2 Internet Marketing "Deaths" That Have Been Overblown

If you spend any amount of time dealing with the Internet Marketing community, then you know how it can sometimes feel like the apocalypse is upon us. Only in the conspiracy-filled corners of the deep web will you be able to find so many rumors of this dying, that being a scam, this company screwing over the little guy, and on and on and on. Today is a good day to focus on the "deaths" though, the methods and principles that apparently are going out of style. Very few of them are as dead as you have been led to believe. These three in particular are still doing very well.

Content Marketing/Article Marketing/Article Syndication

This one has been going strong for a few years now, and pops up with a vengeance every time that Google releases an algorithm update. Gone are the days when quality content would be enough to get you sales, or so the doomsayers would like to believe.

The truth? Well, there are two actually. First, very few Internet Marketers actually understand what quality content means. They believe that anything that is in coherent English and at least slightly on topic is good enough. This is wrong. If your content does not either inform, entertain, or persuade a reader to do something that helps them within your niche, then the content is not good enough. Second, Google loves good content more than ever. They change their algorithm monthly to try and reflect this. What they don't like is you spamming your content across the web (directories, "guest posts" on spam blogs, etc.). Build up your own properties with great content and build backlinks to places worth linking to. The rest WILL take care of itself, just not in 12 milliseconds like the sales letters promised.

SEO

Speaking of backlinks and Googles, let's talk about good old Search Engine Optimization. If you believe the word on the street, this has been dead since about 2007 or so! Long gone are the days where you could by a domain, set up a squeeze page, blast it with a few thousand links for $5, and profit.

Yes those days are gone, but this is a GOOD thing. Google just cut out all of your "Internet Marketer" competition who doesn't know anything about real work. It is no easier or harder to rank for any key term than it has ever been (search volumes excluded, no one was searching for One Direction merchandise in 2007). How relevant can you be to a key term? How willing are you to craft a website and content around helping solve whatever caused that term to be entered in the first place? That will determine how successful you are with SEO.

There are many other myths out there that need to be dispelled; but these are the two that you must know about right away. Above all remember this: take everything with a grain of salt and test for yourself to figure out what is true. It will get you far.