SEO services got a wakeup call from Google in February, 2012 when 40 changes to their algorithm for search went into effect. Although reputable consultants, content writers and SEO specialists keep up with the changes that affect their careers, the challenges of explaining the sudden changes that had to be made to the websites of clients have often been met with blank stares. They just won’t or refuse to accept that such a major change has been made so quickly. They have a hard time justifying that so much time has to be invested in correcting their online content for search engine optimization.
Many clients still insist that everything that goes up on their website has to be stuffed with keywords. The practice worked well for them until earlier in the year. They will readily admit that they noticed that reduced sales and reduced web traffic seemed to be dramatic at about that time. For some reason, they tend to want to believe that this is because of the economy, a recent holiday, change of season or a temporary glitch of some sort.
It’s true that a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing. After years of hearing about the importance of constant content, keywords and backlinks, they thought they had developed a basic knowledge of how a search engine operates. The client went back to running the business that they were involved in and left the website to the professionals. Business owners were able to see increases in marketing leads, increases in traffic to their websites and increased sales. Some of them actually started using the words backlinks and optimization is conversations with the techies in their employ.
Now the people responsible for the business websites are talking about Panda, Snippy, and Fuzhou and the business owner most likely thinks that they are talking about the latest television show for toddlers. It’s no wonder that they are not easily convinced that such extensive changes have to be made to their existing sites in order to take full advantage of the existing content. Many dig their heels in and are still demanding that new content follow the old, tested and proven ways of site management.
This leaves SEO services and freelance content writers faced with the dilemma of giving the client what the client wants or taking the chance of losing a client who just refuses to accept the changes for search engine optimization. SEO professionals have their own bills to pay and families to feed. On the other hand, do they want to be associated with a business who continues to follow practices that are not only out of date and could possibly cause the client to lose money in online ventures? Sooner or later the changes made will be more widely talked about. When the return on investment of the online segment of business marketing plans continues to fall, the realization will become apparent. The only question is whether the specialists in optimization will be able to hang on to both their reputations and ability to pay the bills until then.