Meta Keywords Do Not Affect SEO:

SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, has evolved dramatically over the past decade. Many of the key factors for ranking a website in the past are no longer as important. It is now 2010 and sites like Facebook, You Tube, Digg, Delicious, Reddit, and other social media sites, are becoming more and more popular. It is no coincidence that these sites have an influence on SEO.

It is important to note that even the term “SEO” has evolved over the past decade. SEO once referred to the things you do internally to optimize a website (meta tags, content, etc) to rank highly on search engines. Now SEO has broadened to include social media, so that it is no longer just about driving traffic through high search engine rankings. It’s about driving traffic through a variety of mediums, including social media.

Here are some SEO factors of the past that no longer carry as much weight:

• Meta keywords- Keyword stuffing was the old school way to rank your website. Simply by stuffing high traffic keywords in the meta description you could potentially rank highly. Google has come out and said that meta keywords carry no weight.
• Meta description- It can be argued that Google also places little to no value on the meta description. They are still important because this description is what appears in a search engine when your website ranks. Also, other search engines, like Yahoo in particular, likely still value the meta description; however, they’re not nearly as important as they once were.
• Generic backlinks- Paid link building was all the craze in the past decade. Paying for links from generic websites and posting on forums, blogs and other directories is not nearly as effective as it once was. While very selective paid link building with highly ranking sites can still be somewhat effective, Google prefers naturally building backlinks through unique content creation. This is where a blog comes in to play.
• Keyword Density- Don’t get me wrong, having well-written, keyword-rich content s great, especially for long tail keyword phrases. However, keyword density does not have the impact it once did in search engine rankings. Quality backlinks (see below) and anchor text links tend to have more of an impact.

Here are some new SEO factors that will carry more weight in the future:

• Social Media- Being active in social networks is crucial for increasing the visibility of the content you put out.
• Unique content- It’s been known for a while now that duplicate content is frowned upon by search engines. More than ever unique content is crucial for search engines. Blogging platforms are an easy way to set yourself up to produce a lot of unique content.
• Quality backlinks- Highly ranking sites that point to your site can definitely benefit you. Just as search engines value the link these popular sites are giving you, more people are likely to click on the link and view your website.
• Video- More than ever videos are showing up in search engine rankings. Videos can be optimized, just like articles. They are a crucial component to going “viral” with a message.

It is impossible to ignore the value that Google places on social media. This is evident in the real time results with Twitter, Facebook indexing, search Wiki (Google’s own social bookmarking site), Google Buzz, Google Wave, and much more. Many people refer to this as is your “social group”. Your “social group” might consist of Facebook fans, Twitter followers, Linked In groups, RSS feed subscribers, and much more. In the past there was an emphasis on “link groups” to improve your search engine rankings. These are things like backlinks and anchor text links. While these “links groups” are still important, it is arguable that your “social group” is becoming as important as your “link group”.

One thing is for sure, the future of search engine results will be not be dominated by websites alone, but rather a mix of websites and social media websites. The blend of social media and search engine optimization has already formed the term “social media optimization.” According to Wikipedia, social media optimization is “the methodization of social media activity with the intent of attracting unique visitors to website content. SMO in one of two online methods of website optimization; the other method is search engine optimization.”

Contact Turbo Social Media today to learn more about how we can help your business improve its social media optimization. Or call us at 877-673-7096.

About The Author:  Tom Sullivan is the senior account executive at Turbo Social Media. He has managed accounts for a wide variety of businesses, from small “Mom and Pop” businesses to multi-million dollar corporations. His success in business stems from his entrepreneurial drive and his desire to do “whatever it takes” for his clients to be successful. Tom received his BA in Business Management Economics from the University of California at Santa Cruz. He is a former collegiate rugby player and he enjoys playing softball, golfing, camping, and snowboarding in his spare time.

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