So what is “gaming” Google? It’s the idea that you can hack Google’s algorithms by doing x, y, z things on your site to make your site show up higher in its rankings.
And its BS.
Google wants one thing: to provide searchers relevant, timely and accurate answers to their questions.
You can keyword stuff (seriously, don’t do this), religiously count the words on each of your pages to make sure you increase your rankings or some other inane, time consuming tactic that may or may not boost your rankings. Or you can just publish relevant, timely and accurate answers to your consumers questions.
Now there’s a small grain of truth to some of these “hacks”. Adding keywords to make search queries can make your site rank better than if you don't use keywords. And publishing a significant amount of content instead of three sentences is also going to make Google think you’ve have in-depth answers to questions on your site.
But if you don’t take the time to answer the question your consumers have, you’re just wasting your time and ruining your reputation on Google.
Not to mention, these “hacks” change when Google updates its algorithm… every. three. months. Hacking Google just isn't a sustainable way to boost your rankings.
So what do you do instead?
Build a buyer persona.
First, you have to get to know your consumer. Your marketing team should develop, if they haven’t already, in-depth buyer personas that help you write to a specific type of person. Is your target ultra-professional, no nonsense business leaders? Use all the statistics you can find to back up your claims. And maybe don’t put jokes in your blog posts.
Buyer personas don’t just help you with your tone and voice. They also help you identify the key areas where your product and service can really make a difference. Knowing this sets up your marketing strategy for success from the very beginning.
Figure out what questions your consumers are asking.
If your marketing department doesn’t know what questions your consumers are asking, you’ve got a problem. Thankfully, there are a number of ways to fix it. The easiest, and quickest, though is to just have your marketing team ask them. Have them go visit your clients and ask what they like and dislike about your product or service, how you solve their problems and where your marketing can improve. Just make sure they’re NOT trying to sell. You can also record sales calls or have them sit in on meetings.
Then, answer their questions.
Here’s the thing, the keywords your trying to stuff into your site are really phrases they’re using when they type a question into Google. So just answer the question. And, fun fact, when you actually take the time to give reasonable, actionable and accurate answers to their questions, the word count on your pages will naturally increase. As an added benefit, you’re engendering trust from your potential consumers by actually answering their questions instead of trying to sell them something they may or may not need. So why wouldn’t you?
Google isn’t as mysterious as it seems. You may not know how Google’s algorithm works or what changes they make, but you know their ultimate goal. If you work towards that same goal, you’re now working WITH Google instead of AGAINST it.