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Are Webmasters Working for the Search Engines?

It’s sickening.

No, really.  It’s pathetic, and we all know it.  Most of us have been at that point, or we’re still hanging around that point where we think we can Trick search engines into listing us above our competition.  We actually go to great lengths to design our sites for the search engines instead of our readers.

Many webmasters will put creativity aside, and hire cheap writers to put together hundreds of (worthless) posts for their blogs. Others ignore content altogether, and spend most of their time trying to develop inbound links to their valueless sites.

Well, it’s the only way to get noticed in the ever-growing blogosphere… it’s our only choice.  Right?

An Alternative That Makes Sense

There is an alternative you know, and it makes a lot of sense.  What happens when you put away all your dirty tricks, get-rich-fast schemes, etc. and focus on making your blog as helpful as possible to your viewers?

What I am proposing, is that rather than spending time finding popular niches where you can trick search engines into sending you lots of traffic — you spend time working, researching, discussing, and writing valuable content, which you are passionate about, for your users.

Let’s take a look at some advantages of this approach:

One Time Visitors Become Repeat Viewers

If folks come to your blog, don’t find what they need, and don’t feel like your site is catered to them in the first place, chances are they won’t be stopping by again anytime soon.  Sure, you may get your rankings up there for a short while, but you’re viewership and user loyalty won’t sustain itself.

When you focus your efforts on making your blog as useful as possible to the viewer, you’re much more likely to see that viewer return in the future – perhaps even on a day to day basis.  You might not see that immediate boost of traffic, but you’ll be creating a base to build upon.  A strong foundation leads to a larger, longer lasting blog over time.

Others Start to Link To you

When you have helpful posts, and a website that looks more friendly to a viewer, other sites tend to be more interested in linking to you.  Sure – you may not get quite as many visitors from Google or the likes, but you’ll make up for those with the referrals you’ll start to see from other websites.

Chances are, if a user clicks a link on a website, there is some form of trust between that user and the webmaster/editor/developer of that site.  By extension, that loyalty may carry over in part to your own blog — something a search engine can’t do just yet.  So to close this point — you’re gaining more quality links to your blog, and at the same time, building a loyal userbase.

You Start Linking To Others

Wait a minute!  How does that help me? Remember, this isn’t about helping yourself.  We’re aiming to please our viewers.  If you notice something that your viewers might enjoy on another blog or website, it really won’t hurt your own blog to send a link their way.

Actually, linking to others can be quite a good way to show how in-tune you are with your niche as a whole. It could lead more people to your blog in the long run – so this could end up being helpful to you after all.

Pageviews Go Up, Bounces Go Down

It’s common sense.  When you’ve got a website that’s simply awesome, folks stick around longer.  Granted, usability will play a factor into just how long they stick around, but overall, your content will keep readers interested in what else you have to offer.Pageviews are a great way to measure the usefulness and usability of your blog.  If you’re playing tricks on the search engines, you probably won’t see a stunning Pageview/Visitor ratio.

For more on Usability, see our 9 Easy Usability Improvements for Blogs.

Google is Smarter Than You or I Will Ever Be

The job of a search engine is to find the most accurate results for a question input by a user (a search).  Can you really convince yourself that in the long run, you’re going to outwit some of the brightest minds in this day and age who are programming these search engines?I didn’t think so.Fact is, you might actually be able to get a great search engine ranking really quick using some tactful strategies, but unless there is substance behind your blog, it’s going to be short-lived.  And when you drop in the rankings, your viewership will take a very hard hit.

When you build for the user though, you won’t take a hard hit if you suffer in rankings thanks to your strong foundation.  You’ll see improvements in the long run actually, and a lot of the new viewers you see from Search Engines will probably stick around, and perhaps even bookmark you.

What Works Best For You?

Are you an experienced webmaster? What have you found to be the best ways of finding (and sustaining) traffic?