Beating the "Santa Algorithm"
WRITTEN by: Bill Sterzenbach |
categories:
SEO
A common subject I get into with my clients is the concept that Google will somehow know, and misinterpret legitimate organic optimization efforts as some sort of "punishable offense". It is of course out of an abundance of caution that folks are concerned about optimization in light of some of the horror stories they hear about 'delistings' and other nasty outcomes from shady SEO practices, but often the fear is unfounded.
You Should Avoid Sneaky Search Practices
There are a lot of search companies doing some pretty shady things - and you should avoid these folks. Google wants to ensure that their search results are reliable and valuable to their searchers, so they will take action if the search listings are being manipulated in a way that effects their quality. Here are some common practices to avoid:
- Hidden text
- Hidden links
- Rented links (unless there is a legitimate reason other than Page Rank to purchase them)
- Any dealings with shady search folks
Google is not Santa Claus
Our lead search engineer David coined the phrase 'The Santa Algorithm' the other day referring to the ambiguous fear that Google somehow knows when 'you've been bad or good'. Google is not omnipotent - yet. If you are avoiding shady search practices, don't spend precious energy worrying over what Google might know. Google essentially wants webmasters to optimize their sites, so responsible optimization is nothing the fret over, and even if you are doing optimization, no automated process is as prescient as many fear Google may be. Some organic search practices that are OK to pursue:
- Encouraging other webmasters to link to your site
- Optimizing your heading tags
- Optimizing your title tags
- Optimizing meta description tags (used in Google's listing abstract) to increase Click Through Rate
Just Leave a Cookie on the Mantle
Google doesn't see you when you're sleeping. They don't know when you're awake. The have no reliable way of determining if you've been bad or good (unless you use Chrome), so relax for goodness sake.
