This was a crazy year for SEO to say the least. Google hit us with more changes in the past 2 years than the previous 10, and it doesn’t seem like the rate of change will slow down. Google caught a lot of SEOs being complacent.
2013 saw us taking a business model that had worked very well for the last four years and scrap it and try something brand new. I always believed that people that refuse to grow and adapt are those that die a slow and painful death.
Let’s start with the bad stuff that everyone complains about:
- Black hat SEO forums are practically dead.
- Google hit us with a second punch we didn’t expect: Penguin 2.1, right in the capital of Thailand.
- Link networks were taken down in masses after getting pummeled by Google.
- Google Affiliate Network closed.
- Matt Cutts is taunting black hats and manually killing their sites.
- Hummingbird changed the way long tail keywords are handled.
- Google’s keyword tool morphed into a nightmare beyond our comprehension.
- “Not Provided” analytics keywords became 100%.
- Affiliates continue to get screwed, excuse me, “throttled”, and kicked out of programs in mass or commission slashed to mere fractions of what they were before.
Google wanted us to fly in the dark to force us to build real businesses without them. They made keyword data difficult to gather and were taunting us while they did it. They changed their war plans from algorithm tactics to messing with our heads. As Matt Cutts said, he is aiming to “break spammers’ spirits”, deny us money, and frustrate us until we take the high road.
Cutts started playing chess while most spammers were playing checkers. He didn’t kill spam but he never will until the results are nothing but AdWords. But he certainly made it difficult to scale SEO on a national level. Combine that with the manual review “EWOQ” teams watching every high volume search result and killing any network that starts to rank – well you take care of the problems pretty quickly.
Here are the good things that happened in 2013 most forget to mention:
- PageRank made a surprise update – no more buying the wrong expired domains for at least a few more months. Hint: use Cemper Power*Trust if it PageRank breaks again.
- Facebook’s dark posts created a new wild west of online advertising.
- RTB (media buying) exploded.
- Lead generation for locals exploded.
- The bar was raised. More people are leaving the industry than joining.
- Real businesses were built with the skills learned in SEO to be independent of both merchants and Google.
- The SEO Revolution membership was finally rebuilt from top to bottom.
- Affiliates claimed their independence. Those who didn’t left the industry entirely.
- It’s clear what links will work and will be safe in the future: contextual, relevant, with vague anchor text from websites that can rank themselves.
- Permanent links are expensive, but powerful and scalable.
RCS (real company shit) as we described at the end of 2012 became key for survival. The pushbutton solutions are now processes that require you to actually know what happens when you push the button. If it’s too hard, get out now. But if you can learn and adapt, 2014 is the time to shine.
Where should you start? Let’s outline it…if 2013 sucked for you, follow this plan:
1) Reread (er, skim) The Laws of Success and Outwitting the Devil.
2) Take out your business journal.
3) Write down what you really want, I mean what you really want. Stop fooling yourself and doing stuff you think you NEED to do or HAVE to do. Stop pleasing others and focus on what is going to make YOU happy. I have helped hundreds of people personally over the years and the biggest thing that keeps them from the success that they can have is themselves and how they THINK they have obligations to others over themselves. You can’t be awesome to others if you, yourself, suck. True story.
4) Go through your domain list top to bottom. Kill or sell anything that does not have a capacity of making an impact in your business for 2014. Anything else is just a distraction and taking up space.
5) Call one customer every day and one old contact every week. See where your business is at the end of the year. You will be shocked.
6) Don’t lend money to anyone. That is what a bank is for. Trust me on this one.
7) Take a chance. Take a risk. Give it a shot. No one ever became great sitting on their hands and waiting for something to happen. They made it happen. Strike the deal. Start the new company. Put a ring on their finger. It doesn’t matter if it is business or personal. Make it happen if you feel it is going to improve your life and never, ever regret anything you have done in your life as at one time, it was exactly what you wanted.
8) Streamline your focus, your diet and your health. To be optimal with your business, you have to be optimal as well. Nootropics might be something worth looking into.
9) Get a mentor. Someone who you can trust. Someone who has actually been successful. Surround yourself with successful people in 2014 and let go of past relationships that have been negative. Manufactured drama has no room in your life.
10) Know this. Not Google. Not Matt Cutts, Not an ex. Not family nor friends. Not a former employee. No one has power over you to keep you from success. You have inside of you that no matter the problem, there is a solution.
People have told me all my life I couldn’t do certain things. I had to tell them to get out of the way while I did them. No one owns you.
People say that SEO and affiliate marketing are dead? Well, the old way of doing them yes, but just watch and see how I evolve these changes into something even better.
Mark says
Right on the button Jerry.
I love the positive affirmations , especially #10
Here’s to a successful and prosperous 2014 & Always