3 reasons “content farms” came to be and what you can learn

This month a story has been all over the internet about a new update to Google’s search ranking algorithm that will try to knock back the rankings on what people are calling “content farms.”  And while no one has officially defined what a content farm is or can point directly to a specific example, they are generally understood to be sites like article directory sites or content gathering sites where the goal is to submit lots of articles on various topics that people may be searching on.

If this topic is relatively new to you, read this article by Danny Sullivan which does a great job explaining the entire content farm debate and showing lots of specific examples of what Google is trying to do.  But the purpose of this article is to take a closer look at how we arrived here in the first plan and what this change means for businesses.

What’s wrong with farmers, anyway?

Before we get too far into this article, I have to wonder what the online world has against farmers?  It seems like every time there is a crackdown on the internet, the questionable activities somehow turn into “farms”.  First there were “link farms” which are sites that do nothing but provide hundreds or even thousands of outbound links to other sites – and now we have the “content farm” debate.

How did content farms get so popular ?

Whenever there is a backlash by search engines like Google against any online practice, I find it interesting to look at how it happened in the first place because that usually holds some keys to understanding  what’s going on behind the scenes.  And in this case, it’s my opinion that content farms have sprung up because of 3 major trends:

1. All the attention on “long tail keywords”
2. The unwritten rule about a “good page” being 400 words long.
3. The race to become a “resource site”

Trend #1:  Long tail keywords:

It’s no secret that users are evolving in the way they use search engines and this means typing in more and more specific phrases to find what they need.  So what started as searches for things like “used cars” has evolved into “used 2003 Toyota Camrys for sale in New Orleans, LA”.  Users understand that the more specific they are with their searches, the better chance they have of finding what they need.

Enter the marketers.  Armed with data showing that the longer phrases produce more qualified traffic, the race begun to create as much content geared around these specific phrases in hopes of ranking well.  And generally speaking the search engines rewarded this practice by showing pages like these highly in their results.  The end result: more and more long tail content being created.

Trend #2: The 400 word page

This idea of “light fluffy content” which is being cracked down on by Google is actually something that search industry insiders have been promoting for years.  The other “unwritten rule” floating around was that Google would not index more than about 400 words on a page so there was no point in writing content that was much more in-depth.

The other argument in favor of shorter pages was that internet users don’t really like to read as much as they prefer to scan.  So the shorter pages with bullet lists and lots of headings would be more digestible to users which is ultimately what search engines want – to give you the content you want to read.

I am certain that whoever first noticed this trend must have had convincing screenshots to back up what they were saying because the entire web industry seemed to embrace these ideas wholeheartedly.   No matter where you look for content – the goal was a 350 word page with a max of 600 words (just look at the article submission guidelines for most article sharing sites).  This would seem to fly in the face of being considered “relevant content” because it was so shallow but the facts are these pages were consistently ranking in search results so why buck the trend?

Trend #3:  The race to become a “resource site”

Another generally accepted principle in the internet marketing world has been that more content equals higher credibility and “resource” status with search engines.  For instance, if you are a personal injury attorney and you have lots of law-related articles on your site than it must be a good site worthy of being shown highly in search results, right?  Again this trends seems to have been rewarded in search results.

So marketers took this concept of long tail keyword interest and applied the “light and fluffy” 350 word page game plan to creating resource sites.

Fast forward to today.  Like with “link farms” several years ago, these concepts have been manipulated to flood the internet with a lot of shallow content thus making it harder (in theory) to find the “good” content.  Whether or not this latest change in Google’s search recipe accomplishes that is yet to be seen, but there are some important lessons to be learned.

What should we learn from this and what you can do going forward

The internet is fueled by content and that trend is not going to change anytime soon.  What is changing though is the type of content that Google and other search engines is rewarding with high placement in search results.  As such, our suggestions going forward are:

• Specialize – become an industry expert:

o   Produce more in-depth content

o   More focus on narrower topics

o   Perhaps post with less frequency

• Make a better effort for more social sharing

Becoming an industry expert

The underlying trend here is that the online world is evolving into smaller, niche worlds where people are being recognized for their genuine expertise.  After all, if you’re going to read an article on why Green Bay won the Super Bowl do you want to read my take or the guys from ESPN first?

So while there isn’t necessarily a need to have a lot of long pages just for the sake of being long, there is some truth to the notion that it’s hard to really cover a topic in 350 words or less.  And with the examples being shown during the debate it’s getting easy to understand why Google is changing the rules again (check the Search Engine land post referenced above).

The logical reaction is to produce more focused and in-depth content which probably means you do it a little less frequently.  I recently attended a presentation from Avinash.  He is one of the most read bloggers on the internet, but he only posts once per month.  But when he does – it’s a 3,000 word post that people can’t wait to read.

The real question with more in-depth content is whether or not people will actually want or take the time to read it.  But these concerns are somewhat secondary since the first step is to actually get your content found by searchers, and if Google says it wants more in-depth pages than longer pages it will get.  I’m sure it will take time to figure out what the best practices are going forward, but it’s obvious that the trend is headed in this direction.

More social sharing of content

The other strategy going forward is to make sure this in-depth content is not just posted to an article site somewhere – but rather shared on as many social channels as possible.  There is no doubt that the social sharing of content is fast becoming the indicator of the value of content.  And with that in mind the more people that are commenting on and sharing your content the better.

A new book from Andre’ Savoie

Even when I was in grade school, I wanted to be a writer.  In high school I served as editor for the school paper and did a lot of writing including one story that won an award about Dale Brown, who was then the men’s basketball coach for LSU.  I then spent my first 2 years in college as a journalism student before being advised to switch majors and try to get a “real job” by one of my professors.

Ever since then my writing “bug” has been satisfied by article writing, website content writing and even blogging.  But about 6 months ago I was approached with an opportunity to co-author a book with 2 very good friends of mine in the sales training business.  The idea was that I could contribute my experience in both sales and digital marketing to their proven system of sales training.

Today I’m pleased to announce the release of my first book, co-authored with Marvin & Donna Himel.  The book is about a topic that is very near and dear to my heart because it’s something I’m working on every day – and that is how we can help salespeople do a better job of selling in an increasingly digital world.

Successful Selling in a Digital World

New school meets old school

The premise of our new book is trying to help today’s sales people bridge the gap between keeping the “old school” selling techniques that still work and mixing them in with the newer digital tools such as social media.  The first half of the book helps put the digital movement in perspective, and offers tips and advice for how to market yourself digitally with a website, blog or social sites such as Facebook and Twitter in an effective, professional manner.  The second half of the book focuses on improving your traditional face to face selling skills based on the Tiger Quest sales system.

Marvin Himel is the creator of the Tiger Quest sales system which was started 9 years ago in Jacksonville, Florida.  The Tiger Quest program has helped hundreds of salespeople improve their sales skills over the years and Marvin and Donna are genuine sales training experts.

A brief outline of the book contents:

• Selling in a digital world as Social Media Goes “Mainstream”
• Social Technology 101 for Salespeople
• Integrating Online with Offline: Where Old School Meets New School
• The Tiger Quest Sales System
• Becoming A Trusted Advisor

Request a free copy

As part of our initial promotion of the book, I am giving away a free copy through March 15^th.  Simply email me andre@mywisconsultant.com with your details and we’ll get one out to you right away!

Important PPC basics everyone needs to know

Pay Per Click Advertising (or PPC) is one of the best ways businesses can drive immediate targeted traffic to their websites.  But this is easier said than done, which is why you should keep March 10 open because WSI is hosting an Internet marketing webinar you won’t want to miss.

Register now for this webinar entitled, “Understanding Pay-Per-Click Advertising – 5 Ways to Ensure a Successful Campaign” and gain valuable knowledge on how to implement a successful pay-per-click campaign that will drive targeted leads to your business.

We will discuss 5 key elements, including effective keyword selection, identifying negative keywords, focusing on a niche, writing successful ads and designing impactful landing pages. Register now.

Important Details:

Topic: Understanding Pay-Per-Click Advertising – 5 Ways To Ensure a Successful Ad Campaign
Date: Thursday, March 10, 2011 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM EST
Register: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/955454049

OK so it’s February and most of the typical New Year’s resolutions have already fallen by the wayside.  America has not stopped eating junk food and is still not going to the gym.  But should this prevent those of us in the SEO world from having a set of New Year’s resolutions that we can actually keep?  I say no!

So why not set my goal to become an “SEO Ninja”?  Ninjas are not just good at combat, they are great.  They masters of their craft and almost never get killed in the movies.  And though I’ve never actually taken any martial arts, I have to believe that becoming a ninja is definitely something to strive for, is it not?

SEO Ninja at work

Why we need to become SEO Ninjas

Tony Robbins says that people will only experience meaningful change once their pain level becomes high enough.  Maybe this helps explain why most people don’t start eating better or get in shape – it’s just too easy to buy bigger clothes.

But in the SEO world, the pain levels in 2011 aren’t solved by buying new pants.  Generally speaking, the internet is quickly maturing, and there have never been more “Johnny-come-lately” types than there have in the last few years.  Heck even the local “yellow” books are claiming to offer SEO services.

The reality is that the online world is becoming more and more competitive, and that’s a trend that is not going to change anytime soon.  And for those in the internet marketing world, that means working smarter and harder and not being afraid to try new things all in the name of seeking the best results for our clients.

With this in mind, here is my plan for becoming an SEO Ninja in 2011:

Don’t accept the same old results

The first part of becoming an SEO Ninja is accepting that as good as you might be now, you can get better.  Setting the bar higher can be really uncomfortable when things seem to be humming along and your tendency is to stand pat.  But Ninjas want to get bigger, stronger and faster so we should set our goals higher and higher for each project.

Beware the “secret sauce”

The SEO world is full of people who claim to have Google figured out and don’t want to share or explain how they did it because they have created some sort of “secret sauce.”  There is a great cartoon about this where the guys in black hats are chanting to Google for better rankings.

Remember, Google alone makes hundreds of changes each year to their ranking algorithm.  And with this in mind, how can you expect to have the secret to success when the basic ingredients are constantly changing.  Ninja discipline requires us to stop chasing “get rich quick” fads and focus on things that build value over the long run.

Try something new

I take a lot of pride in always trying to think like a “rut-buster.”  By this I mean always keeping the perspective that just because something worked before doesn’t mean it will always work again.  Let’s face it, the online world is changing fast and anyone who thinks they have it figured out for good is an idiot.  And that means not being afraid to try new things in your practice (of course assuming you watch out for “get rich quick” as mentioned above).

Dedicate sufficient time to training

So as part of being a Ninja, you should expect to work on your craft on a regular basis. And for us SEO types, that means reading articles, attending webinars and taking every chance we get to learn something new and figure out how to implement it into our practices.  And while this doesn’t mean abandoning “tried and true” techniques that work, it does mean being willing to adopt and change quickly.

We each have to spend time on a weekly basis sharpening our skills if we want to become and stay Ninjas!