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We all know it’s mandatory for your website to be able to be found by search engines. These days, if Google doesn’t know you exist, you might as well not.

But, while SEO is important, it can’t be the only digital strategy companies use.

The Problem With SEO

The most annoying thing about optimizing for search engines is that search engines are constantly changing their criteria. With each new Google update or revision, tactics that were perfectly acceptable 6 months ago can get you penalized.

For example, up until early this year, one of the quickest ways to get noticed by search engines was link building. There were many ways to do that, but one of the most popular was guest posting.

It worked like this: you are relatively unknown, but you convince a larger, more reputable site to let you contribute a guest post. In exchange for valuable content, they include a link back to your website. Because Google pays attention to important sites, the bigger the site you posted on, the more weight your link got in the algorithm, moving your site up in the rankings.

As of January, though, Google no longer looks kindly upon guest posting as a way to build links.

Not only is no longer good practice from Google’s point of view, sites that used it before it was banned risk penalties for using it back then.

SEO experts and website owners can count themselves lucky in this case, though. Updates and algorithm revisions aren’t always publicized, and when they are, they can be confusing. You could end up hit with penalties you didn’t even know existed.

Alternatives to SEO

Okay, truthfully, there are no alternatives to SEO. You simply have to figure out Google’s game and play it.

But, there are other ways to drive traffic to your site that will protect you from sudden shifts in SEO policy.

1. General brand building--Get out the door and interact with your customers. This looks different from business to business, but Google can’t control word of mouth (yet). The more people know about you, the less dependency you have on SEO.

2. Social media--Performing well on social media--be it Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn--will attract followers to your site, regardless of SEO. However, for the time being, doing well in social also happens to boost your SEO. Use that to your advantage to get a loyal following now.

3. Endorsements--Like word-of-mouth, endorsements from big, reputable site will still carry weight. It may or may not help your SEO, but being endorsed by popular bloggers and writers will attract a larger audience than merely hoping to optimize your own site.

SEO Still Isn’t Dead

Don’t get us wrong. SEO isn’t dead, and it’s not going anywhere. You have to optimize your website to the best of your ability, or risk losing a lot of business.

Thankfully, though, there are several alternatives to relying solely on the SEO, which changes at the whim of search engines.

Want to know more about SEO and how to build your brand? Contact us at DevDigital, and we’ll walk you through the process.