in late September left many people scratching their heads but when you consider it alongside the search giant’s main strategy everything becomes clear.
First let’s run down what a great many webmasters experienced … reduced visitor numbers. But this wasn’t the usual swipe at spammers or the loss of prized keyword rankings.
It’s a SEO mantra, “Content is king”. You can’t rank without it. So when Neil Patel claimed in February 2019 that content wasn’t king anymore was he onto something?
If you haven’t come across Neil Patel before he holds a celebrity status with some do it yourself search engine optimizers. You can’t help but enjoy his upbeat persona as he bounces around the screen on YouTube videos or throws out his tips on podcasts.
I’ve been doing quite a bit of traveling recently which has given me the chance to catch up on some podcasts. They’re a great way to learn something new when there is nothing else going on except motorway tarmac or air stewardesses trying to sell you over priced drinks.
Most podcasts are interviews with people who have achieved some level of online success and listening to a number of these back to back I started to get a picture of characteristics they all have in common.
This summer Google started rolling out its new way of thinking. It hit some online businesses hard while others will not have noticed a thing … for now.
The industry Google was taking to task was pharmaceuticals and medication in general. Where Google had once in the past seen links from quality sites to yours as a reason why you should rank highly in the search results it now wants to see extra authority.
First came the likes of SEO Nuke, massive link building operations that worked for a while before they (and the sites that used them) were sent to oblivion by Google penalties and algorithm updates.
Then came article sites, article spinners, link wheels and networks such as MyBlogGuest. Once again those who used them benefited for a while until, once again, Google caught up with their systems and devastating consequences were felt by those who had believed them to be ‘safe’.
Bloggers changed the way we received information about the world and felt like a breath of fresh air compared to old style journalists pushing the agendas of whoever owned their news outlet.
But power brings corruption and that’s where many bloggers have fallen … giving Google a headache.
It wasn’t that long ago that you could get dozens of articles written for less than the price of a meal out. Software like Traffic Paymaster would spin and spin your words at the click of a mouse.
But what is created by machines can be spotted by machines and Google successfully bought the practice to an end.
Into its place jumped ‘human written’ article writing services that cost a bit more but offered a safer route to keep under Google’s radar. But does it actually make any SEO sense?
Mobilegeddon came and went a year ago last Spring. Disasters forecast never materialised but Google’s new ‘Mobile First’ approach to ranking may be the real Mobilegeddon. Is your website prepared?
