Our marketing colleagues in B2B SEO use an interesting term, “link bait.” It’s usually described as something that makes people want to link to your site, thereby increasing your search-engine ranking.

I have a problem with that.

I’m a B2B content guy. It’s something I’ve been doing all my life. And I don’t like the idea that content is simply a means to an end. Even if the end – higher search ranking – is a worthy one.

The good news is that the search icon Google agrees.

Just a few weeks ago, Google launched its infamous algorithm update (called “panda” or “farmer”), rocking the search community in general and causing extreme teeth gnashing in the more dubious “black-hat” segment of that community. My colleagues Steve Poole and Cliff Lewis offer more on the particulars.

The new algorithm identifies and penalizes low-value content created solely to drive search traffic. And that’s a very good thing.

Content is not a means to an end, it’s an end goal itself. A worthy goal. Because having good content is about much more than achieving higher search ranking. It’s about sharing information that your audience finds useful. Attractive. Helpful.  

Good content is rewarded in search because it should be. It serves a greater good. It answers questions. Helps people solve problems. Raises the level of dialog in your industry. And Google is rewarding companies who provide that kind of public service.

So the challenge of marketing for this decade is not how to game the system, trick the algorithms and do an end-run around Google.

It’s recognizing that your company’s knowledge base, its experience, its intellectual capital, may well be its most important asset. And understanding that how you share that information with your audience may well determine your success: share nothing, gain nothing. Share too much and give away the farm.

Deciding where to draw that line – choosing what information you give to whom – requires a content strategy. A strategy that accurately assesses the value of your information and determines how and when to share it.