Yearly, online marketers vow to improve something on their SEO and SMO strategies. It's sort of a marketing New Year's resolution - whether it's to create better quality content or develop more engaging social media campaigns.
Definitely, online marketers all over the world like you are starting to draft their New Year's resolutions for 2013. However, if you were to choose just one resolution, it should arguably be this, which has also been the buzzword in the online marketing sphere for quite some time: diversify.
The dynamic nature of internet marketing requires calls for companies to broaden their approach in order to be successful. The need for variety is all encompassing and permeates every nook and cranny of SEO and SMO - from using anchor texts to how you execute marketing as a whole.
Achieving an Organic Anchor Text Profile
It's no secret. Google absolutely hates spamming and one proof of this is when it rolled out Penguin. Recently, SEO experts have discovered that over optimizing a site for certain anchor texts are actually penalized by the search engine giant and can cause a detrimental effect in terms of rankings.
What Google wants is simple - for sites to be organic and natural in terms of the anchor texts that they use. This is Google's response to the public outcry that many of the sites that were previously enjoying high rankings did not provide the information they were looking for and were just performing well in SERPs because of over optimized inbound anchor texts.
Of course, you should still use your SEO targeted keywords as anchor texts, but do it in moderation. Also, use anchor texts in the context of good content and not just for ranking's sake.
Broaden Your Link Horizon
Closely related to anchor text diversity is expanding your link profile. Link building has been, and arguably still is, the preeminent tactic in search engine optimization (SEO).
The most common mistake most search engine marketers commit when building links is falling in love with a single approach and overdoing it. It's like your favorite pair of shoes - you'll use it until the soles are as thin as paper. Just because you read somewhere that guest blogging is the "in thing," it does not mean that you have to contact hundreds of blog administrators and submit the same piece over and over. What happens if guest blogging suddenly becomes passé? All your links will go down with it and your rankings will go down the drain.
Google is Not the Be-all and End-all of SEO
While a huge of percentage of search engine users use Google, it's not the sole source of internet traffic. And here's another fact: Google is also looking at what's happening outside and readjust how it ranks site based on current trends in internet use. When social gained popularity, it created Google+. When video searches became popular, it bought YouTube.
Impressing Google can form a huge chunk of your internet marketing strategy, but don't obsess on it. Look at other search engines, other channels and social platforms. The more holistic you are, the more successful you can be.
Having a Panoramic Marketing Vista
Overall, the first step to achieving diversity is having the penchant for variety and a broader perspective on how you view internet marketing as a discipline. It's about being thirsty for innovation and trying out fresh ideas with calculated risk. Look at the discipline with a fresh set of eyes and renewed enthusiasm. This way, you will be able to identify new opportunities and avoid getting stuck with antiquated "trade secrets" and outdated "best practices."