I hate to bring it to your attention; especially to anyone who suffered a huge setback after the Panda and Penguin changes at Google. It was your own practices, and not Google that did the maximum damage. Unless we change the ideas that created this mess in the first place, it’s highly likely that the next update (a Python maybe) will crush us.

Yes, it’s true, Google is penalizing sites without mercy, but it’s hardly a surprise, since we always knew that what we were doing was utterly wrong. We were either too complacent, or unaware of another course of action, or maybe it was just easier to make hay while the sun was shining.

As website owners, SEO companies, digital agencies and brands managers play the blame game and go into overdrive to recover from all the bad decisions of the past, not many are thinking about the real reasons as to why they are where they are in the first place. I am including “me” in the above, because I was an active participant in the wrong doings. I think that the only thing that ensured my clients ranking boats did not sway hard or sink is that I had understood some of the core principles long before the ZOO came to town.

The entrepreneur is as much to blame as the SEO Company they hired. Surprised?

I don’t care what you do, just get me to the top. I do not care about the SEO process. I am interested in immediate results! Does these all sound familiar? In one of my recent client meetings, the ecommerce head of a large store surprised me with a low ball during final negotiations. Here is how the conversation went.

He: I have another SEO company who has committed to rank in top 10 for 1000 competitive keywords in 3 months.

Me: It’s unrealistic to have such goals as it puts pressure on SEO companies to adopt fast methods of ranking that could put your big brand at risk of penalisation.
He: It’s a big SEO company and they have committed. I am sure they know what they are doing.

Me: Post the Panda and Penguin world, it’s imperative that you adhere to a strategic SEO approach. I would advise you to understand the difference in strategies I offer and how the best results come by following a well-planned and implemented SEO strategy.

He: I do not have time to evaluate strategies. Tell me if you can beat the other SEO companies’ deliverable.

The end of this conversation needs no guesses. I walked out of the meeting feeling much relieved. I can imagine the pressure on the ecommerce manager from the top management to push for such unrealistic deliverables. So much so, that a large brand is ready to take a risk this big, and damage their established business credibility and reputation over the long run.

What about the SEO company who took up this order. Did they have a right to misguide the client, or were they just telling the client what they wanted to hear, and not want they needed to hear. Again I would not blame the SEO Company in totality as if they did not take up the order, someone else would. There are many salesmen who love to speak what you want to hear.

So we can conclude that a fundamental change in thinking is needed for online business owners, SEO companies, digital agencies and online marketers. They need to first re-think the past decisions, before they can embrace the right methods of doing business online.
Over the next couple of posts I will be exploring the right ways of thinking in more detail, before I talk about the strategies that will ensure that the only place where the Panda’s and Penguin’s belong, is in nature or – at a ZOO.

==== About The Author ====
Nevil Darukhanawala is a reputed SEO Expert, and Author of ZenofSEO. He is also the CEO of Spott One Consulting Pvt Ltd, a Digital Marketing and SEO Company which manages 360 degree online marketing for companies and brands across the globe.