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Do you dance to Google’s tune? Are you scared of Pandas and Penguins? Do you write your articles to impress Google, instead of your readers? Is your life ruled by fear of the all-powerful, all-seeing, all-knowing Google? Do you know if your fear is justified? Or have you only been scared by fear mongers?

I’ve been surfing around the SEO ‘guru’ websites and SEO focused blogs, and what have I found?  Many webmasters, site owners and bloggers are getting their knickers in a twist because their lives and their writing is dominated by fear about Google’s Panda and Penguin Updates. They are afraid of SEO practices that they THINK will offend Google. But are they right? Or are they misinterpreting what Google actually said?

A lot of established site owners and Bloggers are running scared of being downgraded for a whole range of factors that they THINK will displease Google.

But guess what? They are on completely the wrong track. Yes, I know, that’s a big call but…this humble not-quite-newbie blogger sees no reason at all to fear the wrath of Google and its Penguin and Panda algorithm updates, or the Googlebot web crawlers either.

So… am I right, and the so-called Big Cheese bloggers and SEO experts wrong?  It’s difficult to believe I know, and yet that is the surprising conclusion that I have come to.   So, how come I disagree with many of my elders and betters in the blogging world?

It’s not rocket science. Here’s why I disagree with most SEO opinion published on the internet: I check to see what Google actually says!  Yes, it’s a radical idea isn’t it?

What Google REALLY Says About Penalizing Websites

If you want to know what linking strategies Google really likes, and what it is really likely to get you penalized with Page Rank downloads, you cannot do better than going to the Webmaster Blog, Webmaster Guidelines, and the Webmaster Youtube Channel.  Only there will you find everything that Google is actually ‘thinking’ and doing.

Get Your Google Information from the Horse’s Mouth:

Not from the Stable Boy.

My recent surfing of online articles about Google’s Panda and Penguin Upgrades, has revealed that 99% of the Commentary about what Google rewards, and what Google penalizes is nothing more than opinion.  And mostly, in my view, these opinions are wrong, or at least, misguided.

By comparing what Google says, with what Bloggers think Google says, I’ve come to a startling conclusion: most of these opinions are not true reflections of what Google actually said in it’s freely available, published content.

It is rare to find an online article that accurately reports the facts of Google Guideline updates with links and direct quotes from Google or Matt Cutts – the head geek at Google.  Some sites do, but then, almost always, they go on to ‘explain’ what Google ‘means’.

And almost without fail, I think they misinterpret what Google actually ‘said’.  And without fail the goal of these articles is to spread unnecessary fear in the minds of their readers.

Have they caught this fear mongering trick from the newspapers, TV news, and politicians – because journalists and politicians have always known that fear is what grabs people’s attention best?  Spreading fear, sells. Sad but true. It’s very disappointing.

Almost always, the TV program or Politician manufacture these ‘fears’ themselves, even though there is no genuine reason for fear.  They tell you something scary (which usually isn’t true) and then build their Content or Policy on protecting you from that false fear.

Ad agencies use the same tactics to sell a product.  First they scare you by telling you about something you never knew or thought about (and probably something that’s not really dangerous or undesirable – and that you don’t really have).

Then they tell you that this new thing is ‘bad’ in some way (for example: germs that allegedly lurk on surfaces, just waiting to strike your kids down with some despicable – unspecified – disease).  Oooh, that’s really scary…not.

Then they tell you how to get rid of this new ‘threat’ (often allegedly dangerous) by buying their cleaning product! Ching!  It’s as easy as taking candy from babies!  And people fall for this trick all the time.  It’s very disappointing.

This is an age-old advertising Agencies sales tactic – hitting the viewers with the old ‘One, Two, Three’ knock-out sales trick.

How To Use The  ‘One, Two ,Three – Knockout’ Sales Pitch.

1. Create a fear (that no one worried about before the Ad told you it was something to worry about).

2. Justify the fear and increase the anxiety level – to make the threat sound credible and real.

3. Get rid of this dangerous threat to house and home by…. Buying their product!

Of course! Why didn’t you think of that before?  Not sure? It’s because the fear has been artificially generated and planted in your brain by suggestion – it’s not real. And people seem to fall for this sales trick over and over.  It’s very disappointing.

Most ‘What Google Said’ articles use Fear Mongering to grab People’s Attention & Boost Traffic.

In fact, I’d like to think that these ‘What Google said’ websites would themselves risk being pinged by Google. Yes, it is content – of a sort.  But is is true? Is it useful? Is it valuable?

I like to believe that Google values accuracy of Content, and dislikes content that is controversial or misleading – Content that is published for the sole purpose of spreading fear in order to increase traffic.  Am I dreaming?  I hope not.

If Google really does know everything, isn’t it likely that they would dislike and penalize people who use fear mongering to spread incorrect opinions about Google itself?   Maybe I’m asking a lot.  Maybe it’s up to readers to decide if a particular article is accurate or useful, and therefore worth believing….or not.

I’m sorry to say that when I read the Comments posted on these ‘What Google Said’ articles, it’s very disappointing.  No one ever disagrees with the opinions made by the writer.  No one ever says ‘No, that is not what Google actually said’.  Am I all alone in the Blogging World?  Am I hopelessly out of touch?  I don’t think so.  Why?

I Believe In Google: Yes! I Have Faith in Google’s Integrity!

So there! I actually believe that Google speaks the truth about what it will and won’t do – what it rewards and what it penalizes.  I believe that if you write high value content on your website, and don’t spam, and don’t allow spam Comments, don’t allow off-topic or spammy links, or use paid links, or practice keyword stuffing,  Google will love you.  Or at least, Google won’t penalize you or downgrade you.

It’s not complicated.  Google has always said it rewards high value websites, with high-ranking, relevant links that provided good value to its readers.

If you provide useful, high value Content, and have an easily navigated website, Google will love you.  And it has always stated this…no it’s more than that…it has always emphasized this: that it rewards high quality, high value, Content, and useful, relevant, natural links.

Google is not some malevolent all-powerful super power that is looking for all the sneaky ways it can, to find ways to Downgrade your Page Rank and damage your SERP results.  Google is not out to get you, unless you do the things that Google tells you it will penalize. Listen to Google itself to know ‘what Google thinks’.

Just check out some of Matt Cutt’s reactions of dismay when people send him questions on Google’s You tube Channel.  He cannot believe some of the questions he gets asked: how people focus on and worry about all the ‘wrong’ things when trying to ‘impress’ Google.

The SEO Industry & Will It Survive?

Have you ever checked out some of those extremely expensive SEO sites and found out what they Offer as part of their high priced ‘Services’?  I’ve been doing that over the last few days.

They literally have armies of highly qualified ‘SEO People’ searching for, and finding, juicy links for their customers.  Isn’t this using Unnatural Linking methods? Isn’t this a version of Paid Links?   Both these SEO practices are at the top of Google’s hit list.

The clue is in the name: Search Engine Optimization.  SEO companies are in the business of manipulating websites and links to improve SERPS – to impress Google webcrawlers, not website readers.

There is nothing ‘natural’ about using hundreds of people to find links for you.  And you are paying them to do that.  How is that not ‘Paid Links’?  Their sole purpose is to manipulate the data that Google uses to rank websites – and to make money for themselves, of course….they make lots of money.

Will Google start pinging SEO Companies and SEO Paid Services because they are violating Google own guidelines on a mega scale?  Well, I’m not holding my breath on that one.  The SEO industry is mega.  The big boys always get away with breaking the Rules don’t they?  And yet the SEO industry is based on using unnatural manipulation techniques to increase Page Rank and win Google-love.

Do you agree? Have you ever thought about this? Do you pay an SEO company to find juicy links for you? Are you afraid?  Are you very afraid?

Tell us what you think – write an interesting (non-spam) Comment and you will not only get your Comment approved, and published – you will also earn some extra Free Bonus Carol Love…..but note… this free offer is available for a short time only.

Soon, Carol Love will cost you a small fortune, …Bonus Carol Love is currently free, so get it while it’s hot!  Yes that’s a joke.