7 Steps to Rank Well During Google’s Panda Updates (Part 2 of 2)

In part one, we discussed the first four steps to rank well during Google’s Panda updates. The first four steps included writing good quality content, developing an SEO plan, writing link bait, and blogging consistently.

In this post, part two, we are going to discuss the three remaining steps to rank well, which include building high quality backlinks, optimizing through social media, and the importance of thinking like a marketer. Let’s get started with the importance of building high quality backlinks.

5. Build High Quality Links
Many people believe that link building is dead. This is not the case. As a search engine optimization company, we inform our clients that link building is still important as part of an overall SEO campaign. The only difference is that it’s all about building high quality backlinks. Instead of putting your time into low quality directories, you want to focus on the higher quality directories. Press release sites and article directories still provide value to share your content. The key is to focus on writing good quality press releases and articles.

In part one, we discussed the importance of developing link bait – high quality content on your Website and blog that people want to link to. We also discussed the importance of writing for a particular audience or avatar, so it’s easier to attract these target Websites to link to you. Once you have good quality content that has been published on your Website, reach out to these companies that you have written your content for and build a relationship. Over time, you will be able to develop some high quality backlinks that will help with your ranking.

In terms of guest blogging, take the time to build relationships with influential bloggers by commenting on their posts and reaching out to them. Take the time to leave well thought out comments. Not only can you get a backlink from the comment, but if you are one of the first three to five people to comment, you can even drive traffic to your Website. By providing high quality comments over time, the blogger will start to recognize your name, which will allow you to reach out to them in the future.

6. Optimize Through Social Media
As many of you are aware, social media is growing in importance for SEO. More and more social media continues to have a greater impact on search engine rankings. Apart from including your keyword, the full link, and linking your social media posts to relevant pages on your Website, you really want to focus on engagement. What does that mean? It means that your posts should create value. It also means that you should try to maximize engagement through calls to action to like your content or by asking fans to share their perspective. And you want to run campaigns designed to maximize engagement such as sweepstakes, trivia, and fan sharing.

By approaching social media from a qualitative perspective while maximizing engagement, you increase shares, +1s and likes, which influence your ranking.

7. Think Like a Marketer
Because of Google’s shift from low quality link building to high quality content and authority, you have to shift back to thinking like a marketer. Apart for doing initial keyword research to determine what keywords you want to rank well for, you have to think about what target audiences you want to appeal to. And we are not just talking about the target audience you want to sell to. We are talking about the target audience that you want to link to you.

You have to think about your target audiences emotional drivers so they are more compelled to share your content and link to you. And you have to plan. If you have any questions, please leave a comment. We’re here to help.