Effectively implementing search engine optimization strategies remains crucial to a successful online marketing campaign. It’s so important that marketers have rated SEO as the most important and effective lead generation strategy, with 34% of all marketers calling SEO “very effective.” While SEO has been important for a long time running, what constitutes “good” SEO has changed drastically in the last few years, to say nothing of the last few months.

As always, Google remains the biggest player in the world of online marketing, owning from 65 to 70% of market share. In other words, when Google says it’s time for SEO marketing companies to change the methods they’re using to get clients placement in search engine results pages, marketers have to take notice.

Google Has Stated That Old SEO Services Are Dead
The latest mandate from the Silicon Valley tech giant to search engine optimization services makes it clear that old SEO strategies are dead. As detailed on the popular business marketing website Business 2 Community, Panda 4.0 went live at the end of May 2014, and with it, sweeping changes to the way spammy content is viewed by Google started to affect business websites everywhere. In a nutshell, Google continues to shape its services around one central idea: if your activities on the web are not carried out with the primary purpose of providing a service to web users, we’re coming for you. Guest blogging abuses, poor link placement, useless directory placement — any outdated methods that only serve to grow your visibility online will be punished. Harshly.

If Old Search Engine Optimization Services Are Out, What’s Left?
As with every other Google update, Panda 4.0 has left many search engine optimization services reeling. In reality, however, the best SEO services aren’t fazed by this development. Why? As The Guardian writes, SEO, content marketing, and public relations have been the same thing for a long time now, and those businesses that haven’t been wise to that fact are the ones Google is looking to punish.

The statistics say that 92% of marketers say that content marketing is either “somewhat” or “very” effective in SEO. What the statistics don’t tell you is that only a very specific type of content marketing actually works to increase the efficacy of an SEO campaign. As LinkedIn highlights, SEO content that is written like public relations work, content meant to primarily fill a need for web surfers, is the only way to go as Google continues to get tough on SEO crime.

So, if you’re running one of those firms left shaking in their boots after Panda 4.0, take stock of what it is that has you scared. Running a solid SEO campaign for your clients should be as much about web users as it is about your client, if not more. If you take that approach, you’ll have nothing to worry about.