Inbound marketing and Google Ranking Factors

So we've discussed why we should create valuable content that provides benefits for our ideal customer. I'll explain why we should start writing for "humans" and not Google Bots, by using the "Google Conspiracy" illustration.

In short, Google tries to mimic human behavior, so to stay safe in the future, you should have a "human-first" strategy when writing content.

The Google Conspiracy

What Google is trying to do is mimic human behavior. Google is therefore CONSTANTLY updating their "ranking factors" so the best content possible reaches the most appropriate user.

SEO is a science -- nobody knows the truth. But we can all collectively try and broaden our knowledge and keep experimenting. After we found a thing that works, the best we could do is share it with our fellow content marketeers so we can verify our findings. Much like how "peer reviews" in the academic world works. What we DO know is that Google is trying to mimic human behavior with its algorithm and it's our job to find out how our ideal customer searches the web.

What is the Google conspiracy?

Google's agenda is to get more money. It's a private company, not a charity. To gain that precious money, they count on advertisers paying Google to show their marketing messages on the Google platform.

What do advertisers need? The answer is straight: users and data. Advertisers want their advertisements to reach the right people -- which is a service Google gladly provides with all its data about you.

Considering this hustle, what would you do if you were Google looking to make more money? You want more users and data.

How does Google get more users (and data)? They get more users by continuously improving their search platform. They ultimately desire to become thé dominant reference when it comes to search engines. One could argue that they're doing a pretty good job at that with a ~92% market share.

Source: StatCounter Global Stats - Search Engine Market Share

How to play the Google Conspiracy

Considering the Google-Advertisers-users relationship, here is a simple trick you'll need to keep in mind when you want your content to rank: make it human-friendly. Stop over-optimizing your content for bots and algorithms by starting to write for humans instead. After all, Google's only intention is to be the best search platform out there by trying to mimic human behavior.

For example: Google strongly believes in "mobile first". This means that your website ranks based on your Mobile Experience. You can easily check out your Mobile First experience by doing a built-in audit in Google Chrome.

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