What is SEO? What are some basic tips?
Posted 10th December 2010 at 08:13 AM by LaneB
SEO stands for search engine optimization and is absolutely positively VITAL to your MARKETING effort. The google search engine works by crawling your site looking for key words. The google search engine also analyzes your web site for links into your web site and links out of your website.
So what? How does the google search engine and SEO affect my website?
Simple, you no longer are paying for traffic via PPC nor are you paying for banner ads.
SEO = free cheese.
However, SEO takes a TON of work and is a lengthy process. SEO is quite costly if you do not know what you are doing, especially if you are outsourcing your SEO as well. So if you want to get down to business, here is a short cut that will supercharge your traffic and circumvent this monstrocity: Yes, I want to avoid this hassle!
So check it out, there are a few basic techniques to SEO and I’ll share my own SEO tips:
Article Marketing
This little SEO tip takes FOREVER. Not only do you need to write a compelling piece within 500-800 words, you have to abide by the guidelines set out by EzineArticles. These guidelines essentially restrict you from placing commercial links (which make you money), links back to your site (which make you money) and overloading keywords into your article (another of the SEO tips which boosts your Google ranking, hence driving traffic, thus making you money). In short, if you have any hope of a wide readership seeing your article, you can’t market anything inside it. So what’s the point? The cost/benefit analysis isn’t stacking up here. Playing by the rules will take a very long time, and many, many articles marketing your product to be of any immediate serious use to you.
Blogging
This other among the SEO tips is probably the most effective in terms of boosting organic search engine traffic. The google search engine loves to see fresh and frequently updated content. The pros are blogging affords you another avenue to monetize your efforts, it boosts your google search engine ranking and it keeps your readership engaged, entertained and growing. The big cons are it also takes a lot of time but you aren’t restricted to anyone’s rules per se like article marketing.
Backlinking
Backlinks are another useful tool of the SEO tips that boost your rankings with the google search engine. It takes a little time. Fortunately, it’s also so easy a neanderthal could do it. All you have to do is read a blog (like this one) and leave a useful, original and value added comment to any post or posts you feel like reading (like this one). Some people get tricky and sponsor blog posts (like this one), blogs, or reviews. This is expensive, but, in return you receive a quality backlink from (ideally) a highly ranked site. Each quality backlink you build or pay for gooses your SEO thus increasing your ranking. Again, it takes hundreds and hundreds of backlinks to have a real effect on your SEO, so be patient.
Forum Participation
This one is my favorite of all basic SEO tips but takes FOREVER. My personal technique is to spend an hour to two hours each day split among the largest forums within the niche I am currently targeting. However, we are not useless people looking for a handout or for someone to do our thinking for us. Instead, we are providing useful assistance and engaging commentary (or debate if you’re the confrontational type). Be very careful to NOT SPAM THE FORUM WITH WHATEVER YOU ARE PEDDLING. Instead, leave a a hyperlinked text ad in your signature block and go about your business. You will see two big benefits. 1st, each signature block link you leave is a quality backlink (thus adding to your page rank) and 2d, you are building a reputation and your expertise. This rep of yours is ABSOLUTELY SACRED. Think of it as your own personal word of mouth SEO. People talk. People like to help people they like. If people like you and others else they like are having trouble with something that you are known for fixing, those people will come to you (your site). So, Forum Participation is a great hybrid among the SEO tips. It is a direct marketing method as well as an SEO booster.
Is There a Better Way?
Absolutely!
First off, full disclosure: I did not write this post out of the sheer benevolence in my heart. I want you to buy something. I also want you to practice the 4 basic SEO tips outlined. But, primarily, if you’re looking for instant results……I mean immediate gratification, if you’re looking to kick your website in the ass and make some money, not exactly fast money, but decent “hey it pays the mortgage and groceries so I can do what I want money, I want you to head over to www.contestburner.com
People, LISTEN, I’m a big proponent of forum and blog marketing to drive targeted traffic. I’m also NOT a fan of PPC mainly because of the variable costs and the dependency on you, the user, knowing precisely what you are doing and your ability to write fresh copy.
Yesterday I found a wordpress plug that allows you to run contests where the participants are awarded points to promote your website in the form of blog comments (on yours and other blogs), articles written about you, tweets about you, facebook posts about you, facebook comments on your fan page etc etc.
You set the points for each action and the prize at the end of the contest. You can set up your contest as a raffle where each point is an entry or have a top 1-3 prize structure. It’s up to you. For me, I prefer the raffle because it keeps the stellar performers scared they may not win your prize(s) and keeps them working.
The effect, obviously, on your site is both a loud social buzz, social proof and excellent SEO benefits.
At first, I did NOT like the idea of shelling out $77 for the basic plug in and $149 for the premium upgrade. I also did not like the standard single product sales design and copywriting used to sell the plug in. The irony of it all definitely punched me in the face, considering what one of my muses is.
At any rate, I bought it out of sheer curiosity to see what effects it would have on my main sites. I’m going to launch a contest for www.MuseTester.com To take a look at the registration page and to join yourself for a shot at over $1700 CLICK HERE
If you are curious you can find the Contest plug at www.contestburner.com
So what? How does the google search engine and SEO affect my website?
Simple, you no longer are paying for traffic via PPC nor are you paying for banner ads.
SEO = free cheese.
However, SEO takes a TON of work and is a lengthy process. SEO is quite costly if you do not know what you are doing, especially if you are outsourcing your SEO as well. So if you want to get down to business, here is a short cut that will supercharge your traffic and circumvent this monstrocity: Yes, I want to avoid this hassle!
So check it out, there are a few basic techniques to SEO and I’ll share my own SEO tips:
Article Marketing
This little SEO tip takes FOREVER. Not only do you need to write a compelling piece within 500-800 words, you have to abide by the guidelines set out by EzineArticles. These guidelines essentially restrict you from placing commercial links (which make you money), links back to your site (which make you money) and overloading keywords into your article (another of the SEO tips which boosts your Google ranking, hence driving traffic, thus making you money). In short, if you have any hope of a wide readership seeing your article, you can’t market anything inside it. So what’s the point? The cost/benefit analysis isn’t stacking up here. Playing by the rules will take a very long time, and many, many articles marketing your product to be of any immediate serious use to you.
Blogging
This other among the SEO tips is probably the most effective in terms of boosting organic search engine traffic. The google search engine loves to see fresh and frequently updated content. The pros are blogging affords you another avenue to monetize your efforts, it boosts your google search engine ranking and it keeps your readership engaged, entertained and growing. The big cons are it also takes a lot of time but you aren’t restricted to anyone’s rules per se like article marketing.
Backlinking
Backlinks are another useful tool of the SEO tips that boost your rankings with the google search engine. It takes a little time. Fortunately, it’s also so easy a neanderthal could do it. All you have to do is read a blog (like this one) and leave a useful, original and value added comment to any post or posts you feel like reading (like this one). Some people get tricky and sponsor blog posts (like this one), blogs, or reviews. This is expensive, but, in return you receive a quality backlink from (ideally) a highly ranked site. Each quality backlink you build or pay for gooses your SEO thus increasing your ranking. Again, it takes hundreds and hundreds of backlinks to have a real effect on your SEO, so be patient.
Forum Participation
This one is my favorite of all basic SEO tips but takes FOREVER. My personal technique is to spend an hour to two hours each day split among the largest forums within the niche I am currently targeting. However, we are not useless people looking for a handout or for someone to do our thinking for us. Instead, we are providing useful assistance and engaging commentary (or debate if you’re the confrontational type). Be very careful to NOT SPAM THE FORUM WITH WHATEVER YOU ARE PEDDLING. Instead, leave a a hyperlinked text ad in your signature block and go about your business. You will see two big benefits. 1st, each signature block link you leave is a quality backlink (thus adding to your page rank) and 2d, you are building a reputation and your expertise. This rep of yours is ABSOLUTELY SACRED. Think of it as your own personal word of mouth SEO. People talk. People like to help people they like. If people like you and others else they like are having trouble with something that you are known for fixing, those people will come to you (your site). So, Forum Participation is a great hybrid among the SEO tips. It is a direct marketing method as well as an SEO booster.
Is There a Better Way?
Absolutely!
First off, full disclosure: I did not write this post out of the sheer benevolence in my heart. I want you to buy something. I also want you to practice the 4 basic SEO tips outlined. But, primarily, if you’re looking for instant results……I mean immediate gratification, if you’re looking to kick your website in the ass and make some money, not exactly fast money, but decent “hey it pays the mortgage and groceries so I can do what I want money, I want you to head over to www.contestburner.com
People, LISTEN, I’m a big proponent of forum and blog marketing to drive targeted traffic. I’m also NOT a fan of PPC mainly because of the variable costs and the dependency on you, the user, knowing precisely what you are doing and your ability to write fresh copy.
Yesterday I found a wordpress plug that allows you to run contests where the participants are awarded points to promote your website in the form of blog comments (on yours and other blogs), articles written about you, tweets about you, facebook posts about you, facebook comments on your fan page etc etc.
You set the points for each action and the prize at the end of the contest. You can set up your contest as a raffle where each point is an entry or have a top 1-3 prize structure. It’s up to you. For me, I prefer the raffle because it keeps the stellar performers scared they may not win your prize(s) and keeps them working.
The effect, obviously, on your site is both a loud social buzz, social proof and excellent SEO benefits.
At first, I did NOT like the idea of shelling out $77 for the basic plug in and $149 for the premium upgrade. I also did not like the standard single product sales design and copywriting used to sell the plug in. The irony of it all definitely punched me in the face, considering what one of my muses is.
At any rate, I bought it out of sheer curiosity to see what effects it would have on my main sites. I’m going to launch a contest for www.MuseTester.com To take a look at the registration page and to join yourself for a shot at over $1700 CLICK HERE
If you are curious you can find the Contest plug at www.contestburner.com
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