Ever since Google went public, it’s been getting tougher to get free traffic from Google. They make nearly constant algo changes, and the discount almost all backlinks which are counted by other search engines. In some ways, Google spends so much time analyzing links, that the idea of just creating natural pages for rankings seems almost unlikely. Their very efforts to curb spam are likely to inflame the problem even more.

What I’ve been doing in response to many of Google’s recent algo changes has been to ignore them as much as possible. I will not make a decision based on “what Google will think” of my website, because frankly, I think Google is out of touch.

Like a billionaire you may have know when they were poor, Google no longer needs anyone. They have a huge market cap and a high flying stock to prop up their earnings machine, so it’s not likely they’ll be changing how they do business any time soon. If you get traffic, feel lucky, because it’s not a right, but a privilege.

Social networking websites are currently bringing in a ton of qualified traffic and that trend is likely to continue. You can find live bodies easily operating through the social network sites, who can be marketed to subtly and effectively. This traffic is very direct, and gives you a chance to convert them to your website for low or no cost.

Sure, Google is still the main referrer on most of my sites, but I’m looking forward to a day when there’s plenty of sources providing traffic to me. The whole world is still a bit Google-centric, but I see that dwindling every day.