What Has Changed in SEO? with Barry Schwartz

Search Engine Optimization is one of the fastest-moving industries out there which is why it is so exciting.

But what really has changed and what are some outdated myths that need to go?

Jim Boykin, Founder and CEO of Internet Marketing Ninjas, and Ann Smarty, IMN’s analyst, are joined by Barry Schwartz to talk about the evolution of SEO and some common SEO myths.

Barry Schwartz is the CEO of RustyBrick, a New York Web service firm specializing in customized online technology that helps companies decrease costs and increase sales. Barry blogs on SEO over at Search Engine Roundtable and Search Engine Land.

How has SEO changed over the years?

Fundamentally, SEO hasn’t changed: You need relevant content that Google can access and crawl.

What changed is the SEO tactics.

Low-quality content doesn’t rank, and Google has learned to identify and ignore low-quality links as well. Google has learned to map our artificial signals and reward the real expertise.

The competition has become much higher, so Google has to select from a larger pool of options.

Google’s interface has also changed – load packs, featured snippets, images and videos – everything in the way of those 10 blue links.

It has become more of a challenge to generate traffic from Google.

So the SEO strategy has become much more diverse: You need to rank in those extra search sections. The most successful SEO companies are the ones that adapted and found new opportunities.

What Are Some SEO Myths That Need to Go?

There are lots of SEO theories which were contradicted by official Google representatives, like Google Analytics data being used to tank your rankings, etc.

There are myths on how to build links (lots of businesses are still being tricked into using paid blog networks). Luckily, most of those are no longer that dangerous because Google simply devalues them without penalizing the site.

There are confusions that DA (Domain Authority) is actually Google’s metric (which is not), so when you are judging the quality of any backlink, DA is not a metric to use.

There’s a lot of confusion in SEO industry for two reasons:

• A lot of that confusion has a lot to do with outdated tactics
• Google cannot be too descriptive about what they need for competitive reasons

Get in touch with Ninjas and we will create a strong SEO strategy for you that will be up-to-date and effective.