It’s challenging to keep up with the constant algorithm updates. Every time a recent update is announced, I worried whether my content can keep up with it.
But soon after, you’ll get to read a lot of news, YouTube videos and articles written by top SEO industry experts talking about solutions and strategies to keep up with the changes.
While they are still helpful, I noticed that we’re being constantly pushed into this never-ending cycle of constantly tweaking and churning contents to satisfy the algorithms, in order to rank better on search engines and social media platforms.
It’s a common practice even by me, to stay in competition and keep our businesses afloat.
But what if I told you that we can be on top of this never-ending loop and be on the receiving end of winning more traffic, conversion and sales for…good?
The very core and foundational strategy that I’m currently employing is – Trust, period!
Now, you might ask what kind of trust am I talking about?
Before I give my explanation, it won’t make sense to you until you decide to have a complete mindset shift.
Featured image by Freepik
The Mindset Shift
I noticed a lot of the online news surrounding this topic mostly paint a bleak prospect, particularly for smaller brands, business owners and independent bloggers who don’t have as much financial resources as big brands to leverage on paid ads or paid marketing.
Their tone of voice kinda sound like this:
“The algorithms won’t do much to help you, if you don’t pay up.”
That is all not true…at least, not to me.
Because I have a completely different perception about the algorithms.
I’m still relying on SEO algorithms, be it Google or on social media to acquire web traffic to my sites, as well as sales.
I admit, they’ve been a helpful resource.
Thanks to my mindset shift, I’m not worried about algorithm updates and won’t lose sleep over it.
I’m also taking other people’s technical opinions (even AI) about SEO algorithms…with a grain of salt.
I know my audience well and when I put out a content on the Internet, I made sure that they serve a purpose, provide solutions and good user experience.
I will then let the algorithms do their work to rank my content and provide visibility, while I continue to focus on my core values.
As I do that, I affirm to myself that every content I put out will find the right people who needs it, and the algorithms will back me up…period!
How to Develop a Mindset Shift?
It’s simple. Just make up your mind to shift, or not to shift.
If you choose the former, I can help make the process easier for you – through repeated affirmations.
According to Louise Hay, a legend and an influential figure in the self-development space said:
“I do not fix problems. I fix my thinking. Then problems fix themselves.”
Would you agree?
I do because there are a lot of things and events happening in the world right now that are beyond our control.
I used to get frustrated when things don’t go my way. I tend to condemn or blame others for my setbacks and misfortunes.
Then I realized my frustration grew bigger and this emotional burden isn’t helping me at all. They keep perpetuating what I don’t want and I felt stuck…until I asked myself what is happening to me and why?
I was afraid of failure and got attached to the need to control outcomes. I realized that the failure I fear is in the future and yet to happen.
I also realized that I need to learn to let go of the need to control outcomes, even micro-managing tasks. It’s a bad habit I developed over the years from being a solo-entrepreneur and it’s wearing me down ☹
This needed to change and it starts with my thinking.
Meditation helped brought clarity to my mind. Yes, it’s a daily routine and a good habit I’ve developed (and not just the bad habits) for years!
I also prayed for help and solutions when I meditate. I had a hard time letting go and so I prayed for strength and wisdom to help me achieve that.
If you own a website or an online store and see a significant drop in traffic, we are taught to focus on finding a solution. But the solution found me instead.
Not only that, all the questions I have about life are also gradually coming to the surface, like the change I needed to make as I mentioned earlier.
Algorithms are constantly changing and there’s not much we can do about it. We can tweak and optimize our contents to please the algorithms and to rank better.
But why not improvise and create contents that inspire, make positive impact and genuinely helpful to our community…and trust that the algorithms will do its work?
I have let go the need to constantly check my analytics and keep optimizing my contents for SEO. Because I realized it’s not about the algorithms, nor about me.
It’s about realizing the potential I have to contribute for a greater good, one content at a time, and not let my potential go to waste.
Keep Moving Forward and Trust the Process
I enjoyed the creative freedom and freedom of expression that come with letting go.
As I’m writing this article, I am constantly affirming that:
“All is well. Everything is working out well for my highest good.”
This is the Trust I meant!
Besides our thoughts, do you know that the words we mutter have the power to shape our realities, be it good, bad or indifferent?
If you’ve been in the manifesting space, you will come across countless testimonies from ordinary people, personal growth gurus, metaphysics practitioners and even neuroscientists claiming this to be true.
I am no exception, and let me be the first to share my testimony with you.
My Testimony
It was in late November 2023 that I began noticing a gradual drop in traffic to the YDJ Blog. Then a sharp decline of traffic from January – April 2024.
Like every digital marketer, small business owners and bloggers, this was deeply worrying to me.
I was scrambling to doing all sorts of work (and unaware I was reacting from fear) to constantly keep the blog updated with fresh contents and fully SEO optimized.
It didn’t help much most probably because YDJ is not as highly authoritative as other sites that are ranking no. 1 on Google.
I’m not alone as other people also began noticing and questioning what is Google up to? Many lower authoritative websites that once relied on Google SEO were negatively impacted.
Like many website owners, I scrambled to look for solutions to stay afloat in the SEO ecosystem.
Traffic to my site stagnate and I was merely surviving in my blogging and content creation business.
It didn’t take long before I realized I was using ineffective digital and social media marketing techniques, got distracted, and reacting from fear often.
I missed the days when I used to talk and share common interests with other fellow creatives.
As I reminisced on this, I was inspired to find a solution…a different kind of solution.
The Power of Positive Affirmations
Affirmations are basically anything you say or think. As mentioned earlier, they have the power to shape our outcomes and experiences, be it good bad or indifferent, consciously or unconsciously.
I’ve grown tired of constantly keeping up with the algorithms.
I would love to go back to doing the things that are inspiring and empowering…and this is how I kept myself going.
“Everything is working out well for my highest good, including the algorithms.”
See for yourself, what will transpire if you repeatedly tell yourself the above positive affirmation as you create your next content for your blog, your YouTube channel or your social media pages.
These days, I’m publishing articles on topics that I know will resonate well with me and my audience.
While I still SEO optimize them, my intention is to reach the right audience and trust the algorithm will do its job to deliver my content to those who need it
I have also stopped checking my analytics too often. When I do want to check them, I will make sure that I’m coming from an intention of wanting to improve the quality of my content, instead of obsessing over results.
If you’re new to digital marketing, you can learn up skills to equip yourself with essential marketing knowledge. But also believe and trust in your ability to succeed.
The Good News
As I’m writing this, smaller competitors to Google, Bing and Meta are becoming more attractive to users in the digital marketing space.
The following are some good news I came across so far:
- TikTok is already redefining how users search
- Ecosia and Qwant (I’ve not heard of this startup before, but they are making waves now) are teaming up to build a better search experience for users
- Pinterest is giving more support to independent content creators
- Long tail keyword optimization works
- Traditional SEO still works!
What I’m Doing Right Currently?
I’ve been optimizing most of my blog posts with long-tail keywords and have seen positive results as seen below.
Pinterest is my favourite platform that I’ve been proactively using to drive traffic here.
Thanks to some Pinterest strategies and techniques I learned from Anastasia Blogger and Heather Farris, there is an increase in traffic as well.
But the point I want to make is that SEO algorithms will serve you well, if you view them as a practical and beneficial tool. Regardless of whatever updates they’ve gone through, they will always work for you.
“Everything is working out well for my highest good, including the algorithms.”
My Advice
There will always be continuing adjustments made to search engines across platforms. They’re beyond our control.
Do not be concerned and don’t be a slave to algorithms. Trust that it will do its part but most importantly, continue to support and engage with the people and community you care about deeply.
Thank you so much for reading my article and I hope my insights have been helpful to you. Please share your opinions with me as well about SEO algorithms. I’m curious to know.
Together, let’s make SEO algorithms work for us.
Once again, thank you for reading!
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