The Future of SEO in a Big Brand, Google-Only World

[tshirtdeal]

Okay, sort of a hypothetical...

I have been doing SEO really since the day it was invented but not with any real success until the last say 7 years...

In that time Google took over, and for me my only money comes from Google... Right now all my money is gone because whatever Google is doing.. All is fair in love and war... I still get my other traffic, it does not make me a dime.. Google took away 1/3 of my traffic total and 100% loss in sales

Anyway, over the years it use to be people surfed different searches, then Google became the standard... The wide array of building profitable traffic got narrowed into one place. It use to be you had to be on the first three pages, surfers got less interested and lazy, realizing anything they want could be found in the top 5 choices... They trusted Google as they should, it is what Google works at...


Then over the last couple of years big business realized, heck we should just put teams together and dominate the top five, we have the resources and money and natural links and everything else to dominate... They say "we don't have to dominate the search" as they do not, because anyone would naturally just type their well branded name into the browser... Yet, they can dominate the top 5 and should because odds are the people up their are just affiliates or ad sellers that are selling for them...

Sure they are making a profit anyway, but less of a profit. For the profits they were giving away they could just invest half of that and dominate...(and do huge branded companies really want nobodies and anybodies marketing their model but them, I WOULD NOT! It was a gold rush and they wanted in, now they do not) Google naturally respects them anyway because people naturally link to them, they are huge, a name they can trust , G hates affiliates...

Now G must realize that really all Adsense is is affiliate marketing... people making a little something for people to get to the same place they knew they needed/wanted to go anyway... In the end, the way people have been trained to the net, top 3 maybe 5 in Google... that is as deep as the net goes on any serious level...

Oh yeah, and with smarter surfer's comes less used keywords, only a few keywords now make money and everyone in the entire world is competing for it... Sure their are keywords no one is competing for... Because they make NO money...

To be honest what once seemed like a limitless world to me for marketing my ideas now seems like the most narrow... It has been reduced to 5 places that can make money, and closing in on three with competition through the roof... Hell I could teach a 5 year old how to build a nice SEO site... SEO use to be a talent, web deign a secret skill... it is SOOO saturated... I think I can stand on the corner of my street and gain more attention, respect and income in the Long term then SEO. I see door-to-door sales as more a lucrative future.

This is not an anti-Google or SEO thread... I just see the noose tightening... I always felt so long as I just put out my content and have a small place to operate I can succeed and felt it would always be available in SEO... I am to the realization that it is not...

So the question becomes, how can you survive in such a limitless environment with SEO... We are down to one search engine, and 3 to 5 spaces...

[CenSin]

If it is a useful service then sites talking about it can only link. Scraping is of no value because the service cannot be accessed by mere page duplication. The customer has no choice but to go to the origin site.

Then all of us should turn off feed and put noarchive for our pages.

[netmeg]

I already noarchive everything, cause there's no reason not to.

[CenSin]

Not to mention feed, I think it's the major cause of all junk sites on internet.

With carefully aggregate feeds for some targeted keywords, a new site with no real content can quickly knock out even a long established sites.

[Elsmarc]

@scottsonline

"The beauty of google was that it gave the little guy an equal chance. That chance is being crushed slowly."

The reality is there weren't as many web sites not so long ago as there are now. I started sites back as early as 1996 as a hobby. It was fun back then. I started using AdSense in 2003 and have essentially retired. My sites are small, but good niches so income is good.

These days I have relatives and friends out of work who all want to know 'how I did it'. They want to get into the game. They need money. They think a web site is the answer. They fail to realize that the Gold Rush is over. They also don't take into account I've been doing this for many, many years. Competition for jewelery sales (an example a cousin of mine wants help setting up a site for) is in the millions. And, he's pi$$ed because his GoDaddy site isn't doing well even though he pays GoDaddy US$30 extra a month (or something like that) for "visibility".

When the number of 'little guys' ends up being the majority, as is the scenario today, it's hard to expect to be ranked highly especially if one is new.

The reality is that Google can not give *every* 'little guy' a chance (or at least the 'chance' they believe they are due).

@plumsauce: Right on. Content is king. Longevity comes close. Nothing has really changed.

I make in the 6 figures from some small niche forums. I don't sell things in my forums. I give away technical information and help (well, you do have to Register if you want to post, but registration is free). In the early days before I started doing forums in 1997-98 I did all the content. These days the visitors provide the content. I'm a one man show who does everything from managing the servers, to backups, etc., and I keep the sites clean, neat, on topic, in control and spam free. I visit each one, and to some degree participate in each, a few times a day, 7 days a week. My domains are all paid through 2019 or 2020. I'm sixty years old now so by the time they expire I'll be 70. And if everything continues as it is now, I'm sure I'll renew them all in 2015 for another 5 or ten years.

As to the original poster, I see no noose tightening. The only down year I have had was 2007 (and it was a 'stay even' year, not a loss year). I never see the effects people talk about when the Google updates come (e.g.: Florida which so many people described as disastrous). This year my little sites are still getting significantly more visitors than last year (and the year before, and the year before), eCPM is way up, as are page views. I will also say I do not do SEO on any of my sites any more, other than the occasional tweak once or twice a year. The basics haven't changed.

I will say that thinking back over the years, there were some forums in a couple of my niches which tried to compete. All are long gone. I credit my personal interest in each as the reason my sites continue to today and continue to become more popular.

Again - I'm a 'one man band'. I'm not a 'big guy'. I've never done link exchanges other than a few with sites some time back, I've never advertised, and I don't pay much attention to SEO. Yet - Every year is better than the one before. Heck, I've never even had a business plan. This all sorta 'happened' as a result of a hobby (I also did BBS stuff on landline modems in the 1980's running BBS-PC on an Amiga 1000) and passion for electronic medium and communications.

The internet is just evolving as one would expect. There are some winners and some losers (mostly losers these days). But that can be said about all aspects of life.

[netmeg]

(I also did BBS stuff on landline modems in the 1980's

Heh, me too - the first NETMEG system was a FIDO-BBS!

[Rlilly]

@Elsmarc
The big difference is, you are in "niche forums". However, the majority here are selling products of some kind and have to compete with the brands. It is these folk who are suffering from the "The Future of SEO in a Big Brand, Google-Only World"

Trust me I know, my site has dominated the SERPs for more than a decade untill recently - the only entities which have pushed me down in the SERPS are big brands and large multinational companies - Which in my view is because of manipulation done manually by G.

[scottsonline]

Elsmarc youve said it yourself. You are in a niche so small google has missed you. If more than a few players come to the table they may not miss you in the future.

As a last ditch effort with the CIO of a supplier tonight they are going to no index product pages. The push to branding is hurting their resellers.

Here is a simple suggestion to the search engines:
If what you think is the 'brand' has no outward means of contact for your web search customers it shouldnt be listed first for two reasons
1. The brand doesn't want to be contacted
2. Your search customer is being sent down a dead end

[myindiahub]

i do not know that how to use my product feed and aggregation in Google search engine

[lexipixel]

(I also did BBS stuff on landline modems in the 1980's

Heh, me too - the first NETMEG system was a FIDO-BBS!

My TBBS system (and my TSX-32 BBS box) are sitting in the rack behind me! I'm waiting for them (and my CB radio) to come back into style.

[tshirtdeal]

As to the original poster, I see no noose tightening. The only down year I have had was 2007 (and it was a 'stay even' year, not a loss year). I never see the effects people talk about when the Google updates come

Everything you mention is the exact reason the noose is tightening...

You simply can not eliminate all the search market share down to 1 and multiply the competition by 100 and not have a tightened noose...

You state that both of those things occurred in your post but you disagree the noose is tightening... You have either been wise or lucky :)

[mrguy]

We are down to one search engine, and 3 to 5 spaces...

There is your problem. You have boxed yourself into 1 search engine. If Google folded today, I'd still be getting traffic from other sources so it's not a 1 search engine world as you say.

You made your world around 1 specific search engine and that is the biggest mistake you could of made.

[Reno]

You made your world around 1 specific search engine and that is the biggest mistake you could of made.

There is much wisdom in that statement but on the other hand, I thoroughly understand how it could happen, especially when that one search engine so totally dominates the field. Yes, if Google folded I'd still get traffic from Y/bing, and presumably without G in the picture that traffic level would be much higher than it is today, which in comparison to G is considerably less. To add more confusion to the picture, Google threw a hand grenade into the market when it gave the impression that sites which traded links could lose PR and thus end up lower in the SERPs. We all know that link exchanges ~ even legitimate ones ~ almost came to a standstill as a result of that impression, which means we depended on Google even more and as a result now have less sites pointing to us, all because we did not want to incur their perceived wrath.

So at some point at this forum I hope that those who managed to keep their numbers high without depending on the one thousand pound gorilla search engine will share with the rest of us some insights as to how that can happen. For myself, I can see it more theoretically than I can practically, and yet we've read the testimony of some webmasters here that there is a way to make it happen. Speaking for myself, given the reality of web 2010, it's just not clear what exactly that path requires to actually work.

......................

[CenSin]

Maybe it's OOT, just came to my mind.

I wonder if links in email can be one of parameter for SE to rank our pages.

I used to answer email from my site visitors and usually give some links to my site to answer or give more details related to their questions.

When I search my domain name in goog, the results of '+ more from this site' are links that I usually give as an answer to emails.

I believe links in email are "hidden backlinks", and also contribute to your page value.

Speaking of other source of traffic, emails can also act as viral marketing for us.
(I am not talking about spam emails, only a personal and genuine email intend to response to visitor inquiry)

[tshirtdeal]

There is your problem. You have boxed yourself into 1 search engine

Mr. Guy, I have stated in this post that me losing Google accounted for less then a 1/3 loss in traffic but 100% loss in profits...

I have not limited myself, I have traffic coming in from all over targeted areas, Bing, Ask, Google, , Social stuff, Related sites... It has made me zero money...

I can market myself in all these areas but it does nothing, Google has the market share by a landslide, the other search engines are hardly worth putting extra effort in... What if I spent the last 2 years optimizing for Ask? Also, as I have now witnessed, Google converts better then anything available on the net, of course I always thought that and for all these reasons it is why I put most my efforts into it... now I just know it for fact...

[Jane_Doe]

For some topics, Bing converts much better than Google. You just have to experiment to see what works in best for each search engine. Google tends to have more tire kickers.

Tshirtdeal, are you getting much bookmark traffic?

[mrguy]

For some topics, Bing converts much better than Google. You just have to experiment to see what works in best for each search engine. Google tends to have more tire kickers.

I would agree with that 100%... And, by having "numerous" sites about various niches, you have a lot to work with should a few go south.

[Jane_Doe]

I would agree with that 100%... And, by having "numerous" sites about various niches, you have a lot to work with should a few go south.

I agree. I think it also helps to see the patterns in Google changes. When there is an algo change and you have some sites go up, some go down, and the rest stay the same usually some kind of obvious pattern of what they are trying to achieve emerges right away.

[Digmen1]

I own a small online retail website and I am getting quite a few proposals from SEO companies (mostly non USA) offering to improve my rankings.

So yes I think SEO is becoming a crowded area.

[tshirtdeal]

I agree with you guys very much on diversifying, but I have only had luck with one site and that 1 site took me 5 years of hard work (plus many more years of trial and error failure)

Perhaps I am doing it all wrong but my focus has always been on content... I gave up link building a few years ago when I saw no future in it long term... I made the decision that things like entry/exit pages, how long visitors stay on and what they do on the site will be more important down the road then link building and link building seems to just get ya in trouble... It was working as my content alone was building traffic, in what I felt the safest manner...

Anyway, my point being, yes diversification is important but it is just not that easy for a single person to actually diversify... It is a ton of work, at least for me... the work I put into making this one site successful is crazy... I took on a few other sites over the years but none paid out at all..

With that said I did diversify in another area (my plan B) which has nothing to do with SEO, IT, online marketing at all... so it all comes down to that now for me... the only thing I am happy about is that a couple years I saw all my eggs in the SEO business and panicked and created a plan B...

I have no plan C and have a hell of a lot to lose right now but in the words of Dylan, "It's life and life only"

[tshirtdeal]

For some topics, Bing converts much better than Google

Jane, do you mainly see this in finance related stuff?

[MrFewkes]

What are we going to do then?

Nothing - just die - and to be honest this is what we deserve for letting them get to this.

What do you think the outcry would have been like if the serp changed from 2001 to how it is now - but overnight?

Oh no - they have crept up to this point and had us all crying - but only a bit each time.

I think its about time google got kicked off the internet by the people who own it - US. Im sick of them.

[MrFewkes]

"You made your world around 1 specific search engine and that is the biggest mistake you could of made."

ROTFL. You must be joking.

[enigma1]

I am getting quite a few proposals from SEO companies (mostly non USA) offering to improve my rankings.

You are talking about spam emails which I also see coming in on every site I have access to, regardless of content (even if they promote seo related services).

IMO The no-1 problem/challenge for search engines is to identify the owner of original content. If they manage to do that, things should improve because I don't think there is something saturated and they have the means and resources to trash the multi-million link game.

[LinkChina]

Has the pr of your site changed?

[tshirtdeal]

If you are asking me, no it has not dropped at all on the domain or internal pages...