By the time we graduate preschool, fables and nursery rhymes seem so elementary to us that we rarely recite them again, let alone consider the life, and even business, lessons they can teach us. The fact is, though, these little stories pack tons of knowledge into their pages. Let’s look at the age-old Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf fable, for example. It may seem like a leap at first to compare the story of three little porkers trying to protect themselves from a big bad wolf to your business’s SEO strategy, but hear me out. It may just help you understand how to market to seniors online using SEO tactics.

Consider first black hat SEO. Using black hat (aka shady) SEO tactics is essentially building your SEO house out of straw. Sure, you might see lots of results quickly, just as the house of straw was a quick, easy way for the first little pig to get shelter, but we all know what happened to that first house. Similarly, the big bad Google Wolf is designed to blow down websites using black hat SEO strategies, like link building schemes which use lots of unnatural links intended to manipulate PageRank or a site’s ranking in Google search results, because they go against Google’s idea of what makes a quality website. Beware: There are lots of scams out there that try to lure you into building an SEO “straw house” so shady SEO firms can make a quick buck. Don’t be fooled!

Next, we look at SEO built around pay-per-click ads, aka the house made of sticks. This house is definitely sturdier than the straw/black hat SEO house because it uses legitimate tactics, and pay-per-click ads get websites a lot of results while you are paying for them. The trouble comes when you stop paying. As soon as you stop paying for pay-per-click ads, your house of sticks is obliterated.

So what’s the key to building an SEO house of bricks? Good organic SEO. Yes, it takes longer to see results when using organic SEO practices, but this strategy also stands up to all Google’s tests and algorithm changes, and your ultimate reward is that your results accumulate over time rather than disappearing altogether because you’ve stopped paying for ads or because Google has penalized your site for bad practices.

As you’ll remember, at the end of the Three Little Pigs, the first two little pigs retreat to their brother’s brick house for safety and security. The same eventually happens when website owners who have relied heavily on quick-fix black hat and/or pay-per-click tactics realize the error of their ways. Our advice? Be the third little pig. Take the time to build your SEO strategy using legitimate, reliable practices and watch the results grow over time.

Want to learn how to market to seniors online using a variety of SEO tactics? Contact the experts at corecubed. We can help you build authority, rank high, and get results the right way.