The internet has changed life as we know it. I often sit back and think, “How did I ever get by without the internet?” If you are home based internet business owner like me, then the internet has even more of an impact on your life because it is probably directly related to your financial well-being. The goal of any online entrepreneur is to get to the top of Google. The two best, most powerful ways of how to advertise your business are paid advertising and SEO (Search Engine Optimization).
SEO is great because once you’re ranked on Google’s first page, all the traffic you get is free. There is no other form of advertising that can even come close to offering a better marketing solution for your home business than that. With that being said, getting to the top of Google can be a challenge especially because some of the criteria Google uses to rank sites are kept secret by them in order to preserve quality and relevance.
In an attempt to always provide a better search engine experience, Google rolls out updates on occasion which aim to bring the best possible content to its users. Google Panda is Google’s most recent update. Google Panda made a huge splash in the internet world when it launched in February 2011, and many big name sites that experienced a long life of high ranking on Google suffered severe consequences.
What made the Google Panda update so dramatic was the criteria for ranking high in the SERP’s was determined by human quality testers who gave their feedback on what they thought made a site valuable, or not valuable, and worthy of search engine ranking.
It used to be if you had a site with relevant content, lots of backlinks, and some domain history, then the answer to “how to advertise your business online?” became very simple because that’s all you had to do to rank your site well on Google. These criterion, however, gave way to “link farms” aka “content farms” where one could purchase hundreds or thousands of “backlinks” to point to their site, and then reap the benefits of high ranking. Google caught on, and now it’s a different ball game for the aspiring internet entrepreneur. If you’re wondering how to do well with the new Google Panda changes, here is what you need to do:
1) Make Sure Your Entire Site Is Search Engine Friendly
So, I’m not going to go into on-site SEO tips here, but, simply put, every page on your site needs to have good relevant content not just the home page.
2) Original Content
Make sure every amount of text on your site is your own. If you copy and paste text from somewhere else online, trust me, Google will find out and penalize you for it. Make sure your site has a healthy amount of content that is not only original, but also valuable. Ask yourself, “Would you enjoy visiting your own site?”
3) Non-Computer Generated Site
If you are forced to have an affiliate site, or some other site that is auto-generated, you’ll be fighting a losing battle with Google Panda. Your site needs to be developed by a human and have a unique quality to it.
4) Not Too Much Advertising
This may not apply to you, but if you decide to advertise on your site, just do it in moderation. If your site appears to focus just on “ad stuffing”, you’ll need to fix that to do well.
5) Monitor Bounce Rate
If you don’t have a Google Analytics account set up for your site, this is an absolute must. It’s free to sign up, and you’ll be able to see exactly how people are using your site. One of the factors Google Panda looks at is “time on site.” If people tend to click-on and immediately click-off your site, this is not good and is an indication that your site is either not relevant to what they are looking for, or your content is not worthy of their time.
In conclusion, mold every facet of your site around what’s in the best interest of the site visitor. If your desire is to satisfy your site visitors and less on just self-promotion, you’ll do well. Keep at it. You’ll be rewarded soon enough.
