“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.” – Charles Darwin.
Origin of Whales
A long, long time back, a certain species of land mammal started undergoing changes in behavioral traits. According to their Natural Selection, these ancient creatures preferred to spend more time in water than on land. Though they were doing perfectly all right on land, the time they spent on water were helping them adapt to their environment in a better way. As a result, this change began helping them survive and produce more offspring.
As time passed by, size and color of these creatures changed over the course of several generations. And after centuries of evolution, an entirely new species came into the forefront. Due to their adaptability, they were able to prevent extinction and become powerful masters of their realm. These creatures exist even today and are known to mankind by the name – “whales”.
Charles Darwin, the famous naturalist and geologist, brought forward this claim in his book On The Origin Of Species in 1859. While some considered him a lunatic at that point of time, recent discoveries have shown that he was actually right. Following the same curve, his ‘Theory of Evolution’ was successful in demonstrating how and why apes transformed into humans. And why dinosaurs, even being the strongest animals during their time, failed to save themselves from total annihilation.
So, what are we getting at?
Simply put, the key is in evolution – a constant change in order to increase the rate of survival. And everything in this planet must go this process… including something as inanimate as Search Engine Optimization (or SEO as it’s popularly known).
SEO and the Theory of Evolution
What does SEO have to do with Charles Darwin’s ‘Theory of Evolution’? Surreal though it may seem at first, the ever-changing landscape of SEO has a strong link with what Darwin stated over 150 years back.
Are you wondering how this is possible? Then let’s get back to the famous quote by Darwin which I used at the beginning of this write-up, and deliberately break it in 3 parts.
#1. “It is not the strongest of the species that survives”
Just like Mother Nature didn’t have any mercy on the dinosaurs and other now-extinct species, Google also does not care how big a brand or how rich you are. In short, you’ll get penalized if you don’t adhere to the rules set for you by Google.
#2. “Nor the most intelligent that survives”
Numerous top companies and webmasters have tried their hands at outsmarting Google. Black-hat SEO tactics like doorway pages, keyword stuffing and article spinning got frequently used to take advantage of the loopholes in Google’s algorithm before 2011. This resulted in high rewards, but soon turned out to be the worst nightmare.
#3. “It is the one that is the most adaptable to change”
Google makes it a point to remain incomprehensible. With its frequent updates, Google wants to ensure that no one gets the time to get a hang of how it works. With this path getting blocked for us, the only road that is there to take is the one which leads to evolution. And the ones who are open to these updates and are ready to change themselves accordingly, will come out as the true survivors.
What Do We Learn From This?
The Panda and Penguin Updates are already here, and they are getting modified every now and then. With the recently launched Hummingbird, Google has made it pretty clear that SEO has followed the ‘Theory of Evolution’ from the start and is striving to better itself every time. And for whom? It’s for us, obviously!
Why should we actually become intimidated by these algorithm updates, after all? This is all but Google’s attempt to help us find the best answers to our queries by placing only the deserving candidates at the top of the SERPs. Following the curve of evolution, it’s sure that these updates will keep on coming in future. The best possible thing we can do for our survival is follow the right path and adapt to the changes.
And that’s where all of this leads to, isn’t it?
This article was written for Business 2 Community by Connor Brooke.
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