It’s obvious that Google didn’t ease off their low-value tactics in 2012.  Amongst the Penguin update, 13 Panda updates and a restriction on poor-quality Exact Match Domains (EMDs), it is safe to say that Google’s updates and hoops are not going away any time soon.  So, how are you to protect what you’ve built in the coming 2013?  One word- “DIVERSIFY”.

1.     Diversify Anchor Text

Aggressive inbound link anchor text has never been a great idea, and the Penguin update reinforced that message.  If all of your links resemble each other, it may as well just read as “spam” to Google.  The best way for your anchor text to seem natural is to stop preoccupying yourself with it.  Anchor text is a signal; however any solid link profile will naturally use relevant text and appear in the context of relevant text.

2.     Diversify Links

Any link-building tactic can be low-quality if you abuse it.  Likewise, nothing screams manual link-building like a site that’s built with only one tactic (such as guest posts).  Take a hard look at where your links came from last year and consider a new approach for 2013.  If you diversify your profile through your links you will diversify your risk as well.

3.     Diversify Traffic Sources

The fact is that most of us are far too dependent on Google for traffic.  Since Google has so many updates, what if something were to happen overnight that could hurt your site?  For example, if your competition suddenly gets site-links, or you’re #9 on a search that drops to only 8 results overnight.  I feel that the changing search UI and feature landscape may be even more important than the core algorithm itself.  So, even if you’ve followed the rules, your traffic could plummet suddenly from any number of changes Google makes.  You need to start thinking beyond Google in order to adapt to possible alterations in the future.

4.     Diversify Your Marketing

Marketing has become much more transparent in recent years, so it is important that you make sure what you are promoting is truthful and spells out value for the customer.  If you know your products/services aren’t valuable, then marketing is a more deceitful practice.  However, if you truly believe in your value proposition, the content and marketing side will flow naturally from it.  Don’t take shortcuts to steal a few bucks out of someone’s wallet.  Rather, find out what your company does that is unique, exciting and which resonates with customers to gain lifetime clients in 2013.

5.     Diversify Your Point of View

Sometimes having a positive attitude when attacking a problem can be the best plan of action.  If you are bored with what you do, then your prospects and customers will feel the same way.  The New Year is a perfect time for a fresh start, so try some of these practices to take a step back to truly analyze your work and satisfaction level:

• Have someone give you a tour of your office like you’ve never been there
• Visit your home city like you’re a tourist visiting for the first time
• Have 5 friends walk through your website and try to by something, then gather feedback (you can also use a service such as UserTesting.com)