You Might Be Wasting Your Time Fighting the Algorithm Updates. Here’s What to Focus on, Instead.

If you work in digital marketing for an online company (which let’s face it most companies are these days), there’s a good chance you’re scared of the infamous “Google Algorithm Update”.

Many marketers see this regular change in the Google algorithm as a lurking nemesis to reduce their metrics and banish traffic.

The typical reaction? Every time Google releases an algorithm update, SEO specialists and thought leaders try to decipher and decipher the secrets of the algorithm to find out what makes it tick. The idea is that if you can figure it out, you can reorganize your SEO and content strategy to regain (or beat) your rankings in front of the algorithm.

This seems like the best plan of attack. However, I believe that this mentality that is hungry for metrics and beats the algorithm is detrimental to businesses in the long run. It’s inefficient, distracts from the real purpose of SEO, and ultimately wastes your business’ time and money.

My recording? While algorithm updates should not be minimized (because they are can Negatively affecting companies), they should not be feared either. I think we should work with the algorithms, not against them, which ultimately leads to a win-win situation: a better experience for users and a more successful web presence for deserving companies.

Next, let’s examine how to do that.

Algorithm updates improve the user experience

As the digital landscape is constantly changing, companies must accept that these algorithm updates are going nowhere. They happen and will happen indefinitely. And that’s okay … and what we should want as search engine customers!

The first step in working with Google algorithm updates is to understand why they happen in the first place. These updates are designed to provide businesses and consumers with a better Internet experience.

The idea is to make browsers “smarter” so that Internet users can find what they are looking for faster and with less effort.

Sounds good in theory, doesn’t it? With this model, companies find the right customers and vice versa. If it’s an improvement for the user, it should be an improvement for you.

The problems start when we start analyzing and calculating numbers after a post algorithm update …

Don’t get caught up in the metrics game

For many SEO managers, numbers are everything – total organic clicks, bounce rates, keyword rankings, impressions, the list goes on. And for a good reason! This data helps us understand what is going on on the other side of the screen.

However, when that data becomes the ultimate destination, we run into trouble. From an SEO standpoint, there is often a tunnel vision focus on metrics and traffic, which leads to inclined strategies aimed solely at maximizing the wrong numbers.

But here’s the thing – higher rankings on Google aren’t necessarily good for business. Yes, they look great in a quarterly report. Yes, they are easy to follow. But do impressions necessarily turn into leads? No. These numbers become a meaningless trophy rather than a useful tool.

Let’s look at an example to clarify what I mean.

Less traffic could mean more revenue

For a period of time, I worked with a company whose website had two pages: user-generated content and professionally-created content. The user-generated content was produced in larger quantities, but also tended to be of lower quality.

Every time there was an algorithm update, the user-generated side of their business was negatively impacted. They repeatedly lost significant parts of their traffic. At the same time, however, the company’s total sales increased.

Why? Because that miscellaneous Side of their business benefited. The high quality, professionally created content was preferred by the algorithm because it was closer to what internet users were actually looking for. Hence, it benefited when its lower quality competitors were downgraded.

To me, this is the perfect argument as to why companies should spend time creating a great product instead of focusing on SEO hacks or metrics. When you create an effective website with relevant content, the clicks come organically.

Focus on the user

Ultimately, the solution sounds too good to be true – focus on who the user is and what the user wants to find on your website.

Instead of asking yourself, “Do we deserve to be number 1 because we have the most keywords or the best backlinks?” Ask yourself, “Are we the best fit for what the user wants? A user point of view?” “

The way Google algorithms are pushed forward, I believe that focusing on the actual service or product through the details of SEO is the secret to building a successful business.

I called this “Product-Led SEO” in my book of the same name. This approach turns the entire premise of marketing the product on its head to encourage adoption.

Instead, the shift is focused on getting a great product into the hands of users who are excited enough to become marketing agents on behalf of the product. In this paradigm, there can also be innate triggers within the product that encourage sharing, thereby forcing the user’s hand.

Algorithm updates are not your enemy

Ultimately, Google algorithm updates are a fact. The sooner everyone can accept this and learn to work with the updates, not against them, the sooner they will find successful strategies.

The key to “swimming with the flow” is to take a good long look at which way the water is flowing. And from what I’ve seen, the proverbial algorithmic flow is flowing straight towards Product-Led SEO. In my opinion, any good SEO strategy will follow.

Start by talking to users. Get in touch with your customers’ wishes. What are you looking for? What do you like? What Makes Them Click on a CTA? What hints do they use to navigate a website? Once you have the user’s needs under control, you can start building a website that naturally rises above the algorithmic chopping block.

When your website becomes more effective and you are able to connect with the right customers, everyone wins. This is the whole point of algorithms, and finding harmony between the two will help relieve a lot of stress and boost business.