Recent Google Search algorithm changes have shaken up rankings and organic traffic for many businesses online. Released on March 12th, 2019, this update received a rare acknowledgment by Google themselves. See here.

Many websites have experienced decreased rankings for their websites as a whole, and/or for specific pages in their websites. Google has specifically stated that “There’s no “fix” for pages that may perform less well other than to remain focused on building great content. Over time, it may be that your content may rise relative to other pages.” In other words, if your website and/or pages in your website have been de-ranked, it is not because of anything that you or your marketer has done right or wrong. Suddenly de-ranked pages cannot simply be “fixed” to regain their rankings. Here is the official response from Google, via Twitter:

So, what do we do now? We all know that we need to be continuously producing, publishing, and sharing highly engaging and relevant information. We also know that the state of SEO in 2019 is vastly different from the state of SEO in 2012. So much so that simply writing content for the sake of ranking for a keyword is no longer a viable strategy. In fact, this is something that Arcane Marketing has been evaluating for the past 6 months. We keep an incredibly sharp eye on changes in the industry and we’ve been seeing a trend over the past year that basically means:

• SEO as we knew it has died. Simply writing content to rank for a keyword is no longer a good strategy. Main service and product landing pages in websites still need to use foundational SEO, but, all other content that is created cannot follow the same old formula. If it is, you will lose.
• Voice search is here and those businesses that are optimizing for it are beating those who aren’t.
• Mobile search is now the king of the internet. If your website and content isn’t optimized for mobile search, you’re as good as lost.
• People want their questions answered right, the first time. If your website, content, social media, and in-office customer service isn’t answering those questions, you’re as good as lost.
• As a local business, you need to be intimately familiar with your audience and customers. If you are a plumber in Idaho Falls, you’d better be publishing content that is relevant to customers in Idaho Falls. Nobody in New York city gives a crap about what you do and what you provide. So trying to rank your website nationally is a complete waste of time and resources.
• You need to be 100% focused on building your brand. Stop trying to out rank your competitors. Beating your competitors will only happen when you have become the #1 place for searchers to go to get their questions answered. Traditional SEO will not make that happen.
• Be 100% proactive with your SEO team. Your SEO team can only work with the tools you provide them. If you don’t provide your SEO team the tools they need, they will be forced to use the only tools at their disposal. And those could simply be traditional SEO strategy, which won’t work.

If you are reading this right now, you are probably a client of Arcane Marketing. And if you are a client at Arcane Marketing, we need you to help us help you. We need you to to provide us the tools to get your website and marketing campaign performing at the highest level possible. In other words, we need your help and we need it NOW.

Here is what you can do to help us. FILL OUT THIS FORM right now. Fill it out as completely as possible. It’ll only take 5-20 minutes out of your day. Then, schedule a time to talk on the phone with your account manager. Yes, we understand that we should be the ones making sure all of this gets done. But remember, you are spending your hard earned money to get the results you need. If for any reason an opportunity to improve gets missed, it is BOTH of our fault. We send out monthly reporting and ask for feedback. We talk to many of you on a regular basis. But, if we aren’t talking at least once per month, we (as in YOU and US) are failing. We also need you to fill this form out once per month. From now on, you will be receiving a link to this form in your monthly reporting and it is your responsibility to fill it out as completely as you can. We NEED this information so we can give you what you are paying for.