- Mar 21, 2013
- 24,829
- 31,588
Is content still king?
Yes and no.
Yes: As part of a continuous effort to sell products and drive traffic to an institutional site, whether it's a small shop or a large corporation, content is still king for SEO. They call it content marketing and the name really honors its purpose. You write good content, it drives people it, get links and so on.
No: Because some recent experiments have proven that you can rank a website with 100% garbage content in a non-existent language. ( Reference: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-algorithm-loopholes/278093/ ). So in terms of black hat SEO, then no, content really isn't king and you can still rake in cash from sites with 100% garbage in them.
Are links still king?
Yes and no. Mainly yes.
Yes: Links which receive traffic AND drive traffic AND come from reputable sites are still king. Google has added the behavioral signal to its links.
No: Links which just sit there from sites, no matter how high their metrics are, and don't do shit are worthless. Even if Google indexes a link from a high metrics site, and that link does not drive traffic or generate any real user engagement, that link will be worthless.
Think of links in 2019 as social media posts. A post with zero engagement is worthless. You may then ask how Google measures link engagement. Well. Chrome, analytics and perhaps other user tracking shit like black vans and such.
What Black Hat methods will still work in 2019?
Methods that drive engagement and other user positive behavioral signals should still work.
If you're able to work your black hat strategy such that it generates true user signals (like link clicks with low bounce rates), then you'll probably have an effective black hat strategy.
The key thing here is to factor user behavior into your BH strategy. Stale links, blasting links all over the place and so on no longer work unless those links get some engagement.
Does social media stil play a big part in IM?
Yes it does. But like I've said in several recent threads, my opinion is that social media is dying a slow and agonizing death.
In all honesty, social media has failed its original intent. Sure it allows you to keep in touch with an uncle or friend you haven't seen for 5 years. Sure it allows for user interaction. But that interaction is quickly losing quality.
In the early days of social media, everyone was excited about being able to find dates, socialize and do business. Right now that excitement has faded and everyone's just using social media to proselityze. People want to convert everyone around them to their own beliefs. Politics, business, religion. You name it. Social media has become a space for low quality debate.
I think the WWW will become, once more, the medium for sharing ideas and for keeping in touch with folks.
For good quality content producers : why would they keep giving their stuff away on social media? For regular users: why would they agree to keep being tracked and analyzed by one centralized big brother?
Famous people will begin to work on their own sites again, to use comment sections on their own sites again for social interaction. Instead of citing social media, the mainstream press will mention the celebrities' own sites in their news stories. Things will shift again back to the WWW IMO.
How much is a link worth?
A link is worth the amount of monthly traffic it'll bring in times a multiple around 30 or so. If a link drives in the equivalent of U$ 5 a month in equivalent CPC traffic, it'll probably be worth U$ 150 for permanent placement. That's my own opinion, others may disagree.
Is a do--follow link worth less than a no-follow one?
Yes and no.
Yes: If the DF one causes your ranking to rise enough to drive $ traffic. Then you calculate that traffic price and compare it to your link cost.
No: If a NF link drives in $$$ in traffic then you're already getting the benefits of a DF link without using it to rank.
"A SEO provider promises to rank me #1 for U$ 200. Is it worth it?"
Well it depends on what the keyword is and what amount of business it drives. Ranking #1 for "virgin dog shit" might be a fun exercize but it really won't drive home the bacon (not the undigested one, at least).
Remember: if the U$ 200 service could make U$ 50000 then why would the provider sell it to you rather than doing it for themselves?
tl;dr; What's THE SEO strategy for 2019?
There really isn't just one answer to this question. In fact there are probably infinite answers to this.
Here are just a few tips for SEO in 2019.
1) Links must be active, not passive. Links that just sit there might drive up your ahrefs or moz metrics but it won't do shit for your business.
2) Social media is in a decline. Whether they die now or in 2 years is beyond my capacity to predict but their experiment has failed for obvious reasons (just read the comments sections for news on Twitter and Facebook to see why. It's 100% shit).
3) Links are worth a multiple of the monthly traffic they drive. Do-follow or no-follow are the same if the traffic they end up bringing in is the same.
4) Content is a great long term investment but it's definitely not essential for churn n burn projects.
Conclusion
I hope this short post gives you some profitable ideas for 2019. SEO is a lot more dynamic that it ever was in the past. Static stuff that just sits there is no longer effective. Links are worth a multiple of the price for the amount of traffic they drive in. DF and NF doesn't matter - now it's all about dynamic user behavior, not just the existence of the link itself like it was in the past.
Wish you all a happy new year and great achievements in the new hunting season.
Yes and no.
Yes: As part of a continuous effort to sell products and drive traffic to an institutional site, whether it's a small shop or a large corporation, content is still king for SEO. They call it content marketing and the name really honors its purpose. You write good content, it drives people it, get links and so on.
No: Because some recent experiments have proven that you can rank a website with 100% garbage content in a non-existent language. ( Reference: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-algorithm-loopholes/278093/ ). So in terms of black hat SEO, then no, content really isn't king and you can still rake in cash from sites with 100% garbage in them.
Are links still king?
Yes and no. Mainly yes.
Yes: Links which receive traffic AND drive traffic AND come from reputable sites are still king. Google has added the behavioral signal to its links.
No: Links which just sit there from sites, no matter how high their metrics are, and don't do shit are worthless. Even if Google indexes a link from a high metrics site, and that link does not drive traffic or generate any real user engagement, that link will be worthless.
Think of links in 2019 as social media posts. A post with zero engagement is worthless. You may then ask how Google measures link engagement. Well. Chrome, analytics and perhaps other user tracking shit like black vans and such.
What Black Hat methods will still work in 2019?
Methods that drive engagement and other user positive behavioral signals should still work.
If you're able to work your black hat strategy such that it generates true user signals (like link clicks with low bounce rates), then you'll probably have an effective black hat strategy.
The key thing here is to factor user behavior into your BH strategy. Stale links, blasting links all over the place and so on no longer work unless those links get some engagement.
Does social media stil play a big part in IM?
Yes it does. But like I've said in several recent threads, my opinion is that social media is dying a slow and agonizing death.
In all honesty, social media has failed its original intent. Sure it allows you to keep in touch with an uncle or friend you haven't seen for 5 years. Sure it allows for user interaction. But that interaction is quickly losing quality.
In the early days of social media, everyone was excited about being able to find dates, socialize and do business. Right now that excitement has faded and everyone's just using social media to proselityze. People want to convert everyone around them to their own beliefs. Politics, business, religion. You name it. Social media has become a space for low quality debate.
I think the WWW will become, once more, the medium for sharing ideas and for keeping in touch with folks.
For good quality content producers : why would they keep giving their stuff away on social media? For regular users: why would they agree to keep being tracked and analyzed by one centralized big brother?
Famous people will begin to work on their own sites again, to use comment sections on their own sites again for social interaction. Instead of citing social media, the mainstream press will mention the celebrities' own sites in their news stories. Things will shift again back to the WWW IMO.
How much is a link worth?
A link is worth the amount of monthly traffic it'll bring in times a multiple around 30 or so. If a link drives in the equivalent of U$ 5 a month in equivalent CPC traffic, it'll probably be worth U$ 150 for permanent placement. That's my own opinion, others may disagree.
Is a do--follow link worth less than a no-follow one?
Yes and no.
Yes: If the DF one causes your ranking to rise enough to drive $ traffic. Then you calculate that traffic price and compare it to your link cost.
No: If a NF link drives in $$$ in traffic then you're already getting the benefits of a DF link without using it to rank.
"A SEO provider promises to rank me #1 for U$ 200. Is it worth it?"
Well it depends on what the keyword is and what amount of business it drives. Ranking #1 for "virgin dog shit" might be a fun exercize but it really won't drive home the bacon (not the undigested one, at least).
Remember: if the U$ 200 service could make U$ 50000 then why would the provider sell it to you rather than doing it for themselves?
tl;dr; What's THE SEO strategy for 2019?
There really isn't just one answer to this question. In fact there are probably infinite answers to this.
Here are just a few tips for SEO in 2019.
1) Links must be active, not passive. Links that just sit there might drive up your ahrefs or moz metrics but it won't do shit for your business.
2) Social media is in a decline. Whether they die now or in 2 years is beyond my capacity to predict but their experiment has failed for obvious reasons (just read the comments sections for news on Twitter and Facebook to see why. It's 100% shit).
3) Links are worth a multiple of the monthly traffic they drive. Do-follow or no-follow are the same if the traffic they end up bringing in is the same.
4) Content is a great long term investment but it's definitely not essential for churn n burn projects.
Conclusion
I hope this short post gives you some profitable ideas for 2019. SEO is a lot more dynamic that it ever was in the past. Static stuff that just sits there is no longer effective. Links are worth a multiple of the price for the amount of traffic they drive in. DF and NF doesn't matter - now it's all about dynamic user behavior, not just the existence of the link itself like it was in the past.
Wish you all a happy new year and great achievements in the new hunting season.
