Do you use article marketing to advertise your online business? So do I. And if you’re like me, you probably pay a little if not a lot of attention to Google searches and where you fall in the Great Heirarchy. To those not in the know, Google Reveals All about your Web marketing and search engine optimization efforts.
I regularly Google-search various keyword phrases related to my area of expertise, which is copywriting and marketing. I do the same for my customers in their specialty niche, as it helps me monitor their progress and know what I should be doing more/less of as I write their Web copy. Thus, if you call yourself internet marketer, Web consultant, virtual assistant, Web developer or Web copywriter, then you should no doubt Google-monitor the Web content circulated by yourself and your customers.
In April 2006, Google bought a new algorithm, “Orion”, from the University of New South Wales in Australia. Now, I don’t claim to be a search engine guru, but I’m an observant person and I noticed the effects of their new algorithm this week.
Previously, if you were agressively marketing with articles, you could count on your niche topic to come up first in a Google search with the article directories. Suppose you submitted one article, let’s call it “Fitness Tips for the Busy Home Business Owner,” to 25 directories. If you did it right, you could Google “fitness tips” within a few weeks of submitting, and you might notice your article title coming up several times on page one of Google, with the top ranked article directories leading the pack.
The big draw was this: article directories always allow you to add a link to your Web site to the resource box at the end of your article. Thus, the high rank of that one article for your keyword phrase (thanks to article banks with a PR of 6 or better), would pull your Web site higher in the giant Order of the internet and bring your Web site in front of more targeted eyes.
Let me stress again: I’m no search engine veteran. What I am is an analytically-minded Web site owner who happened to achieve good rank for my Web site based on hunches and observations, tests and trials. This information is speculative, and I no more than anyone else can predict where the Google bus will stop next.
It seems to me that a major shift just happened with Google. Previously, where the keywords in the title and body of a syndicated Web article could get the article directory where you submitted it a front page Google position… it’s not so anymore. Mass article submissions act as a duped content dump, which is exactly what Orion means to eradicate.
So, if you run a little article directory with multiple topic categories and had bragging rights to great exposure for your readers… you might be breaking out in a cold sweat right now. Because, and this is just speculation; I’m seeing that little article directories that speak to multiple categories and publish recycled articles don’t hold water.
A better option, if you run a tiny article directory, would be to request content for a SINGLE category only, and also encourage your submitting authors to give you original content ONLY. This can be achieved via great customer service, an easily navigable, flaw-free submission platform, and of course the willingness to build a thriving interactive community of authors within a single target niche.
What this means for article marketers:
It might be time to weed out submissions to a lot of those new, miniature article directories, and focus more on building a category-specific, niche-targed article library for your own Web site. If your multiple submissions are being labeled as content spam anyway, there’s no longer a point to the effort and in fact it my HURT your Web site’s ranking with Google. But remember again, that there is value in publishing articles with the intention of having them picked up and used in email newsletters, or ezines.
Let me stress: the operative phrase in the above paragraph is category-specific.
According to Garrett Rogers, computer programmer for iQmetrix, “…this [new Google algorithm] system is said to give users the most relevant results and a list of suggested topics that the user may not be aware of � similar to QTsearch.”
(Source: http://blogs.zdnet.com/Google/?p=157)
If this is true, then it stands to reason that the new Google algorithm is a win for any Web site that’s held consistent high rank for a single niche that speaks to humans as well as search engines (meaning, less emphasis on keywords, MORE emphasis on the long-tail effect of related search terms). Which would mean that the more category-based content you publish in a natural voice that speaks to human intelligence, the higher you can build your presence on Google and still come out on top for your main keyword searches.
What About the Monster Article Directories? Should You Keep Submitting to Them?
I can’t say with certainty how Orion will affect long-standing, high-ranked article directories, because I would hardly call myself influential in the realm of search engine optimization. But I’d venture a guess that if you’re managing your article directory Web site as a categorical hub for several years, you probably don’t have anything to worry about. So keep on submitting to respectable article banks with confidence. If the change with Google affects these large companies, it’s likely anyway that their tech people have the foresight and skills to alter their business models with little to no sweat off anyone’s backs.
And if you’re an avid article marketer, I would continue to focus on submitting select articles to article syndication giants like EzineArticles.com, and take an active networking interest in the author communities that exist within the walls of these Web sites. Honestly, I laid the foundation for my copywriting client base via online networking, and a lot of it happened on article marketing communities. I’d recommend the same for anyone who’s trying to get their name out there.
Another key point: article directories will continue to serve as an incredible free information resource to anyone who wants to learn how to market a Web site; so that fact alone keeps them high on my list of Great Things You Can Do For Your Growing Internet Business. I have and will continue to contribute my knowledge in the form of article submissions, as will I keep on reading, learning and growing from my fellow article marketers.
The bottom line with article marketing, your Web site, and Google, is this: good business practice, long-term effort, niche focus, intelligent content and great customer service always come out on top in the end. It’s always a good idea to stay informed on what the search engines are doing, but I sure as sheet wouldn’t put all my eggs in that basket.
Copyright 2006 Dina Giolitto. All rights reserved.
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[tags]long tail,google,article marketing,orion,google orion,new algorithm,google algorithm,google algorithm 2006,article marketing google,article submissions,article directory,duplicate content,dupe content penalty,content spam[/tags]
