In Today's Issue
Search Engine Marketing
---> Why We Do What We Do in SEO
High Rankings Happenings
---> More Affordable SEO Services!
---> Claim Your SEO Website Review!
---> March SEO Class Sold Out!
Twitter Question of the Week
---> Do you build links for the traffic or for rankings?
Advanced SEO Forum Thread of the Week
---> Have Big Companies Taken Over the Internet?
Advisor Wrap-up
---> My Conspicuous Absence Introduction
Hey everyone!
Did you miss me last week? I think it's the first time in 10 years that I've skipped a newsletter other than during a holiday week, so sorry about that. Rest assured that I don't plan on making a habit of it. My hope is that this one will make up for the missing one, so let's get straight to it! – Jill
Search Engine Marketing Issues
++Why We Do What We Do in SEO++
I hear from many people who want to be told exactly what they need to do to get high rankings and bring more targeted search engine traffic to their websites. I wish I could provide them with a straight answer, but every site has its own needs when it comes to SEO. Which means there's no exact rule that will work each and every time for any website.
One thing, however, that can help you figure out how to SEO your site is to learn the whys behind the specific techniques you always hear about. But to understand the whys, you first need to get the gist of how search engines work. Sounds scary, I know, but I'm going to make it as simple and painless as possible – so stick with me!
In very simplistic terms, there are 2 main components to the search engines: the crawler and the algorithm.
The crawler, which is sometimes referred to as a spider, a robot, or simply a bot, is what goes out on the web and fetches all the pages of information that it can get its virtual spidey legs on.
The algorithm (or algo) is basically the ranking formula that each search engine uses to determine the relevancy of any page that the crawler finds.
The search engines use this formula to decide – out of the pages that were previously fetched – which pages they should show for which keyword phrases that any searcher might type into the search box. Those keyword phrases are also sometimes referred to as a person's "search query."
While the algo is a formula, it's so complicated that it's not something you can simply reverse-engineer. The engines look at hundreds of factors and weigh them all differently. This is why you'll find that automated SEO software doesn't work well to increase your rankings.
Here's an interesting point – those hundreds of factors that go into the relevancy algorithm boil down to two major things:
What you say about yourself, and what others say about you.
Really. It's as simple (and as hard) as that!
"What you say about yourself" means the information you provide on your website, or the words that you write on your pages. The Internet is mostly a word-based medium. Every single web page has its own story to tell. Each page should be relevant to one or more search keywords or phrases. And each page's story helps the search engines understand which search queries the page is relevant to.
Make sense?
So now let's look at what others say about you. This aspect of how the search engines determine relevancy is known as the "off-page" criteria, and it's typically done through links.
That is, another site owner likes what you say or offer on your site, and wants to tell their own site visitors about it. The way they do this is by linking to your site – or a specific page of your site. Search engines take these links into account because what others say about you provides an additional layer of trust beyond what you say about yourself.
Still with me?
These two major factors – how search engines work and what they're looking for – help clarify what you need to do SEO-wise to keep them happy.
First, you need to steer clear of any technical issues that can impede the crawler from finding, reading and indexing the pages of your website. The easier you make it for them to do their job, the better chance your pages will have of showing up for relevant searches.
Which means you need to start on the SEO of your website from the very beginning. You're going to need lots of up-front research on keywords and other elements. You'll also need to make sure your content is written to appeal to both your users and to the search engines. While all of this *can* be done later, you'll save yourself tons of time if you plan your SEO before you ever start developing your website.
Then, once you've got a crawler-friendly website, you'll need to create pages that conform to the search engines' algorithms by making sure they are not only relevant to what people are looking for, but interesting and unique enough for others to want to link to them. You've also got to spend time getting the word out about your website, because even the greatest content in the world won't market itself!
I hope I've simplified the search engine process and SEO enough that you understand why you need to use the specific tactics that are involved. If you always keep the two major factors that search engines are looking for in mind – what you say about yourself and what others say about you – you'll always be able to make the right decisions for your website.
It's those two factors that drive the SEO process and fulfill its goal of helping your target audience find your website when they're seeking out exactly what you offer.
Jill
Share your comments and thoughts here.
P.S. If anyone would like to republish the above article, please email me your request and where it will reside, and I'll send you a short bio you can use with it for your site.
Twitter Question of the Week This week, I asked my awesome Twitter followers:
++Do you build links for the traffic or for rankings?++
DavidWallace: For the most part, rankings & link popularity but in some scenarios, traffic especially in 'nofollow' situations.
forestsoftware: To be honest, I look at incoming links for human traffic; if it helps rankings, all well and good.
JulieJoyce: Clients want it for rankings almost always, but I do it with traffic in mind anyway.
hugoguzman: Depends, but usually it's for rankings first and foremost.
annaslyter: I do it for both, try to get clients to see value of both too.
bk_cox: For the traffic associated with the rankings, but mainly 4 rankings.
_robh_: Generally for rankings, although we are trying to change this practice with changes in off-page strategies.
SEOHack: For a site with few links – SEO. a site with adequate links – traffic. In either case, I take branding into account too.
AlanBleiweiss: Same as with content – I write it for the visitor & SEO. Links for inbound traffic & SEO value. Also, on a 2nd tier of value, links help build brand awareness even if someone doesn't click on them.
oldwelshguy: Thanks to the dumb Google Algo, links must be gathered for ranking as well as traffic, so both really.
As to my thoughts, what oldwelshguy says really sums it up for me. While we should, ideally, be looking for links for the traffic, Google has caused everyone to be crazed about link building. Unfortunately, this is why people keep adding to the noise of the Internet with content that is created only to be used as "link bait."
So we swim in a sea of content that wouldn't have existed were it not for the fact that we need links. This isn't necessarily bad, if the content were truly awesome, but honestly, how much of it really is? Do we really care about the history of doorstops or awnings or paper clips? I think not.
How about you? Leave a comment below and let me know!
Want to participate in the Twitter Question of the Week?
Follow @jillwhalen on Twitter
Share your comments and thoughts here.
Advanced Forum Thread of the Week ++Have Big Companies Taken Over the Internet?++
A frequent poster to the High Rankings Forum, 1dmf, recently watched a program about the Internet, its beginnings, the way it has changed, and the way it is evolving.
He mentioned an interesting point: Tim Berners-Lee started the Internet on the premise of empowering individuals and the free, easy transfer of information and ideas. But now, it seems, big corporations dominate, not individuals.
Do you agree? Disagree? Read the entire thread and share your thoughts here.
Advisor Wrap-up
That's all for today!
Curious about my absence last week? I was in California recording my SEO training course! It was a very busy week, but it went well and I'm glad it's over. Unfortunately, it's still going to be another couple of months before everything is finished being edited and is ready for public consumption. But stay tuned here and you'll be the first to know where and how to get your hands on the training.
While I'm back in the office for a couple of weeks, I'll be heading out at the end of February to Arizona to do some in-house SEO training for a company there. They liked our SEO class here in Framingham so much, they wanted all their employees to benefit from it. This worked out great for me because my daughter Corie has applied to 2 law schools in AZ, so she's going to come with me and visit them. From AZ I fly directly to Santa Clara, CA where I'm speaking on the prestigious "Ask the SEOs" panel at the SMX West Conference. There are still tickets left if you want to get out of the cold for a few days for some search marketing networking and learning.
Catch you in 2 weeks! – Jill
 Today's issue is also available online in the newsletter archives. If you prefer RSS/XML please feel free to use our newsfeed here. Feel free to forward this email in its entirety to anyone you feel might be interested in it. Paid sponsor ads are clearly marked as advertisements and neither High Rankings nor Jill Whalen take any responsibility for the claims made within these ads, nor the websites they point to. Paid ads do not constitute an endorsement for the products, services or companies advertising in the newsletter. Please visit our sponsors and use your own due diligence for any purchases you make on the Internet.
|
No comments:
Post a Comment