Google shares their ranking philosophy, which is used in many of their products, including News, Images, YouTube, Maps, and, of course, Search. Their philosophy breaks down to:
1) Best locally relevant results served globally.
2) Keep it simple.
3) No manual intervention.– Official Google Blog: Introduction to Google Ranking
What does this mean for your business website?
Best locally relevant results – if you have a small local business you are still very much in the running for search results to people within your area. Your company does not need expensive nationwide advertising or reach to still be relevant in Google’s eyes.
Google may change their algorithm which may change the ranking of your website in their search results. However, they are not manually removing you from searches unless you violate their terms of service. Most importantly, keep it simple, implies that having good content that is of value to your customers will get you further than just relying on SEO tricks.
I still believe content is king. If you have information that your customers want (remember to listen to them), they will come.