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"Search Engines? No problem, I'll just Google it and I'll find all the tricks in the book. It'll take no time at all and the results will be instant. Then I'll just sit back and reap the sweet google-ranking-related rewards". If only... I was as disillusioned as they come when I first embarked upon the SEO-focused website re-vamp process. I thought it'd be easy; that there had to be a quick fix trick, and that I'd find it if I looked hard enough. Needless to say, I was bitterly disgruntled, but also strangely fascinated by the complexity of it all. I read until I was cross-eyed, I grasped at every piece of advice I could find, I rode out the ups and downs of experimenting with my site, and I've had good results, but it isn't easy. Here's my 5 pieces of advice to an SEO newbie: 1. There are no tricks. None. Ah the harsh reality of SEO. If you're a bit lazy, and you're are after quick fixes, you're going to be disappointed. Believe me, I can assure you that I've hunted for such tricks, and they simply don't exist. It'd be more productive to take a cheese grater to your shins than to approach SEO in this way. Optimising your site is going to require time and effort. You will need to read, read and read on the subject of SEO. Absorb as much information as you can; consume articles and media on sites like this one. Ask questions. Decide what is relevant to you, decide what isn't, and put your findings into practice. (During this process, you will become familiar with around100 new acronyms). 2. Other SEOs are not being smug when they say 'there are no tricks'. At first, it seems like there's a knowledge conspiracy, and that everyone but you has the answers. This is not the case. If there was an accurate, effective and extensively-read book called 'The Definitive Rules of SEO', blogs and articles on the subject wouldn't be as interesting, the google folks would be tearing their hair out, and SEO wouldn't be fun any more. The element of mystery is important to SEO, if we knew the Google algorithm, there'd be no point. Every couple of weeks I refer back to (and attempt to understand) the 'PageRank Explained' article at WebWorkshop.net. It's mind-boggling, but it has to be. 3. Patience is a Virtue Again, I remind you that there's no such thing as an SEO Magic Wand, and that you mustn't expect immediate results. You could see results after a couple of months, or for a new site in a competitive market it could take years. There is no telling how long it will take, you have to keep tweaking and experimenting. Never has the phrase 'Patience is a Virtue' (Piers Plowman, 1377) been more appropriate. 4. It will never stop. The SEO process is wide-ranging, protracted and ongoing. Above, when I said 'you have to keep tweaking and experimenting', I mean that you can never really stop doing this. How will you know what works for your site if you don't try it out? Allow time for (make time for) monitoring, fine-tuning and pursuit of fresh content. 5. Person Specification You will be a self-motivated, results-driven individual. You will have an excellent working knowledge of the Internet and must be prepared to study search engines and their complicated algorithms as much as possible. You must posses sound analytical skills in order to suss out your competitors' strategies, and to rate your own progress. You will be keen to ask the advice of others where appropriate, and to share your own findings in turn. Attention to detail is essential (a slight tendency to obsess about detail is ideal). You will be a perfectionist, a stickler for accuracy. Above all else you will be persistent, relentless, and determined to succeed. I'm no expert in this arena - far from it; there's so much to learn. In a field like SEO, plagued by the mystery of so many unknowns, you can't know everything, but you might as well enjoy it. Accept that it's difficult and that it's never going to stop, but (for me anyway) this is all part of the fun. To me, it's like a playing game I can never truly win because there's always more I can do. | |||||||||||
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Yesterday 7am Excellent article Jenny, thank you. And I agree with Mark's comment, "Don't obsess about SEO". When I finally decided to start building my sites to appeal to my website visitors, instead of the search bots, I saw my traffic and search rankings improve. [iamsbm] Sharon Bray-McPherson  Reply
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4.00 (Good) Vote:
Tuesday I really agree with your opinion about patience. It's this same lack of patience which make SEO being so hardcored with fast&free (and unknow) solutions, or link buying ! Patience is the way good SEO are made with a link strategy instead of a "I take everything" ... And finally, patience is the appropriate thing that make pages coming on the best rank after a few weeks/months ! Reply
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5.00 (Excellent) Vote:
May 8th Hi JennyGray - good article. Solid points. I agree with the majority of it but feel I must add my two-cents: Forget trying to figure out Google's algorithm.. or anyone else's for that matter. They are way ahead of any of us and the algorithm can change more times than the wind. During the time of the spam-site purge on the Internet (beginning about 3 years or so ago) the SE's began to really get their act together and clean-up the indexes. Admittedly, there is more work to be done however. The main point is this... it's not about SEO tactics or strategies... yes... I did say that! It's about what you have on the web. Sure, it goes without saying that optimizing a site or blog for proper placement on the web is more than a good idea. But these days it is all about what your site is and what benefit and true value does it really bring to the web community as a whole. If you are a newbie, stick to some solid facts: 1. Build original VERTICAL content. Vertical sites are sites that offer real value and purpose and are built in such a way as to grow. 2. Integrate multimedia concepts and attributes for your site or blog. Provide quality, useful, user interactivity. 3. PPC sites for the sake of clicks are nothing more than SPAM and they lower the value of the Internet as a whole. Sites of this nature are easily recognized by all the major engines and they are generally considered useless... as a result, they perform poorly in the indexes. 4. Properly integrate social media and networking concepts to add value to your site. 5. Properly leverage RSS. 6. Properly leverage RSS should probably be near the top of the list. Bottom line... do you or your company need an SEO specialist? Maybe... Maybe NOT. You can find out most of what you need to know from Google's webmaster guidelines. Avoid the SEO and site ranking snake oil peddlers on the web. How can you identify them? Most of them have "super-hype" sales letters as an entry page.. or on the selling areas of their sites. (this is another subject for a later time) Demand proof of performance from any "specialist" you hire. Stick to webmaster compliance guidelines from all the major players (Google, MSN, Yahoo!) and you can not go wrong. Footnote: I am interested in networking with other professionals at this site. Please feel free to contact me and let's chat. You can never have too many vertical, savvy, compliant associations in this biz! COMPLIANCE + COMPLIANCE + COMPLIANCE = Winning in the SERP's Reply
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May 9th Thanks for commenting JourneyMan - we'll be expecting some articles from you in the near future! I'd like to read about how you implement points 4 and 5 on your list... Reply
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3.20 (Average) Vote:
March 27th Great Article! An article like this can help to set a realistic tone and level of expectation when talking to a client (Or internal marketing/website manager), who is new to SEO.
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5.00 (Excellent) Vote:
March 23rd Really well done, Jenny. I've already forwarded to several people. It continues to amaze me how many good businesspeople continue to misunderstand how to perform a basic query. I was recently speaking with someone who told me, "Yes, I see your family's information when I 'Google' (sigh) your name".
No, you're not Googling (sigh) my name. You typed my name in a text box. To actually search for me, you need to do more. Answer that still floors me: "Why? I typed your name. It ought to be able to figure out what I mean." (triple sigh) Reply
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5.00 (Excellent) Vote:
March 19th As a marketer and SEM practitioner - I applaud what you say - there are no tricks - no fast solutions. When people accept that fact and just go through the steps - progress is made. There is a reason why the search engine specialists make big money - it is an unrelenting, time consuming, constantly changing effort.
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5.00 (Excellent) Vote:
March 12th Jenny,
I love the cheese grater to the shins analogy I would add the following three tips for newbies: Plan and do your SEO before you build the site, doing it after will make it 10 times harder, and more expensive. Content is king. People searching the net want quality, relevant information. Search engines want to give them quality info so they will continually evolve their algorithms to deliver this. Therefore, if you provide quality info, you will eventually be rewarded for this. Don't obsess about SEO, there are other far more effective ,easier and more economical things you can do to improve your online business. SEO is important, but not the most important. It's about third or fourth. Mark Reply
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5.00 (Excellent) Vote:
March 12th I agree with Jenny's article. It's amazing how many people think by just creating any old website, they'll go to the number 1 ranking of the search engines. I wonder if they imagine how many people are trying to compete for that spot?
I think the main thing that people forget is to make their site for the people, not for the engines. Reply
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3.00 (Average) Vote:
March 13th Erm...there is a book, its called SEObook and it will give you all the info you need. And there are many tricks, most dont last for long but Ive seen about 5 that have lasted well over a year so far.
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5.00 (Excellent) Vote:
March 13th Yes, I know of this book. What I'm trying to say in my article is that there are no 'hard and fast' rules when it comes to SEO, nobody knows the algorithms, so nobody can master it 100%. As for the tricks you mention, I concede that there are things we do to help our rankings, but these aren't 'quick fixes' - it takes time. Thanks for commenting! Reply
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