More than a year after the original Google Panda Update, there is a lot of stir about a new Panda update.
Many people are seeing significant changes in their search engine rankings, and huge traffic loss.
Whether you?ve experienced that with your own blog or website, or you?re worried you may in the near future, this post is for you?
Google Will Drive You Crazy If You Let It!
How much time do you spend pouring over your stats, monitoring your search engine rankings, reading the latest SEO articles, or getting involved in the current ?algorithm horror story? discussions on SEO forums?
I?m not suggesting you shouldn?t stay informed, or that you shouldn?t analyze your stats & rankings. Because you should.
But contrary to popular belief, your online business does not depend on Google. And allowing ?algorithm chasing? to consume you, robs you of valuable time you could be using to grow your business and serve your market?
Shift Your Focus: A Simple Question
As you know, I have a low carb diet blog where I discuss travel & food. My assistant, Angie, also has a travel blog where she talks about her fun travel adventures. I?m sure you have a fun blog or website that you really enjoy as well.
I try to keep things in perspective when growing and running my online business, by asking simple questions like: Would I rather be backlinking or trying new recipes to share? Would I rather be studying algorithms or traveling? Would I rather be discussing SEO, or discussing travel & food?
The answers are obvious. 
Solution: Get Back To YOUR Business
Of course, many of these things are necessary to grow our online business. That?s a given. But you can easily market your business without using automated link building programs (I don?t), or studying the latest Google update (I rarely even look at those discussions).
Instead, simply focus on marketing your business.
Google can drive you crazy if you watch it too close. So don?t! Step away from analyzing search results and reading about the latest algorithms for a moment, and focus on ways to reach your market.
Consider seasonal opportunities within your niche, or news & trending topics. Get super active on Facebook & Twitter discussing these things, and interacting with your target market. Guest Blog everywhere you can, share niche-specific pics on Flickr and Pinterest, publish videos on YouTube, hop onto Google+ and talk about your topics, etc. ? See: How to Use Social Media
Also look for niche specific channels or networks. For me that would be foodies or travel communities. There are niche-specific social groups and networks out there on A LOT of topics! Join them, set up profiles, and actively engage with them.
Focus on building your mailing list and engaging your subscribers with great content they ENJOY receiving. Once you have visitors on your list, you can get them to your site without relying on Google or any other source. This is the most important step to building a loyal readership ? people who will link to, like and share your content FOR you, which is exactly what you want!
In other words: start actively marketing your site & content.
These activities not only help with your rankings directly, they also give you a strong alternate traffic source when Google ?dips? on you.
Never let Google control your business. There are entirely too many ways to market your business online to rely solely on Google, or let Google make you want to QUIT.
Forget Google for awhile, and do what you do best. For me, that?s traveling & eating. 
What do YOU do best?? Whatever it is, THAT is exactly what will bring Google back around anyway, and improve your positions in the search results.
Best,
p.s. Speaking of Guest Blogging, not only will it get you the highest quality backlink but it will also put you in front of an established readership. In most cases that content will also go out to their established email lists and social media channels. If you need quality traffic & links, this is the activity you need to be focusing on!
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