Fads make you feel like you have to follow them in order to belong. However, fads are not geared toward longevity—they come and go, and once they are gone, everybody tends to look at them in distaste. In the world of search engine optimisation, fads generally work the same—once they are gone, you ask yourself why you joined the bandwagon in the first place. However when all’s said and done, fads can still be helpful when thinking about how to generate traffic. Through studying and analysing them carefully, we can come up with ways of how to generate traffic that will actually provide longer lasting results.

Over the last few years there have been plenty of fads that were designed to effectively improve SEO and to increase web traffic, such as blog networks, forum posts, profile links, and spun content, (to name but a few). However, The Google zoo updates from the last few years have ensured that many of these fads are now totally and utterly useless.

Most of the algorithm updates that Google has implemented are designed to eliminate the content equivalent of ‘fast food’ or total trash that in this case has given the websites of many webmasters an ‘SEO coronary’ which in turn has either proven fatal or near fatal, (as I'm sure it did to many webmasters!) However, after the devastation way back in April 2012, it's still the case even today that no one really knows—for sure—how the future is going to pan out for the SEO industry. The only guarantee is that Google won’t be making it easy for webmasters, (so nothing new there), but what’s the solution?

The bottom line is that Google aims to encourage webmasters to create content that delivers value, and of course good content (along with a good SEO strategy) generates good traffic. However Failure to do this, could now mean your virtual head on a platter. Therefore the simple and perhaps most obvious solution when it comes to learning from the fads of the last few years, is to start to play ball.

Not your cup of tea?

Well I'm sure the idea of ‘singing off the Google hymn sheet’ is likely to make many ‘fast food content junkies' sick to the stomach as well, but what’s the alternative? Continue with the black hat, and risk having to completely rebuild your site every few months? Sure, the choice is yours, but a quick fix of Google love in a brand new SEO age really isn't going to reap the same rewards as perhaps it did a few years ago.

If you’re a ‘fast food content Junkie' the best resolution you can make from now on is quite simply to kick the habit and fast. Don’t just take the black hat off, burn it! Build your websites, sure, but build your list as well. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket just for someone else to come along and break them all, diversify, and not just your SEO practices, but your entire business. Do this and not only will you start to generate web traffic that will actually provide longer lasting results, but you’ll also have a business that’s set to do the same.

Paul Graham

Paul Graham Online.com