Recent changes and updates by Google have led many to declare that search engine optimization is dead. Well, if I may quote Mark Twain: ‘The report of my death was an exaggeration. In actuality, legitimate forms of search engine optimization will never disappear. It is grey hat practices such as spamming and building unnatural links. That is becoming more and more difficult to practice for those of us that work hard. Creating quality content and building an online reputation, that’s great news.

Let’s take a look at some of the search engine optimization practices. That can help you promote your small online business and are unlikely to be affected by future Google updates.

Small Business Websites and Quality Content

A lot of small business website owners fail to understand the importance of quality content that is regularly published. Others use spam-like content that has no real value for the people visiting their website and is not actually read by anyone.

So what is the real deal with using content for promoting a website? In the past, just posting content and creating content-based links that led to your website was enough. That all gradually changed when Google improved its algorithm and began to differentiate between content. That is actually read and appreciated and poorly written content that’s just there as a ‘filler’.

An almost fail-safe method to differentiate between the two types of content is related to social signs. If a web page or an article is constantly shared and liked on social media pages such as Facebook, Google +, Twitter, and so on. It means that it probably contains useful information and quality writing.

Creating quality content on pages that readers appreciate and share on a regular basis. Search engines are eventually going to notice the interest in your website and feature it in a higher position on their search results.

Social Media and Reputation Management

More people are talking about your business, sharing information about your products and specials on social media websites, and writing positive reviews about you. The better will your website be featured on search results.

You need to be constantly active on social media websites and in order to do that you need to continuously be inventive.

Create interesting posts, preferably accompanied by appealing photos or short videos, on a daily basis.

Create special, discounts and giveaways. Share interesting information about your products and stories from customers. Ask your clients to write reviews and post them on review websites.

Each time your business name is mentioned in a positive and organic way, this creates a type of ‘online fingerprint’. Search engines notice such positive fingerprints and will take them into consideration. When deciding which websites should be prominently featured for relevant searches.

Most importantly, when you use citations, correct reputation management, and quality content. You create a long-term search engine optimization strategy that is not likely to be affected by future updates and changes.