Google’s most recent algorithm update, dubbed the Panda update or the Farmer update, has generated a lot of heated debate in the SEO and internet marketing world. And justifiably so. Apparently, many “good” and high quality websites have been negatively affected by the update which was meant to improve the overall quality of google search results.

Leaving the merits and demerits of that update aside, the change should remind us of a fundamental truth that has existed ever since search engines entered the internet scene: if you want to build a sustainable online business, it is foolish to rely only on one source of traffic (search engine traffic especially).

You’d expect that by now, we would have learnt from past major google updates like the BigDaddy, Florida, Allegra, Dewey, and MayDay updates. Relying solely on search engine traffic leaves your website too vulnerable to such algorithm updates. But alas! many of us still attempt to catch up with the latest algorithm. By the time we finally get there, there will have been thousands of other smaller updates, plus at least one major update that gets us back to the catch-up game again.

So What Should We do?

Most of what we should do is common sense. Unfortunately, it also requires some deliberate effort and hard work. In a nutshell, it all boils down to link building. At the risk of repeating what has been “overpreached”, I highlight some must-do’s:

1. Networking with like-minded website owners
In real life, who you know often counts more than what you know. The same is perhaps more applicable in the internet business. You gain a lot by partnering with others offering a similar or related products to your own. Instead of thinking “competition” you should think “win-win”. If there is some real value you can offer to visitor’s of the other guy’s website for example, you could do a guest blog post there. The visibility and credibility you gain is invaluable, while you also add value to that website.

Take the internet marketing business for example, Aaron Wall and Danny Sullivan are some of the best known authorities. They could be competitors of some sort, and they do not necessarily agree 100% with each others opinion. Yet you will find posts by Aaron Wall in Danny Sullivan’s Search engine land.

Remember, guest blogging is just one, and not the only, way of networking. Be creative.

2. Building Communities in the new social media
I am talking mostly about Facebook and Twitter. Despite what some “experts” may claim, social media marketing is not a fad. Facebook and twitter alone have a combined total user population of over 600 million. This is massive by many standards. Of course these people are not there to be marketed to. But with good etiquette, tact, and by providing real value, you can build a community of loyal visitors to your website from these social sites. I recommend that you read this blog post if you want to learn how to avoid the pitfalls of social media community building.

3. Community participation
Besides just creating your own community, you can gain a lot by tapping into already existing communities. Forum posting falls in here in my opinion. By now, I am sure you know how the mantra goes: offer real value, do not spam, be ethical, etc.

Forum participation may be a very slow way of gaining traffic, but if you are posting in a forum in your niche, the benefits are real. Other similar communities you may participate in include facebook groups.

4. Affiliate Marketing
If you are directly selling services or products in your website, you can build a network of affiliates who will market your products through their websites.It is quite easy and effective. To understand how affiliate marketing works, see this web page.

5. Good old link exchange requests
Most SEO experts today frown upon link exchanges. Even Google, in its webmaster guidelines, discourages excessive use of reciprocal links, i.e. the typical “link to me, and I will link back to you”. But I think link exchange still has a role in building traffic. Again, you should use common sense here. A link will add no value to your website (traffic-wise) if it is buried at the middle of a “links and resources” web page that has 200 links to other websites. But, if you have some really valuable resource, most people will have no problem linking to it from a high traffic page.

6. Be Proactive
There is nothing wrong with asking visitors to your website to share the site with friends if they like it. You can even provide the means thorugh which your visitors can share the content via email, social bookmarking sites, social media sites, etc. If it is a wordpress blog for example, the share this plugin or something similar does the job well.

7. Create good content
I should probably have started with this point. Good content still remains the king. If yours is an information site, provide unique content. If it is an e-commerce site, present your products/services in a well laid out professional format, and make sure you have adequate product/service description. People will find it easier to link to good content.

In short, your content and general design should be aimed at satisfying the human visitors to your website, forget about the search engines. Google herself agrees as much. Ironically, if you do this and most of the other things mentioned above, your rankings in search engines is likely to go up.