Last week, an article by Ken Krogue in Forbes online went viral. In the article “The Death of SEO and the rise of Social, PR, and Real Content,” Krogue argued that search engine optimization as we know it will be dead within two years.

Google’s Penguin update was a strike against “black hat” SEO. Google’s main aim seems to have been to take out “unnatural links” placed by spammers to hike a website in the rankings. Google also has “webspam” in its sights, which includes black hat SEO techniques such as keyword stuffing and comment spam. Instead of backlinks, Google now prefers social media interactions such as likes, tweets, and pluses. How many followers a site has, how engaged those followers are with the content, and how many view a site gets also help boost it in Google’s post-Penguin rankings.

After the changes, what Google now prefers are sites that are being shared and promoted via social media. The operating theory is that those social media shares are less likely to be faked—-and Google also has strategies for sorting out faked social media accounts. To get social media shares, you have to have real, valuable, genuine content. What this means is that for your site to rise in Google’s rankings, content is king.

Is SEO still important? Yes. No matter how great your content, you need to use good PR and SEO techniques to get it noticed. The overall goal, however, needs to be providing original, intelligent, creative content that contributes to the conversation and encourages readers to interact. Fresh, helpful, interesting information is more likely to be shared on social media—and more likely to rise in Google’s rankings. More than ever, it will be important for your company’s content to reflect your unique voice and position as a thought leader in your industry.

At Snap Agency, we are here to help your company excel. We can help you position your company to successfully navigate Google’s changes. Contact us to learn how we can increase your online visibility and traffic with a personal approach tailored for your company’s goals.