Recently I had to check the little box on my comment settings. It was a sad day indeed. Due to a few unsupervised and rather unruly visitors, my comments are now held for moderation before going live. I’m all for freedom of speech and non-censorship, but waking up to my second comment (from the same colorful individual) stating that I really wasn’t teaching anyone anything new and “Why didn’t I get into the deeper truths of advanced SEO” was about all I could take. The deeper truths of SEO? Really?
Oh, and the gentle reader also accused me of outright plagiarism. Fancy that. I hardly think there is the need for me to stoop to such humiliating levels, especially since over 80% of the articles I read are quite poorly put together. I pondered the thought or the “idea” of the deeper truths of advanced SEO and it kind of made me chuckle a bit. Sort of like Randy, from My Name is Earl, does whenever he thinks about having sex with his wife, Catalina. The deep truths of advanced SEO. Sounds like a new religion and I suppose for all the self proclaimed gurus out there, it kind of is.
Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is nothing more than building your blog or website in the most beneficial way possible, to satisfy your reader’s need for information, while also satisfying Google’s attempt to crawl your site and try to figure out if there is a common thread or theme (keywords) that runs through your site. Google likes to catagorize things; makes it easier for the searchers. So, unless you are posting about fig trees in Jerusalem one day and your Aunt Bertha’s bunion medicine the next…eventually you should get ranked for your niche, subject matter, or keyword phrases.
The actual dictionary definition for the word “optimization” is the act, process, or methodology of making something (as a design, system, or decision) as fully perfect, functional, or effective as possible. Not too deep, huh. The websites I work on are all highly ranked because I take the time to follow the necessary steps to get them there.
I use a clean, easy to search blogging platform (WordPress is the winner in my book) and then I add a super charged, brilliantly SEO friendly theme (Thesis is by far superior to any other themes). After that, I carefully choose the plugins that will help Google to search your site for the best keyword phrases, All in One SEO is my favorite so far.
After that, it’s a matter of constant research to find keyword phrases that are desireable, yet not so competitive that you’ll have a hard time ranking. This can be accomplished through a number of Google tools created just for that purpose. After this step, throw in a pinging plugin, learn to use the power of Social Media Networking (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn), claim your business address on Google Maps and continue to supply fresh information in your posts, (no duplicate content, no copying and pasting other’s work) using the chosen set of keyword phrases in the title and throughout the body…and guess what? It works. Throw in some backlinking with anchor text. Supply links to trusted sources that are not competitive, and it works VERY quickly. Here is an excerp from an email I received from a Real Estate client that I’ve been working with for about three months now. This came to me on January 1, 2009. Very fitting indeed:
“Robin… Holy shit! We are on first page organic Google search this morning for all five of the keyword phrases you used to SEO our site! Thank you, thank you, thank you! YOU ARE THE BEST!”
Deep truths of advanced SEO? That sort of sounds like the people at church who just don’t “get it.” Having a spiritual relationship with God is pretty easy. It’s basic. It’s based on one or two spiritual truths (Love God with all your heart, Love your neighbor as yourself) and then get to building your relationship. Pray, talk to God…Include Him in your life. Don’t write letters to your Pastor telling him that he needs to teach DEEPER THINGS. If you want a fish my friend, guess what? Go get yourself a fishing pole, a bucket of fish and get busy. But don’t waste your time trying to disprove others who are doing just fine. Sure, you can buy a fish finder, you can get yourself some charts and meters…You can even hire an expensive fishing guide to help you learn the DEEP things of fishing. Or you can walk over to the dude with the cane pole who’s been fishing the same way in the same spot for the past ten years and ask him what he’s using for bait. My bet is on the cane pole guy.
Until next time… Happy New Year to all my fans and my haters alike. Hope you ALL have plenty of fish to fry in your buckets this New Year!
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Robin. This is excellent on a number of levels. I'm with you, allow Google to drive your behavior which, when you think about it, is nothing more than doing the right thing. Isn't that always the best way to go anyway?
Hi Robin, nice post and I understand what you are referring to when it comes to the more technical parts of optimization. Don't take this the wrong way because I realize that you are telling us the basics of SEO but do not over simplify thing by saying that advanced SEO techniques do not exist. I thought the same thing until I hired on an SEO company and after 3 years of me and the people around trying the techniques that you talk about, we finally ranked number one for some very competitive terms. Obviously these guys knew what they were doing and they had different techniques which was much more than what you talk about.
Keep these great informative posts coming!
I couldn't agree with you more, Kristine. For the highly competitive terms and sites, it takes a lot of effort, testing, linking strategies and more to rank for the terms you are targeting. I am trying to get it through everyone's head FIRST AND FOREMOST that you have to have the right foundation, target your keywords, no duplicate content, etc. If I can get everyone to start out right, I think we can go on from there. =)