This can’t happen, right? I mean, Google would have us believe their algorithms are not easily manipulated and that your rankings are safely under your (and their) control. But in fact there’s a chink in Google’s armor that can have massive consequences for any web business unfortunate enough to have aggressive and unethical competitors.

Here’s the loophole, explained.

It all began with Google’s aggressive attempts to curb link popularity manipulation by penalizing sites that purchase site-wide text link ads to get lots of incoming links in a hurry. (eg: If the ad selling site had 1,000 pages, the advertiser’s link would instantly be on 1,000 pages.)

Google began filtering sites that indulged in this kind of linkage and either penalized or flat out removed the site from its database. Bad news for that business. Excellent news for their competition. Can you guess what’s coming next?

Certain scoundrels began thinking: “If buying site-wide text link ads en masse will get my site into hot water with Google, why not buy them for my competitor’s site instead? Then just sit back and wait for Google to solve my number one business headache… the competition.” (Cue evil laughter sound track.)

This, ladies and gentlemen, is Google Bowling. Simple. Devious. Devastating. And not just in theory; it’s really happening out there.

Here at eTrafficJams.com, we are hearing from a lot of businesses whose sites once enjoyed great rankings (ours included) and now don’t even show up in Google for their own company name.

A small loophole has turned into a devastating black hole, sucking in and wiping out countless quality websites in the process. And it just may be their competitors sending them into the abyss.

Is your head spinning yet? I mean, it was bad enough knowing that with every Google update, your business may go up or down in the rankings depending on the whims of the Google geeks. But now add into the mix the fact that your competitors also have a hand in your search engine health and wellness… well, Houston, we have a problem.

Although this would be a fortuitous time for me to suggest that the solution to this problem is hiring a reputable SEO firm to watch over your rankings, I shall resist the temptation. Instead, I’d like to offer Google – as if they’re listening – a simple solution to this nasty problem.

Right now, Google hands out either rewards or harsh penalties for linking strategies – good rankings to reward good linking techniques, and penalties, such as the now-infamous sandbox, to punish un-cool, manipulative linking practices. But there isn’t any middle ground.

I say why not create a neutral response… a filter that simply ignores questionable links, neither rewarding nor punishing them?

This way, we would see several beneficial outcomes: 1) Innocent victims of Google Bowling don’t get hurt. 2) If the dubious links actually were perpetrated by the business at the receiving end of them, Google would exclude those links and the site would gain nothing. It would simply be throwing ad money out the window (unless, of course, it was buying site-wide ads in vehicles that generated relevant traffic). And 3) Google’s reputation for delivering accurate and fair search results would be restored.

Google needs to do something soon to plug this loophole, not just for the immediate relief of its users but for its own credibility.

Although being “Google Bowled” by a competitor and having your site removed from the database could ruin a small business, the consequences for Google could be just as dire. If chatter picks up that Google’s results are easy to manipulate and consequently inaccurate, users may be scared away to other search engines.

Fewer users = fewer clicks on ads = lower revenues. Well, I don’t have to spell that out for the financial wizards at Google.

But just think: a few stories on the big TV networks, say on MSNBC (*cough* think Bill Gates’ MSN Search, a major Google competitor), revealing how the new sport of Google Bowling is sweeping the nation… well, the average user at home may start to have doubts about Google and maybe decide to try out Yahoo! or MSN Search.

Is it really that far-fetched to speculate that someone like oh, I don’t know, Mr. Gates, might take advantage of this situation to solve his number one business headache… the competition?

So I suggest a simple solution to Google’s link bowling problem: neutralize suspicious links so they are neither helpful nor harmful. Problem solved. Sorry, Mr. Gates.

As the owner of a search engine optimization company , I have seen the SEO industry evolve a great deal over the years but never more dramatically than it is right now. Lately I have noticed signs that the “free ride” of getting easy website traffic from search engines is coming to an end. And that has caused many optimizers and website owners to ask themselves, “Is overnight SEO success still possible?”

In the early years (very early), it sure seemed like it was. One could simply add a bunch of keyword meta tags and get almost instant results. Then, meta tags were out and doorway pages were in.

The next fad was links from any and all sites, the more the better. When relevancy in links became a factor, many webmasters rushed to get link scripts installed and set up link directories with relevant categories.

Then content got a good run for a while. And most recently, text link ads (paid links) became all the rage.

Paid Links: The Straw That Broke Google’s Back?

As soon as link popularity became the holy grail of SEO and webmasters began learning how to artificially increase it with paid links, Google began working on filters to stop ranking manipulation. It also seems to have inspired the rumored “aging delay” in which new sites on newly registered domains face long waits to get indexed by the grand daddy of all engines.

While catching cheaters is a good thing, a lot of legitimate, quality sites are also getting caught up in Google’s new fishnet. There is plenty of grumbling among webmasters who report waiting up to nine months to appear in the Google rankings for even the most obvious keywords such as their company name.

Yes, getting top rankings in Google is definitely a lot harder (and slower) than it used to be. This is partly because more sites are being indexed and the sheer volume of competition is making it tougher to rise to the top. But that’s only part of the picture.

Google and the other engines are hell bent on preventing rankings manipulation, and since they hold all the cards, we’d better learn to play the game by their rules. And that, funnily enough, could mean going back to some of the “no brainer” promotional methods in use four or five years ago, when many of us took our businesses online for the first time. Back then, we did things like distributing articles and press releases and buying ads in relevant publications – not for the incoming links but for the visibility, traffic and credibility they generated. It just made sense.

With overnight SEO success a thing of the past, online business owners/operators not only have to change tactics – they also need to adjust their expectations.

Keeping SEOs on Their Toes

Responsible and workable SEO these days means not wasting your time or money trying to trick the search engines into ranking you highly for keyword phrases that you have no business ranking for in the first place. That’s why it’s so important before signing on with any optimization company to discuss these new expectations with them. You need to be an informed consumer because there are still SEOs living in the (very recent) past and still deeply committed to paid linking schemes, keyword stuffing, etc.

Now more than ever you as an SEO client need to investigate the optimization companies you’re considering. That means pumping them for details not just about their proven results but about their methodology such as keyword selection and link popularity before you pay the deposit.

Another reality check: SEO is going to be a tad more expensive in this new world (unless you are among the few who have the time, skills and resources to do it yourself). Reaching your target audience with interesting and compelling information about your industry is now the best way to achieve link popularity. But it’s definitely not as easy, fast or cheap as buying 100 site-wide text link ads or swapping links willy nilly.

If you don’t have the resources to produce regular copy about your business or industry, hiring an optimization company that has content writers to do the research and writing for you is probably your best bet. The benefits of greater link popularity AND visibility will be worth it over the long haul.

In Conclusion…

SEO continues to evolve, which these days means we all need to accept that getting top ten placements for competitive terms will not happen overnight nor in one month or even two.

Your task as a responsible SEO consumer is to do careful due diligence in selecting an optimization company. Be wary of any SEO that offers a quick fix, uses dubious tactics, and guarantees #1 rankings. Expect your optimization results to improve gradually over time.

No, overnight SEO success is no longer a reality for competitive keyword phrases but don’t let that get you down. It’s still worth doing… only now it’s worth doing well.

Anyway, the alternative - doing nothing – isn’t really an option. It reminds me of a saying hanging on the wall in my karate class: “While you are sleeping, someone else is training to kick your….”

I’ll let you guess the rest.

As the owner of a busy search engine marketing company, I’ve been in the trenches long enough to be able to predict whether a search engine optimization campaign is going to be a breeze or a struggle. When it’s a struggle, it’s often because the client hasn’t provided us with certain crucial elements we need to do our job efficiently.

So if you happen to be a business owner or manager contemplating search engine optimization, here are seven gifts you can give your SEO company to help ensure the campaign they create for you results in more web site traffic and sales without the struggle:

I. Assign a Contact Person. You’ve already convinced your boss to shell out the cash and hire professionals to do your search engine marketing. But if nobody on your end has been designated as the contact person, it causes delays as the SEO project manager desperately tries to find the right person to supply necessary information. End result: the project takes longer than expected, bosses get cranky, and struggle ensues. Solution: Assign a point person on your end who will work directly with the search engine marketing company. This individual should be given the authority to fast-track the flow of information.

II. Set Goals and Expectations.  Now that the search engine optimization company has been hired, they’ll want to know about your strategic vision. In other words, what do you expect from the SEO campaign? Obviously your company desires higher search engine placement and more web site traffic. But what do you want that traffic to do once they get to your site? Outlining a clear set of expectations helps your search engine marketing team deliver exactly what you want.

III.  Brace Yourself for Change. Your search engine optimization company will arrive at a point in their work when they may recommend changes to certain aspects of your site. Perhaps your HTML code isn’t spider-friendly or your content needs to be rewritten to include keyword phrases. Remember, it’s in your best interest to take their advice. So brace yourself for change and encourage your web development team to cooperate fully.

IV. Trust Your SEO. This is a big one. I have actually worked with clients who wanted top search engine rankings but refused to let us make any changes to their site! I have also had to discourage some pretty unreasonable requests for keyword terms, in particular the single-word terms. Do yourself a favor… if you sell fixed asset software, then let us optimize for the term “fixed asset software” and NOT the word “software”. Because even if you miraculously get a top ranking for “software”, you’ll also get a lot of useless traffic. So please, listen to and respect the opinions of your search engine marketing guru. The good ones know the drill and are genuinely looking out for your best interests.

V.  Don’t be a Scrooge. “You have to spend money to make money.” Nowhere is that more true than in search engine optimization. Experienced business managers know that spending $1,000 a month is a wise investment if it earns them $10,000 in additional revenues. Here are just two reasons why you should loosen the purse strings: Link popularity and SEO maintenance.
1. Link Popularity: Our experience has shown that reciprocal linking is a nightmare to manage and takes six months or more to produce any tangible results. So I encourage our SEO clients to consider paying for one-way links to their site. Some are initially surprised at this, but they come around when we prove that paying for the right link partners can increase rankings and generate more than enough new traffic to justify the cost. (Note: These link partners must be chosen carefully, based upon their relevance to your industry and their importance in the eyes of the search engines.)
2. Monthly Maintenance: The search engine optimization world changes constantly and you don’t have time to keep up with it all. Paying your SEO team a few dollars to monitor your site’s performance and react to the engines’ sometimes unpredictable changes is a wise investment.

VI. Prepare to Measure Results. You need a solid plan to measure the results of your search engine optimization. If sales go through the roof, that’s great! But what if they only increase slightly? Does that mean the campaign was a failure? You can only answer that question if you’re measuring your web site traffic. That’s why eTrafficJams.com includes a web site traffic analysis tool with every SEO campaign we run so you can monitor your traffic daily. It tells you what keyword phrases, search engines, and link partners are sending you the most web site traffic, as well as what pages visitors land on and what paths they take through your site. This information is vital to judging the success of your search engine marketing campaign and knowing whether and what changes are needed.

VII.  Anticipate a Long-Term Relationship. Try to hire an SEO company that considers your search engine marketing campaign as the beginning of a partnership and not just another sale. Serious search engine optimization companies understand that your relationship will be a long and hopefully productive one. So don’t be shy about staying in touch with them and leveraging their vast knowledge about search engine marketing. Ask them what’s going on with your campaign, what needs to be done, and what the results are. It will keep you in the loop and keep them thinking about you!

The best gifts offer as much pleasure to the giver as to the receiver. If your business puts these seven elements in place as part of your search engine optimization project, you’ll reap the rewards of a struggle-free campaign that produces the results you hoped for. And in the SEO world, that’s the greatest gift of all!