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Posts tagged SEO
Day 10: Your Suite of SEO Tools
Feb 20th
Some SEO Software is Crap
There is a lot of money in selling software, which means there are a lot of ad dollars flowing into spreading the idea that you need some secret tool to compete in search.
As explained throughout this series, SEO has moved beyond being a mechanical process to being something that is far more social and subjective. While many SEO tools focus on misinforming the user into thinking that there is a secret keyword density ratio to target (or some other such bunk), the truth is you need to build organic links to help make your site compete. No amount of raw analysis and number crunching is going to make good links automatically appear. More >
Day 13: Is PageRank Important?
Feb 10th
Just Enough Knowledge to be Dangerous
One of the bigger problems with learning in the field of SEO is that there are a lot of people who have a nugget of information. And they spread it far and wide without the proper context needed to evaluate the potential risks and rewards of any given strategy. So new SEOs end up thinking topic x is the most important, then topic y, then topic z. And then someone debunks one of those. Many false facts are taken as truths when the people with a nugget of information (that they found from some source) spread it as fact. More >
Day 6: Getting Started With Link Building
Jan 28th
Link Building is a Pain in the Butt
Prior to creating the SEO Book training program I conducted a survey of SEO Book members. One of the questions was, “What is the biggest thing stopping you from improving your website rankings and traffic?”
The most common answer to that question was “link building”. If links are so important how do you build them? Here are some great techniques for providing content that people will actually WANT to link to: More >
Day 5: Google’s Rise: a Link is Worth 1,000 Words
Jan 26th
Automated Content Creation Scares Google
Yesterday we covered on page optimization, and mentioned how some people are too aggressive with keyword density. Of course copy that is dense with keywords likely sounds dense, and will not convert site visitors into buyers. But some automated content generation programs create content that is better than some page copy that people write.
Some major corporations, like Thomson Financial, publicly admit that they generate news reports using robots to write the content. More >
Day 4: On-Page SEO
Jan 24th
A Ranking Dropkick From Google … From #1 to #1,000 
In November of 2003 Google did a major update to their search relevancy algorithms, which was known in the SEO community as the Florida update. That update marked the day that SEO became hard. Prior to that point in time, on page optimization tips from many SEOs would have sounded something like this “use your keywords heavily everywhere.” But that update changed how on-page-optimization works. More >
Day 3: Testing Keywords with Google AdWords
Jan 20th
Test Before You Build
Here’s a simple tip that could easily save you 12 months of work:
Setting up an effective SEO campaign in a competitive market can be a long drawn out and expensive process. Worse yet, if you are focused on the wrong keywords, you might need to start over again after you find out that your site is not producing the results you want.
An easy way to avoid needing to start over is to test the value of keywords before you heavily commit to your SEO strategy. Buying pay-per-click ads (PPC) from search engines like Google (AdWords), Yahoo (Search Marketing), and Microsoft (adCenter) allow you to see what keywords have the ability to drive traffic to your site. More >
Day 2: Keyword Research Strategies
Jan 15th
Use the Most Relevant Keywords
Yesterday we discussed the precise targeting offered by keywords. But even if a keyword is valuable, it might not be valuable to your business. For example, if you are a dentist in Chicago, it is not worth the effort to try to rank for the word dentist. Why? 99% of the people searching for that phrase do not live near Chicago, and are irrelevant prospects. What you would want to rank for, if you were a Chicago dentist, would be things like More >
Day 1: The Power of Keywords
Jan 15th
Why is Google so Valuable?
Have you ever wondered why Google is worth over a hundred billion Dollars? Or why a single click from Google can go for as high as $50? The reason is the precise targeting offered by search engine marketing.
How Most Advertising is Broken
Most ads try to club you over the head and beat you into submission. Search engine marketing is a completely different form of advertising because rather than trying to tell you what to do, the searcher requests to see the ads and views them as relevant to their wants, needs, and goals. Advertisers bid to show up where they are relevant – when they are irrelevant. If they bid for irrelevant keywords they lose money on every click. More >
The Easiest Way to Increase Search Engine Rankings and Drive Website Traffic
Jan 14th
To learn how to increase search engine rankings and drive website traffic you need to understand the concepts that govern the way the search engines work.
Without an understanding of these principles and a system to incorporate them into everything you do online, you will not get the success you are seeking. More >
