Every year, the various SEO gurus, blogs, and agencies put out what they believe to be the secret formula for ranking better on the search engines. As we’ve discussed in detail many times in the past, there’s one thing that doesn’t change: quality content. If you put great content on your site and make sure that others can share and link to your content, you’ll rank better. It’s that simple.
Then again, it’s also very complication. One can put it all into a single sentence and declare SEO superiority, but do they really know based upon experience? Can they truly make a claim based upon results without knowing the other contributing factors to success of failure. If an SEO claims to know exactly how to rank better, they’re either lying or delusional. Despite common perceptions, nobody knows how to make it all work every time, not even those at Google or Bing. As strange as it may sound, the algorithms used to determine rankings for the billions of searches that are done every year are so complex and intertwined that even a team of Google engineers couldn’t build a “perfect” website.
The reason for this is often difficult to comprehend. Every search is different. The tactics that work for one type of website in one industry serving on particular area can be very different from the tactics used on another type of website in another industry serving another area. Once you throw in another component – keyword intent – you’re suddenly adding a new layer of diversity to the results even for similar keywords.
For example, if you do a search in Google for “2015 Chevrolet Camaro Los Angeles,” you’ll see different websites listed than if you type in “Chevrolet Camaro Los Angeles.” Google has seen what people will normally want to see based upon those who have typed in and clicked through to websites for each individual keyword. I know it can be confusing for anyone who isn’t immersed in SEO all day, but trust me when I say it’s complicated but not impossible to grasp.
This may sound depressing but it’s really not. It is what it is. The search engines are designed to have preferences and give weight based upon the data they collect and formulas applied to the data. Trying to build a perfect website for search is like trying to make the perfect beef stew. You can make one that a lot of people will call the best, but there will be others who don’t like it. The same is true for different searches, different websites, different industries, different intentions, different locations… the list goes on and on.
What’s the point of telling you all of this? Lately, I’m seeing a resurgence of gurus claiming to have the secret formula. They don’t. The formula is ever changing but we’ll go back to one basic premise that we use to make sure we’re always moving forward. If you put out incredible, relevant content and support that content with offsite signals in an organic and quality-minded manner, you don’t need a secret formula. You simply need quality. That’s what’s missing in so many SEO services today.
There’s a reason that so many try to apply secret formulas. The reality is that nobody wants to admit how difficult it is to do it the right way. The process is hard to scale and harder to adjust when changes are made. Instead of focusing on the costly and labor-intensive art of delivering high quality, they prefer to keep it obscured by a secret formula.
For complete transparency, there actually is a secret formula. Nobody knows it. The reason that it works is because it’s based upon algorithms that go beyond our capacity. That’s what makes Google and Bing so good at what they do. They don’t keep it a secret because they’re scared of what would happen if anyone found out. They keep it secret because we are incapable of understanding it with our human minds.
It’s best to just avoid secret formulas and stick with tried and true best practices. If you were to look at what we’ve accomplished for clients over the years, you’d be shocked to find out that our initial strategy developed in 2007 hasn’t changed much. How can that be? It’s because we don’t try to outsmart Google or Bing. We simply make adjustments to the way we deliver quality content. For now and into the future, it’s the only bulletproof methodology available in SEO.
You don’t need a secret formula. You need hard work, good strategy, and great content. A great beef stew starts with great beef. You don’t have to get too fancy if you have a solid base.
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