Down The SEO ‘Rabbit Hole’

Search engine optimization is a much talked about subject. Put 2 or 3  SEO consultants together and they’ll hardly ever agree on too many things related to the subject. White papers, reports, magical solutions, theories abound. Do I really need that keyword tag?  How many characters should this or that tag be? What exactly is the correct keyword density for my pages?  Should I submit my site to directories or is that really a method of a by-gone day? 

The “mystery” behind basic natural search engine optimization is no mystery at all. It is made to appear mysterious in order to ensure that a select group of people can claim that they have this “mystical knowledge” that will allow them to pull a rabbit out of their ass and make all your top spot search engine page results dreams come true. Balderdash.

ANYONE can acquire the knowledge it takes to do proper SEO. The problem is not a lack of magical talent. It takes time to learn how to do it properly. There’s so much information out there it can become a nightmare trying to sort out what is fact and what is fiction. The best way to do that is to take some information, apply it to your website and monitor the site for changes.  The problem is, the average business man or woman doesn’t have the time and sometimes the interest, to learn this craft and apply the techniques themselves.  I understand that and it keeps me in work so I can’t complain about that now can I?

But really guys . . . lets cut the crap! Stop telling your clients you’re going to charge them money to submit their websites to a million search engines. Stop telling people you can guarantee them top spot in the search engines for their chosen keywords because you can’t! Not unless you are selling the ‘paid for inclusion marketing model.’ Stop telling people that you can do a back link acquisition campaign for them for $0.05 a link because you know and I know . . . the links you’re getting them are useless and of no value.

There . . . I had to rant. Now, let’s start off the next post here about what does work and what you can do yourself or what a responsible, professional search engine marketing firm can do for you. See you next time!

Maverick

Better Search Solutions

So, what the heck is search engine optimization?

Everyone has a different way of describing what search engine optimization is. My definition is simply – Engineering web pages so they are easy for the search engines to crawl and rank high in the search engine index pages.

 

This process can be divided into 2 basic categories – on-page optimization and off-page optimization. On-page optimization should include the following efforts.

 

• Keyword Research
• Meta Tag creation and optimization
• Keyword rich text content
• Keyword rich links to other pages of the site
• Keyword insertion in ‘alt’ image tags
• Easy Page Navigation (vertical site navigation)

 

Off-Page Optimization is about back links. Back links are simply links on other people’s web pages that point to your site web pages.

 

In my next post we’re going to take a closer look at each of these areas so you can begin formulating a plan for your site.

 

SideBar – We say – “build web pages for people, not search engines.” Writing content and designing a website to peak a visitors interest and have them return to your site for more information because they like it and want to return to see what’s new, is absolutely important. However, you need to ensure your site pages follow basic search engine optimization guidelines as well, if you want your site to get great marks with the se’s.

 

Later . . . . .

 

Maverick

Better Search Solutions