We all talk about Google like it’s some pie-in-the-sky, Big Brother figure that rules over all our lives. But we need to understand that Google is not some deity that can control our lives without us having any say in the matter. In fact, we have all the control in the world. We only need to learn how to develop a healthy relationship with Google.

So what kind of relationship should we have? We need to start seeing Google the way we see any other business. The fact that it’s online and that more people interact with it on a daily basis than with any other business, doesn’t take away from the fact that it’s a business just like any other.  People who surf the web looking for information or entertainment, are Google’s clients.

As content marketer, you need to start seeing yourself as Google’s supplier. And just like any grocery store needs its suppliers to put quality products on their shelves, so does Google require you as content marketer to provide a quality product that the end user will derive some value from.

Since Google sees your website as ‘product’, it requires you to make sure that it is a quality product. Google also wants the playing field for all its suppliers to be equal. Therefore, any illegitimate way of boosting your ranking in its search engines, will be viewed in a very bad light.

What does a grocery store do when it finds a bad product on its shelves? That product is removed and either goes to the back of a store room or it gets thrown out altogether. Pushing your website down in page ranking, is Google’s way of removing your product from its shelves and putting it in the back of a store room where nobody will find it.

So how do you make sure that your product stays on the front of the best shelf in Google’s store?

Don’t make use of spam

Whether you spam people’s e-mail with newsletters and they complain to Google or whether you put hundreds of your business ads on your social media pages, pushing it in front of all your followers all day, if Google sees it as spam you will be punished.

Don’t try to fool Google

It’s amazing to think that after all this time, even after the Penguin, Panda and Hummingbird updates, there are still some content marketers out there making use of ill-conceived practices like putting invisible writing on their websites, buying links, spammy guest blogging and the likes. Just like a policeman who has heard every excuse in the book, Google has seen every trick. And if they haven’t found a way to stop you yet, they soon will.

Make sure you deliver a quality product

The product you deliver to Google’s clients, is content. In order to deliver a quality product, you need to make sure that the content you deliver will be seen by the user as valuable. It has to answer the question the user is asking Google. If it doesn’t, it will not be seen as quality content and Google will not see this in a kind light.

As long as you play by the rules, put in the hard work and make sure that the end product you deliver to the users of Google is of value to them, you will have a happy working relationship with this bigger-than-life client of ours. If not…. well, don’t say I didn’t warn you.